An Instagram post accidentally confirmed that the Sailor Moon Eternal films are coming to Netflix

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Adam

A voice actor’s post on Instagram appears to show him recording the dub of the Sailor Moon Eternal films for Netflix. Those who follow this site know that I’m not one to jump to conclusions when rumours are flying around but at this point I feel confident in stating that the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films, which are coming to Japanese theatres on January 8th and February 11th, are coming to Netflix. The post made to Instagram earlier today seems to all but confirm this. Thank you to Twitter user Gabe Nwagbala for pointing this out to me. You can thank him by checking out his YouTube channel which features Super Smash Bros., Tekken and Soulcalibur! The post in question, which has since been deleted, was made by voice actor Michael Yurchak. He provided the voice for Hawk’s Eye in the Viz dub of the original Sailor Moon anime. As Viz had generally kept the same voice actors for both their dubs of the original Sailor Moon anime and Sailor Moon Crystal it makes sense that he might be reprising his role for the Sailor Moon Eternal films, which are the equivalent of the fourth season of Sailor Moon Crystal. The photo in question was not meant to leak any information about the project and was likely quite unintentional. Michael Yurchak was simply commending the VSI group for their safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The monitor in the background of this photo shows two of the Amazoness Quartet, who look to be VesVes or maybe CereCere and JunJun, while the writing at the top of the monitor reads “of Netflix”. That could say “Property of Netflix” or something of the sort. This confirms what was previously suspected when the Screen Actors Guild had a listing for “Astro Girl (Aka: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie)” which had a note stating it was a Netflix dubbing agreement. Note that Michael Yurchak’s Instagram profile states that he is a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

This isn’t an official announcement but it’s really hard to deny the implications here. This is a voice actor who was previously associated with the series who’s indadvertedly shown us that he’s working on a Netflix project and those characters are from the new Sailor Moon Eternal films and they appear to be in the style in which this movie is going to be. Netflix generally dubs their own series so it’s not unreasonable to expect that since Netflix dubbed this movie it is so that it will appear on Netflix. This post also seems to confirm what many had been hoping and that is that the original voice cast of Sailor Moon Crystal is returning for the Sailor Moon Eternal films. Though Michael Yurchak’s character Hawk’s Eye was not in the earlier seasons he was in the original Sailor Moon anime and Viz kept the same voice cast from the original anime for Sailor Moon Crystal. The obvious interpretation of this image, given the Amazon Trio do interact with the Amazoness Quarter, is that Michael Yurchak is voicing Hawk’s Eye in these films and that, when possible, the rest of the Viz cast will be reprising their roles. There’s a bit of speculation here as I don’t know if Netflix and Viz need to have some sort of agreement, if guild work is a factor or if all of the actors were available and willing to be in these films. We will have to wait for some official confirmation before determining more details about the full cast. If most of the cast is in fact returning there is still some question as to whether Chris Niosi will be returning as the voice of Pegasus, a significant role in these films, as the actor had been recast in some other voice acting work he’d been doing following some controversy.

It is worth noting that last month voice actor Stephanie Sheh, who provides the voice for Usagi in Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal, shared a photo of herself doing voice over work while wearing a Sailor Moon shirt. While this alone is not definitive proof of anything if we consider it in the context of what we’ve learned since it seems plausible that she could have been recording her lines for Sailor Moon Eternal at that time.

We still of course don’t have official confirmation of this. I am a skeptical person who’s threshold for believing rumours is pretty high, but I really do think it is now well established that these films are coming to Netflix. It remains to be seen when we might actually be getting these films. Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 will be out in Japan on January 8th and Part 2 will follow shortly afterwards on February 11th. While a simultaneous release of an English dubbed and subbed version on Netflix would be nice I don’t know if we should realistically expect this. It is nice to see them recording their lines prior to the film’s release which does suggest it could be added to the service sooner rather than later. It also has not yet been confirmed that a subtitled version of the film will be released along with the dub. While a lot of anime on Netflix is both dubbed and subbed I’m reminded of the Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back – Evolution film which had the option of including Japanese audio but had dubtitles, basically closed captions for the English dub, rather than subtitles of the Japanese dialogue.

Some fans have also wondered if the movies being on Netflix would mean no home video DVD and Blu-Ray release. I would say such a release is still quite likely. Many Netflix original movies and series still get home video releases and it is certainly likely that these films would sell quite well to fans who’ve bought the rest of the series even though it was available on other streaming services.

Ultimately a Netflix release of a Sailor Moon film just means more people being exposed to it. While a lot of anime fans subscribe to services like Crunchyroll and Funimation a lot more people subscribe to Netflix. This might allow the Sailor Moon Eternal films to reach a much wider audience beyond the dedicated fans which have been following the series to date!

I sincerely hope that sharing this photo does not have negative consequences for Michael Yurchak. By the time I was made aware of this photo’s existence it seemed to me like the genie was out of the bottle and although I subsequently had a large part in propagating it I think that next step was inevitable, whether it would have been me or someone else who did that. It is clear to me that no Michael Yurchak did not intend to have anything he was working on identifiable based on the image and it was only obvious to fans because of existing rumours about Netflix doing this dub.

Thanks again to Gabe Nwagbala for pointing out the original post to me. He also shared that this was predicted in a video from August by Animal Lover & Anime Fan Natalie “LifeLight” Glevicky. She later posted this new video which discusses the evidence for the Netflix series including this post! If you’re a fan of fighting games such as Tekken, Super Smash Bros. and Soul Calibur you’d be wise to check out his YouTube channel.

Get caught up on Sailor Moon Crystal before the new movies hit Netflix by purchasing the series using the Amazon links below which supports this site:

You can also stream Sailor Moon Crystal on Crunchyroll.

New Sailor Moon Eternal content appears in the latest issue of Animage

Posted on December 12, 2020 by Adam

There’s a decent amount of Sailor Moon Eternal content in issue 511 of Animage which was released in Japan on December 10th. I saw a lot of these scans posted in the @news_saturn Twitter account, which also provided translations of some of the content. In the image above we see the Amazoness Quartet and the Amazon Trio. Below we see Mamoru with a black rose on his chest. While roses are common in the Sailor Moon anime they aren’t something Tuxedo Mask has in the manga or Sailor Moon Crystal, but the manga did have this black rose growing on his chest while Earth was under attack.

Also included is an interview with voice actors Kotono Mitsuishi, who plays Usagi, and Misato Fukuen, who plays Chibiusa. This interview has some nice insight! Misato Fukuen mentions that she’s happy to be returning to the character after four years and that it’s been so long that she needed to do vocal training to get the voice just right! Nice to see fans aren’t the only ones to notice that it’s been so long since we’ve had any new Sailor Moon Crystal! They give some hints about what is coming up in Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2, though this isn’t really some greatly hidden industry secret since the story is right there for everyone to read in the manga!

Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 will be released in theatres in Japan on January 8th. Part 2 will follow shortly afterwards on February 11th. There has not yet been any news about a release of the film outside of Japan.

Source: Kotono Mitsuishi and Misato Fukuen interview, Amazoness Quartet, Mamoru, Amazoness Quartet and Amazon Trio

New Sailor Moon Eternal clips were shown on an NHK Sailor Moon TV special

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Adam

This past Saturday, December 5th, there was a two hour long Sailor Moon special which aired on NHK in Japan. This special centered around voting on fans’ favourite characters, episodes and songs from Sailor Moon and also included a number of special guests and clips from the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films! Though the special was televised you can watch a version online by following this link. There’s a lot going on in this two hour video so I’ll point out a few places where you can find new Sailor Moon Eternal footage.

At 64 minutes and 24 seconds you can see the voice actors who portray Chibiusa, Misato Fukuen, and Mamoru, Kenji Nojima, doing a live read of a clip from the upcoming film which features Chibiusa and Mamoru speaking in the build up to Chibiusa’s transformation.

At 77 minutes and 28 seconds we see a clip of Chibiusa, Mamoru and Usagi speaking. Diana is also present but doesn’t speak in this footage.

And while it’s not Sailor Moon Eternal footage there is something quite interesting at 114 minutes and 8 seconds. Here we see Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice of Usagi from the original Sailor Moon anime and Sailor Moon Crystal, doing a live recording of some lines from the first season finale. Why is this important? She didn’t have a chance to record these for the original episode as she was off with an illness. That episode, and a few others, were recorded instead by Kae Araki who later returned to voice Chibiusa in Sailor Moon R. I shared this on Twitter after having seen it posted by the Sailor Moon Canada account which prompted an interesting discussion where I learned that this was not the first time Kotono Mitsuishi recorded these lines. As noted in the Tuxedo Unmasked article about her illness which kept her from recording those episodes, she had recorded audio of that final scene. The article mentions that this was an audio tape though I understand there is a CD which exists as well. She also recorded those lines for the 2018 Classic Concert. I have that CD but it is boxed up somewhere but user David Perez on Twitter says it’s on track 9.

There are some odd things in this video such as footage of Kazuko Tadano with an image of the anime character which was based off of her hiding her face!

We also get a look at some storyboards for the film. Some aren’t easy to make out but there is a pretty close up shot of a couple of pages at one point.

We’ve also got a new 15 second commercial for Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 which shows Usagi and Chibiusa with the Holy Grails, Helios and Pegasus. You can watch the commercial on YouTube below.

With Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 coming to Japanese theatres on January 8th and Part 2 coming February 11th we are getting a lot of new content coming at us lately! There seem to be new clips and images of the film most days! I’m trying to keep up with the news. Feel free to share anything you spot in the comments!

Keep reading for more screenshots from these clips.

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The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon has been released … sort of

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Adam

The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song, Moon Color Chainon, has been released in Japan as we get many details about the CD and Blu-Ray releases posted to the official Sailor Moon site. Though Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 won’t be released until January 8th 2021 and the CDs and Blu-Rays of Moon Color Chainon will be released on January 13th the song is already available to stream on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. Unfortunately fans outside of Japan will find that any links to these songs won’t work! Momoiro Clover Z did perform this song live and full length versions are also available online. The YouTube video embedded below is one such example.

We’ve also gotten a lot of details about other track which will be included on the full albums. Here I was expecting these would be closer to a single but we can now see that there will be a few tracks on each!

The Momoiro Clover Z Edition of the album will include the version of Moon Color Chainon by Momoiro Clover Z without the Sailor Moon Eternal cast. The other songs on this album are listed as the “-ZZ ver.-” which most likely means that Momoiro Clover Z performs that version and not that Ziv Zulander, The Bots Master, will be recording the vocals. Note that all of the tracks but Moon Color Chainon were included with earlier Sailor Moon Crystal albums. Here’s a track listing.

M1: Gesshoku Chainon (Moon Color Chainon) – The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song – Momoiro Clover Z ver.
M2: Moonlight Densetsu (Moonlight Legend) – The original Sailor Moon anime theme song -ZZ ver.-
M3: Moon Pride – The first Sailor Moon Crystal theme song -ZZ ver.-
M4: Gekkou (Moon Rainbow) – The first Sailor Moon Crystal ending theme -ZZ ver.-
M5: Tuxedo Mirage – The Sailor Moon S ending theme -ZZ ver.-
M6: Moon Revenge – From Sailor Moon R The Movie -ZZ ver.-
M7: New Moon ni Koishite (In love with New Moon) – The opening theme for season 3 of Sailor Moon Crystal -ZZ ver.-
M8: Gesshoku Chainon (Moon Color Chainon) [Instrumental or Karaoke version]

The Eternal Edition of the Album includes the version of Moon Color Chainon by not only Momoiro Clover Z but also the cast of Sailor Moon Eternal! All three songs on this album are the ones which will be played with the films. The cover art for this album is included at the top of this post. The second track is a cover of the first Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme by Yoko Ishida, who performed a number of songs in the original Sailor Moon anime but not this one. This is the ending theme for Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1. The third track is a cover of the second Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme which will be performed by ANZA, the first actress to play Usagi in the Sailor Moon musicals. This is the ending theme for Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2.

M1: Gesshoku Chainin (Moon Color Chainon) – The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song – Momoiro Clover Z with Sailor Moon (Kotono Mitsuishi), Sailor Mercury (Hisako Kanemoto), Sailor Mars (Rina Sato), Sailor Jupiter (Ami Koshimizu) and Sailor Venus (Shizuka Ito)
M2: Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute (Wanting to Be Together with You) – The first Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme – Yoko Ishida
M3: “Rashiku” Ikimasho (I’ll Go As Myself) – The second Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme – ANZA
M4: Gesshoku Chainon (Moon Color Chainon) [Instrumental or Karaoke version]
M5: Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute (Wanting to Be Together with You) [Instrumental or Karaoke version]
M6 : “Rashiku” Ikimasho [Instrumental or Karaoke version]

All considered it seems like the Momoiro Clover Z Edition includes a version of the theme song which won’t actually be in the movie and some covers which we’ve actually gotten in other releases while the Eternal Edition includes three tracks which will be in the movie, all of which we’ve never actually heard on other releases! If you’re only going to buy one of these then the Eternal Edition seems like the obvious choice for Sailor Moon fans, though perhaps Momoiro Clover Z fans will be inclined to pick up the other album!

The CD and Blu-Ray can still be ordered from a number of online retailers, though currently Amazon Japan does not seem to have the items in stock. The Momoiro Clover Z version (Amazon Japan exclusive, regular edition, CD Japan) is 2500 yen which is about $24 US while the Sailor Moon Eternal version (Amazon Japan exclusive, regular edition, CD Japan) is 2200 yen which is about $21 US.

What do you think of the song? Which song are you most excited to hear?

Here are more images of from Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Adam

Some new images of Usagi, Chibiusa, Mamoru, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako were released earlier this week. Though these haven’t been posted on the official Sailor Moon site they have been seen elsewhere online. I originally saw these on Instagram when they were posted by Sailor Moon Collectibles who mentioned she had seen them on animate Times. These images were shared in three different posts, the first showing Chibiusa and Usagi, the second showing Ami and Rei and the third showing Makoto and Minako.

The civilian images mostly seem new. Some of these, including most of the transformed posed images, had been seen before though they previously had the Lawson Print Shop “Sample” watermark on them. Since those have been for sale at Lawson Print Shops since August many versions without the water mark are out there.

With the trailers mostly focusing on transformations and Sailor Guardian outfits it’s nice to get another look at everyone in their day to day clothes. What do you think?

Sailor Moon Crystal Part 1 will be released in theatres in Japan on January 8th 2021 with Part 2 following shortly afterwards on February 11th. There has not yet been any announcement of when and how the films will be released outside of Japan, though there is speculation that Netflix may be dubbing the movies.

Keep reading for more of these stills.

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Watch the new transformation sequences from the Sailor Moon Eternal films

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Adam

New footage from the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films has been released on the TOEI Movie YouTube channel. Though we had previously seen Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon’s transformation sequences this gives us a good look at Super Sailor Mercury, Super Sailor Mars, Super Sailor Jupiter and Super Sailor Venus’s transformations. You can watch the clip embedded below.

Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 will be released in theatres in Japan on January 8th with Part 2 coming shortly afterwards on February 11th. What transformation sequence is your favourite?

Keep reading for more screenshots from the clip.

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Check out Helios kissing Chibiusa from a Sailor Moon Eternal calendar

Posted on December 2, 2020 by Adam

An update posted to the official Sailor Moon site and Nakayoshi web site includes images of a Sailor Moon Eternal calendar which shows us previously unseen images from the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films including an image of Helios kissing Chibiusa. The calendar will be included with the February 2021 issue of Nakayoshi which will be released on December 28th because magazines lie to us as much as car manufacturers.

There are other images in the calendar, which you can see above, though some are repeats and others are alternate poses of characters we’ve seen before. The calendar appears to be a triangle shaped out of double sided cardboard with two months visible on each surface, as you can see from the photo in the bottom left corner of the image. There are 11 images in total as January and February share the Sailor Moon Eternal poster as an image.

The March bonus, pictured above, is a set of eight Sailor Moon Eternal bookmarks. That issue will be released on February 3rd 2021 again because of the lies.

The Nakayoshi magazine is an important part of Sailor Moon history as it is where the Sailor Moon manga was first published! The first Sailor Moon Eternal film will be released in theatres in Japan on January 8th while part 2 will be released on February 11th. There has been no official confirmation of when the films will be released outside of Japan.

A new Sailor Moon Eternal poster features Super Sailor Moon and Nehelenia

Posted on November 30, 2020 by Adam

The Sailor Moon Official Site has been updated with the latest Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 poster. This one features Sailor Moon and Queen Nehelenia along with her mirror. Quite a nice looking poster! A Twitter contest is being held where those who follow the movie account and retweet the poster will have a chance of winning one of five actual posters. Though it is not mentioned this contest is likely limited to fans living in Japan.

It was also mentioned that starting today, Monday November 30th, an update will be posted to the official site every night! We are getting close to Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1’s January 8th Japanese theatrical release date which is why updates are going to be more frequent. There’s no guarantee that every day’s news will be all that interesting, but we will be sure to share anything which our fans may want to see. Feel free to check out the official site and this web site frequently for updates!

Rumour: Is Netflix dubbing the Sailor Moon Eternal films?

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Adam

A listing of an actor’s union web site suggests that Netflix may be dubbing the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films, which will be hitting theatres in Japan January 8th and February 11th. If this information really means that Netflix will be dubbing these films, it seems likely that they will be streamed on Netflix rather than released in theatres. So what’s all this about?

An entry for “Astro Girl: (Aka: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie)” can be found on the SAG-AFTRA web site. The entry further details that this is a “Netflix Dubbing Agreement”. What is SAG-AFTRA? This is the web site for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. This is the primary labour union for actors, including voice actors, in the United States. As such this project is being listed because there are union actors who are working on the project.

I will not claim to be an expert on what’s listed in this particular database. I do not know if all information listed on this site is definitive and final confirmation of the parties affiliated with those works. There’s little doubt that “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie” is a reference to the films Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 and Part 2. It’s worth noting that this entry only lists one film and is dated 2019, back when we didn’t actually know that the film would be broken up into two parts. If this information is outdated, does it still represent the current state of the project?

The production company on this listing is “The Best Entertainment, LLC”. A search for other shows by this company on the SAG-AFTRA site turns up an extensive list of foreign language animated and live action series many of which are currently streaming on Netflix.

The name “Astro Girl” is certainly odd. Is this a code name for the project? If so, why use Sailor Moon Eternal as the AKA? It’s possible that for reasons of secrecy the project was referred to as Astro Girl while recording so that no everyone knew what it was. I’m reminded of the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon series which was referred to internally as Project “Y”. The name Astro Girl does vaguely fit the idea of Sailor Moon, who is a girl who is from space. It happens to also be the English name of Astro Boy’s sister.

What are the implications of this? If Netflix is dubbing the films, rather than Viz Media who had dubbed the Sailor Moon Crystal series to date, would we be seeing the same voice cast returning? Earlier today Stephanie Sheh, who plays Usagi in the Viz dub of Sailor Moon Crystal, shared a photo of herself in a Sailor Moon shirt while recording “pickups” for an unspecified series. This could simply be a coincidence!

If Netflix is in fact dubbing these films, does that means that it will absolutely play on Netflix? A series made or dubbed by Netflix is generally something which will likely be released on Netflix. Such films are usually not released in theatres in any significant capacity, though a home video release is not unheard of. Many Netflix series and Netflix dubbed anime series and films have been released on DVD and Blu-Ray after being released to the streaming service.

I present this information to you with all of the relevant context I’m aware of. I would welcome any additional information or insight anyone may have. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. At this point I would take this information with a grain of salt. SAG-AFTRA is a legitimate organization which has many similar Netflix projects listed, though we have not received official confirmation of this information. I am not an industry expert and don’t know if projects are only listed on the SAG-AFTRA site if they are confirmed. I am also unsure of whether or not Viz Media or what other voice acting companies do or don’t use union actors. There was speculation that when Barbara Goodson used the alias Janis Carol in Sailor Moon SuperS that this may have been related to non union work, but I never did learn of the specific reason for this credit.

What do you think? In light of the ongoing pandemic are you pleased at the prospect of the Sailor Moon Eternal films being released directly to a streaming service or would you rather see them in theatres? Would you still pick up a physical copy of these films if they are released to stream first?

Source: JRPictures on Twitter

New Sailor Moon Eternal stills from Lawson include another look at the Amazoness Quartet!

Posted on November 28, 2020 by Adam

With the January 8th release of first Sailor Moon Eternal film fast approaching we have some new stills which were released as part of another campaign by Lawson convenience stores in Japan. These stills can be purchased for a few dollars from Lawson print shops, like some we posted about earlier. As with the last batch the stills released are a mix of things we’ve seen before and some new stuff! The most exciting of the new images is a shot of the Amazoness Quartet, shown above. There are a number of others, which I will post below.