The English version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 22, Hidden Agenda – Nemesis, is now available on Hulu

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Adam

The latest English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal is now available on Hulu and Neon Alley. This week is Act 22, Hidden Agenda – Nemesis. Black Lady is still not really here. She’s semi visible, mostly obscured in a kind of mist. The technique used for this was changed slightly between the streaming release and the DVD/Blu-Ray version which is what we’re getting for these English versions. This screenshot is, lazily, from the original streaming version.

Act 21 and 22 of Sailor Moon Crystal are based on the equivalent chapters of the newest version of the manga, but these were actually originally a single chapter, though it was a long one. This makes gives this and the last episode an odd pace, which is why Chibiusa’s transformation into Black Lady is teased out over such a long time that it seems like a powered up attack from Dragonball Z or maybe Ryu’s multi episode Hadouken from Street Fighter II V.

Next week on Act 23, Covert Maneuvers – Wiseman, we will get a proper look at Black Lady.

Watch the English dubbed version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 22 – Hidden Agenda – Nemesis, Friday April 8th starting at 9pm Eastern Time

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Adam

The next English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will be available on Hulu and Neon Alley this Friday, April 8th, staring at 9pm Eastern Time. Act 22, Hidden Agenda – Nemesis, is all about not really seeing Black Lady. We see these shadows of her throughout but we don’t get a clear look at her. The obscuring of Black Lady changed a bit for the Blu-Ray release, which is the updated animation we’re getting for the dub. This screenshot is actually from the original streaming version.

I feel like this episode is kind of slow. That’s probably because Act 21 and 22 were originally one manga chapter which was broken into two. It gives this episode a weird pace.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27, Infinity 1 – Premonition – First Part, review

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Adam

Sailor Moon Crystal is finally back! Act 27, Infinity 1 – Premonition – First Part, aired on Japanese TV April 4th at 11pm Japan Standard Time. Shortly after this, around 10:45am Eastern Time, the show was available to stream for free on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Neon Alley. It seems that the show was only available to Hulu Plus users at first but could be viewed right away with commercials on the Viz web site Neon Alley. Keep this in mind in the future if you for whatever reason don’t like watching it on Crunchryroll.

I guess we finally know what the episode title will be. Act 27 is split into two parts, aptly named “First Part” and “The 2nd Part”. Yes the subtitles do indeed inconsistently spell out first but write 2nd with a number. Hulu calls the episode “Part 1″ but the subtitle for the title is consistently “First Part”. As mentioned previously the season will have 13 episodes. Sailor Moon Crystal follows the later chapter break up of the manga which has the Infinity arc covering 12 manga chapters, meaning this is likely going to be the only episode which is split in two.

The first thing which strikes me about this episode is the change in animation. Like it or not, it’s different. This seems like a totally different show. I personally think this new animation is fantastic as I’m going to appreciate anything that’s novel at this point. Not only is the style different but I all around get a sense that there has been a significant improvement in the quality of the animation. Perhaps more time and money have gone into these episodes. We should be happy for the delay if it means getting something that looks this good. There is also a lot of funny animation, which we’ve seen off and on earlier in the series. I hope this kind of thing keeps up. As always the show continues to be a faithful adaptation of the manga, so no big change there.

Act 27 starts the new Infinity story arc which is all about Sailor Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and the Death Busters. We see only a glimpse of Hotaru and Kaolinite this week, but we do see quite a bit of Haruka and Michiru. Haruka is such a fascinating character. She is described using male gender specific pronouns in the subtitles. This is a bit of a complicated issue. Haruka is female, but at this point in the manga all characters, including the reader, are meant to assume that she is male. She’s not trans but is probably more accurately described as gender fluid. I have mentioned before that I don’t speak Japanese, but my understanding is simply that gender specific pronouns aren’t commonly used in the Japanese language. This leads to common situations in Japanese fiction, like anime and manga, where a character’s identity is confused but the person can still be openly spoken of without it leading to confusion like it might in English when a gender specific pronoun like he or she would come up to clear things up. And so Haruka wears men’s clothes and is fawned after by girls, including Usagi, Minako and Makoto who assume she is a man. Some of them of course will continue to be attracted to her when they learn she is a woman, which is just part of what makes this series great.

Diana returns! She came to the present with Chibiusa from the 30th century, something which occurs in the manga but does not happen in the original Sailor Moon anime until late in the next story arc. Diana has a red collar in the original anime but her collar is grey in Sailor Moon Crystal. I only noticed this watching this episode but her collar was grey in the last story arc as well. Chibiusa seems to have no problems letting Diana sit on the dining room table. This isn’t something that bothers me much but I keep expecting my girlfriend to pop on to the screen and push her down.

Speaking of cats, check out how much Luna and Artemis have changed. Their faces are shaped a lot differently that what we’re used to. One of the many changes in character designs.

The gang play a fake video game called Battle Lap. Or is it Speed Racer? It says Speed Racer on the side of the machine but it is clearly referred to as Battle Lap in conversation, which is the name of the game in the manga. I don’t know much about car racing but apparently in the Sailor Moon world being good at real car racing translates to being good at video game car racing! I am personally a terrible driver and I am also very bad at Mario Kart, so perhaps this is legit! Usagi mentions that she can’t tell how fast she’s going because of her helmet which Haruka seems to think is the sign of a good racer. I guess I will have to wear a helmet when I play Mario Kart from now on. This helmet peripheral doesn’t actually seem to have any in game functionality, unless it beats you up when you virtually crash.

Fighting ensues! A Daimon comes out of a girl from Mugen Acamdemy, the school where all the scary stuff is going on, and this fight is much more than the few pages we get in the manga. This is probably why the chapter is split in two. We needed to reintroduce all characters and give everyone a full transformation sequence. These new transformation sequences look great, and are nearly identical to those from the original Sailor Moon anime.

We get some cool attacks. Sailor Venus uses her Wink Chain Sword which now features an actual sword! How cool is that? I mean she doesn’t actually hit the enemy with her sword but there is a sword in there. You know like the one she used to kill Queen Beryl. Oh that’s right…

Next week is Act 28, Infinity 1 – Premonition – The 2nd Part. No really, we’re not calling it Infinity 2? How confusing. At least we will be able to easily follow the manga titles even though the Act numbers will change. The preview has a border around it so I can’t be lazy and use these screenshots when the new episode comes out. Next week Usagi will disguise herself as a Mugen Academy student and try to sneak in. Looking forward to seeing if they draw all of Chibiusa’s friends like small version of the men of the series. Kyuusuke looks like a tiny Mamoru but in this coming story we have a tiny version of Asanuma and Umino. Or is it Amano? I guess Naoko Takeuchi got lazy! More importantly we will see Sailor Uranus and Neptune for the first time. Keep an eye out for Act 28 on Monday April 11th some time around 10:45am Eastern Time on Crunchyroll, Neon Alley and Hulu.

Keep reading for more screenshots from this episode and the next episode preview.

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Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27, Infinity 1 – Premonition, will be released Monday April 4th!

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Adam

After months of waiting the new episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal are about to start. Act 27, which I expect will be called Infinity 1 – Premonition, airs on Japanese TV tomorrow at 11pm Japan Standard Time. Since Japan is in the future, this is 10am Eastern Time, 7am Pacific Time. It will be streamed on Crunchyroll and Hulu at some point Monday. As always just click on the Crunchyroll and Hulu links to get to the Sailor Moon Crystal page for that service to view new episodes. I expect it could be as early as 10am, but we won’t know for sure until tomorrow. Both services have free viewing options and pay options to reduce commercials. Crunchyroll is available in the US and Canada but Hulu is restricted to viewing in the United States. Viewers elsewhere who have trouble getting to either service may require a proxy service to stay up to date.

Some who have already seen Act 27 have commented that it only covers half of the equivalent manga chapter, which would be a departure from what the rest of the series has done. The Infinity arc of the manga spans 11 manga chapters but is said to be 13 episodes. It’s unclear exactly how that breakdown should happen. Based on what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard from those that have seen the episode we should be seeing Haruka and Michiru however we won’t be seeing their counterparts Sailor Uranus and Neptune until the next episode. We will also not be seeing Hotaru, Kaolinite or the Witches 5 until next week, though they will feature prominently in the rest of the season. The episode should end following a quick battle with a Daimon that comes out of a student from Mugen Academy leaving quite a bit of the story of that manga chapter remaining. I’m only assuming that the episode will be titled Infinity 1 – Premonition, but since this chapter will likely span two episodes, we may be seeing a different title.

I’m looking forward to finally seeing more Sailor Moon Crystal! I’ll have my review posted to the site a few days after I see the episode.

The English version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 21, Complication – Nemesis, is now available on Hulu

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Adam

The latest English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal is now online on Hulu and Neon Alley. This week on Act 21, Complication – Nemesis, Sailor Moon is kidnapped and held hostage by a completely inappropriate Prince Demande. He respects consent even less than Mamoru did! We’ve also got a bunch of tension between Sailor Pluto and King Endymion. She is Seiya to Mamoru’s Usagi if that makes any sense.

This week we got a look at evil Chibiusa. We see this in both the young and older version of her. We’ll see a bit more of her next week in Act 22, Hidden Agenda – Nemesis, but even then she’ll be somewhat obscured.

New episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal will be streamed on release day on Crunchyroll and Hulu starting April 4th!

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Adam

We finally have confirmation of an international release of the upcoming episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal, which will cover the Infinity Arc, and it’s one of the best possible scenarios. Both Crunchyroll and Hulu will be streaming the episodes as they air in Japan starting with the upcoming Act 27 which airs on Japanese TV this Monday April 4th at 11pm Japan Standard Time, 10am Eastern Time, 7am Pacific Time.

This announcement was made by Crunchyroll and Viz yesterday. Nothing like a last minute announcement! Crunchyroll mentioned only that it would be available “in April” but Viz’s release, speaking specifically about Hulu, said that it would be a digital simulcast on the same day that it’s released in Japan starting April 4th. 10am Eastern Time is the local time here on the East Coast (Ottawa/Gatineau for me) when the show will be available in Japan. I can’t say with total confidence when exactly it will be online but it will likely be some time on Monday for both services. These episodes will be Japanese audio with English subtitles. A dubbed version will surely be coming but at a much later date.

I haven’t seen any news about it being available on Niconico. I generally found the quality on Niconico to be pretty much terrible but this was a good option for international viewers to get it in a language other than English. Hulu is course is region restricted to users in the United States. As a Canadian I have been legally watching the series on Crunchyroll without issues, though sometimes the device specific streams, like those on the PlayStation, are not available as the show launched. With a paid Crunchyroll subscription you can watch the show without commercial interuptions. Hulu’s a perfectly serviceable free option and I understand the pay version Hulu Plus does not have ads for Sailor Moon.

Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 21, Complication – Nemesis, Friday April 1st at 9pm Eastern Time

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Adam

The next English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will be available on Hulu and Neon Alley this Friday, April 1st, at 9pm Eastern Time. Act 21, Complication – Nemesis, has Prince Demande kidnapping Sailor Moon! This is personal for Prince Demande who, just like Mamoru, doesn’t respect a woman’s autonomy and choses to force a kiss on Usagi.

This episode gives us a glimpse of things to come for Chibiusa as we see the symbol of the Black Moon Clan on her forehead and an image of someone that looks just like her but a bit older.

New episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal are coming in about a week and we still have no news about an English release

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Adam

New episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal will be released on Japanese TV on Monday April 4th, just 8 days away, at 11pm Japan Standard Time, about 10am Eastern Daylight Time, but we still have no news about when it will be available to watch in North America. After nothing came out of C2E2 last week fans were hoping to hear something at Anime Boston which had its official Sailor Moon panel on Friday afternoon. There was no news at this panel. Twitter user @abzeronow was at Anime Boston and reported that there was nothing to report. The panel at Anime Japan which showed us a ton of new footage also had no news about any streaming version, either for Japanese or North American viewers.

At this point it seems as if the show will only be released on Japanese TV next week, and so we will not likely have a simultaneous streaming version to watch here like we did with the first 26 episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal. There has been no indication that it will be simultaneously released on Crunchyroll, Hulu, Neon Alley or even on the Japanese streaming service Niconico which is usually region blocked and has inferior video quality. We also have no indication of when the show might eventually be made available on any such services.

Where does this leave us? It’s likely we will have to wait for less than official sources to watch the show. At first a raw version (in Japanese with no English subtitles) of the show will probably find its way online. If no official subtitled release is available it is likely that some group of fansubbers will release an English subtitled version for fans. The legality of this is a bit questionable, but rest assured that I will report any news of such a release on this site as it becomes available. Given the time needed to get a copy of the show, translate the script, time it to the video, author and upload such a version, it would likely be mid to late week before that’s available.

Watch a ton of Sailor Moon Crystal season 3 footage including the new opening, closing and half of Act 27

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Adam

There was an event today at the Anime Japan convention in which we saw the new Sailor Moon Crystal opening, closing, got a new trailer and even got a preview of what seems to be about half of Act 27. All of this footage is now available online, though the episode footage is of lower quality with people talking over it. Those people happen to be the voice actors for Sailor Moon, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn as well as the new director, but this is still a fairly terrible way to watch a clip.

This is not all of Act 27, yet it appears to be a continuous episode. Is this what people saw at the premiere event earlier this month? If it is then we may have been wrong in assuming Sailor Moon Crystal will not have a 1:1 ratio of manga chapters to episodes. Yes this clip concludes after the fight with the Daimon that comes from the girls at Mugen Academy but at less than 12 minutes we are hardly getting a full episode. Not everything seen here is in proper order either. We see Usagi disguised as a student of Mugen Academy. Is this a change in the order of the story or are we just being presented with a bunch of out of order clips from the first two episodes, strung together in a somewhat cohesive way? Regardless, it was mentioned that this season will span 13 episodes and there are 11 manga chapters for the Infinity Arc, so while this isn’t a 1:1 ratio, only two new episodes will be added to this season. It is still not clear if or how Act 27 will be split.

The better quality footage is of the music videos for the opening and ending themes. We previously mentioned that this is only the first of the ending themes and that many CDs would be released throughout the coming months. Also included is the CD cover art for the first single.

Here is the new opening In Love With the New Moon sung by Etsuko Yakushimaru. She previously sang the cover of Otome no Policy on the 20th Anniversary Memorial Tribute Album and her voice here reminds me a lot of that song. This new opening has a lot of naked people in it, if you’re into that.

Next is the first ending theme Eternal Eternity sung by the voices of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, Junko Minagawa and Sayaka Ohara. This song reminds me of a few other anime themes including the opening theme for Revolutionary Girl Utena. Some of the visuals reminds me of the footage in the opening as well. The other that came to mind was a song from the Street Fighter II anime movie Itoshisa To Setsunasa To Kokoro Tsuyosa. Yes I know, I seem to only have watched anime the late 90s. It was better then.

Finally we have the new trailer, which includes some footage we’ve seen before.

There’s a lot of new footage here so I’ve included a bunch of screenshots for your convenience lower in the post. Of note is just how different Luna and Artemis look! Reminds me of something out of the Moon Animate Make-Up! project. What do you think of the new animation? I think it looks great, but obviously a bit different. I’m real excited for this new season which is a bit over a week away. Here’s hoping we get some news about a streaming version soon.

Source: Sailor Moon Official Site
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The English dubbed version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 20, Crystal Tokyo – King Endymion, is now available on Hulu

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Adam

The latest English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal is now available on Hulu and Neon Alley. Act 20, Crystal Tokyo – King Endymion, is all about the future. The gang arrived in Crystal Tokyo last week and here they are at the Crystal Palace. What a shock! Chibiusa’s parents are Usagi and Mamoru? This was strongly hinted at and after last week there wasn’t really any doubt. King Endymion, the title character, is a sort of ghost hologram in this episode. This is so that two of him don’t occupy the same space at the same time because that is apparently terrible, but never seems to be a problem.

We finally see Diana. Her voice actor was never previously heard in the new dub of the original Sailor Moon anime as Diana doesn’t appear until Sailor Moon SuperS, not in 30th Century Crystal Tokyo where she originally appears in the manga. What do you think of her new voice?

Next week is Act 21, Complication – Nemesis, which will have Prince Demande being terrible and give us a glimpse of Black Lady.

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