When is "Usagi" No Longer "Usagi"?

Hadn't considered this interpretation before. But it makes me look at a moment in Act 55 in an entirely different way. A crying Ikuko tells Kenji: "It's so odd...I just...had a feeling Usagi's never coming home again..." (Kodansha translation) My original interpretation of that line wasn't literal. I thought she was picking up on the gravitas of Usagi's situation, even if she's in the dark on the specifics. But maybe a literal reading was intended.

I think you’re looking into it way more than the original author ever did. Lol

Naoko's writing style isn't always consistent and plenty of times Chibiusa is referred to as the Princess. Even if they haven't referred to Chibiusa as their princess yet the Sailor Quartet considers her so and that is why they swore to be her protectors. Also even in the translated version it refers to the person being sent back to the 30th Century as she in the singular and this was approved by Kodansha so again this probably just refers to Chibiusa. Also Chibiusa saying she will see her soon in the 30th century dosen't necessarily mean immediately and since they have long life spans soon to them might not be soon to us but rather refers that she will see her daughter again when she becomes the Queen. I do not think that your interpretation is right atleast that is my opinion.

The Tokyopop translation uses the plural "they." The Spanish translation also uses the plural. The Portuguese translation seems to use the singular, however. Can anyone check and compare any of the other translations?

But then what happened with Usagi's family and friends and such?

That could be the case. Crystal might change it to Kenji or Shingo saying it though, considering Ikuko's recent VA passed away nearly four years back (RIP Yūko Mizutani )...

If the manga's universe were reset at the end like PGSM, no such problem would've occurred - Usagi would've never existed in the 20th century at all. lol

(If that reset part in the PGSM script was conceived by Takeuchi herself & not by the scriptwriter, the former might've already been aware of that problem in the manga by that time.)

Did ever really change? Letters to her daughter from the Future and 's Announcements made pretty clear that even then - underneath all the Glamour and Upbringing as a queen and ruler - she can still be quite lazy, gluttonous (snatching away Chibs' sweets) and a crybaby and her Handwriting is still a Crying Shame. Let's all hope Ikukko and all the Teachers & Servants didn't need to be confined to a Nuthouse after one Thousand years of trying to teach her proper manners and behavior...

NQS might deliberately write the letters w/o using any kanji because her daughter couldn't read any.

It is above all for Usagi that she writes, and she cannot decipher it for that reason that girls make fun of NQS and its way of writing.

If Shingo said that line, it'd be something like "Huh, this is so weird. I can't help but realize how my dumb bunny of an older sister appears to be acting odd."

I'm really enjoying this thread. I'm not up to reading act 60 yet and even if I was I doubt I could translate it any better. I did remove the shrink wrap off my copy and take a sneak peak though. There is so much more there than what I expected, I knew basically about the galaxy cauldron from Sera-Myu but there is so much extra in the manga. I am ecstatic and can't wait to get up to this part. And there are even 2 bonus mini-stories at the end. I'm in heaven! I've always worried about Sailor Moon's family and what happened to them. I hoped (foolishly it seems) that somehow they might have had their lives prolonged and lived happily to a ripe old age in the burbs of Crystal Tokyo, or at least grew old happily with Usagi. The thought they were cast aside like leftover narrative rubbish so Sailor Moon can continue her quest in the 30th century... that makes me pretty mad... unforgivable! But if you can send your daughter back in time to make some friends perhaps you can send yourself back in time to visit your long gone family. Maybe Usagi did so and regaled her family with stories from the future. I would like to think so.
(I get all teary eyed when I write this stuff... /me goes to listen to Moonbow)

That's a good point. I hadn't considered that Usagi/NQS might just use time travel to visit her 20th century friends and family / bring them to the future.

If NQS decided to send her daughter in the past to have friends and an ordinary family life (among the Tsukino), it is because she cut ties with her parents. She has embraced her royal destiny and therefore has no connection with her family (I think).

Chibiusa does not seem to know her grandparents when you look closer, it is brand new for her these people unlike the others.
I don't think the Tsukino are dead either.

That's crazy if they were tossed aside; I've seen some people complain about the ending of season 1 of the original anime when the Sailors lost their memories, but at least they went back to their families and still had happy lives (besides the fact they got their memories back in episodes 47 and 4.

I thought originally they were referring to Chibiusa. In that context, I will consider Usagi still Usagi.I don't think it matters if they were in the future, or not .Usagi soul is the same no matter what.

Yeah, I agree with the others. Ceres is curious about whether or not Sailor Moon is gone, but the eventual conclusion is that Chibiusa will no longer exist if Sailor Moon is dead. Sailor Moon would not be the "princess" to Ceres and the others; she would be the "Queen." The manga states many times that Chibiusa is the Princess of Crystal Tokyo, and Sailor Moon is Neo-Queen Serenity.

Also, although Usagi loves her friends and Mamoru more than anyone else, she cherishes her normal life on the earth and loves her family and non-Guardian friends. It feels very out-of-character for her to just abandon them and head towards a future when they're all dead so she can chill with her besties and boyfriends for a millennium without having to think about her non-magical friends and family. Everyone was so excited about being in high school, even if it's just normal, everyday stuff (see: Michiru getting all excited in the first chapter of Stars), so it makes no sense for them to throw it all away.

I felt that "starting a new star's history" meant more like...starting her whole life over again, maybe the entire galaxy all over again. Kind of like what Sailor Cosmos was going to do, actually--go back in history and make the "right" choice. Usagi had the option to start everything over, and maybe hope that this time, nobody would have to suffer or die.

But she didn't. She said, "We want to remain as we are. No matter how difficult, I want to live THIS life." I believe she was referring to her life as it had been: Going back to the same timeline, going shopping with her friends, doing homework together, eating dinner with her family, even if it means she'll have to keep taking on bad guys who want to take away the life that she's worked so hard to build with everyone. And the other girls, and Mamoru, all feel the same. The life they've been living, the life they'll continue living, in all its beautiful, messed-up glory, is still worth it.

That's why Eternal Sailor Moon is Sailor Cosmos' "true form." Because she still has hope. Because she's not going to give up.

They are in the past. So Usagi = Princess. They adapt the royal status according to the time.

This thread reminds me of the comment Minako made way back during her introductory chapter where she refers to her civilian self as "just a disguise" and Sailro Venus as "her true form." Usagi then wonders herself later on in the chapter whether it's the same for her. The manga certaintly seems to be going with the idea that a Senshi's human or civilian form doesn't matter, that time and time again whenever the Senshi try to choose anything else (such as the Outers trying to live as a happy family and raise Hotaru as normal) duty always calls and they can never truly escape their fate. Their "true" identities are their Senshi forms.

Yes, but when they're brought back to life it does seem like they've taken on their Senshi identities in permanent form as they march towards Crystal Tokyo which is what the thread is asking. Since even at the big UsaMamo wedding there's no sign of any of Usagi's friends or family (or that of the Senshi's) now I realize the simplest answer is that Naoko just forgot to draw them in but the fact that Ikuko herself says that "she feels this is the last time she's gonna see Usagi" as if she's saying goodbye, means something. I think it means that by the end of Stars they finally decide to cast aside their civilian identities permanently and fully live up to their Senshi duties, they've stopped trying to attempt to live normal lives and have completely embraced their fate. In fact that UsaMamo wedding itself, which I've seen some interpret as all the Senshi marrying each other could be seen as a symbolic gesture of this choice, that they'll continue protecting the universe together and despite everything at least they'll always have each other so they're not completely lonely stars.


This comment reminds me of the remark Galaxia makes in Stars where according to her, one's self can only be defined by their Star Seed & Sailor Crystal and human bodies are ultimately worthless. Perhaps she was right all along and a Senshi's true identity is just their Crystal with each different identity only serving as a vessel and physical manifestation of that Crystal.

Actually, Usagi/ESM learns nothing at the end of Stars, I think it is Cosmos that learns something at the end of Stars regarding her duty to balance Chaos and the fact that she cannot maintain her utopia forever.

I read that as chibiusas sailor team having saiud this. after all afterwards she wakes up and nowhere does it state that it is the 30th century when she marries. it would be a bit strange to be catapulted into the 30th century considering she has chibiusa in her 20 and her being over 900 yo.