Sailor Moon Chapter Nine

[nevermore999]

It's been a while, but I think I'll get back to posting the Sailor Moon Manga. When we last left our miniskirted heroes, Sailor Venus has finally joined the team, and Usagi and Mamoru has entered their relationship just in time for him to perform a heroic sacrifice and got zapped by Kunzite. LIFE SUCKS.



Mamoru's narration here, obvs. She's crying because you're dying in her arms, you nerd, that tends to be upsetting. Grow some self esteem! Also, yeah, you probably should have recognized her from that hair, it's pretty distinctive.



Sailor Moon is Princess Serenity, I'm sure you're all just SHOCKED by this plot twist.

Mamoru's pocket watch starts to run backwards. The Senshi realize they're the guardians of Princess Serenity (except Venus, who already knew). Flashback to past lives time!







Who knows why it's forbidden, but possibly to keep bad shit like what happens next from...happening.



Yep, that's Beryl in the gypsy garb. She had a civilian form before becoming evil and crazy! I think it's pity we never got to see it in the anime, I like her design.

So Usagi cries, and Silver Crystal materializes from her tears in a very pretty splash page
:



The light from the Crystal is extremely powerful, it rushes around revitalizing the earth, bringing dead plants back to life, curing some kid's cough and getting Umino's geeky attention. However, it also gets the attention of the chaotic force that is Queen Metaria, and fills her with power.

The other Shittenou briefly revive, OMG, and they get in on the flashbacking.







Apparently the war partly started because Earth resented having the immortal pretty people looking down on them. And yeah, the Shittenou were Endymion's former guard, corrupted and brainwashed. Basically his Senshi, which is hilarious. I always thought this was a really cool plot point thematically, pity they left it out of the anime for the most part- they really expand on it in the live action version, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, though, if you ever watch that.



Way to pose with your shirt open and manly chest showing, Nephrite.



That awkward moment when your bros get briefly bought back to life, only to turn into stones.

Mamoru's body absorbs the crystal, and then Kunzite immediately tries to zap Serenity. Venus and Jupiter jump in to protect her, and Kunzite manages to grab the unconscious hottie.



And so, that sucks. YOU CAN JUST GO DIE, MAMORU, VENUS AND JUPITER DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. (I know they do care but their priority is protecting Usagi, I'm just making fun) If Usagi was the sort of person who ever resented her friends, she'd probably be really pissed at them for that. But she's not, so!

Minako explains that she's really the leader of the Guardians, Sailor Venus. They figure the force threatening them now is the same thing that destroyed the kingdom last time, and Ami says it's a mass of darkness. They have to locate the Dark Kingdom, especially now that they have the peice of the Silver Crystal Mamoru absorbed. Usagi passes out from all this trauma and information overload.




Um...YIKES. I'd wake up crying too, if I had that dream. Especially since it's probably true. That's right, Queen Beryl killed Mamoru by MELTING HIS FLESH OFF. Sucks to be him.

So Usagi locks herself in her room for a week and refuses to eat and all that. The Senshi come to see her and her Mom's like "yeah, I really should make her go to school, I can't imagine what's wrong with her, whatever happened must have shocked her a lot". And...she's apparently not the least bit curious as to what made her daughter lock herself in her room to cry endlessly and have nightmares after the electrical storm and giant explosion of light that happened around the same time. I mean, I'd be asking questions and getting help, but that's just me. Geez, no wonder it's so easy for Usagi to keep her secret identity with parents that don't care what she does.

The Senshi barge in to find Usagi isn't keeping to her room just because of trauma...



That's right, her HAIR GOT EVEN LONGER. HOW.



Yeah, so, was Princess Serenity actually Rapunzel? Did she have to let down her hair from the moon so Endymion could climb up? Cuz considering Usagi's hair is already freakishly long (calf length while done up in ginormous buns partly, so at least floor length), Serenity's hair would have to be a friggin' bridal train.

Also, note Usagi's continuing concern about how many identities and parts of herself she has, and which part is really her. This is a theme that sort of bugs Usagi throughout the whole manga, though it's bought up sparingly, and she doesn't really resolve it till the very end. I found it to be an interesting little bit for the character, and nice to see the natural doubts Usagi would be having upon learning she was a different person in a past life.

Usagi sort of proceeds to flip out about Mamoru, yelling about him melting (obviously that dream really hit her hard) but Venus does a "PULL YOUR SHIT TOGETHER WOMAN":





TO THE MOOOOOON! THAT'S RIGHT, CHILDREN, IT'S TIME FOR A FIELD TRIP!

Hope you guys enjoyed that, I'll have the next chapter up next week, in which we have SENSHI IN SPACE, a magic sword, and more Moon Kingdom backstory.
 

Comments

[mercia]

Man, I've always really loved that picture of Usagi with the really long hair. ...shutupIhaveaThing.

I'm really loving your commentary on these. Makes me want to reread the whole thing... if for nothing else than the obvious Les Yay! moments. ...the many, many moments.

However, I do have one quibble: The proper spelling is SENSHI... IN... SPAAAAAAACE! I mean, it's just proper grammar.

[nevermore999]

Glad you like!

And yes, a grave error on my part, I'll try not to make such mistakes in the future.

[mercia]

I'll forgive you this time, because you've inspired me to reread my manga. I know, I'm so generous.

Besides, the manga has a lot better characterization for certain characters. (Yeee, Pluto!)

[hyperactivator]

I love this version. I'm gonna have to track it down.

[lavode]

I have tears in my eyes now.

[nevermore999]

From the laughter or the tragedy? It's always hard to tell with Sailor Moon. :D

[lavode]

Because it's so (sniffle) *beautiful*. Part of it might be nostalgia, since this was My First Manga, but it's a powerful scene. Especially when the crescent moon appears on her forehead for the first time.

[nevermore999]

Haha, don't worry, I completely get it, it's very touching (and I completely cried during the Sailor Moon R movie and nostalgia didn't even factor into it, so)

[lavode]

LOL! So did I.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

It was My First Manga, too, slightly over ten years ago now. I've read gobs more since. I've read darker and more grown-up and complex stuff. But Sailor Moon is still my favorite to this day. Nothing has managed to dethrone it because it's a simple but great story about a bunch of normal chicks being intergalactic badasses. And they use girliness as their source of power. :D

[bluefall]

Hey, I missed these! :D

i know that stones thing is supposed to be tragic and meaningful but it always just cracked me up. Mamo's pet rocks, idek.

[nevermore999]

It is unquestionably hilarious and cracks me up every time. There's a nice little Sailor Moon fanwebcomic where the Shittenou show up to invade Mamoru's apartment and are like "Yeah, so we were just chillin' in the box under your bed...being rocks..." You know, I should totally do a post devoted to that webcomic, as it's really great.

Also, there's this:

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfuxjaYk8L1qe8we7o1_500.gif

[omnipotent]

Mamoru has senshi? Interesting . ..

I like Usagi with her long hair down too. She's beautiful either way, though.

[dejadrew]

Heh. Oh, Miracle Tears. Sailor Moon has ruined me for life, I can always see 'em coming, now. I EXPECT them.

Heroine of animated feature: "Nuuuuuu, don't die!"

Hero: (Dies, because MEN NEVER LISTEN.)

Me: (Fails to be concerned)

Heroine: *sobsobsob*

Me: (They are so going there.)

Heroine: *single perfect tear*

Me: (Here it comes...)



Me: (gigglesnort)

Sister who introduced me to Sailor Moon: (simultaneous gigglesnort)

Me and Sister: (Look at each other in movie theatre. Pause. Surreptitious high five.)

[janegray]

Too bad that never seems to work the other way around ;_;

Don't mind me, I just beat a videogame that ends with the heroine dying and the hero crying over her lifeless face.

;_;

[janegray]

So, wait, after Kunzite remembered that he used to be on Mamoru's side, and that Beryl is a bad guy... he still kidnapped Mamoru and brought him to Beryl? The hell?

Anyway, speaking of the immortal people of the moon, I know that Sailor Moon and the Senshi are immortal in the manga (or at least can live for hundreds of years), but now I wonder if that's the case in the anime too.

IIRC the anime never mentions anything about immortality or extremely long lifespans, so I always assumed Chibiusa's future was just two or three decades in the future (sure, Queen Serenity doesn't look middle-aged, but it's Queen Serenity, she'd probably still look hot as hell in her sixties). Plus, that skips the plothole "ok, so Serenity and the Senshi are moon people and can still be around after a longass time, but isn't Mamoru the human reincarnation of a human guy? why doesn't he die of old age?"

But now, I wonder... After all, Neo Tokyo is really different than present-day Tokyo.

[nevermore999]

Even though he did remember, he's still under Beryl's thrall. Apparently some sort of magical contract binds them or whatever- "he gave is body to her". Yeah. Also, Beryl promised him when he gave her the Silver Crystal, the other three would be returned to life. You'll see it in the next chapter.

And in the manga, they give the explanation that being bonded to the Silver Crystal increases your life span. So Mamoru gets a pass because he's married to the holder of the Silver Crystal. Also, apparently he wasn't just a human dude, but he's connected to the earth through his own Crystal, so...

[janegray]

Man, I feel bab for those guys. They really got the crappy end of the stick :(

I see, so that's how it works in the manga...

What do you think of the anime's timeline? Do you think that the lack of any mention of immortality/long lifespans really means that the future really does take place just two or three decades in the future? Or were the animators just being lazy and assumed that they didn't need to explain anything because people would just read the manga and get the explanation from there?

[meatwhichdreams]

To the moooooooooooooooon! :D

[kirke_novak]

Zoisite and Kunzite were my first OTP, back in the days when I had no access to the internet and didn't know others like me existed.