As Usagi Tsukino learns more about her role as Sailor Moon and her other guardian friends, the three-way search for the Silver Crystal grows more intense. After coming to an understanding that they each know the other’s true identities, Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon are slowly becoming aware of past feelings that are drawing their fates together. Meanwhile, the remaining Kings of Heaven and their mistress, Beryl, are stepping up their plans to lure out Sailor Moon and the others because they are increasingly of the mind that the guardians may already have the crystal, a suspicion that only heightens with the appearance of Sailor Venus (aka Sailor V, Minako Aino). Not only that, but just as Tuxedo Mask appears to save Sailor Moon’s life and being mortally wounded, the identities of the Princess of Silver Millennium are revealed and the guardians’ memories of their past lives come flooding back. But Kunzite sees fit to steal away Prince Endymion as a link to his own past and barter for the Silver Crystal. Usagi’s life won’t ever be the same.
Volume two of Sailor Moon really picks up the action. Naoko Takeuchi learned after the first volume that the store was good enough to pace it a bit, so everything doesn’t seem to happen all at once as it did back in volume one. Even so, it still has a fairly quick pace to read and some scene changes can still seem abrupt. Even so, Sailor Moon still has lovely art, and it only increases in skill as the story goes along. More backgrounds start appearing in this volume to give a better depth to setting, even if there still is an abundance of tonal frill. Takeuchi’s art style really can’t be beat in a sea of shoujo manga that all seems to look so similar and stands above the crowd. The chibi characters that crop up from time to time in the margins and at chapter endings are also pretty cute additions. The translation is a far cry from the atrocious version Mixx put out years ago, and the volume sizes are also a great improvement.
Sailor Moon has garnered one of the largest fanbases of any anime/manga franchise in the world and is one of the most widely recognized series titles. This is all with good reason as the art is beautiful and the story is unique and appealing to fans of both genders for its seamless combination of shoujo/magical girl and sentai action team genres. The anime ran over 200 episodes through five seasons and a series of musicals and even a live-action TV show were created from the source material of the manga, some of which Takeuchi had a hand in herself. Readers of this manga will find something that appeals to whatever their tastes may be, whether for romance or fast-paced action, and new readers will soon find themselves joining the ranks of veteran fans. The manga volumes are being released every couple of months, so you get a small break in between volumes to digest and crave more, and they are worth buying.