Sailor Moon Cosmos Review

 

After over a year of waiting for the finale of Sailor Moon Crystal I finally got the chance to sit down and watch Sailor Moon Cosmos. It feels weird, the last 10 years of this journey with Sailor Moon Crystal’s had its ups and downs but we’ve finally reached the end, so how did it turn out?

For those that don’t know, Sailor Moon Cosmos covers the final arc of the Sailor Moon manga, the Stars Arc, which I consider to be the Namek Saga of Sailor Moon. It takes everything that was built up to this point and basically throws them out the window. And since this is the final arc it will have major spoilers so spoilers beware!

So within 10 minutes into Part 1, Mamoru gets fucking dusted by Galaxia and has his star seed taken. This is one of the greatest villain entrances I’ve ever seen, Galaxia doesn’t say shit, she just kills him, smirks at Usagi, and leaves. This is one of the major points of this arc and why it works so well. Up until now, the Sailor Scouts have defeated everything that’s come their way and protected the planet. In less than 10 minutes, Galaxia has not only disrupted everything, her very existence makes it that no one is safe, and that Usagi might not be able to save the day this time.

This is psychological torture at its finest, and before everything is over, Galaxia is going to push Usagi past the breaking point in ways that would make Frieza jealous. This is one of the reasons why I compare it to the Namek Saga, the main characters fighting what seems to be an incomprehensible enemy that pushes them past their breaking points. In this case, Galaxia aims to destroy everything Usagi loves so the two have their inevitable confrontation. One by one the scouts get killed off to take Usagi to the brink. This includes the Sailor Starlights who I found to be way more likable in this than in the 90’s anime, where they were hostile assholes for no reason.

The pacing is really good, as they manage to get everything down considering the arc is only 11 chapters, the animation and soundtrack are all top notch as well. Watching the girls do their signature transformations and attacks truly never got old for me no matter how many times they repeated them, as is tradition lol. As Part 1 ends, we see Usagi gathering the strength to face Galaxia, but unknown to her, what awaits her is her ultimate destiny…

Part 2 wastes no time as Usagi and the starlights head towards the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. With each intense battle, more and more scouts are killed to end the Sailor Wars, including the now revived and brainwashed scouts to kill Usagi. Again, Galaxia making Frieza jealous at how she’s torturing Usagi at every corner. This is the biggest and most important point of the entire arc: What does Usagi do when everything and everyone has been ripped from her, and she can’t do anything about it? Finding what courage she has, she unleashes her power on the brainwashed scouts, reverting them to their star seeds, which finally leads us to the confrontation between Sailor Moon and Sailor Galaxia.

For those who’ve only seen the anime, Galaxia is controlled by Chaos after sealing it within her, here in Cosmos? She is a ruthless empress, hellbent on obtaining the ultimate power in the cosmos, and it’s here we learn in her backstory being born in a hell planet and one day getting her sailor crystal, with her quest of taking what she believes is hers. Galaxia is the perfect foil to Usagi, as she despises everything mortal and finite, not caring about life and love, By contrast, Usagi has always been one that has always embraced what is imperfect, she knows nothing lasts forever, and that’s why she cherishes her loved ones. And it’s with this knowledge Galaxia proves why she is the best villain of the manga, as she sends the crystals and Mamoru into the Galaxy Cauldron, essentially erasing their existence, and Chibiusa’s as well when she threw Mamoru into the cauldron, not only erasing the two most important people in Usagi’s life, but the third and second most important characters in the manga in Chibiusa and Mamoru respectively.

With Usagi past her breaking point, the power Galaxia’s wanted for so long has been unleashed, and so has Chaos as it nearly kills Galaxia and starts corrupting the Galaxy Cauldron, only for her to be saved by Usagi. We learn that all the bad guys throughout the series were simply incarnations of Chaos, all for the sole purpose of bringing Usagi here to take the Silver Crystal and rule the cosmos. Distraught, Galaxia breaks down knowing she couldn’t beat Usagi or Chaos, proclaiming the war lost. At the same time Chibi Chibi pleads with Usagi to destroy both Chaos and the cauldron so there can be no more suffering, but no more stars will be born.

With Chaos fused with the cauldron preparing to corrupt the cosmos, Galaxia given up, and Chibi Chibi desperate to end it all, this is where we see Usagi’s defining moment of the series and the embodiment of her very character…

“You know, I’ve never fought for the sake of peace or justice. I’ve only been fighting to protect those I love, for my comrades.”

When Goku became the Super Saiyan it forever changed how he saw himself and changed the way we saw him, the monkey boy we loved was always there, but from that moment on we would also see the saiyan warrior that made the self-proclaimed emperor of the universe quake in fear. Usagi from the moment she became Sailor Moon to now staring Chaos in the face, was and still is the ditzy, crybaby girl who fought to protect everyone she loved, no matter if they are destroyed or erased. It serves as the ultimate expression of her character while breaking her down to her very core as she goes to embrace Chaos and save everyone and the galaxy.

Throughout the series we see the romance of Serenity and Endymion and the trials and tribulations that they endured. We watched Usagi’s journey of becoming this soldier of love and justice and the power of love that helped her become the strong woman she becomes at the end. We see the theme of loneliness and how so many characters are brought together in different ways to belong somewhere and be one with someone. And I could not think of a better ending for Sailor Moon Cosmos than the wedding of Usagi and Mamoru, finally bringing the romance of Serenity and Endymion to its ultimate well deserved conclusion after all the tragedy and heartache. I absolutely recommend this to any and all Sailor Moon fans who’ve been watching the series up to this point.

As I end Sailor Moon Crystal I think about how Sailor Moon in general has challenged me to embrace the unknown and try things I never thought I’d do. It’s been a very long journey with Sailor Moon Crystal, and while I don’t know what the future holds for Sailor Moon, it makes me very excited for what could be next and hope only good thing are in store for the future of this series. I hope that like Usagi, you embrace the unknown and head towards the future.