Head on over to our new home!

Hey Moonies!

We have a BIG announcement to make about a project that's been a long time in the making. Blogger has served us well, but it's time for us to bid Google goodbye and move to our new home at moon-chase.com!

At moon-chase.com, we'll be able to provide you with a better experience, better content, and better security. All of our current and future posts will be available at our new domain, meanwhile all of our old posts will still be available here at Blogger. In the future we also hope to provide you with flash videos directly on our site rather than through other video hosting services, and we hope to be able to move our forums to our new domain as well!

If you are currently reading the site from a feed reader, please make sure you're subscribed to http://feeds.feedburner.com/MoonChase so you don't miss any of our updates at the new site!

The transition has not been without a few bumps. There are a ton of duplicate comments, too many to try and weed out, and if you should find any unreadable text, broken links or images we missed, or any links that still send you to our Blogger site, please email us at moonchasers@NOSPAMPLZKTHXgmail.com with the permalink of the post with the error. However, please note that many of our oldest posts contain broken links to sites, pictures and videos that no longer exist and we cannot fix those unfortunately.

Additionally, in regards to the ongoing situation with certain undesirable drama fanatics:
Due to much behind the scenes cyber harassment from a certain person, we will continue to have measures in place to prevent access to our blog from certain parts of the internet. We are doing this because of several false DMCA complaints made by said cyberstalker which we have had to fight hard with Google to have overturned as well as a lot of comments we received full of racial slurs and threats. We want to keep our hard work available to our readers, and we want our readers to feel safe and secure when they visit our site. Thanks to this move, our cyberstalker "friends" will now need a good lawyer and just cause to destroy our hard work.

Some of you may encounter these anti-stalking measures at first. However, with the flexibility our own domain affords us, we will be able to provide you with an account to bypass this restriction. Also, because of previous problems with comments on this blog, only registered users will be allowed to comment at our new domain. We are sorry to have to keep doing this, but our stalker is relentless. When they give up and end the drama, our bans will lift, until then we're sure you can find out where to direct the hate mail.

London Gets to Experience Sailor Moon (Again) as Part of An Animation Festival!

From Toei Animation Europe's Headquarters this morning, we learned that Sailor Moon is part of a special festival celebrating animation at London's Barbican Art Gallery! Watch Me Move: The Animation Show traces the history of animation over the last 150 years. Over 100 films are being featured this year from a broad range of animatin styles including cutout, collage, puppet, clay, stop-motion, and anime, among several others. The reviews we have read from others around the web have been positive! Likewise, if any of our readers are going to go to this exhibit and would like to tell us more about it, we would love to hear from you! The exhibit runs until September 11th of this year. Fans can also check out a schedule of film screenings and special events. Excerpts from the Sailor Moon anime are featured in the exhibition itself, there are no set screenings for specific episodes listed. It is likely that these are subtitled in English. This is the second time that fans in London are able to watch an official version of the show in English, even though there are no complete episodes this time.

The release also mentions that the show will be presented in two history museums in Germany, however as of this writing we are unaware of which museums those are.

Garage Kit Figures and More Cosplay Goodness!

Hey Moonies! Our good friends at SailorMoonCenter have uploaded something special to YouTube! Included as an extra on the Sailor Moon Volume 6 laser disc was an extra called "Cute Character Gathering". This video features several figures made by garage kit hobbyists in Japan, and was shot at JAF-CON '93 (a special convention in Japan just for hobbyists). This is definitely a must watch for all fans - these figures are absolutely beautiful and detailed!

And since everyone here likes cosplay, American cosplayer Sara Qael's work was featured recently on People.com.cn (China). We think you'll be impressed with the quality of her Sailor Moon costumes!

Que SeraMun SeraMun... Whatever Will Be, Will Be...

The future isn't there to see just yet, Moonies. For those of you who have not heard via other fans on Twitter, Facebook, and other forums, FUNImation's panel at Anime Expo 2011 on Friday night began with a "Cosmic Moon Power" (possibly from an AX staff member), and then there was no mention of a license for Sailor Moon. We can't say we at the blog are surprised by this (because as usual, we saw it coming). For those of you still wondering why it is taking so long, a deal at a much higher parental level than FUNImation or any other company acquiring the license has to take place first. And so far, that deal hasn't quite come to fruition yet. It's a waiting game as always, so please be patient. The Sailor Moon anime will come when the time is right. Rest assured, everyone knows how much the fans all want the series, and given how (almost) smoothly the revival has gone in other parts of the world, it will be well worth the wait for everyone involved to plan the best possible strategy for Sailor Moon in North America. Hang tight, Moonies!

A very special thank you to Sailor Astera for creating this comic and giving us permission to use it to accompany this article!

And FUNImation? Do us all a favor and actually tease fans about a title you have rights to. How about starting a panel with Kamehameha next time?

Summer 2011 Sailor Moon Cosplayers Galore!

Hi Moonies! We all feel the draught of nothing exciting to report in the Sailor Moon world this week (and we wish it were different). Some cosplayers have been in the news for dressing up like characters from Sailor Moon, so we're going to share them with you!

First, a cosplayer from England named Katie Beckett who was mentioned in both English and German presses for her Super Sailor Moon costume at Nemacon in Middlesbrough, England!

Image Credit: Yahoo!	Image Credit: Zeit

Second, we have more Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon at Los Angeles' Anime Expo!

Image Credit: Los Angeles Times Hero Complex

Thirdly... who remembers Michelle Phan? She is famous for her makeup tutorials on Youtube, and received a fair amount of press about her Sailor Moon tutorial in the Japanese press. She was part of a special launch event for "YouTube NextUp", an initiative by the popular video sharing site to help young animators get their work noticed in Japan. YouTube NextUp has a global reach for the next generation of content creators. If an animator's submission wins, they will be able to work with the leading animators in the anime industry in Japan (but, you have to hurry as submissions are due by July 18th). At the launch, she gave some encouraging words to anyone interested in entering, that they have effort and show passion for their craft in their video. It's nice to see her talking about something other than makeup!

Hunter X Hunter to Return & New Interview with Yoshihiro Togashi!

A rumor which had been floating around for a few weeks now was finally confirmed yesterday! Not long ago, we shared the news with you of the publishing of two new volumes, and we can now confirm that Hunter X Hunter will return from another long hiatus this August! New chapters from Yoshihiro Togashi will once again be published in Shueisha's Jump Magazine in Japan. Though the length of the run has not been announced, we would not be surprised if it lasted for around 10 weeks, just like the others.

In other Togashi news, June's Hetappi Manga Kenkyujo R includes a special feature from him about how storyboards are created. A teaser can be seen at Shonen Jump's website.


Was that so bad Moonies? Sorry it's been a dry week. I too want this Sailor Moon draught to end!

Sailor Moon Voice Director Appearing at FanExpo Canada

John Stocker, a Sailor Moon voice director will be appearing at this year's FanExpo in Toronto!

Fans may recall that John Stocker directed episodes in the Sailor Moon television series (during seasons R, S, and SuperS) as well as the movies (Sailor Moon R Movie: Promise of the Rose, Sailor Moon S Movie: Hearts in Ice, and Sailor Moon SuperS Movie: Black Dream Hole).

A selection of some of the other titles John has been involved with are listed on his guest page on the FanExpo website. If you check out the list of anime guest stars at the convention this year, John is named under "American Voice Stars." His website has more details about his voice acting and other talents.

If you're also interested in other guests at the convention this year, the line-up of sci-fi featured guests is here. And the comic book guests are listed here. There are also Horror and Gaming guests and events.

Readers interested in attending FanExpo this year can find ticket information here. The convention has been extended to four days this year (August 25th - 28th) and will be held in the entire south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. We hope that the expanded location will help alleviate the crowding issues experienced in recent years. The FanExpo website also indicates that there will be a limited number of deluxe passes available. Although no total number is listed for the deluxe passes, the convention organizers note that the deluxe passes will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis until sold out.

(photo from John Stocker's website)