The cast of Viz’s new Sailor Moon dub has been announced

Johnny Yong Bosch

This weekend at Anime Expo Viz Media announced the cast of their new Sailor Moon dub which will include all episodes, including the never before dubbed 5th season Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. Here’s a rundown of the cast:

Stephanie Sheh – Sailor Moon
Kate Higgins – Sailor Mercury
Cristina Vee – Sailor Mars
Amanda C. Miller – Sailor Jupiter
Cherami Leigh – Sailor Venus
Robbie Daymond – Tuxedo Mask
Michelle Ruff – Luna
Johnny Yong Bosch – Artemis
Danielle Nicole – Naru
Ben Diskin – Umino
Tara Platt – Ikuko Mama
Keith Silverstein – Kenji Papa
Nicolas Roye – Shingo
Cindy Robinson – Queen Beryl
Todd Haberkorn – Jadeite
Liam O’Brien – Nephrite
Lucien Dodge – Zoicite
Patrick Seitz – Kunzite

When it was first announced that Viz would be producing a new dub of Sailor Moon it was not clear who, if anyone, might be returning from the original cast. As we can now see this is an all new cast without any returning voice actors. Most of the cast seems comprised of voice actors having done other anime work. Let’s hope this new team does a great job!

Sailor Moon fans already planning to go to Unplugged Expo in Toronto this September 27th and 28th will be happy to see that Johnny Yong Bosch, who will be attending the convention, will be voicing Artemis in the new series.

Source: Moon Chase

“Saban Moon” Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon panel planned for Anime Expo on July 6th

Toon Makers' Sailor Moon - Sailor Moon

There’s a lot going on next weekend at Anime Expo in Los Angeles and I’ve just learned of a “Saban Moon” panel, all about the planned North American Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon series. The series, both live action and animated, is seen as a mix of Power Rangers and She-Ra. The pilot was never picked up. As you can see from the photos it looked very little like the original Japanese show. As of now we only have this brief description of the panel:

Saban Moon: The ‘other’ Sailor Moon

DATE & TIME Jul 6th at 10:00 AM until 11:00 AM

In honor of the upcoming Sailor Moon remake, Antibishonen will discuss about the ‘other’ Sailor Moon that was almost created!

The panel will be held Sunday July 6th 10am by Antibishonen.

Toon Makers' Sailor Moon - Tuxedo Mask

It seems fitting that this panel take place at Anime Expo, as it was at this same convention in 1998 where the clip of the series was shared with fans. A couple of years ago a lot of cels from the series were sold on eBay. I managed to pick up a number of them, photos of which can be found in this gallery, as well as the voice over script of the pilot.

Toon Makers' Sailor Moon - Luna

There’s a lot going on at Anime Expo next weekend, July 3rd to the 6th, which will coincide with the airing of the first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal. We’ve posted about these events before. As a quick recap there will be the unveiling of the new cast and airing of the first episode of the new Sailor Moon dub by Viz, appearances by a ton of voice actors from the original dub of the Sailor Moon anime, panels by Viz and an appearance by Jennifer Cihi, singer for many songs from the original dub. This convention is sure to have a ton to offer for Sailor Moon fans!

Toon Makers' Sailor Moon - Sailor Mercury

Thanks to Samantha for letting me know about this panel. Keep reading for more photos of cels from the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon show.

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Watch the Sailor Moon Resurgent Panel from Anime North 2014

Anime North

I was disappointed that I couldn’t make it to Anime North in Toronto this year but luckily Emily from Moon Chase recorded one of the panels which can be viewed below.

This panel, which was recorded on May 23rd 2014, includes Toby Proctor, the voice of Tuxedo Mask, John Stocker, voice director for the S and SuperS seasons of the anime as well as the three movies, Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon from Sailor Moon S and SuperS, Katie Griffin, the voice of Sailor Mars, and Susan Roman, the voice of Sailor Jupiter. Watch them take questions from the audience about their time recording Sailor Moon, including a humourous story about the dubbing of an adult film.

Source: Moon Chase!

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Meet Linda Ballantyne, Toby Proctor and John Stocker at Northwest Fan Fest in Vancouver June 27th to the 29th

Northwest Fan Fest banner

Next weekend, June 27th to the 29th, Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon, Toby Proctor, the voice of Tuxedo Mask, and John Stocker, voice director for the S and SuperS seasons of the Sailor Moon dub, will be at Northwest Fan Fest at UBC in Vancouver.

The weekend’s Sailor Moon related events includes an autograph and photo op session on Friday at 2pm, a guest meet and greet dinner on Friday for gold pass holders, the Sailor Moon Voice Actors Panel on Saturday at 1:30pm. Although not strictly Sailor Moon related, the Sailor Moon voice actors will having a History of Animation and Voice Over in Canada on Sunday at 10:30am.

Tickets are still available so if you’re in the Vancouver area be sure to check this convention out!

Sabrina Grdevich, the voice of Anne and Sailor Pluto, to appear at Unplugged Expo in Toronto September 27th and 28th

Anne Granger voiced by Sabrina Grdevich

Sabrina Grdevich joins the guest list at Unplugged Expo 3 to be held at the Chestnut Conference Centre September 27th and 28th in Toronto. Sabrina Grdevich has done a great number of voices in Sailor Moon! She provided the voice of Anne Granger, the alien, during the Doom Tree Saga. Later in Sailor Moon R she provided the voice of Sailor Pluto as heard through the Luna Sphere and during her appearances later in that season and in the S and SuperS movies. Susan Aceron took on the role of Sailor Pluto during Sailor Moon S. Sabrina Grdevich also supplied the voices of many monsters such as the Jumo the evil doll, Ninjana and Nancy Vargas, the photographer turned monster, Mistrust, a monster who creates illusions in Ami’s mind, as well as Andrew’s younger sister Lizzie.

Luna P - Sailor Pluto - Pu

Outside of Sailor Moon she has also done some live action work including a recurring role in the Canadian drama traders and the android whose face opens up in A.I..

Sailor Pluto

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Barbara Radecki, the voice of Sailor Neptune, to appear at Unplugged Expo in Toronto September 27th and 28th

Barbara Radecki, the voice of Sailor Neptune, at Unplugged Expo

Barbara Radecki, who voiced Sailor Neptune in the Cloverway dub of Sailor Moon S, will be making an appearance at Unplugged Expo 3 this September 27th and 28th at the Chestnut Conference Centre in downtown Toronto. Barbara Radecki also provided the voice of Serena’s mother in both the DiC dubbed first two seasons and the Cloverway dubbed S and SuperS seasons and one of the Doom and Gloom Girls in the episode Day of Destiny.

Ikuko Mama - Serena's Mom

Last year’s Unplugged Expo had a huge gathering of Sailor Moon voice actors to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the show. I had a fantastic time at Unplugged Expo 2. For more on that check out the first and second panels that were recorded at that convention.

Sailor Neptune

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Schedule of Sailor Moon related events at Anime North 2014 May 23rd to the 25th

Anime North program cover

The Anime North web site has posted it’s schedule for this coming weekend’s convention. Here’s a run down of the Sailor Moon related events which will be taking place at the convention which will feature as guests Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon, Katie Griffin, the voice of Sailor Mars, Susan Roman, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, Toby Proctor, the voice of Tuxedo Mask and John Stocker, voice director for the movies and later seasons of the anime.

Friday May 23rd:

5pm – Sailor Moon Merchandise and Media panel. This panel is run by Emily of the Moon Chase blog. I’ve been to this panel at other conventions in the past. It will be a run down of the current state of Sailor Moon as far as merchandise and rights goes. With a lot of new merchandise coming out and Viz getting the rights to the old and new anime this panel should prove interesting.

7pm – Sailor Moon voice actor autograph session.

9pm – Sailor Moon Resurgent. This panel will have the Sailor Moon voice actors sharing stories.

Saturday May 24th:

1pm – Sailor Moon voice actor autograph session.

3pm – Sailor Moon voice actors. This is the Saturday Sailor Moon voice actor panel featuring the convention’s guests.

4pm – Sailor Moon. I don’t have any details about this panel. It seems to be a fan panel to discuss the show.

Sunday May 25th:

2pm – Sailor Moon voice actor autograph session.

4pm – Sailor Moon voice actors. This is the Sunday Sailor Moon voice actor panel featuring the convention’s guests.

Viz Media to release all 200 episodes of Sailor Moon subbed and with a new dub on DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming starting May 19th

Viz Media

After years of waiting the original Sailor Moon anime series has been licensed for distribution by Viz! The original Sailor Moon series will be released by them on DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming both dubbed and subbed. Viz has also acquired the rights to the new Sailor Moon anime Sailor Moon Crystal! This was announced on Friday, May 16th, at Anime Central.

Sailor Moon season 1 promotional image

The streaming subbed episodes will be released every Monday starting with the first four episodes which will be released on Neon Alley and Hulu with two new episode being released every Monday after that.

Luna using a computer

In addition to this subtitled release a whole new dub is being produced. This new release will be retaining all original names and story arcs, be completely unedited, and include all 200 episodes, including Sailor Stars which has never previously been released in North America and the 7 episodes from the first two seasons which were never dubbed. Viz has also acquired the rights to the three Sailor Moon movies and the specials. The new dub will be released streaming in late 2014. Details about the cast of the new dub will be announced at Anime Expo in Los Angeles the weekend of July 3rd to the 6th. This will likely be taking place on Sailor Moon Day, which is being held July 5th. Anime Expo will be having as guests a number of voice actors from the original dub of the Sailor Moon anime, including Linda Ballantyne, Sailor Moon, Katie Griffin, Sailor Mars, Stephanie Morgenstern, Sailor Venus, Karen Bernstein, Sailor Mercury, Susan Roman, Sailor Jupiter, Toby Proctor, Tuxedo Mask, Mary Long, Molly, Ron Rubin, Artemis and John Stocker, voice director. Though fans would love to see their favourite voice actors reprise their role there has been no indication one way or another that this will be the case.

These new releases will also be on DVD and Blu-Ray. The subtitled digital download releases will begin in Summer 2014 with season 1 part 1. The dub will be released with the DVD and Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack releases at a later date. The video is mentioned to be the remastered version from Japan, though details on this remastering process are not currently known. The DVD releases currently available in Japan are standard definition releases. The first season and movies are in 480p, progressive scan, though Sailor Moon R, S, SuperS and SailorStars have only ever been released on interlaced 480i DVDs in Japan to date. Based on comments made in an Anime News Network interview it would appear that the work has been done using post processing rather that going back to the original film source. The last DVDs released domestically from ADV were pretty much completely terrible, so we can certainly expect this version to be a vast improvement.

The following trailer accompanies this announcement:

Linda Ballantyne, Katie Griffin, Susan Roman, Toby Proctor, Ron Rubin and John Stocker to appear at Wonderland Anime Festival in Winnipeg this weekend

Wonderland Anime Festival banner

This weekend, March 1st and 2nd, there will be a huge gathering of Sailor Moon voice actors at the Wonderland Anime Festival in Winnipeg. The convention will be playing host to Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon, Kate Griffin, the voice of Sailor Mars, Susan Roman, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, Toby Proctor, the voice of Tuxedo Mask, Ron Rubin, the voice of Artemis, and John Stocker, voice director for the series. The convention will be taking place at the Victoria Inn Hotel, near the airport.

Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Cast Reunion Panel at Fan Expo 2013 featuring Susan Roman, Katie Griffin, Linda Ballantyne, Toby Proctor and John Stocker

The convention will be holding individual panels for each voice actor on the main stage throughout the weekend. Saturday will feature Linda Ballantyne at 11am, Toby Proctor at 1pm, Susan Roman at 2pm and Katie Griffin at 3pm. Sunday continues with John Stocker at 1pm and Ron Rubin at 2pm. In addition to these guests the Wonderland Video Room will be screening episodes of Sailor Moon throughout the weekend.

Tickets are still available for $35 for the weekend or $20 for a single day.

A Sailor Moon reference from the lastest episode of The Simpsons

Sailor Moon reference in The Simpsons - Kumiko as a Sailor Senshi and Comic Book Guy as The Stargate

Last week’s episode of The Simpsons, “Married to the Blob” which first aired January 12th 2014, contained a Sailor Moon reference! The episode’s plot revolved around Comic Book Guy falling in love with a Japanese woman named Kumiko. During a montage of them galavanting around town and falling in love the two of them are seen cosplaying at the Bi-Mon Sci-Fi Con. Kumiko is wearing a Sailor Moon inspired costume while Comic Book Guy is dressed as the Stargate. The costume does not look like that of any specific Sailor Soldier. It’s colours somewhat resemble Sailor Saturn or Sailor Mercury’s Sailor Fuku but the pigtails are clearly meant to be reminiscent of Sailor Moon’s, though they are black and not blonde. It’s unclear if this is meant to be an authentic costume of a show in The Simpsons universe which is simply Sailor Moon like or if Kumiko is wearing a costume of her original character based on the series Sailor Moon which would in that case fully exist in the Simpsons world.

The episode is riddled with comic and pop culture references including special guests Stan Lee and Harlan Ellison. In this same scene Kumiko even jumps through the Stargate and turns into a Wizard from Hogwarts from the Harry Potter franchise.

Lisa dressed as Sailor Moon in The Simpsons

The Simpsons - Homer dressed as Ultraman, Bart as Astroboy, Lisa as Sailor Moon, Marge as Jun from Gatchaman and Maggie as Pikachu from Pokemon

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