North American VA Update - Spring 2011 (Part 1)

Hi there, readers! Here are some updates about the English language voice actors before I head off to Sakura Con later this week.

Liza Balkan will be directing "Dustings" (which she also created) at the Canadian Stage Festival of Ideas & Creation. The festival runs from May 9-21 with most events being free and open to the public. Fans can catch "Dustings" on Saturday, May 21st at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Street Theatre in Toronto. It is described as "The dust we collect. The dust we let go of. The dust we hold on to. These are excerpts of a larger project in development by creator/director Liza Balkan and Composer Glenn James. The entry point for this particular excerpt is familial flotsam and jetsam and the rest is… history." (from CanadianStage.com)

Spyburbia is a new TV series about a team of spies posing as an ordinary family. The animated series is currently in pre-production. It features Susan Roman (Sailor Jupiter) as the voice of Mom and Vince Corazza (Alan/ Tuxedo Mask #3) as the voice of Jay-R.

Tony Daniels (Jedite/Wiseman) plays Fred in the animated series Stella and Sam, which premiered in January. The series is about "Stella, the irrepressible redhead, and her slightly apprehensive little brother [who] take on the wonders of the world and explore the endearing, intimate scenes of young childhood."(description from IMDb)

Stephanie Beard (Rini #2) has been busy! She appeared in an episode of Darla, a satirical web show, as a "Stacey" (the type of woman that Darla considers unusually cruel and self-centred). The series is about a nerd named Darla who is a serial killer that takes out annoying females in her neighbourhood (description from IMDb). Fans can catch the episode featuring Stephanie here.

50/50 now has a release date of September 30th, 2011. Stephanie plays a character named Susan in this film that we previously reported was titled Live With It. 50/50 is "a comedic account of a 27-year-old guy's cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease." (description from IMDb)

Stag, a film is set to release on September 25th, 2011 is about a man named Ken Andrews who has been responsible for elaborate hazing pranks at all of his buddies' stags. Now the time has come for Ken's stag and he nervously awaits the payback. Stephanie Beard (Rini #2) will be appearing as Mary and Tracey Hoyt (Rini #1) will be appearing as Biker Chris.

Sabrina Grdevich (Anne/Lizzy/Sailor Pluto #1) appeared in an episode of The Listener as Sarah Mirtschin. The season premiere episode, titled "Lady in the Lake" aired on February 8th. She also appeared in two episodes of the new teen series Skins as Renée: "Tony," the premiere episode, and "Eura/Everyone," which was episode 10. The series is about a group of teenagers in Baltimore.

Julie Lemieux (Sammy) joins some of her former castmates in The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That. She appeared in recent episodes as Ziggy, Clarabelle, Grayson's Mom, and other characters.

Dennis Akiyama (Malachite) appears in She's the Mayor as Mr. Lee, a Korean former spy who guards the mayor, Iris, with his life. The series is about Iris, a 64 year old former principal, who runs for office and surprisingly wins. More details about the show are on the official website.

You can also see a short clip of Dennis as Mr. Lee below:

We now have more details for a couple of David Huband's (Serena's Dad) upcoming films. We previously reported that he will be appearing in Running Mates, as Father McDonough and in Dream House, as officer Nelson. Running Mates is set to release this year (no confirmed date yet) and is about two best friends who run against each other for mayor of their home town. Dream House is about "a family who learns of a brutal crime committed against former residents of their new, seemingly idyllic home" (description from IMDb) and is set to premiere on September 30th. David has also made some recent television appearances. He played The Ghost/Joshua Crane in episode 10 of InSecurity, a Canadian comedy about a group of spies. He also played a judge in an episode of Republic of Doyle, called "Don't Gamble with City Hall," which was episode 11 of season 2. The Canadian series is about Jake Doyle and his father, who run a P. I. agency in St. John's, Newfoundland.

David Fraser (Grandpa Hino) appears in the comedic series Papillion as Cal, who seems to be a primary character. No description or premiere date available for this series yet, but we will provide more details when possible.

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

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

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

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

Sailor Moon sighting on Korean Television - Part 2

The writers at Moon Chase have another light-hearted Sailor Moon sighting to report out of Korea. This most recent sighting involves an actress who has dressed up in Sailor Moon's famous outfit and hairstyle for an episode of a popular television series. We first reported the sighting of actress Goo Hye-Sun dressing up as Sailor Moon, and more recently we have actress Yoon Seung Ah dressing up as Sailor Moon in an episode of the k drama “All My Love”.

In a recent episode of the show, Yoon Seung Ah’s character (who lives in a poor but kind family) gets a part time job working as Sailor Moon in order to pay off a favour to her uncle. While she was in costume acting, she was greeted enthusiastically be a group of elementary school children. Yoon Seung Ah soon managed to channel her inner Usagi, as she shouted over and over to her eager audience, “I am Sailor Moon! In the name of justice, I will not forgive you!” Yoon Seung Ah received comments about how her costume was an exact match for the real Sailor Moon’s and that she did a great job bringing the character to life.

This episode of “All My Love” aired on April 13, 2011 in Korea, so if you are a fan of the show, a fan of Yoon Seung Ah’s, or follow the Korean pop culture scene, be sure to check out this Sailor Moon sighting!

Sailor Moon: La Luna Splende Official Trailer!

Gamestart.it has uploaded an official trailer for Sailor Moon: La Luna Splende. Fans can watch it here on Youtube if the embedded video doesn't work below.



Still haven't gotten around to starting my player's guide for the game, but if you are stuck in the game and need help, please send us an email and I'll try to help!

This game will play on all systems around the world, and we encourage fans that want to play this game, support Sailor Moon legally and purchase it online. Downloading ROMs does not support Sailor Moon legally. We will not allow fans to post a link via a comment here, on our facebook page, or to our forums to any of the ROMs that have been released of this game.

And on another note - I know you all have been saddened by the recent news from reps of companies and their dealings with Naoko Takeuchi. I promise, I am going to be on the hunt for happier Sailor Moon stories for the next little while. Keep strong for Sailor Moon!

Glénat Answers Fans’ Questions About Sailor Moon Manga

A new interview from a representative of France’s Glénat Manga was posted to manga-news.com this morning. The first question the representative answered is a question from the site wondering about when the Sailor Moon manga is going to be released.

Q: We know we have asked you about this many times, but is there a new blockage of the rights for the manga for international publishing (and most notably France)? Because there are many rumors circulating here and there concerning an improvement in the situation, but it is difficult to understand, I am asking you. Moreover, if the perception is that it is (or will be) released, can we hope for the renewal editions? Because the only thing we can sink our teeth into is Sailor V**. How is it that the mother series has been blocked and not those of Sailor V?

A: To resume the explanation concerning the case of Sailor Moon. The author has recovered all of the rights. She has renegotiated for two years county by country at her own rhythm. She has decided to begin with the USA, Spain, and Italy, and we must wait until those negotiations finish before entering into discussions with the author, if she decides that France will be her next country to work on, which has in no way been confirmed. We are in the same situation as the fans of Sailor Moon, and we have no other choice but to respect the method chosen by the author. When the discussions are possible, the editions published will obviously be the renewed versions, the subject of our request for the last 3 years. Sailor Moon and Sailor V are two different series, and they do not have the same contractual bases. From information that we have been given, the author has not recovered the rights for Sailor V.

We had always assumed that Naoko Takeuchi and Princess Naoko Planning had the rights to Sailor V, but it appears this is not the case. Now we believe that it is Kodansha that somehow has the rights to Sailor V, but may be optimizing a marketing strategy by releasing it in conjunction with Sailor Moon. We hope that the fans of Sailor Moon in France will be able to enjoy the manga soon. We are sad, but by no means surprised by this lag given what we have learned about Naoko Takeuchi since 2009.

**This is in reference to the old version of Sailor V.

Sakura Con Schedule Now Available!

For our readers interested in attending Sakura Con 2011, the programming schedule is now available for download in PDF format.

The schedule also lists the Sailor Moon panel that I (Emily) will be hosting on behalf of Moon Chase! The panel is called Sailor Moon: 15 Years and Counting. If you're interested in attending, the panel will be held in Panels 5 (rooms 611-612) on Friday evening (the 22nd) from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

We're very excited about this, since we've heard that the room is larger than last year's Sailor Moon panel in addition to having a longer time slot than most panels. We're very appreciative of the staff at Sakura Con who have made this panel possible. Thank you very much!

Moon Chase staff is currently working on our discussion topics for the panel and I'm assembling reference notes for fan questions. If you can make it to the panel, we'd love to see you there!

I hinted before that I'll be wearing a costume for part of the convention. The costume is an uncommon one for Jupiter/Makoto: the white dress seen in the ending credits of the S season (with "Tuxedo Mirage" as the ending theme). I don't tend to get recognized as Jupiter when I wear it, I guess because it's a bit more of an obscure costume. I will definitely be looking out for other Sailor Moon cosplayers to photograph, I hope to see lots!

(image belongs to ANCEA/Sakura-Con)

BREAKING NEWS: Brazil Puts Up A Good Fight, But A New Dub Wasn’t Meant to Be.

We want to start this article by first of all congratulating SOS Brazil for all their hard work. We understand your struggles completely because we have been there (and still are). But please don’t view this as a fight you lost! You should be proud of everything you were able to do with your surveys – besides, the other parts of your survey will probably be a help when it comes to other aspects of the revival. We are proud of what you were able to accomplish, and we are sending you big Moonie hugs and lots of love from North America.

Save our Sailors Brazil reported the sad news yesterday that after a long and lengthy crusade to get a redub of Sailor Moon, it was not meant to be. A statement posted to their site from Márcio S. Reginnette, a representative of Brazil’s CD & DVD Factory, states that a redub of Sailor Moon S is not authorized because Naoko Takeuchi has not approved of any redubbing in any language. The same request was made in Italy as well, and was also denied. The statement also makes mention that Toei Animation does not have any exclusivity over the franchise, and prior approval has to be obtained by Naoko Takeuchi. There is also an excellent response to these developments posted over at Papo de Budega.

From what we know, the anime and manga are a sort of “co-agreement” between Naoko Takeuchi and the companies involved. Fans probably also notice that Naoko Takeuchi’s name is on every piece of Sailor Moon merchandise coming out their way these days. With the manga, Kodansha has the rights to publish it, but only after obtaining Naoko Takeuchi’s permission. But at the same time, she cannot hold it back. The same deal goes with the anime and Toei Animation as well. We do not know how many years that this current co-agreement is going to last, but that if matters regarding Sailor Moon do not go smoothly, they could be pulled away at any time.

While we understand fans’ anger, sadness, and frustration over this turn of events, please don’t be mad at Naoko Takeuchi. For all we know, the time frame for Sailor Moon’s return could be really short, and she may not like the idea of a redub keeping the series away from fans in an already shortened timeframe. Or, perhaps she likes everything the way it is and doesn’t want to change things too much. We are disgruntled too, as this leaves the fate of an English release of Sailor Stars up in the air, but at the same time we are thankful to have the Sailor Moon manga back (and hopefully soon, the anime).

Once again, huge hugs from Moon Chase to Save Our Sailors Brazil and everything they have worked so hard for. Keep up the strength, although your release has had it’s turmoils (starting with Season 3), you have done a lot for the fandom and we are sure every one of your readers thanks you for that!

For fans who want a little more detail on the ins and outs of the Brazilian revival, check out this interview in January with CD + DVD Factory’s Márcio S. Reginnette.