Check Out This Blog!

There isn't a lot happening in the Sailor Moon world right now, but for those of you who are craving the revival through a fan's perspective in Japan, I recommend you check out the blog "Moon Light". I've been following this blog for a while now, as this blogger was one of the few that blogged about her experience at the DVD Collection Launch Event in December of 2009. She was also there at Anza Ooyama's recent concert, and just visited the Toei Animation Gallery and has lots of photos of the cels there (Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure included) as well as figures. Kind of a neat blog to check out for anyone who wants to know what the fans in Japan are experiencing!

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.

Good News and Bad News: Sailor Moon DVDs and Socks in Mexico, New Toei Animation Series on Crunchyroll, and Farewell to Tokyopop

Mexican Sailor Moon fans are about to get a lot more Sailor Moon merchandise their way! Toei Animation Inc. announced some new Latin American deals for several of their properties. While there are no toys listed at this moment for Sailor Moon, there has been a licensing deal made with Doobalo S.a.de C.v. to make Sailor Moon socks. Does anyone else in North America feel like importing these and squeezing their feet into them to relive their childhoods? Also, thanks to facebook fan Jose Juan Hernandez for pointing us to this Sailor Moon teaser on Towers Entertainment’s website! The caption reads: "Coming Soon Special Edition on DVD Sailor Moon" Gotta love that brand new logo for the international revival. Speaking of new logos, Toei Animation Europe finally announced the return of Sailor Moon to Germany on their site, and posted one of our new favorite promotional images in the article which we have reposted above.

Toei Animation Inc. of Los Angeles launched three new series on Crunchyroll last week - Digimon Tamers, Interlude and Gaiking: Legend Of Daiku-Maryu. Free users will be able to watch 5 consecutive episodes of Digimon Tamers, and Gaiking: Legend of Daiku Maryu as they are posted each week, and one episode of Interlude per week until they are completed. All episodes are subtitled in English. It’s a little sad that the dub of Interlude is not up as it featured many stars of the English dub of Sailor Moon (and it was well done because Optimum Productions was not involved). Toei Animation has also launched the well-loved Toriko on Funimation.com and Hulu.

And on a sad note (but who didn’t see this one coming), Tokyopop announced last week that it was ending all publishing operations in North America. Though their translation and release of Sailor Moon was sub-par, we fans will always remember them for introducing us to the manga for the very first time. It is sad to see them go, but at the same time this day might not have come if they’d have improved their release quality.

Naoko Takeuchi Posts New Photos on Sailor Moon Channel!

Our entire thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tsunami tragedy in Japan. In the coming days, we will post an entry with charities and relief efforts for readers who wish to help out Japan. As far as we know, no one involved with Sailor Moon has been affected. It is probably safe to assume that since most of the major dubbing studios are in Tokyo (which was not as devastated as the northern part of the country), that most of the stars, crew, and the creator are safe. We are currently working to get official word on the safety of Naoko Takeuchi, Yoshihiro Togashi, and their family. There is some discussion happening via our Facebook page and our forums, where our staff members and fans are compiling together lists of who has been confirmed safe.

In the meantime, Naoko Takeuchi has been posting some new work on Sailor Moon Channel! At the beginning of this month, she posted a new illustration on the site (featured left, credit: (c) Naoko Takeuchi・PNP). We can only assume that this is probably Neo Queen Serenity from the manga! At this time we are unable to confirm if this is a new picture that she has drawn recently, or if this was a picture that she drew but was never published in any of the manga or artbooks. Either way, it's nice to see something new on Sailor Moon Channel! Naoko has also posted a new photo journal on the site, with photos and short messages from the beginning of the year. The biggest surprise that we've seen are her comments on two magazines released with Sailor Moon merchandise in Italy! We know that in the past she has received some of the merchandise released around the world, but this is the first we've heard of her thoughts about them! Our translations are featured below for you all to read! (Click to see them full sized!)

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: 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!)

Bandai Moves to Real Make-Up in Japan

Bandai Moves to Cosmetics?!

The beloved company Bandai, best known for making some of the best toys known to Otaku the world over is having a bit of a problem in today's economy. Sales of girls' toys just aren't what they used to be, and the company has had to come up with creative ways to keep the girls interested. And more than ever these days, girls want to feel more "grown up" and play with makeup over dolls. So what did they think of? Real cosmetics based on the popular anime and manga series, Nodame Cantabile. Girls and women who adore this series are now able to purchase easy-to-use eyeliner and mascara from Bandai's "Creer Beaute" line. Creer Beaute also has a line of beauty items (including face masks) inspired by the series Rose of Versailles, and another that includes nail polish fashioned after Fujiko Mine of Lupin the 3rd. The article makes special mention that Bandai was a huge success with girls in the past, especially with their Sailor Moon toys in the 90s. While they made some Sailor Moon themed cosmetics back then, it was "play makeup" and it was not the focus of their merchandise strategy. The company has shifted towards cosmetics just in the last year or so, but they have not stopped making toys entirely. This is also an innovative merchandising attempt to appeal to "big girls" (women over 30). The Creer Beaute site will also in the future feature beauty tips and videos on how best to use the makeup. Business analysts are predicting this to be a success for Bandai, and also admire their bravery for expanding into new market areas for their merchandise in a changing economy. This brand they say, is one to watch. We know that Sailor Moon in the beginning stages of the revival was lauded as something for two generations to watch, mothers and their daughters. While we still have no idea if there will be any new merchandise in Japan, we wonder if Bandai may consider Sailor Moon for their Creer Beaute line? It would fit right in with both generations!

Chibi-Moonie Clothing Revealed!

Hey, Moonies! You may remember a recent article where we tabulated who was making what in Italy...well, the first pieces of merchandise are starting to surface. Italian Brands has just released their licensed apparel catalog for this season which features Sailor Moon! The line is all designed for young girls and is mainly tracksuits, sweatsuits and other activewear. The main color palette consists of navy blue, hot pink, white, mauve, and gray, and a lone green bandana. The line appears to be mainly cotton and/or jersey fabrics, which most moms know are kid friendly in the wash and wear department. We kinda wish that some of the shirts had some glittery shimmer accents to them.

Fans can visit Italian Brands' site here, choose either English or Italian then click 'Brands' and finally click the Sailor Moon logo! These are scans of the actual catalog leaves, so the scanned pages are out of order. We are putting them in order for you below.

This kind of catalog acts as a showcase for stores so that buyers can choose what products they want to order. It is important to remember that these are prototypes at this point and the final products to hit stores might end up being a bit different.

It's still exciting to see merchandise hit this stage of development and it gives us hope for the future of Sailor Moon around the world!

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT ITALIAN BRANDS 2010

Italian Manga Soon to be a Reality, and More News From Italy!

This post is going to be a catchup on some new and old news that we didn't get a chance to cover in July because of Sailordees' absence. I can't tell you why she was AWOL over the summer, but I can tell you that she wanted to blog but there just weren't enough hours in a day (and she's the authority on where to hunt down all the press releases). And that doesn't even cover my own busy schedule both then and now. Don't worry, we're working on getting back on track!

The exciting news for Italian Sailor Moon fans has finally arrived! GP Publishing has announced that their Italian edition of the Sailor Moon manga will be released in both newsstand and deluxe comic editions starting November 4th! (For more info on the differences between the two editions, see here.)

A price estimate has also been released, putting the newsstand edition at €4.50 (~$6.00 US) and the comic edition at €5.90 (~$8.00 US) (both prices at the exchange rate current as of the date of this post). And as the final icing on the cake, a preliminary version of the cover art has also been released!

[Image from sailormoonworld.it]

The broadcast of Sailor Moon on Hiro finally ended last week and while there have been rumors of a DVD release going around, there is no official press release as of this writing, so we can't say anything for sure. However, the series has begun broadcasting on Italia 1 as of August 23rd, so fans can still catch it there!

Unfortunately, while the video censorship was removed and there was some minor redubbing done to fill in scenes, the missing recap/preview episode from the end of the R season was not redubbed. We had hoped this episode would have been restored with the rest of the series on tv, but we can still hope for a subtitled version of this episode in a future DVD release.

In other product news, there is at least a partial list of merchandise and the companies that will be producing them. They will start becoming available come November and December of 2010, and possibly the biggest highlight is a brand new game for the Nintendo DS from Namco-Bandai! We will keep you updated (we were unable to find sites for a few of these manufacturers)!

Giochi Preziosi: Toys including fashion dolls, accessories, costumes, and outdoor toys.
Bandai: Mini-dolls, micro-dolls, and stuffed toys (plushies).
Namco Bandai Games Europe: Videogame for Nintendo DS.
Adriatic Group: Beach Toys, and Novelties/Gifts.
MondialMix: Giftware such as accessories, photos, posters, and wall scrolls.
PlayMagic: Magic Tricks
Auguri Preziosi: Gift Items, Back-to-School items (starting January 2011).
Topps: stickers and sticker albums
Preziosi Collection: 3D items, Magazines
Image: Magnets and Charms
Italian Brands: Outerwear
Lion Italia: pyjamas and other nightclothes, swimwear and underwear
Easy Shoes: Shoes
Salati Preziosi: Chips
Dolci Preziosi: Easter Eggs and Cream-filled Eggs.
Joygum: Bubblegum

Finally, the Whereabouts of CM-1975 Slc. Gemstone 'Sailor Moon' Are Known!

This article brings a little more bad news, but there is a small ray of sunshine in this article to light some of the darkness of bad news earlier this week!

Back in August, we posted an article that featured a second orchid named for Sailor Moon with whatever we could find. One of our readers Lunchboxfox, did some investigating and found that Dogashima was not the name of a horticulturist – but of a famous Japanese Orchid Resort and Academy! Orchid Resort Dogashima is located In beautiful Shizukoka and is a huge park devoted to orchids. They have plant displays both inside and out and the park is built around a large suspension bridge! There are over 10,000 species on display, and many events are held here. They also have tours, a naturally-made playground, orchid planting and corsage-making workshops, organic and healing food restaurants, a forest, and an orchid zone. And of course, there is a store for orchids and related merchandise. It also looks like they have an academy there for orchid propagation and research. This place definitely looks like a lot of fun and if any of our readers are lucky enough to visit this region, please put this on your sightseeing list! For everyone reading this blog, before we hit the interesting (and the bad news about this orchid), here’s your ray of sunshine –please wander the Orchid Resort’s site and marvel at the pictures☺.

She emailed the resort to find out some more information about the orchid in question and learned from a Mr. Sato that this orchid was hybridized by this resort and registered to the Japanese Branch of the Royal Horticultural Society back in 1993. He also told us a little bit about the name – however his English isn’t perfect so we are trying our best to tell you what he said! He said that the meaning of gemstone was “Gem” that is shining and beautiful, and not shaped like a stone. They had hoped that in the future that this orchid would grow to be a lot more beautiful and that this variety could be used to create more hybrids. He also said that Sailor Moon was the most popular animation in Japan at the time back in 1993. She was a very cute character and they thought that this orchid’s image was just the same! Unfortunately, the orchid couldn’t make good hybrids, and the orchid is no longer being propagated or sold (we still think it must exist in some form in a private collection by the resort).

Thanks again to Lunchboxfox for all her hard work! So now I think Moon Chase has 99% of everything that is known about all of the flowers named after Sailor Moon! Check out our first post here!

Sailor Moon in Full Bloom in Japan!

Some of you may remember an older article about Sailor Moon Flowers that we posted a long time ago. The Happy Valley Sailor Moon sunflower blooms during July, and many bloggers have made the trek to Showa Kinen Park to see the many sunflowers there, and they have posted some beautiful shots of Sailor Moon's floral namesake. We'd also like to think that they are a little late blooming this year so they could have coincided with all these major Sailor Moon announcements as of late. We thought we'd share a few of the best shots! This one in particular comes from Saccyon. Tanpopo-jyo features two shots of the field and a single flower (third and fourth pictures). The first photo on Kiyo1503 has a nice photo of a young flower! Saccyon has lots of great closeups of the sunflowers, including one with a bee! Pennginn Muranorimaki has a not-so-great shot of a part of the field that looks like it's been trampled on. Yhanacomachi has one simple but wonderful hi-res closeup of the sunflower with a bee. Inkyotei begins and ends with Happy Valley Sailor Moon. Tachiaoi has one of a young flower in bloom, and there are plenty more closeups at Rin Hikari's blog! To finish off, Nobutaka has posted a picture of the field and a closeup.

And, Finally We Report About That Other Orchid...

A long time ago, an anonymous commenter (or two) pointed us to a fourth flower named for Sailor Moon. We thought that this post would be a better place to talk about it! Sophrolaeliocattleya Gemstone 'Sailor Moon' is a hybrid orchid, the result of a cross between Sophrocattleya Batemanniana 'Bette' and Sophrolaeliocattleya Phillip Ho 'Alisa'. The words under the picture tell us that this orchid is a souvenir, and we are inclined to believe that this flower is no longer commercially available. We searched a database of plant varieties in Japanese, and this orchid is no longer listed. It may lie in a private collection and sold privately, but despite our best efforts to search florists' websites and other retail sites, we were unable to find this orchid. Most times you can hit up a database and type in a fraction of the name or the variety number (CM-1975-1) and find some trace of it, but we had no such luck :(. If any of our fans know anything else about this orchid (like how it got it's name or whatever happened to this Dogashima horticulturist) please let us know!

200 Dollars For A T-Shirt?

Articles are coming soon! In the meantime though, I came across something interesting this morning that was short and quick enough for me to post on this site! A seller on Rakuten Ichiba is selling what looks to be an official T-shirt made by COSPA, the infamous Japanese Cosplay Company (and they now have a site in English)! The shirt features Chibi-Usa, and a COSPA logo on the back. It even came in a capsule! This costs a shocking $208 USD! From the looks of it, it seems to be in very good condition considering it is a used shirt. For those of us fans who are willing to spare that much money in these times for a rare collectible, this is sure to be a highlight in their collection. None of us here have ever heard of the COSPA beautybeast line - do any of you know about this? Please leave your comments below!

Ebay Wrangle #8

We got very lucky this week and can bring you a full sized update!

Items That Will Break Your Bank:
☼A LOT OF CELS O.o.
☼ Queen Serenity Cel (Rare)!
☼ A Rare Soundtrack CD from Germany!

Bargain Items:
☼ Play-a-Sound Book, Figure, and Invitations!
☼ An Art Book that should cost a lot more?
☼ Super Famicom Game!

Best of the Rest:
☼ Where is Xiao Ling Jing's Little Happy World?
☼ Light-up Figure from Germany!
☼ Notebook, Planner, and Stickers!
☼ German Comics and Bonuses!
☼ Lot of Official CD Releases from Japan!
☼ Pocket Games 1 ,2 , & 3!
☼ Sailor Moon View Finder!
☼ Original Sailor Moon Laser Discs from Japan!
☼ Set of Sailor Moon Watches!
☼ Quite possibly the tackiest top we've ever seen yet!
☼ Rare Girls T-Shirt!
☼ Palace Complete with Several Figures!
☼ Sailor Moon Chopsticks!
☼ Melvin/Umino Cel!
☼ Sailor Moon Labeler!
☼ Quiz World Toy!
☼ Photo Album!
☼ Sketch Kit!
☼ Stampers!
☼ Sailor Moon Socks!
☼ Rare Luna and Usagi Framed Cel!
☼ Sailor Moon Quilt!
☼ Rare Colored Pens (possibly gel pens)!
☼ Sailor Moon Watch!
☼ Rare Sailor Moon Plush!
☼ Sleeping Bag and Books!
☼ Sailor Moon Slippers!
☼ Some More Sailor Moon Watches!
☼ Full set of Sailor Moon Twin Bedding!
☼ Rare set of Gashapon at an affordable price!
☼ Sailor Moon Pencil Case, Pencil, Leads, Ruler, and Erasers!
☼ Journal with Lock!
☼ Markers, Scissors and a Sharpner!
☼ Sailor Moon Washcloth and Hand Towel!
☼ Rare Nakayoshi Bracelet and Necklace set!
☼ Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars Cell Phone Straps!
☼ Bento Fork and Spoon!
☼ Chibi-Usa Makeup Bag!

Flowers, Anyone?

If you're a guy in Japan, and you are dating a gal who is a fan of Sailor Moon, why not give her some Sailor Moon namesake flowers? In Japan there are not one but three strains of flowers that have been named for Sailor Moon. These flowers are very popular and sometimes sell out pretty quickly.

#1 - Happy Valley Sailor Moon Orchid!

This orchid has been mentioned on other fansites before (such as Genvid and The Oracle) under the name "Happy Barry'Barrie" but we learned from quite a few growers' sites that the name is actually "Happy Valley" (which makes more sense than Barrie when you think about it). This hybrid flower comes from the Genus Cymbidium, which has around 50 species of orchids with a distinct form to the base of the orchid's lips (the center of the orchid). This orchid was named for Sailor Moon because its yellow color reminded the scientist (Shigeru Makoto Kono) of her hair. The species was officially registered October 9th, 1997 and like the Sailor Moon licenses won't last forever; the registration will expire in 15 years.

#2 - Sailor Moon Carnations (Orange or Yellow)

In a terribly odd twist of irony, this carnation is naturally yellow, but the orange "mutant" is just as popular. Otaku should recall that Sailor Venus (who had an orange fuku) has on occasion played Sailor Moon's decoy - so it seems only fitting that the mutation is orange! From what we have read this is a very popular carnation - especially when it is given on Mother's Day. The INGU Sailor Moon Carnations were conjured by Inagaki Chotaro and were registered on June 8th, 1998 and will also expire in 15 years from that date. We've seen some growers do some interesting things with these carnations, and our favorite one is this poodle that was made with the orange variety of this carnation. Note: The yellow carnations used were of the LC Candle variety.

#3 - Sailor Moon Sunflower

On July 27th, 2004, a third flower was named for Sailor Moon. The Sailor Moon Sunflower is a hybrid of the Helianthus Genus of sunflowers. We were unable to find any horticultural registry information on this flower. We learned that this flower is grown in a special sunflower field in a park in Japan, and was named after Sailor Moon because of two reasons. The first being that sunflowers are popular among children in Japan, and that if they named the flower after a popular character it would attract more children to come to the park. The second is that the pale colour of the flower reminds the observer of the moon. This is a very popular sunflower in Japan. It is used in a variety of bouquets and it looks like many people travel to the Showa Memorial Park where this is grown (in the Barbecue Sunflower Garden) just to see it. This park says that this sunflower is unusual because of its yellow-green color and the low height makes it lovely.

So there you have it, men seeking that special flower for that special someone need not always resort to using roses, just like Tuxedo Kamen!

EDIT: We have recently learned through an email that some fans are dismayed or don't believe the translation of "barrie" to valley. Quit calling us silly. Some Japanese words these days are written almost like their english equivalents, such as ハンバーガー (romaji: hanbāgā) which is the japanese word for, hamburger. Katakana is often used to "spell out" foreign words using the letters given in this writing system. These equivalents are pretty much loanwords in the Japanese language. In fact, later this week we hope to upload segments of a game show which feature several loanwords. See how similar they look and sound? Now most typically when one thinks of the word for valley in Japanese, the kanji 谷 (romaji: tani) is used. However in the case of the name of this flower, we're going to break this down character for character and hopefully, this will answer any wondering fan's question (oh yeah, and the next time there is a gripe against one of our articles, do give us a shout out, our email is at the bottom of this page). This is the title written in katakana: ハッピーバリー”セーラームーン". The first three characters read out as happi - which is the word "happy". This character ッ, is a special character called Soukon. This character is the smaller case of the character ツ (tsu), but is never pronounced. Soukon means that you double the following consonant, and the next character is pi, therefore "happi". Now for the second word, バリ. This one spells out ba-ri. It's not the word berry, because that is be-ri, or ベリー. But, ba-ri sounds a lot like valley. And a few people close to the language and in Japan told us バリ is best translated in this case to valley. In fact, many popular online translators translate the characters バリ to valley. But, this can't be the only use of those characters to mean valley now, can it? Why not take a look here, here, or here? There's several more instances where the characters バリ have been used to mean the word valley, but we're not going to list them all. We hope this is enough proof for the dismayed fans who don't believe what those two characters really mean in the name.

Ebay Quicklist!

Best Bargains:
☼Sailor Moon Tokyopop Manga!
☼Sailor Moon: Songs From the Hit TV Series!
☼Lunarock!

Most Expensive:
☼A lot of cards and pins!
☼Sailor Saturn doll!
☼A cel of Setsuna, Michiru, and Haruka!

Odd Items:
☼These chopsticks look like they were a bonus for something with the different cartoon characters!
☼This wand looks fake.
☼Sailor Moon Manga Saucers!

Best of the Rest:
☼Original Laserdiscs of the first season!
☼Light-up figures!
☼A rare plush of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen sitting on the Moon!
☼Sailor Jupiter ring!
☼Sailor Stars Christmas Single!
☼Sailor Moon Bento!
☼Sailor Chibi-Moon and Message Board Plush!
☼Sailor Moon Comforter!
☼Mini Sailor Moon Case!
☼Sailor Moon Mailing Labels!
☼Full Set of Finger Puppets!

Quick Ebay Finds!

Hey Moonies- this week has been particularly hard for Sailordees as not one, but two computers broke (when it rains, it pours)! But the good news is I have fixed my "Plan C" Computer to be somewhat up to par with one of them! So I will be bringing you a short eBay update today and a few commercials within the next couple days. We still are working to resolve the issues with the cut links appearing where they shouldn't be.

But for now though, here are nine notable items!

☼Sailor Moon Stars Coasters!
☼Eternal Sailor Moon Toothbrush!
☼Rare Kodansha Usagi and Chibi-Usa Plush Set!
☼Sailor Moon Perfume Bottles!
☼Sailor Senshi Glass Mug!
☼Sailor Moon handkerchief from Nakayoshi Magazine!
☼An older Sailor Moon T-shirt that is good as new!
☼Sailor Moon Puzzles lot!

And the Big Kahuna of them all...
☼A Jun-Jun Doll!

eBay Wrangle #7

It seems to have been a long time since we've done one of these!

Most Expensive Items:
☼Transformation wands for Sailors Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus!
☼Eternal Sailor Moon and Starlights Figures!

Best Bargains:
☼PGSM Sailor Venus Cosplay Hair Kit!
☼Artemis Plush!
☼Sailor Moon Magnets!
☼Lunchbox, Binder, and Keychain!

Other Neat Finds:
☼Rare set of Neo-Queen Serenity and Black Lady keychains!
☼Sailor Moon ink stampers!
☼Two rare foil cards!
☼11 Foil Cards!
☼Fuchsia T-shirt!
☼Sailor Moon Candles!
☼Sailor Jupiter Necklace!
☼Sailor Moon Viewmaster Reels!
☼Chibi-Usa's Time Key!
☼Sailor Moon Nail Polish Toy!
☼PGSM cutlery set!
☼Another ink stamper set!
☼A cute Sailor Moon dress for little girls!
☼Play-a-Sound Storybook!
☼Sailor Moon Sticker Albums!
☼Lot including Valentines!
☼Sailor Moon plastic drawstring bag!
☼Sailor Moon clothing and toy lot!
☼Sailor Moon drinking glasses!
☼Child's Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi-Moon tank top!
☼Sailor Moon stationary!
☼Sailor Moon bandages!
☼Long-sleeved Sailor Moon shirt!
☼Sailor Moon Watch!
☼Sailor Stars tote!
☼Sailor Moon bedding!
☼Sailor Moon Jewelry Box!
☼Moon Princess resin kit!
☼Jewelry boxes for Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus!

eBay Wrangle #6!

Apologies for the late arrival of this - I have had a couple other articles in the works but unfortunately dealing with a very serious computer problem has hindered my ability to get these going. It is therefore for this reason that this will be shorter than usual. Fear not though, because some items really jived and there is a special section devoted to them! For those who missed it , Amazon has finally removed the Sailor Moon Boxset - Scroll down to the **** around Edit #2. Thanks again to every fan who made their voices heard!

Without further ado...

Most Expensive Items:
☼Uranus and Neptune Transformation Wands Under $700!
☼Eternal Sailor Moon Wand!
☼Chibi-Usa's Stallion Reve!
☼Sailor Moon SuperS Doll!

Best Bargains:
☼A very good, fan-made Sailor Venus Henshin Wand!
☼A Sailor Venus Puzzle!
☼A really interesting fan-made recreation of the Moon Kingdom Ruins!
☼Official Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus resin kits!

Other Neat Finds:
☼Sailor Moon Sweatshirt complete with Chibi-Usa Iron!
☼A rare printing plate from DART Flipcards!
☼This is not a T-Shirt?!
☼Sailor Moon shorts!
☼Sailor Moon Markers from Canada!
☼Neo-Queen Serenity Necklace!
☼Helios Necklace!
☼Chibi-Moon Figure Mug!
☼Princess Chibi-Usa Lunch Bag!
☼A Sailor Moon Eraser from the 40th Anniversary of Nakayoshi Magazine!
☼Sailor Moon Cases also from the 40th Anniversary of Nakayoshi Magazine!
☼ A Postcard Book from Europe!
☼ A Rare Sailor Moon Pattern Book that shows you how to knit your own costumes!
☼ A Rare SuperS Board Game with 7 games in one!

Special Section: Have your very own Sailor Moon Themed... Kitchen?
☼Measuring Spoons!
☼Spatula!
☼Veggie Peeler!
☼Cutting Board and Knife!
☼Measuring Cup!
☼Oven Glove and Towel!
☼A Bento Box!
☼And another Bento Box!
☼PGSM Chopsticks!
☼Oshibori Cloth for Bento!

BREAKING NEWS: DO NOT BUY THIS BOXSET!

Update 1
Update 2
It sure has been a busy newsweek for Sailor Moon!

Anime News Network reports the existence of a bootleg boxset of Sailor Moon Stars on Amazon.com . Fans should know while their marketplace sellers are notorious for selling bootlegged anime, this is not coming from a marketplace seller but from their own main site (and potentially their warehouse as well). It's like walking into a Best Buy or a FYE store and seeing a pirated copy of your favorite anime with a gold sticker on it that says "Official" when you really know it isn't. We suggest fans read this article, they have done a very good job of explaining why this boxset is fake. We're going to go a step further and show you what the real DVDs look like. We here at Moon Chase! do not support this product and as a Sailor Moon Fan, you probably shouldn't either. The quality of these DVDs are likely to be very poor and make no mistake, NO ENGLISH DUB EXISTS.

This product needs to be pulled, but having read others' unsuccessful accounts at trying to contact Amazon, fans do have other options.

1.) Post comments on Amazon's page for the product. Let potential buyers know that this product they are interested in purchasing is fake. And, perhaps seeing less star ratings at the top will also deter them.

2.) Contact Amazon, and voice your concerns by either filling out this form , or over the phone (they will contact you). Let them know that no company in North America has licensed this series for release and that this is a bootleg. Fans may even want to encourage them to speak to Geneon, TOEI and ADV about this series for "official proof".

3.) Contact Toei. Through their English site we found an email for their Sales office in Los Angeles (isn't this great? You don't have to type in Japanese!)! Let them know about the product by sending them a link either to the ANN story or to Amazon and let them know how disappointed you are in the largest online store in the world selling pirated Sailor Moon goods. Fans should note that now is not the time to ask TOEI to bring Sailor Moon back to North America. Their email address is sales@NOSPAMtoei-anim.net . Fans that are interested in contacting them in other ways can go here (et nous encourageons les fans qui parlent Francais devraient entrer en contact avec le bureau en Paris).

I will be contacting TOEI and Amazon about this shortly and we will keep you up to date with anything that happens. We would love to hear what fans have written or conversed to any of these parties above and may use letters in a future story. We will not display your email address but for credit we will display a username. If you get any responses those would also be great to hear! As always you can contact us at moonchasers@NOSPAMPLZKTHXgmail.com. We would like to thank Anime News Network for bringing this issue to light and also trying to get this resolved!

EDIT: ANN has since updated the story - and we'd like to note we have not heard a word from Amazon other than the letter that I had sent was being forwarded to the appropriate department. Amazon has not pulled the item but has now labeled it for what it is - a bootleg! We have to wonder just what it is going to take for them to pull this product and others like it. While we are glad Amazon has identified this product for what it is, we are very disappointed that they are still selling it.

****EDIT #2 (Monday, May 22nd): It appears that at least as of last night, the product has been removed from Amazon's site. The pictures are still there when you search for Sailor Moon Stars but the products have no names and are listed as not available.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every fan who wrote to the powers that be to get this boxset removed in a matter of a few days after the first notice from ANN! Acts like this support legitimate and legal releases of anime - and probably in some ways lets the companies know that fans are still eager to purchase a real release of the product.