Fans may have noticed that a new version of the Sailor Moon Manga is coming starting April 13th. This version, published by Penguin Randomhouse, is being called the Naoko Takeuchi Collection, named after the Sailor Moon manga’s author. So what is this new version and should fans, many of whom have just bought the Eternal Editions, be looking to pick these up? Probably not! Read on to see why I don’t think this is worth your money.
The Sailor Moon Eternal Editions which were released over the past couple of years really were the ultimate version of the manga. These huge volumes were even bigger than the similar sets which were released in Japan. The pages were a high quality glossy white and all colour pages from the original issues of Nakayoshi were reproduced in these. The 10th and final volume was released last month and Code Name Sailor V will be released on April 27th 2021. You might have thought you were almost done shelling out your hard earned dollars on Sailor Moon manga until the news of these new versions dropped! So what exactly is the Naoko Takeuchi Collection all about?
The image on the Penguin Randomhouse web site is likely not the final cover art. What is actually pictured is the Japanese cover of the Sailor Moon Bunko Collection. These versions were released in Japan starting in September 2018, as we originally posted about on this site. Though we don’t have all of the specifics about these new versions it seems likely they will be similar to those. There are usually minor differences between the size and paper quality of Japanese and American versions of the comic, which may be the case with these versions.
As the Japanese versions were fairly inexpensive I bought the whole set. The books are fairly unimpressive. These are very small versions of the manga commonly called bunkobon or bunkoban in Japan. They are A6 size which means they are 4.1″ by 5.8″, smaller than any other versions of the Sailor Moon manga I own. Here is a size comparison photo of the Bunko Collection next to the English Eternal Edition which I took back when I got the first volume of the manga. As you can see this is tiny in comparison.
The quality of the paper is also of a lower quality than the Eternal Editions. Instead of glossy white pages we have a simpler more affordable matte paper. Where the Eternal Editions included a large number of colour pages all of those are included in black and white in these versions. The price matches this, with an MSRP of only $12.99 US per book ($16.99 in Canada) these are quite a bit less expensive than the Eternal Edition, but is it really worth saving that money? If money really is the issue the digital versions of the manga, with colour pages, will cost less even than this budget version.
So why are these called the Naoko Takeuchi Collection? A budget version of the manga is hardly fit to be named after a woman who names characters after precious gems and owns multiple sports cars! Instead these should be called the Ghetto Edition, Cheapskate Edition or Budget Edition, but such a name may not be as likely to make sales! Perhaps we could call them the “Mamoru After He’s Gone Shopping With Usagi Editions”!
In short I’m not sure who the audience is. I similarly wondered this about the Japanese version as I continued to order copies of it. If I were you I wouldn’t bother. Check out the Eternal Editions if you haven’t already! They are fantastic! They are expensive and although the price tag and Canadian prices have meant I haven’t bought them all yet I do plan on doing so. They are worth every penny! Feel free to support the site by buying the physical or digital versions from Amazon using the links below.
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that video came out like 4 years ago
i mean 6 years ago
Yeah, I will pass.
Especially as I have just one more for the Eternal Editions to buy (just waiting on a sale).
Not to mention there are the new all color ones, which I assume will get finished one day.
At least at this rate, Sailor Moon won’t go out of print!
(How about a sequel, Miss Takeuchi?!)
or a Eternal Edition of the Short Stories Volumes
Yeah I rather buy the Eternal Edition. I wonder if they will have a box set for that. Or if they ever create a full color manga version but with the quality of Eternal Edition I would buy it. I wish the author would make a continuation or redo the story again, but expand on each arc or add new arcs before the final arc that would be nice.
I don’t see the point of doing this. Unless they’re making a cheap version for fans who can’t actually afford the manga normally.
That’s exactly thw point of these!
the new set is ment to be travel size and inexpensive for the newer generations of fans
Anyone remember the days when manga and comics used to be released as single editions with only one chapter a book?
I still have my Sailor Moon Chixx Mixx comics from the ’90s and early 2000s.
Those were odd since they were not released in Japan like that and I think only had a North American comic book style release.
The only thing that these dinky editions of Sailor Moon do is make me think of the “tiy foods” trend. I don’t know if anyone else have seen them, but there’s this thing where people make food, just very, very small. Like, a tiny hamburger. A tiny milkshake. It’s cute. It might work as a decoration or so. But I personally have no need for this ‘collection’.
If I was a small Troll doll or a puny elf, maybe I’d prefer these Sailor Moon books. But because I am blessed with big hands, I must say no to these. Even Small Lady would go, “Wow, this is small. Dang.”
Come to think of it, there was a playset when I was a young kid, and it was based on McDonald’s. It was, like, a McDonald’s Hamburger and Fry Maker, but they were, you guessed it, teensy-weensy. That’s what these books really remind me of.
Instead of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” it’s more like, “Honey, I Shrunk the Books and Slapped the Author’s Name On It and People WILL Buy ‘Em!” I think I’m done now.
Regarding that video, the narrator’s tone implies that Naoko Takeuchi blows her nose on real gold leafs. Heh.
Don’t you mean “Nay-oh-kee”? XD
I’ll give him a pass, he’s almost certainly just reading a script and anyone not familiar with Japanese would be confused by her name.
Even I called her “Nay-oh-koh” back in the day.
I’ll have you know that Nay-oh-kay is the alternate lyrics to, “Annie, are you okay?” The narrator is constantly pulled between talking about Sailor Moon’s creator, AND being in a music video. This is my headcanon!
Thanks for being amusing, in seriousness.
Fun fact: Naoki exists, and is the male version of Naoko.
*Catches a Naoki with a Poké Ball.*
Have you seen Nay-oh-kay? Nay-oh-kay’s anime?
Have you seen Nay-oh-kay? Nay-oh-kay’s anime?
You’ve been hit by, you’ve been punished by
A Moon Princess.
*applauds* I shall sing this in public.
I guess this is probably being marketed as the happy middle between the 2014 release (sorry if I’m getting the year wrong) and those who didn’t want to buy the eternal editions which are worth every cent even if you only own a few.
The only thing that would tempt me to buy these is if it came with a limited edition bookmark or post card. Then I would buy at least the first one.