Shoko Nakagawa to voice Diana in Sailor Moon Crystal

Shoko Nakagawa, the voice of Diana in Sailor Moon Crystal

The new voice of Diana for Sailor Moon Crystal will be Shoko Nakagawa. This announcement was made on the Sailor Moon Official Site which included an image of Diana which is included above. Shoko Nakagawa is a media personality best known as the presenter of Pokémon Sunday, a variety show about all things Pokémon. She is also an actress and singer, having performed a great number of anime series opening and ending themes including many for the Pokémon anime and movies.

Diana is the future daughter of Luna and Artemis who lives in Crystal Tokyo. She is Chibiusa’s good friend, much in the same way that Luna and Artemis are Usagi and Minako’s companions. While Diana did not appear until Sailor Moon SuperS, the 4th season of the original anime, she appears much earlier in the manga. Diana’s first manga appearance is at the end of Act 19, Time Warp – Sailor Pluto, which is this coming Saturday’s episode which will be available on April 4th. Diana appears only briefly at the end of this chapter of the manga, vocalising little more than a simple meow. We will likely not have Shoko Nakagawa saying much until Act 20, Crystal Tokyo – King Endymion, which will be available April 18th.

Watch Sailor Moon S episodes 92 and 93 on Hulu

Sailor Moon S episode 92 - Michiru and Haruka

The latest two episodes of Sailor Moon S are now available on Hulu and Neon Alley. This week with episodes 92 and 93 we are introduced to two new character, Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh. We also get a much better look at Sailor Neptune and Uranus who happen to have very similar hair styles to these characters.

Sailor Moon S episode 92 - Haruka

Episode 92, A Handsome Boy? Haruka Tenoh’s Secret, shows us what is really up with Haruka right out of the gate. Minako and Usagi are infatuated with this hot new guy who has been coming around the arcade, and don’t see what’s really up. His beautiful friend, Michiru, appears to be his girlfriend, but not all is as it seems! The target this week is a mechanic and the enemy a cool looking sports car. Haruka and Michiru chase after the Daimon, dropping their motorcycle on her and then disappearing! Not long into the fight we see Sailor Uranus and Neptune, the new Sailor Guardians we previously only got a brief look at. To the audience it seems quite obvious that these are the alternate identities of Haruka and Michiru but to the girls in the show this is not quite as obvious. How could they be, as Haruka is clearly a guy… or is he? Haruka and Michiru show up at the arcade again but this time Haruka is not wearing her jacket and so it’s obvious that she’s actually a woman! This is a shock to Minako and Usagi, while Usagi assures herself that she always said that Mamoru was more attractive. This scene can be seen as being a bit homophobic. It’s not unlike the overplayed trope of a man finding a trans woman attractive but being shocked to learn she is trans. Usagi and Minako’s reactions however are not of revulsion but more of surprise, and they show no negative feelings towards Haruka or the way she choses to express herself at any time in the series. Indeed many characters are shown to have feelings of attraction to her later in the show and these feelings which are not strictly heterosexual are portrayed as being perfectly normal and not presented negatively.

Sailor Moon S episode 92 - Minako learns that Haruka is a woman

So just what is going on with Haruka in this episode, and later in the series? She is female for all purposes but the misunderstanding in this episode and it’s title. She dresses in men’s clothing but there doesn’t seem to be any real indication that she is trans or that she gender identifies as male. She is a masculine woman who has no problem with displaying her masculinity in the way she acts and dresses. In the manga her identity is more complex, which could be seen as being a trans man, but this is generally not the case in the anime. Much of the gender confusion is harder to express in English due to it’s frequent use of gender specific pronouns. This is less common in Japan, which is why we can frequently have stories which deal with characters whose gender is unknown or mistaken without it being discovered as soon as a “he” or “she” is dropped over the course of normal conversation. When it comes to sexuality Haruka is attracted to women while Michiru appears to be attracted to both men and women. Haruka and Michiru are lovers. Their relationship is presented with little ambiguity throughout the series. In the English dub they were presented as cousins which is a little odd as this shows them as being in a lesbian incestual relationship, rather than in a simple lesbian relationship. Why it was decided that cousins made more sense than simply downplaying their relationship as friends isn’t something I pretend to understand. Regardless this is the original Japanese uncensored version so their relationship is presented as intended, as we expect to see it in the upcoming English dub being done by Viz.

Sailor Moon S episode 92 - Michiru

Episode 93, Usagi’s Idol: The Graceful Genius Michiru, focuses more on the character of Michiru Kaio than the last episode had. We learn that she is a very talented violinist. The target for this episode is a fellow violinist and the Daimon of the week is a violin monster who uses sound as an attack. Usagi seems quite attracted to Michiru in this episode, though this attraction seems to mostly be about admiration than actual attraction. Still the season is fairly open about presenting attraction between same sex characters as being a perfectly normal part of adolescence.

Sailor Moon S episode 93 - Michiru playing the violin

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Sailor Moon S episode 93 - Violin Daimon

The Sailor Chibi Moon Dal (Pullip) Doll is the creepiest yet!

Sailor Chibi Moon Dal doll - Pullip doll

The Sailor Chibi Moon Dal doll from the Pullip line has been announced on the on the Sailor Moon official site. Wait, what is a Dal doll? This is clearly a Pullip doll but what’s with the weird name? Much like the Tuxedo Mask Taeyang doll that was clearly a male Pullip doll, this one is called Dal but clearly part of the Pullip line. I said earlier that Taeyang was the male equivalent of the Pullip doll. This is not entirely accurate. These dolls are Pullip’s companions. The first such was Namu, who was Pullip’s boyfriend. Next came Taeyang, Pullip’s second boyfriend. Dal is Taeyang’s 13 year old sister, a rival to Pullip. This doesn’t really fit as Chibiusa is Mamoru’s daughter, not sister, but she is in a way Usagi’s rival. I’m not sure why these characters are being used to describe all these peripheral dolls. I suppose they are just the base models used for the dolls, while Pullip herself is used for most of the girls that were released previously. Dal is a bit shorter than pullip at 26.5 cm, so it makes sense to have Sailor Chibi Moon be a bit smaller. Size, design and cost will mostly resemble the other models as Sailor Chibi Moon would be expected to sell for roughly $150 once released in North America. Her Japanese MSRP is 17,000 yen.

The doll looks creepier than usual to me but that’s probably just because it’s from the Dal line which has a slightly different face mold. Check out this picture of other Dal dolls to get an idea of what those usually look like.

Dal doll

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A Sailor Moon x Isetan Special Collaboration offers many expensive purses, accessories, jewellery and clothing in Japan

Artemis Fake Leather Bag

As announced on the Sailor Moon Official Site a large number of Sailor Moon themed items are available in Japan as part of a Sailor Moon and Istean Special Collaboration. These items including some fairly expensive, and therefore supposedly high quality, purses, wallets, phone cases, jewellery, charms, watches and all kinds of clothes. These are on sale now in Japan as well as online.

Moonstick Leather Bag - Dark Blue

First are a number of bags and purses from Samantha Vega. The Moonstick leather bags are fairly normal looking leather bags coming in white, pink, red and blue with a Sailor Moon pattern on the inside. These are fairly expensive selling for 48,600 yen, over $400 US. I guess Kobe beef isn’t the only way to buy really expensive cow pieces in Japan!

Luna Fake Leather Bag

If you’re not a snob for real leather, or care about the suffering of non human animals, why not just get the Luna fake leather bag or Artemis fake leather bag for 21,600 yen, about $180 US. These fun looking leather bags have little cat ears and are much more obviously Sailor Moon themed than the more subtle Moonstick leather bag.

Moonstick Rucksack - Blue

But wait. What about the rich students? They don’t need a purse. They need a
Moonstick Rucksack. What’s a rucksack you might ask? That’s what Japanese people call back packs. This school supply will set back students 30,240 yen, about $250 US. What else were you going to spend that money on, books?

Sailor Guardian Long Wallet

So you have a bag but still need somewhere to put all of that money you have because you’re obviously rich if you’re buying these. Why not shove all those yen in the Sailor Guardian long wallets which cost a mere 21,600 yen, about $180 US each. These come in 6 designs. Two for Sailor Moon and one for each of the other Sailor Guardians.

Sailor Guardian Mini Multi Cases

Sure you’ve got a fancy purse and wallet but what to do with your cell phone? You can pick up a Sailor Guardian Mini Multicase for a mere 19,440 yen, about $163 US. Like the wallets these also come in 6 different designs.

Sailor Guardian Elementmarc charms

Great! Now how about some cool charms to add a bit of bling bling to all of these things. The Sailor Guardian Elementmarc Charm are 6156 yen, about $50 US. There are 6 charms included. A crescent moon, a heart, and the symbols for Sailor Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

Baby G Casio Watch

Casio is making a Baby G Watch. This sells for 17,280 yen, a bit over $100 US. It comes in a nice looking case that looks like the Crystal Star brooch, Sailor Moon’s transformation item from Sailor Moon R.

Baby G Casio Watch Case

Chibi Moon Crystal Carillion

Sailor Moon is also teaming up with Honey Bunch to make a number of items. Many of them don’t really seem to have all that much to do with Sailor Moon but others, like this the Chibi Moon Crystal Carillon shirt are pretty Sailor Moon themed. At 8640 yen, over $70 US, this may seem cheap when compared to some of the items for sale but that’s a pretty expensive t-shirt.

Sailor Moon x Secret Honey collared sweat stadium jumper constellation culottes

There are also some Sailor Moon x Secret Honey clothing items which have some Sailor Moon references on them.

Sailor Moon x Riccimie

The Sailor Moon x Riccimie clothing items look fairly plain but upon closer investigation have things like Sailor V masks, Luna and other Sailor Moon designs on them.

Anna Sui Meets Sailor Moon

Finally we have the Anna Sui Meets Sailor Moon items. These range from unimpressive phone cases, t-shirts and mugs to jewellery such as a replica Silver Crystal and Key of Space-Time (17,280 yen or about $150 US). Many items like t-shirts and folders just have an Anna Sui meets Sailor Moon logo but others like the jewellery have a bit more Sailor Moon related flair to them. The more expensive bags and jewellery in this collection cost hundreds of dollars like this bag which costs nearly $320 US.

Anna Sui meets Sailor Moon - Silver Crystal and Key of Space-Time

Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray vol. 6 review

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Packaging

The 6th Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Edition Blu-Ray set was released on March 11th. It can be purchased on Amazon Japan and CD Japan. MSRP is 7020 yen, about $59 US dollars. If you’re thinking of importing this keep in mind it is in Japanese only and there are no subtitles. The disk will play in North American Blu-Ray players for this who still want to buy it. There is also a regular edition Blu-Ray and DVD that will be released April 8th, when vol. 7 is being released in a Deluxe Limited Edition set. The DVDs will not likely play in a North American region 1 DVD player.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Contents

As with other volumes the disk comes in a collectible box. This one features a silhouette of Tuxedo Mask on the cover. The cover of the disk itself has an image of Usagi and Tuxedo Mask on it.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Sailor Moon's transformation brooch charm

Every set comes with a charm which goes on the charm bracelet included with volume 1. This release includes Sailor Moon’s transformation brooch. This is the second Sailor Moon item included as volume 1 had Sailor Moon’s Moon Stick.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Booklet - Pages 12 and 13

A 24 page full colour booklet is also included. Amongst the pages are episode summaries, character art for Tuxedo Mask, the Shitennou and Reika, interviews with Yasuhara Takanashi, music composer for the series, and Kenji Nojima, the voice of Tuxedo Mask as well as a page by Fumio Osano, Osabu. Photographs of all pages in this booklet are included at the bottom of this post.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Booklet - Pages 14 and 15

The contents of the disk aren’t terribly exciting. Two episodes are included as usual. This time we have Act 11, Reunion – Endymion, and Act 12, Enemy – Queen Metaria. Many fans took issue with the many changes in Act 12 hoping they would be corrected with the video release but this not the case. Sailor Venus still does not kill Queen Beryl. Sailor Moon still breaks Beryl’s necklace with the sword. The Shitennou still die. Kunzite still says something that sounds like penis. Most of the video releases have some minor updates to the animation. Though I did not notice any specific changes with these episodes it’s likely they are updated as others had been.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Disk

There is an audio commentary on this disk. I don’t speak Japanese so it’s hard for me to tell exactly what is going on or even who is present. I would seem that the voice actresses for Sailor Mars, Rina Sato, and Sailor Jupiter, Ami Koshimizu are present. There is also a man who’s identity I couldn’t figure out.

This set will likely appeal to fans with a lot of money or who feel they must have every bit of Sailor Moon on video. The video quality is better than the streaming version but is that difference really worth buying something in a language you can’t understand? I leave that call to you because at this point if you’re likely to buy this you probably already have the other volumes.

Keep reading for more images of the packaging including photos of all pages of the included booklet.

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Watch the first two episodes of Sailor Moon S, episodes 90 and 91, on Hulu

Sailor Moon S episode 90 - Sailor Neptune and Uranus

The first episodes of Sailor Moon S are finally available on Hulu and Neon Alley. After a disappointing last week which only included one episode, and that being a flashback, we really get into Sailor Moon S this week. For many American fans Sailor Moon S might be the first they really watched of the show as it aired on Cartoon Network. The original run of the first season and Sailor Moon R, while popular here in Canada, was often playing at less coveted time slots in syndication throughout the United States while most people, including the sun, had not risen yet. The Hulu banner has been updated to reflect the series and the original intros are intact. Those who first watched the series on the Pioneer DVDs had a single intro for all of Sailor Moon S but there were actually a number of slightly different intros as more characters were introduced.

Sailor Moon S episode 90 - Rei predicts disaster

Episode 90, Premonition of the Apocalypse: the Mysterious New Guardians Appear, has a whole lot going on as we are introduced to new enemies and allies! Rei has a prediction of the apocalypse! In a scene that looks like Judgement Day from Terminator 2, she sees all of her friends killed and various things which we will later be able to identify with some spoilers. Basically there is some importance in the Talismans. If only this vision had been more clear to her, and others, we may have been able to clear up some misunderstandings! Too bad that isn’t the case. The new villains for the season are the Death Busters. We are introduced to Professor Tomoe and Kaolinite. Professor Tomoe seems completely insane, which is fairly accurate. Kaolinite is probably the most emotionally stable of the Death Busters. The trick this season is that the Death Busters are taking people’s pure hearts. First on the chopping block is Rei! What a coincidence! The monster rips out her heart and busts Sailor Moon’s Crystal Star broach leaving her powerless. Two mysterious new Sailor Guardians show up to save the day! Actually they seem more interested in Rei’s heart. When it seems there is no Talisman there they return it. Luckily they are able to dispatch the monster because Sailor Moon is totally powerless at this point. Who are these new Sailor Guardians? We’ll be seeing a lot of them this season.

Sailor Moon S episode 90 - Kaolinite

Sailor Moon S episode 91 - Usagi, Miharu and a bunch of cats

Episode 91, The Rod of Love Is Born: Usagi’s New Transformation, is all about cats! How great. Mamoru finds an abandoned house full of cats so he brings Usagi there. They meet a young girl Miharu in the house but she is worried that the cats need a new home as the house will soon be demolished. High jynx ensues as Usagi tries to pawn off the cats on her friends. The cats in Sailor Moon R and S sure don’t look much like Rhett Butler and the other cats from the first season. Miharu loves to do puzzles and so a Daimon, those are the monsters this season, is made out of a cat puzzle. This Daimon is pretty cool as she crumbles into puzzle pieces when she gets hurt. At this point in the series the monsters start getting a lot more interesting then they have been in the past. Too bad Sailor Moon is powerless with her busted Crystal Star! Time to sell more toys! Sailor Moon gets an upgraded Cosmic Heart Compact and Spiral Heart Moon Rod. Her new attack is the Moon Spiral Heart Attack. At least all of those are words this time.

Sailor Moon S episode 91 - Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon and the Spiral Heart Moon Rod

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Sailor Moon S episode 91 - A cat licks Usagi

Sailor Moon S episode 90 - Professor Tomoe

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Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18, Invasion – Sailor Venus, Review

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Venus Rolling Heart Vibration

The latest episode of Sailor Moon Crystal was released on Saturday March 21st on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico. This week we have Act 18, Invasion – Sailor Venus, which as the title suggests focuses on Sailor Venus as she faces off against Calaveras, the final remaining Ayakashi Sister.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Rubeus kisses Calaveras

Things are getting pretty bad at this point! Sailor Mercury, Mars and Jupiter have all been kidnapped in standard character order so we focus on Minako, Sailor Venus this week! The Ayakashi Sisters have mostly been killed as well leaving only Calaveras. In her first scene we get a hint at a relationship between Rubeus and herself as he kisses her on the neck. She’s obviously upset over the death of her sisters as she summons their ghosts, doing channeling which is kind of her shtick. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from readers who don’t like my criticism of pseudoscience in my reviews. Indeed I’m not about to discount the magic and time travel aspects of the show but when the characters present pseudoscientific beliefs such as this week’s channelling as being true, I feel I must point out that such things are not legit. This is especially true this season as there is an obvious recurring theme with the Black Moon Clan reveling in pseudoscience which some believe to be true, as opposed to the general fantastic nature of the show which is obviously science fiction.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - The Ayakashi Sisters' ghosts

Calaveras does a public channeling of Rubeus, showing the future, but does she even need to do this? We see that she does actually have channelling powers but the people of Tokyo don’t really know this. She claims to have knowledge of the future because of this but that’s simply because she is from the future. Much like Koan’s ability to see the future could have been made up, so could have Calaveras. But the point of the show is not that the enemy is pretending to have great powers. They happen to actually have some and convince the world as such, while still relying on subterfuge.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Momoko and Ikuko Tsukino

Chibiusa’s friend Momoko is introduced this week. Her hair colour in the original anime was first brown and later purple. Here we see her with bright red almost pink hair. Though the manga is mostly black and white Momoko is shown to have bright red hair when presented in colour making this her correct hair colour. The rest of her image is a bit odd. She is given a thin waist and breasts, which is not fitting with a character that is meant to be Chibiusa’s class mate.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Umino with a DVD

Naru and Umino appear in this act. While the original manga had a “video” mentioned it was not actually shown. It is assumed this was a VHS tape or less likely a laser disk as DVD did not exist in the early 90s. A DVD is seen once again in Sailor Moon Crystal, updating the technology of the show for 2015 standards but still not embracing Blu-Ray for whatever reason. Naru reveals that she knows that something is up with Usagi and her friends, hinting that she either suspects she is Sailor Moon or is otherwise involved. It’s nice to see this friendship continue despite Usagi spending so much time with her more super powered friends and her new boyfriend.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Windows operating system

When watching the DVD we get a look at the computers at the school. These are clearly Windows PC type computers. In the past in the series it was all macs, with the tablets having what appeared to be a mix between iOS, Apple’s handheld OS, and Mac OS, the full fledge OS for Mac desktops and laptops. This does not have any of the Apple look to it. The desktop folders look like Windows folders, the S shaped icon is similar to the Internet Explorer E. There are icons matching the My Computer, My Network Places and Recycle Bin icons. The Media Player app showing the video looks like Windows Media Player, complete with the menu options, controls and window borders. The only thing which is out of place is the Opera icon on the task bar. Who uses Opera anymore? Just like with the DVDs the Opera web browser is something that is still around but certainly obsolete by anyone who cares about technology!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - The Shitennou as ghosts

The Shitennou finally reappear in this episode! Fans of the original Anime would expect them to be confined to the first season but like with the manga Sailor Moon Crystal is not done with them. Mamoru still has the stones that represent the four Shitennou and he uses them to channel their ghosts, similar to the way Calaveras does with her sisters. He consults them about what’s going on as they are once again shown to be sympathetic heroes, loyal to Mamoru, not the villains they were when working for the Dark Kingdom.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Moon Tiara Boomerang

Sailor Venus uses her Rolling Heart Vibration attack in this episode. In the manga she used this against Tuxedo Mask but in Sailor Moon Crystal this is the first time she uses it. Sailor Moon also uses her Moon Tiara Boomerang attack again. This did not occur in the manga. Artemis also gets some action this week as he is seen taking out a cameraman!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber

Tuxedo Mask is the one to get a new power in this episode as he gets his first attack Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber. As he does this he shoots a kind of energy from his hands. Why not smoke? The term smoking here does not refer to actual smoke. It’s a reference “smoking”, the French term for Tuxedo. As a French Canadian this term is not one I would use but I was exposed to it reading the French translations of the Sailor Moon manga which was my first exposure to the books. One thing to note about Tuxedo Mask in this episode is that he is no longer wearing his hat. If the manga is any indication he will not be bringing his hat to the future and so we won’t be seeing it again in the series. Tuxedo Mask in the original anime wore his hat consistently when in costume but in the Manga he wears it less and eventually stops wearing it altogether.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Chibiusa steals Usagi's transformation broach the Crystal Star

Chibiusa is a bit of a brat in this one. She steals Sailor Moon’s transformation item, the Crystal Star, because she wants the Silver Crystal. Usagi is mad at her naturally but when Chibiusa is in danger she is quick to defend her. This is a perfect illustration of Usagi and Chibiusa’s relationship. They get on each other’s nerves and are usually at odds with each other but when it really counts they do care for each other. Chibiusa returns Usagi’s broach, allowing her to transform. She then mentions that she took it because she want to take it to the future to save her mother. She mentions that she knows that a Silver Crystal out of it’s time period will not work but she still needs to try. Why does she think this? Clearly the Silver Crystal of the future works in the past or there would be no Sailor Chibi Moon! But that’s a story for another day.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 19 - Sailor Pluto

Next time on April 4th is Act 19, Time Warp – Sailor Pluto. Indeed, we will be seeing Sailor Pluto for the first time! We will have the team heading to 30th century Crystal Tokyo in the hopes of helping out Chibiusa’s mother.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 19 - Time Warp - Sailor Pluto

Chibiusa’s shirt gate continues! In the next episode preview we see Chibiusa in both her blue uniform, which she brought from the future, and her white uniform, which she gets in the past. The scene with the white uniform looks like some of the flashbacks we’ve seen. Chibiusa didn’t have her white uniform back in 30th century Crystal Tokyo so what is going on here? This doesn’t necessarily need to be a problem. The blue uniform could be a flashback to Chibiusa arriving and the white could be what she’s wearing when she arrives in the 30th century as it’s the uniform she wears to the future in the manga, and what she is wearing at the end of act 18.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 19 - Chibiusa in the future with a white outfit

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 19 - Chibiusa falling - Blue uniform

Keep reading for more images from this episode and the next episode preview.

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Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18, Invasion – Sailor Venus, starting March 21st at 6am Eastern Time

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Calaveras

This Saturday, March 21st, we will be seeing Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18, Invasion – Sailor Venus. The show will be available streaming on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico starting at 7pm Japan Standard which is 6am Eastern Time, 3am Pacific Time. Good news for those who enjoy their sleep but still like to watch the show as it’s released, you will get the show an hour later from now on. Japan does not celebrate Daylight Savings so now that we are once again observing Daylight Savings in most cities in North America our clocks are 1 hour closer to Japan Standard Time.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Invasion - Sailor Venus

This new episode is all about Sailor Venus, since everyone else is gone! The enemy this week is Calaveras of the Ayakashi Sisters who is using misinformation and channeling to scare the public into distrusting those aligned with the “white Moon”. Things get serious as Chibiusa steals Sailor Moon’s transformation brooch! We also learn that Naru is suspecting that something is up with Usagi. The Shitennou will also be making their first appearance since the first story arc as Mamoru consults them for help.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 18 - Sailor Venus

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See Linda Ballantyne, Katie Griffin, Susan Roman, Toby Proctor and Cherami Leigh at Toronto Comic Con March 20th to the 22nd

Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Cast Reunion Panel at Fan Expo 2013 featuring Susan Roman, Katie Griffin, Linda Ballantyne, Toby Proctor and John Stocker

This coming weekend is Toronto Comic Con in Toronto, Canada. As the city where the original English dub of Sailor Moon was recorded this is always a great place to find voice talent from Sailor Moon! At this year’s convention stars of the original and new Sailor Moon dub will be in attendance. Check it out to meet stars of the DiC/Cloverway dub of the anime Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon, Katie Griffin, the voice of Sailor Mars, Susan Roman, the voice of Sailor Jupiter and Toby Proctor, the voice of Tuxedo Mask. Also in attendance will be Cherami Leigh, the voice of Sailor Venus from Viz’s new English dub of Sailor Moon.

Cherami Leigh - The voice of Sailor Venus

The worst episode of Sailor Moon is now available on Hulu. Sailor Moon S is delayed until next Monday.

Sailor Moon R episode 89 - Four intros playing at once

Every week since the first four episodes of the original Sailor Moon anime started being released on Hulu and Neon Alley we’ve seen two episodes added to the service every Monday. This week that changes! Today we are only getting episode 89, a clip show. I suppose they didn’t want to split seasons as episode 90 is the first episode of Sailor Moon S. According to the schedule on the Neon Alley site, we will have to wait until next week when we get episodes 90 and 91, the first two of the season.

Sailor Moon R episode 89 - Four intros playing at once

I’ve felt for a long time that episode 89, Usagi and the Girls’ Resolve: Prelude to a New Battle, is the worst of the series. It’s a clip show. This means there is no new footage included. In order to save money the animators reused old clips and added new audio on top of them. The only cool thing about this episode is the intro which plays all four intros we’ve seen to date, the two from the first season and the two from Sailor Moon R, simultaneously. It’s a pretty cool thing to see. Beyond this the clips provide a summary of what we’ve seen to date, including a thorough recap of episode 88 which we saw just last week. The quality of these clips is even worse than from the original episodes. This is just a terrible waste of your time. I do not generally recommend skipping episodes but if you are going to skip any, this is the one to skip. This is not unheard of in the world of anime, or any TV for that matter, but I still consider this kind of cheap move to be an insult to fans and no better than a rerun.

Sailor Moon S episode 90 - Sailor Neptune and Uranus

The episode includes a preview of the first episode of Sailor Moon S. Better than watching a terrible clips episode just to get a preview why not just wait a week and watch that episode in it’s entirety? Truly horrible. Tune in next week for episode 90 in which we are introduced to Professor Tomoe, Kaolinite, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.

Sailor Moon Memorial Laser Disks

If you do enjoy things like this you may be interested in checking out the Sailor Moon Memorials. These are single season recaps of the anime. There are five in total, one for each season, and they are narrated by actors from the show. They include some interesting unique things such as clips from international dubs of the show in many languages which makes them more worth watching than episode 89.

Fiore offers the Kissenian to Tuxedo Mask and a dead Sailor Moon - Sailor Moon R Movie

While you are waiting for something new to watch now would be a great time to watch the Sailor Moon R movie. It’s hard to place chronologically within the series but this is as good a time as any to watch it. Also be sure to watch Make Up! Sailor Soldiers, the short which played with it in theatres. This is also mostly clips but does include some new animation making it more worthwhile than the horrible Sailor Moon R episode 89.

Serenity - Sailor Moon R movie

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