2026 REREAD:
WELCOME TO SEPTEMBER MOON!
The cover of 'Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 11' features Sailor Chibi-Chibi Moon, the most innocent of all the Sailor Guardians. It could not be more misleading.
The final arc, starting from Act 50, does not mess around. Usagi/Sailor Moon ends up losing, well, everyone. She is in the deepest depths of despair, and barely processing and recovering from all the trauma she has suddenly suffered.
But by the end, with Sailor Guardians she hardly knows from outside the solar system, from the far reaches of the Milky Way, she is determined to find and fight Sailor Galaxia, the evil Guardian of destruction responsible for so much loss and calamity in the galaxy.
And maybe, just maybe, she can save her loved ones, who were taken from her by Galaxia.
The battle to save the galaxy - the universe - is on, at the center of the Milky Way itself.
It's Sailor Guardians vs Sailor Guardians.
Rereview proper:
'Everyone, no matter who... has a world within their heart.'
And a star seed, which for a chosen Sailor Guardian also contains a Sailor Crystal.
Sailor Galaxia, with her Shadow Galaxia empire, wants to take all the star seeds and Sailor Crystals for herself, and become the ruler of the entire galaxy.
All the Sailor girls of the solar system are attending school, living their normal lives, earned after battling the Dead Moon for peace on Earth.
Usagi sees Mamoru off on a flight to America to attend Harvard University. He gives her a ring, they kiss, Mamoru promises to return... and Sailor Galaxia takes his star seed/Golden Crystal, obliterating his body, right before Usagi's eyes. The new and mysterious idol group, Three Lights, are there, and they take the fainted Usagi, and give her a lift to town. Traumatised, she suppresses the memory, and goes on saying that Mamoru is in America (so no one else noticed him disintegrating/disappearing at the airport...?). She receives postcards with only pictures of environments and galaxies on them at intervals, supposedly from Mamoru.
Chibi-Usa goes back to the thirtieth century with little fanfare. Usagi isn't even present for it.
Schoolgirls, but especially Minako, are obsessed with Three Lights, who are the boys Seiya, Taiki and Yaten (Usagi even has a poster of them in her bedroom). Inexplicably, they come to Usagi and Co's school as students. They are actually Sailor Guardians in disguise - the Sailor Star Lights - Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Healer, and Sailor Star Maker - from the Kinmoku planetary system. They are on Earth searching for their Crown Princess Kakyu of Tankei Kingdom on Planet Kinmoku, which Sailor Galaxia attacked.
Galaxia's fake Sailor Guardians who attack the solar system Guardians (and their mother planet proxies) are the Sailors Iron Mouse, Aluminium Siren, Lead Crow and Tin Nyanko, the "Sailor Anima Mates". They each represent a mother planet, like Coronis, where Lead Crow, Phobos and Deimos are from, and Mau, where Tin Nyanko, Luna, Artemis and Diana are originally from.
Amid the ceaseless danger and devastating loss, the mysterious child, Chibi-Chibi, shows up with an umbrella from the sky, and just like Chibi-Usa before her, she infiltrates Usagi's home life, this time brainwashing her family into thinking she is Usagi's little sister. Is Chibi-Chibi Usagi's future second child? Chibi-Usa's future child? In her own sweet, cute, innocent way, Chibi-Chibi helps bring Usagi out of darkness and despair, by just being there, and reminding her she is not alone.
The future timeline is also being altered by the present day's events and tragedies. Space-time is distorting. Chibi-Usa, whose training as a full-fledged Guardian is "complete", feels it, but her mother, Neo Queen Serenity, won't let her to go back to the past.
The Sailor Star Lights get Usagi/Sailor Moon to accept the truth of what happened to Mamoru, after she sees the Sailors Mercury and Jupiter, and then Venus and Mars, perish at the hands of Galaxia and the Sailor Anima Mates. By the end of the volume, the Star Lights and Princess Kakyu explain everything about Sailor Galaxia and the Shadow Galaxia to Usagi. It turns out that when Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask combined their Silver and Golden Crystals at the end of the Dead Moon arc, it put out such a powerful, beautiful, radiant light, that it attracted Sailor Galaxia to Earth in the first place. Even through her trauma and depression, and loneliness - she is at the lowest she has ever been in her life - Usagi is Sailor Moon, and she will not give up. She will fight Galaxia. Possessing her Silver Crystal, she is the most powerful Sailor Guardian in the Milky Way galaxy, and she will not allow Galaxia to get her hands on it, like she has the Sailor Crystals and star seeds of her loved ones, and everyone else in the Milky Way.
Chibi-Chibi, who had been protecting Kakyu until now while the princess was healing in a sweet osmanthus incense burner (it's a long story), and who has been revealed to be a Sailor Guardian too, is with poor Usagi.
They are in a park, on a swing, at night, when Galaxia shows up, and the evil Sailor is on the brink of destroying Jūban, right where Usagi is...
Really, I think my original review below already does a good enough job of summarising what happens in volume 11, as well as the characters and what their deals are at the present time.
But this is a special month of celebrating the 'Sailor Moon' manga, in current year 2026, so here are my newfound observations anyway:
At the beginning of the volume, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa are schoolfriends, holding hands as they skip to school. Aww!
The Sailor girls act like normal high schoolers. Including Haruka and Michiru, who are the most laidback and amusing they've ever been here. For some reason, they are attending the same high school as the others, despite being a world famous race car driver and violinist respectively (and the girls think that
WELCOME TO SEPTEMBER MOON!
The cover of 'Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 11' features Sailor Chibi-Chibi Moon, the most innocent of all the Sailor Guardians. It could not be more misleading.
The final arc, starting from Act 50, does not mess around. Usagi/Sailor Moon ends up losing, well, everyone. She is in the deepest depths of despair, and barely processing and recovering from all the trauma she has suddenly suffered.
But by the end, with Sailor Guardians she hardly knows from outside the solar system, from the far reaches of the Milky Way, she is determined to find and fight Sailor Galaxia, the evil Guardian of destruction responsible for so much loss and calamity in the galaxy.
And maybe, just maybe, she can save her loved ones, who were taken from her by Galaxia.
The battle to save the galaxy - the universe - is on, at the center of the Milky Way itself.
It's Sailor Guardians vs Sailor Guardians.
Rereview proper:
'Everyone, no matter who... has a world within their heart.'
And a star seed, which for a chosen Sailor Guardian also contains a Sailor Crystal.
Sailor Galaxia, with her Shadow Galaxia empire, wants to take all the star seeds and Sailor Crystals for herself, and become the ruler of the entire galaxy.
All the Sailor girls of the solar system are attending school, living their normal lives, earned after battling the Dead Moon for peace on Earth.
Usagi sees Mamoru off on a flight to America to attend Harvard University. He gives her a ring, they kiss, Mamoru promises to return... and Sailor Galaxia takes his star seed/Golden Crystal, obliterating his body, right before Usagi's eyes. The new and mysterious idol group, Three Lights, are there, and they take the fainted Usagi, and give her a lift to town. Traumatised, she suppresses the memory, and goes on saying that Mamoru is in America (so no one else noticed him disintegrating/disappearing at the airport...?). She receives postcards with only pictures of environments and galaxies on them at intervals, supposedly from Mamoru.
Chibi-Usa goes back to the thirtieth century with little fanfare. Usagi isn't even present for it.
Schoolgirls, but especially Minako, are obsessed with Three Lights, who are the boys Seiya, Taiki and Yaten (Usagi even has a poster of them in her bedroom). Inexplicably, they come to Usagi and Co's school as students. They are actually Sailor Guardians in disguise - the Sailor Star Lights - Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Healer, and Sailor Star Maker - from the Kinmoku planetary system. They are on Earth searching for their Crown Princess Kakyu of Tankei Kingdom on Planet Kinmoku, which Sailor Galaxia attacked.
Galaxia's fake Sailor Guardians who attack the solar system Guardians (and their mother planet proxies) are the Sailors Iron Mouse, Aluminium Siren, Lead Crow and Tin Nyanko, the "Sailor Anima Mates". They each represent a mother planet, like Coronis, where Lead Crow, Phobos and Deimos are from, and Mau, where Tin Nyanko, Luna, Artemis and Diana are originally from.
Amid the ceaseless danger and devastating loss, the mysterious child, Chibi-Chibi, shows up with an umbrella from the sky, and just like Chibi-Usa before her, she infiltrates Usagi's home life, this time brainwashing her family into thinking she is Usagi's little sister. Is Chibi-Chibi Usagi's future second child? Chibi-Usa's future child? In her own sweet, cute, innocent way, Chibi-Chibi helps bring Usagi out of darkness and despair, by just being there, and reminding her she is not alone.
The future timeline is also being altered by the present day's events and tragedies. Space-time is distorting. Chibi-Usa, whose training as a full-fledged Guardian is "complete", feels it, but her mother, Neo Queen Serenity, won't let her to go back to the past.
The Sailor Star Lights get Usagi/Sailor Moon to accept the truth of what happened to Mamoru, after she sees the Sailors Mercury and Jupiter, and then Venus and Mars, perish at the hands of Galaxia and the Sailor Anima Mates. By the end of the volume, the Star Lights and Princess Kakyu explain everything about Sailor Galaxia and the Shadow Galaxia to Usagi. It turns out that when Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask combined their Silver and Golden Crystals at the end of the Dead Moon arc, it put out such a powerful, beautiful, radiant light, that it attracted Sailor Galaxia to Earth in the first place. Even through her trauma and depression, and loneliness - she is at the lowest she has ever been in her life - Usagi is Sailor Moon, and she will not give up. She will fight Galaxia. Possessing her Silver Crystal, she is the most powerful Sailor Guardian in the Milky Way galaxy, and she will not allow Galaxia to get her hands on it, like she has the Sailor Crystals and star seeds of her loved ones, and everyone else in the Milky Way.
Chibi-Chibi, who had been protecting Kakyu until now while the princess was healing in a sweet osmanthus incense burner (it's a long story), and who has been revealed to be a Sailor Guardian too, is with poor Usagi.
They are in a park, on a swing, at night, when Galaxia shows up, and the evil Sailor is on the brink of destroying Jūban, right where Usagi is...
Really, I think my original review below already does a good enough job of summarising what happens in volume 11, as well as the characters and what their deals are at the present time.
But this is a special month of celebrating the 'Sailor Moon' manga, in current year 2026, so here are my newfound observations anyway:
At the beginning of the volume, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa are schoolfriends, holding hands as they skip to school. Aww!
The Sailor girls act like normal high schoolers. Including Haruka and Michiru, who are the most laidback and amusing they've ever been here. For some reason, they are attending the same high school as the others, despite being a world famous race car driver and violinist respectively (and the girls think that
Three Lights going to a normal high school is weird!).
Haruka is female-presenting full time now, I guess, with everyone referring to her by female pronouns. She wears feminine clothing for the majority of the volume, and seems to switch between girls' and boys' school uniform. This volume also marks the first instance we see Haruka play the piano, accompanying Michiru on her violin.
Setsuna is also at the school, as an infirmary nurse. I wonder how she obtained that qualification.
By the end, Usagi is alone, with her loved ones seemingly dead or in the future... except for her forever oblivious and constantly brainwashed mother, Ikuko. Her father Kenji and her brother Shingo don't appear at all.
On that note, despite Chibi-Chibi's dodginess in how she infiltrates Usagi's life, similar to Chibi-Usa, I like her a lot more than Chibi-Usa. She is so cute and cheerful, she doesn't talk much, and she is actually nice, comforting and supportive to Usagi, when she needs it the most. Chibi-Chibi keeps her grounded; keeps her from spiralling in confusion and despair, and from having a breakdown. In light of tiny girl's true identity - foreshadowed ingeniously near the end, where Usagi seriously yet tenderly asks the playful Chibi-Chibi who she is, and she answers, "I'm me!" - the two's connection is beautiful, life-affirming, encouraging and hopeful symbolism.
Chibi-Chibi/Sailor Chibi-Chibi Moon looks and acts like a toddler, and I think she is the cutest fictional character ever created.
How does Hotaru die/have her Sailor Crystal stolen? When the Sailors Uranus, Neptune and Pluto go off to their respective planets to erect a shield around the solar system, and they are attacked by Galaxia, Hotaru suddenly disappears in front of Chibi-Chibi, Luna and Artemis. Why, exactly? We don't even see her transform in this volume.
Speaking of Sailor Pluto, are there two of them? One is in the thirtieth century, serving Neo Queen Serenity, and one is in the present, as Setsuna, and a Guardian and Princess of Pluto. Or is this just time travel, space-time-and-plane confusion? It seems she is still friends with Chibi-Usa/Small Lady, according to the latter, though we don't see them interact.
Seiya, who disguises herself as a male idol/high schooler on Earth, but is no less a woman and Sailor Guardian, displays romantic feelings towards Usagi. It is explicitly stated near the end. She kisses Usagi more than once, too. It's a very similar to how the Usagi and Haruka relationship plays out back in the Death Busters arc. Arguably, it's creepier and more morally wrong here, as it looks like Seiya might be taking advantage of Usagi in her trauma and grief over losing Mamoru.
Lines summing up Usagi's existential crisis: 'Another enemy has shown up. Even though Mamo-chan and Chibi-Usa aren't around, we still haven't achieved true peace.' (This is after she suppresses the memory of Mamoru's demise, and before she loses her Sailor friends), '...I'm scared that if I start walking... everything's going to disappear...', 'Why does death come calling so suddenly and quickly?', 'Everything that makes them Sailor Guardians exists within their Sailor Crystals [...] ...So our physical bodies aren't essential to us?', 'Everything... is always my fault. Everyone gets dragged into my messes... because of the power I hold. And battles occur.', 'If... I weren't a Sailor Guardian, would I ever have met such comrades, much less have them extend me a helping hand? [...] If the Silver Moon Crystal didn't exist, would I never have been born [...]?', and '...It'd be nice if our bodies could never be erased, too.'
Usagi, untransformed, grows her Eternal Sailor Moon wings upon deciding to take on the mission to battle against Sailor Galaxia, with chains on her wrists, in front of Seiya. Or is it symbolic? Or Seiya envisioning her inner torment, with her 'borne [...] heavy wings upon [her] back'.
The Three Lights/ Sailor Star Lights have distinct personalities, and hobbies and clubs at the high school. Each high school Sailor Guardian/Soldier is either jealous, annoyed or infatuated with them, depending on their club and field of interest. Haruka and Michiru are especially, comically angry at the Three Lights, based on sports one-upmanship and petty insults.
In Act 51, when the nine solar system Sailor Guardians discuss the Three lights/Sailor Star Lights and whether they are friend or foe, Minako drops this bombshell: "Oh, come on, we're famous these days! It's the people who don't know who we are that are the weirdoes!" So their existence is public knowledge, then? And it extends further than plushies and video games? Even if their secret identities are undisclosed. I kind of wish this aspect was explored more, or showcased at all.
It makes no sense that, in the thirtieth century, Neo Queen Serenity would not allow Chibi-Usa to go back to the past, or do anything as a Sailor Guardian, when something is clearly wrong in Crystal Tokyo/Silver Millennium, and in space-time (according to a time-displaced Sailor Pluto), what with dark storms and other distortions. Chibi-Usa is a full-fledged Guardian now - let her be one! With the responsibilities it brings.
I still ship Minako and Rei. Their pose together on page 132, with the speech bubble, "You have a problem with that?", is iconic. I'm surprised it isn't a meme, actually. Plus it's in the panel that follows the one where Rei states they "have no need of menfolk." The duo definitely share a deep connection - spiritual, emotional, and platonic...?
Pages 150-151, where Sailor Moon runs to embrace Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars after she rescues them from Sailor Lead Crow, only for Galaxia to appear and perish the latter two's bodies and steal their Sailor Crystals, is absolutely heartbreaking. There is more buildup there than the sudden deaths of Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter in Act 51.
We don't see Artemis grieve over Sailor Venus/Minako's loss, which is a huge oversight. They've been together since the very beginning, before the 'Sailor Moon' series even. Usagi shouldn't be the only character shown to be openly devastated by the loss of her friends, just because she's the protagonist.
There is one moment of acknowledgment of Mina's absence from school - at which Usagi barely holds it together - but none of the other Guardians are missed, it seems. What about their families?
Asanuma has a cameo, and so does Naru!.. in one tiny panel, used to establish Usagi putting on a front and living her normal life despite everything. Poor Naru. And Umino, who's been shipped off the series for good, along with Furuhata.
Sailor Tin Nyanko is introduced in Act 53, as a "transfer student" at Usagi and Co's high school. She does a terrible job blending in, and she immediately tries to "befriend" Usagi, and reveals she knows her name... which goes unquestioned.
Tin Nyanko is a "Mautian", and so are Luna, Artemis and Diana; the cat people are from their mother planet Mau, which had its own Sailor Mau - but all was erased by Galaxia, like Sailor Coronis and her planet Coronis, where Phobos, Deimos and Sailor Lead Crow originated. Additional info: Sailor Iron Mouse is from the mother planet Chû, and Aluminium Siren is from the mother planet Mermaid.
Sailor Galaxia's Amina Mates of Shadow Galaxia - the Sailors Iron Mouse, Aluminium Siren, Lead Crow and Tin Nyanko - are "not true Sailor Guardians", but are innocents/misled traitors of their respective mother planets that were destroyed by Galaxia in her search for star seeds and Sailor Crystals, who were promised power by her via bracelets. These bracelets control them; they are their chains, and death sentences.
For all its drama, intensity, and wonderfully written character moments, volume 11 is far from perfectly executed, and there are plot holes. So my four out of five star rating hasn't changed.
However, it remains an excellent penultimate volume to the 'Sailor Moon' manga series.
I can't wait to reread and reexperience the ending. The emotional, universe-and-heart-shattering ending.
Happy September Moon, everyone.
Final Score: 4/5
Original Review:
"Everyone, no matter who, has a world within their heart."
"Everything is always my fault. Everyone gets dragged into my messes because of the power I hold. And battles occur."
"If the Silver Moon Crystal didn't exist, would I never have been born, either?"
Whoa! ‘Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 11’ begins and ends with a bang. A big bang, if you will. Though I'll knock off a star for the story starting off a bit uneven (the comedy bits are awkward as opposed to cathartic), the end of the volume makes up for it. On the whole, this narrative is so bleak and pessimistic.
The stakes have never been higher. There's no holding back in the Sailor Stars arc, the fifth and final chapter in the shimmering, wonderful saga of the 'Sailor Moon' manga. Main characters die; and the depression and PTSD that Usagi/Sailor Moon goes through is depicted in grave and haunting imagery, reflecting real pain and suffering. As it turns out, the entire galaxy is dying around her as well!
Epic here as epic comes: New mythologies and philosophies are introduced; multiple Sailor Guardians (possessing their own "Sailor Crystals") throughout the Milky Way exist; every living being in the 'Sailor Moon' universe has a soul equivalent of a "star seed"; and the symbolism in the story and themes are more overt than ever.
All the Guardians of the Solar System go to school, join clubs and hold jobs at school (it's endearing to see the not-so-stoic Haruka and Michiru attempting to live as normal high school girls). Usagi gets lonely as more of her friends and loved ones leave her side for various reasons - reasons that come with the emotional baggage of growing up. For once, ever since becoming the Soldier of Love and Justice Sailor Moon, she will learn that she cannot be dependent on other people forever, and her friends ought to enjoy their young lives in high school while they still can...
Fights, battles... the finale will definitely not be safe and conventional, and the heroes of this journey can't go on continuing like they typically did before, no matter how hard they try...
New characters are the Three Lights, aka the Sailor Star Lights, who are Guardians from a planet named Kinmoku, searching for their missing princess Kakyu. The three disguise themselves as a male pop idol group on earth. Then there's Chibi-Chibi, the next mystery child after Chibiusa leaves for the 30th century, who brainwashes Usagi's mother into thinking she is family (which she actually is, but that's spoiler territory). Chibi-Chibi is also the most adorable, cheerful thing ever, more likeable than Chibiusa was in her debut. It's nice that Usagi gets along with her right away, when the poor not-yet-woman needs the most comforting, and we'll see why later (at the moment, it’s only revealed that Chibi-Chibi is connected to Princess Kakyu in some way...)
The final enemy is Sailor Galaxia of the empire called Shadow Galactica. She is a Sailor Guardian of destruction - destroying planets and killing Guardians and harvesting their Sailor Crystals all across the Milky Way. Galaxia’s design is unique for a 'Sailor Moon' villain - she is meant to be different from the foes of the past; ruthless, bloodthirsty, and doesn’t waste much time with the monster-of-the-week formula. She appears fully in action whenever she confronts Usagi - showing she is a true threat. Sailor Galaxia means business, and as the (sort-of) last nemesis of Sailor Moon, she could be the best.
Nobody is left out in the final arc, either. Naru, Asanuma, Phobos and Deimos the crows, and Chibiusa in the 30th century; they all make appearances. The events of the past herald devastating havoc in the future of Crystal Tokyo. Luna, Artemis and Diana are as important as ever. They’re even given an origin story: They come from their own mother planet of Mau. The planetary castles of the Solar System are also shown and explained to the reader.
As a side-note, I absolutely love the moment when Minako (Usagi calls her "Mina-P", how sweet) and Rei declare they don't need menfolk, for they have devoted their lives to one girl, Usagi, their princess and future queen of earth. As they say this, they are drawn together - literally and figuratively. They've never looked so serious, and I am officially a Minako/Rei shipper. It's also a tragedy, in light of everything that happens...
Usagi, owner of the most powerful Sailor Crystal in the universe, and preyed upon by the most powerful monster in the universe, is also a human teenage girl. The eleventh volume of 'Sailor Moon' is the saddest, in my opinion, for it shows just how much she goes through - the loneliness, the heartache, the grief, the self-blame for bringing people in danger. No emotional and mental scars are untouched upon. No stone is left unturned.
But I'm glad for it, because I want to see my heroes at their lowest point, and pushed to their limits. I want to cheer as they learn how to overcome the worst obstacles of their lives, to be ever stronger and emerge triumphant, their happy ending earned. In the end, Usagi won't give up still. She won't cry anymore, for hope may be fleeting, but a little of it is there nonetheless. Sailor Moon must save the galaxy, and she has new allies - new comrades she'll have to put her trust in.
Where will this all lead her towards? The end of the universe.
Find out to what end this will come to - a fairy tale? a tragedy? both? - in the twelfth and final volume of the journey of 'Sailor Moon'.
Final Score: 4/5
However, it remains an excellent penultimate volume to the 'Sailor Moon' manga series.
I can't wait to reread and reexperience the ending. The emotional, universe-and-heart-shattering ending.
Happy September Moon, everyone.
Final Score: 4/5
Original Review:
"Everyone, no matter who, has a world within their heart."
"Everything is always my fault. Everyone gets dragged into my messes because of the power I hold. And battles occur."
"If the Silver Moon Crystal didn't exist, would I never have been born, either?"
Whoa! ‘Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 11’ begins and ends with a bang. A big bang, if you will. Though I'll knock off a star for the story starting off a bit uneven (the comedy bits are awkward as opposed to cathartic), the end of the volume makes up for it. On the whole, this narrative is so bleak and pessimistic.
The stakes have never been higher. There's no holding back in the Sailor Stars arc, the fifth and final chapter in the shimmering, wonderful saga of the 'Sailor Moon' manga. Main characters die; and the depression and PTSD that Usagi/Sailor Moon goes through is depicted in grave and haunting imagery, reflecting real pain and suffering. As it turns out, the entire galaxy is dying around her as well!
Epic here as epic comes: New mythologies and philosophies are introduced; multiple Sailor Guardians (possessing their own "Sailor Crystals") throughout the Milky Way exist; every living being in the 'Sailor Moon' universe has a soul equivalent of a "star seed"; and the symbolism in the story and themes are more overt than ever.
All the Guardians of the Solar System go to school, join clubs and hold jobs at school (it's endearing to see the not-so-stoic Haruka and Michiru attempting to live as normal high school girls). Usagi gets lonely as more of her friends and loved ones leave her side for various reasons - reasons that come with the emotional baggage of growing up. For once, ever since becoming the Soldier of Love and Justice Sailor Moon, she will learn that she cannot be dependent on other people forever, and her friends ought to enjoy their young lives in high school while they still can...
Fights, battles... the finale will definitely not be safe and conventional, and the heroes of this journey can't go on continuing like they typically did before, no matter how hard they try...
New characters are the Three Lights, aka the Sailor Star Lights, who are Guardians from a planet named Kinmoku, searching for their missing princess Kakyu. The three disguise themselves as a male pop idol group on earth. Then there's Chibi-Chibi, the next mystery child after Chibiusa leaves for the 30th century, who brainwashes Usagi's mother into thinking she is family (which she actually is, but that's spoiler territory). Chibi-Chibi is also the most adorable, cheerful thing ever, more likeable than Chibiusa was in her debut. It's nice that Usagi gets along with her right away, when the poor not-yet-woman needs the most comforting, and we'll see why later (at the moment, it’s only revealed that Chibi-Chibi is connected to Princess Kakyu in some way...)
The final enemy is Sailor Galaxia of the empire called Shadow Galactica. She is a Sailor Guardian of destruction - destroying planets and killing Guardians and harvesting their Sailor Crystals all across the Milky Way. Galaxia’s design is unique for a 'Sailor Moon' villain - she is meant to be different from the foes of the past; ruthless, bloodthirsty, and doesn’t waste much time with the monster-of-the-week formula. She appears fully in action whenever she confronts Usagi - showing she is a true threat. Sailor Galaxia means business, and as the (sort-of) last nemesis of Sailor Moon, she could be the best.
Nobody is left out in the final arc, either. Naru, Asanuma, Phobos and Deimos the crows, and Chibiusa in the 30th century; they all make appearances. The events of the past herald devastating havoc in the future of Crystal Tokyo. Luna, Artemis and Diana are as important as ever. They’re even given an origin story: They come from their own mother planet of Mau. The planetary castles of the Solar System are also shown and explained to the reader.
As a side-note, I absolutely love the moment when Minako (Usagi calls her "Mina-P", how sweet) and Rei declare they don't need menfolk, for they have devoted their lives to one girl, Usagi, their princess and future queen of earth. As they say this, they are drawn together - literally and figuratively. They've never looked so serious, and I am officially a Minako/Rei shipper. It's also a tragedy, in light of everything that happens...
Usagi, owner of the most powerful Sailor Crystal in the universe, and preyed upon by the most powerful monster in the universe, is also a human teenage girl. The eleventh volume of 'Sailor Moon' is the saddest, in my opinion, for it shows just how much she goes through - the loneliness, the heartache, the grief, the self-blame for bringing people in danger. No emotional and mental scars are untouched upon. No stone is left unturned.
But I'm glad for it, because I want to see my heroes at their lowest point, and pushed to their limits. I want to cheer as they learn how to overcome the worst obstacles of their lives, to be ever stronger and emerge triumphant, their happy ending earned. In the end, Usagi won't give up still. She won't cry anymore, for hope may be fleeting, but a little of it is there nonetheless. Sailor Moon must save the galaxy, and she has new allies - new comrades she'll have to put her trust in.
Where will this all lead her towards? The end of the universe.
Find out to what end this will come to - a fairy tale? a tragedy? both? - in the twelfth and final volume of the journey of 'Sailor Moon'.
Final Score: 4/5
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