The upcoming release of Sailor Moon: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray will include improved video quality and a new interview not in the 2014 version

Sailor Moon Complete First Season Blu-ray

Sailor Moon: The Complete First Season is coming to Blu-ray … again. As the first season was originally release on Blu-ray in two parts in 2014 and 2015 many fans had been wondering if it was worth it to buy this again. When I posted about this in March I predicted these would just be the same discs bundled in new packaging. I was wrong! With fans starting to get their hands on the release we can now see that this is a new updated Blu-ray with superior video quality to the originals as well as some new special features. Considering getting it? You can support the site by using the link below to buy it.

The original Sailor Moon Season 1 Blu-Ray releases were, simply put, not good. The video quality was bad. It’s an old show. Viz obviously had some pretty low quality standard definition sources to work with. This show is not HD. The original film source was never scanned in high definition. What we got in 2014 and 2015 were pretty low quality releases with obvious video artifacts. At the time these looked much worse than the DVD releases in Japan as well as others which had come out in other countries prior to this. You can have a look at what that release looked like in my review of the Japanese Blu-ray release which looked better.

Sailor Moon Season 1 Part 1 Blu-ray (2014) - Episode 6 screenshot

Original 2014 Blu-ray

Sailor Moon The Complete First Season Blu-ray (2022) - Episode 6 screenshot

New 2022 Blu-ray

So what does this new version look like? Check out this Twitter thread by Fred Francis where he goes through his set and examines the menus and video quality with side by side comparisons of screenshots. I won’t repeat all of his comparisons here on the site but as you can see from the images above the difference really is night and day. The 2014 release is obviously worse looking than the much nicer looking 2022 release. It’s still not HD. It’s still a standard definition master which has been upscaled to 1080p using software. It just looks much better. The standard definition master was likely superior. More recent software algorithms may also been a contributor. Even as the Sailor Moon series went on the quality of releases by Viz improved dramatically to the point where Sailor Stars doesn’t have the same issues that the first couple of seasons did.

An interview with Katsuyuki Sumisawa

In addition to improved video quality the disc menus and even some features are new. This set has an interview with Sailor Moon writer Katsuyuki Sumisawa which had not been released in the earlier set.

Katsuyuki Sumisawa

Whether or not you consider this set worth purchasing is of course your own decision to make. For me it seems worth the upgrade at the reduced price. The full season costs less than what a half season cost eight years ago.

Will you be picking this set up?

Source: @fredjfrancis on Twitter

Vans is releasing a line of Sailor Moon shoes and accessories which hit store shelves June 3rd

Vans Sailor Moon shoe box

After some seemingly genuine leaks earlier this months it’s been confirmed that a Sailor Moon/Vans collaboration is coming in June of this year. A listing for a pair of Vans shoes is now up on the Foot Locker web site. Many images of shoes and t-shirts were posted to the Vans subreddit because of course there’s a Vans subreddit. This shows a t-shirt of Sailor Moon with her Moon Stick and one of Luna as well as a couple of shoe designs both in black and white and in colour. The boxes indicate that they will be for sale on June 3rd, next Friday. Sailor Moon Fan Network also has some additional images of the shoes as well as a price list of all of the items.

Vans Sailor Moon product list

It’s impossible to say for sure how much supply there will be and how quickly these will sell out but it’s quite likely they will be hard to get your hands on. If you’re looking to get some of these items you can keep an eye on the Vans web site or visit a Vans store if you happen to live near one. I was surprised to see that there are two Vans stores in my area. I suspect that if I went into such a store I may be asked if I was looking for my children! As an item is also listed on the Foot Locket web site these shoes will also likely be available wherever else these kind of things are sold. As of the time of this article’s posting there are no Sailor Moon products listed on the Vans web site, but I suspect they will be added some time soon. Check out all of the currently revealed items below.

Vans Sailor Moon t-shirt

This t-shirt shows Sailor Moon with her Moon Stick after it was upgraded to include the Silver Crystal. This is likely one of the $45 t-shirts.

Vans Luna t-shirt

This t-shirt features Luna. As the shirt is white it may be the less expensive $35 shirt but it may also be one of the many $45 ones.

Vans Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars shoes

These are the shoes currently listed on the Foot Locker web site. It seems this is a pair of shoes with different images on each. The right shoe has Sailor Jupiter on the right side and Tuxedo Mask on the front. The left shoe has Sailor Mars on the right side and Sailor Moon on the front. Perhaps other Sailor Guardians feature on the other sides of the shoes. If so that would likely be Sailor Mercury and Venus. These are likely one of the many “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Multi” designs. Foot Locker lists them at $80 though that isn’t one of the prices on the leaked price list so it could be an item that isn’t visible in the photo of the list.

Vans Sailor Moon black and white shoes

This black and white shoe is nice enough looking but it may have looked nicer with black and white manga art.

Vans Sailor Team shoe

This shoe shows the entire Sailor Team in full colour. The shoe seems very small so I will assume it is a children’s size.

Vans Dark Kingdom and Sailor Guardian shoes

This last pair shows the Dark Kingdom on the right show and the Sailor Team on the right shoe and the Sailor Team on the left shoe. Again there seems to be a different design on each shoe which may be the case for many of the other designs.

Vans Dark Kingdom and Sailor Guardian shoes

Do you plan on getting any of these items? If so will you wear them or keep them in mint condition? I’m usually a fan of opening and using your products but a shoe is certainly something which will get dirty and worn after not too long. I can’t say I’m in the target demographic of Vans but perhaps I’d get some of these shirts or some shoes for my kids if they’re the right size. What’s your plan to beat the rush and secure some of these?

Source: Sailor Moon Fan Network

Update! Shortly after posting this images of all of the products showed up on the Vans Japan web site and Official Sailor Moon site. This is what’s coming out in Japan and we see a lot of the same items I mentioned above however there may be some minor differences. The Luna shirt and black and white shoe aren’t here. Check out those images below.

Vans x Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon shoes

This shows a couple of pairs of shoes we already saw and a few more.

Vans x Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon shoes

Here are more shoes and slippers including some interesting looking Luna slippers.

Vans x Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon merchandise

Other merchandise including a bag, toque and socks.

Vans x Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon merchandise

Shirts, including the t-shirt we saw from the reddit post, and another bag.

The long delayed Naoko Takeuchi Collection version of the manga is now out. Don’t buy it! It’s terrible.

Sailor Moon Manga Bunko Collection - Covers

Last week, May 3rd 2022, the first volume of the much anticipated Naoko Takeuchi Collection of the Sailor Moon manga was finally released. This new version has been delayed a number of times and fans have been excited to finally see it released for a while. They’re wrong to do so. You should not buy this. It’s not a good version of the manga. You should buy the Eternal Edition instead and if you have the Eternal Edition you should read that and just not buy this. It’s your choice of course! It’s your money. You are free to waste your money on a really bad release of the manga. I suggest you don’t. Fans keep asking if they really need to keep rebuying the Sailor Moon manga. Good news! You don’t have to this time!

Sailor Moon Manga Bunko Collection - Index - Black and White

So what is this version? The Naoko Takeuchi Collection is the equivalent to the Sailor Moon Bunko collection which was released in Japan starting in 2008. I bought all of these and they’re in every sense inferior to the Japanese Complete Editions which were comparable, though slightly smaller than, the English Eternal Editions. The Eternal Editions are great! Big pages with glossy white paper and all of the colour pages from Nakayoshi! The Naoko Takeuchi Collection is a smaller version printed on lower cost paper with black and white versions of those colour pages. Why would you buy this? Are you poor? That’s fine if you are. I have children so I know what it’s like not to have money. If you’re strapped for cash get the digital version of the Eternal Edition with colour pages. It costs about the same.

Sailor Moon Eternal Edition and Bunko Collection

Granted I haven’t bought this English version. Manga size and paper quality between Japanese and English releases can vary. Pictured above is the English Eternal Edition next to the Japanese Bunko Collection volume 1. The measurements on the Amazon listing for these books tell the same story. The height of this new release (Dimensions: ‎ 4.96 x 0.95 x 7.43 inches) is about the same as the width of the Eternal Edition (Dimensions: ‎ 7.11 x 0.7 x 10 inches). It’s small. The paper quality of the Japanese release is a cheap greyish newsprint type of paper. This may not be what you’re getting in the Naoko Takeuchi collection but you won’t be getting glossy white pages like with the Eternal Editions and you aren’t getting the colour pages from the original manga.

Update: It seems like one difference in this version is a newer translation. Many people expressed concern with the English translation from the Eternal Edition so the translation in this version may be something that some of you are interested in.

Don’t do it! Don’t buy! It’s not worth it! Save your money! Okay do you still want to buy them? All right then you can always buy and pre-order them using the Amazon links below which helps support the site.

Or better yet buy the not terrible Eternal Edition. You will be happy with that version. I certain have been.



Two Sailor Moon Cosmos films, a Sailor Moon Crystal adaptation of the Stars arc of the manga, will be released in the summer of 2023

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos - Logo

The big news from the 30th Anniversary Streaming Event was the announcement of Sailor Moon Cosmos! The two films, Part 1 and Part 2 as was the case with Sailor Moon Eternal, will continue to Sailor Moon Crystal series and cover the Stars arc of the Sailor Moon manga. The current plan is to have these films come out in the summer of 2023 though delays are not completely uncommon with Sailor Moon Crystal. A trailer for the films was shown at the event and then posted on the Sailor Moon Official YouTube Channel. You can watch it embedded below.

The Stars arc is the fifth and final story arc of the Sailor Moon manga so this is likely the end of Sailor Moon Crystal. There’s a lot going on in this trailer! The Stars arc has Usagi meeting the Three Lights and fighting Galaxia. Though it seems that revealing the Sailor Starlights is something that is being kept for a later date we do get a quick look at a poster of The Three Lights in the background in Usagi’s room and an arm seen in the trailer likely belongs to Seiya who is wearing his school uniform. Sailor Galaxia is shown, with her face somewhat obscured. We also got a quick look at Chibi Chibi arriving at the end of the trailer. The final shot has three shooting stars crossing the sky, which would be the Sailor Starlights who are arriving from outside of the solar system.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos - Chibi Chibi

The film’s title, Sailor Moon Cosmos, is a reference to Sailor Cosmos who is a future incarnation of Sailor Moon who we sort of see in the trailer but sort of don’t.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos - The Golden Crystal

Mamoru, Tuxedo Mask, is seen briefly in this trailer. Will we see much more of him in the films? What a nice looking golden crystal in that one shot.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos - Minako and Rei

Now the speculation can begin about this film! It looks like the art style is fairly similar to what we saw in Sailor Moon Eternal. Does this mean that Kazuko Tadano is returning? The official movie site lists her as the character designer but not the animation director for the films. Since I can’t read Japanese I’m not able to translate anything else.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos - Usagi and a Three Lights poster

We haven’t seen much of the Three Lights and Sailor Starlights yet. The songs they performed were a big part of the music for the Sailor Stars season of the original Sailor Moon anime. One would think this would be an important part of these new movies. Who might voice these characters? Perhaps some popular Japanese vocalists! In the original Sailor Moon anime the Three Lights were men as civilians and they transformed into women when they became the Sailor Starlights, though they were voiced by women at all times. The Sailor Moon Crystal series follows the manga more faithfully in which case the Sailor Starlights are women and they disguise themselves as men when they are the Three Lights. It seems likely they could get women to do the voices of these characters, though it could go either way. What popular Japanese pop singers would you like to see voicing the Three Lights?

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos - Usagi and Seiya

A note on language while discussing these movies. I’ll generally be referring to the Sailor Starlights as women with pronouns to match and the Three Lights as men with the equivalent pronouns. A lot has happened since the 1990s as far mainstream acceptance of transgender, genderfluid and non binary identities. It might not be evident how exactly to classify these characters by modern standards. As the story tends to have the Starlights identifying as women while they’re Sailor Guardians and the Three Lights identifying as men in their civilian identities I’ll be using language which fits that when discussing those characters. Since the Japanese language doesn’t use pronouns in the same way as we do in English I expect this isn’t something that is likely to be addressed in the official canon but am happy to update this practice if there seems to be cause to do so. If any of this seems incorrect or inappropriate feel free to bring it up in the comments.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos - 2023 Summer Roadshow

Are you excited for these films? Do you think they will actually be released in 2023?

Keep reading for many more screenshots from this trailer.

Continue reading