By Rina Weaver
Two of the most popular anime series of all time are Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. Many anime fans love the two series because they are both martial arts shows with strong, humorous protagonists who keep the world safe from supernatural threats. Many fans have hypothesized about numerous interactions between Dragon Ball’s protagonist Son Goku and Sailor Moon’s cheerful Usagi Tsukino due to the logical similarity. These two have been shipped and pitted against each other in hypothetical duels. Which leads to the most asked question, who would win between Sailor Moon and Goku?
Usagi rarely engages in physical battle, whereas Goku’s primary fighting technique is martial arts. Instead, she uses long-range magical strikes. All of Usagi’s foes are incredibly powerful on a cosmic scale. They’re opponents that someone like Goku could have a harder time dealing with because they’re incorporeal. Usagi’s fighting style, on the other hand, is well-suited to such dangers, favoring long-range magical assaults over close-quarters battles. Usagi’s actual strength, however, comes from her love and healing, which may rewrite reality and even reverse the forces of universal devastation in order to save those she cares about. Goku may be powerful, but there isn’t much he can do that Sailor Moon can’t erase.
However, there is one more factor that plays in Usagi’s favor: her final form, Sailor Cosmos. Sailor Cosmos, Sailor Moon’s last incarnation, is virtually a physical god. She has the ability to bend the laws of reality, easily warping through space and time. Her influence extends to the stars themselves. Usagi is capable of performing similar feats to Goku. She can withstand planet-destroying attacks and, despite not being as physically strong as Goku, she can typically maintain enough distance between herself and her opponents to avoid the necessity for hand-to-hand fighting.
Sailor Moon was created to be a symbol of hope and life throughout the universe. She symbolizes existence because her creator intended for her to do so. She never loses no matter who she fights, not because she isn’t a powerful fighter; but because, in the series, she isn’t much of a fighter at all. She is referred to as a warrior because her strength will ALWAYS provide her with the resources she requires to win; she is a guardian of life, a symbol, and an abstract. Usagi rarely, if ever, trains or goes through a time when she is acquiring a new ability. They only appear when everything appears to be lost. She can’t lose because she wasn’t created to lose. If she is defeated, then all hope and life go with her. Almost every last battle she has is based on this premise. No matter how lost everything appears to be, she will suddenly gain a rush of power from nowhere and prevail. This is how she is presented.
In a lot of ways, pitting Goku and Sailor Moon against each other is similar to pitting Superman and Doctor Fate against each other. They’re both really powerful. Superman is stronger in terms of raw strength. Doctor Fate, on the other hand, would most likely prevail because he is virtually all-powerful. Usagi Tsukino is invincible by the end of Sailor Moon.
Therefore, Sailor Moon solos Goku.