A VERY touchy subject in Japan. Most ppl who survived the era just wanted to forget abt it and go on with their lives.

       Yup.  I'm figuring Usagi's uncle was one of the few who served in a support role, so he didn't participate in any of it, and found himself sickened by it.

There were a series of war-crimes trials held by the Allies to try Japanese military officers for the atrocities the Japanese army committed in their conquest of part of China and South East Asia. Except it wasn't as well-recorded as the German one.

       Or as expansive.  The unit of doctors who tested bio warfare on the Chinese and vivisected people never was charged.

      "We deserved it," Usagi said with a catch in her voice.

War is a senseless thing. No one deserved anything. Especially those that suffered from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were only civilians. Not the military machine that committed the crimes.

       Usagi says they deserved it because she has already done the same thing, and believes it was justified.  And it probably was.  As I recall, the torpedos that made the attack on Pearl Harbor possible (they would run in shallow water) were made in Nagasaki.   And the Japanese practiced a distributed manufacturing system where bits and pieces were made in homes.  And of course, the entire citizenry was being trained with bayonets at the time.  The distinction between civilian and military blurs in wars where industrial production is a weapon.  Of course, no city deserves an atomic bomb, no matter what the citizenry is doing, but it was equally obvious that the bombs had to be used on cities to have the greatest impact and to make sure the population knew about it.

      "Usagi!" Rei snapped, "No one-"

      "Rei," Ami said, her voice quiet and toneless, "before you
continue, remember that we're responsible for at least one act of
genocide."

      "That's different."

      "Is it?" Ami shot back.  "What would you do if you heard
youma were doing those things?"   Ami nodded at Rei's silence.
Usagi surprised them when she spoke.

      "I'd take Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru aside, and tell them
that I was trusting them to make sure it stopped.  "When I become
queen," Rei had never heard Usagi refer to the future like that,
never talk about the future they all knew would come.  "When I
become queen, we'll be strong enough to make sure that nothing
like this ever happens.  We'll be strong enough to make sure
there's justice."

A bit awkward around here. Maybe describe Usagi's voice when she starts saying this...

       Thanks, I'll work on that.

Author's notes

         Well, this was provoked by a special on the History Channel, but
it touched some other thoughts I'd had knocking around in my head.  The
girls seem to have fairly normal lives outside their fighting evil invaders
from other planets.  At first, they might have been too young to think
about it, but by high school they have to think about the morals and
implications of being magical girls and future rulers.  Also, if Neo-queen
Serenity is to be able to act morally and justly, she needs to have total
power, so she isn't forced into doing some for politics, and no foreign
policy, for the same reason.  So she'd have to controll all of known space
and rule with absolute power.  Only with Usagi would that even have a
chance of working, but how did she come to consider it?


Absolute power is an evil. No matter how benevolent or generous Serenity would be, it would still be opression. Utopia wouldn't be what it cut out to be if everyone was just walking around trumpeting what the Queen says.

       Well, I don't know if Crystal Tokyo is supposed to be a utopia, or is Usagi will wield total power, but the point was rather to ensure justice, one needs to control everything.  I won't say total power is an evil, because it is how one uses power that is moral or not.  I could easily see a Crystal Tokyo where the citizens are less hostile to their government than ours are now, even if it was an absolute monarchy.

However, the good of society should always be placed above the individual. An old Confucian (or say generally Asian) ethic.

But then, who decides the best for society? In the hands of a tyrant, it would be disasterous. In the hands of the corrupt and greedy, it would be ruinious.

       One can easily say that that's what Usagi is there for.  Of course, that would be a kinder, more orderly universe than the one we live in.

The headache would kill any philosopher.. >:)

Overall, an okay fic. A good view into what Usagi and the gang would be like in real life...

       Thanks, I was trying to deal with the Senshi as girls and people not warriors for love and justice.


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