Moon Sticks is a series of Sailor Moon comic strips written by Chibi Jennifer
, drawn in an adorable chibi style. From the comic's inception in 2009, these four-frame comic strips discuss, lampshade, and poke fun at the perplexing situations and inconsistencies of the original anime in a light-hearted and humorous way.
This work provides examples of:
- Affectionate Parody: It's clear from the website that Chibi Jennifer is a big Sailor Moon fan, as well as the URL/name of the comic,note but that doesn't mean that she'll hold back on mocking her favorite series.
- Art Evolution: The comic was drawn in black-and-white until strip #64.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Sailor Mars fighting in her Combat Stilettos. The moment her team's back is turned, she slips off her heels and rubs her feet, which are covered in blisters.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Zoisite's Sailor Moon disguise in Season 1 works better here for a reason: the comic is monochromatic.
- Bribing Your Way to Victory: The strip "Taxedo Mask" parodies the (now-defunct) tie-in mobile game Sailor Moon Drops in the way Tuxedo Mask asks for a payment of gems before rescuing Sailor Moon.
- Character Check: Chibi Jennifer's strips often keep character consistency that is occasionally overlooked in the anime. For example, Sailor Jupiter prepares to use Supreme Thunder but is interrupted by Usagi (as Sailor Moon) screaming because she has a Fear of Thunder (which was the plot of one episode).
- Clark Kenting: Parodied to the max in issue 64, in which Mamoru points out that the Sailor Fuku costume is just a skimpier version of Usagi's Joshikousei school uniform.
- Disappeared Dad: Played for laughs when Kenji-papa overhears Usagi asking Luna if she had a father in her past life (as Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium). Of course, he doesn't hear the whole conversation, so he assumes his daughter doesn't know who he is.
- Does This Make Me Look Fat?: Queen Beryl asks this to Kunzite in issue 2. He hesitates, then responds with a little white lie.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Usagi's old school friend Naru is briefly mentioned when Usagi explains that her family fled the city after too many kidnappings. Umino's face appears in the corner, looking offended, to remind Usagi that he also went through Chuck Cunningham Syndrome as well, but Usagi doesn't notice (it was most likely for the reader, though).
- Faux Horrific: The Outer Senshis' terrible premonitions include Sailor Pluto's watch battery running out.
- Frilly Upgrade:
- Parodies the show (who was one of, if not, the Trope Makers of the trope) for doing this in issue 17, until the outfit gets too heavy.
- Inverted in in issue 76 where, after growing for a few panels, her tiara gets a Frilly Downgrade.Sailor Moon: It's like it never happened.
- Parodies the show (who was one of, if not, the Trope Makers of the trope) for doing this in issue 17
- Hide Your Lesbians: Involving Haruka and Michiru, specifically in reference to the original English dub which turned them from lesbians into cousins without removing the romantic tones. In the strip, a mother tries to convince her child that the girls are cousins, but the kid, seeing them clearly cuddling in a romantic manner, decides that they're lesbian cousins.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Constantly discusses the anime's Damsel in Distress cliche:
- Issue 70 points out how many villains (and Chibiusa) have kidnapped/become enamored with Mamoru. Then it got a sequel.
- A few issues later, Usagi's version was uploaded.
- Issue 70
- Line-of-Sight Name: Its use in the first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal is parodied in one strip. When Luna meows at the moon to help Usagi come up with her code name, the name she chooses is… "Sailor Meow".
- Merchandise-Driven: Not the comic itself, but the strip
"Sailor Moon Fans Be Like" parodies the insane amount of merchandise made since the show's 20th anniversary. - No-Sell: This happens to Sailor Mercury, who learns that the Monster of the Week she's fighting is weak to everything but bubbles... only after using her Shabon Spray attack on it.
- Perma-Stubble: Moonlight Knight has this when he unmasks himself in front of Sailor Moon.
- Put on a Bus: The strip "Where's Naru-chan?" lampshade Naru's absence from part of the Sailor Stars season. Before fleeing town, she had mentioned something about constantly being attacked by monsters.
- And then Naru came back when she heard about victims turning into Sailor Senshi.
- The strip "Missing From SuperS" starts with Haruka and Michiru complaining how they were cut out of the SuperS season in favour of giving Chibiusa more screen time. Then they get joined by Setsuna who, as they lampshade, was supposed to have died in the previous season.
- Spin Attack: Subverted and Played for Laughs when Sailor Moon tries to perform her "Moon Spiral Heart Attack", only to smack into a pole mid-spin.
- This Loser Is You: One issue had Usagi buying enough Sailor Moon merchandise to bury her in a room. Considering the issue was released at the time of Sailor Moon Crystal's announcement/release, the strip is clearly mocking Sailor Moon fan sensibility.
- Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Jadeite attempted to defy this, but Queen Beryl claims that it'd be too expensive to infiltrate anywhere else on Earth that Usagi doesn't live.
- Transformation Is a Free Action: Subverted in issue 39, in which Usagi's Transformation Sequence is so long that Naru winds up dying in captivity.
- In a similar, non-magical vein, Tuxedo Mask takes so long preparing and waiting for the right moment that by the time he shows up for the battle, Sailor Mars had already taken care of everything.
- In a similar, non-magical vein
- Unexplained Recovery: In issue 32, Sailor Pluto/Setsuna suddenly appears in Haruka and Michiru's living room as they are moaning about not being allowed to appear in the SuperS season. They are expectantly shocked.Haruka: Didn't you die last season?! ExplanationSetsuna: [Face Fault] You're right...
- Uranus Is Showing: Sailor Star Healer once mocked Sailor Uranus's name, in response to Uranus cackling at the attack Star Gentle Uterus.
