Princess Kakyuu Perishes: Advent of Galaxia

Airing as the 195th episode of the series and the twenty-ninth of the fifth and closing Sailor Stars season, this entry tightens the noose around the heroines. The Three Lights reveal plans for a farewell performance ahead of their split, yet the moment is shattered when Sailor Galaxia arrives and turns her power on the guardians. In the carnage she strikes down Princess Kakyuu, sovereign of the planet Kinmoku, marking a grim turn as the series approaches its end.

Galaxia's assault removes one of the story's few remaining safe harbors and confirms that no ally is beyond her reach. Kakyuu's death lands especially hard because the episode ties the Starlights' distant home world of Kinmoku directly into the conflict, the only point in the run where that planet is named aloud. The confrontation also gives Usagi one final chance to deliver her signature vow to punish evil in the name of the Moon, a line she never speaks again after this point.

The chapter is heavy with farewells. It contains the last appearances of the transformation calls used by Sailor Star Maker, Healer, and Fighter, and it is the sole occasion the anime shows Maker's complete transformation sequence. Sailor Tin Nyanko exits the series here for good, and both Usagi's home and the Fruits Parlor Crown make their final showings. It was the closing episode of 1996 and the last time the Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss is performed. Kazuhiko Kobe wrote the script and Masahiro Hosoda directed, with the Japanese premiere on December 14, 1996. In the manga version the princess falls to Sailor Chi rather than Galaxia, and she is revealed to be a guardian in her own right as Sailor Kakyuu.