A new iPhone case, sold with or without crystals, is available exclusively to official Sailor Moon Fan Club members

Sailor Moon Fan Club Exclusive Cell Phone case

A new item is now available for pre-order from the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club. If you’re not already a Fan Club member, you’re pretty much out of luck as the period to sign up has long since passed. The latest item is a cell phone case for Apple iPhones featuring an image of Princess Serenity by Naoko Takeuchi which was made for the Sailor Moon Exhibit. It comes in a somewhat affordable “Normal Version”, only $20.99 US, or a “Crystal Version” which is a significantly less affordable $140.99 US. Preorders can be done until January 27th and the item will be released in March.

Sailor Moon Fan Club Exclusive Cell Phone case

What kind of gems account for this difference in price? Any actual precious stones would likely drive up the price much more than $100. These are Swarovski crystals which are basically cut glass. Actually that’s not completely accurate. These are lead glass which is a kind of glass that has a high refractive index which basically means it’s more shiny than normal glass! The case is available for iPhones only and at that it’s only for 6, 6s and 7 models. I’m out of luck to get one to fit my iPhone 6+ but maybe I’ll just buy another Sailor Moon case and stick some rhinestones on it.

What do you think of this case? Will you be picking one up?

Source: Sailor Moon Fan Club Newsletter, Otaku Mode Shop

Here’s a list of cities and theatres screening Sailor Moon R: The Movie in January!

Sailor Moon R The Movie on Netflix Japan - Endymion and Serenity

Viz and Eleven Arts have released a list of cities and theatres which will be playing Sailor Moon R: The Movie early in 2017! Some show times are still to be determined, though most are in January with a few in February. The list is available at the Eleven Arts web site. I’ve included it at the end of this post for those who are too lazy to click on that link. Viz has confirmed that more cities will be added later! There are currently no Canadian cities on this list but I remain hopeful that some will be added as we get closer to the release date!

Serenity - Sailor Moon R movie

The movie will be screened either in English or in Japanese with English subtitles. Some showing are marked “DUB” or “SUB” to reflect this. When not specified as a note the dubbed version will be shown.

Is your city in the list? If it isn’t, don’t be discouraged! There’s still time for yours to be added.

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Sailor Moon S Part 1 Blu-Ray Review

Sailor Moon S Part 1 Blu-Ray - Contents

Sailor Moon S Part 1 is finally out on DVD and Blu-Ray! These sets were released on November 15th and are available from stores and online retailers. This was also the first time Sailor Moon S episodes were released with Viz’s new English dub. With other releases some of the episodes came out prior to the home video releases on Hulu but this was not done this time around.

Support the site by buying the set with the links below. This could be a nice Christmas gift for a Sailor Moon fan in your life!

There are a number of options to purchase it. I got the Limited Edition Blu-Ray set, which comes with a number of extra I’ll get into below. You can also get the regular edition Blu-Ray or DVD releases or, if you’re not into physical copies, you can get the series from Amazon Video. Previous releases were available in standard definition and HD from Amazon Video but this release is only available in HD for $39.99 for the season.

Sailor Moon S Part 1 Blu-Ray - Cover unwrapped

As with other sets I have pretty much the same to say. A good effort by Viz and some nice packaging, decent extras and a nice looking booklet but ultimately the set suffers from poor video quality likely mostly due to the fact that they had bad masters. Since it’s been so long since these episodes have been available here in North America and this is the only way to hear the new dub, fans will probably want to check it out.

Sailor Moon S Part 1 Blu-Ray - Discs

I didn’t watch the entire set yet, but did watch it a bit to get an idea of the dub and video quality. I watched episode 96, Cold Hearted Uranus? Makoto in Trouble, specifically because it had a lot of lesbian references and if there was anything changed on the set this is the kind of episode we’d likely see changes in. I also had a taped off of Japanese TV fansub of this episode years before I got around to seeing the whole season so I was more familiar with it than others. All around I was quite pleased with the dub quality. While I miss the old cast I think the new actors do a decent job of providing an accurate dub of the show. References to lesbianism weren’t glossed over, though they are mostly heavily hinted at rather than outright stated even in the original version of the show. The only real change I noticed is that Rei referred to her magazine with a moustached woman on the cover as her “First edition Sailor Dudettes” which is just kind of weird and not consistent with anything from the original Japanese version.

Original Japanese credits are used. The Sailor Moon S credits changed throughout the series and here we see different intros being used as different characters are introduced. This was a change from the Pioneer and Geneon releases of the series that always used the same opening theme throughout the series. The “today on Sailor Moon” clip plays after the opening credits rather than before it as with the Japanese TV airing of the show and Japanese releases. A minor change all considered.

The video quality isn’t great. Viz appears to have gotten a fairly low quality standard definition interlaced video source. They upscaled it to 1080p using software and then used some filters to try to clean it up. What we’re left with is a fairly poor job which leaves us with video quality that is worse than what we’ve seen with the Japanese releases which I still use as the gold standard for quality for the series. Other releases, like the Italian and French releases, weren’t perfect but look better than this. Some people say it’s worse than VHS, but I think some people don’t remember the days of VHS! Still I think a faithful straight standard definition DVD version of this release would have looked better than what we got, but this is quite subjective. Viz does a good job with other series for which they have better masters. Their Sailor Moon Crystal release was fantastic looking. Because of this I am quite confident that they tried their best with what they had to work with but can only do so much. There are obvious artifacts from interlacing which are mostly visible between narrow lines which can be seen for tiaras and uniforms throughout every episode.

Sailor Moon S Part 1 - Interlacing artifacts in Makoto's tiara

There are some extras on the Blu-Rays, mainly about the new cast, which are not on the DVDs. The main feature is the “Sailor Moon Day 2016 Interview with English Cast”. Included in this interview are Ben Diskin, Umino, Cristina Vee, Sailor Mars, Amanda Miller, Sailor Jupiter, Robbie Daymond, Tuxedo Mask, Stephanie Sheh, Sailor Moon, Cherami Leigh, Sailor Venus and Sandy Fox, Chibiusa.

The rest of the extras are kind of lame. There are short galleries with some images for the characters. Clean opening and ending themes, that being without any credits, include the final version of the opening and the end theme Tuxedo Mirage. The trailers are similar to what we’ve seen in other releases which are ads for other Sailor Moon releases and other anime series released by Viz like Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha.

Sailor Moon S Part 1 Blu-Ray - Limited Edition Book - Rei bio

The booklet which is included is quite nice. There appear to be 96 pages, which aren’t numbered, and this includes episode summaries for each episode, including those from the currently unreleased second part of Sailor Moon S, credits, lyrics, character art and bios. It also includes an ad stating that Season 3 Part 2 is coming in Spring 2017. After long delays in this release let’s hope the next one comes as quickly as they say! The outer box made of sturdy cardboard has room for the second set, as other releases did.

Sailor Moon S Part 1 Blu-Ray - Ad for Sailor Moon S Part 2

Overall I’d recommend this set if you’re looking to see the new dub. Since these episodes are not available to stream in English anywhere, this is the only way to get them legally. The quality isn’t great but it’s watchable if you don’t mind a Blu-Ray that looks worse than a lot of DVDs. The booklet is a nice extra but the bonus features on the set aren’t terribly fantastic. I’m not sure my recommendation matters much though. If you bought the other sets you’ll probably buy this one and if you didn’t, you probably won’t. Viz has been somewhat consistent with the quality of their original series releases. Though quality issues have improved a bit, the release is still in the same general ball park as the others.

If you’re curious about the contents you can watch this unboxing video which Viz put together:

Keep reading for more images of the packaging and the special booklet.

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Attend the Sailor Moon R: The Movie special premiere event in Los Angeles January 13th

Sailor Moon R: The Movie exclusive LA premiere

The premiere of Sailor Moon R: The Movie will take place in Los Angeles on January 13th 2017 at 8pm. This screening of the film will be held at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. A live Q&A session with the cast and some of the staff will follow the film. Since this is a premiere event attendees are strongly encouraged to “dress to impress”. Since this is not your average Hollywood premiere event I think it goes without saying that cosplay would be welcome and encouraged! This will be the English dubbed version of the film, featuring Viz’s new voice cast, and will include the Make Up! Sailor Guardians special. Some cities will also be showing the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

Sailor Moon R The Movie Silhouette

Only tickets for this premiere event are currently on sale on the Ace Hotel site for $29.99 a piece. Details about other showings will be posted to the Eleven Arts web site. I’ll be sure to post updated information about screenings in other cities as I learn about them. Fans in Canada such as myself have been wondering if the movie would be out here. Previous Viz titles distributed theatrically by Eleven Arts such a Boruto Naruto The Movie did play in major cities in Canada. Viz posted a survey online asking people where they live and if they were interested in seeing the film. I encourage all fans to fill it out with information about their own city if they’re hoping to see it!

Are any of you lucky enough to be attending this premiere in LA?

Source: Ace Hotel and Viz Media

The Sailor Moon Amour Eternal musical is now available to download and watch with English subtitles

Sailor Moon Amour Eternal Musical - Watching the eclipse

The latest Sailor Moon musical, Amour Eternal, recently played in Japan. The final performance was available to download through a number of Japanese on demand services however this was little help to international fans who couldn’t speak the language or even access these services which were limited to a Japanese audience. As per usual the people at Miss Dream have subtitled this musical and have made it available on their web site.

Sailor Moon Amour Eternal Musical - The Amazon Trio

For the first time the musical is available on HD. The previous musicals were likely shot on old cameras and released only in standard definition. The video in this release seems better. I hope this means we will be getting a Blu-Ray release of this musical instead of the sub standard interlaced DVDs we’ve seen for the last three.

Sailor Moon Amour Eternal Musical

I haven’t had the time to watch the musical yet but look forward to doing so and maybe doing a review which is something I always drag my feet on for the musicals. Thanks to Miss Dream for subtitling this musical and for Twitter user aeors00 for supplying them with the raw version of the musical.

The cast of Sailor Moon star in yet another Ford Fusion commercial from their Overdubs series

Sailor Moon in front of a Ford Fusion

Ford has release the latest in their Overdubs series of commercials and this one features the entire cast of Sailor Moon. We previously reported on the first commercial, starring Stephanie Sheh and Michelle Ruff as Sailor Moon and Luna. This one has Stephanie Sheh as Sailor Moon, Kate Higgins as Sailor Mercury, Cristina Vee as Sailor Mars, Amanda C. Miller as Sailor Jupiter and Cherami Leigh as Sailor Venus. Watch the clip below.

The original episode this footage comes from is Sailor Moon R episode 72, Rubeus the Heartless: The Tragic Sisters. We can tell this by the fact that they are fighting on a bridge against Petz and Calaveras. Following this altercation they are healed with Sailor Moon’s Silver Crystal. It makes me wonder how they got that Ford Fusion up to the upper part of that bridge…

Sailor Moon Ford Fusion commercial, Petz and Calaveras