Usagi's Love: The Moonlight Illuminates the Galaxy

The series ends as Sailor Chibi Chibi discloses that she is the Light of Hope, just as Chaos takes total command of Galaxia's body. Transformed into Princess Serenity and urged to end the war with the Sword of Sealing, Usagi hesitates to strike, unwilling to harm even her corrupted enemy. Her choice to heal rather than seal frees the galaxy's stolen Star Seeds, restores everyone Shadow Galactica destroyed, and grants her a bittersweet parting with the Starlights before they leave Earth.

Serenity grasps the Sword of Sealing and sprouts wings, but recoils from using it, and Chaos-controlled Galaxia turns her own dark blade on the princess and shatters the weapon, which reverts to an unconscious Chibi Chibi. Told that fighting is the only path, Usagi rejects it, insisting a guardian's pride should never mean wounding one another. Her royal gown dissolves, leaving her bare but for the crescent on her brow and the wings at her back. Galaxia mocks the surrender, yet Serenity answers that she loves the world where she met everyone dear to her. Recalling the Starlights' promise that her friends remain beside her, she draws on the Silver Crystal's full light and pours it toward Galaxia.

The true Galaxia then reaches out, releasing the Star Seeds, and Serenity's healing power drives Chaos from her body. Purified and grateful, Galaxia departs to return each Star Seed to its owner. The eight guardians and a revived Mamoru appear before the weeping Serenity, and Chibi Chibi thanks her before drifting into the cosmos. At dusk on the school terrace, the group sees off Seiya, Yaten, Taiki, and Princess Kakyuu as they head back to Kinmoku, and the finale closes on Usagi and Mamoru sharing a kiss beneath a full moon.

As the send-off for the '90s anime, Sailor Stars departs almost entirely from the manga, whose Galaxia is never possessed by Chaos and which instead concludes with Usagi and Mamoru's wedding. The finale reunited its opening-episode staff: writer Ryota Yamaguchi, director Takuya Igarashi, and animation director Katsumi Tamegai. Usagi's closing monologue mirrors her introduction in the very first episode. Its nudity made it the only entry rated TV-14 on Hulu, and several dubs altered or covered the bare Serenity, the Korean version adding a bodysuit and the Taiwanese one a swimsuit. No new Sailor Moon animation would follow until the Crystal series seventeen years later.