I am finishing the S season, and I am super annoyed at Usagi. Anyone else thinks she is a lousy leader? She wanted to save Hotaru, which was really nice and romantic.. But I got super annoyed when she gave them the cup even though it was obviously a trap. She had luck on her side but if she couldn`t transform, the world/her team mates would all die... She always cried for Hotaru, and in previous seasons for Mamoru and never cared about the others.

I think Naoko handled it a lot better in the manga (also the fact she is not the leader plays a big role there)

I may be wrong, but I think these "flaws" are what makes Usagi an unique heroine. Not a perfect and flawless goddess (even Serenity, Princess or Queen, isn't.), but a human being with feelings sometimes stronger than her duties, as great as they could be. I like to think this is why the other senshi follow her, knowing how she reacts and feels.

I'm with you, though, about the Grail - it was stupid. But if she didn't gave it... I don't know. This would not be Sailor Moon anymore?

What I love about Usagi is that she's so relatable. Even when she screws up, (like almost killing billions of people by giving Mistress 9 the Grail for example), she always finds the strength within herself to set things right. It gives a positive message; it's okay to make mistakes, as long as you can learn from them and do your best to set them right.

Sailor Cosmos wrote:

What I love about Usagi is that she's so relatable. Even when she screws up, (like almost killing billions of people by giving Mistress 9 the Grail for example), she always finds the strength within herself to set things right. It gives a positive message; it's okay to make mistakes, as long as you can learn from them and do your best to set them right.

I agree with Cosy on this point. I suppose a characteristic that one could love about Usagi in the anime is that she is human -- she makes mistakes and choices that are flawed by her blinding love and compassion for others -- but she also does her best to rectify her ill chosen decisions.

But I will also say, Lilly, that I think the anime portrays Usagi as a very weak leader. More times than not she comes off as an incapable idiot and it is frustrating to see the girl who is so strong in the manga become so pathetic in the anime. I understand her strength in refusing to ever make sacrifices. I think it must be the most difficult burden to bear -- to not sacrifice one for the greater good -- but I admire this quality about her. However, I think the writers are mostly to blame for their idiotic story lines, such as Usagi coming to certain decisions that plain do make sense. But, this is an anime so I cannot always just go ahead and lay blame on the writers.

In general, Usagi's anime character has been watered down greatly. She is going to make a lot of foolish decisions and quite frankly, only on rare occasions does she come across as a leader. I really hated the lame way they tied the S season together in general but I admired Usagi's strength in leaping into the black hole to save Hotaru and make up for all the damage she had caused.

As for her constant crying, yes, that is quite annoying but I think that for the anime it is not entirely bad -- when it comes to those crucial moments. Usagi cries because she feels loss more deeply than most others. Usagi's role in a way is to protect those who are unable to protect themselves. She cries for Hotaru because she knows that Hotaru cannot protect herself, while at least her senshi companions have a fighting chance to defend themselves.

Usagi has a pure heart that is never tainted by the hardships she endures or the realities of living in a world where bad things occur and people are cruel. Usagi forever believes in the good of people, a perhaps naive thought, but it is this belief that I feel allows Usagi to time and again save everyone around her. The fact that she allows herself to openly cry in front of others -- to show that vulnerability -- is what allows her to posses the courage and power to bring everything to right once again.

Sailor Jupiter wrote:

I really hated the lame way they tied the S season together in general but I admired Usagi's strength in leaping into the black hole to save Haruka and make up for all the damage she had caused.

I think you mean Hotaru.

But besides that, gorgeous analysis as always, Jupita!

Sailor Cosmos wrote:

Sailor Jupiter wrote:

I really hated the lame way they tied the S season together in general but I admired Usagi's strength in leaping into the black hole to save Haruka and make up for all the damage she had caused.

I think you mean Hotaru.

But besides that, gorgeous analysis as always, Jupita!

Hee. Indeed I did! Thank you for the correction. It has been fixed.

Oh, and thank you again, too. ^^

I find the finale of the S season (episode 125) to be one of the strongest episodes in the entirety of the anime. Of course, your mileage may vary, but I felt the episode was emotionally raw and unvarnished compared to most of the material you will encounter in the anime. Everybody is at their absolute limit, and the world is hanging in the balance. In all of this, Sailor Moon is unwilling to compromise. This certainly speaks to Usagi's emotional strength in that she won't drop her moral code even in the face of near inescapable doom. She hopes to engage the best in human nature through her kindness. Recall that Professor Tomoe is begging Usagi to use the Holy Grail to save Hotaru, his daughter. Though it's rather clear to an impartial observer (or even Uranus and Neptune) that this is a trap, a genuine aspect of Usagi's gesture cannot be denied. She truly is, to paraphrase the Joker from The Dark Knight, incorruptible.

Still, if we take M's advice from Casino Royale and judge the situation dispassionately, what Usagi does is absolutely foolhardy. I have to side with Haruka in yelling at Sailor Moon for handing the Holy Grail to the (then) universe's greatest evil and expecting a positive result. Not only does it endanger the Sailor Senshi; it almost guarantees the extinction of all life on the planet. We can laud Usagi for her unwavering belief in the goodness of others, but she only undid the damage with the power of a deus ex machina in the form of the other Senshi believing in her. Actually, come to think of it, Saturn probably undid the damage as she went in to destroy Pharaoh 90 as her last act, but Usagi salvaged everything by going in after her.

I don't think many of us can recover from mortal mistakes of that ilk. There are mistakes and then there is almost dooming the entire human race.

I do agree with Jupiter in that the anime writers are to blame for Usagi's flakiness, gullibility, and near constant histrionics. Her emotional outpouring is often depicted as the result of immaturity. I wish they hadn't treated Usagi's emotions in such a superficial manner so frequently. The fact that she takes mercy on her enemies in the anime as compared to the manga is an interesting element that could have woven her character together nicely. Instead, one is often left in this dichotomous situation where either love and friendship truly conquers all, or Sailor Moon only gets away with rash decisions because she has magical powers.

In the anime, she's kind of an airhead. :S I have trouble even picturing her becoming Neo Queen Serenity- they're like two different people, with Neo being more like her mom than Usagi...

I'd *NEVER* risk the whole world for one person- ANYONE. I mean, if you screw it up, that person will probably die anyway, right? I think I've been tainted by reading too many history books: all I can think of is that it's a terrible military strategy, without a backup plan or a payout worth the risk should it succeed... >_>; But that's too serious for Sailor Moon! TT_TT

Usagi is a MarySue, so she can get away with taking absurd risks, just like the main boy in a shounen anime can (HOW many times has Naruto done something that would kill any other character?!) ^^;;;; (BTW I don't hate MarySues the way most anime fans do- they're harmless tween wish-fulfillment characters- and most shoujo/shounen main characters are Sues.)

Usagi is my favorite character in the series, both the manga and anime (I quite dislike her in PGSM) and I love that we can relate to her. But as someone mentioned, the writers could make her sacrifice more emotional than plain stupidity. Even though it was very sad when she yelled "Crisis Make Up!" and couldn`t transform, I was like.. Well, maybe you should not have given them the grail. I felt through the episode that the only person she wants to save is Hotaru, and her teammates were there to protect her and that`s it.

It`s the only point in the series I disliked her ..