Crusade for the Galaxy: Legend of the Sailor Wars

Princess Kakyuu shares with Usagi the story of a long-ago struggle called the Sailor Wars, in which a legendary guardian brought the fighting to an end by sealing away Chaos. That evil has now resurfaced in the form of Sailor Galaxia, and Kakyuu explains that the single path to stopping it lies in recovering the Light of Hope that the legendary guardian left behind.

The legend frames Galaxia as the vessel of Chaos itself and sets the search for the Light of Hope as the heroes' remaining hope. In a downpour, Usagi grieves over her missing Mamoru when a figure she takes for Tuxedo Mask rescues her from Sailor Tin Nyanko. The red rose he throws gives him away as Seiya, who casts aside his formal jacket and transforms into Sailor Star Fighter, and Usagi recognizes the bloom as his.

Written by Ryota Yamaguchi and directed by Noriyo Sasaki, with Yoshihiro Kitano as animation director, the episode first aired in Japan on December 7, 1996. It presents Galaxia's human form for the first time and debuts the complete animation for the Fighter Star Power, Make Up transformation. The Sailor Wars legend never appears in the manga, where the outer guardians willingly join forces with the Starlights, Haruka proposing the alliance once the inner guardians have died, and where Sailor Tin Nyanko is never partly healed. In the Viz dub, Usagi's voice reverts to its usual pitch during her encounter with Tin Nyanko.