Is this a sneak peak of Yasuharu Takanashi’s music for the Sailor Moon Eternal films?

Tweet by @nassy_takanashi

Yasuharu Takanashi, the composer for the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films, sent a Tweet including a video of him recording some music on November 22nd. Twitter user @CCTakato noticed that the monitor seen in the background of this clip showed Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon. It is plausible that this clip is of music for the first Sailor Moon Eternal movie which will be released in Japan on September 11th 2020. Not much of the music can be heard, which is probably deliberate. Check out the footage in the embedded Tweet below.

Though it’s hard to make out the image on the screen it does look like it’s Sailor Moon near the middle and Sailor Chibi Moon on the bottom right. I messed around with the image a bit to try to clear it up and here’s the best I could come up with.

Sailor Moon Eternal - Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon

Is this the first still of Sailor Moon Eternal that we’re seeing? It looks like they were watching footage while recording their music, though in this case the video appears to be paused.

How reliable is this? Let’s not forget that Yasuharu Takanashi is the one that told us to expect Sailor Moon Crystal season 4 in 2018! What do you think?

Some thoughts on the Sailor Moon x Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music History concert which took place November 9th and 10th

Sailor Moon x Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music History

We had previously reported on the then upcoming Sailor Moon x Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music History Supported By Pretty Guardians concert. At the time there was still quite a bit that was unknown about the concert which took place on November 9th and the 10th, a Saturday and Sunday. One lucky reader was able to attend the November 10th performance and passed on his thoughts about the concert which I’m happy to share. I’ll be paraphrasing some of the highlights of his experience.

Sailor Moon x Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music History

The concert took place at Quest Hall, which is located in Harajuku, a district in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo, which is next to Minato, where Azabu Juban and most locations in the Sailor Moon manga take place. The venue housed a couple hundred people which is quite small compared to what would be used for something like a Sailor Moon musical. The audience was mostly composed of women who would have been old enough to be watching Sailor Moon in the 90s, though there were some younger fans as well.

The goal of this event was to celebrate Akiko Kosaka’s career. She has contributed a lot of music to the Sailor Moon musicals as well as the original Sailor Moon anime and Sailor Moon Crystal. This event seems to have been mostly focused on the musicals, though there were a few songs from the anime as well. Akiko Kosaka performed at the piano for the entirety of the concert, with her music being complemented by a keyboard, guitar, bass and drums. A full set list for both days was posted to the official Sailor Moon Twitter account. You can see those set lists below.

Sailor Moon x Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music History - November 9th set list

Sailor Moon x Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music History - November 10th set list

The performers were not in costume though they did wear Music History t-shirts for the second half of the performance. They moved about the stage acting out some of the songs with a small amount of dancing, using the space provided.

The highlights of the show mentioned were the performance of Triple Dreams, a song first performed as part of the 1995 SuperS musical Dream Warriors – Love – Into Eternity… It was also mentioned that Anza, the first actress to play Sailor Moon, and Hikari Ono, who performed a number of roles throughout many musicals, stole the show. The audience seems to have enjoyed the show immensely.

Sailor Moon x Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music History - Merch

There weren’t a ton of products available at the show. A post on the Sailor Moon official site highlighted some of these, which includes pamphlets, magnets, shirts and water bottles. Artists were also selling some of their own merchandise which were in fairly limited stock. Those in the premium seats got extra merchandise which included a booklet of piano sheet music for three songs and a CD including piano versions of some Sailor Moon songs. In the past such items have been sold on Japanese auctions sites such as Mercari for very high prices.

It does not appear that the show was filmed, making a DVD or Blu-Ray release of this concert unlikely. Though it was not mentioned it is always possible that an audio recording was made for a potential future CD release.

Were any of you lucky enough to attend this concert? What are your thoughts on it?

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 is out on home video today!

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 - Blu-Ray cover

Today is the day! Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 is now available to purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray, which means the entire original Sailor Moon anime, with Viz’s new English dub, is now out! Fans have been waiting to see the final season of Sailor Moon dubbed into English since the 1990s but after Sailor Moon S and SuperS were dubbed, the final season never followed! The set is now available to purchase in stores and online. Fans looking to buy it from Amazon can do so using the links below.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 200 - Galaxia fights Princess Serenity

Have you gotten your copy yet? Did any of you wait until now to watch the fifth and final season? What did you think of the final episodes? If you’re looking to pick up any of the earlier sets you can support the site by ordering them from Amazon using these links.



Young Mamoru wore Terry Bogard’s hat

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Young Mamoru

Terry Bogard from the Fatal Fury video games has been added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. This reminds me that in Sailor Moon Crystal a young Mamoru can be seen holding and wearing Terry Bogard’s hat. In Act 7, Mamoru Chiba – Tuxedo Mask, we see a flashback of Mamoru when he got in an accident as a child. Prior to his accident he is seen wearing a red cap with a white panel just like the one Terry Bogard has in the Fatal Fury games. He is also seen in the hospital with this same red cap on his lap.

Terry Bogard - Fatal Fury

I made a big deal about this in my review of Act 7 back in 2014 but no one really took that terribly seriously! I still think the similarity is fairly obvious. Young Mamoru had a similar hat in the manga but without any colour I would chalk that up to coincidence. The red and white hat from Sailor Moon Crystal on the other hand looks just like Terry Bogard’s which I still believe is intentional.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Young Mamoru

What do you think? Am I stubborn for still trying to make this a thing 5 years later? If you still don’t have Smash Bros. Ultimate, why not buy it using the links below?

Terry Bogard in Smash Bros. Ultimate

Continue reading

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 is now available on Amazon Prime Video

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 on Amazon Prime Video

Yesterday we reported that a number of online retailers were offering Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 as a digital download but that it was not available on Amazon Prime Video. Though it was not listed along with the rest of the series, the final 17 episodes of the season are in fact listed on the site. Fans looking to buy these digitally from Amazon Prime Video can support the site by using the link below.

I don’t believe this is a new addition, but simply something I didn’t notice previously. When one looks at the Amazon Prime Video page for Sailor Moon it only lists up to season 501, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 1. This is what I originally looked at to try to find if the new episodes were available. Part 2 is listed on a totally different page which is likely why I hadn’t seen it.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2

For those who’ve gotten the digital version, what do you think? If you’re still looking to buy the physical release on November 12th you can support the site by pre-ordering it using the links below.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 is now available to download digitally from iTunes, Google Play, the PlayStation Store and the Microsoft Store

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 on iTunes

The physical release of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 2 is less than two weeks away which means the series is now available to purchase digitally from a number of online retailers. The series is available to purchase separately for the English dubbed episodes or in Japanese with English subtitles. The retailers currently offering the series are iTunes, the PlayStation Store, the Microsoft Store and Google Play. Strangely absent is Amazon Prime Video who had Part 1 up for sale two weeks before that set was released physically. The Amazon Video page for Sailor Moon does not include these final 17 episodes of the series.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 200 - Sailor Moon

With these episodes now available the entire Sailor Moon series is available in English for the first time ever! Since Sailor Stars was never dubbed with the DiC/Cloverway dub of Sailor Moon the Viz dub is the first and only official English version we’ve gotten.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 200 - Galaxia fights Princess Serenity

Buying digital downloads of the original Japanese version with English subtitles seems unwise as the series was available for free in this format for quite a while on Hulu. The service is now only available for paying customers who can still stream the series in its entirety in Japanese with English subtitles as well as the first four seasons in English. Sailor Moon had been streaming for free on Yahoo! View but that service no longer exists. Canadians can stream the entire series in Japanese with English subtitles on TubiTV. This is a free streaming service with ads.

Have any of you downloaded this version to listen to the end of the dub of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars? If so what did you think? If you’re holding off for the physical release you can support the site by pre-ordering it from Amazon using the links below.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 200 - Galaxia, Usagi and Chibi Chibi