We Apologize to the Readers of this Website.

As if the Sailor Moon fandom needed to have more unfortunate news...

We just received an email from representatives of the real Sarah Lafleur contact us. Unfortunately, the person who we thought we had a legitimate interview with was in fact an impostor. We had gone through and double checked a few things before we began to seriously keep in contact with this person and we did not find that she was an impostor at the time. However, now we know differently. Perhaps, in time, I will share more of this story.

On behalf of the entire Moon Chase Blog Network Staff, I want to apologize to all the readers of this site, especially those of you who had sent in questions. A lot of them were really good, and there was a total of 7 pages in questions that we had sent to Sarah. I also want to apologize to the real Sarah Lafleur for this mishap, and I will remove all links and traces of exclusives that we had from this imposter over the next few days. I do want to assure you that the other stars we have had interviews and exclusives from, Roland Parliament, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Linda Ballantyne, Lyon Smith, and Stephanie "Sugar" Lyn Beard are not imposters - I have known some of these stars for years to know that they are "the real thing" and not impostors to just take the Sailor Moon fandom for a ride. Again, I sincerely apologize to the readers that this situation happened at all.

Yoshihiro Togashi - Who is Roxanne?

We're sorry to say that Togashi's latest anecdote has us completely stumped.

ロクサーヌさん……高い……それは高いですって……。
rokusa~nu san ...... takai...... sore ha takai desutte......
Roxanne-san... tall... that is tall it is.

Or, more fluidly:
Roxanne-san... tall... that she is.

Very cryptic, Togashi-san, very cryptic.

While we can't make heads or tails of this message (He doesn't have any character named Roxanne in his manga, and we can't figure out who she might be), this does mark his 11th week in a row releasing a Hunter x Hunter chapter!

Despite all the video game addiction scares, you've lasted more than 10 weeks Togashi-san! Kudos! Let's hope this trend continues. :)

BREAKING NEWS: Sailor Moon is NOT Currently Confirmed for Latin America in 2011

Last night, we got wind of a couple blog articles that were quoting Toei Animation Inc.'s Latin American Licensing Representative Eduardo Lucio, as saying that Sailor Moon will return in 2011.

First, we'll feature a translation of the last paragraph posted in this post by ANMTVLA.

The news is very encouraging regarding Latin America. Exclusive to us, Eduardo Lucio, Toei Animation's representative in Latin America has confirmed that Sailor Moon will return to our region next year, possibly with the original dub and uncensored [video track]. This adds to the confirmation by Capital 8 that they will be selling the entire series, but this is still not ruling out the chance of a redub for a new remastered version like Evangelion. Therefore, one of the fans' biggest requests is becoming a reality with the launch of the new decade.

JBOX.com.BR also posted an article that only said that a release was going to come to Brazil in 2011, but did not quote anyone from Toei Animation.

We were unsure if this was a rumor or not considering that there was no press release linked, quoted, or mentioned in this article, and sought to confirm this as soon as we could. We have since learned that Toei Animation does not have any official Sailor Moon licensing news for Latin America to share with the press at this moment.

Fans, we know that this is a VERY exciting time with the series' resurrection in Europe and Japan but please don't count your chickens before they hatch. We have to always wait for a press release, or legitimate word from an actual person involved with these companies. Toei Animation Europe and Backstage Licensing have done a very good job at keeping fans up to date with whatever they can through their press releases, and we know that Toei Animation Inc. in Los Angeles will follow much of the same procedures when the time is right to make their announcements. Right now, it is a waiting game to see what will happen with the series. Thanks for your understanding, cooperation, and your patience! We know you are all excited but we need to be careful, ok?

And to the bloggers at ANMTVLA and JBOX.com.BR, please fix your posts. You aren't doing the fandom or Sailor Moon any good by posting exclusives like this without verifying your facts.

Sera Myu Sightings Late March 2010 - Part 2

Not too much to report now, but we thought we'd still report these since these actors were all featured in huge roles during Sera Myu!

Kenji Urai is a Prince!

Fresh off his win at the 44th Kinokuniya Theater Awards, Kenji Urai (Tuxedo Mask from 2001-2002) will be making an appearance in a stage musical, and he wil get to play a prince! Bara to Samurai: Goemon Rock Overdrive (Rose to Samurai: Goemon Rock Overdrive) began on March 18th in Tokyo, and will travel through to Osaka in April and May. The play takes place in the 17th century, about two pirates named Goemon and Ann. Lured by a reward, another pirate tries to kidnap Goemon, but captures Ann instead. Everyone finds out later that Annu is the long-lost daughter of the recently deceased King, and is set to rule over his kingdom. At her first party, Annu meets a prince named Charles from another country who falls in love with her, but Goemon isn’t ready to give her up easily. Kenji is playing Prince Charles, and has received some rave reviews from fans already over his performance! At a promotional event held earlier this month, the two leading cast members playing Ann and Goemon (Yuki Amami and Arata Furata) were excited for the chance to cosplay as pirates on stage!

Tae Kimura Presents at 33rd Japanese Academy Awards After Winning Year!

2009 was a great year for Tae Kimura (Fisheye in Sailor Moon SuperS musicals). She won two awards for her role in the critically acclaimed film All Around Us (including a Japanese Academy Award), and became well known around Japan. A few weeks ago, she appeared to present an award at the Japanese Academy Awards, and was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the Japanese film Zero Focus. This movie was about a mysterious disappearance of a woman's husband. We have a photo of her at the awards featured here (in the brown dress). Unfortunately, she didn't win, but we are still proud of everything she has achieved! Zero Focus will be released to DVD and BD this June. Fans can check out more information about the film in English here.

Maki Aizawa Goes Shopping and Has a Beauty Blog

Maki Aizawa (Loof Merrow in 2004) went for a little shopping trip with her friend, Yuko Ogura (another idol) before they had to go to work. This for some strange reason was covered by the tabloids (*sigh*). They went to one of the most trendiest stores in Tokyo called ISBIT DAIKANYAMA which is very popular among idols for the eclectic selection of clothing it carries. They tried on a few items and took some photos of themselves without makeup and went on their merry way (which included posts on both Yuko and Maki's blogs). Maki is the girl on the right side of the photo we have posted here. Maki also started a beauty blog a few months ago which is slowly gaining some steam with her fans. She reviews beauty products that she uses.

Tabe Mikako in New Lipstick Commercial!

Tabe Mikako (Yaten Kou/Sailor Star Healer) is currently being featured in a new lipstick commercial in Japan for Orbis Rouge Crystal. This lipstick has special shine enhancers in it to make your lips sparkle. Orbis has two commercials for this product, the first one features Tabe putting the lipstick on and talking about how it makes her lips sparkle. The second one, features Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott playing a Chopin waltz off of her brand new album. Both aim to show that this lipstick will make you sparkle and shine at just the right moment! Fans can check out videos of both commercials here!

Anza Oyama a Matter of Weeks Away From South America!

Anza Oyama (Sailor Moon from 1993-1998) is the lead singer of Japanese metal band Head Phones President, and they are heading out for the first time to South America a month from now! They will be playing four shows in Brazil, and 3 of them are at anime conventions: the concert on April 24th will happen at Anime Hero!, then they will head off to Anime Osasco the next day, and then to Porto Allegre's J-Party Ballads on the 30th. On May 2nd, they will finish their tour playing in Rio de Janeiro. We know our friends at SOS Brazil are very excited about this and we can't wait to hear what they have to report! The band sings in English, and their style of music is definitely a departure from the cutesy songs fans know Anza best for singing in Sera Myu. Fans who want to give their music a listen can check out their MySpace! We wish Head Phones President the best of luck on their tour and we hope to see them perform in other places as well.

Sailor Moon Returns to San Francisco!

Ok. Not the real Sailor Moon, but still a cool one anyway! Cosplayer Maria Watanabe is on a mission to bring joy to people visiting Japantown and to teach everyone she can (especially children) about Japanese culture. She cosplays at Sailor Moon on Saturday Afternoons in San Francisco's Japantown, speaking only as Sailor Moon would in Japanese! Fans can check out a wonderful piece here from the SF Public Press which features an audio clip in which she goes into the legend that Sailor Moon is based on, and how happy she is cosplaying as Sailor Moon! The writer could have gotten the description of Sailor Moon down a little better (she definitely doesn't have blue hair). She has also started a special group for cosplayers, and welcomes more company to join her at the mall. If any of our readers in San Francisco happen to see her, we'd love to hear of your experiences! While we may not have the real Sailor Moon back in North America, it is refreshing to learn of interesting and creative ways that people are still keeping the spirit of Sailor Moon alive. Domo Arigato Goza Imasu Maria!

Sera Myu Sightings Late March 2010 - Part 1

We're a little behind on our posts - so this week will be mostly Sera Myu and PGSM will carry on until next week. Thank you Moonies! As of this writing we have 505 surveys for Phase 4! Only 195 to go till we hit our goal of 700! Today's actor updates are all dealing with doramas and DVDs!


Yuu Shirota’s New Samurai Drama to Get Boxset Release!

Yuu Shirota (Tuxedo Kamen from 2003-2004) keeps popping up in lots of different places! Last fall, he played Tsuyoshi Nakamura in the Japanese dorama Samurai High School. Tsuyoshi befriends the main character named Kotaro Mochizuki, who is a very special person. He experiences flashbacks of his past life as a samurai, and even awakens his ancestors within him to save the day. The show’s premise seems a little silly but it was a lot more popular than you’d expect, and it ran for 9 episodes on NTV! The show is set to get a DVD Boxset release on March 26th. It will be packed with extras including cast interviews, event footage, making ofs, and special stickers. Last fall on his blog, Yuu said that this was the first time he had ever played a good-for-nothing student, and said that this is the funniest dorama he has ever been in! He also wanted to assure his fans that his character's pants were not rolled up because they were too tall for him, that it was just the way his character was supposed to dress.

Fumina Hara in Drama Special!

Fuji TV aired a 4-night special drama event in the beginning of March, and Fumina Hara (Sailor Moon from 1998-1999) was featured in the very last episode. Sotsu Uta was a slice-of-life/coming of age dorama featuring four women's stories of graduation, that are based on popular graduation songs in Japan. Her episode aired on March 4th, and was titled Sotsugyou Shashin and was based on the song by Yumi Matsutoya. J-pop Queen Ayumi Hamasaki sang a version of this song on her A Ballads album, and fans can hear a version of it here. The story was about a radio personality named Hitomi Tachibana (played by Masami Nagasawa) who moved back to her hometown after working in the brutal Tokyo working world for a long time. She makes a brand new start in her old hometown with the help and support of a classmate from high school days. Fumina played Manami Kiguchi in the episode, and appeared for only a few moments. She played another employee at the same office as Hitomi, who was "sleeping her way to the top".

Fumina also appeared on NHK's office sketch comedy series Salaryman Neo last year. That show is also on its way to DVD on April 10th.

Reiko Kataoka Comes a Long Way From Being an Ensemble Member

Reiko Kataoka is probably one of those Sera Myu stars who is barely remembered. She only appeared in one musical - Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen as an ensemble member. She has since gone on to appear in many doramas and films, and one of those doramas is Gaiji Keisatsu. This show is about a special police unit that deals with threats like international terrorism and espionage. She played the leading role of Sargent Ayane Igarashi, a gutsy Sargent who is ruthless and given many tough assignments. She tires of her job and wants to retire. The show was just released on DVD on February 23rd. It's surprising how far some actors from Sera Myu have come, even if they were only featured in a very minor role in the musicals!

New Thoughts from Kotono Mitsuishi and HIMEKA!

Yesterday, The Asahi Shimbun featured a short article with new thoughts and musings about Sailor Moon from Kotono Mitsuishi and Canadian-Turned-Japanese Songstress Himeka. This piece was written by Atsushi Nohara, and she is someone who is very lucky because she got to learn a lot that we never got to know before! The article's title loosely translates to "In the name of the Moon, gives me courage", and you will see why below. The story begins with "There are not many anime that have been televised in over 50 countries. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon made the girls of the world crazy."


Kotono Mitsuishi:

Kotono Mitsuishi played our hero Sailor Moon. But, there was a time when she had to put that away for five episodes. In January of 1993, she was experiencing severe pains in her abdomen, and it was time for her to finally go in to get it treated. Turns out Kotono was suffering from an ovarian cyst (and not appendicitis as has been reported in the past) and needed to go in to the emergency room. Kae Araki played her role for the first five episodes while she recovered. Kotono was sad to step down from such an amazing role, and she cried to everyone around her because she had a little Usagi in her. Kotono said that she was a blundering crybaby, like most middle school girls are everywhere. But Usagi can transform into a Sailor Suit and fight evil. She screams "In the name of the Moon, I will punish you." Even if a colleague were to point out that she did something wrong, Usagi was always strong enough to make it better. She is a good and honest child. Kotono landed her first anime leading role when she was just 24. Sailor Moon featured both a magical girl and a girl who could fight evil, and was one of the first anime to really put the two together. This was a big hit for Toei Animation and it ran for 5 years. Girls would always cheer for Sailor Moon when she had to fight, and the show was a symbol of girl's independence back in its heyday.

Kotono returned after those 5 episodes were recorded to her beloved role, and when she recorded the first sound drama cassettes, she remembered the fighting spirit Sailor Moon had in the last episodes of the first season. It was that spirit, that carried her voice throughout. She actually cried when she recorded those episodes, because she felt for not only her character but the others. She remembers so many tears and having a runny nose while trying to play Usagi during those times. Producer Junichi Sato commented that Kotono's voice was very versatile and could flip expressions very quickly. She impressed the animators and the crew! Kotono learned the importance of hard work when she got the role of Sailor Moon, and even though it was difficult, her hard work paid off. Sailor Moon is one of her most cherished roles!

At her house, the DVDs play over and over because her daughter is a big fan of Sailor Moon. Just like the show steps generations, it also stepped from country to country...


Himeka:

The 29-year-old singer from Canada (real name: Catherine St-Onge) sang the Sailor Moon theme song at the DVD launch and reunion event last year. At the end of the event, she sang the theme song again, full of tears and clinging on to Kotono. Himeka says that was the day her life had changed.

Himeka was 15 years old when she saw her first episode of Sailor Moon. Unlike the Disney Princesses, Sailor Moon was not just a pretty face that had to be protected. She saw similarities in her own life to that of Sailor Moon's. Himeka says that she was a hardworking crybaby that had the power to change her life. She instantly became fascinated with Japanese culture and began to learn more about anime and manga as well. She wanted to learn so much more about these different kinds of superheroes, and also started to study Japanese on her own. She knew she wanted to be an anime singer, and worked in factories and fast-food service joints throughout her 20s. She would sing songs from many anime in her room at night, never losing sight of her dream. In the spring of 2008, she moved to Japan and started to get involved in the Anison competitions. In the Fall of 2008, she became the first non-Japanese person to win ANIMAX's Anison Grand Prix, and in the spring of 2009 released her first single. Just like she was inspired by Sailor Moon, she hopes to inspire girls all over the world. She is happy to be where she is right now, and she hopes to one day share her strength to inspire someone else, like she had been inspired before.

The article ends saying that Japanese Animation is the most popular and sought after animation in the world. With fierce competition from both large and small anime companies, Toei Animation has embodied the bulk of the history of anime, inspiring other people to follow their own dreams and imaginations to bring them to life.

This was a nice article to read about how two very different people found strength and courage in dark times from Sailor Moon.

Yoshihiro Togashi - Hay Fever, Games and Bookmarks

Yoshihiro Togashi continues to be both a source of good news and bad for Hunter x Hunter fans. His anecdote accompanying issue 14 of Hunter x Hunter shows promise:

My hay fever has lightened each year.
I think I'm recovering

Some fans hope that this windfall will free him more time for HxH, but other signs point to bad news.

Issue 15 ended with this quote:

I saw my Senreki.
But I'm annoyed by the fairy that accompanies me.

We're almost positive he's referring to Dragon Quest IX again. Senreki is the combat log screen, showing a list of your defeated monsters as well as other "collectibles" for those who like to obtain a 100% completion. The fairy is the much maligned, ganguro-esque fairy guide Sandy, whom everyone loves to hate.

Right on the heels of his continuing Dragon Quest IX obsession (which is still making other various headlines), there are rumors that he may be addicted to the 11th incarnation of the other popular Square-Enix series. Since the level cap in Final Fantasy 11 was recently increased from 75 to 99, Togashi may just have a new excuse to indulge.

Fans do get a little treat from Shounen Jump very soon. For three weeks, starting March 20th, the magazine is having a special fair at all Animate locations. All of their products will be on sale and with each purchase, customers get one of 40 clear bookmarks with art from their most popular series, including Hunter x Hunter! You can check out the HxH bookmark as well as the other 39 here!

Chieko Kawabe launches cookbook, plus Seiyu Awards announcement.

It turns out that Naoko Takeuchi is not the only person in the world of Sailor Moon that is publically involved in the making of bento lunches. Chieko Kawabe (Sailor Mercury in Sera-Myu and Naru Osaka in PGSM) recently announced on her Twitter account the launch campaign for her new bento cookbook, titled Master Bento. Kawabe held a press conference as part of the campaign, where she opened up about her book to fans. During the press conference (attended by her husband, Masato Ochi), Kawabe prepared a baked ginger dish for those in attendance. Kawabe posted on her blog that while she was initially nervous about the appearance, the warmth of the audience made it a pleasant experience overall.


Kawabe, who is now seven months into pregnancy, also talked about the upcoming child with her fans, stating that the “fetal movement is superb” and that the child is a girl! Kawabe has picked a name for her first child; however she will not reveal the name until her baby is born.

Sailor Moon winners at the Seiyu Awards

The annual Seiyu Awards (one of the highest honors to be bestowed upon the voice actors in the anime industry) were recently announced and there were two winners in this year’s field who have ties to the Sailor Moon anime series. Masaya Onosaka, who portrayed Jaedite in the first Sailor Moon series, recently won the Best Personality Award for his work in various anime radio programs. Kikuko Inoue (Sailor Aluminum Siren in the final Sailor Moon series) won a Best Supporting Actress award for her portrayal of Sanae Furukawa in the show Clannad’s After Story and Grace O’Connor in the show Macross Frontier. For more information on the award ceremony, visit http://www.seiyuawards.jp/.

Kaerenmama's Sailor Moon Charaben Recipe!

This was too irresistible not to translate – I have done something different though. I have not translated the steps word for word, but instead combined her ideas with helpful hints on how to do this on your own. This is probably a little more effective for those of us who have never made a charaben before to try! She also has a post on her own blog with the recipe. She also has a post about the event itself, but no photos of Naoko :(. The photos on the ANIMAX page basically show daughters working with their mothers to assemble the bentos. I have included the Japanese names of as many of the ingredients as I could.

Before I go on though, here’s the copyright warning. All Images Below are property of Kaerenmama, Foodies TV, and ANIMAX. These are solely being used for non-profit purposes, only to educate English readers about how to make these lunches!

Ingredients and Materials:

(ご飯) Go Giri (Cooked Rice - Usagi's head will be an Onigiri or rice ball). (There is a recipe here on how to make the rice ball/onigiri, but you can add whichever filling you want. Kaerenmama uses Tarako)
(たらこ) Tarako - called "Cod Roe" in Japan, but it is really Alaskan Pollock roe (fish eggs). Roe can be used as a filling raw in Japanese cuisine, or if you want you can add a little soy sauce to it (but use a low sodium soy sauce because Roe is very salty).
(カニかま) Kani Kama (Crab Sticks) (Note: for a vegetarian or no seafood version, you could probably get away with steamed carrot sticks, just make sure that they are not very thick)
(薄焼き卵を)Usuyaki Tamago (Egg Sheets) (Sailordees’ Note – this is really easy to make, whip up an egg, and then put a very thin layer in the pan and be very carefully not to burn! Else, there's a great recipe for how to make it here.)
(スライスチーズ) Suraisu Chizu (Cheese Slice) (No idea what kind she is using in the photos, up to you entirely, but choose something that is a lighter color like swiss or gouda)
(海苔)Nori (seaweed sheets) (These are usually located in your grocer's deli section or near the Asian food section)
(丸い型抜きなど) Marui Katanuki Kinado (Literally, something that can punch out a round shape, in this case, Karenmama suggests a Pop Bottle Cap, or you can use a round mini-cookie cutter)
Cupcake/Muffin Baking Cups (they have silicone ones, but you could probably get away with using 3-4 stacked together to hold the rice, or better yet see if you can find the foil kind).
Clean Tweezers (or chopsticks if you don't have dexterity issues like I do and want to do things properly :p) for proper setting
Plastic wrap
(ストロー) Sutoro (Drinking Straw) You will need straws of at least 3 different sizes (I suggest getting a big slurpee/bubble tea straw, a regular straw, and a small one either from a bar or from a juice box, but make sure one end is slanted and the other is not)
(包丁) Houchou (Big Chef Knife) (to cut off the edges of the egg sheet that might be too thin).
(ハサミ) Hasami (Scissors - make sure they are clean!) to cut the Nori

Directions:

Step 1: Form your rice into a ball (onigiri) and use the plastic wrap to help set it properly. Squish and shape it between the palms of your hands until you have a ball that is big enough to fit in the baking cup. If you decide to use Tarako, Kaerenmama suggests to grill it to your liking for this recipe. Form a deep dent in the rice ball, and put some of the roe inside using a spoon. Then squish and shape the rice between the palms of your hand such that the rest of the rice completely covers the filling and you have a perfectly shaped rice ball! The plastic wrap will help to keep it in shape, and also to store it for later.


Step 2: Using the stencil found here (we have posted it below), and the pop bottle cap, cut out two circles for her odangoes, her ponytails, bangs, and tiara out of the egg sheet (usuyaki tamago). Note: in one of the videos, she also uses the bottle cap to make moon shapes (pictured to the right, sorry about the terrible image quality). Cut out a circle with the bottle cap, and use your tweezers/chopsticks to pop out the circle. Then cut out another circle in that circle about a third of the way through the shape. YOU HAS A MOON!


Step 3: Onto the crab or carrot sticks! Using your straws, use your biggest to make Usagi’s red hair gems, your smallest to make her tiara jewel (the end that is not slanted), and the slanted end of the smallest one to make her mouth.




Step 4: White cheese slice of some sort. Could be swiss, could be aged cheddar, the fan can decide. Using all three of your straw sizes and the straight ends only, cut out two shapes for each size (these will make her eyes).





Step 5: Cut out two small circles that will fit just inside your biggest cheese circle with the scissors from the nori. Kaerenmama suggests folding the sheet in half and then cutting out your circles so they are both the same size.





Step 6 + 7:Using your hands, first tuck in the ponytails behind the rice ball on one side, and then the odangoes overtop. Add Sailor Moon’s red hair accessories, then place down her tiara, jewel, and finally, the bangs. I suppose you could do the mouth now (with clean tweezers or chopsticks).


Step 8: The eyes are a little tricky and you will need to use tweezers – first, down goes your biggest cheese rounds, then the nori circles overtop. She went a step further later and suggested to cut out eyelashes, but this is completely up to you. Then comes your 2nd biggest cheese round, centered on the nori, and the tiniest goes to the bottom side of the round – just for that extra glare! If you have not set in her mouth, now is the time!

Step 9: You’re done! Fill your bento with whatever else you would like to – to create other shapes, you can actually go to the craft store and find single hole punches in different shapes. You can use these to cut them out of thin sheets of nori, vegetables, cheeses, colored tofu slices, or meats! Be creative! Hers showed a mini salad with flowers made from (I think) thin ham or salami ribbons. Mini cookie cutters also work well too. Another variation she shows has "Usa" over top and fried chicken wings, mushrooms, potatoes, and steamed veggies. She uses small pieces of bamboo skewers (you could probably get away with toothpicks) to hold everything in place. Here again, are the images we posted before so you can eyeball your way around, and the variation.







You can probably make the whole Sailor Moon by cutting out shapes from the meat and nori, and using very thin ribbons of the egg sheet or cheese for stripes. And, if you want to make Luna, I am assuming that her rice just has some diluted purple food coloring (blue + red) and has mini triangular rice balls for ears. I’m tempted to try a variation of Sailor Moon using eggs, toast, and omelet veggies for breakfast. If and when I have the time to attempt this I actually do succeed, I will post pictures :). Fans you are also welcome to send in your Sailor Moon Charaben experiments and they will be featured on our site!

Our Moon Continues to Shine, Three Years Later!

Today marks the third anniversary of Moon Chase – and we would not have lasted this long without the support of all of our readers! Thank you for continuing to read this site, and you all drive us to keep up with all the content on this site. Even if a story is considered to be “small potatoes” we know at least someone out there is interested in it and appreciates it. :) We want to especially thank every site that has linked to us in the last year, especially those who have helped get the word out about interesting Sailor Moon references in pop culture that we’ve discovered, and/or our campaigns: AICN Anime, ICv2, Kotaku, and all those other fan blogs in between. We promise to continue to bring all Sailor Moon fans anything and everything that we can find relating to Sailor Moon from around the world! Our readers also deserve a special thank you for sticking by us when so many thought that Operation Moonrise was a joke, and continuing to fill out our (sometimes grueling) surveys and also sending out letters to the companies involved. Phase 4 will likely be our very last one concerning the revival of the anime (unless something new comes up). A special thank you to the VAs who have shown us immense support for our campaign – it really means a lot to us how much you still have fond memories of your work on the series, and that you support our efforts to bring it back here! And, thanks to the entire staff of Moon Chase, past and present. The site can be a lot of work sometimes, but 3 years later, we are still capable of achieving great things! There is nothing we can’t do if we all work together!

As you can all probably notice, we’re into version 3.0 of the site, and have added a new layout! As far as tradition goes, let’s remember version 2.0. It was inspired by The Dark Knight, which really hammered in the success of the Batman franchise’s reboot. The ending left those of us who watched it knowing that despite the unfortunate circumstances that the Caped Crusader was in, he would continue (and thus, his legend lived on). It was inspiring and after many hours fiddling in Photoshop, voila, Moon Chase Version 2.0 was born. It hung around for almost too long, we started to get a lot of complaints last Summer from the fans begging us to change things! Seriously, this is how busy we’ve been and we finally hunkered down and forced ourselves to change it. We didn’t know that almost a year after that layout went live that we would begin to fight for a re-release of the series. Though times got tough, we never gave up, and we never will. The logo you see above was created by Emily and actually sits on all of our “official” communications to the companies above on our official letterhead, and we wanted to use it on the site. Now we actually have a site that matches all our communications!

Thanks again to all of you, and here’s to many more years of Sailor Moon!

Alabama Library to Show Sailor Moon Movie

This is the first that we've heard about of any public showing of Sailor Moon anywhere in the United States in a long time! On March 13th at noon, the Prichard Public Library in Prichard, Alabama will be showing "Sailor Moon: The Movie". We can only assume that this will be the first movie, Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose. We're pretty sure Moonies in Prichard are probably feeling lonely watching whatever Sailor Moon they do have by themselves, so why not go to this screening and hang out with other fellow Moonies? For more information on how to get to the Prichard Public Library, click here.

NA Voice Actor Update for March 2010

The Red Green Show: The Infantile Years - Seasons 1991-1993 is now available on DVD. The Canadian comedy show includes Jeff Lumby (Professor Tomoe) as Winston Rothschild, III.

Alison Sealy-Smith (Amphibia) appears in an episode of Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures as Nurse Lydia. The episode is entitled "How to Get Ahead in Medical School." Here's a description of the episode, from IMDb: "As Ming gets ready to proceed with her plans for artificial insemination, her husband Chen is stressed and fantasizing about street races and infidelity. The sperm donor, Fitz, their medical school classmate and Ming's former boyfriend, is considering reinstatement at the hospital which stirs up a lot of unresolved issues. His return would also create more tension between the trio since he wouldn't be an absentee donor after all, but working alongside the couple every day."

Sabrina Grdevich appeared in an episode of Cra$h & Burn called "Bond Blame Baptize" as Nicole Asher. The episode debuted on February 4th. We've already seen Katie Griffin on this show too. Maybe more of the voice actors we know from Sailor Moon will appear later? Full episodes are available for viewing on the Showcase website here.

David Huband (Serena's Dad) is playing officer Nelson in an upcoming film called Dream House. The thriller is about a family who moves into a house that seems wonderful at first, until they learn of a brutal crime committed against the former residents. Currently filming in Oakville, Newmarket, and Toronto in southern Ontario, Canada; the film is expected to be released in 2011.

Harvey Atkin (Bumboo, Pox) played Rabbi Goldstein in an episode of 18 to Life, a Canadian comedy about neighbours with opposing viewpoints who become family when their teenage kids get married. Filmed in Montreal, the series started airing in January. The episode featuring Harvey Atkin was aired February 8th. Episodes are available online via the CBC website.

Emilie-Claire Barlow (Sailor Venus #2) has been commenting on her recent Juno nomination. From The Globe and Mail: “I think the only way to get any perspective on that is to travel outside the country. Travelling in Asia and Europe, [people say that] there’s something going on with Canadian musicians, especially female jazz singers. When I do travel overseas, people say there’s such a talent pool of Canadian female jazz singers.” And from Exclaim News: "It's nice to be invited to the party and this means another round of publicity. I'm up against Diana Krall though," she laughs.

Vince Corazza (Allan/Tuxedo Mask #2) is spotted voicing Caesar in the White Knight Chronicles PS3 video game, currently out right now. The fantasy role playing game begins in the kingdom of Balandor, where a princess' coming-of-age banquet is raided by an evil organization called Magi. A boy called Leonard grabs the princess' hand and leads her to safety in the castle cellars, where he finds a suit of armor that transforms him into the White Knight – an ancient warrior with the strength to defeat Magi's forces (description from Wikipedia). Thanks to Freddie Jay Francis for the tip!

BREAKING NEWS: Second Sailor Mars and Venus Nominated for Juno!

Canadians are all abuzz today since it's Juno Award Nominations day! And, we Moonies have extra reason to celebrate! Emilie-Claire Barlow's (Sailor Mars #2, Sailor Venus #2) hit album from last summer Haven't We Met has just been nominated for a Juno! She is nominated in the category of Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, and faces some tough competition from Diana Krall, Carol Welsman, Michael Kaeshammer and Ranee Lee. Congratulations Emilie-Claire, and sad to hear you forgot your Pepsi (if ever we meet, we will give you a Pepsi to compensate).

Quickie Moon Chase Sightings, Upcoming VA Sighting, and Our Latest Project!

Best Early Third Anniversary Present Ever!

March 8th marks the third anniversary of Moon Chase, and we are always grateful to any other blogs and sites that think our stories are good enough to link to. We had been linked on Kotaku before, but this one was a complete surprise - one of our older stories from last summer got linked on a NSFW post about the new Kirsten Dunst video. Thanks to Brian Ashcraft for thinking of us last week when he posted this - the link set an all-new record high for daily hits on the site - 2646 hits in one day! Usually, normal is anywhere between 400-600 a day for this site. At first, we thought our hit counter was failing until we saw the referrer over and over and over again. Thanks again, Kotaku!

Canadians, Remember to Tune in Friday to Watch Tuxedo Mask!

Toby Proctor (Tuxedo Mask #2) will be making his debut this Friday on CTV's The Bridge. As of this writing we still have no airdate for when this will premiere on NBC - but the previews of this down and dirty cop drama are all looking good. Check your local listing for airdates!

BREAKING NEWS: Sailor Moon Returns Remastered in Italy!

Sailor Moon premiered on Italy's Hiro just a few hours ago, to the delight of many Italian fans! And, they were sure in for a treat - instead of just having key scenes re-edited with the old video footage, the old Italian audio track was mixed overtop of the remastered episode. CosmoChann was nice enough to upload the opening, and we have to say that we were so impressed! There was only one flaw though - Backstage went through all this trouble to create a new branding image for Sailor Moon with a much nicer logo, and for the opening they went back to the old goldenrod text. It still looks just as boring and lame as it was back when it first aired - why wasn't the new logo used at all? The other big change seen in this episode was that the episode title's background was reverted back to the original background used in the Japanese version. The episode previews were not included - but this is no surprise since they were never dubbed in Italian to begin with. CosmoChann also uploaded a Sailor Moon commercial from Hiro as well - go visit his site CureMoon, for all your magical girl anime needs in Italian! Special thanks to roving Italian bambino Light for all his speedy information!

Congratulations to the Moonies in Italy who are finally getting the chance to enjoy this after what seemed to be an eternity! Hopefully in North America we can one day experience this happy feeling you guys felt when you saw it on TV today.

BREAKING NEWS: Naoko Takeuchi makes appearance at Charaben Class!

Since last January, we’ve been covering a second special event ANIMAX had planned in alliance with Foodies TV of Japan to celebrate the return of Sailor Moon. The special class came and went on February 7th, with barely a whisper. Hours ago, a press release and news article finally made it to the media, and revealed some details about what is possibly the most interesting event we’ve ever learned of related to Sailor Moon!

There were two sessions, and not one like it was originally reported. One was held in the morning, and one was held in the afternoon. And, judging by how much was being accomplished at these bento sessions (we had read it was going to be more of a demonstration, not a hands-on workshop), we understand why there were only a small number of people drawn for tickets! Appearing at the afternoon session was none other than the Princess herself, Naoko Takeuchi! She appeared as a surprise guest and took part in the sessions. She enjoyed making the bento with the parents and the children! What an experience for Naoko and everyone else that was there – we wish we had pictures to show you! Maybe Naoko will invite the seiyuu to her place for lunch and serve them Sailor Moon Bento and Kotono Mitsuishi could post a photo – wouldn’t that be delightful? Or perhaps in a new anecdote Togashi could write in a future edition of Jump magazine: “My wife made me Sailor Moon charaben today. It was good, but I would have rather eaten Hunter X Hunter charaben.”

Speaking of which, there may be a glimpse on the videos provided on the special site, except that they are too big (and too slow) to load. The site features instructional videos on the bento, and we warn our readers that these videos are 200 and 400mb in length, and they are only being transmitted at a speed of 20k/s if you are lucky (and we’ve been trying to watch these over a high speed connection). As soon as these get loaded (possibly by tomorrow) we’ll try to (as soon as we can) tell you what else is on there.

ANIMAX and Foodies TV, in conjunction with Japan’s Edu magazine, are holding a contest for children to create their own Sailor Moon bento. Kids can send in their entries between March 1st and 30th, and 3 winners will be announced by Foodies TV, and they will get a feature article in the July issue of Edu. 10 winners will win both of the Season 1 boxsets, so those who don't make it into the top 3 still have a chance to win something amazing! For more information, click here!

Please check out the special site that ANIMAX created with a report of the events. Even if you can’t cook, the images posted are absolutely beautiful to look at!

The press release at Presepe.JP ended best when it wrote (roughly translated) Let's all put our love for Sailor Moon into the Charaben! We can't put this in any better words - if we all had the opportunity to make these charaben, there isn't a fan that wouldn't put their heart and soul into this!