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!

Fashion and Culture Notes from Japan!

Toei Animation Collaborates with Japanese Fashion Brand Uniqlo for Exclusive T-Shirt Line!

This broke on Friday, and we would have posted something that evening, except that we were finishing up a little background research on it. Toei has signed a creative and interesting deal with Japanese fashion brand, UNIQLO. UNIQLO has been in Japan for over 60 years, but has experienced a growing popularity in the world market in the last few years. The brand's feel is casual/trendy and is noted for its affordability. In Spring 2010, UNIQLO will launch a unique line of T-shirts featuring a bunch of Toei Anime properties. The T-shirts will be sold in UNIQLO boutiques in France, Russia, United Kingdom, the United States of America, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and South Korea. We were curious of whether Sailor Moon was going to be included, considering that the franchise is experiencing a resurgence in Japan and Italy. Toei Animation probably finalized this deal through their Japanese office, but the press release was in fact posted on their European site (and nowhere to be found on their Japanese site) and featured a quote from Mr. Kanji Kazahaya, the General Director of Toei Animation Europe. He commented "We are very pleased to conclude this deal with one of the major International apparel retailer". By proposing this new range, we will give our anime fans the opportunity to enjoy fashionable T-shirts of Dragon Ball, One Piece, Galaxy Express 999, Dr Slump and Saint Seiya very soon." And judging by the entire list of titles on the release it looks like it's probably going to be a line of T-shirts for men only. So, unfortunately FUNImation, it doesn't look like Sailor Moon is going to be included on this line, and the rest of us gals who want to have that Galaxy Express 999 or Dragon Ball T-shirt, have to once again shop in the mens section of a store. Congratulations to Toei though on this deal and we look forward to seeing the results of this collaboration!

Ladies, Here's How Not To Scare Men?!

This is only peripherally related to Sailor Moon, but since we occasionally report some strange cultural tidbits from Japan, we thought we'd include this. Ameba posted a story expanding on an older post found on a general advice-about-life site called Nanapi. This is a list of nine gestures/mannerisms that women are suggested that they use to make men less frightened of them. It is all about crossing the body (without turning yourself into a pretzel). Take these with a grain of salt, ladies!

1.When holding your cell phone, women should hold it in their right hand up to their left ear. It is more womanly to cross your arm in front of your face, and the article makes special mention of a famous pose by Sailor Moon, where she also crossed her arms. We've pictured the pose here, and we have even had an esteemed male fan pose in the same way. We don't think either of them makes any man less frightened?!

2. When you are in the midst of writing, or finishing writing, you should give a little twirl to a lock of hair on your right side with your left hand. This apparently looks sexy and is often a pose featured in fashion photos.

3. When putting on or taking off earrings, you should use the opposite hand. This makes you doubly feminine, according to the article.

4. When speaking, turn your body approximately 45˚ towards the person you are speaking to. When you gaze towards the person this way as you turn your body slightly, it evokes femininity.

5. When you walk, remember to cross your legs like an X just like the female models on the runway. When men walk on the runway, they do not cross their legs and walk very straight (and why does this matter?).

6. Cross your legs over and over. Men find this sexy.

7. When you touch a person, use the hand that is farther away (ex. Right shoulder with the left hand). This emphasizes femininity and also gives a sense of intimacy.

8. Always pick up dropped items with the opposite hand. Men tend to pick up from the waist and the same side. Women on the other hand, should not. This seems a little impractical.

9. When shaking hands, you should always have your arms and legs crossed. This is the ultimate body crossing gesture, but a man may treat you to a date if you scold him like this during a meeting.

Again, take these with a grain of salt, but this definitely ranks up there on our list of bizarre places we've seen Sailor Moon mentioned! Staff member The Me, who was also just as irked by this as you are, offers this:

How about this tip: Just act natural and don't waste so much energy trying to impress the nonexistant average.

Sailor Moon Musical Number to be Presented by Cosplayers in Seoul!

Since 2005, there has been a festival which happens at the same time in Japan and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to celebrate friendly ties between the two countries. The Japan-Korea Exchange Omatsuri will begin on September 19th, and will take place simultaneously at the Roppongi Hall Arena in Tokyo , and the Seoul Plaza (which happens to be in front of Seoul City Hall) in Seoul. One very interesting event that we hope someone posts video of, will be Korean cosplay group Moonstone going a step further than their usual Sera Myu cosplay! On September 20th, they will be performing a musical number with the use of traditional Korean and Japanese instruments! We don't know what song they will sing from Sera Myu, but this sounds like it could be a very interesting and fun show! For those of our readers in South Korea, this will take place at 7:30. We would love to see pictures and video of the event if you are going! From the pictures of their appearance in a cosplay parade last year (we have featured them below), they sure put in a lot of effort into their costumes and we think they are pretty close to the original! Also, if any of you know anything about Moonstone (we haven't been able to find out a lot about them), please tell us, we'd love to tell the fans a little more about them! There will also be a lot of youth participating in performance groups there as well along with Moonstone. There will also be a Japanese cultural parade in Seoul, and in Tokyo there will be a Korean cultural parade, as well as a Kimchi festival, which will teach Japanese people about how to make it, and also a little bit about Korean culture. Perhaps Keiko Kitagawa and Jung Woo-Sung should attend that (we kid, we kid)!

MOONSTONE Appearance at Omatsuri 2008:

Sailor Moon Animator Muses on Japan Expo in France

In a piece simply titled The French Like the Pop Culture of Japan, animator Kimiharu Obata muses on how Anime has grown in Japan, along with his own observations at the Japan Expo held in early July, in Paris. The expo is dedicated to all aspects of Japanese pop culture, including anime, manga, videogames, cosplay, fashion, and martial arts. It took us a little while to find out exactly who Obata was, but we later learned that he was once a top animator for a few years at Toei, and worked on the Sailor Moon R series. Currently, he is retired from animation, but he teaches at Vantan Design Institute's College of Film, Anime, and Manga. He seems like a very interesting person, and we recommend you visit Obata-Sensei's webpage! He even drew Sailor Moon recently for a Vantan flier!

Over the 4 days of the expo, 140,000 people attended, and their interest in Japanese culture was pretty strong. The majority of people knew Japanese culture as more than just anime and manga, but there were also quite a few cosplayers. Through his work with the Vantan Design Institute, he presented some of their animation in the hopes they could sell some of it to some French companies to release on DVD, and he also wanted to interview some of the Expo goers to learn of different perspectives on anime. It was a bit of a challenge too, given the current economic situation, to pitch anime in France to people who have a different understanding of anime than a person would in Japan. They were under a lot of pressure!

Then he began to write about the history of anime in France. We’ll summarize this part for you briefly. In 1978, Go Nagai’s UFO Robot Grendizer made its debut in France, to the delight of many children! Many children played outside pretending to be characters in the show. However, the show’s success was met with some controversy over ethics and violence. During the 90s, Kinnikuman was forbidden to air in France since one of the heroes (Brocken Jr.) derives from a Nazi upbringing. Anime was banned soon after in France, however many fans resorted to fansubs and bootlegs of anime. In 1991, the Dragon Ball manga was published in France, and became hugely popular. In 1999, the ban on anime was lifted, and Pokemon was one of the first anime to air in France in a long time. France later became one of Europe’s most popular countries for anime. Companies later saved money by subcontracting dub contracts to local companies, while still maintaining a high quality. Moreover, France is now a talent hub for other cartoons which air all over the world. You’d be surprised to find out how many North American cartoons in the last 10-15 years have come from France!

Kimiharu also remarks that Japanese dramas are being enjoyed in France through underground sites, simply because they are as original as anime that air. In fact, those dramas which are based on anime are very popular there. He also found it a little strange that a couture powerhouse like France was interested in Japanese fashion, and even drew inspiration from fashion in anime and manga. He was astonished! But, to really make an impact these days, a cartoon must also have a manga, video games, and movies. He also noticed that girls are becoming a lot more interested in anime and manga than they were before, thanks to the shojo genre and titles like NANA.

It is still very hard for Japanese movies that do well in Japan to do just as well in France. He cites a few Studio Ghibli titles as examples such as Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. Though the concept of a girl superhero was still a little foreign to some people in France, Sailor Moon was a huge hit!

He also spoke with a representative from Glenat Manga, who he names as a premier company for manga sales in France. The representative said he has been visiting Japan several times over the last 20 years to search for good work. He not only licenses manga which he knows that French people will like, but also other manga which may not be big sellers, but just to bring good work to France. He gives an example of how he bought Jiro Tamaguchi’s work to France. He is a veteran cartoonist in Japan, but many young people do not know who he is. However, his work is an “impressive masterpiece of individual conscience”, and slowly he is becoming recognized in France, even winning the Alph'Art of the Best Scenario Award in France in 2003. The rep also said that he was also impressed that during the anime ban, that anime and manga did not lose credibility among the people in France. He feels that the element of surprise is what appeals to people the most of Japanese manga, and that it is also educational entertainment. The French are a very inquisitive people and they are not afraid to be shaken by anime!

Kimiharu ended the article saying that he was fascinated by this fusion of two cultures. The link for the article is here for those of you who want to read it in Japanese, and it’s a very interesting perspective that we don’t hear from often! There are also some great pictures at the Japan Expo's official site!


EDIT: The article has since been removed, but Obata-sensei has posted this on his website. Read his journal entry here, and a copy of the article here.

I'M BACK, MOONIES!

Hello readers! I should really stop making announcements that I have time to write posts since that seems to jinx me the very next day... rest assured, I have this entire weekend free! So I'm going to work very hard to get as much done as I can for you all. I was worried that our readership would have slipped significantly during this hiatus, but thankfully it didn't and (I probably don't say this enough) thanks to you all for your support!

In the meantime though, if you haven't checked out The Me's post below about possibly one of the most hideous Sailor Sightings ever on TV, I highly recommend you do!
Some other posts from other places to keep you busy:
☀ Kotaku makes mentions of perks of upcoming Club Nintendo Memberships in North America, and really makes my day talking about G.i.r.l. !
☀ Recently, a really HQ trailer of the Live Action Dragon Ball Movie popped up on the internet. And, Piccolo reminds us a little bit of Darth Sidious. I'm not any more excited to see this movie after seeing this trailer, are you?
☀And I'll end with a couple Sailor Moon tidbits for you all! ANN posted a review of a Sailor Moon Arcade game we bet only a few of you have ever heard of , and once again, it seems Sailor Moon has had a strange influence on fashion. This time, with designer Renata Morales, according to Mosha Lundström Halbert, a writer for the Varsity. Check out the pictures from her collection here!

Sailor Moon Hair Still Tops With Models!

This sighting comes to us from Ian Manley! He pointed us to this link on a message board that featured scans from Japanese Fashion Mag, Ageha. Ageha is a magazine aimed at women who desire gyaru couture and all things fashionable from hairstyles to cosmetics, and features all the hottest fashion trends in Japan. For those of you who don’t know what the word “Gyaru” means, Jonathan Ross did a good explanation of it in his Japanorama mini-series a few years ago, else we’ll tell you that gyaru is a word used by women who are pushing the boundaries of their identities, particularly wanting to wear clothing that requires a tan (one of those strange things about Japanese culture we don’t quite understand here in the Western world). In this month’s issue, the models were photographed with hairstyles inspired by the Sailor Senshi - and their method for doing odangoes looks a lot less painful than the old one from Renee Scofield (I know this from personal experience T_T). The costumes are wrong, but nonetheless, we think that the many cosplayers who read this site can from the pictures discern how to do the hairstyles and better complement their Sailor Senshi costumes! Thanks to Ian for pointing us to this sighting! Click the links below to check out pictures of the special!

Sailor Moon
Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars
Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus
Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Pluto
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune

And for those of you who still want a little more, click here to take a look at behind the scenes of the Chibi-Usa shoot at model Sakurina's blog!

Shoko Nakagawa Covers Sailor Moon In North America!

Anime Expo ran at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 3-6 this year. One of the guests this year is one of Moon Chase's favorite idols, Shoko "Shokotan" Nakagawa! Shoko is known as the Queen of Blogging in Japan for she blogs about a hundred times a day. For her visit to the United States, she has a limited edition blog in English, and fans can definitely check it out here for a taste of what her Official Japanese Blog is like! If we could have a writer that could stay up to the minute with Sailor Moon news, we'd definitely appreciate someone like her! She even posted an entry with a picture of Sailor Moon cosplayer wondering what her transformation/henshin phrase was in English, and another one with a picture of a Rini/Chibi-Usa cosplayer. We were happy to hear that she was welcomed very warmly in the United States (despite the Bomb Scare) and also got to enjoy the convention as a con-goer. There are so many idols in Japan that are probably hugely popular but they may be relatively unknown here. Shoko is best known to the otaku as the singer from Gurren Lagann.

She also performed a concert of beloved anime songs plus some of her own , including Sorairo Days and Tsuzuku Sekai both from the popular Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann (the former from the series and the latter from the upcoming movie). She even shot a video for Tsuzuku Sekai when she was in Los Angeles! We were able to find some video of her singing Moonlight Densetsu, better known as the theme song for the first four seasons of Sailor Moon in Japan, as well as the movies! She didn't cosplay as a character from Sailor Moon, but was was dressed up like Haruhi Suzumiya from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Here they come!

News From The Other Side Of The Pond #15!

This one is for all you Sera Myu fans - the majority of the stories have to do with former stars of the musicals!

Japanese News Reports on Fansubs

We came across a very interesting article that looks at the popularity of anime in the United States. The first sentence reads something to the effect of: Japanese animation is popular abroad, and fans will gather together at "geek events". We found it rather amusing they called conventions geek events! The article does draw a bigger distinctin between conventions in North America versus those in Japan. The North American ones have a stronger presence of cosplay, where the ones in Japan have a stronger presence of doujinshi. The Tokyo Anime Fair just ended, but one of the questions everyone there was asking was "How do we deal with P2P downloads and fansubs?" It goes on to say that while some titles like Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh are popular, when they air during primetime slots, the shows are edited for violence and content that doesn't quite fit with TV/cultural standards here. This leaves the anime feeling choppy and storylines incomplete. This isn't entirely new - and something we Sailor Moon fans are all too used to. Some anime can only be aired after 10 PM, and they give the example of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, with shows like Blood, Death Note, and Crayon Shin-Chan. Given the advent and evolution of peer-to-peer applications and video streaming, within days of a cartoon airing in Japan, a show will be fansubbed. Scanlations of manga are also on the rise. Some industry execs comment that this is hurting DVD and Manga sales, though we think differently. Without fansubs, we think many anime series that would hit the stores would be relatively unknown and would probably sell less because fans wouldn't know what they were getting. Thanks to the lockdown of Sailor Moon, all any of us have left is either spending hundreds of dollars on eBay or looking to fansubs. We're not saying fansubs are wrong but sometimes there really is no other option. Many industry executives are angry about this situation and call U.S. otaku thieves. Many artists are attempting to broaden the market in the U.S. despite the expansion of fansubs and scanlations. Anime News Network covers this topic a lot more frequently and fans looking for opinions and facts should definitely check out their stories on the issue.

Sailor Moon is 8th Most Popular Anime in Japan!

Japan's Masters of the Survey Oricon has done another survey to see which is the most popular anime among the Japanese. Sailor Moon scored 8th overall and 2nd with women! One fan recalled that it was only natural to play Sailor Moon in Kindergarten because she was a girl who always put up a good fight! The comments received by Oricon about Sailor Moon all showed that the girls knew a good story when they saw one! The entire ranking is:

Overall:
1. Dragonball
2. Detective Conan
3. Neon Genesis Evangelion
3. Mobile Suit Gundam
5. Slam Dunk
5. One Piece
7. Doraemon
8. Sailor Moon
9. Full Metal Alchemist
9. Lupin the 3rd

Women:
1. Dragonball
2. Detective Conan
2. Sailor Moon
4. Slam Dunk
5. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Men:
1. Dragonball
2. Mobile Suit Gundam
3. Neon Genesis Evangelion
3. Doraemon
5. One Piece

Ages 10-19:
1. Detective Conan
2. Full Metal Alchemist
3. Sailor Moon
3. Dragonball

Ages 20-29:
1. Dragonball
2. Slam Dunk
3. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Ages 30-39:
1. Dragonball
2. Full Metal Alchemist
3. Mobile Suit Gundam

Marina Kuroki on Stage!
Marina Kuroki (The 4th actress to play Sailor Moon in Sera Myu) has returned to the stage in Nelke Planning's production of Nakano Blondys! Nakano Blondyz is a musical all about Cheerleading! It was a comedic delight to the critics, and they were fascinated by the routines the cast performed. Marina played a Yanki (or better known as tomboys in our culture) who is very brainy and likes to read comics. She meets some other girls at a popular comic shop, and they form a squad! They rarely are ever in step or in time with each other, but these girls are set to make it! Sadly it ended on March 20th, but we would have loved to have gone and seen it! To check out more pictures of the show, click here!


Akiko Kosaka Plans New Release!

We keep adding more and more new names to this website! Akiko Kosaka is a very accomplished artist in Japan , and she composed several songs for the Sera Myu Musicals and the Anime! She wrote such hits as Tuxedo Mirage, Moon Revenge, and Everlasting Moonlight. On June 4th, she will release a new album called Pianade , and it is full of instrumental piano pieces. She will also be touring in support of the album, and will mark her 35th anniversary in the industry with a celebration DVD! She had her first hit in 1973 at the age of 16, Anata, and reflects on her career over the years. She has always loved to make music since she was a child. In 2001, one of her albums, Pianish was released all over the world and is still a seller on iTunes. She remembers the Sailor Moon musicals from 13 years ago, and how 400 people worked just on the music over it's run. The staff would often walk to the Warner Music studios to record the songs, and it was a 7 minute walk from the Nogizaka subway station. She found it a challenge to work on Sailor Moon because the year that began was the year her youngest son was born. She wanted to be a Mom! Her two sons have also taken up music like their mother, her 18-year old son plays the bass in a rock band, and her 15-year old plays the horns in a brass section of his junior high school band. She looks forward to performing and continued success in music!


This last sighting is for older readers only...


Manami Wakayama Has A New Idol DVD!

Manami Wakayama is a gravure idol who also as the last actress to play Sailor Mercury in Sera Myu (Sailor Moon Musicals) from Summer 2002 - Winter 2005. On March 26th, she released a Gravure Idol DVD entitled Mermaid Story. This DVD actually has a plot: Manami's character was once told a legend of a mermaid by her Grandma in Okinawa. She is dragged into the sad and romantic tale in the life of this mermaid. We have a feeling she's playing the mermaid in this one. Reviews of the DVD that we have read have been good, with some calling her presence as "Legendary Sexy".

Upcoming Cultural Events

Hi Moonies - something cool came in my inbox a few days ago though and I thought I would share it with you all! The Japanese Consulate in Alberta is going to have a couple of events to celebrate the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Canada. We here at Moon Chase think it's important for fans to explore Japanese culture beyond anime because it is so much more than what we see in the Cartoons! One of them is the Shiko Kataoka Japanese Calligraphy Exhibition, a display of Japanese Calligraphy from master calligrapher Shiko Kataoka. For more information , click here for Edmonton (April 2nd-5th) and here for Calgary (11th-25th). Admission to both events are free! The second email I got actually has a nice poster and it's for a Japanese Music Concert. Featuring dance and song, this concert is not to be missed for those of you who can attend it on April 29th.


There are more consulates all over Canada (and the rest of the world). To find an event near you, click here for the Consulate nearest you for more information!

Yoshihiro Togashi News Blowout!

No, this is not another excuse to use this wonderful picture we found of him :). Yoshihiro has been in the news a LOT lately, and we’re going to tell you why!

Yoshihiro Togashi Helps to Make Shinjo Famous!

We stumbled upon this lesser known tidbit about Yoshihiro's famous ghost-hunting tale, Yu Yu Hakusho. This article is about how popular the town of Shinjo, Yamagata has become with tourists simply because of the famous Japanese people that come from there. The famous manga was inspired by this city , and many tourists associate Yusuke Urameshi with Shinjo - so much so that it has almost become a signature character of the city! Yoshihiro was also born and schooled in Shinjo. Another reason people visit Shinjo: famous director Akira Kurosawa worked as an assistant director on a few films in Shinjo. Many die-hard fans of his do not miss this city in order to get a sense of just where he has been. Also, the famous female detective writer Kirino Natsuo also comes from Shinjo!


Yoshihiro Approves of Doujinshi of His Own Works!

For those of you who are unaware, Doujinshi is kind of like a mix of fanart and fanfiction. Amateur mangaka (manga artists) produce manga that is their own take on a popular title and then publish it themselves. The artists come up with their own plots, some are taken as an alternate universe take on a plot, or a continuation of a storyline, or anything else that they can imagine! Some professionals also do this on the side (under a pseudonym if they wish) and publish outside the industry - many even do these for charity. Doujinshi artists almost never work solo, but in groups or circles, as they are known to be in Japan. These artists name their own price when selling their work. Doujinshi is a fairly big industry in Japan, and it even has its own convention known as Comiket! Many artists sell their work over 20 acres of con space!

Back to the content of the article - mobile doujinshi is gaining huge popularity in Japan, and the website Dorimaga has won an award from a research institute. The institute noted that this is a whole new level of freedom of expression, and takes e-books to a new level! Dorimaga has made contracts with 20 circles, and the only two publishers who have acknowledged the work of this service are CLAMP (best known for Card Captor Sakura), and Yoshihiro Togashi. Most times, creators and publishers are not aware of everyone who makes a doujinshi and many go ahead and do it without permission - in most cases that isn’t a huge issue. But we think it is really cool that Yoshihiro supports amateur artists like this! It also makes us feel a little better that perhaps he was out and about doing things, and not in hiding when he was on his many hiatuses.

On the subject of manga, there was this other huge recent event regarding Yoshihiro...

The (Temporary) Return of Hunter x Hunter

As we reported a while ago, Hunter x Hunter made it's return to Jump Magazine earlier this month. One article made mention that while it is selling very well in Japan, because of its old age and past history, it is not likely to gain newer fans. It is currently in 9th place of the 10 hottest selling titles. Volume 25 will be on the shelves sometime in April. Unfortunately, this return will not last long as we finally have confirmation it is only going to last for 10 weeks, and this writer speculates Gon isn't going to find his father anytime soon. Yes, something is better than nothing, but ten-week spurts isn't fair. We're starting to believe that theory we read that the only reason Jump is printing Hunter x Hunter in spurts is to build up popularity and hype. For the sake of your readers, stop seeking attention Kodansha! Sooner or later, a lot of them are going to catch on and they may even turn on the series. We would if we were fans! We only wish we had better news for you, Hunter x Hunter fans.

Moon Cooking!

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



料理のテーマは月　大垣桜高校食物科生が卒業作品展

2008年1月17日

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

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

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

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

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

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

　（中西康）

News From The Other Side Of The Pond #12!

Sae Featured on Radio Drama!

Aurora Squadron Prism Knights is a popular radio drama in Japan that revolves around magical girls. In an alternate reality, the Earth Queen’s successor must be found. The successor is a Crystal Master, and is protected by the Prism Knights, a squadron of magical girls of which each has a special talent. They return to the galaxy to find the new Queen and protect the galaxy from evil and keep the peace! By day, they work as housemaids. When we read this, we thought immediately, why is this not a manga or an anime? It sounds exciting enough to be one of those and we doubt that it’s getting the exposure it deserves as a radio drama - which are huge in Japan from what we hear, but still we think an anime or a manga would be a better choice! Sae, who is better known as the singer of the OP of PGSM Kirari*Sailor Dream!, sings the OP of this drama, titled Double Rainbow. Sae recently changed her name to Nanami Yumihara, and we nearly missed this sighting. The single was released in limited quantities on December 8th, and was muchly anticipated by the public. The drama also has another connection to Sailor Moon, Norio Wakamoto plays Mirage. Norio played Yuusuke Amade in episode six.

Italian Translates Japanese Manga!

We bring you yet another addition to our Special People tag. A journalist in Japan had heard that Japanese cartoons were very popular in Italy, but he wanted to know more. And then he met a translator - Stefania Da Pont. She lives in Japan now and translates manga into Italian. She has been a fan of Japanese cartoons since she was a small child of barely 3-years-old, remembering a Gundam Series, Heidi of the Alps, and Grendizer among her first anime she had ever seen. As a teenager she enjoyed watching Sailor Moon but disagreed with the edits and how different it was from the original comic book. We reported on some of these differences in an earlier article. She also said that the comics were very expensive and children would really have to save to be able to afford them. Being a translator wasn't her dream job, but she was very interested in Japanese language and culture, and pursued it through high school and university, even going to a special high school that specialized in the instruction of foreign languages. Later she decided that she wanted to be a translator, and attended The Ca' Foscari University of Venice. She graduated in 2005 having studied Japanese Language and Culture. Now she lives in Japan and works to translate cartoons and comics in Italian. She moved there so that she could be near the culture she loved, as well as experience cutting-edge technology. She finds the sentence structures of both languages hard in some cases when she has to translate, but she loves doing what she does. She also keeps a blog in Italian about her adventures in Japan.

Mixed Feelings on the State of Anime

Lastly, we came across this article from Japan that reported on last weekend's inaugural New York Anime Fest (NYAF). NYAF also played host to the ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga, which brought together members from all over the industry to discuss anime and manga. We're not going to summarize this article as it pretty much has the same details ANN has covered in their coverage of the event, so we'll point you to their coverage which even has some video footage. And there's this article that was just posted today from an exec who better emphasizes the problems with the industry. This opinion piece was written by CNET Japan's Yuuzi Mori, his title roughly translates to "Japanese Content has dug its own grave. Cartoon Industry Talks in North America". He presents some figures on the second page, the top being for manga and the bottom being for anime. We're going to provide a quick translation of the table for you here so you can see what the figures are saying:

For Manga:

Profits (below) Year (>>)	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Market Share	$60 Million	$100 Million	$135 Million	$175 Million	$200 Million	-
Compared With Previous Year	-	67%	35%	30%	40%	-
Number of Titles	-	-	-	1088	1288	1468*

For Anime:

Profits (below) Year (>>)	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Market Share	$500 Million	$550 Million	$500 Million	$450 Million	$400 Million	-
Compared With Previous Year	-	10%	0%	10%	11%	-
Number of Titles	400	562	727	733	759	617*

*indicates estimates as of the beginning of December.

The writer of this opinion made mention that a lot of titles that get released don't make as much profits as others who have a run on cable television in North America, and this is one of the biggest reasons for the downfall in anime-related profits this year. The second biggest reason being the distribution of fansubs online. The same trends are being seen in Europe, but they are on a much bigger scale given all of the different languages that pop up on fansub. In fact he thinks that the anime industry in North America could reach a standstill since the Japanese companies are likely to increase the licensing fee in the future if this trend continues. But then at the same time, if it wasn't for this internet exposure, a lot of fans wouldn't be aware of certain titles, and many titles are a lot popular even before a license is announced in North America. Bleach and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are probably the biggest prime examples where this holds true of recent years. And of course, he makes mention of Geneon's pullout, and he reveals that they were responsible for a sizeable 20% chunk of the North American Industry. We agree with the opinion of the editor that some internet exposure is needed for these series since the majority of them don't air on television, but at the same time we think that there needs to be something done about fansubs after they are licensed.

Introducing Kawaii Jenny!

This sighting is only peripherally related to Sailor Moon. One of the writers on this show (Yoshio Urasawa) wrote the scripts for last summer’s short-lived Bishoujo Celeb Panchanne, which was based on Bishoujo Kamen Poitrine, which served as a major influence on Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor V (and eventually Sailor Moon). But since it looked so hilarious, we had to share it with you all!

One of the more popular shows that we write about on this blog occasionally, Robot Chicken, uses what’s known as Stop-Motion Animation - basically taking several pictures of objects which are moved by hand. For example, say you wanted to make a cartoon involving one of your old-school Irwin Sailor Moon dolls. If you wanted to make it walk, you would take one picture of it standing, then move one leg, take a picture of that one, move the other leg, take a picture, and so on and so forth. It’s no surprise then that the episodes of Robot Chicken are only 15 minutes long, especially given all the "blabbing" or talking effects that they add in addition to moving, and of course, the special effects. In Japan, Yahoo! is streaming a cartoon which uses the same technique called Kawaii JenNy! Kawaii JenNy is about three dolls who are kidnapped by teddy bears while auditioning to become models. They encounter a robotic dog who transforms them into the Sweet Angels, magical girls who have a sweet tooth. And of course, they always save the day! There are a lot of similarities to Sailor Moon in this show. The show is produced by Takara-Tomy, one of Japan's leading toy companies.

This show is too funny and luckily for those of us not in Japan, they are on YouTube (for now). And they are even fansubbed - something that is a little harder to find for live action shows than it is for anime. So here come the links!

Raw Trailer
Episodes 1+2 Part 1
Episodes 1+2 Part 2
Episodes 1+2 Part 3
Episodes 3+4 Part 1
Episodes 3+4 Part 2
Episodes 3+4 Part 3

The doll that they use in this show is the Takara Jenny doll made by Takara-Tomy. Jenny was known as Takara Barbie from 1982-1986, until Takara's partnership with Mattel ended. Jenny is popular in Japan, but not as popular as Takara's other longtime favorite, Licca-chan, Mattel's Barbie, or (surprise, surprise -_-) Bratz. For fans interested in seeing what happens behind the scenes , the official show's blog can be read here.

Robot Chicken Strikes Again!

Hey Moonies, I'm sure you all remember the last time Robot Chicken did a Sailor Moon parody back in season 1 (If not, you can read about it in this post.) The latest episode contains another throwback to season 1. In the same vein as the sketch starring Michael Moore reporting on the whereabouts of action figures such as the Thundercats, He-man and Cobra Command from GI-Joe; this sketch sees the return of Michael Moore reporting on dolls from the same era. Jem, Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake and yes, Sailor Moon! Her time in the spotlight is much shorter this time around, but it is still nice to see her included in such a group of American cartoons.

Due to the nature of the sketch, it should only be viewed by our older readers.

A Few Quick, Yet Interesting Sailor Moon News References!

Sometimes, we run across small references in news stories that are best described in one sentence. And though in the past we've stretched these references and done full posts on them, it's a little time consuming, especially if the reader is going to go ahead and read the article anyway. So, we're going to post these stories in a different format and try this out for a few weeks. This is only going to be done for articles in English - but those in Japanese (or if in rare instances, French), will be summarized and/or translated. If our readers have any suggestions or comments about this new format, please let us know by sending us an email - our address is posted at the bottom of this page.

Without Further Ado...

☼ In Prince George, British Columbia ,Rebecca Conway, an independent artist and entrepreneur of Blue Hair Manga cited Sailor Moon as one of her top influences!
☼ This blog has a commentary on the evolution of Mixx to Tokyopop and argues that Tokyopop tends to forget it's roots in Mixx.
☼ This Analytical Essay looks at the recent rise of Japanese Cartoon characters, and asks the question "who deserves the credit?"
☼ A woman soccer player in Kentucky has been given a nickname just because she loves Sailor Moon!
☼Some fans at a college campus cosplay year round - even if there isn't a con! Their costumes are part of their regular wardrobe!
☼While we're talking about cosplay, check out these qualifiers from Germany for the 2008 World Cosplay Summit in Japan!
☼And behold this new fashion trend. Wearing brightly colored makeup that is influenced by Sailor Moon is in this season! We'd still rather wear Versach though (yes, Versach, not Versace).

Sailor Moon Culture Bits in the News

There's been a few stories this week with a few neat cultural mentions of Sailor Moon. The first comes from a blog on Progressive U about a girl who immigrated to the US from Vietnam, and she shares her experiences on trying to get the first Sailor Moon comic as a child. The second comes from a store in Victoria, BC who rents out Sailor Moon costumes? We'd love to see a picture of what these costumes look like so if anyone lives in the Victoria area and is planning on renting a Sailor Moon costume from this place, please let us know! The third is about cosplay but we learned of a new phrase, "Closet Moonie". A fan of Sailor Moon who is unable to express their love for the show. We don't think otaku should be ashamed of any anime that they like - are we going to have to organize some kind of "Moonie Pride" Day? And lastly, (and a special dedication to all my astronomy buddies out there) Japan's Moon Probe Kaguya has begun it's research survey of the Moon. It was formerly known as SELENE. Kaguya is named after a famous Moon Princess of Japanese Folklore, and there are shades of this tale in Sailor Moon. Moreover, Kaguya was used extensively as a theme in the S-Movie. It's interesting that you can connect Sailor Moon to almost anything these days!

Sailor Moon Robot Chicken Sketch

2005 marked the debut of a legendary cartoon. Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken uses stop motion animation to create some of the most hilarious shorts on everything pop-culture you can imagine ! Sadly each episode is only 15 minutes long (but they are jam packed). In the episode "Joint Point" , our favorite superhero, along with a certain red-headed evildoer made their debuts on this show! And umm, they put an evil henchman in a very awkward situation. I was very surprised at the accuracy of the background sequences used in the Sailor Moon henshin scene - they were very close to the original!

Cartoon Network (or perhaps Adult Swim?) has placed streaming versions of every sketch featured on the show on their official website and we encourage fans who haven't seen this show to watch a few sketches! Without further ado, for fans who haven't seen or wish to see the sketches, here they are!

WARNING THESE VIDEOS MAY BE A LITTLE NOT SAFE FOR WORK (NSFW).

Fans can purchase the entire first season (which this episode comes from) on DVD and season two should be out sometime this fall. Season three is slated to begin in the fall of this year but keep your eyes peeled for a Star Wars Special June 17th! Canadians can catch the show on Teletoon every night from Monday to Friday (but there is no word on whether the special will hit our airwaves soon).

EDIT: And I thought it was just me. Some (or all) may not work in your browser of choice. We can't alter the code Adult Swim has given on their site, but we can give you some links. To make matters worse, even we have noticed that sometimes the videos themselves don't load on Adult Swim -_-.
Part 1: Sailor Moon is Hot
Part 2: Queen Beryl is Hot
Part 3: Queen Beryl's Evil Plan