Moon Color Chainon Album CD and Blu-Ray review

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Both covers

Two Moon Color Chainon singles were released on January 13th 2021. I moved a week after these were released so my review is a bit late! These CD singles also included a bonus Blu-ray. There are two version of the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon, hence the two releases. One is the Eternal Edition release which features the song performed by Momoiro Clover Z as well as the voice actors from Sailor Moon Crystal while the Momoiro Clover Z version has the song only performed by Momoiro Clover Z. Each CD has a number of other tracks though only the Eternal Edition features new tracks. Everything on the Momoiro Clover Z Edition has been released before.

If you’re looking to check out these albums and are hoping to save your money you’re in luck. Both the Eternal Edition and Momoiro Clover Z Edition albums are streaming on Spotify. The Eternal Edition includes the full album though the Momoiro Clover Z Edition only includes their version of Moon Color Chainon. That song is the only one that is new to this album so you could find the others on other albums though I don’t believe any of them are on Spotify.

I’ll break down each CD with a track by track review. First up is the Eternal Edition which features Super Sailor Moon on the cover art.

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Eternal Edition - Cover

The first track is Moon Color Chainon. This version features vocals by not only Momoiro Clover Z but also the voice actors for the Sailor Team, that being Sailor Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus, from Sailor Moon Crystal. I suspect this is the actual one used in the film itself hence it’s called the Eternal Edition but I’m actually not certain of this. This song has grown on me since I first heard it and I quite enjoy both versions.

The second track is Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute or Wanting To Be Together With You, the first Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme, covered by Yoko Ishida. Yoko Ishida has previously provided the vocals for a number of Sailor Moon songs including Otome No Policy (Maiden’s Policy), the Sailor Moon R ending theme, and Ai No Senshi (Guardian of Love), which was used twice in the series. She did not provide the vocals for this song in the original series, so this is a first for her. I understand this song was used in the ending credits of Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 but I’m still waiting to actually see the film! This is a good cover of the song. It’s not a drastic change from the original.

The third track is a cover of “Rashiku” Ikumasho or I’ll Go As Myself, by Anza. This was the second ending theme for Sailor Moon SuperS. See a pattern here? Anza was the very first actress to play Sailor Moon in the musicals and held that role longer than anyone else. I believe this version was used at the end of Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2 which I am also looking forward to actually seeing at some point. Anza is fantastic and this cover is quite good.

The other three tracks are just instrumental versions of the first three tracks. This is a pretty standard thing to include in most Sailor Moon singles or short albums. I wonder who this appeals to. While I find these interesting bonuses which I appreciate having for completion’s sake I usually listen to them once and skip them every other time I listen to these albums. The whole point of the Eternal Edition is that the songs have different people doing the voices and those vocals aren’t even on these tracks.

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Cover

Next up is the Momoiro Clover Z Edition which features just songs by that band. The first track is once again the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon however this one only features Momoiro Clover Z and none of the Sailor Moon Crystal cast. Whether you like this one more probably depends on whether or not you’re a fan of Momoiro Clover Z! I think this album is targeted towards fans of the band!

Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Tribute Album - Cover

The second track is Moonlight Densetsu or Moonlight Legend, the theme song for the original Sailor Moon anime, as covered by Momoiro Clover Z. This track was previously included in the Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Tribute Album which was released on January 29th 2014. It’s a decent cover of the iconic theme song!

Momoiro Clover Z - Moon Pride CD Single

The third track is Moon Pride, the Sailor Moon Crystal theme songs for all of seasons 1 and 2, once again performed by Momoiro Clover Z. They are the original performers of this song so this track really isn’t something new. This track was previously released on the Moon Pride Single which was released in two versions on July 30th 2014.

The fourth track is Gekkou or Moon Rainbow, the first ending theme for Sailor Moon Crystal, again performed by Momoiro Clover Z. This version of the song was also included in the Moon Pride Single.

The fifth track is Tuxedo Mirage, the ending theme for Sailor Moon S, performed by Momoiro Clover Z. This song was previously released on the Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Tribute Album along with Moonlight Densetsu.

Moon Pride CD Single - CD Version

The sixth track is Moon Revenge from the Sailor Moon R movie performed by Momoiro Clover Z. It’s decent but I prefer the original. This was also included as part of the Moon Pride Single however it was only included as a bonus track on the CD version of the single and not the Blu-Ray version.

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III - 3rd single - Front

The seventh track is New Moon ni Koishite or In love with New Moon, which was the opening theme for Sailor Moon Crystal’s third season. This Momoiro Clover Z rendition was the third and final version of the song which was used for Acts 34 through 37. It’s not my favourite version of this theme song but it’s, again, decent. This was previously released on the third Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 CD single which came out on June 22nd 2016.

Finally the eighth track is the karaoke or instrumental version of Moon Color Chainon. As I mentioned I don’t particularly care for these tracks.

Each CD comes with a Blu-ray disc which has a music video of that version of Moon Color Chainon on it. These are pretty bare bones discs with a single image, similar to the album cover art, as the menu.

Moon Color Chainon Blu-ray - Eternal Edition menu

The Eternal Edition version includes the “Animation Music Video” which is available in its entirety on YouTube. It’s a nice video which includes a ton of footage and therefore a ton of spoilers for the Sailor Moon Eternal movie.

Moon Color Chainon Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Drums

The Momoiro Clover Z version includes the “Artist Music Video” which has footage of Momoiro Clover Z recording the song in a studio. A lot of those clips are very similar to those seen in the short version of the Eternal version of the Artist Music Video which is available on YouTube however since this version is much longer, there is some new footage. One example is extra clips of musicians playing various musical instruments which were used in the song.

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Eternal Edition - Booklet

The packaging and booklet aren’t anything terribly earth shattering. We’ve got lyrics for the songs and some credits for those who worked on the albums. I’ll include more photos of the packaging and booklet at the end of the post.

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Amazon vendor exclusive card

I got my copies from Amazon and each came with a vendor exclusive card. It was actually the same card which came with each release so I ended up getting two identical cards! Had I known I may have opted to buy one of the albums at the slightly less expensive price for the version which didn’t come with this card.

Are these worth getting? I’m finding it tough to continue to justify buying Sailor Moon CDs when they’re being streamed on a server I already pay for. Physical media for music is become more and more obsolete with every passing year. It’s nice to have for collectors. You can hear all of the tracks in the Eternal version on services such as Spotify. You can hear the only new track from the Momoiro Clover Z version on Spotify as well. Although the other songs on that album were all released previously they do not appear to be available on streaming music platforms so unless you happen to have the 20th Anniversary Tribute Album, the CD only Moon Pride Single and the third Sailor Moon Crystal season 3 CD, this might be worth picking up to hear some of those songs.

I’m still waiting impatiently for news on when we will be seeing the Sailor Moon Eternal films outside of Japan! I certainly hope to be able to see the films soon.

Keep reading for more pictures of the packaging and from the Blu-ray video.

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Eternal Edition - Cover

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Amazon vendor exclusive card

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Eternal Edition and Momoiro Clover Z with bonus card

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Eternal Edition - Back

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - CD disc

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Eternal Edition - Blu-ray disc

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Eternal Edition - Booklet

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Eternal Edition - Booklet

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Cover

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Back

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - CD disc

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Blu-ray disc

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Booklet Page 1

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Booklet Pages 2 and 3

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Booklet Pages 4 and 5

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Booklet Pages 6 and 7

Moon Color Chainon CD and Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Booklet - Credits

Moon Color Chainon Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Drums

Moon Color Chainon Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Instruments

Moon Color Chainon Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Pointing

Moon Color Chainon Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Serious stare

Moon Color Chainon Blu-ray - Momoiro Clover Z Edition - Sheet music

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27 thoughts on “Moon Color Chainon Album CD and Blu-Ray review

  1. FYI, the ZZ versions of tracks #2 thru #7 have been remastered without the vocals of Momoka Ariyasu, who departed in 2008, so they’re not exact copies of older tracks.

      • Yup. If you listen to both versions of each track, you can hear where Momoka’s parts have been replaced with vocals from one of the other four girls.

  2. Thanks again for uploading quality content, Adam!

    Re: instrumental tracks

    If the song lyrics in the liner notes (or sleeve notes) are any indication, the instrumental tracks are included for listeners who want to use them for karaoke, a popular pastime in Japan. (Other people like using them to make AMVs or their own remixes.) You could isolate the instrumental track on your own using software as well, but most people don’t even know about this possibility, and record labels would rather you pay for these “value-added” tracks.

    P.S. These instrumental tracks are mostly off-vocal tracks, meaning that if you want to learn the harmonies/backup vocals for your favorite songs you’d have to extract those separately. (I had to do this to learn the backup vocals for Moon Revenge.)

      • Oh! There you are!
        Did you know that Aurélia and I were attacked by Fransisca using Star Gentle Uteruses…(Uteri…Uterae, whatever the plural is!) and she *gasp* abandoned me (on a technicality of being French and not watching the Dic dub!) so I had to endure both of the attacks.
        I kept waiting on Tuxedo Joseph to show up and rescue me, but it never happened. So I was nearly destroyed.
        Let me tell you, those things are definitely a misnomer. There is nothing “gentle” about them!

        • “on a technicality of being French and not watching the Dic dub!”

          Which is the absolute truth! Of course! Why would I endure an attack aimed at the DiC dub viewers if I am NOT a DiC dub viewer myself? That makes sense :D ! Plus in the Sailor Moon Universe, women are always the ones saving the day, and so I thought it would be very mean to let men behind once again… and that is why I let you alone facing Fransisca’s attack, because all I wanted was to let you shine and reveal your strength to the world! And you did great, since you are alive and well :D .

          (And this, kids, is how to use rhetoric to avoid ending a long-time friendship.)

        • And yet, not only was I NOT present to become Tuxedo Joeseph in your time of need, my dear Saint, but, as you’ve noticed, I was missing in action for a while AGAIN! Yeah. Been extremely busy, but, hey.

          I regret not being present when such a dire confrontation happened, but coming back to read about “Star Gentle Uteruses”? I can’t complain! :D

          Hello, Aurélia! As for ending long-time friendships, isn’t that the best feeling in the world, in real life? Mm-mmm! Delicious estrangements!

          • It’s okay. I think from facing such a battle alone I managed to power up to “Super” Saintfighteraqua, now.

            Anyway, glad you are still around.

    • I’ll support it regardless, but I really hope they are smart and get us an official release before then. It would be a good business move and cut down on pirates.
      I won’t say I won’t be happy if fansubbers release it before then…but I will say that I will buy it either way unless they charge some insane amount for the Blu-rays.

    • Those Google Play listings might be fake since they’re missing a lot of information. They’re also out way early since the movies are still showing in theaters. Toei usually doesn’t wish digital releases

  3. Both those CDs seem to be very beautiful items! I love the pictures, as well as the music video screenshots.

    I love instrumental songs, I love the fact that we can learn how to sing on off-vocal tracks!

    • Wow, beautiful!! The Golden Crystal… and Mamoru as well. However I’ll take Mamo-chan, but you can keep the Crystal if you want.

      (Salut Adam, c’est Aurélia, j’écris avec une nouvelle adresse mail, tu peux donc valider mon commentaire sans problème ;) . Merci beaucoup !)

    • It’s a shame that the only thing he ever uses his Golden Crystal for is to power up Eternal Sailor Moon.

      P.S. If you look for them, there are clips floating around of the final battle with all the Sailor Power Guardians and the cats in human form.

  4. On a related note, it looks like “Moon Effect” was the background track for the final battle in Part II. I wonder if the other character songs were also included?

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