I've always wondered if the senshi get to a point with their powers where they just don't need their pens anymore? I mean does their power eventually come from within without needing the wand, or would they constantly need to rely on the wands power to transform them into senshi?

I feel like they get beyond the transformation pens.

I can see them moving on beyond transformation pens but I do not think in the world of Naoko Takeuchi, that would ever happen. The whole act of having a broach or a pen is a Sailor Moon staple, so I do not think they would ever not use them. Maybe different kinds, but they would always have them.

Personally I always found them to be a hinderance, that the girls must ALWAYS carry them to transform. Usagi has found herself in a few tight situations when she did not have them herself.

It's kind of amusing that Tuxedo Kamen is considered the weakest but he has it the most practical in that he can transform without any assistance whatsoever.

I figure that if they are going to be alive for hundreds of years, they probably learn how to control their powers, to some degree, while transformed and while not transformed. That's tons of time to figure out an alternative or advance their powers to unforetold levels.

I had always gotten the impression that the Sailor Soldiers had already moved beyond the need to transform in the future in Crystal Tokyo.

o_o didn't they move beyond them in the Stars manga? I thought they just threw up their hands and yelled "(randomplanet) Crystal Power!" and done deal?

Sailor Uranus wrote:

o_o didn't they move beyond them in the Stars manga? I thought they just threw up their hands and yelled "(randomplanet) Crystal Power!" and done deal?

Yeah, I was thinking this too? I haven't read the entire manga yet, in fact, I'm still only at the Infinity arc, but I've definitely seen those scans of them transforming like that. Can anyone confirm whether or not they have any pens in Stars at all? Like the ones we see in the anime?

Sailor Uranus wrote:

o_o didn't they move beyond them in the Stars manga? I thought they just threw up their hands and yelled "(randomplanet) Crystal Power!" and done deal?

Yeah, so did I. I mean, once they got their Super upgrades (except Usagi and Chibiusa), they could just transform solely using their Sailor Crystals, which were inside them anyways so that doesn't really count.

I'm assuming Naoko would want to keep the wands and brooches as a main detail of the story, so there's probably not a chance they would use anything else *shrugs*

I thought the wands and brooches were originally added because "We need to sell toys"? And that was why later, when Naoko had a little more creative control, she just went with the power inside, and we ended up with the... interesting designs for the SuperS wands.

(they're cute but they HAVE to be cumbersome, and way less easy to pass off than the previous ones. They were at least functioning pens)

I always believed that their Sailor Crystals were the ambodiment of their souls much like the Ginzuishou is Usagis and they changed shapes from hearts to stars and that eventually they will be able to control them much like Usagi can control the Ginzuishou^^

I think someone, somewhere (can't remember if it was here or on Tumblr) theorized that the transformation pens were simply an everyday object that took up some of the planetary powers of each senshi in order to help the girls hone and focus their powers early in their training. So the pens were used almost like stepping stones or training wheels before the girls fully tapped into their senshi power. I thought this was a neat idea, though honestly I think the pens were just designed to be cute so that toys could be made out of them. :p

I was always under the assumption that the main reason for the transformation pens were that they could be made into sellable toys and they just looked cool. And I'm in agreement with that theory that they're really just stepping stones that aid senshi that are just starting out.

Well the toy theory works out really well, especially considering Mercury got her pen as a "toy prize" from winning the Sailor V arcade game. They got a lot of "prizes" from that game^^

They have a lot of informational items froms pens, to compacts to watches to calculators to everyday objects. I guess it was also a way for them to conduct their senshi business without suspicion^^ who would be suspicious of a pen? Or a compact? Or a calculator or watch?

I think princess Kakyuu was able to transform without needing any items.

But that Princess is also from another area of space, so things may work different in different planetary solar systems xD

I personally think they would always need them, or they are supposed to always use them. In my headcanon, the transformation pen is a piece of tech that harnesses the energy of the crystal to make the uniform and weapons, although the power can be harnessed raw.

It's similar to an idea I read in a very good piece of fan fiction centering on the Might Morphin Power Rangers. That fic explored a team of MMPR that existed in prehistoric times, before the group from the show. Same powers, same suits, almost. In that story, this original group didn't have morphers. Instead they literally absorbed the power coins into their bodies, leaving a brand mark on their hands.

The downside to having full access to all that raw power was...well, having ALL of it. The story created the idea of something called....the Ascension I believe, where a ranger would basically tap into the full power at their disposal, creating a MASSIVE magical blast that would end up killing them in the process. Also, these rangers had their suits tear and they bled a lot in battle.

In the time between the end of this OC group and the canon group, the Power Ranger's leader Zordon built the morphers to put the power coins in to keep any future users from being able to use the Ascension. The morphers acted as a control curcuit, preventing the user from being able to harness the full power at their disposal. It also redirected more of that energy into the suit to make it more durable, so they didn't bleed anymore.

That's how I view the pens, something invented in part to perhaps keep the user from channeling all that power raw through their flesh and blood. Although it is interesting that their second transformation devices were wands.

I mean the first set were pens, working pens. Yeah, they were pens with fancy designs, but still functional pens. That speaks of the desire to blend in. I understand that the pens were broken at the end of the first arc and of course they needed to be rebuilt, but why were their replacements not also pens or disguised as normal items? I know they looked nice, but perhaps that was a bit of an oversight....

mangaka-chan wrote:

I think someone, somewhere (can't remember if it was here or on Tumblr) theorized that the transformation pens were simply an everyday object that took up some of the planetary powers of each senshi in order to help the girls hone and focus their powers early in their training. So the pens were used almost like stepping stones or training wheels before the girls fully tapped into their senshi power. I thought this was a neat idea, though honestly I think the pens were just designed to be cute so that toys could be made out of them. :p

This is my impression as well. Kinda like people meditating by focusing on a certain object. It's not the object that helps them (it could be anything, really), but they need something to hold onto for a while. Or the way that wizards and witches in the "Harry Potter" books can do wand-less spells when they're advanced enough... Or the way normal people in real life need a board to hang on to when they're learning how to swim - after a while they lose the board and start swimming on their own.

I mean, the real power should be inside of the girls, not in their magical objects. These are just lenses that help them use their power better.

And after a bunch of silly analogies... I also agree with the idea that they were made to sell toys. And they are! They STILL are!

Well, I believe that they were originally to just sell as merch to fans until the fandom blew up like it did.

So, here is my theory (if I were to put it into cannon terms):

In the beginning, there were no Senshi and as such no Pens/Brooches. Instead, the power came from raw energy of the being's heart. But this sometimes led to the person being severely hurt from using all that raw power, causing all kind of burns and sometimes even leaving them an empty shell if they used it all up without resting. It was just too much, and it proved to be uncontrollable 90% of the time.

So, one day a Goddess decided to change this by making the first Moon Stick which she passed down in her family to every new heir to thew kingdom. But even though it did help control some of the power, it wasn't perfect and ended up greatly injuring the user and repeated use often ended in death. Plus, due to the pure energy of the Moon royal family it was even more trouble to control than normal.

However, when Serenity was born the queen had finally perfected this by making the Brooch for her daughter and the Pens for her court. This time, these items were used as conduits for their powers and became an extension of them as they changed to become more powerful. The pens ended up encasing this, at least until they were able to fully control it all. 

But after Serenity died and the queen used the last of her energy to send them to the future reborn as new people, the Pens were given to Luna and Artemis to keep safe as they were suspended in animation. 

Now let's go to all the times that Usagi's brooches became futile against new villains. They were breaking because her energy was stronger than what the brooches could handle, so she had to find a new and more stable one that she could use as a conduit for her ever-growing Energy. And by proxy, every time that her brooch changed the other Senshi became more stronger along with her. Eventually, she finally finds the perfect brooch when she achieves her Sailor Cosmos form and she no longer has to worry about it breaking on her.

But, this also causes a problem. As she no longer gets stronger, she is stuck in that same power level forever and may eventually become weaker as new foes come to try and destroy the universe. This would make it impossible for her to help, which is why she sends herself in the past in a younger form to hide the fact that she is now very weak (and she also wants to give a warning to her past self about what is going to happen to her and the universe).

...But these are just my thoughts.  :bunnykonataeye

I feel like it's always been somewhat clear that the pens are functionally wands. They're catalysts for their power. They do not contain the power themselves. As Miss Cosmos said, in the Dream arc, it's clear that they simply use their sailor crystals, their very beings, to transform.

EDIT: As SailorDreamScout said, it's clear that the original intentions for the pens were marketing gimmicks but they evolved into so much.