"With every ending, come hope and rebirth."
Hooray I'm halfway there! Now onto the eighth volume of the adventures of 'Sailor Moon'.
What a beautiful volume. I swear the artwork is lovelier and more articulate here.
The Death Busters arc ends with the aliens Pharaoh 90 and Mistress 9 merging in a pool of blackness to engulf the world and send it to their Tau Star System. Sailors Uranus, Neptune and Pluto create wards around their city to contain the enemy. Hotaru, lamenting the loss of her father and her friends, but not giving up the strength she still possesses, sacrifices herself to save the souls of the other Guardians and Chibiusa's Legendary Silver Crystal from Mistress 9, who literally bursts from Hotaru's body to join her Master Pharaoh 90. Chibiusa gains a second Holy Grail of her own and becomes Super Sailor Chibi-Moon (what a mouthful!) Super Sailor Moon, with the fate of the world once again in her hands, and everyone else having used up all their power for the Moon Chalices of lore, sacrifices her own life to defeat Pharaoh 90. With her disappearance, Sailor Saturn, the Goddess of Death and Ruin, is awakened. She is to swing down her Silence Glaive to destroy Pharaoh 90 and the world, but Sailor Moon/Neo-Queen Serenity/the Messiah's presence means that earth can be saved after all. Sailor Pluto uses her Door into space and time to seal up the enemy and Sailor Saturn. Serenity bathes the world in light, returning everything to normal. And Sailor Saturn/Hotaru is reincarnated into a baby. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, who had spent the whole arc wanting to kill her, make it their new mission to raise the child, to give her a family she never had. They leave - along with their civilian identities - promising to meet the other Guardians - their friends - again someday.
Next, the circus is coming to town! Be careful what you wish for, this is the Dead Moon Circus arc, which in contrast to the previous, darker sci-fi storyline, has the lighter touch of a fairy tale. Chibiusa's training journey is complete, or is it? Her return home to the 30th century has been delayed by the arrival of a solar eclipse - plus a Pegasus pleading for her help, and a circus group that emerged from the eclipse (headed by Zirconia, once called "granny" by the Amazoness Quartet, ehh... and this is only the start of this arc's weirdness). The Inner Guardians are now high school students, and are closer to realising their dreams for the future. Usagi finds it is easier to be a child while Chibiusa, now 903-years-old, wants to grow into a proper lady already! After a battle with the Circus's nightmare orbs, Lemures, where the two Sailor girls gain new powers from Crystal Kaleidoscopes with minds of their own (don't ask), Mamoru collapses from a mysterious cause of pain. Sailor Moon and Chibi-Moon transform back into their civilian selves - and suddenly they've switched ages!
These story arcs do flow nicely, like a dream, only more coherent. The action is full of more power-ups than 'Dragonball Z', but it is exciting and tense: you care about everyone involved. The character development is awesome - some pieces are more sympathetic than others, but are carefully planned out and add weight to the emotions of all in this beautiful assemble. The humour is excellent - Chibusa’s April Fool's hindsight joke in her letter to the future is a master stroke.
Even if in some places story and character are rushed and don't make much sense - like the Outer Senshi adopting baby Hotaru and leaving the others - the emotional outlet and residue are present till the end. The characters are so full of life and wonder, and the reader knows the missing Guardians will come back soon, for more instances to shine afresh!
Usagi remains her lovable self, for the most part. Now a high school student, she knows she'll have to mature quicker. Her self-sacrifice at the end of the Death Busters arc, and her revival as a Messiah of Light, further prove her worth as a hero. She's earned everything she's received, everything she's ever fought for; she's a pure, true friend to all. No doubt she inspires others, such as Chibusa and Hotaru, who were pitiful and lonely before they met Sailor Moon; now they're hopeful, self-sacrificing heroes as well. If Usagi can save the world loads of times with the power of love and justice, she can handle high school. While a little naive and childlike still when it comes to Mamoru, she can also be like Ami and calculate and take a potential threat of an enemy very seriously.
One small note: Before she fades away, having returned Chibiusa's soul back into her body, Hotaru says destiny must have brought the both of them together - adding that this sounds strange because they're girls. Uh, okay... Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are girls, right? I'd thought that gender would have no meaning when it comes to love and destiny in this series. Or is this an example of Hotaru's naivety? Well, either way, she and Chibiusa are delightfully cute together.
Volume 9, here I come!
Final Score: 5/5
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