Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34, Infinity 8 – Infinite Labyrinth 1, Monday May 30th at 10:30am Eastern Time

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34 Preview - Mistress 9

The next episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will air on Japanese TV Monday May 30th at 11pm Japan Standard Time. Immediately following this, at 10:30am Eastern Time, it will be available to stream first on Crunchyroll and then on Neon Alley and Hulu. Act 34, Infinity 8 – Infinite Labyrinth 1, continues the fight against Mistress 9 and the Death Busters.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34 Preview - Usagi cries

We continue to debate the morality of killing Hotaru but now that Chibiusa is almost dead, Usagi must weigh Hotaru’s life not only against that of the world but that of her daughter! Never mind that the world also includes Hotaru and Chibiusa. Quite a dilemma! Also the Witches 5 are back! And now there are six!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34 Preview - Sailor Jupiter

I believe we will be hearing the new opening and ending themes with this episode. The first themes were used for 4 episodes and we have had 4 with the second theme. Also the first CD came out after the last time we had heard those themes in the episodes and the second CD has just come out. With 5 episodes remaining in this story arc the new themes will likely be this week, if not they will be the next Monday. This third version of In Love With the New Moon will be performed by Momoiro Clover Z, the band who performed Moon Pride during the first two story arcs. The new ending theme, Only Eternity Brings the Two Together, will be performed by Kenji Nojima, the voice of Tuxedo Mask

Listen to the new English voices of Sailor Uranus and Neptune in this clip of Viz’s new dub of Sailor Moon S

Sailor Moon S dub preview at Momocon - Michiru and Haruka

Here at Sailor Moon News I occasionally get questions via e-mail, Facebook or other social media accounts. The vast majority of those questions in the past 6 months have basically been “When are we getting the new English dub of Sailor Moon S??!!”. I respond with words but I never really have a good answer and we still don’t have one. Here’s a clip from that new dub from Viz’s official Sailor Moon panel at MomoCon yesterday, May 28th, at 7pm in Atlanta Georgia.

This clip features Erica Mendez as Sailor Uranus and Lauren Landa as Sailor Neptune from Sailor Moon S episode 106, The Bond of Destiny: Uranus’s Distant Past. Both voice actors were announced almost a year ago on July 3rd at Anime Expo. Yes we have been waiting a really long time to see these episodes! The video caption says “More news soon!” and we certainly hope this is true. With other new dubbed episodes they are usually announced with some clips and then a Moonlight Party when they appear on Hulu. This is usually part of an advertisement campaign for the next home video release. Season Moon R part 2 has been out since October and was announced long before that.

Here’s hoping for something “soon”!

Update 2016-05-31: The original clip was removed so I’ve added different footage from the same YouTube user comparing the new dub to the original.

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III CD 2 single review

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III CD 2 - Cover

The second of three CD singles with theme songs for Sailor Moon Crystal Season III was released on Wednesday May 25th. You can order it along with the first CD from Amazon Japan. It features the second version of the opening theme, In Love With the New Moon, this time sung by Mitsuko Horie, the voice of Sailor Galaxia from the original Sailor Moon anime. The new ending theme is Maiden’s Advice by Misato Fukuen, the voice of Chibiusa. This is a CD/DVD combo. The CD includes the second opening and ending in full length versions as well as karaoke versions. The DVD includes music videos for both songs. This includes shorter TV sized openings and full length versions. The CD is not very expensive, about $13 US plus a bunch of shipping, and I would suggest picking it up to support the show though if you’re feeling cheap I’m sure you can find it somewhere.

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III CD 2 - Backs

The packaging is nice, as with the first disc. It comes with an insert with the lyrics and an ad for the Blu-Ray. The back of the case features Sailor Saturn, Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Jupiter. This seems like an odd grouping until you see the back of Sailor Mars’s hair on the side. This fits together with the back of the first CD and no doubt the third CD will fit on the right.

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III CD 2 - CD

What can I say about these songs? I didn’t care as much for this version of In Love With the New Moon as I did the first one. It’s enjoyable just not quite as catchy. The ending theme speaks for itself. Maiden’s Advice embodies everything that is Chibiusa. I feel like I’ll get cavities listening to it!

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III CD 2 - DVD menu

The DVD features are nothing spectacular. The TV sized opening and endings are pretty much exactly what we see in the episodes only without credits and in lower resolution. The music videos accompanying the full length versions are nice enough. They both features footages of the episodes which we’ve seen to date, right up the end of the latest episode, Act 33. The In Love With the New Moon video shows clips from the entire series, focusing a lot on Usagi’s relationship with Haruka. The video for Maiden’s Advice is all about Chibiusa! It’s just like you’d expect.

Momoiro Clover Z

The final CD will be released on June 22nd. You can pre-order it from Amazon Japan. The listing shows an image of Momoiro Clover Z though I imagine the art will be consistent with the other releases and perhaps showcase Tuxedo Mask on the cover. This will once again feature the opening theme, In Love With the New Moon, but this time sung by Momoiro Clover Z, the band who performed Moon Pride during the first two story arcs. The new ending theme, Only Eternity Brings the Two Together, will be sung by Kenji Nojima, the voice of Tuxedo Mask. I believe based on the timing of other themes that this new opening and ending theme will be featured during Act 34 which will be available on Monday May 30th. If not, they will almost certainly be featured during Act 35.

Keep reading for more images of the packaging.

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Meet the cast of Sailor Moon at Anime North 2016 this weekend in Toronto

Anime North

Anime North is this weekend, May 27th to the 29th, at the Toronto Congress Center and 9 actors from the original dub of the first Sailor Moon anime will be there! This includes two voices of Sailor Moon. The first voice of Sailor Moon Tracey Moore, provided her voice for only the first 11 episodes as well as another four throughout the series. Linda Ballantyne was the third voice of Sailor Moon, providing her voice for the S and SuperS seasons. Also appearing are Katie Griffin, the voice of Sailor Mars, Susan Roman, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, Barbara Radecki, the voice of Sailor Neptune, Jill Frappier, the voice of Luna, Ron Rubin, the voice of Artemis, Toby Proctor, the second voice of Tuxedo Mask, and John Stocker, voice director for Sailor Moon S and SuperS. Toby Proctor, having himself replaced Rino Romano as the second voice of Tuxedo Mask, mostly acted alongside Terry Hawkes and not the two Sailor Moon voice actors in attendance, though he did appear in four episodes with Tracey Moore.

Sailor Moon Resurgent Panel at Anime North 2014 - Toby Proctor, John Stocker, Linda Ballantyne, Katie Griffin and Susan Roman

The panel with these voice actors will take place on Friday at 5pm. On Sunday at 11am Tracey Moore and John Stocker will be holding a behind the scenes of voice acting panel. The voice actors will be signing autographs throughout the weekend. Check out the Anime North schedule for the exact times.

The convention is full of Sailor Moon related events. A Sailor Moon panel will be held Saturday at 10am and a Sailor Moon Merchandise presentation will be held Sunday at 11am.

Though I am Canadian I don’t live in Toronto. I’ve been to Anime North a number of times and have always had fun but unfortunately I won’t be attending this year.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33, Infinity 7 – Transformation – Super Sailor Moon, review

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Sailor Saturn

The latest episode of Sailor Moon Crystal aired on Japanese TV Monday May 23rd at 11pm Japan Standard Time. Following this it was available to stream first on Crunchyroll and then on Neon Alley and Hulu, starting at around 10:30am. Act 33, Infinity 7 – Transformation – Super Sailor Moon, introduces us to Sailor Saturn as well as to Sailor Moon’s new powered up form.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Infinity 7 - Transformation - Super Sailor Moon

Everything before the opening credits is repeated footage. We had some of this in earlier episodes too. This is a way to recap but also a cost savings tactic. Not only is this all footage we’ve seen but this repeated footage itself has flashbacks in it, so there’s stuff in here that we’re seeing for a third time at least!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Super Sailor Moon

The episode starts out with Sailor Moon powering up to Super Sailor Moon. This is probably a deal to some people. I don’t really care about power ups. This is Sailor Moon, not Dragonball Z! The power level of our heroes and their attacks or those of their enemies are largely irrelevant. So Super Sailor Moon beats a level 999 Witch. The struggle between hero and villain is never about power in Sailor Moon. One thing stands out to me here. Who names Super Sailor Moon? Sailor Chibi Moon recalls the name from her past, Usagi’s future. She is the first to say the name and the rest of the gang catch on and use it. Sailor Moon’s new uniform doesn’t come with a name tag. If Usagi learned the name from Chibiusa and in turn tells her the name in the future, then where did it even come from? Basic paradox. The name Super Sailor Moon is Kyle Reese.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Neo Queen Serenity creates a paradox

Speaking of Neo Queen Serenity, what’s up with that hair? Usagi, Princess Serenity and Sailor Moon are blonde however the Neo Queen Serenity we’ve seen in 30th century Crystal Tokyo has always had white or silver hair up to now. The Neo Queen Serenity we see here is from beyond what we saw in the Black Moon story arc, because Chibiusa speaks to her about Sailor Moon having saved the future and has her uniform she got at school in the past. This newer Neo Queen Serenity has blonde hair. Is this a mistake, a new look for Queen Serenity going forward or does she also, like she did in the past, go through transformations between her civilian look and her more formal look as queen? The manga, being black and white, is no help here!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - What's a patron?

Sailor Uranus is upset at the damage to the windows in her apartment. I’d be surprised that the building wasn’t evacuated due to concerns of structural integrity! She admits that her rent is a million yen a month, which is about $9000 US. I’ve paid rent for a year that cost about that! When asked how they afford it Sailor Uranus says that they have patrons so they don’t have to worry about money. Sailor Moon asks what a patron is and we don’t get an answer. So what does this mean? It’s not a word that is commonly used in this sense in English. I originally read the manga in French where they used to French word “patron” which, in Canada, means boss. I thought maybe this was some kind of joke about prostitution. A little research tells me this is hardly the meaning they were going for. As far as I can figure it’s a reference to some sort of financial backer for artistic ventures, which in this case might be Michiru’s violin playing or perhaps Haruka’s race car driving. This does not explain the embarrassment in the statement. Surely there’s something more to this story, but I don’t understand it.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Sailor Saturn

Finally we get to see Sailor Saturn in this episode! Doesn’t she look great? We learn of the last time she appeared, and get to see Sailor Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in their native environments. Sailor Neptune appears to be on a rocky planet, which doesn’t really mesh with what I know about the surface of Neptune. The three are then transported to Saturn, which also seems a lot more solid than I would expect, and there they summon Sailor Saturn who shows up and kills them. As Silver Millennium was falling, Sailor Saturn seems to have picked up all the bits and pieces by conveniently killing the rest of the Sailor Guardians. Why? I guess it would be boring for them to keep living for a really long time? We then learn that the three of them were reincarnated on Earth, although we know of course that Sailor Pluto was reincarnated from her future self, unless there are two that is.

The trolley problem Sailor Moon variant

Once again we have a trolley problem as we weigh the morality of killing Hotaru to save the world. It’s simple really. If Hotaru becomes Sailor Saturn, she will destroy the world. This will kill everyone including Sailor Saturn. Alternatively if Hotaru is killed, everyone else survives! Also Hotaru is dying anyway. The only way to cure her is to let her become Sailor Saturn which means everyone dies. This is sort of like the trolley problem. In this thought experiment a trolley is flying out of control down a track which will kill five people. You can pull a lever which sends the trolley onto another track which saves those five and kills one person. Do you pull the lever? I feel like my experience with Sailor Moon has taught me that I should not pull the lever. Utilitarian ethics dictates one should go for the greater good, and should feel morally obligated to pull the lever. Similarly, the morally correct solution to the Sailor Saturn problem, prioritising the needs of the many over the needs of the few, means that Hotaru should be killed. Sailor Moon doesn’t go for this and neither does Chibiusa. They are convinced there is a better way in which everyone can be saved. They refuse to sacrifice one life at any cost, but Sailor Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are more practical about the issue, opting for child murder to save the world. Would you pull the lever?

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Sailor Saturn

Sailor Pluto makes the argument that because the future exists Sailor Saturn must have been killed. This is a really odd comment, and reminds me of seeing a later episode of a TV show and then going back, knowing they are going to get to a certain point and trying to figure out how. It makes me wonder of course whether or not Sailor Pluto lived through these years already, in the past of the future self which died and was reincarnated in the present. If she did then she would remember the world not ending and possibly some serious stuff going on in Tokyo around this time.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Flying Sailor Guardians

I don’t think I’ve addressed the issue of flying before. In the old anime, there was usually no flying, but in the manga the characters seem to fly around a lot. They do it a lot in Crystal too, and because it’s animated it’s more obvious than seeing static people floating in manga pages. This week we see the Sailor Guardians fly right into the broken window of the apartment building but more specifically this includes everyone but Sailor Chibi Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Are they unable to fly? They show up a bit afterwards and then when Sailor Chibi Moon runs off she literally runs away, through the elevator and then jumping from rooftop to rooftop, at a height of over 20 feet with every jump. When she gets to Hotaru’s place, Sailor Uranus, Neptune and Pluto beat her there, but were nice enough to not murder her friend. It certainly would make sense that Sailor Chibi Moon be less powerful than the rest. I imagine Tuxedo Mask can fly but was being a nice guy accompanying his daughter who can not.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Mistress 9

Hotaru may not turn into Sailor Saturn this week but she does transform into Mistress 9. She basically kills Sailor Chibi Moon by stealing her Silver Crystal and then turns into this older eviler version of Hotaru. In the manga she doesn’t appear with the dress and everything in this chapter, but here she does. Chibiusa is essentially killed in the process. This is Sailor Moon though so she’s only mostly dead.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 - Sailor Chibi Moon dies

Next week is Act 34, Infinity 8 – Infinite Labyrinth 1. Chibiusa’s dying, Mistress 9 is running amuck and we’re still debating whether or not it’s cool to kill Hotaru who isn’t all that innocent any more. I believe we will be seeing the third opening and ending songs with Act 34, though I’m not sure. The second themes appeared for the 5th episode following the first CD release. The second CD came out today, May 25th, and the next episode is the 9th of this story arc with 5 remaining. The new intro will still be In Love With the New Moon but this time performed by Momoiro Clover Z. The new ending theme will be Only Eternity Brings the Two Together, sung by Kenji Nojima, the voice of Tuxedo Mask.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34 Preview - Usagi cries

Keep reading for more screenshots from Act 33 and the preview for Act 34.

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Sailor Moon News is now on Instagram

Instagram

You can now keep up with your favourite Sailor Moon site on Instagram. News updates to the site have long since been shared to Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and tumblr and we’re happy to share that you can now follow us on Instagram by following the user sailormoonnews.

sailormoonnews on Instagram

I hesitated to set up an Instagram account for the site years ago because the platform is so fundamentally different than others and I was unable to share actual post links to it. After chatting with a friend, the admin of the very popular Sailor Moon Screen Caps account, about her success she suggested that I needed to set up an Instagram account for the site! I did this about a week ago and the account has already been quite successful, surpassing the number of followers to my personal account in about a day. Could people care that much more about Sailor Moon than they do my cats? Expect to see slightly different kinds of posts to my Instagram account than you would see elsewhere, just because it’s more about photos than actual links. Most updates will relate to new posts to the site but I will occasionally share photos of stuff I see that don’t necessarily warrant a full blog post.

As always the links to all social networking accounts can be found on the sidebar on the left of the main page. I try to keep up with all of them though this isn’t always convenient. Twitter is always updated with new posts because it’s automatic. Facebook, Google Plus and tumblr are updated manually, though Facebook gets the priority as it seems reach more people. If you’re still wondering what the best social networking service to follow the site on, you just have to follow us on all of them!

Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33, Infinity 7 – Transformation – Super Sailor Moon, May 23rd at 10:30am

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 Preview - Super Sailor Moon

The next new episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will air on Japanese TV this coming Monday, May 23rd, at 11pm Japan Standard Time. Following this, at 10:30am Eastern Time, the show will being to be available to stream in North America. The show is generally first available on Crunchyroll, though the stream for devices may not show up during the first bit. For example when I used to get up early on Saturday mornings to watch the show I couldn’t watch it on my PS3/PS4 app, but needed to watch it on my computer instead, though after a few hours this was not a problem anymore. Neon Alley usually has the stream available a bit before Hulu, which is at first restricted to Hulu Plus users.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 Preview - Sailor Saturn

This week we are getting Act 33, Infinity 7 – Transformation – Super Sailor Moon. Good to see someone’s getting a transformation during this story arc! I don’t care about Super Sailor Moon though. I care about Sailor Saturn! Based on the preview and manga we should see her this week, but it’s in the form of a flashback to the fall of Silver Millennium when Sailor Saturn showed up to murder a bunch of people. We won’t be seeing Hotaru transform into Sailor Saturn but she will turn into something!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 Preview - Sailor Saturn

The original manga version of Act 33 features a comment about how Harukua and Michiru have patrons. I never quite understood the meaning of this comment and wonder if it will be included in Crystal so that we can speculate about it all over again.

Sailor Moon Manga Act 33 - Haruka and Michiru have patrons

“Ho ho ho! We’ve got patrons, so we never lack for money!”

The Sailor Moon Crystal Infinity arc will have four episodes per Blu-Ray and DVD release

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - A DVD

Frustrated at the ultra expensive 2 episode disks of Sailor Moon Crystal that were released in Japan? Good news! It looks like the Infinity arc of Sailor moon Crystal will be released with 4 episodes per disk on DVD and Blu-Ray in Japan. News about these releases is out on the official Sailor Moon site. This season of Sailor Moon Crystal will span 13 episodes and only 3 disks are listed. Further the disk have been listed on Amazon Japan (Disk 1, 2 & 3) and CD Japan. Though there aren’t specifics on every release yet, the first release is listed at 100 minutes on both sites. Each episode of Sailor Moon Crystal is roughly 24 minutes, so 100 minutes covers 4 episodes. With 13 episodes this season it seems likely that the third release, with an MSRP of 1000 yen more than the other two releases, will have five episodes on the disk.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Haruka and Michiru

The first disk will be released in Japan on June 29th with the others being released at roughly 1 month intervals July 27th and August 31st. The first two disks are selling on Amazon Japan for 7,068 yen, about $64 US. The third disk is selling for a slightly higher price of 7,872 yen, about $72 US.

All Blu-Ray and DVD releases of Sailor Moon Crystal’s first two story arcs feature minor updates to the animation from the streaming release. We have no confirmation at this time what changes, if any, might be done to the Infinity arc as it is released on home video.

Still too expensive for something without subtitles? That’s fine. A single disk from Japan costs about the same as the entire first story arc, containing 14 episodes, will cost in the North American release which is coming in August. If you’re able to make due with the free streaming options we already have available it seems prudent to wait.

Yuko Mizutani, the voice of Ikuko Tsukino in Sailor Moon Crystal, dies at age 51

Yuko Mizutani

It is with great sadness that I report that Yuko Mizutani has died as a result of breast cancer. She passed away on Tuesday, May 17th, at the age of 51. Yuko Mizutani has been a voice actress for many years but Sailor Moon fans would know her best as the voice of Sailor Moon’s mother Ikuko Tsukino in Sailor Moon Crystal. She has provided voices for characters in many other popular anime series such as Tekkaman Blade, Kyatto Ninden Teyandee (Samurai Pizza Cats), Martian Successor Nadesico, Saber Marionette J and Digimon. She will be remembered fondly by fans in Japan and throughout the world for years to come.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 6 - Ikuko Mama and Luna

Sailor Moon Crystal is still ongoing and Ikuko Tsukino will continue to appear later in the series. It remains to be seen who will continue in this role in the future.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act.1 Usagi - Sailor Moon - Ikuko Mama

The cast of the next Sailor Moon musical, which starts October 15th, has been announced

We Are The New Pretty Guardians - The cast of the next Sailor Moon musical

A new Sailor Moon musical is coming in October and the cast for the core five girls has been announced on the official Sailor Moon site. The image of the new cast, included above, was accompanied by a brief introduction by each of the cast members. The musical will run from October 15th to November 6th in three different venues across Japan. The performances in Tokyo will be from October 15th to the 23rd. Next is Fukuoka on October 29th and 30th. Finally performances in Osaka will take place from November 4th to the 6th. We don’t have much in the way of details about this musical at this time. The last musical covered the Infinity arc of the manga but we don’t actually know if this one will cover the Dream arc which follows it or do something different.

Check out the cast listing below

Hotaru Nomoto – Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon
Hikari Kuroki – Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mercury
Karen Kobayashi – Rei Hino, Sailor Mars
Kaede – Makoto Kino, Sailor Jupiter
Rimo Hasegawa – Minako Aino, Sailor Venus.