Today, August 22nd 2024, Sailor Moon Cosmos Parts 1 and 2 were released on Netflix. This marks the end of the long running Sailor Moon Crystal series being released in North America. This is the first time fans outside of Japan are able to watch the films without importing it and the premiere of the English dub, as well as dubs in many other languages.
I’m reminded about how we saw the first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal released simultaneously to stream worldwide around the globe! How far we’d come back in 2014 to be able to do so when way back in 2024 we would have to wait over a year for a film that came out in theatres in Japan to be released domestically. No wait… I have that backwards. Indeed Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 1 was out in theatres in Japan on June 9th 2023, over a year ago. Surely things are a bit different with films than with a series but 2021’s Sailor Moon Eternal came out a mere five months after it first dropped in theatres in Japan. Why the delay? I don’t really know. Let’s just be happy we’ve finally gotten it.
Will any of you actually be watching these films for the first time? I watched my imported Japanese Blu-ray in the year 2023 but I am looking forward to checking out the Viz dub of the films.
At long last, over a year after their release in theatres in Japan, the Sailor Moon Cosmos films will be coming to Netflix on August 22nd! The poster, which was posted to Twitter, refers to the movie as “Sailor Moon Cosmos The Movie”. No mention of a Part 1 or 2, so I wonder if this will be released as a single film or not. Sailor Moon Eternal, which was previously released on Netflix, is listed as two “episodes” with Part 1 and Part 2 being separate.
This will conclude the English release of Sailor Moon Crystal with the fifth and final story arc covering Sailor Moon and the Sailor Starlights’ fight against Sailor Galaxia and her minions. This version of the films should have a dub and subs in English and many other languages. I watched the films long ago when the Japanese Blu-ray release came out though I will gladly watch it again in English. I wonder how many people have really been holding out for the film to come out on Netflix?
Fans may also be wondering if a home video release is planned. It’s been over three years since Sailor Moon Eternal was released on Netflix and we still haven’t gotten a DVD or Blu-ray release of those films. The poster mentions that Sailor Moon Cosmos is “Only on Netflix” so a home video release seems unlikely in the short term. Since the Japanese releases don’t have subs I’d certainly want to get a domestic release of Sailor Moon Eternal and Sailor Moon Cosmos. Watching them on Netflix is all well and good but I don’t think I can count on them being around forever.
Have you seen Sailor Moon Cosmos yet? Will you be watching it on Netflix when it finally drops?
Today, December 20th, the Sailor Moon Cosmos films were released on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan. International fans are up in arms begging for any news about a release outside of Japan, but we may have gotten a hint that a dub is coming soon! Robbie Daymond, who voiced Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon Crystal and the Sailor Moon Eternal films, shared a photo of him recording “an unexpected & awesome two sessions to finish out 2023″. He does not mention what these are and if it’s indeed a recording of Sailor Moon Cosmos he surely signed an NDA (non disclosure agreement) so I would not suggest for a minute that he’s done anything to violate this. Robbie Daymond is wearing an interesting looking pin in this photo. That is a pin of The Orgel or Star Locket from Sailor Moon. This is the locket that Princess Serenity gives to Tuxedo Mask in Act 6 of the Sailor Moon manga and Sailor Moon Crystal. It’s also featured in the original Sailor Moon anime.
Is this an obvious sign? An unquestionable confirmation that Robbie Daymond is recording the dub for Sailor Moon Cosmos? Well I can’t say for sure but if I wanted to give a subtle clue about recording a show that didn’t violate and NDA this is a nice way to do it. The secrecy behind the recording might explains why he refers to it as “unexpected”. If I wanted to troll people by giving them false hope while I recorded a fry commercial this would be a fantastic way to do it so take it with a grain of salt. Remember that a few years ago Michael Yurchak, the voice of Hawk’s Eye, posted a photo of Instagram which had a barely visible image of the Amazoness Quartet on a monitor which was our first indication that a dub of Sailor Moon Eternal was being recorded for Netflix. The film premiered on Netflix six months after that leak. Let’s hope we don’t wait that long!
We are long overdue for news about a release of Sailor Moon Cosmos outside of Japan. Regardless of how it gets released a dub is likely and a dub using the same cast as we’ve had for the first four story arcs is certainly the way to go. The timing for this makes sense and I’m optimistic that this could be a good sign, but we should always wait for official news which I will of course share to this site when I get it.
I’m looking forward to getting my Japanese Sailor Moon Cosmos Blu-ray in a few days and I hope that a fan sub shows up some time soon as well. I will always encourage supporting the official releases when possible. Let’s hope we get news of a North American dub and release soon! If that’s indeed what this is I wonder what took Robbie Daymond two session to do. Tuxedo Mask spends most of these movies as a gem. Perhaps he just meant it was two sessions for the two films. I think Taiki’s forehead has more lines than him.
Update 2023-12-23: It looks like this pin is from The Lantern Girl’s etsy shop. Unfortunately this particular pin is currently out of stock.
Good news for those who like to spend a lot of money to import movies they don’t understand! The official Sailor Moon site has announced that Sailor Moon Cosmos Parts 1 and 2 will be release on regular and limited edition DVD and Blu-ray sets on December 20th 2023! As with other Japanese Sailor Moon releases this will only include Japanese audio with no English subtitles. Japanese Blu-ray discs are region A so they will play in a North American Blu-ray player however their DVDs are Region 2 which won’t play on a North American player. You can watch the short trailer for the Blu-ray release below.
There are two version of each of the Blu-ray and DVD release and they aren’t cheap! The single disc Blu-ray or DVD, which somehow costs the same in 2023, has an MSRP of 10,000 yen, about $69 US. The four disc sets also costs the same on DVD and Blu-ray with an MSRP of 16,000 yen or $110 US. What’s the difference? The four disc set has a second DVD or Blu-ray with special features including an anime music video, likely the one we got with the soundtrack, creditless openings for the films as well as two CDs with music from the films.
There are also vendor exclusive special incentives from a number of retailers. There are acrylic figures with different characters being included with the films from different retailers. Those are even more expensive than the regular four disc set though price varies slightly between retailers.
So when do we get to see the movies here? We still don’t have any news about a release of the Sailor Moon Cosmos films outside of Japan but that doesn’t stop people from speculating! As the Sailor Moon Eternal films were released on Netflix less than a month prior to the Japanese Blu-ray release of those movies many are thinking that we will be seeing these movies either in theatres or on Netflix, before December 20th. I’m not totally convinced of this timeline as it seems odd to time a North American release with a Japanese home video release, or to do the opposite, but it seems that usually Japanese Blu-rays are released after movies are released here.
The original timeline which I speculated about back when Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 1 was released in theatres predicted that if we heard about and got a release of Sailor Moon Cosmos with a similar delay that we did for Sailor Moon Eternal then the Netflix announcement would be in September, next month, and the streaming premiere would be in November. There’s still time for this to happen!
All that said I am reluctantly looking forward to importing these movies for their absurdly high price. If a North American release isn’t out by then I will watch the Japanese version and surely follow along well enough as the story is pretty close to the manga. It’s also likely, in the event that a North American release is still not announced prior to December 20th, that someone will fansub the films. This sometimes happens as quickly as a few days after a show airs or is available on video. Perhaps these fansubbing groups will not be working hard on the days before Christmas and we can expect it a bit later.
Will you be picking either of these sets up? If so which one?
Along with today’s Japanese theatrical release of Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 2 a collection of five songs from the films is also now available. I was going to reference my original post about this album but when I saw the unfinished draft article I wrote about it I realized I never posted it. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos The Movie Theme Song Collection includes music from the films. It’s released on CD and streaming today, June 30th. The streaming options include Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and a bunch of other services I don’t know much about. For physical media fans there’s a CD only version as well as a version which is bundled with a Blu-ray of some music videos. I ordered the CD and Blu-ray from Amazon which is probably in a plane over the Pacific Ocean right now as I listen to the album on Spotify. Fans who really like brokerage fees can also order from CD Japan. MSRP for the version with the Blu-ray is 3000 yen, about $21 US.
The soundtrack includes five songs.
Tsuki no Hana (Moonlight Flower) by Daoko is the theme song for the Sailor Moon Cosmos films.
Moonlight Densetsu (Moonlight Legend) is a cover of the original iconic Sailor Moon anime theme song performed by the cast of Sailor Moon Crystal.
Sailor Stars Song is a cover of the theme song for the Sailor Stars season of the original Sailor Moon anime. This version is performed by the Sailor Moon Cosmos voice actors for Sailor Kakyu and the Three Lights.
Nagareboshi He (To The Shooting Star) is a cover of the Three Lights’ most popular song from the original Sailor Moon anime. This version is performed by the Three Lights from Sailor Moon Cosmos.
Happy Marriage Song is a new song for Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 2, presumably playing at the end of the film during an important event which may be evident by the name of the song. It is performed by the voice actors for the Sailor Guardians from Sailor Moon Crystal.
The Blu-ray will include a music video for Moonlight Flower which will be a longer version of the short video embedded below.
Also included will be two videos featuring the Three Lights.
Have you been listening to this soundtrack? What’s your favourite track?
After nearly a decade Sailor Moon Crystal is now complete. Today, June 30th 2023, Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 2 was released in theatres in Japan. This marks the end of Sailor Moon Crystal which was first announced at a Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Event on July 10th 2012. Though it was meant to air starting in 2013 it began as a streaming series on July 5th 2014. Three seasons and four movies later Sailor Moon Crystal has faithfully retold the entirety of the Sailor Moon manga’s five story arcs.
All of this of course does little to help fans outside of Japan who still don’t know how and when they’ll be able to see Sailor Moon Cosmos Parts 1 and 2! If the Sailor Moon Eternal movies are any indication we might be getting them streaming on Netflix though some fans are hoping for a theatrical release. We don’t know and might not for a few months still! A Japanese Blu-ray will surely be released soon enough which could be a chance to import the films if no release is planned before that. Such a release would not likely have subtitles, as Sailor Moon releases rarely do, but it would open up the possibility for a high quality fansub.
Sailor Moon Crystal may be wrapping up but it won’t soon be forgotten by fans who still appreciate the manga and original anime 30 years later, as well as the fantastic live action series which is 20 years old this year. While we wait to see these movies for ourselves we can only guess as to what’s next for the franchise. Hopefully the coming decade isn’t a drought like we had between the live action series and Sailor Moon Crystal!
Have you seen either of the Sailor Moon Cosmos films? What did you think?
In a shocking turn of events the voice of Sailor Cosmos from Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 2 is Keiko Kitagawa, a popular model and actress who is best known to Sailor Moon fans for portraying Rei Hino, Sailor Mars, in the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series! This comes as a surprise as many fans likely expected Sailor Cosmos to be voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi who voices Sailor Moon in Sailor Moon Crystal as well as Chibi Chibi. Keiko Kitagawa will also be voicing Guardian Cosmos who is a separate character who protects the Galaxy Cauldron where star seeds are born. Check out some footage of Sailor Cosmos as voiced by Keiko Kitagawa below.
Now it is time to speculate wildly about the true identity of Sailor Cosmos! The Le Mouvement Final musical cast Satomi Okubo as Sailor Cosmos because she’d previously played Sailor Moon which supports the idea that Sailor Cosmos is a future version of Sailor Moon. Since Kotono Mitsuishi voiced Sailor Moon back in the original 90s anime as well there wasn’t another Sailor Moon voice actor to fall back on, unless we consider Kae Araki, the voice of Chibiusa, who filled in for Kotono Mitsuishi when she was off sick at the end of the first season and start of Sailor Moon R. Instead by casting Keiko Kitagawa perhaps this means that Sailor Cosmos in this version is actually a future incarnation of Sailor Mars! Looks like that rivalry finally got settled and Rei got Usagi’s power!
A preview of Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 2 was shown to fans earlier today. Keiko Kitagawa met with Kotono Mitsuishi at a press event to discuss the film. They had previously worked together on Rikokatsu. While some fans were upset that Kotono Mitsuishi didn’t get the role she was quite supportive of Keiko Kitagawa and her performance. Naoko Takeuchi herself was also said to be at the recording of Sailor Cosmos’s lines! Kotono Mitsuishi is Sailor Moon royalty! She’s the star of this movie, the titular character and has been the face of the press of all things Sailor Moon Crystal for the past decade. There’s no need to be upset that she didn’t get to play a third voice in this movie which she’s already all over!
Today is the day. Thanks to time zones it’s been June 9th in Japan even longer than it has in North America. Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 1 is now in theatres and lucky fans will have a chance to watch it today! We should expect more information about the films, including spoilers, to roll in throughout the next few days. This of course raises one important question. When is it coming out here?
Unfortunately we don’t have any details about a release of either of the Sailor Moon Cosmos films outside of Japan. This isn’t necessarily surprising. When the Sailor Moon Eternal films were first released in theatres in Japan we also didn’t have any news of an international release. Part 1 had been released on January 8th 2021 with Part 2 following on February 11th. The films weren’t released on Netflix until June 3rd of that same year, nearly five months after the first one had been released in Japan. The announcement wasn’t made until April. If things followed that same timeline, which they certainly won’t match exactly, we could hear about it in about three months, September 2023, and get it on Netflix in about five, around November 2023. This is of course not at all certain. It may not be coming to Netflix. Maybe we’ll get lucky and there will be a short theatrical run! Maybe it will be stuck in limbo for months. We really don’t know, but the past suggests we may not know for a while and this is normal. No reason to panic!
Failing that we can always hold out hope for a Japanese video release. Sailor Moon Eternal Parts 1 and 2 were released on video on June 30th 2021, nearly six months after the theatrical release of the first film. If this sort of schedule is planned for Sailor Moon Cosmos we should see a Japanese Blu-ray release near the end of the year, around December. Nothing is set in stone but an eventual Blu-ray release is pretty much certain at this point. It’s just a question of whether or not we will see it before the movies are released either streaming or in theatres. A Japanese home video release will of course not include any English audio or subtitles. That being said if a domestic release is nowhere in sight by then we should expect fan subs of the films.
A high quality bootleg or fansub of the film prior to some sort of Japanese video or streaming release is unlikely. I of course always encourage fans to support the official releases when they can. Viz has been doing great work in dubbing the original anime, Sailor Moon Crystal and the films and putting them out on quality home video releases and on various streaming platforms. I’m sure they’re working hard to get us Sailor Moon Cosmos as soon as they can manage it and I look forward to seeing these films in whatever method we get.
Have you been lucky enough to see Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 1? If so, what did you think of it?
Yet another Sailor Moon Crystal book is coming in soon! The book will be released on July 4th which is shortly after the June 30th release of Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 2. It will cover both films and will include an overview of the films’ story, character bios, interviews with cast and crew, artwork and merchandise related to the film. The book will be sold at stores and online retailers, though I have not yet seen it listed anywhere.
MSRP for the book is 3300 yen which is about $24 US. Not too expensive, but books are expensive to ship from Japan. Will you be picking this one up?
Hey kids. Do you like Tik Toks? Do you like portrait orientation for your videos? Do you need to watch short clips which loop over and over because social media has destroyed your attention span? If you answered yes to all of these then you’ll love these recently uploaded clips from the upcoming Sailor Moon Cosmos films which are YouTube Shorts! The latest clip, embedded below, shows the Sailor Starlights.
In addition to this we got some other clips earlier this week. Below is a preview of Eternal Sailor Mars and Venus.
And here are Eternal Sailor Mercury and Jupiter.
And here’s some footage of Eternal Sailor Moon.
What a terrible way to see new footage from these movies which will be in theatres in Japan on June 9th and 30th. Still no news on a release outside of Japan but as soon as this is announced there will surely be a post about it!
Keep reading for some kind of annoying vertical screenshots from these clips.
