Lots of Old Sailor Moon Prizes in Nakayoshi!

We've got another special treat for you! The Sailor Moon manga began in Kodansha's shojo magazine Nakayoshi, back in 1991. One of the hallmarks of this magazine was the furoku (small gifts or prizes) that the magazine would come with. Many of these prizes had to do with Sailor Moon, and often consisted of jewelery, little cases and bags, and small toys. Earlier this month on Japan's Nico Nico Douga, a user posted a compilation of many (if not all) of the Nakayoshi commercials with Sailor Moon prizes! Here they are for you!

Link:

An Official Acknowledgement that Pretty Cure Has Surpassed Sailor Moon

Pretty Cure has had 6 seasons and just as many movies. Now, the new hit magical girl series in Japan is set to have a 7th season next Spring: Heartcatch PreCure, according to a press release on animeanime.jp. Toei Animation and Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) announced this just days ago and launched a teaser site with only the logo. All of the series were listed (Pretty Cure, Pretty Cure Max Heart, Pretty Cure Splash Star, Yes! Pretty Cure 5, Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! and Fresh Pretty Cure) along with a note that the series has lasted for six years, and this has exceeded the run of Sailor Moon. Just last month, Movie Fresh Pretty Cure! The Kingdom of Toys has Lots of Secrets!? opened in theaters and was a resounding success. Congratulations to Pretty Cure and we really hope that Toei works on a deal with channels in North America to bring this show to a bigger level of success. It is currently off the air on Canada's YTV, and still has yet to premiere in the United States. We were impressed with the dub's lack of too much censorship, which was not the case with Sailor Moon. But, while Pretty Cure is good, it's no Sailor Moon. Something about reading Sailor Moon in this press release makes us all wonder, just what could have been if the show could have continued to run as long as Pretty Cure had. We would have loved to see a movie with the characters from Sailor Stars!

Bernard Minet to Perform Special Concert in France!

Bernard Minet is a children's singer in France who is known for singing many theme songs for several cartoons, including Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. His career spans over 40 years! Tonight, at La Boudegon in Dax, France, he will be performing a special concert filled with his tunes he sung for cartoons in the 80s and 90s. He is featured in a special interview with SudOuest.com. He thinks that his songs aren't necessarily "kitsch" but they are appreciated by the public. When the public hears his songs, no matter what age they are, they become happy and have fond memories of what they would do on Wednesday afternoons. For many years, he sang his tunes on another children's music show: Club Dorothée. Performing in night clubs, he says, for him is not a way to make ends meet, but instead a way to live. He has another show coming up Saturday in Toulouse! He is asked among all of the characters in some of his most famous songs used for anime, who Juliette (of Maison Ikkoku) would be the most happy with. Of course, he answers Hugo from the same series, because he believes that she is faithful to him no matter what. But then he also says that women are charmed by superheroes! This sounds like it should be a fun show - est-ce que nos lecteurs <> en France vont voir ce concert?

Neko Jump Visits Japan and Records A New Song There Too!

Neko Jump, a duo we told you about not too long ago, is sure taking Japan by storm! This Thai Pop Duo (stage names Noie and Jaem) are becoming very known through the country for their music, moe (charm), and their cutesy idol clothing! They have even been named special ambassadors of Japanese Pop Culture in Thailand! On November 10th, they visited Japan for the fifth time to record a new song for Kiruminzoo, and met with some members of the press after performing at a fashion event. They had always had a dream to make J-pop, and are huge fans of Ayumi Hamasaki and Yuna Ito. And of course, they have been in love with anime since they first saw Sailor Moon when they were very young! On a side note, we've also learned that their father works for TIGA Co. which held a lot of anime copyrights - probably where they got their love of anime from! They also said they like Japan more than their native Thailand because the weather is a lot nicer (it's always too hot at home)! They want to visit in the spring and see the sakura (cherry) blossoms, and also see what real snow is like too!

Their song "Pu" which is used as the show's opening is a cute song about dreaming of crabs and then not meeting their soul mate. If they dream of a snake they will meet a man! It is based on a very old Thai myth. The ending theme "Chuai Mad Noi" did not translate well into Japanese. The song is a love song, but some how that ends up being "Don't touch" in Japanese. It was retitled to something happier - "Ohayo Goza-Imaszu"(Formal way of saying Hello). They found this a little strange! When asked what the secret of their happiness was, they said to eat lots of fresh fruits like strawberries! These girls will turn 20 on December 10th. We find these idols incredibly cute and good-natured, and are once again happy to read a story of where people's love of Sailor Moon has taken them in their lives!

By the Fans, For the Fans (And Then Some)

Hey, Moonies!

Rest assured that the report and survey results are coming very soon.  We've been working hard to put the all the data together for you and we're just about finished.  In the meantime, we've received quite a few fan submissions this month which we'd like to share with you!

A fan named Joshua had this cookie cake made for his birthday!  It was based on the image below from the Sailor Moon R movie.  According to Joshua, the whole cake is like a giant chocolate chip cookie, sounds delicious!  Happy birthday, Joshua!

We also received some cosplay photos from fans!  First up is from uranusfan1.  She created her own Sailor Starlight, Sailor Star Miracle!  The first is the anime version of Sailor Star Miracle.  Second is her cosplay photo and third is a close up of her homemade Sailor Moon S brooch!

We also have another cosplayer, V~Ronnie~Rae as Sailor Moon from the first season!  We think she's done a really neat job on the costume and we love the pose!  Great job!

This submission comes from a fan we've heard from before! Forum user Sailor Mini Moon sent us a picture of her homemade Mini-Moon doll back in July. Now Chibiusa has been reunited with her mother! That's a lovely Eternal Sailor Moon doll!

In a slightly different vein, this sighting was sent in by Subzippo.  He spotted this one in DC Comics Teen Titans issue 72 from August 2009!  Bombshell accuses Miss Martian of dressing like Sailor Moon and we can definitely see why!

Our very last fan submission comes from facebook user Zack! His Sailor Moon posed was simply accompanied by "wow. i love you" Thanks, Zack! We love you and all our fans too!

Here at Moon Chase we're always happy to show off your Sailor Moon fan works!  Just send us an email to moonchasers AT gmail DOT com and include "Fan Work" in your subject so we can notice it more quickly and a name to credit you under.  Then just sit back and we'll show off your creation to all of our readers!

Meet the staff

Name: moonie1995 (screen name) or Shane (birth name)
Position: Writer
I Have Been A Sailor Moon Fan Since: September or October 1995 (somewhere in that range is when I started watching the dub on YTV).
Favorite Episode or Movie: Too tough to choose, but I do like the Sailor Moon R movie.
Favorite Sailor Moon Character: Sailor Mars is a favorite of mine - I like her strong, tough, self-confident personality.
Other Anime or Manga I like: Cowboy Bebop, The Vision of Escaflowne, Inu Yasha, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Oh! My Goddess, Ranma 1/2, Sakura Wars, The Slayers and Tenchi Muyo.
Other Tidbits: Most of my Sailor Moon involvement online has been through the Genvid message boards, where I have been a member since 2005.
- I am the only member of the staff who has met Sailordees in person.
- When I first became a fan of the show, I once managed to get out of the final hour of work in fast food so that I could watch the DIC episode Treed (the finale of the Alan and Ann saga).

Toru Furuya Gives Insight on Voice Acting Career

Amuro Go! ToFu-san is at it again! Toru Furuya has just been interviewed about his book that he released two months ago called "A Hero's Voice". This was posted on Sankei MSN on Friday Night, and focused on general questions about his life, and lots of questions on his legendary role as Ray Amuro in the legendary Gundam series. He wasn't asked (nor did he mention) anything about that other legendary role of his (Tuxedo Mask).

Some Highlights:

☽ He considers Ray Amuro to be his greatest and best role, because it was his first major role and he was always fighting with himself to do a good job. That was the biggest source of pressure for him when he was recording at the time - not from the director or production staff! Often when he recorded, he had a hard time knowing how to "talk" like Amuro would. He would say lines in his normal voice, and then continue to practice to liken his character's voice to it! This is also how he figures out how he should breathe for a line.

☽ At the start he found it hard to play Amuro because he wasn't passionate about too much, just very naive about everything that he did.

☽ He takes supreme care of his throat wherever he is. The first thing he does when he wakes up, and the last thing he does before he goes to bed, are saltwater gargles for his throat. He always keeps throat medicines and lozenges handy with him when he goes to record. He doesn't think too much about "throat friendly" meals, however he cannot overcome his sweet tooth!

☽ In the beginning, he thought that a lot of anime roles were portrayed very carelessly by actors. The first role that he mentions in the article is that of Hoshi Hyuuma in the baseball anime Star of the Giants. At the time there were not very many voices who could do Male heroes, and child hero voices were often assigned to women because their voices were softer. He was a pioneer for male child hero voices back when this series aired! He expressed his gratitude for everyone's patience on that series. It took him a lot of trying to get his voice just right for a younger character!

☽ Now he feels that his career is booming, and he tries not to strain himself too much when he records.

☽ He speaks very fondly of Ray Amuro - and that it is the only role he would want to return to again and again since it has touched him so much! He remembers the death of Matilda, his character's dream girl, who died protecting him. It was such a powerful and sad scene, that now every time he has to perform a scene where a character is crying, he always says "Matilda, Matilda" a few times. If he is not crying by then, he does not consider this to be a good thing. To concentrate and have the feelings of his character is the most important thing he needs to portray Amuro.

Outers and Sailor Starlights Update!

Here comes part two of our seiyuu update - Outer Senshi and Sailor Starlights!


Mika Doi (Queen Serenity) can be heard playing Kotoko Fujioka (Haruhi's mother) in Ouran High School Host Club (one of our staff favorites)! She also played Queen Dessert in the last Pretty Cure Movie Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! Happy Birthday in the Land of Sweets, playing Queen Dessert*. The 2003 movie Levity was just released in Japan, and Mika is the Japanese dub voice of Holly Hunter's character, Adele Easley.


Masako Katsuki (Sailor Neptune): She is used as the Japanese dub voice for Kim Cattrall's legendary character from Sex and the City, Samantha Jones. It is very likely she will be used again for the upcoming movie sequel set to hit theaters this coming Summer. She is also the voice of Princess Rose in Gokujo!! Mecha Mote Iincho, a silly romantic comedy about a high school girl who tries to reform a trio of bad boys. She is teaching voice acting as well, and for those of you who want to see a more recent photo of her, here she is hugging one of her students! The student's blog entry says that she is finding her acting classes tough, but that Masako is a great teacher! Unfortunately, despite our best efforts we were unable to find out what school she is teaching through.

Megumi Ogata (Sailor Uranus) continues to play one of her most famous roles as Shinji Ikari in the new Evangelion movies! She also sang at a concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Japanese music label Lantis. Lantis is a special music label since it specializes in anime and video game soundtracks. She began her performance in her voice as Shinji saying "The Pilot of Evangelion is Shinji Ikari!" and sang Silver Rain ~Piano Version~. She also debuted a new song at this concert, Silent Decide.






Chiyoko Kawashima (Sailor Pluto) retired in 2001.






Yuko Minaguchi (Sailor Saturn) has had a few roles in some recent anime. In Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae (Hell Girl: Cauldron), she played Nanami Kikuchi. In Hayate the Combat Butler, she played Nagi Sanzenin's mother, Yukariko (another one of our staff favorite animes). In a recent episode of Detective Conan, she played Mina Eguchi.Yuko is also the third star of Sailor Moon to be a part of technology launch parties in Japan, next to Toru Furuya and Kotono Mitsuishi. Earlier this month, she took place in an event at Ikebukuro Sunshine City. At the "Windows 7 Lenovo Enhanced Experience" she demonstrated how to use the new Lenovo Thinkpad. She posted a photo of herself learning how to use the Thinkpad with an office staff member on her blog! Unfortunately we couldn't find any photos of her at the event.





Shiho Niiyama (Sailor Star Fighter) tragically passed away almost ten years ago. She is still dearly missed by her family, colleagues, and fans.




Narumi Tsunoda (Sailor Star Maker) can be heard in the supernatural romantic anime Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity. She plays Toshie Takayama in this show about a high school boy who accidentally summons Goddesses in the forms of teenaged girls who want to be humans for a while! Toshie is the school’s director, who intended to destroy these ancestral grounds which the boy used to summon these spirits, thinking that they were useless.




Chika Sakamoto (Sailor Star Healer) leant her voice to an audio tour of a major exhibit about dinosaurs in a museum in Japan this summer. The exhibit featured dinosaur facts, models, and a few near-complete skeletons of over 280 species of dinosaurs!





Sakiko Tamagawa (Princess Kakyuu) is currently playing the mysterious girl Juiz in Higashi no Eden (Eden of the East). She is an advanced work of artificial intelligence that is a mysterious female voice which is connected to twelve special assassins in the series, the Selecao. The anime series ended last June, but two movies are set to be released, one on November the 28th, and the other sometime in January.



And as a bonus, Sailor Galaxia!

Mitsuko Horie (Sailor Galaxia) sang at a special concert on November 15th, celebrating her 40th anniversary singing songs for anime (pictured). She shed a few tears during this concert! Also, the concert featured songs from her fellow judges from the ANISON Grand Prix panel, Ichiro Mizuki and Yumi Matsuzawa. Mitsuko also released an album last August commemorating her 40th anniversary.


*SPEAKING OF PRETTY CURE: it appears sometime last month, the show was pulled mid-run from YTV's schedule. As of this writing, we cannot confirm why this has happened. There is a rumor floating around that the show may finish its run on Nickelodeon Canada, however we're taking that with a grain of salt since most if not all of the programming on that particular channel comes from Nickelodeon. Pretty Cure probably wouldn't jive with programs on that channel!

Gashapon (Capsule Toys) Turn 40!

Gashapon may be small figures, but they are very detailed. They have been around in Japan for over 40 years, and are still loved by many today! Yoshikazu Komiyama, a Vice President with Bandai (pictured), sat down with Yomiuri Shimbun to discuss the past, present, and future, of the popular collectible. He noted that their gashapons of Kinnikuman continue to be popular, especially with those that are over the age of 30. When they were first released in the 80s and 90s, these adults were still in grade school! It was also one of the first lines that Bandai used a metal mold for, and sold nearly 4.5 million figures! It seems these days that the only people still buying gashapon are those who want to experience nostalgia. They are just not popular with the younger set as they used to be.

In 1965, Japan began to sell the figures, and Bandai entered the market in 1977. Ultraman was one of the most popular lines back then, becoming a hot seller among young boys. In the first half of the 1990s, they experienced another huge boom when Sailor Moon had come out, because everybody wanted all of the characters in unison. And it wasn't just figures. It was also stuffed toys/plush, keychains, dolls, and magnets! This led to an all around toy boom in Japan. In the latter half of the 1990s, it was the same case with Dragon Ball Z. Since then, all ages have taken interest in gashapon, and now they are created with four fanbases in mind: small children, middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults.

Now, there are only three companies which make figures in Japan: Bandai, Takara-Tomy, and Kaiyodo. Gashapon figures can be found in convenience stores, malls, and subway/train stations all over. But, sales are sluggish! In 2005, the sales peak decreased from 33.5 billion to 28.5 billion last year. Mutsumi Ichikawa of Takara-Tomy says that their animal figures are not as popular as they used to be, and in addition to competition from the other two companies to put out a quality product, children just don't care as much about these figures as they used to.

Despite the circumstances, Bandai is not about to lose hope on the over 250 kinds of figures they create each year. They are looking into adding new technologies, such as small devices that play sound. Komiyama makes mention that Taito released a similar product earlier and it was successful. He promises that Bandai will not give up on producing gashapon!

And now, we've got a surprise for you... after the jump!


In July of 2005, what was probably the very last piece of Official Sailor Moon merchandise was produced. This 11.5cm figure was created especially for Figure Maniacs, and was based on the manga version of Sailor Moon - even Naoko Takeuchi was impressed when she saw how well this figure had turned out! I own this one and I recommend anyone who can still find this to get it, you will not be disappointed. It also comes with a guide featuring not only the sets of Sailor Moon, but of other series as well (Sakura Taisen, Cowboy Bebop, Street Fighter, and Cutey Honey to name a few). We've scanned the covers and the pages with all the collections on them for you! There's even a page on how to detail the figure (though this is something I have no intention to try).

North American VA Update for November 2009 - Part 2

Here's part two of the latest North American voice actor update. This part covers upcoming projects. We'll be sure to keep you updated when we have dates for these projects! (if you missed part one, you can read it here)

Stephanie Beard (Rini #2) will be appearing in two upcoming movies. The first, A True Story. Based on Things That Never Actually Happened...And Some That Did, is about two friends who own nothing and share everything, including a screen play. The second, Not Quite College, is about three guys in their fourth year of junior college. Both films are currently in post-production. You can find out more about these films at the Facebook group for 1st Team Entertainment.

Vince Corazza (Alan/Tuxedo Mask #2) will be appearing in Rock and Roll: The Movie, coming to theatres in 2010. The film is currently in post-production. From IMDb: the movie "follows fresh out of college guy David who moves to LA only to wind up in a bet with his teenage rock star agent idol, William Smythe over his cherished '59 T-Bird. To keep his car, David must convince a now washed-up rocker to return to the Rock and Roll spotlight for good."

David Fraser (Grandpa Hino) plays Karl Rove in the upcoming Casino Jack, coming to theatres in 2010. The thriller stars Kevin Spacey and is about what happens when the schemes of a Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé lead to corruption and murder.

David Huband (Serena's Dad) will be appearing in Running Mates, a movie about two best friends running against each other for mayor in their home town, in 2010.

Toby Proctor (Tuxedo Mask #1) will be appearing in US television series The Bridge which is slated to air in the middle of the 2009-2010 season. It's a police drama about a street cop who is tired of the political motivations in the police department and becomes the head of the police union. You can see the trailer here. We will be sure to let you know when we have more information about the premiere date!

Maria Vacratsis (Negaforce) will be appearing in the upcoming film Saturday, which is currently in post-production. Description from IMDb: "An unassuming cab driver refusing to visit his dying father becomes involved at the critical moments in the lives of two of his fares in the course of one night."

Do Not Buy This Plushie!

After putting those reports together, my friend took me away from my work for some "retail therapy". One of our stops was a local independent comics and anime store, and what should I find there, but a hanging column of foot-tall Sailor Moon plushies. I looked and wondered, are these actually real? But then I noticed the flower brooch and the boots were all wrong. I picked one up, looked at the tags, and saw that it was indeed a fake without any of the usual trademarks or copyrights one would expect to see on Sailor Moon merchandise. This plush, is also being sold on Amazon. What is even worse, is that 2 other comic stores (all owned by different people) within a few blocks were carrying plushies by the same company, and were not carrying legitimate ones (or if they did, they made up less than 10% of their plushies stock). The name of the company is F W and you will also see "Made in China" written somewhere on the tush tags. We know that times are tough, but we think it's a better investment for stores to purchase legitimate merchandise for the Holiday season rather than purchasing knockoffs. Be on the lookout for these plushies Moonies, and do not purchase them!

North American VA Update for November 2009 - Part 1

Hey, everyone. We have quite a few recent sightings of the North American voice actors for you! This post covers recent and current projects, but we'll also be letting you know about upcoming projects in part two of this multi-part article. Keep an eye out for more sightings!

Dennis Akayama (Malachite) will be appearing in Gangster Exchange, coming to theatres on November 20th. The action comedy is about two men trying to prove themselves as worthy of promotion in the Yakuza and the Bosnian mob.

Kirsten Bishop (Zoicite/Emerald/Kaori Knight) is starring in A Touch of Grey, a film about four women coming to terms with being middle-aged. The film premiered in Canada at the Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival on September 23rd and at the La Femme International Film Festival in the US on October 16th. On Novemeber 13th, it also aired at the Windsor International Film Festival. Visit the film's official website for more information about the film, clips and trailers, and upcoming showings.

Katie Griffin (Sailor Mars #1) recently appeared in Too Late to Say Goodbye, an original movie for Lifetime Movie Network. The movie is based on the best selling book by Ann Rule, which was based on a true story of a real-life murder investigation. In the movie, Rob Lowe plays a successful dentist who appears to have the perfect marriage. After his wife, Jenn, finds out about his affair, she is soon found dead. Jenn's sister, Heather, suspects that the death was not a suicide – although it appeared to be – and decides to investigate the truth. Katie plays a character named Dara.

Katie is also starring in The Death of Alice Blue (previously mentioned on Moon Chase) with Barabara Radecki (Sailor Neptune). This film about an advertising agency run by vampires is currently airing at various film festivals. Here are some of the upcoming showings: FANCINE, Malaga, Spain, Nov. 18-26; SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL, Dec. 2-6; MYRTLE BEACH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Dec. 1-5; CAMBOFEST, Cambodia, Dec. 4-6.

Tracey Hoyt (Rini #1) recently appeared on The Ron James Show. The show is a combination of comedy sketches and Ron James performing stand-up routines.

Kathleen Laskey (Birdie) plays Barb Strange on Being Erica. The show follows Erica Strange, a young woman who believes she has a bad life because of the bad decisions she's made. Her therapist transports her back in time to previous significant moments in her life so that she, with the knowledge of her present day life, can make better decisions.

Wendy Lyon (Queen Serenity #1) appeared in three episodes of Happy Town as Donna Friddle. The series is about a deputy sheriff confronted with the unsolved mystery of a half-dozen child kidnappings over the past decade in a small town.

Tracey Moore (Sailor Moon #1) is playing the title character in a new series called Zigby. The 3D animated television series is about a zebra and his friends.

Gemini Awards 2009 Recap!

From left to right: Hugh Dillon, Stephanie Morgenstern, Mark Ellis, Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos, Amy Jo Johnson, and Enrico Colantoni.

It was unfortunate that Maria Vacratsis (Negaforce) unfortunately didn't win with the rest of her cast of Rent-a-Goalie for Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series. But, to every fan who wrote into us telling us that our coverage of Flashpoint was completely irrelevant to the site, despite it being the brain child of Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and her husband Mark Ellis, we knew that this show was going to be a success. 19 countries, a new blog, and many awards later, we think that covering this show was worth it! Read more at We Got The Solution!

Want a Preview of Sailor Moon x ANIMO?

Toei has posted a link on their 20th Anniversary page to a preview of Sailor Moon x ANIMO, which is currently only available to Japanese mobile subscribers at smoon.jp. This preview shows a few of the wallpapers, icons, episode clips, icons, and even signal strength meters that are available on the service. This only makes us that much more jealous of Japanese cell phone users! Click the image for a larger version!

Finally, We Can End the Catherine Disher Saga...(And A Gemini Awards Update)

We posted not too long ago that Linda Ballantyne had revealed to us that she was in fact the voice of Snow Princess Kaguya in the Sailor Moon S movie - and we watched it again and heard the similarities to other voices she had played in other cartoons. However, one (or more) fans continued to disbelieve this, and posted some very rude comments on our blog. We did some more lurking on the internet, and discovered that many places were still giving Catherine the credit. Moreover, it has never actually been confirmed that she did in fact play Mimete in the S-season, as the episodes on DVD never credited her by name in any episode. Therefore we decided to put an end to this, and investigate this for once and for all. On Thursday, I personally called up Ms. Disher's agency and spoke to a representative there. The representative tried to get a hold of a voice acting agent, but he was not in at the time. I left my email in the hopes that I'd hear back one way or another. Around an hour later, the representative emailed me back and told me that she played the role of Mimete, and not Snow Princess Kaguya. To you fans who are still skeptical, we can't prove this any more than we already have. So please stop telling us that we have it wrong, because the agency has given us more "official proof" that she did not play Kaguya. Any further comments to the contrary will be ignored, the research has been done and reported, please let the issue go. Unfortunately, I am unable to share which agency she is represented by on this site, out of respect for her. We won't report an actor on this site unless we can absolutely verify that they had a role in Sailor Moon.

On a more positive note, this means we have another voice actress to follow on our radar, and we can make a more complete update to our Gemini Awards post. Catherine was nominated for her role on CBC's The Border as Superintendent Maggie Norton (fans can check out episodes here) in the category "Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series". Unfortunately, she did not win - Gabrielle Miller (who many know very well as Lacey from CTV's now ended Corner Gas) won for her role in Robson Arms playing Bobbi Briggs. Lyon Smith (Sapphire) and Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) were also nominated in different categories, but did not win. However, Stephanie Morgenstern and her husband Mark Ellis' Flashpoint won 3 awards during the initial presentation! This Saturday, many are predicting that it will win more during the broadcast gala. Keep your eyes peeled on Global TV tonight!

Inners, Cats, and Tuxedo Mask Update!

Kotono Mitsuishi (Sailor Moon) has been getting a lot of press lately with the recent resurgence of Sailor Moon in Japan. Her latest movie Rebirth of Buddha, is proving to be a huge hit as it debuted at the #2 spot! But this begs the question: What are the others up to now? We're going to briefly answer that question!



☽ Aya Hisakawa (Sailor Mercury) played the character of Shizuku in the first four episodes of Aoi Bungaku. This horror series retells 6 famous stories of Japanese literature, and the story that she played this character was based on Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human. These four episodes were just released on DVD, and are also going to be reworked into a longer movie set to open in Japanese theaters on December 12th! Set to open in Japanese theaters on January 23rd, is Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st, the first movie based on the hugely popular Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise. Aya will reprise her role as Lindy Harlaown, the commander and motherly figure, in the movie. She is pictured here at a recent promotional event second from the right in the back row! Upon learning of rumors that the series might be made into a movie, she said "When I heard a rumor that it was going to be made into a film, I did not know if I was going to be chosen! When I got the script I was surprised to read it!" Aya also felt that she has to play many kinds of women all rolled into one with her character.

☽ Michie Tomizawa (Sailor Mars) is still in retirement but occasionally comes to speak at events and perform one-off roles in anime.

☽ Emi Shinohara (Sailor Jupiter) has not been in too much recently, but continues to play the role of Katsura and Yukiji Hinagiku's stepmother in Hayate the Combat Butler (one of our staff favourites).

☽ Rika Fukami (Sailor Venus) has been involved in voiceovers for many variety shows and TV networks, and most recently dubbed the voice of Jennifer Aniston in Japanese in the movie Marley and Me. She has also reprised her role as Myung Fang Lone in the new Macross Plus Ultimate Frontier video game for the PSP.

☽ Keiko Han (Luna) was deeply missed by fans during this year's Animazement! It is unfortunate that Swine Flu continues to affect us months later, but hopefully she will return next year (and we will get the chance to interview her). She has a voice role as a narrator on the space opera anime Tytania which began late last year and finished at the end of March. The show has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray in Japan. She continues to be a special guest instructor of drama at Tokyo Media Academy, as well as keeping up with her astrology hobbies!



☽ Yasuhiro Takato (Artemis) has had a variety of roles in the last few years playing Gluttony in Full Metal Alchemist, Bamboo in NANA, and is now playing Geld in Dragon Ball Kai and numerous characters in One Piece.







☽ Toru Furuya (Tuxedo Mask) is still our beloved ToFu-san and is just as active as ever! He just appeared at one of the last celebrations for Gundam's 30th anniversary! "Soul-G", or otherwise known as "Gundam 30th Anniversary Commemoration Music Live", was a music festival dedicated to the warriors from the anime. He read some excerpts from Gundam light novels.The event also featured readings from other stars, and performances of many of the Gundam theme songs. However, it doesn't look like Two-Mix was there to sing Just Communication. There was a special "unit" there to sing the song: singers Akira Asakura, Kawazoe Tomohisa, and Hitoshi Aya Ushima. He also continues to show his geek side, and appeared at an event launching Windows 7. He is still maintaining his own homepage - but we think he needs to get with the times and make use of some new web technologies. His page looks like it's from the nineties!






☽ Kae Araki (Chibi-Usa) hasn't been up to anything this year, unfortunately. Even her fans are wondering where she is - and her birthday is coming up pretty quick!





We have to wonder why Keiko, Yasuhiro, Toru, and Kae are not being included in the 20th anniversary celebrations. Sailor Moon is not Sailor Moon without the cats, Chibi-Usa or Tuxedo Mask! Next Week, we will take a quick look at the Outer Senshi and Starlights!