BREAKING NEWS: PGSM Boxset to be released in Japan This September!

PGSM fans, mark your calendars! On September 22nd, a boxset of the entire PGSM series is set to be released in Japan. For those fans who are unaware, PGSM stands for Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and is the live action version of Sailor Moon which aired on Japanese television from 2003-2004. An article at Animate.tv has a couple reasons for why they think this boxset is being released. The first is that many of the stars (most notably Keiko Kitagawa who played Sailor Mars) have gone on to bigger and better things in their acting careers. The second, is that some of the new generation of fans have never seen a live action version of Sailor Moon on TV. The timing of this release is perfect given the anime's revival which is happening around the world. The boxset will include all 49 episodes, the two specials (Special Act and Act Zero), and Kirari Super Live - a live event in almost the same vein as the Sera Myu musicals, starring the cast of PGSM. All other extras included on the initial release will also be included. No word as of this writing if Super Dance Lesson will also be included. This dance lesson was part of a special offer, and fans had to fill out an application included with only certain magazines many years ago to get a copy. The boxset is currently on preorder at Amazon.jp and will cost ￥23,210 before shipping (roughly $290 USD).

Breaking News: Sailor Moon says “Salem Kazakhstan!”

Hey Moonies! Breaking on Toei Animation Europe’s website on Monday was the news that the complete Sailor Moon series is on its way to Kazakhstan! The Kazakhstani company Kino Company via the Eastern European Country (EEC) Territory Plus Licens will soon approach free television channels in Kazakhstan to propose the entire series. Though this release was short, it left us with some questions, and we will keep you posted if we learn any more. We did a little digging though to find answers around our answers…

1. What channel might they approach with Sailor Moon?

From what we have been able to learn, free Kazakhstani TV consists of channels owned by the Khabar Agency. These channels have some kind of ruling influence from President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva. We poked around at the program listings and it seems that all animation on this channel is Kazakhstani (or based on their culture). There is no sign of any other cartoons from anywhere else on these channels. These channels are largely devoted to news, sports, and Kazakhstani drama, lifestyle and reality shows. Something tells us these might not be good candidates for the show. We did find another channel digital service provider, and this is Alma TV. Alma TV carries Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, and others on their “Kids” channel. We could only spot one anime on the schedule, and that is Bakugan. We wonder if this channel will be the one that is approached with the series. At this time we are unable to confirm if this channel is free or part of a paid specialty service. We would love to hear from our Kazakhstani readers or anyone else who knows anything about TV there.

2. Will this be a new dub?

We do not know for sure, but all signs are pointing towards “possibly”. Some shows in this country air in Russian, so there may be a chance that the existing Russian dub will air. Russian is the second most common language spoken in Kazakhstan, so this does not present a problem to the majority of the population. However, we also read that there is now some anime being dubbed into Kazakh, so just like Israel saw Sailor Moon for the first time in Hebrew recently, it could well be possible that a Kazakh dub could happen. Kino Company, is Kazakhstan’s largest film production company. Though they have only produced a handful of films since 1989, many have been critically acclaimed. In 1994, Kino Company produced their first (and only) full-length animation film called “Dragon’s Island” which was based on classical Japanese literature. The movie won an award at the Ankara International Film Festival in 1994! If this company is successful in their pitch and dubs the series, we think that it is in good hands. That being said…

3. Will there be censorship?

Maybe. While there isn't a whole lot of information about what exactly the Kazakh film censors actually censor, we do know that there does exist some censorship in the country. The government frequently censors news stories. Fans may remember the controversy surrounding the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan from a few years ago. The controversies in the movie caused the government to issue many statements about the inaccuracies portrayed in the film. While the movie was not banned, the government did make a request to 20th Century Fox’s central European distributor Gemini Films, not to distribute the film there. They complied. Many have in turn sought their own copies from other European countries. When looking at the cartoon landscape, it seems mostly male oriented. The only cartoon for girls on Cartoon Network’s schedule is The Life and Times of Juniper Lee. On Nickelodeon, the following shows air: iCarly, Victorious, Dora the Explorer, and Ni Hao Kai-Lan. Now Sailor Moon is a pretty harmless cartoon, all things considered. But the government attitudes surrounding issues of nudity, gender identities, and other perceived controversial issues in the series remains up to debate. We also dug up an old interview from 2008 with Kazakhstan’s Director of the National Art Academy Arystanbek Muhamediuly, where he condemns cartoons like Sailor Moon and Spongebob Squarepants (as well as others by name) and demands there be more cartoons for children based on Kazakhstan’s rich cultural history. It’s a bit of a shaky situation. We invite any fans who know of how productions are censored in Kazakhstan to contact us with what they know!

At the very least, we do know that those in Kazakhstan who have wanted to watch Sailor Moon probably have. We found several Kazakhstani fan-run anime sites that featured episodes and movies streaming for free of the Russian dub, or Japanese version with Russian subtitles. If it comes to their country, it gives them the chance to watch and possibly purchase a legitimate release.


We congratulate Toei Animation Europe, Kino Company, and Plus Licens on this new venture into Kazakhstan with Sailor Moon, and wish them the best of luck on continuing to spread Sailor Moon’s message around the world!

Breaking News: New Sailor Moon Merchandise Licenses:

Via Sailor Moon World Italy (and some fans’ messages, thanks!), some new companies involved in merchandising have acquired licenses for Sailor Moon. These include two companies with US branches and one for France; Topps (Germany, Italy and America), Namco Bandai Games America, and Giochi Preziozi France. It is probably safe to infer that Topps will be releasing sticker books (and possibly cards), Giochi Preziozi France will release some (if not all) of the toys made in Italy, and NBGA is likely going to bring La Luna Splende to North America eventually. But, nothing is confirmed, and everyone should have waited for a press release. We have been advised from the companies to play it safe and wait for official word before posting anything like this, but given the criticism and heat we have had to face from some fans, we’re addressing it now as safely as we possibly can. We’ve featured a large photo below filled with cropped screenshots from Kazachok’s Web Guide.

What remains to be known (especially in France and North America), is if this is a sign that the release of the anime is imminent in either of these regions. There are a few other regions in the world that don’t have Sailor Moon either (Russia and Ukraine, to start). In a Japanese press release announcing the return of Sailor Moon to North America, Kodansha made note of how especially in North America, that without the release of the anime and other merchandise, that the manga may not experience the same “big boom” of the past*. We can’t speculate on the progress being made on the anime, due to certain statements made in the last 2 months from companies and representatives all around. We have to wonder if these new merchandising deals are some kind of a placeholder in between that will ultimately aid the anime when the time is right for it to return, while also tiding the release of the manga. Usually, the pattern in Sailor Moon licensing news has been anime first, merchandise and manga second. What do you think, Moonies?



*We had read this the day it was posted but didn’t post anything about it on Moon Chase because you fans were in such a happy mood and we didn’t want to damper the situation! Instead, we all discussed it amongst ourselves for a while and once again, wondered why Sailor Moon was having such a turbulent resurgence.

BREAKING NEWS: Brazil Puts Up A Good Fight, But A New Dub Wasn’t Meant to Be.

We want to start this article by first of all congratulating SOS Brazil for all their hard work. We understand your struggles completely because we have been there (and still are). But please don’t view this as a fight you lost! You should be proud of everything you were able to do with your surveys – besides, the other parts of your survey will probably be a help when it comes to other aspects of the revival. We are proud of what you were able to accomplish, and we are sending you big Moonie hugs and lots of love from North America.

Save our Sailors Brazil reported the sad news yesterday that after a long and lengthy crusade to get a redub of Sailor Moon, it was not meant to be. A statement posted to their site from Márcio S. Reginnette, a representative of Brazil’s CD & DVD Factory, states that a redub of Sailor Moon S is not authorized because Naoko Takeuchi has not approved of any redubbing in any language. The same request was made in Italy as well, and was also denied. The statement also makes mention that Toei Animation does not have any exclusivity over the franchise, and prior approval has to be obtained by Naoko Takeuchi. There is also an excellent response to these developments posted over at Papo de Budega.

From what we know, the anime and manga are a sort of “co-agreement” between Naoko Takeuchi and the companies involved. Fans probably also notice that Naoko Takeuchi’s name is on every piece of Sailor Moon merchandise coming out their way these days. With the manga, Kodansha has the rights to publish it, but only after obtaining Naoko Takeuchi’s permission. But at the same time, she cannot hold it back. The same deal goes with the anime and Toei Animation as well. We do not know how many years that this current co-agreement is going to last, but that if matters regarding Sailor Moon do not go smoothly, they could be pulled away at any time.

While we understand fans’ anger, sadness, and frustration over this turn of events, please don’t be mad at Naoko Takeuchi. For all we know, the time frame for Sailor Moon’s return could be really short, and she may not like the idea of a redub keeping the series away from fans in an already shortened timeframe. Or, perhaps she likes everything the way it is and doesn’t want to change things too much. We are disgruntled too, as this leaves the fate of an English release of Sailor Stars up in the air, but at the same time we are thankful to have the Sailor Moon manga back (and hopefully soon, the anime).

Once again, huge hugs from Moon Chase to Save Our Sailors Brazil and everything they have worked so hard for. Keep up the strength, although your release has had it’s turmoils (starting with Season 3), you have done a lot for the fandom and we are sure every one of your readers thanks you for that!

For fans who want a little more detail on the ins and outs of the Brazilian revival, check out this interview in January with CD + DVD Factory’s Márcio S. Reginnette.

More Confirmation of Safety and Tsunami Relief

Hi Moonies - I have received confirmation that Naoko Takeuchi, Yoshihiro Togashi, and their family, as well as employees of Toei Animation are safe. They were all in the Tokyo area which was not as severely affected. However, their major worries now are the massive cleanup, traffic, and electrical power now that their tsunami woes are not a concern.

Fans wishing to donate to relief efforts are best off doing so through the Red Cross as the UN has not established an effort just yet.

In the USA, click here to donate.
In Canada, click here to donate.

Fans can also donate via Twitter, Text Messaging, and Facebook.

Alternatively, fans can also donate to Shelterbox, which is sending shelter kits to those affected in the Sendai region of Japan.

Breaking News: Sailor Moon to Return in German Language Market!

Guten Morgen Deutscher Moonies! Ich habe einige guten Nachrichten fur sie! Germany's FinanzenNachrichten reports that Munich's licensing company M4e has acquired the rights for Sailor Moon! M4e will be managing free and pay TV broadcasting rights, home entertainment, and licensing and merchandising for the anime in the German speaking world, including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland! The press release also makes a note that after the successful relaunch of the franchise in Italy next year, it was only logical that the next steps include the Iberian market (Spain and Portugal), Scandinavian market, and the German market. The article also hints that they will be making use of the new style guide created in Italy!

Congratulations to our Moonies in Germany! You will be able to watch Sailor Moon soon!

Trivia: So Germany did something really interesting with their version of the release and commissioned a pop group to make the accompanying soundtrack which gave the series' a technopop flavor. They were the Super Moonies, and fans can check out their first opening here!

BREAKING NEWS: Sailor Moon: La Luna Splende Release Date Pushed Ten Days Early!

Straight outta Toei Animation Europe's Headquarters in France this morning is a press release announcing the official release date of the highly anticipated Sailor Moon video game for the Nintendo DS in Italy! Sailor Moon: La Luna Splende (The Moon Shines) is going to be released on March 21st, 2011. This is ten days earlier than most sites were reporting (March 31st). We were a little worried just a couple weeks ago when we were unable to find any pre-order information and had a little feeling it was going to be delayed again (but thankfully, it wasn't!). Random Trivia: The game also carries the same name as the second Sailor Moon opening theme in Italian!

Last week, I notified our users via Facebook very quickly that the game was available for pre-order internationally. Now while there is some confusion over which North American systems it will play on (I have heard from some that you can't play international games on the DSi), we're just going to advise fans to wait for other reviews to see if the game will work on their Nintendo DS system of choice. I will be testing this on a DS lite, and possibly a few months later on the first generation DS (basically just to see if it runs, part of the touch screen is dead and this makes games difficult to play :( ). As far as I know I'm the only one on our staff ordering it, and I don't have access to any other DS systems. For those of you who wish to purchase it online, there is only one store that I've been able to find as of this writing that will ship internationally, and that is Bol.it. And, they are also the cheapest, selling the game for roughly 5 dollars cheaper than others. Be aware though, that shipping from Italy to North America will be at least as much as the game costs - my total came to around $71. If any fans are having troubles muddling through the Italian on Bol.it's site, please send us an email and either I or one of my staff members will get back to you as soon as we can to help you navigate your purchase.

The image above appears to be the final cover art, as released by Toei Animation Europe, and the game carries a PEGI rating of 7+, which means that the game is suitable for players over 7 years of age. There are also no other symbols on the game which means it's pretty clean, content wise.

BREAKING NEWS: DVD Releases for Brazil and Mexico!

Hey Moonies! The Sailor Moon Licensing News train is showing no signs of slowing down! A new press release confirms new Latin American licensing deals from Toei Animation Inc. of Los Angeles. Brazil's "little known" CD & DVD Factory as well as Mexico's Towers Entertainment are both set to release the series on DVD. As of this writing, there are no merchandise deals being announced, however if you are a fan of DragonBall and Saint Seiya, we recommend reading the rest of the release here if you would like to learn of DVD and merchandise releases in Latin America. Toei is also predicted to have a much higher annual dividend this year than originally forecast. Enhorabuena a Mexico y Brasil! Viva la Sailormoon!

BREAKING NEWS: Sailor Moon hits Pay TV in Portugal, and Makes Way to Africa for the Very First Time!

Toei Animation Europe announced that Portugal's Dreamia Group has a broadcast license for all 200 episodes of Sailor Moon in Portuguese! The show will be part of their Childrens' Pay TV channel, Canal Panda. The show will premiere on March 7th, airing at 1:00 PM and 8:30 PM on weekdays, and 1:00 PM and 9:00 PM on weekends. But the even more surprising part, is that Dreamia also has the rights to bring Sailor Moon to Africa's shores for the very first time! We here at Moon Chase are all very excited about this. The Portuguese speaking countries of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Republic of Cape Verde will all be experiencing Sailor Moon later this year in Portuguese. Finally, almost 20 years after first being broadcast in Japan, Sailor Moon will have touched every continent on Earth (minus Antarctica). Congratulations to Sailor Moon on your continued success worldwide!

Image Credit: Toei Animation Europe

BREAKING NEWS: Sailor Moon Finally (Officially) Announced for Eastern Europe, Minus Manga

Now, we can finally report this to fans since there is a press release! Sweden’s Plus Licens has renewed their friendship with Sailor Moon years later in a new partnership with Toei Animation Europe. From 1996-2002, Plus Licens held the license for the franchise and led Sailor Moon through Sweden, Finland, Russia, Poland, and Hungary. It also appears that for Sailor Moon’s branding and identity, they will be using the same style guide created in Italy under the guises of creator Naoko Takeuchi. Plus Licens is happy to work again with Sailor Moon, as Maria Ornyd (Category Head of Media) says that the series was the very first Japanese property in Plus Licens’ portfolio. The press release makes special note that they will be working with the series from the broadcast and publishing perspectives, excluding the manga. As of this writing, we are unaware of Kodansha and Princess Naoko Planning’s (PNP) future plans with the manga. Publishing (in Plus Licens’ case) includes television, merchandise, and DVD rights for all 200 episodes throughout their territories in Eastern Europe. Congratulations to Plus Licens, Toei Animation, and Naoko Takeuchi/ PNP, and we wish you continued success with Sailor Moon wherever she may be in the world!

Image Credit from Plus Licens

(And on another note to the companies, can we keep with the pretty press releases? It’s always nice to see an image or two of Sailor Moon rather than reading text with all-too-familiar shades of blue seen on nearly every licensing and release site we monitor!)

Namco Bandai Announces Sailor Moon: La Luna Splende For The Nintendo DS (Updated!)

Months of speculation have come to a close. Namco Bandai Europe has finally released some details about the Sailor Moon Nintendo DS game they're developing for an Italian release. Sailor Moon: La Luna Splende, which could be translated to either "The Shining Moon" or "The Moon Shine", is an adventure game featuring environmental puzzles that takes place in Molly/Naru's dreams. Sight-unseen, this sounds like it could be similar to the Professor Layton series of games or perhaps the early Nintendo DS game, Trace Memory. For those who have never played any of those games, that's a good crowd to be compared to.

Other pieces of info about the game are that each of the Scouts will have their own abilities, Tuxedo Mask is in the game, there will be 3 worlds(Jewel Palace, Mystery Castle, & Flower Garden) with 20-30 puzzles each, and that the Scout's attire can be customized. The new planned release month for La Luna Spende is March and it will apparently be priced at €29.99(about $40). Sailordees will be importing and reviewing it for Moon Chase when it is released. Nintendo DS games(not to be confused with DSi or 3DS games) are not region-locked and can be played on any original DS or DS Lite. You can find Namco Bandai's Italian press release below.


Press Release: [Namco Bandai]
Logo(Added Via Sailordees) Credit: [Italian Gaming Website, Press Start]


EDIT: More to share with you all (Sailordees here)! Lots and lots of screengrabs are available on several Italian sites (our image credits go to everyeye), and we are featuring them here for you as well. It looks like they have fused a simple RPG with some of the aesthetics from the puzzle games of Sailor Moon's SNES days (S, SS, and Stars). And, we also have a cover image to share as well!

Happy New Year from Naoko!

With the coming new year comes a surprise appearance from Naoko Takeuchi on Sailor Moon Channel! It seems Naoko got creative with some plastic decorations of desserts and hearts, as well as an old Chibi-Usa figurine. Even though this is not a huge update from Naoko's Kingdom, still a fun one nonetheless. Our translation is featured below (click for full size), and many thanks to White Tiger King for his assistance. Fans can visit the original here.

Dicembre Saluti Dall Italiano Sailor Moon

Forgive me Italian Moonies, if my grammar is incorrect! Given that it is December, fans shouldn't really expect there to be any Earth-shattering Sailor Moon news by way of licenses yet. And there isn't much going on in Japan either, save for a mention of a Tuxedo Mask cosplayer at Japan Pop Culture Festival 2010. Italy is still swarming with news of Sailor Moon - a new commercial was uploaded yesterday from DYNIT advertising the upcoming release of the first boxset in January. Since many of you can't see it (and we managed to find a way to), we're going to describe the commercial for you. Images of the anime play against the Japanese theme song. It begins with images of Sailor Moon's nails becoming polished flashing between screens that say "Le Guerriere" (The Warrior) "Che Vestono Alla Marinaretta" (Dressed Like a Sailor) "Sono Tornate" (Has Returned)! And then we hear Cristina D'Avena's voice as Sailor Moon begins to transform. And then comes a screen advertising the uncensored release of Umino lifting up Haruna-Sensei's skirt. As other images of the opening play, more words say that the video is remastered, and for the first time that the episode prologues and previews will be included with Italian subtitles. These will be on a separate DVD (we're assuming, that the editors had some difficulties in lacing in the video for these previews and prologues since they were not dubbed with the regular episodes). Finally, Italian Moonies are going to get almost everything they missed out on the first time around (any of our readers in Italy heard anything new about the missing episode from R yet?). The important part to note, is that Naoko Takeuchi's name/ Princess Naoko Planning is featured twice in this commercial (and we are happy, that finally people are being consistent with their crediting to her). It first appears (we have shown you above) near the end of the commercial with the logos of DYNIT and Toei Animation, and then at the very end alongside the Sailor Moon logo. Below, we have a screenshot of what the collector's box is going to look like. We're not sure if that package just on top of the discs is what the 3-disc holder looks like, or if it is a booklet. The one on the right is the bonus DVD with all the prologues and previews. For those of you who are in Italy and have not watched the commercial yet, click here!



Oh yeah, and Sailor Moon is still doing well in the ratings in Italy, holding the #5 spot. It is holding a market share even higher than The Simpsons!

Mimet Wins!

Hey Moonies! Tonight was the broadcast gala of the 25th Annual Gemini Awards in Canada, and our lone hope Sailor Moon nominee won! Catherine Disher (Mimet) won the Gemini for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series for her work as Maggie Norton on CBC's drama, The Border. Catherine has been nominated for this role for the last 3 years, so we are so glad she has finally gotten the recognition she deserves! For those of you who are Mimet fans that want to celebrate this occasion and do something for your favorite of the Witches 5, we have a special thread set up for you (members only) in our forums. Congratulations to Catherine Disher again and best of luck for continued success on The Border!

BREAKING NEWS: Level E Cast and Crew Announced, and More Details Revealed!

Various Japanese news outlets today are reporting that it has finally been announced in the latest issue of Shueisha's Jump Magazine that Yoshihiro Togashi's Level E manga is going to be adapted into a TV series (all we had known for sure before was that it was going to be an animated adaptation). As of this writing, we do not know if the 12-13 episode rumor is true. It will begin in January 2011 on TV Tokyo, and the cast and crew were also announced.

Crew:

Director: Toshiyuki Kato (Directed Full Moon O Sagashite, and also worked storyboards for 8 episodes on Hunter X Hunter)
Series Composition: Jukki Hanada (Hanaukyo Maid Team La Verite, Sola)
Character Design and Animation Direction: Itsuko Takeda (Ghost in the Shell, Serial Experiments Lain)
Visual Concept and 3-D Direction: Yasufumi Soejima (Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Last Exile)
Music: Kunihiko Ryo (Story of Saiunkoku, Emma)
Animation Production: Pierrot x David Production

Cast:

Prince: Daisuke Namikawa
Yukitaka Tsutsui: Yoshimasa Hosoya
Sado: Masaya Takatsuka
Miho Edogawa: Satomi Akesaka
Craft: Takehito Koyasu (played Kido in the Yu Yu Hakusho Movie)
Corinne: Takumi Asahina
Narration: Fumihiko Tachiki

And, as an extra special treat, readers also got to see the first images from the anime in a special 2-page spread in the magazine! We've featured this below.

BREAKING NEWS: GP Publishing Considering More Sailor Moon?

Just hours ago, the Sailor Moon manga was revealed to the public at Lucca Comics and Games in Italy. While details are just starting to surface in the press, one item piqued are interest! The Italian manga and anime community Nanoda reports that one of the representatives at the presentation from GP Publishing (it was either Francesco Meo or Baboni Luca) said that depending on the success of Sailor Moon, GP may decide to publish the artbooks. Looking at how successful Sailor Moon is already in Italy, we think that the manga should have no trouble selling (our Italiano Moonies are going to purchase all of them, right?). The two representatives also thanked Mediaset's Fabrizio Margaria for their revival of the series, and both made special mention of how well the show is doing in the ratings since it began broadcast on Italia 1 in August. Fabrizio also mentioned again that this current broadcast also has significantly less censorship than the first broadcast many years ago. We will be keeping an eye out on the news in the next few days for what else happened at this presentation!

Sailor Moon Industry News Europe: Fall 2010 Update

A lot has been going on with Sailor Moon in Europe in the last months, so let's catch up on the situation in the Moon Kingdom!

☾ First, let's start off with some only-interesting-to-some-and-boring-to-others industry briefs. Toei Animation Europe (TAE) has been exhibiting at lots of different places, and is not letting the work of their brand licensors go unnoticed. At the first of these appearances at Brand Licensing Europe 2010, the animation giant hosted a special event where they handed out three awards honoring companies that they have worked with in the past year with the most success. Winning for Best Licensing Program was Backstage Licensing of Italy for their work with Sailor Moon. Best Promotion went to TFI Enterprises of France for their work with all the Dragon Ball franchises, and Best Involvement went to Plus Licens of Sweden for their work with all the Dragon Ball franchises as well as One Piece. Kanji Kazahaya, President and COO of TAE was grateful, saying: "We are very delighted to start with this first edition of Toei Animation awards for our European brokers... as a Japanese company, it is a great time to share our motivation and challenges with our European partners." We are so happy to hear of Toei Animation's continued successes in Europe! Next, they appeared at Hyper Japan in London from October 1st-3rd, and exhibited their Toei Animation Theatre where for the first time in years Sailor Moon was shown officially in English! Not the dub though. The first episode was shown with English subtitles alongside the first episode of Pretty Cure and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 (also subtitled). We are officially jealous of our London readers who got to attend the screening! And if that wasn't enough, TAE also exhibited their properties at MIPCOM in Cannes, France from October 4th-8th. TAE did not exhibit at MIPJr. this year (a showcase just for childrens programming).

☾ Sailor Moon continues to leave everyone in her moondust in Italy! Backstage Licensing reports that Sailor Moon has peaks of viewers nearing the 1 million mark, and an average market share of around 9% (if the words "market share" confuse you, read our article from last week). What surprised us the most was reading about the girls' 4-14 demographic in Italy (preschoolers, young kids, and tweens) where the article said that Sailor Moon was maintaining a strong appeal with a share close to 40%! Once again, odango-atama/meatball head continues to defy industry expectations.Not bad for an "old show" that is proving to be a timeless classic. Everyeye Italy pointed to a new interview on the Metal Robot Forums with Carlo Cavazzoni, Executive Director of Dynit Italy, which will be releasing Sailor Moon on DVD. Here, is a translation of the Sailor Moon portion of the interview:

METALROBOT: The following questions discuss the issues of the series "Sailor Moon".

METALROBOT: The news of the acquisition of the home video rights for the series "Sailor Moon" has now been confirmed through Dynit's website. Why was a series like this chosen to be added to the Dynit Catalog?

Dynit: The brand was relaunched on an international level, and there are many companies involved in this project in Italy, Dynit Home Video has acquired the rights for the traditional channels (video stores, comics, etc ...). It is a series that has been very successful, and which we hope will conquer a new generation.

7. Was the aquisition of the rights for this series complicated? How did it happen that for a long time, years, the sale of the rights of the series for foreign countries was blocked?

Dynit: We do not know what the motivations were, it often depends on the rights situation in Japan. Sometimes, just to boost yourself up you need to disappear for a long time.

8. METALROBOT: Can you reveal a few more details in type? Will the releases cover all of the series and movies?

Dynit: It will cover the television series.


METALROBOT: Will the releases have a redub or will there only be the original dub with subtitles faithful to the original series?

Dynit: We did not expect to redub the series, we acquired the home video rights of the original dub. The series will be unedited in its entirety, we are now working with subtitles.

METALROBOT: When will the releases be listed for sale on the home video market?

Dynit: We plan to release them in early 2011, in singles and DVD boxsets.

Fans in Italy who were expecting a redub, it appears that there will not be one. We are most surprised reading that the movies will not be re-released with the series. If we remember correctly, the fans loved the movies just as much as the series?! Here is hoping that there will be some hope for releases of the movies in the future. We were irked by Cavazzoni's comment about disappearing just for attention - this really wasn't the case at all. This is almost like all the rumors we read about Yoshihiro Togashi only going on hiatus to get attention for Hunter X Hunter. We can understand feigning off interviewers for keeping the real reason for the rights disappearing under wraps, but to say something like this even in the independent press, is pretty low.

Sailor Moon Rising Way Above Industry Expectations in Italy!

Sailor Moon's TV ratings have surprised many in the entertainment industry as it has far exceeded any typical expectations! First, we'll show you what we mean in a table with whatever ratings we have been able to find so far through the Italian news at Ascolti TV.

Date	Viewers	Market Share
September 8th, 2010	563,000	6.68%
September 9th, 2010	570,000	6.65%
September 10th, 2010	522,000	6.76%
September 13th, 2010	736,000	8.40%
September 27th, 2010	952,000	10.71%
September 28th, 2010	703,000	8.30%
September 29th, 2010	620,000	7.54%
September 30th, 2010	917,000	10.76%

So, What Do All These Numbers Mean?

Here, is a short lesson on how to interpret ratings. Most countries (such as Nielsen in the United States), randomly select a portion of the population to have a special set-top box alongside their cable box to gather information about what the household is watching, who is watching, and what they think of what they are seeing. The number you see above under the "Viewers" column, is how many people with those boxes watched the show. The percentage you see next to that number under the "Market Share" column shows you what percentage of people were watching the show, out of all of the other people that were watching TV with those boxes at the same time.

Normally, a cartoon doesn't do very well in the ratings, usually scoring around 1%. Cartoons that are very popular usually start at around 3.5% and rise up. This is because usually children make up such a small part of the sample population. However, those numbers next to Sailor Moon are much, much, bigger than 1 - they are 6,7,8 and 10! This is huge for Sailor Moon, because it shows that it is likely not only children that are watching the show, but probably adults as well. And the final icing on the cake is a recent release at Kidscreen that shows Sailor Moon made the top 5 kids' program broadcasts in Italy! What we found didn't show us any age demographic ratings, unlike the ones we hunt down for We Got the Solution. If these are the results in Italy, who knows what the results might be around the rest of the world?

Fan Luigi Reda pointed out some amazing news to us on our Facebook page, and we were able to find much more through our radar that watches everything about Sailor Moon! Thanks Luigi!

Breaking News: Gemini 2010 Noms Announced!

Lots of Reasons for the Moon Chase Blog Network to Celebrate!

This morning, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced nominations for the 2010 Gemini Awards, and both of our blogs (Moon Chase and We Got The Solution) have stars that we follow nominated! Though this year, there are less stars from Sailor Moon nominated ( ☽:( ), once again Flashpoint is leading the pack with 15 nominations in 11 categories! Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated and we will keep you updated with the winners come November. The lone nominee from Sailor Moon this year is Catherine Disher (Mimet) for her work on the Canadian drama The Border. There are too many nominated from Flashpoint to name in one sentence, but there is a special case where a Flashpoint star guested in another TV show, and is against two other guest stars from Flashpoint!


So here come the nominees! The productions that they are nominated for are in bold, but if you see a gold star next to their name(★), it means they were also in Flashpoint or Sailor Moon).



Best Dramatic Series

Durham County
(Back Alley Film Productions Ltd. /Muse Entertainment Ent. Inc., Muse Entertainment Enterprise)
Adrienne Mitchell, Laurie Finstad Knizhnik, Janis Lundman, Michael Prupas
Flashpoint★
(Flashpoint Season 2, Pink Sky Inc., Avamar Ent)
Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos
Republic of Doyle
(Republic Season II Inc., Malachy Season 1, Inc.)
Allan Hawco, Rob Blackie, John Vatcher
Stargate Universe
(Stargate Universe I Inc.)
Brad Wright, Carl Binder, Robert Cooper, John Lenic, N. John Smith
The Tudors
(Peace Arch Entertainment, PA Tudors III Inc., TM Productions)
John Weber, Sheila Hockin, Morgan O'Sullivan

Best Achievement in Casting

Deirdre Bowen - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
John Buchan CSA, Jason Knight - The Summit
Stephanie Gorin - Guns
Andrea Kenyon, Wendy O'Brien, Marissa Richmond, Randi Wells - Durham County - "Little Lost Children"
Marissa Richmond - Flashpoint - "Perfect Storm"★

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series

Clé Bennett - The Line - "Episode 203", "Episode 206"
Sergio Di Zio - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move", "The Good Citizen"★
Genadijs Dolganovs - The Bridge - "Painted Ladies", "Chain of Fools"
Sebastian Pigott - Being Erica - "Yes We Can", "The Unkindest Cut"
Mark Taylor - Flashpoint - "Exit Wounds", "One Wrong Move"★

Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series

Enrico Colantoni - Cra$h & Burn - "Lawyers, Guns & Money"★
Christopher Heyerdahl - Sanctuary - "Haunted"
Michael Riley - Flashpoint - "Coming To You Live"★
Hugh Thompson - Flashpoint - "Business As Usual"★
Kristopher Turner - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Family Practice"


Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series

Catherine Disher - The Border - "The Dead", "Dark Ride"★
Eve Harlow - The Guard – "Boom", "Last Night"
Reagan Pasternak - Being Erica - "Shhh...Don't Tell", "Under My Thumb"
Jessica Steen - Flashpoint - "Clean Hands", "The Perfect Family"★
Rachel Wilson - Republic of Doyle - "Return of the Grievous Angel", "Blood is Thicker Than Blood"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series

Ona Grauer - Flashpoint - "The Fortress"★
Laurence Leboeuf - Flashpoint - "The Perfect Family"★
Tatiana Maslany - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
Debra Lynne McCabe - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
Anastasia Phillips - Murdoch Mysteries - "Me, Myself, & Murdoch"

Best Direction in a Dramatic Series

David Frazee - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Andy Mikita - Stargate Universe - "Air Part 1"
Adrienne Mitchell - Durham County - "Little Lost Children"
Jeremy Podeswa - The Tudors - "Episode 308"
Stephen Surjik - Flashpoint - "Aisle 13"★

Best Original Music Score for a Program or Series

Amin Bhatia, Ari Posner - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Robert Carli - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Isolation"
Robert Carli - Murdoch Mysteries - "Me, Myself, & Murdoch"
Joel Goldsmith - Stargate Universe - "Light"
James Jandrisch - The Guard - "At Sea"
Trevor Morris - The Tudors - "Episode 304"

Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series

James Jeffrey - Murdoch Mysteries - "The Murdoch Identity"
Glen MacPherson - Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story
Jim Menard - Stargate Universe - "Light"
Stephen Reizes - Flashpoint - "Behind The Blue Line"★
Michael Storey - Republic of Doyle - "The Fall of the Republic"

Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series

Rick Martin - Stargate Universe - "Human"
Lara Mazur, C.C.E. - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Vesna Svilanović - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Unhappy Endings"
Arthur Tarnowski - The Phantom
Jeff Warren - Guns

Best Writing in a Dramatic Series

Philip Bedard, Larry Lalonde - Murdoch Mysteries - "Hangman"
Jeremy Boxen - Cra$h & Burn - "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Mark Haroun - Heartland - "The Haunting of Hanley Barn"
Alex Levine - The Border - "Missing In Action"
Ian Weir - Flashpoint - "The Fortress"★

To check out the rest of the nominees, click here! Congratulations to everyone nominated from Flashpoint and Sailor Moon once again, and best of luck in November!

Breaking News: Sailor Moon Manga Returns to Italy!

GP Publishing will be releasing a new edition of the Sailor Moon manga series. Italian fans will be pleased to hear that Italy will be the first European country to see the manga return. GP Publishing was chosen to work with Kodansha to release this new edition that GP Publishing describes as "long awaited by fans." GP Publishing stated that it will "highlight the full attention to detail that the author has infused into the pages."

To be released in the second half of 2010, possibly as early as November, the Sailor Moon manga will be released in two editions: an edition for newspaper stands and a deluxe comic. The deluxe comic is described as "completely faithful to the most recent edition of the Japanese original" and is "revised and corrected by the author herself, Naoko Takeuchi." The manga will also include new translations and new lettering. The deluxe edition is said to have a colour dust jacket (with the cover art being the same as the Japanese reissue), better quality paper, and will even include some colour pages. It seems that it will have the same number of volumes as the latest Japanese edition, which is 12 regular volumes, 2 volumes of extra short stories, and 2 volumes of Sailor V. Sound effects will remain in Japanese with an asterisk beside and a translation noted elsewhere.

Special thanks to Nintendo Fever for the tip!