Sailor Moon Exposed Part 2 Analysing Usagi & Mamoru's Relationship

Note: In Act 1 Usagi is 14,  Mamorou is 16, in the Black Moon Arc Usagi is 14,  Mamoru is 16-17  In the Infinity Arc , Usagi is 14-15, Mamoru is 17-18. In the Dream Arc Usagi is 15 and in Stars she is 15-16. Her age is unknown in the Epilouge.  In the Dream and Stars  Arc Mamoru is 18 and by the Epilouge Mamoru  is 24.

Let us look at another issue of the manga and Crystal, the relationship’ between Usagi and Mamoru. 

It starts off with Tuxedo Mask looking for a woman in his dreams who is calling out to him and he is looking for the Silver Crystal to restore his memories due to having anesia.

In other words, he wants this woman to give him what he wants to benefit him.

Keep this in mind for the rest of this analysis

He goes on this search  by dressing up like a phantom theif on nights and robbing jewlery stores to look for the jewel to restore his memories. Due to this fact it was bfought up in the story and Luna does say to be weary of him due to not knowing his intentions but Usagi who is infactuated thinks he can be truated due to feeling 'warm around him'. That is a red flag. Despite their connection she does not really know much about him and the mystery of Arc 1 is WHO is Tukedo Mask? We will get to that and there are more red flags in the start of this romance (not only because of the age gap)

     

Usagi and Mamoru meet when Usagi gets a bad grade outside of the jewlery store and is so annoyed by it she crumples the paper and throws it in his face by accident, he insults her and they argue for a while. Ladies and Gents a start to a relationship.

As the story progresses, they cotinue to cross paths, Usagi develops a crush on  Tuxedo Mask, just for his appearance, his good looks. 

Mamoru is drawn more maturely, angular and more 'attractive” compared to her circular shape language in her character design, girly and youthful.  Readers of the manga/ watching Crystal canmistake him for being much older when he is 16 years old. 

Infamously the 90s anime protrayed him as a grown man. This artistic choice frames older men as better and it is detrimental towards young girls minds as well as their perception of what an ‘attractive man’ is.

So far the intentions of each partner is clear:

 Usagi= likes him because he is handsome Mamoru= wants the Silver Crystal to restore his memories and maybe Usagi can give him a lead or know about it

We start seeing even more red flags when Sailor Moon is passed out on a balcony and Tuxedo Mask kisses her. This onscreen kiss omittedin Crystal in a fade out but the manga shows it, this is a  non conscenting kiss. Also he takes her handkercheif and proceeds to smell it, (just in case he never sees her again) after they dance at the ball under the guise of Tuxedo Mask, she accidentally left her handkercheif with him.

He eventually returns it to her when they meet again. (Usagi keeps his pocket wartch and that ends up being a catalyst for the duo to recover their memories)

When they recover their memories through the pocketwatch, Reawakened! Princess Serenity  cries because Tuxedo Mask is dead and there was so much she needed to tell him, we ended up seeing the past of the Princess and Prince's relationship. Due to this trauma she cries and it forms the Silver Crystal so due to her trauma it forms and a piece of the crystal goes into Tuxedo Mask.

He got what he wanted at the cost of Usagi's trauma, his memories have returned about his identity

Through trauma she unlocks her power fully and materialises the Silver CrystalIt is handwaved

as 'the Silver Crystal reacts to strong emotions’ but this scene and others where Sailor Moon experiences a traumatic event the full extent of her powers is activated. This story choice 

is symbolic for 'you become stronger through trauma’ which as we know is not true and trauma can have negative effects on a persons mental health.

The Silver Crystals power grows intense when Usagi/ Sailor Moon is in emotional distress as seen by the next two pannels when Resurected! Mamoru fought her and she is confused on what to do, to kill him or let him live and in the Cosmos Movie when Chibiusa and Mamoru die in front of her, she  sce screams in agony and her power is unleashed.

An example at how powerful the Silver Crysyal is 

In the end Mamoru got what he wanted his memories back, at the expense of Usagis trauma. She remembers her past life as the pocket watch goes backwards. The Prince and Princess had a Romeo and Juliet esqque romance and when Endymion is killed in the battle against the Earth and Moon Kingdoms. After he dies, she takes another way out, we see it depicted on the panel and in Crystal. Instead of defending her  people or saving h er friends she based her whole life on a man to the point she cannot live without him and that ‘intense love’ is transfered to her present day self. 

The next time Mamoru reappears as a new person, Endou

After Princess Serenity remembers her trauma and is brought to tears and after talking about this with her friends, she isolates herself and stays mostly in her room, not only due to loosing Mamoru but her hair grew extremly long after regaining her memories as the moon princess and she did not know what to do with it. 

I personally believed at that point in the story after learning about her past life, intense infactuation from those flashbacks and present day and discovering  a fate thrusted upon her Usagi became depressed. No 14 year old should be going through this and we see that these events will have lasting impacts on her psyche.

Now Endou as mentioned before , is a creep, his goal? Retreive the Silver Crystal and he uses Usagis feelings to get closer to her and steals it. He invades her personal space and she is clearly uncomfortable. Her friends notice that something is off and rightfully telld

S her to stay away.

 Endou and Sailor moon confront each other with the  later having hope of retreiving the shard in his body and Restoring Mamoru but it does not go well.

He  STRANGLES HER to demand for the Silver Crystal. It is so frightening to see this inflicted on a child by someone she once knew. 

There is no excuse that he was brainwashed/ reanimated. He used violence to hurt her and she should not have gotten together with him at the end because of this glaring issue. It never gets brought up again.

Sailor Moon is filled with so much despair that she slashes  him in the chest  and  stabs herself and they die (possibly in hopes of reincarnating to see him again under better circumstances) 

I think that Usagi was not in a good headspace and decided to do that based on the memory she saw. This shocked me when I rediscovered this panel because she commits  s*** over a crush.  This is a very harmful message to spread to young girls.

 This also conforms  my theory on why they have a trauma bond because if you are in a healthy relationship , your mind will not go to these places or the feeling of being unable to live without someone. That is codependency  

Upon further observation of their relationship up till this point  trauma brought them together. | suspect the reason they feel so connected is because of that shared trauma. Not only because of the memories of the past but Usagi slowly loosing herself and being put in dangerous situations and a heavy burden after living her life as a normal teen as seen in Act 1. Mamoru also has suffered from trauma when his backstory was revealed and possibly abandonmemtnt issues.

 Usagi is  probably is the few people he grows attached to due to being abandoned, clearly he suffered from childhood neglect and hangs onto Usagi due to having no one in his life for a long time. They are codependent on each other connected by a past that is long gone.

 

Did  Usagi get what she want? Somehow 

She did find out TM and Mamoru is the same person but at what cost? Her mental state, a destiny that was unknown to her and a knowledge of things that are controlled by fate which will be expanded in the story

After defeating Metalia  as Sailor Moon, Usagi  collapses and is depowered. She is revived  by a kiss (as she is unconcious) and she is revived. 

An option is given to Usagi, she has revived the Moon Castle and she can become Queen however she gives up that choice to be with a man. Honestly with her fate in Arc 2 revealed, I find it strange that this plot point was dropped because the 30th century is based in Japan. Everything is fine , she gets a new brooch, she revives her friends and Mamoru and Usagi can live in peace. 

Not even  a day has passed and more trouble arises.

In Arc 2, the Black Moon Arc, (mentioned in my first article where  I  discussed Chibiusa) , a child is brought into their dynamic. Not only do they have to deal with trauma from the first series but also take care of a child.

They are adultified and any semblence of childhood they had is shattered. It is evidenced by Usagi. She starts off in the first arc as a regular teen, playing video games, sleeping, eating, living with her parents but when she meets Mamoru (and Luna) her life takes a drastic turn and she needs to grow up fast. Usagi  even had to quickly accept her duty not only as a child soldier BUT the fact that everyone eventually wants her because of her Silver Crystal and her destiny. 

As seen in the start of the Infinity arc, she has accepted her fate as destiny'sxplaything. It is sad seeing Usagi's facial expression accepting this realization that they might never be peace for her at this point.

Mamoru already lost his childhood, despite being rich, his parents died in a car accident and he lives alone. He had to push himself to get his education as well as do things on his own so he had to grow up fast in order to survive.

They both have to adjust to a life in which they have to take care of a child and now face a NEW enemy that has a connection to said child.

Edit: This  is also in this arc that these two start to get intimate with each other thus re-enforcing the older guy with more experience archetype

 

I already discussed Chibiusa in my previous post  however another glaring and gross element in Arc 2 was when Usagi got kidnapped. 

She is changed out of her clothes (so that means 

someone undressed a MINOR) We see the perpertrator of the kidnapping, Prince Diamond, an older man that lusts over and objectifies Usagi due to her resemblence to the queen of Crystal Tokyo in the 30th century Neo Queen Serenity. (Revealed to be her future self that is in a coma, encased by the future Silver Crystal)

Neo Queen Serenity posesses Sailor moon to speak THROUGH her without her consent. She is used as a puppet by her future self. 

Neo Queen Serenity 

Who she is and the limitlessness of her abilities

Prince Diamond  forces a kiss on Usagi  and she tries to transform but is too shocked to do so. Do not worry Tuxedo Mask saves her.....eventually.

In Crystal he is protrayed sympathically, NO that should never be any justifying or humanizing of a villian that is an asaulter because this is wrong to pen, these people know what they are doing. 

Edit: Usagi meets Prince Saphir , the younger brother of prince diamond.  and after They have a conversation  for a while then  he attacks and strangles her. He blames  Usagi  for everything going wrong with the world due to having the  Silver  Crystal. He is hurting a MINOR for something she has no control over and victim blaming her, I do not think usagi is happy with her fate or destiny either and for a stranger to do this to her is abhorant.

 This is the SECOND time she is nearly murdered, and she was probably in shock hence she did not do anything to defend herself because the last time it was Brainwashed! Tuxedo Mask that did that to her.

Luckily Neo Queen Serenity saves her past self and allows her powers to re activate.

Once again it is shown that she is a teenaged girl has no automy over her body as a person. She is desired for  her beauty or her Silver Crystal (revealed to be a star seed which is HER SOUL (so people want her soul to gain power to control the universe). 

Tuxedo Mask saves her from this creeps clutches but guess what? We brush this off as if nothing happened. 

Not only is Usagi traumatized from visions of her past, she is taken against her will forced

a kiss and possibly dressed by the creep.

 SA should NEVER be written in a story for a man to ‘save the poor woman’ 

This has happened in real life to many women

and has disasterous effects on their mental health. 

The downside to this scene being presented (especially in the 90s anime) is that if you search 'Sailor Moon and Prince Diamond’ on a search engine, there will be fan art of the two as a couple.  This is not right on so many levels.

When the Villian is defeated and the kingdom is saved Neo Queen Serenity woke up King Endimyion with a kiss while he is unconcious.

During the Infinity Arc and Crystal season 3, we see the trio continue to bond but not much focus is put on Usagi and Mamoru as a couple but as them as "parents” to Chibiusa .

We also see her true desire to be a bride, just Mamoru's wife at the start of the story in a dream.

This is all she aspires to be after her normalcy is stripped away from her she had no time to think about what Usagi , herself really wants.

When Chibiusa comes back for the

infinity arc to start her training as a Sailor Shenshi.  She has a letter from NQS tellimg her present self and the others that information. The letter  is written in poor kanji and this is played off as a joke. I  do not find this funny because considering the context

Usagi never had a chance to expand her education past high school and she had difficulties as a grown woman writting in kanji. My theory is that due to another life changing,

word ending event once again she had to put her needs and life ON HOLD to give up herself to save the world due to the purifying, healing, defensive and offensive proterties of the Silver Crystal so there was no time to focus on herself. This once again re enforces that Usagi was no longer an individual a person at that point in the future but a concept.

In Paralell sailor Moon Chibiusa cas her mom dumb but i find that disrespectful considering the above point.

Just showing a difference in where they are at in their lives.

This scene  is framed as if Usagi knows that  she might not survive.

 She will sacrifice herself for the greator good. A heroic way of offing herself compared to the act being fuelled by despair like  her past self and in Arc 1 .

I think that deep down Usagi has suicidal tendencies due to not thinking of herself but others, the world, it literally is drpending on her to survive due to having the most powerful crystal in the universe. 

 When Sailor Moon  jumps into the darkness  to defeat Pharoh 90 at the end (she went into Pharoh 90 to purify  him from the inside).

That causes both Mamoru and Chibiusa to be in emotional pain at the uncertainty if she

will live.  She survives at the end and restores the destroyed earth as  Neo Queen Serenity.

She does not tell her friends nor Mamoru  about the  kiss

Edit: Sailor Moon gets an unwanted kiss and flirtations from Sailor Uranus earlier in this arc, in a way she cheated on him.. This kiss was NON CONSENSUAL. She never tells Mamoru about this nor the Inner Shenshi about this. Clearly this made Usagi very uncomfortable and she should have told someone about this and stopped pursuing Uranus and Neptune because the former crossed her boundaries.

This person crossed her  boundaries. That is why her heart is racing in this scene. This is NOT ROMANTIC or CUTE at all.

After seeing Mamoru and Michiru together Usagi gets jealous and assumes he is cheating. Instead of talking to her boyfriend and clearing the air.  The communication issues between them  were starting from this arc.

 In the next pannel she feels confused by the encounter with Haruka, of course she would be.  This person is flirting with her and gave her a kiss without her consent. The last person to do that was Diamond who KIDNAPPED her 

They have a rift in their relationship after Mamoru sees Haruka and usagi together  but thanks to Chibiusa, they speak about what is bothering each other . Usagi apologizes, they communicate and make up.  Everything is okay between them.  I see that deep down inside  Usagi blames herself for the kiss and was so caught up in  trying to figure out who Haruka was.  Truthfully Haruka gave her an unwanted kiss and confused her on purpouse. I am very sure Haruka KNOWS who Usagi is, the dynamic between her and Mamoru and choose to do that so it was not her fault.

This is the first hint that he is hiding how he truly feels so Usagi does not worry about him

This rose was growing in his chest as a resukt of the Eatth being consumed by darknese via the Dead Moon circus. As Earth's protector it directly impacts him during the story as a mysterious illness

 He is 18 years old in the Dreams arc/ Eternal Movies

Her body is an 8 year old. It's akward to see this.

Despite what happened before  in the Dream Arc and the Eternal Movies. Mamoru gets sick and acts distant towards Usagi.  This reaction from him hurts her  and they are drifting apart. There is a really akward scene when Usagi is a child form and they feel weird because they cannot do anything. (Mamoru is 18) so they cuddle instead.

This is the pinacle of a codependent relationship 

 Things get better between them as the situation  gets more at stake. He  reveals why he was acting distant  (she could not catch his his illness  and acted like that in drive har away from him). 

Personally at this point in their relationship they could have communicated and found a way to help each other because Usagi was going to take care of him irregardless of the situation. This is re-enforcing chasing someone when they clearly show apathy towards you and is a harmful message. I wished these two spoke it out instead of going this route of mis communication and pushing away someone you love due to 'secretly caring'.

EdIt: Usagi gets the curse too after taking care of Mamoru. So Usagi is suffering at the expense of him. SHe puts him first and gets sick as a result, this is bad because Usagi has the Sc that can eradicate anything . I am concerned about the amount of trauma she goes through at this point.

They get de-aged to be younger (and cease to exist) after being hit by a blast of evil energy

They work together to stop the Dead moon Circus  from destroying the Earth after they recover from the illness.

When their dreams are  revealed, Usagi and Mamoru both want to protect Earth together.

I believe that at this point  Usagi was loosing herself in this relationship over time , due to circumstances she feels like she has to do these things. We dont see Usagi play videogames anymore, talk to her friends from the first arc or do teenager things.

Usagi  has to worry that people want HER for her crystal, she becomes an object, no longer a person, from Tuxedo Mask to her friends to the

villians this is shown repeatedly to her. In the next arc this is taken literally when it is revealed that the ‘Silver Crystal’ was her star seed, the embodiment of herself and if it is destroyed her physical body will die.

Usagi has  a nightmare about Mamoru disintegrating in her dream

Story starts and we see Mamoru DIE ON SCREEN 

The Stars arc and Sailor Moon Cosmos movie is where we see Usagi crack mentally. Mamoru is killed in front of her and she blocks it out.

 Sometimes she seems like she is disassociating and loosing track of time and experiencing nightmares about the traumatic event.

 Her hapiness she protays in her day to day life,  is  sheilding the fact she has experienced trauma and not only that MULTIPLE times she has seen her boyfriend die, brainwashed, killed and these incidents is deeply affecting her.  Now she knows that this time  unlike the others Mamoru will never come back.

 

Her friends all die and she later remembers her trauma of Mamoru dying in front of her and is brought to tears. (Keep in mind she is 15-16 years old by this arc.)

Against her face off against Galaxia the latter she resurects Mamoru from his Golden Crystal (he is a husk, not the person we saw from arcs 1-4)  and kills him by throwing him off of the cliff into the Cauldron below and Chibiusa dies by fading into nothingness . 

This is really hard  for Sailor Moon to deal with.

After much consideration about what to do in order to save the universe from Chaos due to talking to  an important  ally, she cannot bear to live without her friends and resets the world.

(I guess after whatever they attempted to do in arc 2 left a strong impact on her. Of course he is older and probably more experienced than her at certain things)

Usagi is always saying she loves him first  throughout the story . It feels like she is extremly invested in tthis relationship than he is   and she feels like she  cannot live without him. Considering the trauma she went through, attempted murders, exhaustion, near death experiences, SA , suicide attempt and other traumatic events that occoured since she was 14 till the Stars arc, in her head , Mamoru is her safe space, other than being a bride, what does Usagi even want fot herself? WE DON'T KNOW because she is wrapped up in just being mamoru's girlfriend.  

Truthfully Usagi needs a therapist not a romantic relationship.

 I have rarely seen Mamoru say I love you  first, the last time was when he was near death. (Something i noticed). 

He is 24, she is 16

Later in the new world after an unspecified time, Mamoru and Usagi are shown being intimate and get married. Also she is pregnant by the wedding day as well .

In the end she gave up everything her hopes, dreams and building her own life for a role she did not ask for.

This is subconciously telling girls that in order to be happy you need to depend on a man and give up everything for him, become his wife and whatever he envisions you to be. I  never realised how unhealthy their relationship is until I grew up and started to really think about it.

I recognized that these relationships in real life are unhealthy. This type of dynamic  usually has women extremly unhappy because they gave away everything in their life for their husband but the man just lives his life and is too self absorbed to realize his wife is an individual with her own wants and needs. Media protrays this dynamic as a life goal when it is much darker in reality.