It's really her first attack - she uses it in the first episode of the anime when "fighting" Morga but never really uses it again. Why not? Even if it's an involuntary attack and she has to be in Sailor Moon mode, well there are plenty of times when she cries while transformed. So why don't those times cause her to attack?

My theory is that this is some kind of really basic, primal attack and once she has other powers like her tiara and the moon stick, she subconsciously doesn't rely on it anymore because she has other weapons. What do you guys think?

I think that maybe as she became more accustomed to her surroundings, she didn't feel as afraid, and therefore didn't have the raw emotional power needed to generate such an attack. I'd like to believe it reflects her development into channeling her emotions for more efficient uses (i.e. Moon Stick). 

Though honestly, it'd be really cool if Moon used her supersonic scream more often. Especially combined with Mercury/Neptune's water based attacks. Maybe I'm off, but I do recall that the Moon has a gravitational effect on Earth's waters. That could manifest as strong jet stream attacks, but I could be wrong.

I have to agree, Henshinyo. Sailor Moon had to focus on growth and development of superpowers to improve her ability and strength. The Moon is associated with emotions in western astrology, and her superscream power (though used only once) is an example of an emotional power Sailor Moon has.

I think it only worked with the raw fear she had fighting the first time. While she still maintains her personality throughout the series, She becomes more accustomed to the fights and became more mature, like others mentioned above.

That's just my take on it, anyways.

That makes sense, and she does have her "official" power up attacks as she upgrades.

A similiar thing can be said about Chibiusa's moonbeam. We don't see that power after she becomes Chibi Moon. I think that is also because of her emotional development.

I think Naoko just forgot about the super sonic scream, because while it was an effective attack, it was pretty irrelevant and by that point Usagi was no longer afraid.

I honestly think it was a quirk that provided a justification for them being on her odangos, and never really quite necessary thereafter. I seem to recall them being a sort of homing and communication device, but I'm not sure how long that lasted.

I have to admit that in a real fight her long hair (and for that matter any of the senshi with long hair) would be a major point of vulnerability. Why more villains didn't take advantage of that fact is beyond me.

I honestly think that Naoko intended to go in a completely different direction with the Sailor Moon franchise initially, but that as the story evolved it became less feasible to return to that original story.

I get that Queen Serenity altered Luna's memories, but I still have a hard time grappling with her willingly allowing Luna to place the reincarnate Serenity in harm's way. She obviously knew that she'd reawaken to her identity as Princess Serenity at some point, but in the mean time let me place her reincarnate self in harm's way. Sure Minako was acting as a decoy Princess, but what if one of the enemies decided to finish Usagi off, before she awoke as Serenity?

Oooo I like all of these theories. I hadn't thought about it as being a fear generated attack but that makes sense, she does grow so much throughout the series and even when she's scared she isn't completely afraid - she still tries to fight. Headcanon accepted!

East02west please try to keep on the topic of the thread. I recommend making your own thread for your other theories!

I do have a little headcanon idea of my own though, what if Sailor Moon's supersonic scream was somehow linked to her awakening as a senshi? This could possibly explain why she couldn't access this power, since it simply signified a release of energy which could then be used for other attacks. 

Even then though, she could harness enough of that raw energy to create an attack, though this would have to be use in more dire circumstances, since her emotions play a crucial role in directing her attacks.

From a meta-point of view, I think her supersonic "attack" is a way for Naoko to show that Usagi is a cry baby, while delivering some humor in a scary situation. As the story progressively gets more serious there was no room for a silly attack, especially when Sailor Moon had more powerful weapons (tiara, moon stick, etc) at her disposal.

I also like the idea that Naoko used her tendency to cry and turned it into a strength instead of a weakness. She cries, the ultimate sign of weakness for most people, and takes out an enemy by doing so - it shows us that it's okay sometimes to cry and that it's not always a weakness.

PrincesseNee wrote:

I do have a little headcanon idea of my own though, what if Sailor Moon's supersonic scream was somehow linked to her awakening as a senshi? This could possibly explain why she couldn't access this power, since it simply signified a release of energy which could then be used for other attacks. 

Even then though, she could harness enough of that raw energy to create an attack, though this would have to be use in more dire circumstances, since her emotions play a crucial role in directing her attacks.

Oooo I like this too! Kind of like she had this raw emotional awakening energy that she couldn't access again. That's an awesome theory!

mangaka-chan wrote:

From a meta-point of view, I think her supersonic "attack" is a way for Naoko to show that Usagi is a cry baby, while delivering some humor in a scary situation. As the story progressively gets more serious there was no room for a silly attack, especially when Sailor Moon had more powerful weapons (tiara, moon stick, etc) at her disposal.

I know there are plotline or other "real" reasons for these things but I like to try to force them to fit into the story, it's fun for me. XD

Sailor Mercury wrote:

I also like the idea that Naoko used her tendency to cry and turned it into a strength instead of a weakness. She cries, the ultimate sign of weakness for most people, and takes out an enemy by doing so - it shows us that it's okay sometimes to cry and that it's not always a weakness.

This is one of my favorite things too. It's part of why Sailor Moon was such a role model to me growing up - I was such a cry baby (and still kinda am, lol!).

I think that her supersonic scream was definitely more instinctual. She was scared, a brand new senshi, had no idea what she was doing and thus her powers reacted in order to help her. We don't see her use this power past I believe this one time because she grows more confident as a senshi and as a Princess, so this power isn't needed. She's able to stand up and fight.

Do we know if the orbs on here odango are of the same stone as that which was on her tiara?

I'm curious as to whether there is any relationship between them.

Edited to add:

This might be related to Usagi's cry:

"Alala (Ancient Greek: Ἀλαλά; "battle-cry" or "war-cry"), was the personification of the war cry in Greek mythology. Her name derives from the onomatopoeic Greek word ἀλαλή [alalē],^[1] hence the verb ἀλαλάζω (alalaző), "to raise the war-cry". Greek soldiers attacked the enemy with this cry in order to cause panic in their lines. Hesiod asserted that Athenians adopted it to emulate the cry of the owl, the bird of their patron goddess Athena.^[2] She is one of those deities whose name remains the same in Roman as in Greek mythology."

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alala

The word derives from antiquity and is a tribute to the ancient God, Pan. One of the many gods in the mythology of ancient Greece: Pan was the god of shepherds and of woods and pastures. The Greeks believed that he often wandered peacefully through the woods, playing a pipe, but when accidentally awakened from his noontime nap he could give a great shout that would cause flocks to stampede. From this aspect of Pan's nature Greek authors derived the word panikon, “sudden fear,” the ultimate source of the English word: "panic".

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic

It would have been nice to have actually had a senshi with this ability (Alala), or at most the ability to manipulate sound waves (whether that be supersonic hearing, or some sort of sound energy I leave to others to conclude).

Conversations like this are really fun!

I think a whole lot, and I ask questions a lot too. Please don't mind me if I get wordy, I know I can be quite the long winded airbag but I get so passionate about wondering of how things work and how they are done and why's and what's and when's and etc lol...

I always liked to think that because Sailor Moon is a brand new Sailor Senshi, she has tools that are meant to hone in on her power and magic, and focus it since she can't exactly control it herself.

I feel this is where the transformation item comes from, as well as all other senshi artifacts like tiaras, wands and etc.

Some senshi are new, so they need an item to focus and direct that attack, otherwise it will let loose and could hurt anyone around them severely and not just the enemy.

Like many other shows, power and magic are most often depicted being utilized by the emotions somehow to strengthen an attack or defense.

I feel like Sailor Moon has so many items, because she is so new, and that because of that, she needs the extra help that others don't have.

But then there is the case all senshi have a transformational item(senshi crystal storage device and senshi crystal) and some having tiaras and even a few having staffs/swords/talismans of sorts. 

How can I explain that while sticking to this theory?

Well, I imagine some weapons like that of Sailor Pluto in the manga, were gifted items that are inherently magical on their own without a user. This includes all Sailor Senshi Star Seeds the Sailor Crystals/Senshi Crystals. This works because her Staff's main purpose is a key that controls the Gates of Space and Time. The gates, and the duty of watching the door was given to her to guard by Queen Serenity.

But she uses it in her other attacks? Every Attack aside from her Pluto Dead Scream is a power directly linked to the gates. The rest of her attacks MATCH her godly namesake, that being of death/souls/underworld.

But what about her Talisman at the top of the staff being her pure heart? That was anime continuity only. In the manga, Queen Serenity gave Pluto the staff and Garnet Orb, Uranus the Space Sword, and Neptune the Deep Aqua Mirror. (I have amazing head cannons for these items and purposes and powers fyi)

This proves that her attacks such as opening and closing the doors and transporting to the gates, Time Stop and Dark Dome Close(A move she uses to close any doors not just time doors as seen when she closed the dimensional doorway in the Infinity Arc) or that acts as a warning of the awakening of Sailor Saturn. The Garnet Orb also acts like a visual aid as seen in the early pages where Pluto shows them the face of the enemy. Both Garnet Ball move being a shield and Chronos Typhoon energy cyclone attack are done without the staff key and only the Garnet Orb.

The three talismans in the manga are also said to be combined in order summon or recognize the awakening of Sailor Saturn but they also resonated with Sailor Moon after she, with the support of Mamoru and Chibiusa, "Created" the Moon Chalice.

Why do I say created in quotation marks? I'm getting there 

SO the point of all this? SOMEONE created these items, to either surpress magic from wildly exploding everywhere, releasing magic like in order to transform, and to focus energy at a direct target.

Sailor Saturn's Glaive was not given to her by Queen Serenity that we know of but like I said before, it could have been made still just to help her control and channel her powers so that those around her aren't unintentionally hurt during any emotional outbursts. That accidents that could happen are frightening! Especially considering her kind of power.

Sailor Moon's first real weapon is a tiara. During her emotional outburst, I imagine the orbs and broach and etc were meant to channel that magic but her power is so vast that it could not contain it and thus everyone, not just the enemy was effected by an uncontrolled release of power because the amount of power she has was unmeasurable. Hence, the source of her power, the silver crystal, these most powerful crystal in existence.

(While it can be said as a continuity error between arcs that Usagi "Inherited" the crystal during the first arc but later arcs revealed it to her be sailor crystal(Source of her soul, without she will die/can't be reborn into a physical body) it can be said that Queen Serenity was holding onto it until she could handle it herself or was in training of sorts. I've seen many people use this theory and variations of it.

This works because Sailor Moon practices the use of the moon wand, almost preparing her for when the crystal sits inside it and she can really use it to attack more powerfully, and focus the energy of her power in a specific direction.

(Likewise, a what if theory on the basis of combining continuities of manga and anime, Chibiusa's beam of energy messes with gravity by making things lighter, while Sailor Moon's sonic booms could be said as a means of making air pressure, or even gravity heavy enough to damage.)

So I feel as if her Tiara, orbs in her hair and other items(even fuku costumes. Why are they similar? They are a military uniform, that's why. Who is to say they needed to transform in order to use their powers in a past life? Perhaps the uniforms are meant to showcase status while also fashionably decorating their outfits with practical magical items that strengthen and/or repress and focus and release energy.(Another example of this? Sailor Jupiter's Lightening Rod. Sailor Moon's tiara is not the only one with multiple functions.)

Speaking of Tiara's, the stones are different colors. Taking in Naoko's line of work and hobbies... gems and stones all have mystical meanings and properties. 

Maybe the Tiara's are power gems.

"The ancients associated Emerald with the Greek goddess Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, it and was said to protect lovers from unfaithfulness. If the heart was loyal, the gem would glow in a beautiful green color, but if the heart was went astray, it would turn a different, lifeless color. In addition, it was believed that wearing an Emerald would improve one’s memory and intelligence, enabling one to think clearly about the past, present, and future."

source

I imagine Jupiters gem is an emerald. As we have seen, Makoto is prone to heartbreak. In her story, The Melancholy of Makoto shows she is prone to forgetfulness and she struggles with studies from time to time because she is easily distracted and needs help with clarity.

This could be the same for all gems because they don't have to match their birthstones but their needs.

Just my thoughts