We're getting a (Japanese) novelization of the Sailor Moon story ?!?

[Memento]

"What's more, these materials are extremely toxic."
Hearing that, Makoto said: "A sword encased in a special, poisonous stone, huh? After Usagi... After the Princess committed suicide in her previous life, we were enveloped in a flash of light... That's all I remember. From that point on, I have no memories of the past.” Everyone else was also trying to dig up memories of their previous lives. "The Moon Castle, standing in Mare Serenitatis, the Moon's 'Sea of Serenity.' It was once a beautiful crystal palace, our kingdom... In the old days, the moon wasn't such a dark, lonely star..." said Makoto. "It used to be whiter and brighter. Are you saying the enemy turned it into a star of death?" Hearing Makoto's mutterings, Rei, Ami, and Minako looked over at Usagi, who had been silent for some time... and smiled involuntarily.

Usagi was curled up on the cushions and pillows. Her innocent sleeping face was like that of a young child. "Usagi always does this when the conversation gets too complicated." Ami chuckled. She smiled warmly looking into Usagi's sleeping face.
"Between Tuxedo Mask and going to the moon and meeting the Queen, her mother from her previous life, I'm sure she's mentally exhausted."
"Hey, Mako. Take her to my room and let her sleep on the bed."
At Ami's words, Makoto gently lifted Usagi up so as not to wake her, went to Ami's room, and laid Usagi on the bed. Usagi was sound asleep and showed no sign of waking up.
"She'll wake up when she's hungry, I'm sure."
"Definitely," Makoto laughed at Ami's words and the two of them left the room and closed the door.

When they returned to the living room, Minako was holding the stone sword with a stern look on her face. The result of the fire-reading still weighed heavily on Rei's mind, and like Minako, she looked as if she were deep in thought.
"We never did ask the Queen the most important question of all," Minako said.
"What?"
"How do we seal away the enemy? How are we supposed to use such a heavy, cursed sword to fight them?" Hearing this, anguished expressions also came over Ami's and Makoto's faces as they couldn't find an answer, no matter how much they thought about it.

 

[Memento]

At that time, at Ami's apartment...
Beep. Beep. Beep. Minako's pen was making a sound. Artemis was calling her.
"Mina! Someone's clearing the Sailor V game at an alarming rate. It's not one of you, is it?"
I have a bad feeling about this. "I'm going to the arcade!"
"We're going too!" said the others.
"I have to wake up Usagi." But when Ami got to her room, the bed was empty.
"Oh no! Usagi's not here!"
"Something's wrong; I can feel it!"
Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako rushed over to "Crown."
Luna left home in a hurry and joined them along the way.
When they reached "Crown" they were all about to storm right in when Minako said, "Wait! That guy in there!" Minako pointed inside the arcade. The others all saw him at the same time and let out a cry of amazement. "Is that... No way... Tuxedo Mask?"

"Has Tuxedo Mask really come back?"
"No," Rei quietly but forcefully refuted. "That man's eyes are different... Those eyes are different from Tuxedo Mask's... I have a bad feeling about him. We shouldn't let Usagi get too close to him!"
In the end, at that time, none of them entered the arcade.
"Was it Usagi who was clearing the Sailor V game at such an alarming rate? Or..." Minako muttered to herself.

The novel adds Rei to this scene:

Meanwhile, Minako, Rei, and Artemis were in the basement command center. "It's too dangerous to let him play the Sailor V game anymore. He's definitely trying to find this place!" said Artemis, twitching his whiskers. “Yes. But... if that man really is Tuxedo Mask - if he's Mamoru Chiba..." Minako muttered. "We can't do anything careless," Rei thought.

That does it for Moon/Act 11. Not a lot of big changes, but the novelization definitely has much smoother pacing compared to Naoko's very helter-skelter paneling. I really appreciated the additions to the opening scene with Usagi's family, the meeting at Ami's condo, and some other little touches throughout.

 

[Memento]

Started going through Act 12. Not a lot of changes so far.

- When Minako starts remembering who Beryl is and what she did, she says, "I should have killed her back then."

- The Holy Moon Sword glows gold

- Queen Beryl's final moments are described thusly:
"All the time you were involved with the princess of the moon kingdom, I never gave up hope; all that time, I couldn't lay bare my heart to anyone.
I was watching you. Prince Endymion..." Queen Beryl's final murmurs were never known to anyone.

- Queen Metallia is described as being "Like the blood of the dead gushing from the cracks in this world"

- When Usagi uses "Moon Healing Escalation!" against Mamoru after Venus attacked him with "Rolling Heart Vibration!", she thinks, "Please, I want you to go back to being your old self."

 

[Memento]

- Text clearly states that Usagi pierced Mamoru's and her bodies with the sword in Act 12
Act 13:
- "As Usagi's consciousness faded, she relived memories from her previous life."

- The text in the previous chapter made it clear that Usagi pierced her and Mamoru's bodies with the sword. In this chapter, their bodies are plainly referred to as "corpses."

- "The crystal, like a living thing, grew at a frightening speed. If the crystal continued to grow, it would destroy the [Dark Kingdom] palace."

- Instead of Luna having a flashback to Queen Serenity instructing her to always protect Princess Serenity, she instead has a flashback to Princess Serenity effectively telling her the same thing ("Luna, please always protect me, your mistress. Even if time passes and I appear different, I'll still always be your one and only mistress...") I don't understand the purpose of this change as it casts Princess Serenity in a very odd light.

- When Minako decides to sacrifice her pen in the manga, the others immediately follow suit with no discussion. In the novelization, this moment is fleshed out a bit more: "Everyone, are you with me?" Minako asked. Tension flashed across the Sailor Guardians' faces. However, no one turned away. Everyone nodded at each other. "I'm ready!" All four of them picked up their pens in unison.

- Their pens explode after they throw them at Metalia.

- "The rebel army stormed into the Moon Palace, and Prince Endymion, who was with [Princess Serenity], was killed. He was pierced through the chest by a female soldier's sword..." "Female soldier"!? It's Beryl. It's clearly Beryl. It was established in the previous chapter that it was Beryl. ?!?!?

- In the manga, Queen Serenity(? it's unclear who's speaking) says, "I had foreseen that this love would end in tragedy. The Earth and the Moon are very different worlds. Their love could never have truly blossomed..." In the novel, she(?) instead says, "I had foreseen this love would end in tragedy. Love cannot bind together people who reside in different worlds, the Earth and the stars." This seems intended to open her statement up to describing the Senshi x Shitennou relationships as well as the Prince and Princess's.

- "The Queen cradled the body of her daughter Princess."

- In the manga, when Usagi regains consciousness inside of Metallia, she hears the turmoil happening all over the world. In the novel, however, her mind instead floods with past life memories of the attack on the Moon Kingdom.

- Mamoru recognizes Kunzite before Kunzite starts speaking, and he fights back tears when Kunzite and the other Generals disappear

- For some reason, Usagi is described as "a girl with a blossoming body who is not yet an adult." Ick.

- Metallia is accidentally called Beryl on one page because there no proofreaders in Japan apparently

 

[Memento]

Act 14:

-After Usagi has defeated Queen Metallia and revived the Moon Kingdom, Artemis and Luna look at the newly restored Moon Castle: "The two looked at the place where they were born and raised in disbelief." No Mau origins here!

-In the manga, Usagi tells Luna: "I have to go back home. Papa and Mama are waiting for me." In the novel, she also mentions Shingo.

- "From fallen people to the smallest creatures... may all things be brought back to life."

- When the girls reunite, they all tell Usagi it's okay for her to be a crybaby again and that she can make miracles happen. Usagi says she believed in everyone's strength.

- Despite retaining the original chapter title (i.e. "Petit Etranger"), the chapter ends with the girls heading back home as the sun sets. Without Chibiusa showing up, there's no eponymous "little stranger" to speak of. Oh well.


And that does it for the manga novelizations. Hope you enjoyed my recaps!

 

[Rika-Chicchi]

-After Usagi has defeated Queen Metallia and revived the Moon Kingdom, Artemis and Luna look at the newly restored Moon Castle: "The two looked at the place where they were born and raised in disbelief." No Mau origins here!

They could still be descendants of Mau emigrants in the kingdom. lol