Sailor Moon R The Movie is now available to stream for free on Crunchyroll

Sailor Moon R The Movie on Crunchyroll

Viz Media has announced that it is making a distribution deal with the online streaming service Crunchyroll. This deal includes Sailor Moon R The Movie, which is available to stream for the first time in Japanese with English subtitles or dubbed in English on the service. The original Sailor Moon anime currently streams on Hulu while Sailor Moon Crystal is available to stream on Crunchyroll. This is currently the only part of the original Sailor Moon anime on Crunchyroll. Will this change in the future?

Sailor Moon R The Movie Blu-Ray - Princess Serenity

The advantage of Crunchyroll over Hulu is that the content is finally available to Canadians. Hulu is region blocked outside of the United States. The subtitled version of the original Sailor Moon anime is available on TubiTV but this does not include the dubbed episodes which you can find on Hulu.

Sailor Moon R The Movie Blu-Ray - Make Up! Sailor Guardians

The Make Up! Sailor Guardians special which played with Sailor Moon R The Movie in theatres is not available on Crunchyroll. Fans looking to watch that special will need to check out the DVD or Blu-Ray version of the film. It remains to be seen if the other films, Sailor Moon S The Movie and Sailor Moon SuperS: The Nine Sailor Guardians Unite! Miracle of the Black Dream Hole, will be released on the streaming service in the future.

Don’t want to watch a movie for free but prefer physical media? Then why not check out the Blu-Ray versions of the Sailor Moon films using the Amazon links below.

Hulu is becoming a paid service but you can watch Sailor Moon for free on many other sites

Sailor Moon on Yahoo! View

A number of sources such as Variety and The Hollywood Reported have reported that Hulu plans to end their free service. This hasn’t happened quite yet so fans are still free to watch Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal for free on the service. What is one to do when this switch happens? Hulu will continue to host the show on their pay service but will also be hosting a lot of their free content on Yahoo! View. Use this link to watch Sailor Moon on Yahoo! View. You can also watch Sailor Moon Crystal on Yahoo! View. The site seems to be identical to Hulu in most ways. It seems that Sailor Moon will continue to be available on Viz.com’s anime streaming service Neon Alley after Hulu moves to a subscription only service. Sailor Moon Crystal continues to be available on Crunchyroll though they are limiting their back catalogue to paid users.

Canadians are still out of luck with Yahoo! View which just like Hulu and Neon Alley is region blocked in Canada, but that doesn’t really matter anymore. As we reported earlier Canadians can now watch the entire original Sailor Moon anime in Japanese with English subtitles on TubiTV, which is also free. You can also watch Sailor Moon Crystal on TubiTV.

Watch Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33, Infinity 7 – Transformation – Super Sailor Moon, May 23rd at 10:30am

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 Preview - Super Sailor Moon

The next new episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will air on Japanese TV this coming Monday, May 23rd, at 11pm Japan Standard Time. Following this, at 10:30am Eastern Time, the show will being to be available to stream in North America. The show is generally first available on Crunchyroll, though the stream for devices may not show up during the first bit. For example when I used to get up early on Saturday mornings to watch the show I couldn’t watch it on my PS3/PS4 app, but needed to watch it on my computer instead, though after a few hours this was not a problem anymore. Neon Alley usually has the stream available a bit before Hulu, which is at first restricted to Hulu Plus users.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 Preview - Sailor Saturn

This week we are getting Act 33, Infinity 7 – Transformation – Super Sailor Moon. Good to see someone’s getting a transformation during this story arc! I don’t care about Super Sailor Moon though. I care about Sailor Saturn! Based on the preview and manga we should see her this week, but it’s in the form of a flashback to the fall of Silver Millennium when Sailor Saturn showed up to murder a bunch of people. We won’t be seeing Hotaru transform into Sailor Saturn but she will turn into something!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 33 Preview - Sailor Saturn

The original manga version of Act 33 features a comment about how Harukua and Michiru have patrons. I never quite understood the meaning of this comment and wonder if it will be included in Crystal so that we can speculate about it all over again.

Sailor Moon Manga Act 33 - Haruka and Michiru have patrons

“Ho ho ho! We’ve got patrons, so we never lack for money!”

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 28, Infinity 1 – Premonition – The 2nd Part, will be available April 11th at 10:30am Eastern Time

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 28 Preview - Usagi in a Mugen Academy uniform

Update: The episode will actually be referred to as Act 27 – Infinity 1 – Premonition – Second Part. Such a confusing title.

The next new episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will air on Japanese TV tomorrow at 11pm Japan Standard Time. This will be 10am Eastern Time, 7am Pacific Time, and the stream should be available on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Neon Alley shortly afterwards. Last week the episode was available around 10:45am Eastern Time, some 15 minutes after the episode would have concluded on Japanese TV. There’s a countdown on the Act 28 page at Crunchyroll which is counting down to 10:30am Eastern Time. I would recommend watching it on Crunchyroll which has a free and paid commercial free option as well as apps to watch those episodes on, though some of you who live in a country which Hulu doesn’t hate may already have a subscription with them. Last week Hulu restricted the episode to Hulu Plus only for a while, thought it was immediately available to watch on Viz’s web site Neon Alley which is a different way of watching Hulu content. Free users watching on Hulu should go to the Neon Alley page if they can’t find the episode right away.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 28 Preview - Hotaru

This week we get Act 28, Infinity 1 – Premonition – The 2nd Part. This is the direct continuation of the half episode we got last week as the manga chapter for Act 27 has now been split in two in order to make this story arc 13 episodes long. The gang will travel to an amusement park where Chibiusa will meet Hotaru for the first time. We only briefly saw Hotaru last week. She’ll be wearing a Mugen Academy school uniform, which Usagi will also have thanks to her Disguise Pen.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 28 Preview - Daimon

This episode will also feature our first look at Sailor Uranus and Neptune. Last week we saw Haruka and Michiru but we haven’t yet seen them transformed. Of course promotional material, the opening and ending themes and the commercial break bumpers have featured these two prominently so we won’t be too surprised to see them.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 28 Preview - Haruka

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

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Haruka and Michiru

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Infinity 1 - Premonition - First Part

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - The Sailor Team

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Haruka

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Diana on the table

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Artemis and Luna

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Racing

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Daimon

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Sailor Mars

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…

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 27 - Venus Chain Wink Sword

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 28 Preview - Hotaru

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

Continue reading

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

Sailor Moon Crystal Infinity Arc trailer - Michiru and Haruka

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.

Sailor Moon Crystal Infinity Arc trailer - Sailor Chibi Moon and Hotaru

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.

Sailor Moon SuperS episode 133 - Chibiusa is an old lonely cat lady watching Sailor Moon

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.

crunchyroll

How to watch Sailor Moon Crystal

Sailor Moon Crystal episode 01 - Usagi and Mamoru

We’re less than 24 hours to the first episode of Sailor Moon Crystal, the new Sailor Moon anime! The series will be released simultaneous worldwide! The show premieres July 5th in Japan at 7pm Japan Standard Time. Due to the magic of time zones that is actually 6am Eastern Standard Time and 3am Pacific Standard Time, the time when Crunchyroll announced the show would be available. Japanese fans can watch the series on Niconico. This article has links to streams in all languages including the English stream. English speaking fans who want to watch the series with subtitles should also check out Hulu or Crunchyroll.

crunchyroll

The main advantage of watching the series on Crunchyroll is the potential for an ad free experience. The default Crunchyroll service is free to view through a web browser, on iOS and on Android for standard definition video with ad interuptions. The premium service, which costs $6.95 a month, will give access to all of their Anime series, removes video ads, allows access to HD 720p and 1080p versions of series which support it and allows for streaming on all available devices. This ads support for Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Vita, OUYA and some Smart TVs. This service is available to Canadian users. Follow the link to Crunchyroll’s Sailor Moon Crystal page to watch the series as it becomes available.

Hulu

Sailor Moon Crystal will also be available to view on Hulu and Neon Alley. The service is free through a web browser with ads. Hulu’s pay service Hulu Plus will unfortunately not do anything to remove those ads. This service, which costs $7.99 a month, exists to allow customers to view a more extensive back catalog of older shows. It’s unclear at this time if and when older episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal will be restricted to users without Hulu Plus accounts. The other advantage to Hulu Plus is the ability to watch shows on additional devices. With the pay service you’ll be able to watch shows on iOS, Android, Windows phones, Amazon Kindle Fire, Nook, Apple TV, Roku, TiVo, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, 3DS and many other supported TVs and media players. Watch the new series on Hulu’s Sailor Moon Crystal page as it becomes available. You can also watch the original Sailor Moon anime on Hulu.

Hulu is not available in Canada. Looking to use it anyway? You can with the help of a VPN service. I personally use a pay service called Unblock US to connect to Hulu and US Netflix. It’s DNS based so any device can be configured to use it. If you’re looking for a free option you can use Hola which installs as a browser extention allowing you to easily switch between countries while browsing. It works well with the free browser based version of Hulu.

Both Crunchyroll and Hulu have a 2 week free trial period for their premium service.

New episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal will air at this same time on these same sites the first and third Saturdays of every month.

Crunchyroll to stream the new Sailor Moon anime Sailor Moon Crystal

crunchyroll

Last weekend at FanimeCon 2014 in San Jose Crunchyroll announced that the new Sailor Moon anime, Sailor Moon Crystal, would begin streaming on it’s site starting July 5th at 3am. This new anime will be streamed with English subtitles as it is released in Japan on Niconico. The announcement was made on their website shortly afterwards.

Anime series can be streamed for free on the Crunchyroll web site. For those looking for a better experience there is a pay service which will allow you to view the shows in HD without ads and on all kinds of media devices for $6.95 a month. You can sign up for a free 14 day trial of this service though a credit card or PayPal account will be needed for this trail. It’s certainly great to be able to watch a Sailor Moon series online streaming without commercials! It’s unfortunate that Hulu doesn’t have an ad free plan for fans of the original anime who are likely willing to throw their money at them but the fine people at Hulu have poor business sense and offer no such option.