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!

Sailor Moon Cosplay - Just in Time for Halloween!

This video we're about to show you made the news in Japan! Michelle Phan is a Vietnamese-American student studying at the University of Florida, and her makeup and costuming videos ranging from Snow White to Lady Gaga have made her an internet sensation! She just posted one a few days ago of her Sailor Moon cosplay and the Japanese article noted that it was absolutely perfect. They also made mention of her call to Naoko Takeuchi. "Naoko Takeuchi If you are watching or reading this, thank you so much for creating a hero for all of us girls to look up to. I dream of meeting you one day. I would probably cry because you are one of my biggest inspiration. Arigato!" We're not going to say much more, but for all you die-hard cosplayers, this video speaks for itself! If any of our readers are dressing up like characters Sailor Moon, please send us pictures - we'd love to feature them!

Sailor Sightings October 2009!

We'll start with sports! We haven't seen so many sports sightings in such a long time, proving that Sailor Moon has fans from almost every walk of life!

☽ High school volleyball player Nikki Glass is making waves and leading her team to victory. In her profile, she listed Sailor Moon as her favorite cartoon as a kid. Her team is currently sitting in first place in their division standings! Way to go, Nikki!

☽ Virginia Tech football player Ryan Williams shared his inspiring life story, from growing up in a bad neighborhood to living out his dreams in high school. He also shared the important lessons he learned from his mentally-disabled older brother, Dontaye. The two share a special bond, and Ryan was always there behind him, even when times got tough. When he was younger, the two would watch cartoons like Transformers and Sailor Moon, and they continue to watch cartoons together today.


Onto visual art!


☽ Roger Shimomura has an interesting art exhibit at the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle. His paintings are all self portraits superimposed on pop-culture icons, and one of them includes Sailor Moon. Considering that this was painted in 2004, it's hard to tell whether it was influenced more by the manga or PGSM, but he has painted Sailors Moon, Mercury, and Mars in their anime style, but with elements that were not used in the anime (Sailor Moon's choker is noticeably different, and Roger crossed his glasses with a shape familiar to manga fans). Fans can check out more of his works on display here.

☽ Teens who are patients at Australia's West Footscray Royal Children’s Hospital are taking a novel approach to treating their mental disorders - creating art! These paintings were created through art therapy programs. While therapists are reluctant to interpret the art that they are painting, the art serves as a way for patients to express themselves and to identify their emotions and issues, along with their causes. What really struck us was a seemingly hopeful painting that one girl painted of Sailor Moon. She hoped for more power in her personal life. Sailor Moon is a special character who went from being someone who had little confidence in herself, to a superhero that was capable of saving the world, and never giving up the fight. She means a lot to so many people - and this is one of the reasons why we wish the show could come back.

Celebrity Jabber!

☽ The Daily Show's correspondent Samantha Bee, has sure come a long way from her odd jobs at alternative theaters in Toronto! The Toronto Star profiled her last weekend, and talked about her new Off-Broadway show. We enjoyed reading how she met her "Tuxedo Mask" while playing Sailor Moon at Toronto's CNE several years ago! She considers it one of the low points in her career (but we sure don't). We tried to find a picture of her as Sailor Moon but were unsuccessful.

☽ And it seems that horrid Kisten Dunst video has finally made its debut in London. Read a fan's account of it here!

And as we end this article, we'll leave you with this thought. Is Tuxedo Mask really a headache?

Sailor Moon Inspired Artist Scores Job With Marvel!

Emily Warren had dreams of being an illustrator. When she was young, she became intrigued by the manga artform after reading the Sailor Moon manga. To her, Usagi was the quintessential "regular girl", terrible at school and unable to find a boyfriend. As we all know, Usagi had to learn to come out of her shy, shell when she became Sailor Moon. Like Usagi, Emily was an introvert in middle school, and is coming out of her shell when she appears at conventions with her artwork. Emily pursued her dream further, by taking commercial art classes at Jefferson City High School (which have since been discontinued) and graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago in 2007. She trained to be an animator, but she plans on being an illustrator. Emily's friend Christina Scrain, noticed her talent and introduced her work to editors at Marvel. Soon after, she landed a job at Marvel, as a colorist for series like Big Hero Six, Secret Invasion, and the upcoming Cloak and Dagger! Emily, we salute you for all your hard work and one day we hope to see your work on the cover of a comic! Check out more of her artwork here!

More of Sailor Moon’s Influence!

Malaysian Mangaka Wins Prize From Kodansha!

Japanese manga giant Kodansha recently held it’s second annual Morning International Manga Competition, a manga competition for aspiring mangaka outside of Japan. The winners of the competition get their works published in their Morning and Morning Two magazines. One of the second place winners this year is Katheryn Chong, an 18 year old Malaysian Mangaka who has been drawing manga ever since she was 10 years old. One of the first characters she drew was Sailor Moon, and this inspired her to dream for a career in manga. Kathryn’s Puppet Eyes, a manga about puppets fashioned like real humans who think they might be real, won her $2000 USD. The MIMC judges were "impressed by the talent of a 17-year-old who creates this kind of story." We read the manga online and were very impressed with it - she is still so young and has so much talent already! We have no doubt, she will have a future in the manga industry! When Kathryn learned of her win, she was so overwhelmed that her family suggested her reaction should have been videotaped and put up on YouTube. Kathryn began Puppet Eyes as soon as she had finished her SPM exams (needed before Pre-University) and it took her a month. She learned a lot about what it takes to make a good manga, such as character development and detail. To Kathryn , we salute you for achieving your dream and we wish you the best of luck for the future!

Is The Internet Changing How We Read?

Coming from the New York Times a few days ago, we read of a story that’s given us something to think about. Teenager Nadia Konyk is addicted to the internet - so much so that she doesn’t read books anymore. She’d rather be reading long stories on the internet. Like quite a few readers that we know, she spends her time catching up on social networking sites, YouTube, and Gaia online. When she was younger, her mother tried to read her the Harry Potter books, but she was more interested in anime like Sailor Moon. The article asks the question that with the advent of the internet, is it a good thing that it is inspiring kids to read and write, or a bad thing because kids aren’t interested in reading books anymore? We think that the internet is changing what people read about but at the same time we’re sad to see that books aren’t being read that often anymore. The internet has really opened up some doors in allowing us to bring you, the fans, content you probably wouldn’t find elsewhere very much. The debate this article gives is worth a read for anyone looking for more information.

Russian Otaku Has Her Chance To Voice Her Experience

ASCII.jp featured a very interesting interview with a girl named Jenya, who is in Japan all the way from Novosibirsk, Siberia. She is an example of how the internet has made Japanese entertainment popular, and this interview chronicles how Russians learn about anime and what it is like to be a Russian Otaku.

Jenya was 13 years old when she first watched Transformers, and 17 when Sailor Moon first came to Russia. She missed a few episodes here and there but would always try to record it on VHS because she was in school when the shows were on. She thought the voices of the shows and the singing voices of the songs were very beautiful. This later inspired her to listen to more Japanese music, and has since earned her the nickname of Usagi in college. She says anime came to Russia around 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. It has been a lot easier to watch it in the last 15 years especially.

The interviewer, Satoshi Endo, then asked her how she came to know about the Japanese version. Jenya went on to say that Russia’s Sailor Moon dub came from a translation of the German version (and not the English or the original Japanese)! The show did include the Japanese version of the theme songs. She wanted to know more about what the original version was, so she started studying Japanese. She wondered why she was called Bunny in the Russian/German version, and learned that Usagi’s name meant rabbit in Japanese. She didn’t like how the Russians called her Bunny but thought the original was much better than the dub she was watching. As she grew older, more and more anime came to Russia and she became a bigger fan.

She came to Japan 3 years ago in the hopes of becoming a Voice Artist, but unfortunately it is not within her reach. So then she thought she would try to be a singer, and that didn’t happen either. She is now working with the production aspects of Russian dubs, and worked on Black Lagoon and Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula. She moved to Japan right out of University and first worked in the IT sector. She even has her own blog in Japanese that tells of her adventures as a Russian Otaku in Japan! She is living her dream as best she can, and she was only 20 when she came to Japan. She came with her father, and jokes that since he is a part of the Russian military, that they bought tanks along with them.

Even at -40̊C , the few Otaku in Russia got together and formed a club , "Ranma" and exchanged tapes of fansubs. There were around 200 in Moscow in 1995, she says. When she was 18, she became a director of a club in her own town. She jokes that -20̊C is warm for her , which is the weather in snowy Niigata region of Japan. Some of us know all too well having experienced certain winters in North America, just what she is talking about! Her city, Novosibirsk, is sister cities with Sapporo. She was lucky enough that there was a Siberia Hokkaido cultural center, where she was able to learn Japanese. Later, she was able to use those facilities to start an anime club in Novosibirsk. They even threw a few conventions, where there was anime karaoke, cosplay, and even some Japanese visitors came out as well! She called the club Otaku. To this day, she still keeps up with what is happening with anime and manga in Russia. There is one small anime magazine that is in Russia and it is selling very well, and she has made a good friend in the editor of that magazine.

She goes on to talk about how cosplay is popular and what series are hot in Russia, and these are no surprise to us to hear because these series are pretty popular here too. They include Macross, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Code Geass, Tower of Druaga, Pokemon, and Lucky Star. Maid Cafes aren’t very popular outside of St. Petersburg, and she suspects that around 70% of the girl Otaku in Russia "don’t get it". Nintendo became very popular when she was 15, and everyone in Russia knows who Mario is. It is hard for them to find any anime merchandise in Russia, and some fans are lucky enough to travel to Japan just for this purpose.

We salute Jenya and her dream , and she joins the ranks of our Special People. She strives to make anime and manga better for her people back home in Russia, and the spark plug that initiated all of this was Sailor Moon! We wish you the best of luck in the future!

Naoko, Are You Reading This?

Letter Wins State Competition!

前略 - 草々武内直子:

寒い日が続いておりますが、いかがお過ごしですか。どこにいるの? 2008年に再びあなたに会うことを願っています。

敬具,
月追


Of course, we would like to write more to Naoko Takeuchi. In the United States, there is a competition known as "Letters About Literature", where readers write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre. The readers then go on to explain how that author's work changed their way of thinking about the world or themselves. One state winner, Ashley Crossman, wrote a very moving letter to Naoko Takeuchi. We think it would be great if in the case of those authors who are still living, if the Library of Congress would pay for these letters to be sent to them. Ashley, you now join the list of Moon Chase's Special People for your letter and your unwavering spirit inspired by Chibi-Usa!

Sailor Moon in the Top 10?

We came across this very interesting article today. Two weeks ago, the Sailor Moon S and the SS movies scored at #9 and #10 in anime DVD sales in Malaysia. These titles have been out of print for a very long time anywhere outside of Japan, and we are wondering why those two titles are so popular, and why now of all times. If any of our Malaysian readers has an answer, we would love to hear it!

English Sailor Moon Newsround!

Hey Moonies, we came across some wonderful mentions of Sailor Moon in English news. There's even been a few for the What the Heck Were They Thinking? pile and hopefully I'll get that up sometime soon. But for now...

Back in the Day, Sailor Moon Was Cool Enough to Have a Virus Named After Her?!

Ahh computer viruses. Those pesky fiends which have long been the bane of Windows users since it's birth recently topped the million mark. We have a couple harmless favorites here at Moon Chase, the first being the BS virus, which when clicked on, displays an animation which appears as if a user's entire hard drive is being deleted! The second one was actually put out by Coca-Cola, and when a user clicked on it, the CD tray would pop out and a pop-up would appear saying "Enjoy a Coke in your new drink holder!" or something to that effect. Some people didn't get it for a very long time! The girls and technology blog Shiny Shiny posted a list of their top 10 best virus names of all time. Little did we know that in 1995, during the glory days of Sailor Moon's popularity in North America, a virus was named after our favorite superhero's likeness. Die Hard 2 (The Unbeatable) Sailor Moon wreaked havoc on machines by very cleverly activating on June the 7th of each year with the message,

"*** SW DIE HARD 2 (The Return of the Doom) ***
Thanks God for making me alive again!
[IVP]"and deleting sectors on the hard drives. But wait, there's more! The virus also attaches itself to other program files (so it runs when they are run too) and multiplies faster than bunnies. We do NOT recommend users download this, Sailor Moon will not appear (and she probably won't save your machine either). Alas, we are very amused that a superhero's unbeatability has inspired the name of a virus!

University of Toronto Humor Newspaper Speculates on the Whereabouts of Sailor Moon!

The University of Toronto has wonderful student newspapers - and we definitely recommend anyone in the vicinity go grab a copy of The Varsity or The Toike Oike if they can! They really are good reads! The Toike Oike published a story last month, "Where Are They Now?", taking a humorous look at the whereabouts of some beloved characters from our childhood, including Captain Planet, Miss Frizzle, Bill Nye The Science Guy, and of course, Sailor Moon! According to them, Sailor Moon got pregnant at 16 with Tuxedo Mask's child, and left the baby in shame at a Moon Kingdom church. She returned to Earth and gave up on saving the world. Then she turned to drugs, alcohol, and other unspeakable deeds to ease the pain of her troubles. Sailor Moon staged a comeback against the "Mega Super Scary Shiny Monster", but was defeated. And now the Earth has been taken over by the evil "Darkness Kingdom". We think Luna and the other Senshi would have done a good job of keeping Usagi in line and none of this stuff would happen! But who knows, really. Maybe Sailor Moon has been put under a sleeping spell until Naoko Takeuchi can decide what she wants to do with the character next!

A Very Original Idea For A Figure Skating Show!

When we read this, we had to add these skaters to our list of Special People! The Silver Wings skaters of Bonavista, Newfoundland holds an annual ice show each year. This year's took place on April 1st, and was simply titled Do You Remember When? Coach Jamie Seaward chose the theme in her final show with the club. She chose music from all her years that she had worked with them. The youngest skaters skated to theme songs from Arthur, The Pink Panther, and Sailor Moon. Some of the kids even dressed up like these characters! The show served as a memoir of the years the club spent with Jamie, as well as bringing back happy memories of cartoon nostalgia! To these young skaters in the Canskate program, we salute you in your perseverance to become Starskaters, and are very honored that your coach choseSailor Moon to be a part of your evening! It looks like you had a lot of fun doing it!

A few fans have wondered what makes a person qualify for this category. It's quite simple, really. Anyone who has used Sailor Moon in a project or as an inspiration in the name of their community is a member of Moon Chase's Special People! Using Sailor Moon in a very creative way to enrich the lives of others or present it in a way that is original and unique keeps Sailor Moon in the eyes of the masses. We like to think that little things like this would look very good in the future should anyone have doubts of Sailor Moon ever being popular with the fans again in the case of a possible re-release. And, we think that these people are cool for what they did and though they may not get much recognition from people around them, we are happy to give them recognition among Sailor Moon fans!

Sailor Moon News Roundup February-March 2008!

Hey Moonies! Here comes the first of a few updates this week as we get back to our regular schedule! I saw the new trailer for Speed Racer yesterday and I wasn't impressed. Sure the graphics were great and all but the plot just didn't seem as fun as the original, and seemed a little darker than the original. Which is what has inspired our latest poll over there -->! Please vote, we're kind of curious what the fans would go for if Sailor Moon was given the same treatment. Without further ado...


New Book Looks At Truth Behind Myth!

Bill Brioux (a former staff writer for TV Guide Canada), published a book late last year that looks at some of the myths behind popular television shows. Truth and Rumors: The Reality Behind TV's Most Famous Myths looks at a few myths including: was Pamela Anderson really cast before Teri Hatcher in Desperate Housewives ? Was Jerry Mathers of Leave It To Beaver killed in Vietnam? Did Sailor Moon cause convulsions in kids? We've never heard that rumor before. We know that Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn were notorious for fainting or seizures, but we never actually heard about the show affecting viewers! Though we do remember a lot of ruckus about a Pokemon episode that gave children in Japan seizures with its strobing screens, and that particular episode when dubbed was toned down a bit. Nonetheless, we are trying to track down a copy of this book and once we do we'll let you know if the myth was real or not!

Malaysian Students Go On Exchange to Japan!

When we read this, we wondered why none of our schools had any cool exchanges like this! Some high school students were honored enough to be picked as Malaysian Ambassadors to Japan for a two week exchange! This was made possible by the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS), a program of the Antarabudaya Malaysia (AFS). This exchange was fully sponsored by the Japanese Government to promote mutual understanding and trust among youths. A student, Lee Theng Ying recounted his experiences. They got to visit lots of cool places such as Naritasan Temple, the Yumenoshima Tropical Plant Dome, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), and even visiting Hiroshima on a Pokemon-themed airplane! The even got to go behind closed doors to watch Sumo Wrestlers practice! Probably the biggest highlight was reading that they got to visit Toei Animation and got to meet one of the writers of Sailor Moon! Lee didn’t mention just who it was, but we’re still working to find out who he met! If any fans have any idea who he could be referring to (the writer also worked on One Piece and Dragonball Z) don’t hesitate to let us know! From what we have read, it looks like this experience was one to remember and we wonder if the Japanese Government would be interested to expand this program to North America.

New Zealand Actress Loves Sailor Moon Style!

Ride With the Devil was a New Zealand drama which aired last fall. It is about two guys who meet up and become friends because they share one thing in common - underground racing. However, one race goes horribly wrong and it is up to the two guys to keep their sport going without the cops coming after them. The show had lots of Asian stars, and among them was Caleigh Cheung (image: - who is now finding herself in lots of different clothes! To celebrate Chinese New Year in New Zealand, she wore a custom-tailored cheongsam. The New Zealand Herald interviewed her about clothing and beauty, and she made a very surprising admission! She loves to play dress-up with costumes, and especially wants a Sailor Moon-style school Uniform from Japan. It’s nice to see model-actresses that still have a soft spot for their favorite anime characters!

Disney Enters Partnership With Toei Animation

In recent years, considering the rise of Japanese Animation, Disney's animation has fallen short, and fans are not as interested in their movies as they were before. Disney has in particular had problems trying to gain popularity in the Asian markets. Over a week ago, Disney announced that they were partnering with Toei Animation to try to have a more successful presence in Asian markets. What we do know about this partnership is that it will combine the use of computer graphics along with graphics of local talent (in Japan). There are three TV shows in production, but what they are is still a secret locked up like Fort Knox! Disney is also working with Jinni Animation Co. and their first venture together is a 3-D animated series called Fireball about robots in the Future. We have read conflicting reports about when this is going to start, it may start in April or May of this year. Disney will also be working with Madhouse Ltd.- famous for the upcoming Batman: Gotham Knight, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Digi Charat, Paprika, and Nana among others. Their first venture will be a cartoon based on Lilo and Stitch, where Lilo is replaced by a Japanese girl named Hanako.

We have mixed feelings about this partnership, but what worries us slightly is the potential that if things go well with Toei and Disney, perhaps Disney might gain control of Sailor Moon? We can't even imagine what they would do to our beloved superhero!

Britney Spears' New Video is NOT a Parody of Sailor Moon

We don't like Britney much at Moon Chase. She was irresponsible with her family and her own life, and though it appears she is trying to change her life for the better, some of her behaviours are really unclassy. And her music still sucks just as much as it did when she first came out. Aside from our own opinions, we noticed a glaring error in The Times-Union as Diana Middleton called Britney Spears' new video for Break the Ice a "cheesy Sailor Moon parody". We barely see any similarities to Sailor Moon (or maybe we could if we really pushed the envelope). We think it's more of a rip off of Ghost in the Shell, Metropolis, and Noir. There are probably more anime that the animators drew influence from, but the video is still crap. Britney, please stop trying to be popular.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

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.

Sailor Moon Inspires Disabled Kids!

This story touched our hearts when we read it. In Japan, there is a sports club in Fukichiyama built for disabled and handicapped people. On November 4th, they held an event for everyone (even if they were not disabled or handicapped) to come out and learn about synchronized swimming. A professional synchro team from Kyoto came to perform and also teach at these workshops. Three childrens’ synchro teams from the club performed as well, and their team names were Cosmos, Water Kids, and Sailor Moon. Though their movements were simple, and some swimmers had to swim with the help of another, they were able to form circles, clap in rhythm, and move their arms. They were very graceful despite their disabilities! Everyone who was there loved to see these kids and they were all overflowing with happiness! This event was meant to promote rehab programs and inspire everyone that no matter what their disability is, they can do far more than they expected. This club was established in 2005, and aimed to advance independence of handicapped and disabled people, as well as giving them a place to participate in activities. The pool opened just last summer, and they began swimming and aquatic activities. It’s always amazing to see that Sailor Moon still has this inspirational presence all over the world and inspires people from all walks of life. So to the children of Fukichiyama handicapped sports club, we salute you for your continued recovery and rehabilitation, and your persistence to not allow barriers and life to stop you from achieving your dreams!

News From the Other Side of the Pond #4!

Toei Anime BB Service Expands to the Windows Vista And Media Center Platform!

Toei Animation is making use of new technologies to further its anime-on-demand service, Anime BB. Anime BB Premium uses the special Microsoft XML variant MCML to integrate itself into Windows Media Center for Windows Vista, and now Media Center can be used to download anime "rentals". A lot of companies are doing this nowadays, you can pay to download something but it expires after a few days (hence, a rental). Fist of the North Star, Sailor Moon, and Galaxy 999 are a few of the launch titles for this new service. No word on what the prices are like for this service yet - but we worked out the conversion for the other method of downloading episodes and it worked out to under two bucks an episode. This new premium service launched on June 27th.

JTB Begins New Talent Agency and School!

The Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) is Japan’s largest travel agency. They have branches all over the world to help Japanese tourists and is one of the largest Japanese companies. On June 13th, JTB announced that they are starting a new talent agency and school. Some popular idols have already signed with them, including Megumi Ogata (Sailor Uranus, Petz) and Rin Takanashi. Their school, JTB Entertainment Academy, was fostered especially to train seiyuu (voice actors) and Ms. Ogata has been named a special instructor. Fans may be surprised to know that Ms. Ogata almost became a teacher - she didn’t think she was pretty enough to be an actress when she was younger! Other famous anime staff will also be instructing at the Academy, including Miyajima Hideji (Producer of the live action Casshern movie), and Kousi Nagasaki (Producer of Blood: The Last Vampire). After a student successfully graduates from the Academy, they have exclusive opportunities to sign with the JTB Agency to be the next rising seiyuu! The school’s first class begain this past April.

Shion Nakamaru Stars in New Movie

Kikoku no Senjo is a brand new movie that will be playing in Japan in July, and will be coming to DVD in September. From what we can tell, it looks to be a movie about forbidden love in 1945 post-war Hiroshima. Shion Nakamaru plays Natsuko Kitazawa, a 19-year old prostitute who is in love with Daisuke Kajiwara (played by Dai Watanabe), a Police Officer. Shion Nakamaru played Black Lady in the 2002 Sera Myu (Sailor Moon Musical) Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady (Kaiteiban) -Wakusei Nemesis no Nazo. And for even more connections, Shion also played Riko Saida/Dark Faust in Ultraman Nexus! The critics loved her performance in this movie. Since this is a brand new movie and news is just trickling in about it now , we will let you know more about this movie as soon as we learn more!

Clock Store Owner Continues Tradition!

When we went searching for our news stories, this one came up a while ago, and we juggled the idea of whether we should mention it or not. Since we do try to bring in some culture behind the series to this blog, we finally decided to mention it! In Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Hamakita Ward, there lives a 61-year-old clock store owner, Matsrigotohare Kamiya. Every year for the last 30 years, he has invited kindergarten classes to come to his store to learn how to tell the time. He also shows them many clocks, and also showing them the inside of the clocks, their parts, and how they work. The children like to look at the different kinds of clocks, and they really enjoyed a Sailor Moon clock that he had shown them. It’s nice to know that Sailor Moon still reaches that young generation even today in Japan! We salute Mr. Kamiya for his generosity and compassion towards these young children!

Two Very Interesting Tidbits!

Hot from yesterday's newsbreaker, two whispers were lurking in the news today!

Geneon Reaffirms Interest in Sailor Moon Franchise!

On the heels of our update on TOEI yesteday, Anime on DVD has posted their recap of events from a Geneon Industry Panel from this year's Anime Central in Rosemont, IL. Geneon stated this at the panel: "Toei currently has a lockdown on all Sailor Moon licenses, but Geneon may be interested if the situation changes". We are unsure whether this was a statement made from Geneon on their own or whether a fan asked the question. If it was a fan that asked a question about Sailor Moon, we would like to thank them - questions like this let the companies all know that there is still a lot of interest in the property!

Sailor Moon Helps Inspire Gates Millennium Scholar!

One of the Gates Millennium Scholar winners this year is Montrice Merritt. Montrice is currently a senior and one of the top students in the graduating class of 2007 at Virginia's Radford High School. She one day dreams of being the U.S. International Ambassador to Japan, planning to attend school in Vermont to study International Relations. As a child she was very interested in Japan, and loved to watch Sailor Moon - and as she grew, so did her interest! She later studied the culture and country through books and enrolled in a Foreign Language program with a Governor's School in Virginia! We wish Montrice the best of luck in college, and we're happy to hear of this story! Cosmic Moon Power to you, Montrice!