Check out Rika Izumi, live action Sailor Mercury, as Nami from One Piece

Rika Izumi as Nami from One Piece

Anime fans who’ve kept up with new stuff since the turn of the millennium will be happy to see Rika Izumi, who played Ami Mizuno in the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series, as Nami from One Piece in a commercial for Indeed. Rika Izumi, who went by the name Hama Chisaki back when the live action series was airing, appears in the commercial as the scantily clad Nami. I can’t say I know much about One Piece but it would seem Nami is one of the main characters from the very fact that she’s in this commercial. You can view the entire thing embedded below.

Rika Izumi as Nami from One Piece

Indeed is a job searching web site. They claim that they are the #1 job search site in the world though this is the first I hear of them. In fairness I’m not looking for work and as you may be able to tell I’ve never even watched One Piece. I don’t exactly have my finger on the pulse of anything beyond the 90s.

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 3 - Ami doesn't want to have lunch with Usagi

Source: Natalie.mu via Crunchyroll

Live Action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 21 - Dark Mercury

Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray February 12th

Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie

The 3rd and final Sailor Moon film, Sailor Moon SuperS: The Nine Sailor Guardians Unite! Miracle of the Black Dream Hole, will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray February 12th. This film was released in theatres earlier this year along with the Ami’s First Love Special which is also available with this video release. Though this is the only Sailor Moon film with a lengthy title the name “Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie” is being used for this release for simplicity’s sake. The film is available for pre-order from Viz.com as well as on the Right Stuf web site (DVD only and Blu-Ray combo pack) and Amazon, though the product is incorrectly included on the same page as the S movie. This release will include Viz’s new english dub of the film as well as the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles and a few extras such as an English cast interview. The cover art features cookies and candy, no doubt a reference to the many sweets playing a role in the film’s plot including special cookies made by Chibiusa to give great power and the Bonbon Baddies (Babies?), candy which attacks the Sailor Guardians.

Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie - Back

The movie has the villains’ main plot to enslave the world’s children and lock them into a dream like simulation in order to collect their energy. I have argued in the past my fan theory that this plot is very close to that of The Matrix.

Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie and The Matrix - Dream coffins are basically The Matrix

Also included is the Ami’s First Love special. This short film was originally released in Japan along with the SuperS movie. It focuses on Ami and her aversion to love letters as she tracks down a rival who she believes to be a monster, with hilarious consequences.

Ami's First Love - Mercurius

The R and S movies which were previously released were all of very high quality, similar to those released in Japan, as can be seen by my review of the R movie and of the Japanese set. The video quality of the SuperS film shown in theatres was quite good, and a likely indicator that this release will be the same. At this price point I think any fan should seriously consider buying this and the other Sailor Moon films. Do you plan on picking it up?

Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie - Sailor Moon escapes The Matrix (Black Dream Hole)

Official Sailor Moon products for pets are coming to Japan in March

Sailor Moon products for dogs and cats

Do you like Sailor Moon and like to dress up your pets? Who doesn’t? Good news! This March official Sailor Moon products by Petio for cats and dogs will be released in Japan. These include Sailor Guardian costumes for dogs and scarves for cats. Why not full on costumes for cats? Anyone who’s tried to put a cat in a costume should know the answer to that question.

Sailor Moon products for cats

The above image shows all of the products which are coming. This includes pet pillows, houses, collars, bags and a variety of toys. Do you plan on picking any of these up?

Dates and cast details for the New York and Washington D.C. showings of Sailor Moon the Super Live have been revealed

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon The Super Live - Team America

We’ve finally got some specifics on the upcoming showings of the Sailor Moon The Super Live musical which will be taking place in New York City and Washington D.C. We also have specifics of who will be involved in the cast which has been dubbed Team America and I have detailed descriptions of those cast members later in the post. The name “Team America” bears an unfortunately and likely unintended resemblance to the all puppet adult film “Team America World Police” by South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

First! The dates. The Washington D.C. performance will be on March 24th at 7pm at the Warner Theatre. This will be a full performance of the musical! It was previously announced that the cast of the musical would perform something at the opening ceremonies of the National Cherry Blossom Festival held on March 23rd but the length of those ceremonies made it unlikely the entire musical could be performed during the 90 minute ceremony. Fans in the area will be able to get tickets from Live Nation.

Sailor Moon SuperS for Sony PlayStation

The New York City show will have three performances over two days. The first will be Friday March 29th at 8pm followed by two showing on March 30th at 1pm and 5pm. The musical will be performed at the PlayStation theatre on Broadway in Manhattan New York. That’s right! Sailor Moon is finally returning to PlayStation after a long hiatus following the 1996 Sailor Moon SuperS fighting game for the original PlayStation. Fans can order tickets from AXS.

Now a word on the cast! Previously the Sailor Moon The Super Live Musical was performed by three different casts in Japan, those being the Pink Heart Cast, the Yellow Diamond Cast and the Blue Musical Note Cast. We had previously posted those casts list in earlier posts here on the site. So which Team is it that’s making up Team America? It’s actually a bit of a mix! Sailor Moon, Mercury and Mars as well as Queen Beryl are from the Blue Musical Note Cast while Sailor Jupiter and Venus are from the Yellow Diamond Cast. Kunzite and Tuxedo Mask were the same actresses for all performances in Japan and they will be reprising their roles in America. Dancers are from all casts, as is detailed at the end of the post.

A bit of background on each of the actresses for those wondering who they might be seeing in these shows!

Tomomi Kasai as Elizabeth in Kamen Rider W

Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon, will be performed by Tomomi Kasai. She was previously a member of the popular Japanese band AKB48. She was also in the Sentai series Kamen Rider W in which she played Elizabeth (the one of the left in the above picture). You can learn more about Tomomi Kasai from her official web site, Twitter feed or Instagram page.

Momoko Kaechi as Sailor Mercury

Momoko Kaechi will be playing Sailor Mercury. She previously appeared in a few Japanese drama series and films. You can follow her on Twitter where she occasionally posts images of a Sailor Mercury doll in her travels.

Yui Hasegawa as Sailor Mars

Yui Hasegawa will portray Sailor Mars. Her main acting experience is as a voice actor who’s works include video games such as Phantasy Star Online 2. She has previous stage acting experience as well including portraying Viluy of the Witches 5 in the Sailor Moon Un Nouveau Voyage musical. For more about Yui Hasegawa follow her on Twitter or check out her official web site.

Kanna Matsuzaki as Sailor Jupiter

Sailor Jupiter will be played by Kanna Matsuzaki. She is an actress and model who has a small role in a recently released film called Blood Club Dolls. You can follow her on Instagram where she occasionally posts pictures of cats.

Yu Nakanishi as Sailor Venus

Sailor Venus will be portrayed by Yu Nakanishi. She is a dancer and actress from movies and other stage plays including Luna Rossa and Ranpo Chronicle. For more on Yu Nakanishi you can follow her Twitter account or check out her official site.

Makoto Aikawa as Queen Beryl

Queen Beryl is played by Makoto Aikawa. She is an actress who has performed in a number of stage plays in the past couple of years. You can see more of her stuff by following her Twitter feed, Instagram page or checking out her official web site.

Reo Sanada as Kunzite

Reo Sanada will play Kunzite of the Shitennou. As with all musicals since La reconquista we have all male characters portrayed by women and The Super Live continues with this tradition. Reo Sanada is a transgender woman with experience in acting and dance. Fans looking for more can check out her Instragram page.

Riona Tatemichi as Rubeus

The important role of Tuxedo Mask will be performed by Riona Tatemichi who is playing her fourth character in a Sailor Moon musical! She first played Rubeus in the Petite Étrangère musical and then played Hawk’s Eye in the Amour Eternal musical and finally was Taiki Kou, Sailor Star Maker of the Sailor Starlights, in the Le Mouvement Final musical. In addition to her many Sailor Moon credits she has also appeared in a number of other stage musicals including some based on Utena and Gundam. You can find out more about Riona Tatemichi from her Twitter feed or official web site.

Riona Tatemichi as Tuxedo Mask

Finally we have a group of dancers. Though I have not yet seen the musical we can see from various photos that these five characters appear to be Dark Kingdom monsters of some type. These are generally non singing role which are portrayed by professional dancers. With the original three teams the various dancers often performed on more than one team and here we have a mix of dancers from the three teams. This includes Atsumi Matsubayashi, from the and teams, Izumi Niihashi, from the and teams, Ayumi Higashikawa, from the team, Moeko Koizumi from the and teams, and finally Hinako Aikawa from the team. Note that the image below does not feature the five dancers from Team America, as they have not performed together in the past. This is another of the teams from one of the Super Live performances.

Dancers from the Sailor Moon The Super Live musical

Will any of you be lucky enough to be attending either of these showings? These are much closer to my home town than any other musical performance has ever taken place! I’ve taken road trips to New York and Baltimore (near to Washington D.C.) in the past with little trouble. Unfortunately with two children under 2 years old at this time it seems unlikely I’ll be able to make the trip. Please let us know if you plan on attending and how it goes!


(This movie is extremely 18+)