What do you think?
美少女戦士セーラームーン [Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon] #11
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 11
Mamoru is leaving to study in the US?! Even though Chibi Usa is back in the thirtieth century, fate won't leave Usagi lonely! An even younger pink-haired munchkin has arrived: Chibi Chibi, a mysterious little lady of few words. At the same time, three gorgeous pop stars enroll at Juban High School.
This new edition of Sailor Moon features:
-An entirely new, incredibly accurate translation!
-Japanese-style, right-to-left reading!
-New cover art never before seen in the U.S.!
-The original Japanese character names!
-Detailed translation notes!
This new edition of Sailor Moon features:
-An entirely new, incredibly accurate translation!
-Japanese-style, right-to-left reading!
-New cover art never before seen in the U.S.!
-The original Japanese character names!
-Detailed translation notes!
238 pages, Paperback
First published June 23, 2004
About the author
Naoko Takeuchi
198 books2,158 followersNaoko Takeuchi (武内直子) born March 15, 1967, a manga artist (mangaka), lives in Tokyo, Japan. Takeuchi's works have a wide following among anime/manga fans. She has become a well-known mangaka worldwide. Her most popular work, Sailor Moon, rose to become one of the most recognized manga/anime figures to date.
Takeuchi is married to Yoshihiro Togashi, the author of the YuYu Hakusho series and Hunter × Hunter series.
Please note that anime related books are listed under Kōdansha.
Takeuchi is married to Yoshihiro Togashi, the author of the YuYu Hakusho series and Hunter × Hunter series.
Please note that anime related books are listed under Kōdansha.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 320 reviews
November 2, 2014
Wow! I am so intrigued.
I've seen all of the anime episodes of Sailor Moon and I cannot remember that the anime was as intense as this Volume of the manga.
I especially liked:
- Three Lights/ Sailor Star Lights
- Chibi-Chibi
- Sailor Galactica
- the tension and the action, particularly in this Volume
I am going straight for the next and last Volume. So excited!!
I've seen all of the anime episodes of Sailor Moon and I cannot remember that the anime was as intense as this Volume of the manga.
I especially liked:
- Three Lights/ Sailor Star Lights
- Chibi-Chibi
- Sailor Galactica
- the tension and the action, particularly in this Volume
I am going straight for the next and last Volume. So excited!!
April 18, 2018
solo un tomo más buaaaaaaaa
December 31, 2021
4,5. ¡Por fin aparecen las Sailor Starlight! Me gustaban mucho en el ánime y tenía un recuerdo muy potente de ellas durante este último arco de la historia. Aunque creía recordar que jugaban más al despiste en el anime sobre si eran villanas o no. Me encanta que Naoko Takeuchi haya expandido el tema de las guerreras a las diferentes galaxias del universo y todas las sailors que van naciendo como si fueran elegidas, sean mujeres. La señora Takeuchi una adelantada a su época. ¡Qué maravilla! Es el tomo más duro para las guerreras y hay pérdidas. Me ha encantado. ¡A por el doce y último!
October 27, 2015
I don't know. On the one hand, I'm not enjoying this series as much as I was when reading the first few volumes. Takeuchi's character designs start to blur together with such a large cast, and it can sometimes be difficult to tell them apart. And the art seems to have gotten more stylized, with tonal effects getting almost out of control. Some pages appear to have been vomited up by someone who ate one too many volumes of shojo. The writing is lackluster, lapsing into cliché and still relying heavily on people--particularly Usagi--repeating part of what was just said in the form of a question to pad things out.
On the other hand, in terms of anime fandom in the USA, Sailor Moon is one of the Ur-texts. It's one of the series that helped shape anime fandom in the English-speaking world. And although everything is being painted with broad strokes, Takeuchi is still capable of coming up with some impressively mind-blowing concepts. The hyper-stylization of the artwork, the crude power of the writing, the association with the birth of modern fandom ... Naoko Takeuchi is the Jack Kirby of the manga world! Okay, maybe that comparison doesn't work so well if you examine it more closely. But there's a certain parallel to Jack's 80's work and the latter chapters of Sailor Moon. Next volume is the final one, so I may as well stick it out. Things do seem to be heading toward an apocalyptic finale.
On the other hand, in terms of anime fandom in the USA, Sailor Moon is one of the Ur-texts. It's one of the series that helped shape anime fandom in the English-speaking world. And although everything is being painted with broad strokes, Takeuchi is still capable of coming up with some impressively mind-blowing concepts. The hyper-stylization of the artwork, the crude power of the writing, the association with the birth of modern fandom ... Naoko Takeuchi is the Jack Kirby of the manga world! Okay, maybe that comparison doesn't work so well if you examine it more closely. But there's a certain parallel to Jack's 80's work and the latter chapters of Sailor Moon. Next volume is the final one, so I may as well stick it out. Things do seem to be heading toward an apocalyptic finale.
May 22, 2015
The quality of these has taken a severe nose dive. Much like the last volume, the transitions and flow of the panels is sloppy. On top of that, this volume introduces a new story arc and a truck load of new characters, but little to no time is spent actually getting to know them. They are just there. I had really been looking forward to these last 2 volumes because it's the introduction of the Sailor Stars who I've heard so many good things about but have never actually seen their season in the anime. I'm quite disappointed with the chaotic story I got.
September 23, 2019
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, por un lado están las starlight, así que mi short voló lejos, pero por otro me costó bastante engancharme. Quizás es mi negación a terminar con Sailor Moon después de más de dos décadas D:
June 2, 2017
With all these new Sailor Guardians showing up, I only have one question: am I a Sailor Guardian? I knew it.
February 4, 2024
I love this cover. Is absolutely awesome! The book is stunning like all others. I love all of the book series. Are so good. Illustrations are amazing! I m delighted <3
October 18, 2012
Wow, that was a really great volume. I can't wait for the next book. I want to know what happens!
Re-read 2020: A new arc is here. Mamo-chan is about to leave for the US (which was a bit weird, but that is an issue I have had with the manga, that it just jumps from battle to battle with little in between that makes it a bit confusing when something happens and you never saw it coming) and Usagi is about to say goodbye… when things go wrong. Enter Galaxia. This was a heart breaking volume because of what happened in this one. We all know something happened to Mamo-chan and my heart broke for Usagi when she found out what she suppressed. Not to mention.. Galaxia does things to all who are dear to us in the manga. I was almost crying and my heart just broke for Usagi. At least she got the Three Lights (who were amazing)… who turn out to be Sailor Guardians as well. Yes, this universe has more Sailor Guardians than you may think, and I absolutely loved it.
We also meet people from the planets that Galaxia conquered… people who know some of our animals closely (the crows, the cats).
Oh, and there is a mysterious little girl who is quite strong.. and she is a sailor guardian as well! I loved that they were speculating if it was a child of Usagi or if it was Chibi-Usa’s kid. 😛 The volume ends on a big cliffhanger, oh my! All in all, a fantastic volume that I greatly enjoyed.
Re-read 2020: A new arc is here. Mamo-chan is about to leave for the US (which was a bit weird, but that is an issue I have had with the manga, that it just jumps from battle to battle with little in between that makes it a bit confusing when something happens and you never saw it coming) and Usagi is about to say goodbye… when things go wrong. Enter Galaxia. This was a heart breaking volume because of what happened in this one. We all know something happened to Mamo-chan and my heart broke for Usagi when she found out what she suppressed. Not to mention.. Galaxia does things to all who are dear to us in the manga. I was almost crying and my heart just broke for Usagi. At least she got the Three Lights (who were amazing)… who turn out to be Sailor Guardians as well. Yes, this universe has more Sailor Guardians than you may think, and I absolutely loved it.
We also meet people from the planets that Galaxia conquered… people who know some of our animals closely (the crows, the cats).
Oh, and there is a mysterious little girl who is quite strong.. and she is a sailor guardian as well! I loved that they were speculating if it was a child of Usagi or if it was Chibi-Usa’s kid. 😛 The volume ends on a big cliffhanger, oh my! All in all, a fantastic volume that I greatly enjoyed.
January 27, 2016
Qué final lleno de tensión! Ya casi ya se termina el manga...
Me dio la nostalgia y me puse a escuchar Nagareboshi He de Three Lights, canción que escuché muchísimo en cassette XD.
Me encantan esas Sailors tan diferentes, lástima que no haya más historia para seguir viéndolas más adelante.
Me dio la nostalgia y me puse a escuchar Nagareboshi He de Three Lights, canción que escuché muchísimo en cassette XD.
Me encantan esas Sailors tan diferentes, lástima que no haya más historia para seguir viéndolas más adelante.
May 11, 2021
The scale of the conflict goes literally galactic in this last arc of Sailor Moon. We have a couple dozen pages of schooldays shenanigans, and then we're off to battle again. A couple of mini-bosses show up, and the guardians vanish two by two (as does Mamoru, very early in the story), their bodies destroyed and the crystals that hold their souls stolen by the wicked Galaxia.
Who the heck is "Chibi-Chibi" and why does she look so similar to Diana's human form that I couldn't tell who was who in one scene? Why is there a tiny version of Pluto in a crystal ball? (was this an element of the story that I forgot?) Everybody's a planet guardian, including Phobos and Deimos, Luna and Artemis. One can travel from Earth to the center of the Milky Way in a moment, or travel 3000 years into the future or the past (depending) with no effort.
This series has never been one for sensical world-building, or having a great sense of place. It's best to not worry about any of that stuff in the previous paragraph. Just enjoy the mystical feeling of the story, and sympathize with Sailor Moon as she comes to understand the price of being the most important princess in a whole galaxy. On to the final volume!
Who the heck is "Chibi-Chibi" and why does she look so similar to Diana's human form that I couldn't tell who was who in one scene? Why is there a tiny version of Pluto in a crystal ball? (was this an element of the story that I forgot?) Everybody's a planet guardian, including Phobos and Deimos, Luna and Artemis. One can travel from Earth to the center of the Milky Way in a moment, or travel 3000 years into the future or the past (depending) with no effort.
This series has never been one for sensical world-building, or having a great sense of place. It's best to not worry about any of that stuff in the previous paragraph. Just enjoy the mystical feeling of the story, and sympathize with Sailor Moon as she comes to understand the price of being the most important princess in a whole galaxy. On to the final volume!
May 22, 2019
The first half of the Stars arc. Really interesting expansion of Sailor Guardian lore (of course other planets have their own Sailor Guardians), and the enemy being an evil Sailor works for me. A new character is introduced, apparently even younger than Chibi-Usa who they're calling Chibi-Chibi, ha!
Pseudo-spoilers about power names:
Pseudo-spoilers about power names:
January 24, 2019
4,5⭐
Stiamo arrivando alla fine di questa serie e mi dispiace tantissimo il pensiero di abbandonarla...
Questo volume ha lasciato le carte in tavola per un finale molto interessante che non vedo l'ora di scoprire. Non si becca il voto pieno perché è stato un po' confusionale
Stiamo arrivando alla fine di questa serie e mi dispiace tantissimo il pensiero di abbandonarla...
Questo volume ha lasciato le carte in tavola per un finale molto interessante che non vedo l'ora di scoprire. Non si becca il voto pieno perché è stato un po' confusionale
September 7, 2013
man i really really want to read epic fic about the silver millenium
because the more i see of it the more it looks like takeuchi's writing about an empire
like she framed it as a utopia but she keeps putting in these moments of dissonance. chibiusa feeling like she can't touch her mother. i don't think the silver millenium is a secret dystopia but i do think it's more complicated than the vision of perfection it's introduced as. i'd love it if someone talented picked up on that and used it for like a 50k exploration of empire building. i'd sing their praises all across the wilds of the internet
on another note wow, i am really digging all the devotion thrown usagi's way this volume. they all love her so much! i think i warmed up to the sailor stars way more quickly than i might have otherwise because ugh that is some quality usagi pining seiya's putting out. keep that up and i will totally suppress any suspicions i have about how shadily your princess was initially drawn. people who love usagi get automatic benefit of doubt from me
also chibiusa and hotaru were being super cute and shippy at the start of this volume. a++++++ would read and coo over again. 3.5 stars
because the more i see of it the more it looks like takeuchi's writing about an empire
like she framed it as a utopia but she keeps putting in these moments of dissonance. chibiusa feeling like she can't touch her mother. i don't think the silver millenium is a secret dystopia but i do think it's more complicated than the vision of perfection it's introduced as. i'd love it if someone talented picked up on that and used it for like a 50k exploration of empire building. i'd sing their praises all across the wilds of the internet
on another note wow, i am really digging all the devotion thrown usagi's way this volume. they all love her so much! i think i warmed up to the sailor stars way more quickly than i might have otherwise because ugh that is some quality usagi pining seiya's putting out. keep that up and i will totally suppress any suspicions i have about how shadily your princess was initially drawn. people who love usagi get automatic benefit of doubt from me
also chibiusa and hotaru were being super cute and shippy at the start of this volume. a++++++ would read and coo over again. 3.5 stars
September 26, 2019
This was my first time ever experiencing the Stars arc of Sailor Moon.
I’d never seen the anime season of this story and I’ve never read the manga either.
So experiencing something all new for the first time was very enjoyable.
I’d never seen the anime season of this story and I’ve never read the manga either.
So experiencing something all new for the first time was very enjoyable.
January 31, 2015
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 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?
More on my blog (Goodreads word count again).
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
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?
More on my blog (Goodreads word count again).
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
October 26, 2022
Oh my, that was a lot
December 7, 2025
Representation: Japanese primary, secondary and tertiary characters, lesbian Japanese secondary characters.
Content Warning: death, violence.
Content Warning: death, violence.
December 1, 2021
Look, I‘m just not a fan of the Sailor Stars Arc. I mean the original Manga storyline is way better than whatever the old Anime Version tried, but it’s still so messy.
What I really enjoyed in this volume is the interaction between the Sailor Scouts before everything goes down to hell (again). Adding the Outer Senshis to the school setting is so much fun. Michiru is always a delight and Haruka‘s resentment towards the Three Lights comedic gold. The characters have such great chemistry and I love them just hanging out and playing each other off, it is perfect pay off for the relationships that were build over the last ten volumes.
As far as the story is concerned, the Dream Arc should have been the finale. Stars doesn’t really add anything in my opinion. It’s just very rushed and convoluted and feels shoehorned in, just like the Sailor Stars who lack any form of personality and Seiya‘ whatever with Usagi remains awkward and out of place.
The arc also does complete injustice to all the Sailor Senshis who just get randomly zapped out of nowhere despite growing so powerful, all while Usagi, legendary badass, watches helplessly. Not the Usagi that grew so much in the other arcs.
But whatever. At least the art is pretty.
What I really enjoyed in this volume is the interaction between the Sailor Scouts before everything goes down to hell (again). Adding the Outer Senshis to the school setting is so much fun. Michiru is always a delight and Haruka‘s resentment towards the Three Lights comedic gold. The characters have such great chemistry and I love them just hanging out and playing each other off, it is perfect pay off for the relationships that were build over the last ten volumes.
As far as the story is concerned, the Dream Arc should have been the finale. Stars doesn’t really add anything in my opinion. It’s just very rushed and convoluted and feels shoehorned in, just like the Sailor Stars who lack any form of personality and Seiya‘ whatever with Usagi remains awkward and out of place.
The arc also does complete injustice to all the Sailor Senshis who just get randomly zapped out of nowhere despite growing so powerful, all while Usagi, legendary badass, watches helplessly. Not the Usagi that grew so much in the other arcs.
But whatever. At least the art is pretty.
March 12, 2017
“You were always all aglow, little planet that made me smile; you were precious to me; that I could not protect you, that day vexes me. Though I have endured, the pain remains.”
The eleventh volume of the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series marks the start of the Stars arc, which focuses mostly on Usagi herself as well as setting her up against her biggest and final enemy of the series, Sailor Galaxia.
The story starts off with Mamoru leaving for the US, promising to write Usagi and assuring her that he won’t be gone for long. After sending him off under slightly mysterious circumstances, a few new people enter the scene of our Sailor Guardian’s Tokyo – a famous idol trio of handsome men called Three Lights who attend the same school as our Guardians, and a cute little girl with pink hair who looks quite similar to both Usagi and Chibi-Usa.
Usagi and the Sailor Guardians quickly dub her Chibi Chibi because of her likeness to the Tsukino girls and the fact that she won’t speak – only to say the words ‘chibi, chibi’. Though her origins are mysterious, the girl is very friendly and supportive, especially towards Usagi herself, and is quickly accepted into the family. She also appears to be quite powerful in her own right, and the power emanating from her is quite similar to that of an actual Sailor Guardian.
And the three guys of Three Lights show up everywhere where there are minions of Sailor Galaxia; oftentimes to save Usagi and her friends. Their hit single is a mysterious song full of power that truly touches the Sailors’ hearts, though they don’t really know why.
This volume also expands upon the lore and mythology surrounding the concepts of what a Sailor Guardian actually is; a powerful spirit or person born to protect (a certain part of) the galaxy. What makes a Guardian a Guardian is actually their inner crystal, of which the Legendary Silver Crystal is an example. These crystals or soulpieces cannot be destroyed, and will return again and again through time to be reborn into fully-fledged Guardians. This part neatly explains the death, rebirth, and reincarnation cycles we have seen the Guardians go through so far – all the way back to the destruction of the Moon Kingdom until during moments in the different arcs (Sailor Saturn’s death and rebirth, and Sailor Pluto’s reincarnation/rebirth).
Some devastating things happen during this volume – props to Naoko Takeuchi for going all the way – that leave Usagi isolated, alone, and helpless. This is a first for her in the series; starting off as somewhat of a crybaby, she relied most of her strength on the power of her friends and loved ones. Inherently, Usagi is sweet and forgiving, and just wishes to enjoy life with her friends – so what remains of her when all of her support would suddenly vanish?
As mentioned earlier in this review, this arc’s focus is on Usagi and what she decides to do with her power and the responsibility that comes with it. In that sense, it is the start of the most mature, satisfying, and philosophically interesting arcs of the entire series, leaving us with a devastating cliffhanger. Will Usagi be able to defeat Sailor Galaxia, who’s been hunting Sailor crystals all across the galaxy…?
October 14, 2013
It's time for Stars, hell yeah! Things get real almost immediately in this arc: three pages in and Mamoru is killed right in front of Usagi. Though I remembered that happening (and Usagi's subsequent breakdown) I had forgotten how quickly the inner senshi get taken out. The pacing - and death toll - is novel compared to the other arcs: things escalate quickly. Ultimately, I think the thinning of the ranks allows for more focus on Usagi, which is fantastic. Half of this volume is about her coming to grips with her denial and her guilty feelings about everyone's deaths.
And, it has to be said: Sailor Galaxia is amazing. There's a real aura of menace to her that most of the other Sailor Moon enemies don't really get until the final battles. That she actually steps out into the fray herself first thing is what sets her apart, I think. Well, that and the fact that Takeuchi gave her the best sailor fuku.
I'm surprised that they only used two volumes for this arc, but since it's so depressing it's probably better to get it over with as quickly as possible.
And, it has to be said: Sailor Galaxia is amazing. There's a real aura of menace to her that most of the other Sailor Moon enemies don't really get until the final battles. That she actually steps out into the fray herself first thing is what sets her apart, I think. Well, that and the fact that Takeuchi gave her the best sailor fuku.
I'm surprised that they only used two volumes for this arc, but since it's so depressing it's probably better to get it over with as quickly as possible.
July 12, 2013
Es wird seeeehr viel ernster, trauriger und selbstrefelktierender. Ab jetzt kenne ich die Handlung aus dem Anime gar nicht mehr. Aber ich mag die Three Lights und vor allem natürlich Seiya unglaublich gerne und vermisse Mamoru wirklich null^^ Außerdem mag ich die Idee von den anderen Sonnensystemen :)
Kaum zu glauben, dass ich jetzt nur noch einen Band zu lesen habe :'(
EDIT 2024
Mittlerweile vermisse ich Mamoru schon :D Aber es ist wirklich dark und ich mag diesen Arc auch deutlich weniger als die zuvor. Galaxia ist so ein Villain, der mich null packt. Die Three Light, v.a. Seiya, sind aber wirklich sehr willkommen. Ich freu mich auch, dass Haruka immer noch eine gewisse Rolle einnimmt, das hatte ich gar nicht mehr auf dem Schirm. Ich bin jetzt jedenfalls bereit fürs Finale.
Kaum zu glauben, dass ich jetzt nur noch einen Band zu lesen habe :'(
EDIT 2024
Mittlerweile vermisse ich Mamoru schon :D Aber es ist wirklich dark und ich mag diesen Arc auch deutlich weniger als die zuvor. Galaxia ist so ein Villain, der mich null packt. Die Three Light, v.a. Seiya, sind aber wirklich sehr willkommen. Ich freu mich auch, dass Haruka immer noch eine gewisse Rolle einnimmt, das hatte ich gar nicht mehr auf dem Schirm. Ich bin jetzt jedenfalls bereit fürs Finale.
August 30, 2021
I actually didn't like the beginning of vol 11 - us knowing so fast Mamo Golden Crystal got taken by Galaxia (well we don't know her name yet). I actually was confused about what happened, then it turns out just denial on Usagi's part
I also didn't like how the Star Lights met Usagi and how they were automatically suspicious of them and finding out they were Sailor Soliders. I know its a manga, but I wish it was a little more gradual. Funny how they weren't surprised these boys were women lol
I read in one of the reproduction of this manga in the back she wanted to kill everyone off several volumes ago (I believe vol 3) but her boss said no and wanted more. I'm thinking since this was the final 2 mangas she wanted to hurry up and finish
I also didn't like how the Star Lights met Usagi and how they were automatically suspicious of them and finding out they were Sailor Soliders. I know its a manga, but I wish it was a little more gradual. Funny how they weren't surprised these boys were women lol
I read in one of the reproduction of this manga in the back she wanted to kill everyone off several volumes ago (I believe vol 3) but her boss said no and wanted more. I'm thinking since this was the final 2 mangas she wanted to hurry up and finish
June 14, 2013
Most of the volumes in this series have at the very least been solid - good characterization, good plotting, sometimes fuzzy pacing but overall enjoyable reads.
But this book - this one really hit it out of the park. The stakes have never felt so high, the danger feels much more present and real than before, and I find myself anxious for the next volume in a way I never have before. Despite not being a fan of Chibi-Chibi, I even enjoyed her sections, adn the whole thing just felt so intense.
But this book - this one really hit it out of the park. The stakes have never felt so high, the danger feels much more present and real than before, and I find myself anxious for the next volume in a way I never have before. Despite not being a fan of Chibi-Chibi, I even enjoyed her sections, adn the whole thing just felt so intense.
July 31, 2016
In my opinion this is the weakest arc of the series. It moves too fast that I can't get a good understanding of what or why things are happening. Villains are introduced and within a few pages are killed. The new sailor guardians barely have any time for me to get to know them. The manga was already fast paced compared to its anime counterpart, but this arc is ridiculous. It's very rushed. For a final arc it's sadly underwhelming.
June 19, 2017
- They used the word "uterus" in an attack yell!?!?
- I don't understand what power lets some of the guardians switch genders. They can go back and forth at will.
- I'm confused about Mamo-chan. What happened to him?
- There are way too many guardians now. Nine was too many, and not it is just ridiculous.
- Just when we get rid of Chibi-Usa, here comes Chibi-Chibi. Who is she?
- I don't understand what power lets some of the guardians switch genders. They can go back and forth at will.
- I'm confused about Mamo-chan. What happened to him?
- There are way too many guardians now. Nine was too many, and not it is just ridiculous.
- Just when we get rid of Chibi-Usa, here comes Chibi-Chibi. Who is she?
January 6, 2017
Wow this definitely was the most intense volume yet and I can't believe it ended that way and I can't believe what's happened T^T I'm so sad and I hope to God there's a happy ending in the next volume. Poor Usagi!!!
June 15, 2023
What? Really. What? Not only was that complete nonsense, it was absolutely boring as well. I’m so thankful I only have one more volume in this series left to read.
June 24, 2017
I'm not a fan of the Star Lights and their enigmatic cross-dressing. Why is this stuff never explained? I think Chibi-Chibi is the cutest thing ever! She's so sweet and lovely to everyone. Adorable!
I enjoyed the plot, and I like that the evil villains are progressively more powerful and more evil, so now we come to the biggest baddie of them all. And the Sailor Scouts gain knowledge of the solar system and the galaxy further and further from Earth, as their enemies come from farther away, so the world of the story expands too.
I enjoyed the plot, and I like that the evil villains are progressively more powerful and more evil, so now we come to the biggest baddie of them all. And the Sailor Scouts gain knowledge of the solar system and the galaxy further and further from Earth, as their enemies come from farther away, so the world of the story expands too.
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