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.

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!

BREAKING NEWS: GP Publishing Considering More Sailor Moon?

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

New Sailor Moon Manga to be Previewed at Italian Expo!

In Lucca, Italy, there is a very interesting event happening in just a matter of days. Lucca Comics and Games is an annual expo that both functions as a pop culture convention, as well as a trade show for companies. Fans attending will get to have a small taste of what it is like to be at much bigger media market events such as MIPCOM when they go through the trade show venues! At this event, editors and publishers will be making presentations about upcoming titles and franchises. The new Sailor Moon manga will be making its debut at Lucca Comics and Games 2010 on Sunday, October 31st at 2PM at the Plaza Ducale. The "King of Sailor Moon Licensing" in Italy, Fabrizio Margaria (Program Director at Mediaset), will be on hand for the big reveal. We hope that our Italian readers will be out there in full force in their Sailor Moon cosplay to let us know how it goes! Buona fortuna Sailor Moon - all of us want to see you continue to succeed!

Sailor Moon Industry News Europe: Fall 2010 Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dynit: It will cover the television series.


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

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

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

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

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

Sera Myu Fall 2010 Update (Part 1): Heroes and Enemies!

Only 7 actors from the beloved musicals are moving and shaking in Japan, so here comes your first of two updates!

First, we'll start with the heroes!

Anza Ooyama Continues to Rock!

Anza Ooyama (Sailor Moon from 1993-1998) continued to rock all through Japan with her band HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT this summer. On their recent "Fuse the Soul" tour across the country, one of their featured openers came from this side of the pond! That band was Canada's Domenica, another metal band fronted by a female singer (Bekki). The band commended HPP on their facebook page, telling their fans to check out the band and that "they are definitely a live show to be reckoned with." On the last day of this tour (September 12th), Anza wore a gold bustier with a brown skirt that was a little hard to see in the dark, and she addressed the audience a lot.The writer of this article also noted that Anza has definitely improved on her emotional expression skills and provokes the audience to feel a whole range of different emotions during her concerts. At the end of the show, she wanted a photo of her band with the audience, and even invited Domenica to join them on stage as well! On September 19th, they also played at another event called "Abstinence's Door", which was organized by another Japanese metal band called D'erlanger. The band released a statement to the press saying that they were deeply and greatly moved to be joining such a renowned rock band on stage, and that they had hoped to connect with other bands that are pulling the rock scene in Japan with all of their sounds to have a great time! HPP also just released their latest album Pobl Lliw on September 3rd, and fans can listen to tracks from the album via the band's official MySpace.


Manna in New Horror Film!

Many fans probably remember Kasumi Suzuki as the cute Manna from Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady. Well, she has grown up! She is now starring in a horror movie called Kai-Ki: Tales of Terror From Tokyo. The movie's world premiere was in Los Angeles last July, and has since been going around the indie circuit. The horror movie is the last of 3 movies based on the TV show of the same name, all telling different horror stories. This movie in particular has two stories in it, "Possessed" and "Nozomi", both starring Japanese idol Erina Mano (but our Kasumi stars right alongside her). "Possessed" is a story about a hiccuping epidemic among college students turning them into enraged, murderous, monsters. "Nozomi" is about a young girl that is haunted by a ghost that may hold the key to a dark family secret. All of the press surrounding this movie is surrounding Erina's debut, but we're pretty sure that this is Kasumi's first time starring in a Japanese movie that is making it big across the globe. While we couldn't find any comments from her in the press, we were able to find a photo of her from the Japanese premiere in Shibuya on September 4th! She is in the front row on the left... see how Manna has grown?

Kimi no Todoke Premiere Makes Waves in Japan (and Moves Sailor Star Healer to Tears)!

The highly anticipated Kimi no Todoke (From Me to You) live-action movie finally premiered in Japan last week. Mikako Tabe (Yaten Kou/Sailor Star Healer from 2003-2004) plays the leading role of Sawako in this film alongside Haruma Miura who plays Shota (the guy she falls in love with). The press has been featuring stories about this movie for the last few weeks, and both have said that they were really proud of their work and this film, and hoped that the public would also be able to enjoy it. Mikako was also worried that she wouldn't be able to play the role, since after she saw the anime she wondered if any human could actually play these roles. At a test screening last week, both of them were asked what types of people they would like to fall in love with, and Mikako said she prefers guys that who have an abundance of knowledge, where Haruma said that he likes girls who are just like Sawako - black hair, with the motto to do one good deed every day. This screening was done for teenagers, and set in a classroom much like the one used in the movie, and everyone loved it! At the end of the screening, Mikako was moved to tears by the movie feeling touched by the music, and by the support so many had for her character. Mikako and Haruma were moved to tears again at the movie's premiere on September 25th at the TOHO Cinemas in Roppongi Hills! Mikako's eyes were red and swollen as she told the audience “I appreciate it all” in gratitude for the audience's support. We wish this movie continued success in Japan (and abroad too, since these movies are sometimes licensed for distribution here)! The movie's theme song "Reaching You" is performed by Japanese rockband Flumpool, and the single was just released a few days ago in Japan.

Tae Kimura Helps Out Some Very Special Causes (While Still Finding Time to Play a Rock Star)!

Tae Kimura (Fisheye) is still receiving a lot of buzz surrounding her movie from last summer, Tokyo Island (we covered this earlier here). And, she is also appearing at some events for some very special causes. On October 1st the famous manicure hotspot Nail Art Collection in Omotesando Hills, opened up a special auction as part of its pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer. Tae's nails are one of many celebrity nail works by the manicurist with all proceeds going towards breast cancer research. From November 26th-December 3rd, there will be a special Disability Film Festival which will feature her as a guest. Many Ghibli movies will be a part of this festival including Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns. Audience members will also be encouraged to express sound effects that are displayed in the subtitles!

Tae is also starring in a new drama special on WOWOW in Japan called Nazekimi. The first part aired on September 25th. Tae also has an upcoming movie next year where she plays an oddball divorcee who forms a rockband with 3 other moms at her kids' school! The movie is called Utahime☆ and the band will play "Smoke on the Water" at a school festival. Everyone had a lot of fun learning how to rock for this movie - and it looks like it will be a hit next summer!




Part Two features all men who have played the same role! It will be posted later this week. Who do you think is the character and which actors are we going to tell you about? Make your guesses below!

Moon Chase at Anime Blitz 2010!

Moonie1995 and I had the opportunity to appear as guests and present at Saskatchewan's first ever anime mini-convention - and we had a blast! We'd like to thank the Saskatoon Love Love Anime Group for letting us be a part of this event! In true Moon Chase fashion, I sported a small set of odangoes atop my head (which took me over a half an hour to get right) and a Sailor Moon T-shirt. Moonie1995 also followed the "makeshift uniform" (sans odangoes) and we painted purple moons on our heads with an eyeliner pencil for Moon Chase. Quick and simple con attire that worked for us!

This was a smaller event, but it had a lot of heart. It was held in a small public auditorium at a civic center in a room that only had a capacity for 80 people, but 100 were let in (and we actually had to turn people away, sadly). After the opening address from the Convention Chair, we made a short presentation about our site to introduce it to the fans and we talked a little bit about our campaign. Everyone raised their hand when we asked them if they remembered Sailor Moon - which was a good sign, because there were so many cosplayers from newer anime that we definitely couldn't identify! We were featured as the con's special guests and are providing independent press coverage for the event. We've uploaded our presentation with a few notes on what we said.


Introduced the site, and the staff, and who we were!









We just briefly introduced what PGSM and Sera Myu were to the congoers here, and mentioned that we cover just about anything we find related to Sailor Moon, including pop culture sightings.







We just talked briefly about the campaign and what we wanted to achieve. Some of the fans were astounded, especially when we told them of where in the world we had participants from!






Here we talked about the international revival, highlighted the new logo, talked a little about the DVD launch event & reunion, and the charaben class! We think everyone in the room probably wanted to see what the bento looked like in real life!






And then, a few AMV and Dance Video entries were shown, as well as a FUNImation screening. We sat with the con chair and the event director to judge close to 30 cosplayers! There were a lot of really great costumes and it was hard to pick. We ended up choosing a very well done Batman and Zatanna (they were a husband and wife team!) as the overall winner, but chose runners up and honorable mentions for anime and video game characters. Had I had known that there were going to be Batman cosplayers, I'd have pulled out my Batgirl costume and joined in! We sponsored a prize for the top cosplayers, which included a $15 gift card to a local anime, manga, and comics store, some old holographic Sailor Moon Dart FlipCards, 4 big Sailor Moon Stickers (2 with the Sailor Moon Salute that said Moon Prism Power, and 2 that are just of the 5 Senshi), and a box of Pink Marshmallow Bunny Peeps for good measure, along with this lovely explanation (above) of what bunnies have to do with Sailor Moon! It's hard to put together a Sailor Moon themed-prize pack that jives well with the blog's themes, but this comes pretty close! Both of us did speak to a lot of the congoers and getting the word out about the revival definitely provoked a lot of questions! Everyone remembered Sailor Moon but like we've said before, sometimes it's hard to wake up the fandom after so many years.

And then we presented again to end the con:

We took some questions - we had one very young congoer ask if it was true that someone from YTV voiced a character in Sailor Moon, and a question about the musicals and PGSM from a fan that didn't know that there were other versions from the cartoon! Another fan also asked about the possibility of the manga returning.


We made our interview announcements here, and we haven't stopped there. We're working to get a few more as we speak right now!







We just ended with where fans can find us on the web - each congoer also got a little tag with our website listed on it.







Cleanup went pretty smoothly and after a great event, we went out to a Chinese food restaurant to celebrate. Moonie1995 and I bid farewell as he drove back home (2 hours away), after a fun day at AnimeBlitz - well, almost. Since we were still in the beginning stages of getting this report organized, we snuck in some planning when we had a few moments to!

At this time I want to once again give a huge thanks for a job well done to the Saskatoon Love Love Anime Group for putting this together. Also, a big thank you to FUNImation (more specifically Joel Rodriguez and Justin Rojas) for allowing for an anime screening at Anime Blitz, and for sending me a big logo at short notice :). And thanks to Moonie1995 who made the trip up at short notice! And last but not least, a big thank you to each of the fans who helped to make this event a success - we look forward to more events for the Otaku in Saskatchewan, and we'll be there to support you as much as we can!



NOTE: We restricted photos of ourselves at this convention, and therefore we will not be posting any images of anyone. However, some images of the convention have been posted on the SLLAG Facebook Page. Visit the SLAAG blog for more information on this and other upcoming events!

Yoshihiro Togashi - Hay Fever, Games and Bookmarks

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

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

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

Issue 15 ended with this quote:

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

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

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

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

Alabama Library to Show Sailor Moon Movie

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

BREAKING NEWS: Naoko Takeuchi makes appearance at Charaben Class!

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

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

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

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

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

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

One Last and Special Blog Entry, and Reunion Photos!

We're saving the best for last! Two translated entries from Kotono Mitsuishi's blog!
EDIT: I started putting this post together a long time ago, but couldn't get it finished until now. Sorry Moonies! And, as of this writing, it doesn't look like there has been any footage of the event broadcast.

Sailor Event (posted December 6th, 2009)

She has an event to go to, but should she cut her bangs? I cut them last night during bathtime.

In the morning I looked in the mirror and thought I looked bad (*_*)!

I didn't cut them straight, obviously. There is no time, so I am going like this! (T_T)

She wrote about an appearance on an upcoming episode of Idoling for the rest of the entry where she had something to do with an Evangelion snack contest. In the past, she has narrated segments on the show!

5 Sailor Senshi Together! (posted December 6th, 2009)

There was a large gathering at the DVD launch of Sailor Moon!

We were all so excited and pleased to see everyone!

When 5 soldiers are all gathered together, I wondered if it would distort the magnetic field.

They are the ones with all the power, right?

Uhehe (*laugh*)!

After all, it's great!

Sailor Senshi Sailor Moon

That's a girl's bible!

And now, a compilation of all the photos from the event, but we're going to show you them a little differently. There's no video yet of the event, but we know what order that things took place in. So, we're going to present the photos to you in that order! It's the closest thing we can bring you to seeing the event!


Backstage, Naoko Takeuchi Came to Say Hi To Everyone!


(From Kyan Chiaki's blog)

Kyan Chiaki Cosplays and Performs as Sailor Moon!



(From Kyan Chiaki's blog)





(From Mycom)




(From AV Watch)





(From Famitsu)


(From TV Life)


HIMEKA Sings Moonlight Densestu (Moonlight Legend, aka. theme from first 4 seasons and movies)!





(From Mycom)



(From Famitsu)


(From TV Life)

Seiyuu Come Onstage and Speak Of Their Time On the Series!


(From ANIMAX and AnimeAnime.jp)


(From Sankei MSN)


(From Mycom)


(From AV Watch)


(From TV Life)


(From Famitsu)


(From Cinema Today)


Top 5 Episodes Revealed!



(From Mycom)


(From Famitsu)

Everyone Gets Together For One Last Shot!


(From ANIMAX and AnimeAnime.jp)

(From Mycom)


(From AV Watch)


(From Famitsu)


(From TV Life)


The Event Ends, And Everyone Attending Gets Some Flyers.



(From Lunatic Circus)

Moon Chase's Other Posts Covering The Reunion Are Located Here, Here, Here, Here and Here.