The latest release of Sailor Moon Crystal on Blu-Ray was released on May 13th. Volume 8 collects acts 15 and 16. It’s packaging showcases Chibiusa. You can buy this volume on Amazon Japan and CD Japan. It only has Japanese audio with no English subtitles, though it will play in North American Blu-Ray players.
The charm included this time is Sailor Mercury’s Star Power Stick. Her original transformation item was released with volume 2 when Sailor Mercury first appeared on the cover. It’s a safe bet that the next 3 releases will have Sailor Mars, Jupiter and Venus’s Star Power Sticks as charms.
The 20 page special booklet included this time has the same breakdown as others, included episode summaries, screenshots, character art and a special page by Fumio Osano, Osabu. The interviews included in this release are with Yu Kaminoki, producer for the series and Misato Fukuen, the voice actress who plays Chibiusa. The character art included mostly focuses on Chibiusa but also has Koan and Berthier of the Ayakashi Sisters. There’s a heavy amount of focus on Chibiusa with her gun. Can any gun nuts identify exactly what model of gun this is and whether or not it can be equipped with an optional flower clip?
The episodes included are Act 15, Infiltration – Sailor Mars, in which Sailor Mars faces off again Koan, and Act 16, Abduction – Sailor Mercury, in which Sailor Mercury faces off again Berthier. Chibiusa showed up at the end of the last release so now we begin focusing on the battle with the Black Moon Clan. Both episodes on this disk have minor changes to their animation that’s been done for the Blu-Ray release. I didn’t note anything terribly significant as far as changes go. You can check out the differences in Act 15 and Act 16 on Crystal Comparisons, which details the changes between the streaming version and home video versions of the show.
Chibiusa in her incorrectly coloured uniform from the next episode preview for Act 17
Chibiusa in her correctly coloured uniform in Act 17
More shocking here is the lack of change! The next episode preview for Act 17 shows Chibiusa with a short sleeved but dark blue uniform. As we’ve covered in our review of Act 17, this was an incorrect colour which was actually corrected for the episode proper. The animators change things like this up until the last minute and update all kinds of things for the Blu-Ray but no one is bothering to fix up the next episode previews so that they don’t include these errors! Shameful!
As always as I don’t speak Japanese I can’t comment much on the audio commentary. There are three people appearing on these commentaries. You can hear Rina Sato, the voice of Sailor Mars, Hisako Kanemoto, the voice of Sailor Mercury and Munehisa Sakai, the series director for Sailor Moon Crystal.
As with other releases it’s hard to justify buying a fairly expensive release for just two episodes. I don’t imagine I’ll change anyone’s mind on buying these at this point. Either you’ve bought the other releases and will buy this too, or you won’t be buying any. With free viewing options available for Sailor Moon Crystal and an English version inevitably happening in the future, this isn’t something many English speaking fans will find much value in.
Keep reading for more images of the packaging and all pages of the included special booklet.
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Is there anywhere we can read translations of both the interviews from the booklets and the audio commentary from online? Like does Miss Dream have them or something?
ve never seen a gun that looks like that before. Trigger guards usually aren’t square like that and the thing at the bottom of the handle is really strange. In the original anime the gun she held was a U.S. M1911 Colt so maybe this one is supposed to be similar to the one in the original anime.
And to answer the question about the flower gun clip, no they cannot be equipped with such a thing unless it’s some sort of toy. Actually I think you could equipped a pistol to fire flowers but it wouldn’t do much good because the flower would either clog up the chamber or instantly burn up inside the barrel right when you pull the trigger.
I do think these things are way overpriced, but I’d like to thank you again for taking the time and money to let us share these with you this way. Otherwise we’d never get such a detailed look.
I just got mine last week and with Chibiusa on the cover and Mercury’s new pen it’s probably the one I was least excited about. I’m wondering who will be on it next. If we follow the other boxes charms like you have, mars, jupiter and venus are next with Chibiusa’s Space Time Key and probably the Crystal Star Compact for number 13.
I do think they’re pricy but they have the exact same price that CLAMP’s X TV series which was of inferior quality and each one only featured two eps. Thanks for your website, I always like to read your input.
Not sure. They’ve cycled through all the main characters. It’s too early to show Neo Queen Serenity, King Endymion, Sailor Pluto or Sailor Chibi Moon. I’d guess they could be coming up in the future. I’d love to see the cats featured on a set. With that and those I mentioned they could round up the 13 sets. They haven’t done villains yet so I don’t see the Black Moon Clan making the cut.
Box art released today should all 5 Sailor Guardians on the cover in their civilian uniforms for volume 9.
http://sailormoon-official.com/goods/bluraydvdcd/crystalblu-ray_9.php
Thanks for your kind reply, I have mixed feelings about this cover, maybe it’s Usagi’s smile that I find weird and it seems to be Luna’s silhouette on the outside of the box. I’d love to see one featuring Sailor Pluto and maybe having them pairing Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion on the cover, also I’d love a Black Lady cover but since none of the villains have been featured chances are slim to none.