#sm 2013

[auroras-boreales]

Gran Rah

[nangbaby]

What I Would Like the Sailor Moon Reboot to Be Like, Long Edition

Several months ago, I deleted all my posts on this blog, including my 2012 idea for what I would have liked for the Sailor Moon reboot to be like when the new anime was first announced.  While I had some of the posts saved, I hadn’t  bothered to repost anything other than the first and last one.

This is what I would have wanted the first season to be like at the time, although I have cleaned up some of the text and standardized some of the spellings.  It would have heavily followed both the old anime and the old dub, but it would diverge in several respects.

Into the rabbit hole we go…

(Warning: this is a VERY long read at about 8.000 words)

Part I

The story starts out the same as it does in all franchises, with Serena waking up late for school.  She notes to herself that if she makes her daily dash, she could make it to school just in time.  On her way to school, she sees some kids abusing a cat.  Despite running late, she rescues the cat, taking the bandage off its forehead.  She then runs to school, but the doors close just before she enters.

Later, Serena receives her report card for the quarter, and receives D’s and F’s.  The report card has to be signed, and in Serena’s case, a parent/teacher conference is to be called.  Molly and Melvin’s grades are much better, with Molly’s a mixture of As and Bs and Melvin’s nearly all A’s (except for one B+, which he whines about),

Serena wants to avoid going back home, and would accompany Molly to the jewelry store. Molly states she’s jealous that Serena’s mother would care about her grades, because her mother has been acting strangely lately, almost like an entirely different person.  All this time, Serena is stalked by Luna, who would note that she is the one.

Just like in the existing anime, she and Molly go to the store, and Molly’s mother (named Megan) holds a sale.  Since the store becomes crowded, Serena leaves.  She folds the report card into a paper airplane and tried to aim it into a garbage can.  She accidentally hits Darien, who is standing on the street.  "You could put an eye out with that,“ he remarks.  Darien teases her about her hair, and she gets annoyed, but the two part.

Serena gets back home and her mother grounds her (instead of kicking her out), and Sammy scolds her.  Luna enters the room and gets Serena to transform into Sailor Moon and give the usual exposition.

At the same time, Molly’s mother causes a local blackout then transforms into Morga. She drains the wearers of the jewelry of energy.  Molly screams, then faints, notably, not through choking or force in this version.

Sailor Moon hears the cries of Molly.  She runs to the jewelry store to confront Morga, who shuts the doors behind her.  All of the people who are wearing jewelry are under Morga’s command as her personal zombies.

Tuxedo Mask is at the scene, but not there to protect Sailor Moon or even to observe her.  While the chaos unfolds, he opportunistically rummages for the Silver Crystal.  Unfortunately, Sailor Moon is being chased by the crowd and bumps into him.  They both each strike a defensive pose momentarily, thinking the other was the enemy, but quickly relax, as each realizes the other is not being controlled.  One of the zombies grabs Tuxedo Mask by the cape and Sailor Moon instinctively uses her tiara and her kick to free him to her surprise.

Morga then confronts Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon.  Sailor Moon tries to use the same moves on Morga, only to fail miserably.  She soon finds that Tuxedo Mask had abandoned her.  In despair, she breaks down and cries, creating the sonic waves that weaken Morga.  Luna presents Sailor Moon with the Crescent Moon Wand, Sailor Moon heals Morga, turning her back into Molly’s mother and the crowd would be back to normal.

Next there is the obligatory cutaway scene where Jedite reports to Beryl and states that they’ve lost contact with one of their agents.  He states his intention to investigate, but Beryl orders him not to and instead focus on the other nine energy collection schemes.

While Molly recounts the story to her classmates of how she was saved in a strange dream, the damage is blamed on a gentleman thief and his sailor-suited accomplice  The closing scene shows Molly’s mother working at cleaning up the mess. Her hand suddenly turns into Morga’s hand momentarily, and it scares her, but then it turns back into a human hand, and she dismisses the experience as merely being tired.

Part II

The next episode opens in the Negaverse. Nephlite appears, stating that his efforts locating the Silver Crystal have proven difficult, but Beryl orders him to continue.  She insists that the Silver Crystal has to be found. The human energy they have collected is not enough yet to awaken the Negaforce, she claims, and if the failure of one of their plans is due to outside interference, they will have to step up their efforts to find an alternative energy source.

On Earth, Serena is overjoyed it’s Friday, because it means her schoolwork isn’t due until Monday and she can have fun.  Luna tells Serena that she has a destiny and duties to fulfill.  Serena instead heads to the arcade with Luna, where she runs into Andrew and ends up playing video games.  She notices the new game and asks about it, but there is a long line.  Luna follows Serena but is playfully stopped at the door by Andrew who pets her.  Luna senses something strange about him, but he only thinks of Luna as a nice kitty.  Luna also gets a weird vibe from one of the arcade goers playing the newest video game, which Serena is unable to try.

When Serena exits the arcade, Luna tells her she has to get back to the arcade. Serena says she’s out of money, but Luna tells her this is a job for Sailor Moon.  Serena says she is not “doing it” again, but Luna tricks her into saying the magic words.

Luna: So you’re not going to say, “Moon Prism Power?” Serena: No, I’m not going to say it. Luna: What is it you weren’t going to say? Serena: “Moon Prism Power.”

Contrary to the anime, just saying the phrase triggers the transformation.  After Serena turns into Sailor Moon, she panics for a moment, then claims she’ll change back, but the screams of others reach her barrettes and she runs toward the arcade.

She arrives at the scene and sees that all of the arcade goers have passed out but one. Sailor Moon battles the still-conscious top player, who reveals himself as an agent of the Negaverse. This Negamonster changes the battlefield of the entire arcade into a replica of the new game they were playing.  The battle is fierce, but she manages to win, barely, and restore the monster to a normal human.

Tuxedo Mask looks on from a distance, but thinks to himself there is no Crystal here and remains unseen.  After the fight, Serena celebrates, but Luna is exasperated and raises concern that Sailor Moon might not be able to handle matters on her own.

Luna: We need to find the others. Serena: Others? You mean there are more?

The next episode is similar to that of Sailor Mercury’s introduction episode, although like in the dub, Amy is a transfer student, from Infinity Academy. Instead of the teacher of Amy’s computer class being the monster, though, it is a fellow student. The monster attacks Sailor Moon and Amy, so Luna activates Amy as Sailor Mercury. Sailor Mercury unleashes her attack, which distracts the monster enough to allow Sailor Moon to heal the monster and turn her back into a schoolgirl.

The next episode is almost identical to the introduction of Sailor Mars. The only difference is much like the manga, Jedite himself has spirited the girls away into the inter-dimensional portal, with no underling involved. (Also like the manga, Darien is on the bus and Serena sees him there.)  During the process, Raye is thrown into the inter-dimensional space. Jedite attacks her Luna awakens Raye as Sailor Mars.  Sailor Mars unleashes her attack, which obliterates Jedite. Sailor Moon is shocked, not just at the power of the attack but the fact the enemy has been killed.  Killing Jadeite also causes the intra-dimensional space to collapse but the heroes escape and bring the missing girls back.

Beryl is now more upset now with the loss of one of her generals.  She orders Nephlite to step up his efforts to find the Crystal.  Nephlite does so, targeting sites of the suspect Crystal and using his Black Crystal to detect it.   Zoycite mocks him, noting that through her (yes, her) research, she has been able to theorize that the Crystal is inside a human host.  Nephlite scoffs that stars contain knowledge beyond her precious theories, but Zoycite mentions that science and innovation are two of the things these humans are good at.

At the same time, Luna reminds the girls that they are looking for the Moon Princess and the Silver Crystal.  During this time, there is the whole Darien/Raye dating subplot.  Unlike the anime, though, it is Darien who takes an interest in her, and Raye is the one conflicted about her feelings.

In Nephlite’s ventures, he catches the eye of Molly, who falls for him in the guise of Maxfield Stanton.  He senses a strange energy from her, and he is determined to find the source of this energy.  He suspects Molly is a Sailor Scout, the Moon Princess, and the keeper of the Silver Crystal at three separate times, but all three suspicions prove false.

Through Molly, Nephlite meets Megan and immediately recognizes her as an Agent of the Negaverse.   In private, Nephlite asks Megan why she defected, but she is completely oblivious to what she was talking about.  He then realizes that her memories have been purged.  Using the Black Crystal he restores her memories and appearance as Morga, and she explains what happened,  She was a sleeper agent, given the assignment to blend in with humanity and fake memories to help her adjust.  She did so and married a human male, and soon she gave birth to a daughter.  She awakened on Jedite’s command and collected energy, but Sailor Moon had sealed her memories and powers away with "Moon Healing Activation.”

Nephlite realizes that Molly is neither a Sailor Scout nor the holder of the Crystal, but the offspring of a denizen of the Negaverse and a human.  He also realizes that Sailor Moon is in possession of the Crescent Moon Wand, the same wand that sealed the Negaverse away.  He instructs Morga to keep silent on the matter and to act as if she were still “asleep.”  Sailor Moon could be the key to finding the Crystal, and thus Sailor Moon would be no use to them dead.

At the same time, the Scouts had started to become suspicious of Maxfield Stanton and realized he was Nephlite.  They confront him when he is with Molly and begin to fight.  Molly stands in front of him to protect him from Sailor Moon’s tiara,  Unlike the anime, though, she begins to transform into a monstrous purple gargoyle that still shares her features.  After a short, reluctant fight in which Nephlite assists, Molly is restored to her normal form and without memory of her transformation.

Despite this, Zoycite sees that Nephlite is spending more time with Molly and on Earth.  She is unaware of his reasons and surmises that he has fallen for the human, Molly.  Thus Nephlite’s end is nearly the same end as his in the anime with a single difference – Sailor Moon does unsuccessfully try to heal Nephlite with the Crescent Moon Wand.  Zoycite still takes the Black Crystal from a dying Nephlite.  Upon Nephlite’s death, though, Molly walks away, blaming both the Negaverse and Sailor Moon for what happened to him.

Part III

With the death of Nephlite, Zoycite takes charge, and she lays out her hypothesis: the Silver Crystal was reborn inside of a human being, that the reason why they could not find the Crystal was because it was split up and sent forward in time.  Thus, the crystal would not be in one person, but in fragments. Based on her data the number of fragments is seven - the same number as the Seven Shadow Warriors. Beryl protests the Seven Shadow Warriors disappeared along with a small portion of their forces that day. Zoycite believes they were sent forward to the future, sealed by the power of the Crystal fragment and carried inside humans with no memory of their past lives.  Removing the crystals would allow them to regain their forms and abilities as Negaverse agents, and by fine-tuning the Black Crystal Zoycite has been able to extract them.  Beryl allows Zoycite to proceed, but with the warning that retrieving the fragments is the first priority.

The events that follow are very similar to “Jupiter Comes Thundering In” with a crucial divergence toward the end.  When Zoycite uses the Black Crystal on Joe the second time, it restores his form and his abilities, but notably not his memories or former mentality.  Like in the episode, Zoycite teleports away upon retrieving the Rainbow Crystal so she does not see what happens next.  Luna recognizes Game Machine Man as one of the Negaverse’s deadliest foes in a flash of memory. Instead of attacking, though, Joe (as Game Machine Man) runs away, and Lita chases after him.  Sailor Moon asks what’s going on, Luna explains that he was reborn so he wouldn’t necessarily remember his mission, at first.  Luna urges Sailor Moon to find him before something does jog his memory.  Besides, she pleads, he wouldn’t want to be stuck like as a monster forever.

Away from Sailor Moon, Joe automatically reverts to a human form and Lita catches up to him.  He apologized for his rude behavior and said that he is feeling better.  Lita asks if he knew “that crazy lady” (Zoycite) and he says no, although she did seem kind of familiar.

Meanwhile Zoycite has located the second Rainbow Crystal Carrier, which is a priest.  This episode is similar to “The Power of Friendship” except that Lita is revealed to be Sailor Jupiter in this episode and there is no “Who’s the leader” subplot.  Zoycite recognizes Molly when claiming the Rainbow Crystal and it is extracted successfully.  She tries to order Bobo the Vulture to attack Molly, who mentions he has a strong urge to fight, but he instead attacks Zoycite.

Stunned, Zoycite tricks the new Shadow Warrior into fighting Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter (by saying they are her allies), but the two of them manage to heal him, and Tuxedo Mask gets the crystal fragment.  Tuxedo Mask tells Sailor Moon he’s also after the Rainbow Crystals, as they are the key to unlocking his memory, since he has no idea who he is.

The next day, people are wondering about a new whizkid at school, Greg, and this episode is much like “Mercury’s Mental Match” with one crucial difference…Zoycite does not succeed in brainwashing Bunboo.  Not only does she lose the Crystal to the Scouts, but she has to retreat before she can order her minion away.

Sailor Moon begins to pull out her wand to heal Bunboo, but Greg restores himself to his own human form.  He explains he still feels different, but that right now, he can stay in this form for the time being.  He also mentions that even if she would have used the wand, its effects are temporary.  Sailor Moon quickly remembers all the monsters she healed…including Molly.  He says he is going to take control of his future, and he’s going to start by not using his special power to cheat.  He is asked whether or not he can see the identities of the other Rainbow Crystal carriers, but he says he can’t see events that aren’t part of his personal future.

Around this time, Lita runs into Andrew and instantly crushes on him, but she also continues to run across Joe, who is starting to have flashes of memory.  During one of their interactions, she accidentally reveals to Joe that she is Sailor Jupiter, and instinctively the two argue, both blaming the other for the weirdness that has been happening in their lives since they met. They part, each of them thinking that the next time they meet, it would be in battle.

The next Rainbow Crystal episode involves Peggy Jones, a local artist, but with a completely different plot than “An Artful Attack.“ Peggy Jones is tracked down by Zoycite late at night, when the Sailor Scouts are at their respective homes and getting ready for bed.  Zoycite extracts the Crystal from her, turning her into Veena, then restores her memories.  Tuxedo Mask attempts to retrieve the Crystal, but Veena fights him off successfully, and he is forced to flee.  Veena wants to pursue him in the name of the Negaverse, but Zoycite stops her. Taking action will only attract the attention of the Sailor Scouts who’ve already defeated their allies, and Zoycite has to retrieve the rest of the Rainbow Crystals. Veena could help Zoycite more by helping her retrieve more Rainbow Crystals and revive her partners, Zoycite explains, noting that there have been three losses so far. Veena remembers how she and Techniclon were a team and agrees, then reverts to her form as Peggy.

The next morning, Serena wakes up and is late for school yet again.  She does her morning run, where Luna once again lectures her to be more responsible. She makes it to school during roll call, and while she “sneaks” in the room before her name is called (everyone sees her, including Miss Haruna, who does not appear to acknowledge Serena’s tardiness). Miss Haruna lets it slide, but presses Serena for details on the reading assignment last night. Serena fails, of course, but Miss Haruna is again uncharacteristically lenient.

At lunch, Serena, Lita, and Amy talk about finding the Rainbow Crystals.  Amy mentions it could be anyone, and immediately, Serena imagines her family as potential Negamonsters. Serena then remembers she has the Crescent Moon Wand which can detect the Rainbow Crystal carriers, which suddenly blinks.

The three girls use the wand to find the source…Miss Haruna. They realize they have to protect her at all costs. They concoct a plan to get themselves detention, and in Serena’s case it works, but before Lita and Amy can join in, unfortunately Molly and Melvin protest, not only getting detention, but raising Haruna’s ire to the point where any further insubordination will result in immediate three-day suspension.

That afternoon in detention, Zoycite appears in the classroom which Miss Haruna is overseeing Serena.  Unable to transform in front of her classmates, Serena pulls Miss Haruna out of the way and the two of them, along with Molly and Melvin, run from Zoycite, prompting the following exchange.

Miss Haruna: How did you get so fast? Serena; Being late for class has its advantages.

The group encounters Peggy, who they ask for help.  Peggy pretends to assist them, but then she transforms into Veena and takes Miss Haruna back to Zoycite.  Serena runs away from Molly and pulls out the Crescent Moon Wand to follow Veena and Miss Haruna.  Molly sees this and realizes with horror Serena is Sailor Moon.

Serena calls the other Sailor Scouts and transforms into Sailor Moon.  She arrives to the scene where Zoycite takes the Crystal from Miss Haruna, turning her into Techniclon.  Zoycite also restores her memories, then leaves the scene.  Veena and Techniclon attack, although Techniclon’s attacks all miss horribly, prompting Veena to comment “Technie” is off her game.  This forces Veena to lower herself so her attacks are more accurate, which brings her into the range of the Sailor Scouts.  As she lowers herself, though, Techniclon attacks her, then leaps on her back and pins her wings so she can’t fly away.  Everyone is stunned by this betrayal, and Techniclon tells Sailor Moon to finish them off now.  Veena doesn’t understand.  Techniclon explains she had moved on with her new life, and that she had grown to care for her students.  Techniclon expects to die, but Sailor Moon heals the two of them and both have no memory of being under the influence of the Negaverse.

The next Rainbow Crystal episode starts similarly to that of “Grandpa’s Follies.”  There are some differences, though.  Chad is discovered the next morning, and instead of being a generic “rock star” is a very famous musician who is purposely hiding at the temple, trying to drop out of the spotlight. After speaking in private with Grandpa, Chad is welcomed as an apprentice (in Grandpa’s reasoning, “Especially since the last one, Jed, didn’t turn out so well.“)  Darien comes to the temple with Raye, and thus is there when Zoycite returns.

This leads to a markedly different final fight.  In a notable scene, Darien, Chad, and Raye actually see Zoycite confront Grandpa from a hidden view.  Raye starts to go out of the hiding spot to protect her grandfather, but Darien stops her, saying that she he doesn’t want to see her get hurt.  (In reality, he’s stalling until Zoycite does take the Rainbow Crystal.)  Chad, in contrast to his anime persona and the deferential/"chicken” attitude he’d shown in the episode so far, does summon enough courage to go out there to yell at and charge towards Zoycite.  Chad says he’s not going to let Zoycite turn the old man into a monster (prompting shock from Raye and Darien at how easily Chad figures out what was going on), but she blasts him away.  Darien tells Raye to stay there and runs off.  Raye turns into Sailor Mars while Zoycite takes the Rainbow Crystal out of Grandpa, turning him into Pox.  Like the anime, Tuxedo Mask knocks the Crystal away from Zoycite before Zoycite can secure it, so Zoycite awakens the memories of Pox.  Pox goes after Sailor Mars and the Crystal gets lost in the scuffle.  Sailor Mars doesn’t want to hurt her grandfather, and tries to call out to him, but he does not relent.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon arrives on the scene, but sees the Rainbow Crystal.  She stops and picks it up, only to be targeted by Pox.  Tuxedo Mask saves her life, and along with Sailor Mars, the three defeat Pox and restore him to Grandpa Hino.  Zoycite escapes. Sailor Moon thanks Tuxedo Mask for saving her life, and referenced the night they first met.  He asks her for the Crystal she picked up, and she says no.  Tuxedo Mask reiterates his plea to Sailor Moon he’s also after the Rainbow Crystals, as they are the key to unlocking his memories, since he has no idea who he is. He tells Sailor Moon that he’ll be back for that Crystal.

In the next episode, the Sailor Scouts discover seventh and final Rainbow Crystal carrier when the Crescent Moon Wand reacts to Andrew.  After the initial shock and disbelief, the Sailor Scouts resolve to protect him, since this is the last piece.  Zoycite also discovers Andrew is the carrier, which leads the Sailor Scouts to guard him.  During these repeated attempts, Darien realizes Zoycite is after Andrew, and is conflicted as to whether let him get attacked.  The Sailor Scouts intervene and lead Andrew to safety.

Sailor Mars wonders if they should let the enemy draw out Andrew’s Rainbow Crystal then grab it themselves.  Jupiter protests that they are not going to let the Negaverse turn Andrew into a monster, but Mars counters that Sailor Moon can heal him.  Mercury reminds Mars that the healing is temporary and they don’t know when it will wear off.  Mars says she knows this all too well, which is why she wants to get this over with – if they have the Crystal, maybe they can keep the victims human permanently, that she doesn’t have to worry about her grandfather turning into a monster again.

Zoycite and Tuxedo Mask encounter each other nearby but do not fight.  Tuxedo Mask says they both need the Rainbow Crystal, but the Sailor Scouts are protecting the target.  He offers to team up so they can get the last Crystal, and Zoycite is skeptical, but considers it.

At the same time, Andrew sees the fighting between the Sailor Scouts and slips away to gives himself up to Zoycite, mistakenly thinking that the girls would be in danger trying to protect him.  He tells Zoycite if she won’t harm anyone else, he’ll give himself up. Zoycite replies, “How thoughtful and how stupid!” and extracts the Rainbow Crystal from him.  Andrew turns into Bakene, the seventh Shadow Warrior.  She quickly gives him a boost to make him remember his past, and he savagely attacks the heroes.  However, his rampage is interrupted when he sees Luna (who he recognizes).  Sailor Moon heals him, turning him back to normal.

The next episode is near-identical to “Sailor V Makes the Scene” except Zoycite hopes to get the Rainbow Crystals from both the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask. Instead of Zoycite posing as Sailor Moon, she poses as Sailor Venus, the fifth and final Sailor Scout. Aside from this, and the lack of semi-seduction attempt (although it would be referenced with Zoycite commenting, “Sorry, Cape Boy, you’re just not my type.”)  Consequently, Darien’s identity is not revealed to the Negaverse just yet. Sailor V would reveal herself as both real and as Sailor Venus and would help free the Sailor Scouts.  After beating the enemy, the Scouts would ask Sailor Venus if she were the princess and Sailor Venus says she doesn’t know.  She thinks that the princess is “asleep” just like the Negaverse sleeper agents, and if the Crystal is made whole, she’ll “wake up.”  Until she is awake, it could be anyone.

They also ask her if she really is the fifth and final Sailor Scout, since there are other planets, but she says she’s the last she knows of.  There were two others she was working with, but they were captured by the Negaverse, and she mentions said that no one taken by them has ever come back alive.

Part IV

With the arrival of Sailor Venus, Queen Beryl is livid with Zoycite’s failures, and orders Zoycite to retrieve the other Rainbow Crystals.  Malachite offers to help, but Beryl barks that this is Zoycite’s mess and Zoycite has to clean it up.  After leaving Beryl’s presence, Zoycite is alerted that one of the missing Agents has come back in contact with the Negaverse. The next day at school, Molly is absent.  Zoycite appears on television, telling Sailor Moon that she is holding Molly hostage at the Starlight Tower and to secure her release, she and Tuxedo Mask must both show up with the Rainbow Crystals they carry, with no backup.  The other Sailor Scouts tell Serena it’s a trap, so they plan to all meet at the tower by sunset.  Serena, though, decides to head for the tower immediately after school, more worried about Molly and putting the other Scouts in danger.  Darien and Serena run into each other on the way to the tower, and both fail to convince the other to leave (since Serena says she's there to rescue Molly, and Darien just thinks she's running in there powerless, and she thinks he's just accompanying her because she needs protection).  They both head to the tower, and like the anime, they both share an uncomfortable elevator ride up the tower.  Unlike the anime, though, instead of Zoycite trying to kill the two, they arrive on a deserted top floor.  Megan (Molly’s mother) and Molly are there, bound and gagged.  Serena tries to free them, but Darien senses something amiss and tells her to watch out.  Megan and Molly instantly free themselves  and claim to be loyal to the Negaverse.  Megan transforms into Morga while Molly also transforms into her monstrous form, both of them taunting Serena to transform into Sailor Moon.  When the mother-daughter duo targets Darien, he drops a Rainbow Crystal, and both Serena realizes who Darien is now.  Serena transforms into Sailor Moon at last, while Darien turns into Tuxedo Mask. Meanwhile, the Sailor Scouts piece together that Sailor Moon had gone to the tower alone and that there was no way in.  Luna counters that if the four of them join hands, they can teleport a short distance, but that the power can only be used once every twenty-four hours.  The Sailor Scouts teleport inside. At the same time, Zoycite arrives at the fight and jumps in to confront Tuxedo Mask, and fights him while Sailor Moon fights the mother and daughter duo.  Seeing that she is at a standstill with Tuxedo Mask, Zoycite targets a distracted Sailor Moon with an attack.  Like the original anime (and not the dub), Tuxedo Mask takes the blow for Sailor Moon.  The Sailor Scouts appear at that moment and enter the fray against the Negaverse agents, but Sailor Moon is devastated.  The full moon shines on Sailor Moon as she cries, and the Seven Crystals fly toward her and begin to orbit her. Elsewhere, the Seven Shadow Warriors each begin to transform, each of them in their separate places, and the Sailor Scouts all double over in pain.  All the other previous sleeper agents who have been healed begins to revert to monstrous forms and Zoycite’s Black Crystal pulsates, trying to take control of the merging crystals.  The Silver Crystal fuses and in an explosion of light, knocks Zoycite away.  Sailor Moon turns into the Moon Princess. Luna:  I can’t believe she was in front of me all this time.  Sailor Moon is the Moon Princess…Princess Serena. Zoycite tries to attack the former Sailor Moon again, but the Moon Princess blasts her and Zoycite teleports away.  Princess Serena also blasts Morga and the transformed Molly and knocks both unconscious.  The Moon Princess reverts to Sailor Moon and at once she tries to heal Molly, but this time it does not work.  The Sailor Scouts then carry the two knocked out Negamonsters and Darien out of this trap and they all go home.  The sun rises, Molly and Megan are restored to their human forms.  Everyone goes back to their beds to go to sleep, and the Sailor Scouts all experience the same dream. At this point everyone begins to recall the past, and Queen Serenity appears in the communal dream to help them relive the past and the present.  The girls once lived in the Moon Kingdom, an interplanetary realm comprising the planets of our Solar System.  The Sailor Scouts were girls imbued with power to protect the Moon Kingdom from threats, including the Negaverse, the duty passing from one girl to the next over the years.  However, by a strange twist of fate, the current guardians of the planets were also the princesses of these planets, which was an unforseen development and considered a bad omen.  Queen Serenity explains that Princess Serena also fell into this pattern.  Although she was the Moon Princess, she always had the power to become Sailor Moon, but Queen Serenity never awakened that power.  The queen saw how that power ostracized the princesses even in an era of peace, and that being a Sailor Scout would have made the princess even more of a target. In a departure from most existing Sailor Moon media, Earth was an ally to the Moon Kingdom, but refused to join it.  Likewise, the romance between Prince Darien and Princess Serena was not forbidden love, but a supported union between the two neighboring kingdoms.  Thus, the attack of the Negaverse was an outside threat, one not known on Earth but vaguely familiar to those in the Moon.  It destroyed the entire Moon Kingdom and killed nearly all its people.  Unlike the anime, the Sailor Scouts were not killed directly by the Negaforce, but were slain by the Seven Shadow Warriors.  Although the Negaverse did prevail, it was severely weakened and lost many of its soldiers in the attacks as well.  Much like the dub, there is no prior history between Queen Beryl and either Princess Serena or Prince Darien and she killed them as she would any others who refused her. However, just like in the old anime, Queen Serenity used the Silver Crystal to seal the living combatants away in the Negaverse.  The spirits of all those who died, be they of the Moon Kingdom or the Negaverse were sent to Earth.  She also split the Silver Crystal into the Rainbow Crystals and sent them to the future, knowing that the seal placed on the Negaverse would not last, and only the Silver Crystal could ultimately combat this enemy.  When the dead were reincarnated, the connections of the previous lives remained.  The Sailor Scouts were also princesses of their own worlds, but their duty was to protect the Moon Kingdom and its heir, the Princess.  Now that the people of the Moon Kingdom were sent to Earth, and now that the Princess was now a Sailor Scout, too, Sailor Moon had a duty to protect the Earth, too.  The planet had now been adopted into the lunar legacy; protecting Earth is the duty of the Sailor Scouts.  Queen Serenity wants Serena to live a full life and a new life, to not repeat the mistake Serenity made.  The queen tells Serena to embrace all the parts of her, and that while Serena will always be her daughter and of the Moon Kingdom, she is a daughter of the Earth, too, and that the friends she’s made there are as important as the ones she used to have. At the very same time, another dream is also interspersed with the memories of those from the other side…those of the Negaverse who were reborn as normal humans, and those who were sleeper agents and defeated.  Those who had died as heroes for the Negaverse were sealed away by a light, only to now realize the human lives they now lead were lies, and they had been trapped in a prison they could not even perceive.  The separate sleeper agents recalled the great defeat and volunteered to have their memories stripped away, then remembered their personalized defeats at the hands of Sailor Moon. Upon waking up from the dream, Serena goes back to Molly’s apartment. Molly clearly does not remember anything from the last night, although Megan definitely does.  Serena says she’s not there to fight, but Megan transforms into Morga and the two of them battle briefly.  Sailor Moon has the upper hand, but instead of healing, she begins to appeal to Morga as Megan, Molly’s “cool mom.“  Morga relents slightly (recalling that Sailor Moon did help her out the tower while Zoycite fled for her life), stating that for now there will be a truce, but once the Negaverse takes control, Morga will personally take care of Sailor Moon herself.  Unknown to either of them, Molly does see this exchange. Next is a Sailor Scout meeting, and the restored memories have a strong impact on the girls.  Raye admits she didn’t even recognize her own name when Chad called it, and furthermore the tension when she and her grandfather are in the same room is unbearable.  Amy is unable to concentrate on reading and studying as her minds slips back to her Lunar studies and the Lunar language.  Lita has flashbacks about their demises.  Mina handles it better, mentioning that she had started to regain some of her memories before now, but mentions it’s still hard to know if she’s having a memory of a feeling or if she’s actually experiencing that feeling.  Luna and Artemis tell the girls they understand, even they didn’t remember everything until now, either.  Nevertheless, there are still problems.  The Negaverse is still after the Silver Crystal and not only that, the Negaforce is still getting stronger (due to the existing energy collection schemes that have not been touched).  Now that the Silver Crystal is whole, the Scouts have to figure out how to end this once and for all. Meanwhile the Seven Shadow Warriors unite with even more unease, their past-life memories now stronger than ever.  With the burst of energy from the Crystal, now all of them have the ability to assume their former forms at will.  Despite this, with the exceptions of Greg and Joe who had talked to each other, and Peggy and Miss Haruna from their previous encounter, none of the seven knew about each others’ present identities, and none of them agree whether they should join the Negaverse, live normal lives (if that’s even possible), or do something else. Back in the Negaverse, the Queen Beryl consults the Negaforce, which sarcastically thanks her for what energy it is still able to get and reminds Beryl of her failures.  Beryl then returns to her throne to berate Zoycite for letting the Silver Crystal get away.  Zoycite mentions they now know Sailor Moon’s identity, but Queen Beryl chastises her, reminding her that now Sailor Moon has the Silver Crystal, which means getting rid of her got all that much harder since the Crystal will instinctively protect its wielder.  The Sailor Scouts have grown too powerful to combat head on, but they have a weakness – their alliance with Tuxedo Mask.  Beryl orders that they retrieve Tuxedo Mask, as he since he is not a Sailor Scout, it might be possible for them to bring him to their side without destroying him. Zoycite realizes that Beryl wants to replace her, so she has a minion follow Serena, knowing that she would lead Zoycite to Tuxedo Mask.  Serena goes over to Darien’s apartment.  Now that their memories had been restored, their former feelings for each other have become active feelings, but the more recent memories of their present interactions are also intertwined, and both are uncertain as to whether they can trust the other.  They talk thoroughly about not only their past lives and their alternate identities, but what this means for their relationship.  The agree to be friends for now, but not to keep any more secrets between them, although as they part, they clearly want to be closer. However, Zoycite’s spy reports that Serena has left, so Zoycite confronts Darien and he turns into Tuxedo Mask, which causes Sailor Moon to turn around and interrupt the confrontation.  In the attempt to capture Tuxedo Mask, Zoycite tries to kill Darien but fails.  Despite the interference of Sailor Moon, Zoycite succeeds in disarming Tuxedo Mask and takes him back to the Negaverse.  Beryl proclaims this victory is too little, too late for Zoycite, so Beryl kills Zoycite for her incompetence, fulfilling Zoycite’s fears.  Queen Beryl then brainwashes Darien into becoming a servant of the Negaverse. Malachite swears revenge against the Sailor Scouts, and he lays out his plan for ensuring victory for the Negaverse.  Instead of tracking Sailor Moon and trying to take the Crystal from her, that they instead target those fallen Negaverse Warriors.  The newly awakened Prince Darien scoffs at the plan, stating that even the elite agents were no match for Sailor Moon, so what good would reviving fallen soldiers from antiquity do?  Malachite points out that Sailor Moon’s weakness is that she spares those she sees as enemies instead of trying to kill them.  Sailor Moon might be able to turn them back into humans temporarily, but eventually, they will reawaken and Sailor Moon’s cruel mercy would be her undoing, as they will awaken once more and soon, an army of Negamonsters will attack the city. From this point, the episodes become less formulaic, and several different subplots arise, one of which is that of Chad.  One day at the temple, Lita remarks that at least Raye and Mina can have normal boyfriends (since Lita and Joe have decided to pursue a relationship), but both Mina and Raye are both at unease at the remark.  Mina diverts the topic when spots Chad and recognizes him.  Instantly, Raye gets jealous and thinks she wants his autograph.  Instead, Mina explains that she had met him in London, but adds he probably doesn’t remember her.  Chad mentions that he doesn’t like to talk about London.  He heads into the woods, while Raye follows him. Mina mentions to Lita that’s who she facing a different branch of the Negaverse in London.  Instead of gathering energy from crowds, these enemies tried to steal the heart energy of individuals they think are pure-hearted.   At the same time, Raye talks to Chad, who mumbles, “Even a man…” as explains his story.  He was attacked by what he thought was a crazy fan.  He mentions that she “did” something to him that changed him forever and mentions being “pure of heart” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Mina separately recalls that night as well, as the removal of his pure heart caused Chad to transform into a monster.  Sailor V and her two partners were on the scene when he was attacked by the “fan.”  They returned his pure heart, which restored him to a human form.

Elsewhere with Raye, Chad reveals that despite restoring his heart and body, the magic had already taken root and the mere act of removing it had created an imbalance.  That’s why he went to the temple, to see if he could be truly purified.  He says Raye probably thinks he’s crazy, but she says she believes him.

Raye, Lita, and Mina reunite later that day.  Mina explains the Negaverse is more than one organization or scheme.  Some branches can turn ordinary humans into monsters.  That’s what they tried to do with Chad. Chad’s secret comes to light when the full moon arises and Chad turns into a monster once again and begins to attack the girls.  The Sailor Scouts try to calm him down, and Sailor Moon arrives on the scene, but despite using the Crescent Moon Wand with the Silver Crystal, her efforts do nothing, and it is only with the sunrise is Chad restored to normal.  Sailor Moon wonders why she’s not able to heal monsters any more, and if this means she won’t be able to heal Darien. Another subplot is that of Molly.  With the awakening of her heritage and hurt by what she perceives as Serena’s betrayal, Molly takes it upon herself to try to kill Sailor Moon.  She blames Sailor Moon for not only being the Moon Princess and being the cause of the Negaverse interfering in their lives, but for awakening her other half and turning her into a monster; if Sailor Moon had just let her mother steal the energy, Molly (mistakenly) reasons, the assignment would have been over and Molly would have a normal life and not be a freak.  Molly and Sailor Moon fight, seemingly one on one. Megan interrupts, though, and turns back into Morga as she tries to restrain Molly.  Molly doesn’t understand why her mother is protecting the enemy, and Morga said she realized who the real enemy was…the one that not only let them fend for themselves in a world they don’t understand (Earth) but used them and discarded them: none of the other former agents were able to get back into the good graces of the Negaverse.  Morga admits that in spite of being on the side of humans, Serena tried to be Molly’s friend even after she could no longer “cure” her.  If her fated enemy could put aside her duty over friendship, maybe there is something to her way of thinking after all.  Sailor Moon also begins to understand that while the wand can ward the influence of the Negaverse, it cannot make the inhuman human, and the full power of the moon restores one to a natural state.  In the case of the Negaverse agents, their natural state is their Negaverse form; “healing” is at best a temporary measure and making them not who they truly are. Another episode deals with Sailor Mercury.  The classmate who had initially attacked Amy when she became Sailor Mercury stalks her and isolates her.  Sailor Mercury attempts to reason with her, but the Negamonster continues to attack, forcing Sailor Mercury to destroy the monster.  As it dies, it reverts to human form, and the classmate reveals that she was tired of waking up and not knowing who she was, having the memory of two lives.  She thanks Sailor Mercury before dying, now realizing she was more human than denizen of the Negaverse after all, but Sailor Mercury is distraught at taking a life. Eventually, the Negaforce awakens due to having enough human energy feeding it from the untouched energy schemes, and it sets up a base on the North Pole, from which negative energy from that other dimension begins to envelop Earth.  The Sailor Scouts agree that they have to use this event as their chance to break into the Negaverse at the merge point for the dimensions. The Seven Shadows decide to help.  They would take the Sailor Scouts “hostage,” which would allow the Sailor Scouts safe passage into the Negaverse.  Morga contacts Malachite, telling him that the Seven Shadow Warriors have managed to capture the Sailor Scouts.  Darien expresses mild surprise that the Shadows were alive.  Morga asks if she could return to the Negaverse, but Prince Darien denies her request, falsely claiming that she has more important work in the human world, and that one day, she will be rewarded for her efforts. Mercury is accompanied by Bunboo, Mars by Pox, Jupiter by Game Machine Man, and Venus by the combination of Bobo the Vulture and Veena.  Techniclon/Miss Haruna and Bakene/Andrew take Sailor Moon and these three form a separate group.  They all decide to return to the Negaverse base.  In their journey they encounter Malachite.  Malachite, though, knows it’s a trap, because Techniclon and Veena would have never split up if they were the same old selves as they were before.  Separated from the rest of the Sailor Scouts, Sailor Moon, Techniclon, and Bakene attempt to fight Malachite.  It ends with Bakene and Techniclon striking the final blow, but both of them dying in the process. Beryl teleports Sailor Moon to her throne room.  Amy, Lita, and Raye stand before her, in normal, depowered forms.  Sailor Moon goes over to them and suddenly, Amy, Lita, and Raye all turn into monsters.  Beryl explains that Prince Darien intercepted that group and had the Scouts looked over by “the good doctor” while he personally took care of the traitors (Shadow Warriors).   Sailor Moon tries to heal them, but cannot as Queen Beryl claims that the powers of the Crystal are completely negated by the strength of the dark energy of the Negaverse.  A dying Sailor Venus (who had escaped) kills the three former Scouts with her Crescent Beam, stating that Beryl is wrong…it’s not that the Crystal doesn’t work, but it can’t restore a human who has been transformed into a monster, because the monster is now the human’s default state.  She assures Sailor Moon that those three are at peace now, and she passes away. Queen Beryl summons Prince Darien, and Sailor Moon is now faced with her former love.  Sailor Moon is reluctant to fight him, but as the Crystal does not initially work, Sailor Moon realizes she must fight him.  In fact, unlike the anime, she ends up nearly beating him when she realizes this this what Beryl wants her to do, and she knows that unlike her friends, Beryl had not turned him into a monster as Beryl wanted him body and soul.  Sailor Moon then heals Prince Darien, who is susceptible to healing now that he has been weakened.  Beryl is stunned that Sailor Moon could use the power of the Crystal to not only break the spell, but to restore the memories of Prince Darien, who turns on Queen Beryl.  Queen Beryl retreats, but the purification weakened Prince Darien and he can no longer fight, so he urges Sailor Moon to go on without him. Sailor Moon and Queen Beryl, empowered by the Negaforce, fight as in the anime.  Sailor Moon turns into Princess Serena.  She realizes that unlike the other enemies she had faced, Beryl is evil incarnate and is responsible for the deaths of her friends and the deaths of multitudes.  Princess Serena is mentally prepared to destroy Queen Beryl and much like the anime, Beryl is swallowed by a ball of light…but she is not killed.  Queen Beryl is weakened from the blast, but appears back on her throne.  She orders Alan and Ann to go to Earth and to collect energy for the Doom Tree.  After they depart, there is laughter, and Nehellenia appears.  She seals Beryl inside a mirror then tells Beryl it’s like Eternal Sleep, “except you’re awake the entire time.”  Nehellenia says she’ll show Beryl how a kingdom is run. Her first act is to seal the entrance to the Negaverse; they have to rebuild.     From the heroes’ side, all of the Sailor Scouts, except for Sailor Moon are dead, although Darien is still alive.  Sailor Moon uses the Silver Crystal to send their souls and the souls of the Seven Shadows to the future, although since this was only a few and not an entire civilization, this only weakens her rather than kills her.  Sailor Moon then uses the power of the Crystal to return her and Darien home, and some sympathetic members of the Negaverse follow her to Earth. The next day, Serena attends school with Molly, expecting to never see her other friends again.  However, Serena sees Miss Haruna and realizes that if she is here, then so are her are friends.  Serena finds them again soon afterward, and is stunned at their presence…but they explained as Sailor Scouts they had time-travelled to the past (Serena's present) from the future, their memories of their previous lives (the one in the present day) in tact.  The Rainbow Crystal carriers are also allowed to time travel and return to the present, due to their connection with the Crystal.  There was a cost, though…they could only remember the lives from which they had been reborn, and not the memories of their lives in the Silver Millennium.  Thus, while they know the source of their powers and the information about the past…no longer do either the resurrected Sailor Scouts or the Seven Shadows remember their concrete pasts from the Silver Millennium.  Only Serena, Darien, Luna, and Artemis have their memories of their lives in the Silver Millennium in tact, and Sailor Moon silently thinks that’s the way it should be. And from somewhere far away Sailor Pluto watches the sight, knowing the arrival of the Sailor Scouts in the past is to necessary to combat a new enemy… END SAILOR MOON 2013…CLASSIC!

[nangbaby]

What I Wish The Sailor Moon Reboot Would Be Like (Part One)

The story would start out the same as it does in all franchises, with Serena waking up late for school.  She noted to herself that if she makes her dash, she could make it to school just in time.  On her way to school, she saw some kids abusing a cat.  Despite running late, she rescues the cat, taking the bandage off its forehead.  She then runs to school, but the doors close just before she enters.

Later, Serena receives her report card for the quarter, and receives D's and F's.  The report card had to be signed, and in Serena's case, a parent/teacher conference was to be called.  Molly and Melvin's were much better, with Molly's a mixture of As and Bs and Melvin's nearly all A's (except for one B+, which he's whine about),

Serena would want to avoid going back home, and would accompany Molly to the jewelry store. Molly would state she was jealous that Serena's mother would care, because he mother had been acting strangely lately, almost like an entirely different person.  All this time, Serena would be stalked by Luna, who would note that she is the one.

Just like in the existing anime, she and Molly would go to the store, and Molly's mother (named Megan) would hold a sale.  Since the store gets crowded, Serena leaves.  She throws the report card (as an in-joke like  discus), accidentally hitting Darien, who is standing on the street.  "You could put an eye out with that," he remarks.  Darien teases her about her hair, and she gets annoyed, but the two part.  Serena gets back home and her mother grounds her, and Sammy scolds her.  Luna enters the room and gets Serena to transform into Sailor Moon and give the usual exposition.

At the same time, Molly's mother would cause a blackout, then transform into Morga. She would drain the wearers of the jewelry of energy.  Molly would scream, then faint, notably, not through choking or force in this version.

Sailor Moon would hear the cries of Molly.  She ran to the jewelry store to confront Morga, who would shut the doors behind her.  All of the people who were wearing jewelry were under Morga's command as her personal zombies.

Tuxedo Mask would be at the scene, but not there to protect Sailor Moon.  While the chaos was going on, he would be rummaging for the Silver Crystal.  Unfortunately, Sailor Moon, being chased by the crowd would bump into him.  They'd each strike a pose momentarily, thinking the other was the enemy, but would both relax, as each realized the other was not being controlled.  One of the zombies would grab Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon would instinctively use her tiara and her kick to free him.

Morga would then confront them, and Sailor Moon would try to use the same moves on her, only to fail miserably.  She would look to find that Tuxedo Mask had abandoned her.  In despair, she would break down and cry, and this attack would save her bacon.  Luna would present Sailor Moon with the Crescent Moon Wand, and she would heal Morga, turning her back into Molly's mother and the crowd would be back to normal.

There'd be the obligatory cutaway scene where Jedite reports to Beryl and states that they've lost contact with one of their agents.  He states his intention to investigate, but Beryl orders him not to and instead focus on the other nine energy collection schemes.

While Molly recounts the story to her classmates of how she was saved in a strange dream, the damage is blamed on a gentleman thief and his sailor-suited accomplice  The closing Molly's mother working at cleaning up the mess.  Her hand suddenly turns into Morga's hand momentarily, and it scares her, but then it turns back, and she dismisses the experience as merely being tired.

[nangbaby]

What I Wish The Sailor Moon Reboot Would Be Like (Part Four)

Previously, I outlined what I would like to see in Sailor Moon 2013 in three separate essays. For those who haven’t read my other essays, it would be very similar to the English version of the old anime in many respects, with a few important differences:

All the “Negamonsters” so far have either been Negaverse sleeper agents or reincarnated Rainbow Crystal carriers.  This means all of the minions have lived dual lives as humans, most notably Molly’s mother.

Molly is a latent Negamonster due to being the daughter of one and a human being (which gives another meaning to the term “monster bait”).  She also discovers that Serena is Sailor Moon during the Rainbow Crystal saga.  Despite this, her character arc has been very similar…thus far.

Two of the Rainbow Crystal Carriers are different.  Miss Haruna is Techniclon and Andrew is Bakene.

The Rainbow Crystals remain in the hands of three separate parties – the Negaverse, the Sailor Scouts, and Tuxedo Mask.

Thus the conclusion of the Rainbow Crystal saga is underway….and the story really begins to diverge.  I’ve got to warn you, though, in some spots it’s not only darker than the dub; it’s darker than the original anime and even the manga.

With the arrival of Sailor Venus, Queen Beryl is livid with Zoycite’s failures, and orders Zoycite to retrieve the other Rainbow Crystals.  Malachite offers to help, but Beryl barks that this is Zoycite’s mess and Zoycite has to clean it up.  After leaving Beryl’s presence, Zoycite is alerted that one of the missing Agents has come back in contact with the Negaverse.

The next day at school, Molly is absent.  Zoycite appears on television, telling Sailor Moon that she is holding Molly hostage at the Starlight Tower and to secure her release, she and Tuxedo Mask must both show up with the Rainbow Crystals they carry, with no backup.  The other Sailor Scouts tell Serena it’s a trap, so they plan to all meet at the tower by sunset.  Serena, though, decides to head for the tower immediately after school, more worried about Molly and putting the other Scouts in danger.  Darien and Serena run into each other on the way to the tower, and both fail to convince the other to leave (since Serena says she's there to rescue Molly, and Darien just thinks she's running in there powerless, and she thinks he's just accompanying her because she needs protection).  They both head to the tower, and like the anime, they both share an uncomfortable elevator ride up the tower.  Unlike the anime, though, instead of Zoycite trying to kill the two, they arrive on a deserted top floor.  Megan (Molly’s mother) and Molly are there, bound and gagged.  Serena tries to free them, but Darien, sensing something amiss, tells her to watch out.  Megan and Molly instantly free themselves both now claiming to be loyal to the Negaverse.  Megan transforms into Morga while Molly also transforms into her monstrous form, both of them taunting Serena to transform into Sailor Moon.  When the mother-daughter duo targets Darien, he drops a Rainbow Crystal, and both Serena realizes who Darien is now.  Serena transforms into Sailor Moon at last, while Darien turns into Tuxedo Mask.

Meanwhile, the Sailor Scouts piece together that Sailor Moon had gone to the tower alone and that there was no way in.  Luna counters that if the four of them join hands, they can teleport a short distance, but that the power can only be used once every twenty-four hours.  They teleport inside.

At the same time, Zoycite arrives at the fight and jumps in to confront Tuxedo Mask, and fights him while Sailor Moon fights the mother and daughter duo.  Seeing that she is at a standstill with Tuxedo Mask, Zoycite targets a distracted Sailor Moon with an attack.  Like the original anime (and not the dub), Tuxedo Mask takes the blow for Sailor Moon.  The Sailor Scouts appear at that moment and enter the fray against the Negaverse agents, but Sailor Moon is devastated.  The full moon shines on Sailor Moon as she cries, and the Seven Crystals fly toward her and begin to orbit her.

Elsewhere, the Seven Shadow Warriors each begin to transform, each of them in their separate places, and the Sailor Scouts all double over in pain.  All the other previous sleeper agents who have been healed begins to revert to monstrous forms and Zoycite’s Black Crystal pulsates, trying to take control of the merging crystals.  The Silver Crystal fuses and in an explosion of light, knocks Zoycite away.  Sailor Moon turns into the Moon Princess.

Luna:  I can’t believe she was in front of me all this time.  Sailor Moon is the Moon Princess…Princess Serena.

Zoycite tries to attack the former Sailor Moon again, but the Moon Princess blasts her and Zoycite teleports away.  Princess Serena also blasts Morga and the transformed Molly and knocks both unconscious.  The Moon Princess reverts to being Sailor Moon and at once tries to heal Molly, but this time it does not work.  The Sailor Scouts then carry the two Negamonsters and Darien out of this trap and they all go home.  The sun rises, Molly and Megan are now in their human forms.  Everyone goes back to their beds to go to sleep, and the Sailor Scouts all experience the same dream.

At this point everyone remembers, and Queen Serenity appears in the communal dream to help them relive the past and the present.  The girls once lived in the Moon Kingdom, an interplanetary realm comprising the planets of our Solar System.  The Sailor Scouts were girls imbued with power to protect the Moon Kingdom from threats, including the Negaverse, the duty passing from one girl to the next over the years.  However, by a strange twist of fate, the current guardians of the planets were also the princesses of these planets, which was an unforseen development and considered a bad omen.  Queen Serenity explains that Princess Serena also fell into this pattern.  Although she was the Moon Princess, she always had the power to become Sailor Moon, but Queen Serenity never awakened that power.  The queen saw how that power ostracized the princesses even in an era of peace, and that being a Sailor Scout would have made the princess even more of a target.

In a departure from most existing Sailor Moon media, Earth was an ally to the Moon Kingdom, but refused to join it.  Likewise, the romance between Prince Darien and Princess Serena was not forbidden love, but a supported union between the two neighboring kingdoms.  Thus, the attack of the Negaverse was an outside threat, one not known on Earth but vaguely familiar to those in the Moon.  It destroyed the entire Moon Kingdom and killed nearly all its people.  Unlike the anime, the Sailor Scouts were not killed directly by the Negaforce, but were slain by the Seven Shadow Warriors.  Although the Negaverse did prevail, it was severely weakened and lost many of its soldiers in the attacks as well.  Much like the dub, there is no prior history between Queen Beryl and either Princess Serena or Prince Darien and she killed them as she would any others who refused her.

However, just like in the old anime, Queen Serenity used the Silver Crystal to seal the living combatants away in the Negaverse.  The spirits of all those who died, be they of the Moon Kingdom or the Negaverse were sent to Earth.  She also split the Silver Crystal into the Rainbow Crystals and sent them to the future, knowing that the seal placed on the Negaverse would not last, and only the Silver Crystal could ultimately combat this enemy.  When dead were reincarnated, the connections of the previous lives remained.  The Sailor Scouts were also princesses of their own worlds, but their duty was to protect the Moon Kingdom and its heir, the Princess.  Now that the people of the Moon Kingdom were sent to Earth, and now that the Princess was now a Sailor Scout, too, Sailor Moon had a duty to protect the Earth, too.  The planet had now been adopted into the lunar legacy; protecting Earth is the duty of the Sailor Scouts.  Queen Serenity wants Serena to live a full life and a new life, to not repeat the mistake Serenity made.  The queen tells Serena to embrace all the parts of her, and that while Serena will always be her daughter and of the Moon Kingdom, she is a daughter of the Earth, too, and that the friends she’s made there are as important as the ones she used to have.

At the very same time, another dream is also interspersed with the memories of those from the other side…those of the Negaverse who were reborn as normal humans, and those who were sleeper agents.  Those who died as heroes for the Negaverse were sealed away by a light, only to now realize the lives they now lead were lies, and they had been trapped in a prison they could not even perceive.  The sleeper agents recalled the great defeat and volunteered to have their memories stripped away, then remembered their second, personalized defeats at the hands of Sailor Moon.

Upon waking up from the dream, Serena goes back to Molly’s apartment. Molly clearly does not remember anything from the last night, although Megan definitely does.  Serena says she’s not there to fight, but Megan transforms into Morga and the two of them battle briefly.  Sailor Moon has the upper hand, but instead of healing, she begins to appeal to Morga as Megan, Molly’s “cool mom."  Morga relents slightly (recalling that Sailor Moon did help her out the tower while Zoycite fled for her life), stating that for now there will be a truce, but once the Negaverse takes control, Morga will personally take care of Sailor Moon herself.  Unknown to either of them, Molly does see this exchange.

Next is a Sailor Scout meeting, and the restored memories have a strong impact on the girls.  Raye admits she didn’t even recognize her own name when Chad called it, and furthermore the tension when she and her grandfather are in the same room is unbearable.  Amy is unable to concentrate on reading and studying as her minds slips back to her Lunar studies and the Lunar language.  Lita has flashbacks about their demises.  Mina handles it better, mentioning that she had started to regain some of her memories before now, but mentions it’s still hard to know if she’s having a memory of a feeling or if she’s actually experiencing that feeling.  Luna and Artemis tell the girls they understand, even they didn’t remember everything until now, either.  Nevertheless, there are still problems.  The Negaverse is still after the Silver Crystal and not only that, the Negaforce is still getting stronger.  Now that the Silver Crystal is whole, the Scouts have to figure out how to end this once and for all.

Meanwhile the Seven Shadow Warriors unite with even more unease, their past-life memories now stronger than ever.  With the burst of energy from the Crystal, now all of them have the ability to assume their former forms at will.  Despite this, with the exceptions of Greg and Joe who had talked to each other, and Peggy and Miss Haruna from their previous encounter, none of the seven knew about each others’ present identities, and none of them agree whether they should join the Negaverse, live normal lives (if that’s even possible), or do something else.

Back in the Negaverse, the Queen Beryl consults the Negaforce, which sarcastically thanks her for what energy it is still able to get and reminds Beryl of her failures.  Beryl then returns to her throne to berate Zoycite for letting the Silver Crystal get away.  Zoycite mentions they now know Sailor Moon’s identity, but Queen Beryl chastises her, reminding her that now Sailor Moon has the Silver Crystal, which means getting rid of her got all that much harder since the Crystal will instinctively protect its wielder.  The Sailor Scouts have grown too powerful to combat head on, but they have a weakness – their alliance with Tuxedo Mask.  Beryl orders that they retrieve Tuxedo Mask, as he since he is not a Sailor Scout, it might be possible for them to bring him to their side without destroying him.

Zoycite realizes that Beryl wants to replace her, so she has a minion follow Serena, knowing that she would lead Zoycite to Tuxedo Mask.  Serena goes over to Darien’s apartment.  Now that their memories had been restored, their former feelings for each other have become active feelings, but the more recent memories of their present interactions are also intertwined, and both are uncertain as to whether they can trust the other.  They talk thoroughly about not only their past lives and their alternate identities, but what this means for their relationship.  The agree to be friends for now, but not to keep any more secrets between them, although as they part, they clearly want to be closer.

However, Zoycite’s spy reports that Serena has left, so Zoycite confronts Darien and he turns into Tuxedo Mask, which causes Sailor Moon to turn around and interrupt the confrontation.  In the attempt to capture Tuxedo Mask, Zoycite tries to kill Darien but fails.  Despite the interference of Sailor Moon, Zoycite succeeds in disarming Tuxedo Mask and takes him back to the Negaverse.  Beryl proclaims this victory is too little, too late for Zoycite, so Beryl kills Zoycite for her incompetence, fulfilling Zoycite’s fears.  Queen Beryl then brainwashes Darien into becoming a servant of the Negaverse.

Malachite swears revenge against the Sailor Scouts, and he lays out his plan for ensuring victory for the Negaverse.  Instead of tracking Sailor Moon and trying to take the Crystal from her, that they instead target those fallen Negaverse Warriors.  The newly awakened Prince Darien scoffs at the plan, stating that even the elite agents were no match for Sailor Moon, so what good would reviving fallen soldiers from antiquity do?  Malachite points out that Sailor Moon’s weakness is that she spares those she sees as enemies instead of trying to kill them.  Sailor Moon might be able to turn them back into humans temporarily, but eventually, they will reawaken and Sailor Moon’s cruel mercy would be her undoing, as they will awaken once more and soon, an army of Negamonsters will attack the city.

From this point, the episodes become less formulaic, and several different subplots arise, one of which is that of Chad.  One day at the temple, Lita remarks that at least Raye and Mina can have normal boyfriends (since Lita and Joe have decided to pursue a relationship), but both Mina and Raye are both at unease at the remark.  Mina diverts the topic when spots Chad and recognizes him.  Instantly, Raye gets jealous and thinks she wants his autograph.  Instead, Mina explains that she had met him in London, but adds he probably doesn’t remember her.  Chad mentions that he doesn’t like to talk about London.  He heads into the woods, while Raye follows him.

Mina mentions to Lita that’s who she facing a different branch of the Negaverse in London.  Instead of gathering energy from crowds, these enemies tried to steal the heart energy of individuals they think are pure-hearted.   At the same time, Raye talks to Chad, who mumbles, "Even a man…” as explains his story.  He was attacked by what he thought was a crazy fan.  He mentions that she “did” something to him that changed him forever and mentions being “pure of heart” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Mina separately recalls that night as well, as the removal of his pure heart caused Chad to transform into a monster.  Sailor V and her two partners were on the scene when he was attacked by the “fan."  They returned his pure heart, which restored him to a human form, but elsewhere, Chad reveals that despite restoring his heart and body, the magic had already taken root and the mere act of removing it had created an imbalance.  That’s why he went to the temple, to see if he could be truly purified.  He says Raye probably thinks he’s crazy, but she says she believes him.

Raye, Lita, and Mina reunite.  Mina explains the Negaverse is more than one organization or scheme.  Some branches can turn ordinary humans into monsters.  That’s what they tried to do with Chad.

Chad’s secret comes to light when the full moon arises and Chad turns into a monster once again and begins to attack the girls.  The Sailor Scouts try to calm him down, and Sailor Moon arrives on the scene, but despite using the Crescent Moon Wand with the Silver Crystal, her efforts do nothing, and it is only with the sunrise is Chad restored to normal.  Sailor Moon wonders why she’s not able to heal monsters any more, and if this means she won’t be able to heal Darien.

Another subplot is that of Molly.  With the awakening of her heritage and hurt by what she perceives as Serena’s betrayal, Molly takes it upon herself to try to kill Sailor Moon.  She blames Sailor Moon for not only being the Moon Princess and being the cause of the Negaverse interfering in their lives, but for awakening her other half and turning her into a monster; if Sailor Moon had just let her mother steal the energy, Molly reasons, the assignment would have been over and Molly would have a normal life and not be a freak.  Molly and Sailor Moon fight, seemingly one on one.

Megan interrupts, though, and turns back into Morga as she tries to restrain Molly.  Molly doesn’t understand why her mother is protecting the enemy, and Morga said she realized who the real enemy was…the one that not only let them fend for themselves in a world they don’t understand (Earth) but used them and discarded them: none of the other former agents were able to get back into the good graces of the Negaverse.  Morga admits that in spite of being on the side of humans, Serena tried to be Molly’s friend even after she could no longer "cure” her.  If her fated enemy could put aside her duty over friendship, maybe there is something to her way of thinking after all.  Sailor Moon also begins to understand that while the wand can ward the influence of the Negaverse, it cannot make the inhuman human, and the full power of the moon restores one to a natural state.  In the case of the Negaverse agents, their natural state is their Negaverse form; “healing” is at best a .

Another episode deals with Sailor Mercury.  The classmate who had initially attacked Amy when she became Sailor Mercury stalks her and isolates her.  Sailor Mercury attempts to reason with her, but the Negamonster continues to attack, forcing Sailor Mercury to destroy the monster.  As it dies, it reverts to human form, and the classmate reveals that she was tired of waking up and not knowing who she was, having the memory of two lives.  She thanks Sailor Mercury before dying, now realizing she was more human than denizen of the Negaverse after all, but Sailor Mercury is distraught at taking a life.

Eventually, the Negaforce awakens due to having enough human energy feeding it, and it sets up a base on the North Pole, from which negative energy from that other dimension begins to envelop Earth.  The Sailor Scouts agree that they have to use this event as their chance to break into the Negaverse at the merge point for the dimensions.

The Seven Shadows decide to help.  They would take the Sailor Scouts “hostage,” which would allow the Sailor Scouts safe passage into the Negaverse.  Morga contacts Malachite, telling him that the Seven Shadow Warriors have managed to capture the Sailor Scouts.  Darien expresses mild surprise that the Shadows were alive.  Morga asks if she could return to the Negaverse, but Prince Darien denies her request, stating that she has more important work in the human world, and that one day, she will be rewarded for her efforts.

Mercury is accompanied by Bunboo, Mars by Pox, Jupiter by Game Machine Man, and Venus by the combination of Bobo the Vulture and Veena.  Techniclon/Miss Haruna and Bakene/Andrew take Sailor Moon and these three form a separate group.  They all decide to return to the Negaverse base.  In their journey they encounter Malachite.  Malachite, though, knows it’s a trap, because Techniclon and Veena would have never split up if they were the same old selves as they were before.  Separated from the rest of the Sailor Scouts, Sailor Moon, Techniclon, and Bakene attempt to fight Malachite.  It ends with Bakene and Techniclon striking the final blow, but both of them dying in the process.

Beryl teleports Sailor Moon to her throne room.  Amy, Lita, and Raye stand before her, in normal, depowered forms.  Sailor Moon goes over to them and suddenly, Amy, Lita, and Raye all turn into monsters.  Beryl explains that Prince Darien intercepted that group and had the Scouts looked over by “the good doctor” while he personally took care of the traitors (Shadow Warriors).   Sailor Moon tries to heal them, but cannot as Queen Beryl claims that the powers of the Crystal are completely negated by the strength of the dark energy of the Negaverse.  A dying Sailor Venus (who had escaped) kills the three former Scouts with her Crescent Beam, stating that Beryl is wrong…it’s not that the Crystal doesn’t work, but it can’t restore a human who has been transformed into a monster, because the monster is now the human’s default state.  She assures Sailor Moon that those three are at peace now, and she passes away.

Queen Beryl summons Prince Darien, and Sailor Moon is now faced with her former love.  Sailor Moon is reluctant to fight him, but as the Crystal does not initially work, Sailor Moon realizes she must fight him.  In fact, unlike the anime, she ends up nearly beating him when she realizes this this what Beryl wants her to do, and she knows that unlike her friends, Beryl had not turned him into a monster as Beryl wanted him body and soul.  Sailor Moon then heals Prince Darien, who is susceptible to healing now that he has been weakened.  Beryl is stunned that Sailor Moon could use the power of the Crystal to not only break the spell, but to restore the memories of Prince Darien, who turns on Queen Beryl.  Queen Beryl retreats, but the purification weakened Prince Darien and he can no longer fight, so he urges Sailor Moon to go on without him.

Sailor Moon and Queen Beryl, empowered by the Negaforce, fight as in the anime.  Sailor Moon turns into Princess Serena.  She realizes that unlike the other enemies she had faced, Beryl is evil incarnate and is responsible for the deaths of her friends and the deaths of multitudes.  Princess Serena is mentally prepared to destroy Queen Beryl and much like the anime, Beryl is swallowed by a ball of light…but she is not killed.  Queen Beryl is weakened from the blast, but appears back on her throne.  She orders Alan and Ann to go to Earth and to collect energy for the Doom Tree.  After they depart, there is laughter, and Nehellenia appears.  She seals Beryl inside a mirror then tells Beryl it’s like Eternal Sleep, except you’re awake the entire time.  Nehellenia says she’ll show Beryl how a kingdom is run. Her first act is to seal the entrance to the Negaverse; they have to rebuild.

From the heroes’ side, all of the Sailor Scouts, except for Sailor Moon are dead, although Darien is still alive.  Sailor Moon uses the Silver Crystal to send their souls and the souls of the Seven Shadows to the future, although since this was only a few and not an entire civilization, this only weakens her rather than kills her.  Sailor Moon then uses the power of the Crystal to return her and Darien home, and some sympathetic members of the Negaverse follow her from the Negaverse and to Earth.

The next day, Serena attends school alone with the exceptions of those like Molly, expecting to never see her other friends again.  However, Serena sees them again soon afterward, and is stunned…but they explained as Sailor Scouts they time-travel to the past, their memories of their previous lives (the one in the present day) in tact.  The Rainbow Crystal carriers are also allowed to time travel and return to the present, due to their connection with the Crystal.  There was a cost, though…they could only remember the lives from which they had been reborn, and not the memories of their lives in the Silver Millennium.  Thus, while they know the source of their powers and the information about the past…no longer do either the resurrected Sailor Scouts or the Seven Shadows remember their concrete pasts from the Silver Millennium.  Only Serena, Darien, Luna, and Artemis have their memories of their lives in the Silver Millennium in tact, and Sailor Moon silently thinks that’s the way it should be.

And from somewhere far away Sailor Pluto watches the sight, knowing the arrival of the Sailor Scouts in the past is to necessary to combat a new enemy…

END SAILOR MOON 2013…CLASSIC!

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