BREAKING NEWS: What Italy Can Expect On The Air

AnimeFun finally posted the last part of their interview with Mediaset Programming Director, Fabrizio Margaria - and it reveals quite a lot about Sailor Moon's return to Italy! We have provided our translations of relevant questions below, however for those of you who understand Italian and want to read the whole interview, click here!

Q: I have learned that Sailor Moon will go back on the air on a pay channel on Mediaset Premium, Hiro, a channel that is entirely dedicated to Japanese animation that we love a lot! Is there some remote possibility that this series can be broadcast on Italy 1? Will you be using the old [Italian] dub, or will you make a new one that is close to the original? Will there still be censorship? And above all, has the release also freed the rights for sales of DVD and the manga of Sailor Moon?

A: Sailor Moon will be broadcast on Italy 1 next autumn. I have been requested that the dub is not touched at all, even though I have heard complaints over all of the edits made to the original. I do not know anything about DVD or manga rights, but I suppose that it may be possible.

Italian reader Toy Soldier notified us not too long ago that Claudia Bovini, Director of Star Comics in Italy released a statement about the rights to the manga:

"We asked the head of Kodansha, the licensor of the Sailor Moon manga, but we have been told that the situation on the manga rights has not changed and that it is not yet possible to publish Sailor Moon in Italy. We have to be patient. unfortunately."

We wish we had better news, however we've noticed some very strange signs out of Japan. Even today, Naoko (or whoever is running it now) Sailor Moon Channel has not bothered to mention that the show is returning to TV on ANIMAX. Instead, we got the usual updates of a new monthly splash image, a new mailbag posting, and a character album update. Why is it that the TV show just doesn't have the support it should from the official website of the property? Moving along...

Q: Beyond the TV Series of Sailor Moon, do you know if you will also broadcast the three movies?

A: For now, I only have rights to the series.

So sadly, no movies for Italy, and no new dub. We'd like to speculate about what this means for North America, but it's a little too early for that. We hope the Italian fans can at least enjoy Sailor Moon again, even though this may not be everything that they had hoped for.