This is the third time Minako felt Harukaâs eyes on them and I love this little detail, I love that it could just be that Minakoâs got the most battle hardened instincts of them all, sheâs been actively fighting the longest and sheâs had to hone those instincts to a razor sharp edge, or it could be her position as leader of the Inners in a way (I like the former the most), but either way it says so much about Minako.
Sheâs flighty and silly and grabs onto their goofy moments with both hands and she loves being that way, but whenever shitâs about to go down, Minako is always the one on HYPER VIGILANCE, sheâs the one who feels those eyes watching her and sheâs the one whoâs most ready to put up her fists and fight when she needs to.
BASICALLY I LOVE AINO MINAKO SO MUCH AND MOMENTS LIKE THIS ARE WHY.
Well if youâre new to the fandom (welcome first of all! <3) let me explain you something.
Before Sailor Moon existed, Naoko Takeuchi was already busy with a magical girl manga called Codename Sailor V.
Yup, thatâs our girl Sailor Venus, but she looks quite different doesnât she?.
Well, this is because Codename Sailor VÂ is the prequel story to Sailor Moon.
But, if Naoko didnât even have Sailor Moon in mind, then how did this all happen?.
Well, itâs quite simple.
The Codename Sailor V manga was publised regularly in a japanese magazine and it became quite popular, it was then when Naoko was offered to turn this manga into an anime.
She agreed but she thought that there were a lot of things to be âpolishedâ (also, she was asked to expand the plot and include more characters) so she thought it would be a better idea to make another magical girl manga from scratch.
And thatâs how Sailor Moon was created.
She kept lots of things from Codename Sailor V; like a cat sidekick, a blonde main character,a disguise pen, etc, and she even took some characters from it and brought them into the Sailor Moon universe (Artemis, Minako herself, Umino and even Ami (but she was a different character in CSV and Naoko only took her design).
So instead of ditching the Codename Sailor V story, Naoko made it a prequel to the Sailor Moon events.
Thatâs how we know Sailor Venus is the first one to awake as a senshi (Sailor V), so sheâs the first one getting a transformation pen.
Artemis gave her this pen so that she could transform into Sailor V. Itâs the same pen she later uses to transform into Sailor Venus (as you can see in Crystal).
This is why her transformation pen is different.
Later in the second arc, when all the senshi are given new transformation pens, theyâre all the same (except for colour and planetary symbol).
If you love Sailor Moon, this manga is totally worth reading.
Itâs kinda sad Codename Sailor V was never animated (there were some rumors back in the day about an OVA but it never happened), but at least we get to see a glimpse of her in Sailor Moon (both manga and anime).
And of course, we have Venus in Sailor Moon.
I always thought that Naoko gave Minako the leader role in Sailor Moon like some kind of homage since she was the main character of the manga that started it all (and thus if Naoko wouldnât have made another magical girl manga from scratch, it would have been her show).
But letâs not be sad about it because if it hadnât been for Codename Sailor V we would have never got Sailor Moon.
And Sailor Moon is amazing and we got Sailor V/Minako in it as well so everybody wins!.
Bonus!:
When Naoko started with the Sailor Moon manga, she abruptly stopped with the Codename Sailor V manga. It wasnât until the Sailor Moon manga was finished when Naoko decided to pick the manga again and finish it.
Because of it, we got these easter eggs (should I call it like that?).
Usagi and Naru briefly appears in the Codename Sailor V manga.
As it turns out, the manga and I arenât going to be great friends. Rather than spend the energy on a liveblog thatâs increasingly negative, Iâm reading each manga act (mostly) silently, and then writing up summaries at the end. Iâll be very candid, which means thereâs likely criticism and snark aâplenty about the manga, either wholesale or in details. If that isnât a thing you feel like reading, please skip this post!
Things included in this summary:
The final battle against Wiseman/Death Phanton/Nemesis/Ryan. Why Ryan? Why not Ryan. Presumably his parents didnât name him Death Phantom. Now his name is Ryan.
The conclusion to all the Crystal Tokyo shit.
The arc epilogue, which is where all the character-intensive stuff should happen but in case you forgot, this is a summary of THE MANGA.
Things not included in this summary:
My multiple literal screams.
At least not in audio form.
Iâll still scream in text though, donât worry.
Usagi aims her love rod at an entire fucking planet which is now I guess close enough to be within visual range of Earth. I have so many questions about this, but it occurs to me that it would only make this arc longer if they were to be answered, so I keep my mouth closed. Thereâs a burst of light. Usagi disappears. Planet Ryan disappears. Aw, sheâll have to fight the big bad on her own, but this will be test of her mettle that will prove sheâs
JUST KIDDING CANâT FORGET THE REAL STAR
Mamoru joins Usagi by, near as I can tell, thinking about it real hard. Nobody else joins Usagi. Nobody else even tries. I can tell that, somewhere, some part of me wants to cry. The tears donât come.
Neo-Queen Serenityâs clock finally runs out of snooze times, and she decides sheâd better get up. She wanders her dead and deserted palace, noting her potentially dead but certainly unwell Senshi. She considers going to them, checking on them, showing any concern about them whatsoever, but then chuckles to herself. Donât be ridiculous, this is the manga! Only one thing matters. CAN YOU FOLKS AT HOME GUESS WHAT IT IS??
I know, right? Itâs so good to see Mamoru getting the kind of attention heâs due. Heâs been so neglected and forgotten. đŠ
King Douchedymion wakes up, Holodouchedymion disappears, and he and NQS emerge from the palace. Then we get some Family Values propaganda bullshit.
NO OKAY
NO FUCK YOU
YOU DONâT GET TO SPEND YOUR WHOLE DAMN ARC TALKING ABOUT HOW CHIBI-USA IS LONELY AND ISOLATED AND HASNâT KNOW A SHRED OF AFFECTION FROM HER MOTHER FOR NINE HUNDRED FUCKING YEARS AND THEN DRAW THIS LIKE IT RESOLVES ANY OF THAT
WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS IS INTENDED TO DO BECAUSE NEITHER CHIBS NOR NQS NOR ANYONE ELSE SAYS A SINGLE WORD ABOUT THE NEGLECT AND ABUSE CHIBS HAS BEEN SUFFERING LEAVING THE ONLY CONCLUSION THAT ITâS JUST NOT A CONSIDERATION TO ANYONE ANY MORE AND WEâRE GOOD
WE ARE NOT FUCKING GOOD AT ALL
And this gets even worse as things go on. Iâm obviously having to rely on my translation here, which I grant is questionably accurate at best, but itâs whatâs in front of me right now, so.
NQS goes on to tell Chibs that what got her to wake up was Chibsâ transformation into a Senshi. The conversation continues with Chibs expressing all this sadness and remorse for all the people she feels her actions indirectly killed and all the people she couldnât protect. NQS says âItâs not your fault, now letâs not talk about it any more.â NOTE THAT SHE SAYS THIS WITH PLUTOâS DEAD AND SPRAWLED BODY LIKE FIVE FEET AWAY BUT EVERYONE IS FINE WITH THAT. From here, it starts to really get to me though, because the entire exchange turns to Chibi-Usaâs power. âYou have powers of your own now,â NQS says excited. âWe can use our powers to protect the planet together.â When Chibs tearfully confesses she didnât think her mother needed her, NQS starts strong with âYouâre my only daughter. Youâre precious to me.â but then:
And it doesnât stop there. NQS turns to the Senshi (MY GOD YOU MEAN THEYâRE THERE???) and tells them that when she ascended, she âlost almost all of [her] powers to fight as a soldierâ. And some other shit I think may be translated wrong but doesnât really matter in the grand scheme. The important part is that she tells Chibs she has to use Plutoâs powers (WHICH I GUESS SHE CAN JUST DO NOW) to find Sailor Moon and Tux, and use her power to help them take Ryan down for good.
(A THING SHE HERSELF WAS UNWILLING TO DO HERSELF BY THE WAY I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT SHEâS SENDING HER EIGHT YEAR OLD DAUGHTER TO KILL A DUDE SHE REFUSED TO TAKE CARE OF)
ALSO FOR SOME REASON THE INNERS CANâT ALSO GO FIGHT WHY THE FUCK DO THEY KEEP LISTENING TO EVERYONE TELLING THEM WHERE THEY CAN AND CANâT GO
Iâm going to skip ahead a bit to complete my thought about NQS here, but later in the chapter she powers up the Inners with the laughable âYouâll be able to fight alongside Sailor Moon with easeâ like yeah, Iâll believe that when I fucking see it. She also powers up Sailor Moon from across time and space, and gives her a new brooch and toy from Bandai, AND OKAY WEâRE COMING TO MY POINT NOW.
Which is, EVERY GODDAMN THING ABOUT NQS AS SHE RELATES TO ANYONE NOT ENDYMION IS ABOUT POWER. And this CREEPS ME THE FUCK OUT. Her entire exchange with Chibi-Usa isnât about Chibi-Usa, itâs about how now Chibi-Usa can fight. The fact that she didnât wake up until Chibs could transform upsets the shit out of me. Thereâs no part of their interaction that, in a sincere way (and no I donât count the easily tossed out âYouâre my daughter, youâre preciousâ platitude as none of her interactions with Chibs over their 900 year relationship demonstrate these feelings in a way recognizable to Chibs), show NQS has any interest in Chibi-Usa whatsoever UNTIL SHE HAS POWER. She LITERALLY does not wake up and hug her daughter for what last issue suggested was the first fucking time until Chibi-Usa is a Senshi.
CREEPED. THE FUCK. OUT.
God, anyway, then Usagi and Mamoru spend five pages or something telling each other that theyâre the bestest and Mamoru is just as important and powerful as Usagi.
Because again, what does female empowering mean if not âreassure the male romantic lead heâs on equal footing with the titular female lead characterâ.
Somewhere in the 30th century, the Senshi are filling out their resumes.
Chibs shows up, and she and Usagi destroy Planet Ryan, which is sure to send debris hurtling to Earth and upsetting the delicate climate balance that hahaha no of course not, everythingâs fine.
NQS then powers up the Senshi, a move she couldnât have done a few minutes earlier and then sending them off with Chibs to have anything at all to do with the final battle, because why, honestly. Why. Just why.
Everyone returns to Earth, and Usagi angsts a bit about not getting to meet her future self, which she canât do because all of space and time will unravel and itâll be very bad. Neo-Queen Serenity is angsting about it herself. Itâs all so sad, so very sad, so much sadder than poor dead Pluto still lying there going through various stages of rigor mortis on her first outing in about five thousand years.
THANKS FOR SHOWING ANY LINGERING REMORSE ABOUT THE DEATH OF YOUR ONLY FRIEND LITERALLY TEN MINUTES AGO
But honestly, who has time for any of that when Usagi is sad? SHE WANTED TO MEET HERSELF YOU GUYS AND ITâS HEARTBREAKING THAT SHE CANâT ITâS TRAGIC THE MOST TRAGIC THING TO HAPPEN ALL DAY, manga!Usagi is thinking to herself as she steps over Plutoâs body still-warm body.
BUT FUCKING WAIT
BECAUSE NEO-QUEEN FUCKING SERENITY AFTER TALKING ABOUT HOW THEY COULDNâT POSSIBLY MEET RUNS THE FUCK UP AND STARTS CHATTING TO USAGI ANYWAY
I SCREAMED I SCREAMED SO GODDAMN LOUD WHAT IS THIS UTTER FUCKING BULLSHIT
JUST THIS CONVERSATION COULD ALTER HISTORY
YOU JUST LOST LITERALLY YOUR ENTIRE CITYâS POPULATION IN A WAR AGAINST FUCKS WHO WANTED TO ALTER HISTORY
SAILOR PLUTO FUCKING DIEDÂ SO YOU COULD STOP EVERYTHING UNRAVELING
AND NEO-QUEEN SERENITY SAYS FUCK ALL OF THAT BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO SAY HELLO TO HER GODDAMN FOURTEEN YEAR-OLD SELF
A DECISION USAGI NOT ONLY SUPPORTS BUT IS DELIGHTED BY
I AM A BALLOON FILLED WITH PURE RAGE AND I JUST FUCKING POPPED
THIS IS THE MOST SELFISH SHIT I HAVE EVER SEEN
âWow, Chibs, your mumâs a bitch,â Minako says. Chibi-Usa just emphatically nods.
R A G E
Ugh, fuck, letâs get this over with. Chibs is packing up and leaving, and Usagi is all âYOU DONâT THINK ABOUT MY FEELINGSâ, as though anyone else is allowed to have feelings to ever be considered. She goes to the park to travel home. Only Mamoru is there. I canât even pretend to be anything but resigned at this point. But donât worry, because the Senshi have a whole long panel!
Rei is comforting that fan club president she knew for a couple of hours! Makoto receives a hug from the guy who talks about Mamoru 98% of the time! Minako greets Motoki who looks terrified! Ami is just there because like I said back at the beginning of this arc, she has absolutely no other character at all to connect her to!
God, arenât you bored with all this attention on the Senshi? TAKEUCHI SURE IS BUT DONâT WORRY HERE COMES MORE MAMORU AND USAGI. They talk about how their future is already planned out, and are somehow romantic and wistful about it. And then surprise! Chibi-Usa is back!
Neo-Queen Serenity will finally, after 900 years, get to see her daughter grow! God, how terrifying. HEY FOURTEEN-YEAR OLD ME PLEASE RAISE HER LIKE YOUR DAUGHTER I SPENT LIKE HALF AN HOUR WITH HER AND IT WAS TERRIBLE KTHX â„
THE FUCKING END
Honestly, this series is the worst. Still watching Crystal because I want to see if Venus gets some shred of decent spotlight and action. Plus, I want to see the other Senshi.
As it turns out, the manga and I arenât going to be great friends. Rather than spend the energy on a liveblog thatâs increasingly negative, Iâm reading each manga act (mostly) silently, and then writing up summaries at the end. Iâll be very candid, which means thereâs likely criticism and snark aâplenty about the manga, either wholesale or in details. If that isnât a thing you feel like reading, please skip this post!
Demande has decided that instead of ruling the Earth, heâs going to destroy all of existence. I understand. I felt the same when my team lost the point in Overwatch the other day. WOULD IT FUCKING KILL YOU TO STAY PUT FOR THREE GODDAMN SECONDS GENJI
Everyone braces for impact, and when I say âeveryoneâ mean âmore versions of Mamoru than is strictly needed, but certainly not the Senshi because, shockingly, they are all knocked out again.â
YOUâRE TWO FOR TWO LADIES
SO EMPOWERED
Bored with this plot, Pluto stops time so she can have another flashback. In it, Queen Serenity finally reveals The Third Taboo. She indicates that this taboo, which must never ever ever be broken ever is somehow more dire than the previous two taboos which must also never ever ever be broken ever. I think Queen Serenity really just liked saying âTabooâ, and was playing a secret game where she tried to make as any other people say it as possible.
Tabgwooo?
At any rate, she completely sets Pluto up for failure on this, because itâs possible there were a small contingent of people out there still determined to think Queen Serenity was super duper aces benevolent awesome.
YOU NEED THAT GARNET ROD FOR LITERALLY NO OTHER FUNCTION THAT WEâVE SEEN EXCEPT THIS ONE THING THAT YOU CANâT EVER DO OR YOUâLL DIE GO HAVE FUN NOW BEING AN EIGHT YEAR OLD STUCK ALONE IN A FEATURELESS LIMBO FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS DOING A JOB NO ONE ELSE CAN DO EXCEPT LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE CAN DO IT AND DONâT FORGET THE ONLY REWARD FOR USING YOUR ACCESSORY TO DO A THING YOU CAN NATURALLY DO ANYWAY IS DEATH NO REASON JUST BECAUSE I SAID SO LOL HAVE FUN PS: NO BENEFITS OR VACATION EVER BYEEE
Endymion isnât affected by the time stop, because of course he fucking isnât. Pluto becomes Tinkerbelle and sprinkles all the Senshi with pixie dust, which wouldnât have been my choice if I knew I was going to have Taboo Death in like 90 seconds, but god, let Pluto have one moment for fuckâs sake. THEN EVERYONE SAYS SOME VARIATION OFÂ âTIME HAS STOPPEDâ LITERALLY TEN TIMES IN SEVEN PAGES YES I COUNTED THEM
DO YOU THINK EVERYTHINGâS FROZEN AND TIME HAS STOPPED I DONâT KNOW ITâS UNCLEAR
Endymionâs all âoh noes ultimate tabooâ and then flashback Queen Serenity shows up just say âyeah do it and die no reason lololololâ. âWow, Usagi, your mumâs a bitch,â Minako says, to which Usagiâs only response is two viciously thrust middle fingers.
Plutoâs not quite done yet, though. She implores Usagi to pluck the two ginzuishous from Demande. She does. Itâs really easy, and yet still somehow takes like a full page to happen. Plutoâs really happy existence is saved, proving sheâs a bigger person than me who would probably just be âfuck all yâallâ with my dying breath. âI always wanted to fight at your side,â Pluto says, in a gesture that would probably mean more if she hadnât just met them like 48 hours ago.
As her final pre-death action, Pluto summons Tiny Kitten from the Gate of Time. And donât get me wrong, if I had the power, I would probably cover myself in puppies and kittens on my death bed too. And I mean, legit aww here.
BUT NOW THE GATE OF TIME DOESNâT EVEN HAVE A FUCKING TINY GREY KITTEN GUARDING IT COULD IT BE ANY MORE CLEAR THAT THESE TABOOS ARE SHITE I MEAN IF IâM PLUTO IâM FUCKING FURIOUS RIGHT NOW
Also the cuteness of this scene is ruined by the fact that Pluto is spending her last living moments waxing poetic about Endymion and his purple tux no I am not remotely kidding you.
ALL INCARNATIONS OF MAMORU ARE THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST AND MOST IMPORTANT AND MEANINGFUL HOW ELSE WILL YOU KNOW THAT IF EVERY CHARACTER DOESNâT TELL YOU SO SAILOR MAMORU ON BEHALF OF LILAC HE WILL PUNISH YOU
Pluto apologies for not being able to protect Chibs and then dies. Somehow, someway, I feel Iâm supposed to care about this, and yet since the story gave no fucks about Pluto, I donât see why I should start. I mean, it wasnât like she was Mamoru or anything.
Black Lady begins to flashback to Pluto, including a weird bit where we see her basically playing flag football and snatching one of Plutoâs keys and then later wistfully saying Pluto gave her one, but okay. Chibs goes on to say she doubts her mother even likes her.
Basically at this point I am prepared to say âFuck the entire Serenity lineâ. The manga has made exactly no effort to show that Chibs is wrong. I mean say what you will about the anime, but at least it made it clear that Chibsâ memories were either incomplete or viewed through her own bias, and then further fucked by Wiseman. Here, the only real connection attempted between Chibs and EITHER of her parents was her running at Douchedymion and him not even bothering to try and hug her. NOT EXACTLY STRONG EVIDENCE AGAINST. And one of the only scenes weâve had with NQS comes right before this:
Neo-Queen Serenity not only questioning whether Chibs should be allowed the SINGLE FRIEND she has, but having the goddamn nerve to maintain this fucking âdutyâ charade REPEATEDLY PROVEN TO BE UNNECESSARY and only trapping Pluto in a solitary and pointless existence denied even the brief occasional moment of social contact.
FUCK THE SERENITY LINE
GOD THE MANGA PISSES ME OFF
Anyway, Black Lady cries, and this turns her into Sailor Chibi-Moon somehow. I donât fucking know. Maybe there are three ginzuishous now? Mamoru snaps out of his brainwashing too I guess. ITâS THE KIND OF CLEAR AND SUCCINCT STORYTELLING YOUâVE COME TO EXPECT. Chibs tries to show Pluto her new outfit, but Plutoâs still dead, and itâs difficult at this point to not envy her.
Usagi gets pissed. Things are very gwooo and also a bit gwaaa.
Usagi kills Demande. Sorry, Usagi AND FUCKING MAMORU kill Demande, and Iâm looking into the camera so hard right now. PS: This makes likes eight people the good guys have killed in this arc alone and so I completely understand NQSâs future reluctance to kill Death Phantom and instead banish him and forget all about him after he only blew up an entire fucking city and killed untold thousands or even millions of innocent citizens.
Wiseman is revealed (again) to be Death Phantom, and I guess weâre supposed to be surprised by that. Heâs also the planet, in a way that makes no sense, but whatever. Usagi vows to protect Earth. The other Senshi say âWe will too!â Ha, just kidding, they fucked off for ice cream like three hours ago and no one noticed.
Honestly, this was hilarious to read because sadly it is very accurate
Future Minako wouldâve run âDeath Phantomâ through and had Future Rei burn the fucking corpse and Future Ami to freeze the ashes in a thousand separate blocks and drop them into the ocean and Future Mako to bake a cake to celebrate.
I always did say Venus should have been the real heir and princess of Silver Millenium.
Good job killing yourself while the kingdom is in great peril and leaving everyone and your poor mother to stop the enemy. Not to mention the entire moon kingdom turning to stone. Just good job.
Oh and letâs not forget how again you decided to commit suicide when the world is still in jeapordy once more.
It must have been super hard thinking you killed your love. Yes, but you have your responsibilities. The Sailor Senshi watched the people they love die, but they still stood up and fought.
They took so much damage and have suffered so much. For Usagi. And she decides to do this?! Great job endangering the world!
Look how physically hurt Mars is. Imagine the other girls. Again, they took a lot of damage.
Usagi is no where near worthy of the title princess. Even until the end she was crying until her bf helped her. The relationship and view she has with Endymion is toxic:
– relies on him for strength
– alwags being saved by him
– killing herself because she canât live without him
So much for the opening song lyrics of not needing a manâs protection.
The other girls rely and support each other. Drawing strength on one another, but they can still stand and fight on their own. They know their responsibilities and the sacrifices they have to make. To be strong. Usagi just throws all that away.
đ„ There is beauty in destructionđ„ 