More February VA Sightings!

And In Motion Too!

Robert Tinkler Spotted In Notes From the Underbelly Again!

It's too sad, really. Notes From the Underbelly in our opinion is an under appreciated comedy. With many TV critics predicting that it will not be renewed for the next season, we're sad to see it go. Robert Tinkler (Rubeus, Pupuran) appeared in the penultimate episode, which aired not too long ago. His character Ben, has grown tired of Cooper's (played by Rachael Harris) bossy and demanding behaviour, and decides to work for her rival, Beverly. Beverly is also dating the nutter of the group, Danny (but Ben does not know this). Soon Ben is left to deal with the bossiness and demands of both Beverly and Dan, and he realizes that as much as he hates being Cooper's assistant, it truly was a lot better than being Beverly's assistant. At the end of the show, he comes to apologize to Cooper and to ask for his job back, by doing what he does best! Bringing a bouquet of flowers to congratulate Lauren and Andrew on the birth of their daughter - of course, on behalf of Cooper! We're really sad that this show will probably not be renewed, but were pleasantly surprised at how great a comedic actor Robert has turned out to be! We hope to see more of you on TV soon Robert!

Stephanie Beard Posts New Video of Her Eating... Corn?

Stephanie 'Sugar' Lyn Beard (Rini #2) has posted some new videos in the last few weeks. The first one is an extended tour of her old loft in downtown Toronto, complete with Sug's Commentary. We had already seen this one before a long time ago, in what we presume was probably a promotional video. The second one she posted, really got us thinking. Two minutes and seven seconds of Sugar sitting in front of her webcam, eating corn! The video's synopsis says (and we quote) "heres what i've been up to since i moved to LA." Awhh... poor Sug. If only we could help! Maybe you'd be happier munching on some Sailor Moon Pasta, a Chocolate Sailor Moon just in time for Easter, or Sailor Moon Ice Cream all washed down with Sailor Moon Soda from Japan. In any case, we're not quite sure if there's some subliminal message in this video, or if this is some kind of inside joke that we don't understand. Or perhaps it's a belated homage to National Corn Day? It's all up to you readers, what do you think Stephanie is trying to say?

Moon Cooking!

A few weeks ago, I ran into an article about a high school in Japan that was having their yearly symposium, an event for the graduating class to show off their culinary skills. This took place at Ogaki Sakura Senior High School, in Gifu, Japan. This is not your conventional high school, here students can enroll in one of four programs: fashion design, welfare, food creation, and lifestyle and culture. This year's theme was "Moon"! Students prepared dishes to reflect this theme from a wide variety of different cuisines. Japanese culinary treats included dumplings and other desserts that were round like the moon and arranged in the same way. The moon's shape also reminded the chefs of the different seasons, so round spring and summer gardens were also created to complement the theme. The western cuisine used different variations on the Moon Princess, and Sailor Moon was one of them! Chinese cuisine was particularly difficult, one student remarked that it was very difficult to make carvings that would fit the theme on the meats and the vegetables. Mango pudding finished off the Chinese meal's dessert. There are a few pictures of the event here, and fans can read the article (in Japanese) after the jump - it has since been removed and I had to work off of a cache to bring you this story.



料理のテーマは月　大垣桜高校食物科生が卒業作品展

2008年1月17日

{[Photo]「月」をテーマにした生徒たちの多彩な料理が並んだ会場＝大垣市の大垣桜高校で
写真}

　大垣市墨俣町の大垣桜高校で１６日、昨年の歌会始の儀の題「月」にちなんだ料理の発表会があった。食物科３年生による卒業作品で、器や盛りつけにも工夫を凝らした多彩な創作料理が並んだ。

　同科の生徒たちは２年生の１２月、京都市で同じテーマで開かれる京料理展示大会を見学。プロの料理人による作品を参考に約１年間をかけ、自分なりの試作や研究を重ね、卒業作品を完成させる。

　発表会では、４０人の生徒の作品を和、洋、中華のジャンルごとに展示。日本料理では、団子やしんじょう、デザートなどを月の丸い形にそろえたり、春夏秋冬の日本庭園をイメージして盛りつけたりと、見た目の美しさにこだわった作品が目立った。西洋料理では、「かぐや姫をもてなす」、アニメの「セーラームーンをイメージ」などユニークな着眼の作品も。

　唯一の中華料理で、肉、卵、野菜とマンゴープリンなどを色彩鮮やかに盛り付けて「鳳凰（ほうおう）と月」と名付けた氏原美沙子さんは「月という限定されたテーマを、どう表現するかでみんな悩みました。私は食材探しや細かな切り方に苦心しました」と話していた。

　会場では、グループごとに取り組んだ旬の食材を生かした集団給食のメニュー、生徒たちが出品した料理コンテストの入賞作品、コメを着色した「ライスアート」なども紹介され、訪れた関係者らを楽しませていた。

　（中西康）

Hunter X Hunter to Return in March!

But For How Long is Anyone's Guess...

Weeks ago, Japan's Jump Magazine made an announcement in their weekly publication that Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter X Hunter is going to return on March 3rd. On March 4th, the 25th volume of the manga will be re-released. There was an article announcing this on Yahoo Japan, however it has since been removed. Fans wanting to read the article still can, as many websites,blogs and boards have copied the text of the article. While this is all great for Hunter X Hunter fans, we still question how long the manga will return for (and whether or not it will finish). Canned Dogs reports of reading a rumored leak from an internal memo saying that the manga was supposed to return in June, and if this is true, we wonder what made them hurry up the return three months earlier. When the manga returned last October after a very lengthy hiatus, only ten chapters were published before Yoshihiro mysteriously disappeared again. As of this writing, there has been no word from Viz if they plan to release the rehashed version of Hunter X Hunter, however Volume 19 is set to be released here the same day Volume 25 comes out in Japan.

However, there is but a tiny light at the end of the tunnel for you North American fans. Viz presented Hunter X Hunter at the NATPE Conference and Exhibition at the end of January. As of this writing we are unsure if anyone has picked it up. Hunter X Hunter lasted 62 episodes in Japan from 1999-2001, and was almost as popular as the manga. It has been dubbed into 7 languages already, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Tagalog and Dutch. What we'd hope in our minds is that things are done right with this series, and that it is marketed and handled a lot better than Sailor Moon ever was. Perhaps the right kind of success of this series might have a hope of Naoko Takeuchi willing to let Sailor Moon come back to the world. There is still no word on a possible expansion of Toei's AniBB service to North America.

VA February Update!

Hello Moonies! This flu is still biting at me with it's last few withered splinters, but I am finally well enough to catch up with Sailor Moon news! I've also been busy with a new job in web site creation, so that has also kept me from doing things for Moon Chase. But now things are a bit easier with reading week ahead of me! I want to take this time to thank The Me again for getting the new commercials channel set up on imeem and for uploading several weeks worth of commercials for you all!

Stephanie Morgenstern’s Pilot Picked Up By Major US Network!

As of last week, the Writers Guild of America’s strike had ended. However, before that, networks were faced with a problem, should the strike have carried on for longer. What were they to do about the upcoming television season? Many turned to Canada, where the writers were not on strike, and signed deals with many Canadian television productions. One such production was one that we have been following since last fall, Flashpoint (A.K.A. Sniper and Critical Incident). Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and her husband, Mark Ellis, created the show and are also writers for it! We are incredibly happy that finally, fans across the border can also catch this sighting, as CBS is the lucky network who has picked up the first season’s 13 episodes! Most times, a former VA will appear on a Canadian television show and their fans in the United States are unable to catch them - unless a pilgrimage is made to Canada! Flashpoint is the first series since Due South to be sold to a US network! The show has been in development since 2005 and got the greenlight for a pilot last summer. CTV greenlighted the drama last December. CTV has put a video preview of the show on their site, however the link appears to be broken as it takes you to a video of Canada AM. We will as always, keep you informed on future developments of this show! According to a press release, Flashpoint is about "an emotional journey into the tough, risk-filled lives of a group of cops in the SRU (inspired by Toronto's Emergency Task Force). They're unique cops that can do what ordinary cops can't: rescue hostages, bust gangs, defuse bombs, climb the sides of buildings and talk down suicidal teens. Members of a highly-skilled tactical team, they're also trained in negotiating, profiling and getting inside the suspect's head at the very emotional breaking point (the "flashpoint") that triggered the crisis. They'll do whatever it takes to diffuse the situation to try to save lives - all in a day's work." Congratulations again to Stephanie and Mark!

Emilie-Claire Barlow Nominated for a Juno!

A few days ago, Emilie-Claire Barlow (Sailors Mars and Venus #2) celebrated on her blog by announcing that she had been nominated for a Juno Award - Canada's equivalent of the Grammy! Last summer's The Very Thought Of You is currently nominated for Vocal Jazz Album Of The Year. The awards will be handed out on April 6th in Calgary, and will be televised on CTV. We wish Emilie-Claire the best of luck! Emilie-Claire has also been nominated for a National Jazz Award (for Female Vocalist of the Year)! Fans can have their say in these awards by voting for their favorite. Reg Schwager, a jazz guitarist who has also played with her, has also been nominated for three awards, Guitarist of the Year, Musician of the Year, and Instrumentalist of the Year! Click here to vote! And for those of you who still haven't heard Emilie-Claire's music here, here are links to iTunes, Snocap, and Fusion III. Emilie-Claire just returned from a trip to Japan and fans can read all about it at her blog!


Charlie Bartlett Finally to be Released!

Nearly a year ago, we reported of a new movie featuring David Fraser (Grandpa Hino), In just five days, this comedy will finally be released in theaters! We are happy that finally a release date has been announced and we really look forward to seeing this comedy about a teenager who becomes a kind of psychiatrist to his school mates. Fans can check out a trailer here at Apple, or the movie's official site.

Go North American VAs! This is truly your biggest year YET!!

Commercials Corner #21

Hey Moonies! The moment you've waited for has arrived, the triumphant return of the Commercials Corner! I had planned to bring them back last week, but wasn't able to get everything complete before work caught up with me. But, because I decided to keep to the overall schedule I set for myself, I have four weeks of commercials for you instead of just two, representing the entire December haul!

This is also the first set of commercials to be posted on imeem, hopefully all of you have success with the test video from December. If you have any problems viewing the videos, please send us an email at moonchasersNOSPAMPLZKTHXBYE@gmail.com and we'll do our best to help. We have identified one issue in regards to ad blocking software that may cause people trouble viewing the videos on imeem.

You can view all of our videos on imeem at our video page there. We'll be working on transferring our older videos from veoh sometime soon. Check out the new links in the menu to see our profile at imeem.

Also, Sailordees asked me to say that she is nearly recovered and plans and hopes to be resuming regular news posts this weekend.

On to our featured commercials!:

First up we have one of the SoftBank dogs, getting squeaky clean in the bath!


Next, we have two of the DoCoMo stars on a race through a shopping district!


A Shakespeare play with cell phones? And, of course, a man in a dress.


And finally, an ad for Kirin Lemon featuring an Engrish rendition of "We Will Rock You" by Queen!


Best of the Rest:

☼ Shiseido Aqualabel Skincream!
☼ A trio of SalonPas muscle pain patches 1 + 2 + 3!
☼ DoCoMo World Wing service!
☼ Panasonic Viera HDTVs!
☼ Slither Trailer!
☼ Yebisu Premium Beer!
☼ SoftBank featuring Cameron Diaz!
☼ December Boys Trailer!
☼ Five variations on the popular 905i cell phone for DoCoMo's service 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5!
☼ SoftBank Mirror Phone!
☼ Clarion In Dash Navigation and Video System!
☼ McDonalds!
☼ Epson Colorio Printer!
☼ Coca-Cola Xmas Trucks!
☼ Alien Vs. Predator Trailer!
☼ Aflac!
☼ Super Mario Galaxy!
☼ Sharp Aquos TV!
☼ Tales of Innocence on DS!
☼ Acuvue Disposable Contacts!
☼ Colgen One-Push cough medicine!
☼ GTA Vice City Stories on PSP!
☼ Soyjoy Fruit bars!
☼ Breath Right Nasal Strips!
☼ iPod Touch!
☼ Sapporo Draft One Beer!
☼ SoftBank 821sh Phone with Cameron Diaz!
☼ Uniqlo Xmas!
☼ Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on PS3!
☼ Schick razors with Japanese musical group Exile!
☼ Willcom Smart Phone!
☼ Resident Evil 4 on Wii!
☼ Blade Runner on DVD!
☼ Time Crisis 4 on PS3!
☼ Chocobo's Duncgeon on Wii!
☼ SK-II Facial Treatment!
☼ Mizuho Mastercard!
☼ Gilette Fusion!
☼ Ocean's Thirteen on DVD!
☼ Cielo Hair Color!
☼ Final Fantasy 4 on DS!
☼ Free Cell Phone Games!
☼ Activir Cold Sore Cream!
☼ Kid's Cell Phone!
☼ PSP & Santa!
☼ GoodYear Eagle RV-S Tires!
☼ McDonald's Pokemon Toys!
☼ PS3 Soccer Game!
☼ A pair of DS Kanji games with really long names 1 + 2 !
☼ Indigestion Pills!
☼ Herbal Diarrhea Pills!