Pictures Galore!

Just a short post with lots of pretty pictures for you all to look at!

SailorMoonWorld.it has posted an image of a poster hanging outside the building where the Backstage Licensing meeting happened last week. This is a great image - and this also marks the debut of Tuxedo Mask in a promotional image in Italy (but where are Luna and Artemis?).

Many Japanese online websites have just released images of the covers of the new CDs (Amazon.jp and Neowing/CD Japan). It looks like they will be exactly the same as they were before. These are still not listed on Columbia's official website (or Toei's for that matter), however we did find a news article in Chinese that seems to announce this re-release. There is nothing new on this in the article, but it still seems a little off that there hasn't been a whisper about this release in the Japanese news.

We'll have a very special update on Toei's recent dealings coming up on Monday - you may be surprised to read some of the things we have dug up!

Sailor Moon Seiyuu Sightings January and February 2010 (Part 2)

Tales of Festival Tickets are On Sale!

For those of you planning to be in Japan on June 5th and 6th of this year, you could have the opportunity to see Masaya Onosaka (Jadeite, pictured left) and Hikaru Midorikawa (Fiore, Ail/Alan, pictured right)! Tales of Festival 2010 tickets are now on sale, and those two seiyuu will be among a handful of stars from Bandai-Namco's Tales RPG series appearing at the special 2 day concert. Hikaru played the characters Lion Magnus in Tales of Destiny, and Judas in Tales of Destiny 2. Masaya played Zelos Wilder in Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. Tickets went on sale earlier this month and are going for anywhere from 4800 Yen to 7800 Yen ($53-86 USD). There aren't too many details out about this event yet, but it looks like it will be a lot of fun for Tales fans!

Queen Nehelenia Turns Nice in Cobra: The Animation!

Yoshiko Sakakibara (Queen Nehelenia) reprised her role as Armaroid Lady, Cobra’s android sidekick, in a two episode Cobra: The Animation OVA which aired on Japanese TV just weeks ago. The entire Cobra: The Animation series which stretches all the way back to the 80s, is finally being released on Blu-Ray beginning this April in honor of Cobra’s 30th anniversary! Fans can learn more about the OVA from Mania.com, and also watch subtitled episodes on Crunchyroll!

Some Seiyuu Involved in Ghoulish ParaPara?!

Wataru Takagi (Rubeus, an MC, and Kobayashi), Daisuke Sakaguchi (various supporting roles), and Machiko Toyoshima (Palla-Palla and various supporting characters) are part of an enormous cast doing something special for popular Japanese ghost story franchise, GeGeGe no Kitaro. The cast happily volunteered for a special CD filled with their singing, and dancing - they are all going to be doing GeGeGe-themed Para-Para! They are all featured on the cover next to a monster with a giant eyeball for a head. This will be released on February 19th and looks like it will be a lot of fun!

New RPG Gives Characters the Chance to Have the Voice of Ryotaro Okiayu!

Square Enix's Concerto Gate Forte, a sequel to the hugely popular MMORPGs Cross Gate and Concerto Gate, has a very special item in it that players can collect. For two weeks as part of a special lottery, players could collect the "Power of Words Candy" and their character would be able to speak with the voice of one of 3 seiyuus. One of those is Ryotaro Okiayu (Tiger's Eye and various other supporting characters). The other two voices that fans could win are Jun Fukuyama (best known as Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass) and J-pop singer Nana Mizuki. Concerto Gate Forte has proven to be popular among Japanese game players for its very interesting art style: it combines 3D characters and maps with hand drawn map elements!

New Doraemon CD Features An Old Favorite...

Mitsuko Horie (Sailor Galaxia) is featured on a special Doraemon movie theme album! To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first Doraemon movie, a special 2CD album is being released with the best-loved theme songs. Mitsuko Horie's "Aozora-tte Iina" from 1988 is featured on the compilation. To hear the song, click here!

..As Does a New Gundam Album!


Or rather, old favorites! On February 24th, a limited edition boxset with 145 Gundam songs will be released as a nice touch to the 30th anniversary celebrations which began last year. Chieko Honda (Tellu) and Megumi Hayashibara (Himeko) will be singing Tokyo Boogie Night on Disc 10: Another Story. The Boxset also comes with a 272 page book with a Gundam timeline, interviews, and comments on the music. This is quickly selling out on many online stores so Gundam fans who want a copy of this should go find it quickly!

And To End, Lots of Kikuko Inoue!

Kikuko Inoue (Princess Rubina, Reiko Aya/Sailor Aluminum Siren) is sure up to a lot these days! On February 2rd, she will be appearing at a special "Kodansha Comics Afternoon Festival" for a radio interview that will later be streamed online through NicoVideo. For more information on this event hit the Afternoon Festival blog here! Kikuko's voice can also be heard in a dating sim: Vector's Book Of Love. Kikuko plays a high school student in this dating sim for men. This is a dating sim built just for the mobile market, and men who want to play this game can try it for free. We can't find too much more about the nature of this game (if there is any hentai/ecchi themes involved). The last place that you can hear Kikuko this month is on a CD of music to accompany the popular Zero na Tsukaima series called Nemurenai Fantasy. This CD is full of character songs and dialogues, and is a must for any ZnT fans!

New Anecdote from Yoshihiro Togashi Has Fans Worried

In yesterday’s issue of Jump Magazine, Yoshihiro Togashi posted this anecdote:

“I started Dragon Quest IX. I am trying to decide if I should continue playing as my character or restart and change its class and hair.”

Why are fans all worried about this? Dragon Quest IX is one of the most popular RPG’s in Japan and is highly addictive (characteristic of any Square Enix game for that matter). Fans fear that this will be the reason he stops drawing manga again! For proof, we’ve got the scan below from the Table of Contents. For more fan and press freak out, click here and here. We don’t think this is going to be a problem, because either one of a few things will happen to bring him away from his Nintendo DS. Either his son will want to play it, he will get stuck in the game and put it down for a bit to rethink a strategy, or he will get bored with it. Or, Naoko Takeuchi will need someone to watch the new baby as she goes out to run errands. Perhaps, she could get so mad with Togashi that she hides his Nintendo DS, leaving him with nothing else to do but draw more manga ☺. Either way, it’s a win-win situation! Togashi never ceases to amuse us with his anecdotes!




EDIT (Morning of Feb. 17th): It seems that some fans are accusing him of lying - they all assumed that he took his leave to take care of his new baby, but now people wonder if he was fighting a game addiction. What crazy drama has such an innocent comment caused? Addiction or not, we can almost predict that after ten installments HxH will go away for a long time... again.

BREAKING NEWS: Another Seiyuu Appears at Hawaiian Anime Convention, and Takeuchi and Togashi Dominate List of Anime That Need A Reboot!

Hideo Ishikawa to Appear at Kawaii-Kon!

Honolulu's Kawaii-Kon made their final announcement of Japanese Guests of Honor this morning, and on this list is seiyuu who has had much bigger roles in other anime, but did play some small ones in Sailor Moon. Hideo Ishikawa will be making his first non-Japanese appearance at this convention, and plays Itachi Uchiha in Naruto, Jushiro Ukitake in Bleach, Auron in Final Fantasy X, X-2, and Kingdom Hearts 2. He had a few one-off roles in Sailor Moon, playing a driver in episode 73 and a man in episode 79 (R-season), a reporter in episode 143 and Tobikiriyarou in episode 155 (SuperS-Season). Yes, these are smaller roles, but in our endless pursuit to bring you everything we possibly can to do with Sailor Moon, this does qualify. More than that, Hideo was also part of a band known as the Entertainment Music Unit (E.M.U.) which included other stars of Sailor Moon, Hikaru Midorikawa, Ryotaro Okaiyu, Daisuke Sakaguchi and Nobutoshi Canna (formerly, his last name was (Hayabashi). Kawaii-Kon takes place from April 16-18 and if any of our readers are planning to attend, we would love to hear from you!

For those of you wondering, here's who everyone else in that group played:

☽Hikaru has played both Fiore in the Sailor Moon R-movie, and Ail in the first part of the Sailor Moon R season.

☽Ryotaro played Tiger's Eye in the SuperS Season, Yuuji in episode 2 (first season), Achiral in episode 81 (R-season), and George in episode 108 (S-season).

☽Daisuke played a cat in episode 31 (First season), a boy in episode 105 and a young man in episode 93 (S-season), and Chibi-Usa's classmate Kyuusuke Sarashina in the SuperS season.

☽Nobutoshi played a guard in episode 20 (first season) and an official in episode 50 (R-season).

Fans can watch a short concert of E.M.U here (Warning, lots of boyband cheeziness)


Naoko Takeuchi and Yoshihiro Togashi Dominate Mania's list of Top 10 Anime Series that Need a Reboot!


Just a short sighting here, but Mania.com posted a list of Ten Anime Series that Need a Reboot (image credit: 10 Anime Series That Need a Reboot © Mania/Bob Trate ). Both of Yoshihiro Togashi's anime series, Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter began the list at 10 and 9 respectively. We don't think an OVA for either of these series would be such a bad idea, since the Hunter X Hunter manga has had some great stories published when Togashi was not on his hiatus, and Yu Yu Hakusho was just released on Blu-Ray. Yu Yu Hakusho also had a new picture drama instead of a full episode included on the first Blu-Ray boxset. Topping the list is none other than Sailor Moon! With all this great reception towards the revival all over the world, why not make a new OVA or a movie? We're so pleased that Naoko and Yoshihiro's animes are on this list! While campaigning for a new Sailor Moon production of any kind would probably be futile, we aren't giving up on bringing what does exist back to North America. And maybe, we'll have a different campaign coming...

Sailor Moon Seiyuu Sightings January and February 2010 (Part 1)

Senshi Minus One Reunite With Naoko!

Naoko Takeuchi invited Kotono Mitsuishi, Aya Hisakawa, Michie Tomizawa, and Rika Fukami to her house for a New Years’ lunch. Emi Shinohara was probably also invited but wasn’t there. She posted a photo of everyone enjoying champagne and wine! From left to right in this photo: Rika Fukami, Naoko Takeuchi, Aya Hisakawa, Michie Tomizawa, and Kotono Mitsuishi. She writes:

Super Gorgeous!

This is a New Years Party at the house of the original author of Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi~

Aya Hisakawa, Rika-chan Fukami, Michie Tomizawa and I had a wonderful lunch with Naoko Takeuchi!

It was too fun!

It was too delicious!

Do we ever get tired of talking about Sailor Moon?
Mitsuishi was in the best spirits after all that champagne and wine!

Kotono is so cute – and this is definitely a rare look inside Naoko Takeuchi’s house! It sure looks pretty regal to us – we wonder if she themed her house to be Princess Naoko’s palace? Did Yoshihiro Togashi take this photo?

The Seiyuu Also Invaded a Shopping Arcade!

The Shinmachi Shopping Arcade to be exact! The Machi★Asobi Vol 2. Exhibit opened in the arcade in January, featuring all sorts of anime and manga memorabilia from drawings, to autographs, and costumes. Some of the seiyuu involved with Sailor Moon had autographs that were featured in this exhibit, and they included: Michie Tomizawa, Rika Fukami, Mika Doi (Queen Serenity), Emi Shinohara, the late Kaneto Shiozawa (Prince Diamond), and Megumi Hayashibara (Himeko). Some Sailor Moon movie posters were also featured as part of the exhibit. To see more pictures, click here!

Going back to Kotono…

Kotono also appeared at a special press event for Kokkeko-san a little over two weeks ago with the entire cast of the show (she is front row and center, holding the Kokkeko-san doll). This article features an interview with them, and Kotono had a lot to say about her role! She spoke about how Kokkeko-san is a lovely mother who just wants the best of her kids, and just like many other mothers, has to deal with a husband who doesn’t always help her. She thinks that this is a great cartoon for mothers and children to bond to watching it together. She enjoyed and sympathized with this role, being a mother just like Kokkeko-san! All of the cast also wished that they had moms like Kokkeko-san! Kotono ended the interview saying how much she loved the arts, and asked for all mothers to watch it with their children.

Emi Shinohara Plays Piano For Peace!

Besides using the power of thunder to save the world, did you also know that Sailor Jupiter plays the piano? This is one of many talents listed on her official agency profile, and we were a little surprised to learn of this sighting! There is a piano that has traveled all over Japan, and is known for being a symbol of peace. This piano survived the bombing at Hiroshima, and has a very interesting story behind it (and we can even share it with you in English)! On January 23rd, a special concert was held at the Cultural Information Center in Hanoura, Anan City, in Tokushima, Japan. The piano still holds small amounts of radiation and shards of glass throughout its lacquer, but the piano tuner who restored it (Mitsunori Yagawa) commented that those who hear how good the piano sounds, they cannot tell that it was part of such a horrific event. Emi Shinohara accompanied singers at this concert which played to an audience of 300. This piano is one of four pianos which survived the bombing, and a different one that Yagawa has restored will be making its way to New York City later this year to mark the 9th anniversary of the September 11th attacks and International Day of Peace. There was even a special part of the concert where some very talented 7th graders played the piano as well. We have featured an image of Emi Shinohara accompanying soprano Miki Furumoto above.

Hear Sakura Tange in Video Games!


Sakura Tange is probably most famous for playing Sakura in Card Captor Sakura, and well known for singing that show's theme song. She also had a small role as Miharu Akiyama in episode 139 of Sailor Moon SuperS. Fans of Sakura can hear her voice in two video games this month! The first is Fate/Extra, where she plays Saber, the lead female warrior. This was not met without controversy as she is playing a role once played by Ayako Kawasumi. Fate/Extra is the fourth game based on the popular Fate/Stay Night series. The second game that fans can hear her in is Konami's Love Plus Valentine, which was just released last week. She plays Rinko Kobayakawa, a first year high school student. This game is a dating sim that is all about being in love when you are in high school!

Part Two will be posted a little later this week!

BREAKING NEWS: Sailor Starlight To Appear At Animazement This May!

For those of our readers planning to head to Animazement from May 28-30th, you're in for a treat! Chika Sakamoto (Sailor Star Healer/Yaten Kou) will be appearing at the convention. Apart from roles as Nuriko in Fushigi Yuugi, Kentaro Ichinose in Maison Ikkoku, and even dubbing the voices of Angelica and Chuckie in the Japanese version of Rugrats, she can also be heard in the upcoming Pretty Cure series, Heartcatch PreCure, playing Kaoruko Hanasaki. Kaoruko is the grandmother of Tsubomi Hanasaki, better known to fans as Cure Blossom! As far as we know, she is the only star confirmed to be attending a North American anime convention this year, and this is turning out to be a very special year for Sailor Moon given the international revival.

The Anecdotes of Yoshihiro Togashi

As of January, our favorite 'first husband' of Sailor Moon is back to publishing chapters of Hunter x Hunter again! But in addition to the manga itself, fans are also getting a bit of an inside look into Togashi himself.

At the end of each chapter is a short anecdote from Togashi:

From Issue 5&6 (a double issue to kick off the new year):

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry to keep you all waiting! This year's goal is to draw as much as possible.

We hope you'll make good on this resolution and give us more than just ten weeks this year!

Issue 7:

Even though he was driving an automatic car, I got mad at the taxi driver that drove with the lowest gear. I was drunk.

(TL note: If you're driving an automatic, you'd rarely use the lowest gear selection unless it was absolutely necessary. We can only assume this means the taxi driver was very slow.)

Issue 8:

I went to a New Year's party and I met a young writer that was full of energy. It was only a dream.

We can only wonder if this writer was a younger version of you Togashi, it would be a shame to let that dream down!

Issue 9:

When I hear a Hyakunin Isshu*, I forget one poem for every three I remember. I even forget a poem when I am asleep.

(* An anthology of one hundred poems by one hundred poets.) Sounds like you remember 75 poems, I hope the other 25 don't feel too bad.

Issue 10:

Since the beginning of the year, there continue to be new challenges every day. I have great expectations to fulfill by the end of the year.

We certainly hope you fulfill them, Togashi!


It's also mentioned that there will be an interview with Togashi in the next issue!



The figurine depicts a pivotal moment in the series between Yusuke Urameshi and Rando. It stands 22.5cm (~9in) and looks extraordinarily detailed, but it comes at a price. This figure is going for 24 990 yen, that's almost 280 USD! Even though the detail and work is amazing on this figure, we really hope that a Sailor Moon figure this detailed will not cost this much!







Fans have until April 26th to preorder it:
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