Check out the poster and cast for the upcoming Princess Kaguya’s Lover musical with our first look at human Luna

Musical Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon - Princess Kaguya's Lover Poster

The poster and cast information for the upcoming Princess Kaguya’s Lover musical have been released. The post was up on the Sailor Moon official site briefly last night after which it was removed. It has now been reposted and the musical site has been updated with information from this musical. I didn’t catch the post when it was first online however I quickly saw the poster shared from a number of Sailor Moon fans. The poster gives us some interesting information. Luna is featured twice! It looks like the Luna in black is meant to be cat Luna while the one in the Human Luna yellow dress would be her when she transforms into a human late in the story. Also featured are Kakeru, Himiko and Princess Snow Kaguya. All ten Sailor Guardians appear which is noteable for the inclusion of Sailor Saturn. Canonically this story takes place between the Infinity Arc and the Dream arc when Hotaru is still a baby. Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna appear in the manga and I guess they got a babysitter for Hotaru during that time. The official site does mention that this is her first appearance in this story. Artemis is not on the poster and is not in the cast list. Perhaps he’ll be a plush toy or something.

Musical Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon - Princess Kaguya's Lover Banner

I was happy to see that the Facebook page “We Are The Pretty Guardians- Sera Myu” shared the names of the entire cast as well as social media links for many of them. When this sort of cast information is posted to the official site I usually spend some time searching names and plugging them into online translators to try to do the same so I’m glad to see that someone has already done the hard work here. Please give their page a follow if you’re on Facebook.

Below I’ve included a cast listing with links to Twitter and Instagram accounts when they exist. I’ve opted for the western given name first, family name second order as I usually do on this site although the source I’m using follows the Japanese practice of family name first and given name second. This is an all new cast. There is no one returning from Le Mouvement Final, which was many years ago, though this musical is continuing with the tradition of an all female cast. There are two Chibiusas which is not uncommon for young actresses given Japanese child labour laws.

Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino – Riko Tanaka (Twitter, Instagram)
Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno – Kanon Maekawa (Twitter, Instagram)
Sailor Mars/Rei Hino – Rei Kobayashi (Twitter, Instagram)
Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino – Kisara Matsumura
Sailor Venus/Minako Aino – Marin Makino (Twitter, Instagram)
Sailor Chibi Moon/Chibiusa – Yurika Kobayashi
Sailor Chibi Moon/Chibiusa – Erena Kamata (Instagram)
Sailor Uranus/Haruka Tenoh – Shinju Terada (Twitter, Instagram)
Sailor Neptune/Michiru Kaioh – Ayana Kinoshita (Twitter, Instagram)
Sailor Pluto/Setsuna Meioh – Minami Chisato (Twitter)
Sailor Saturn/Hotaru Tomoe – Yuka Ide (Personal site)
Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru Chiba – Riku Sorahane (Instagram)
Cat Luna – Sakurai Yune
Human Luna – MARISA (Twitter)
Kakeru – Natsume Oki (Twitter)
Himeko Nayotake – Nanami Tamai (Twitter, Instagram)
Princess Snow Kaguya – Sayaka Okamura (Twitter, Instagram)
Snow Dancers – Moeko Koizumi, Ayumi Ozaka, Ayano Nagasawa, Yuri Hirano, Sakura Morimoto and Eri Yanagida

A lot of the actresses have done some stage work in the past. Riku Sorahane, who is playing Tuxedo Mask, seems to have the most extensive experience. Some of the Snow Dancers worked on previous musicals. Moeko Koizumi was previously in the Super Live musical as a backup dancer. I still haven’t seen that musical! Ayano Nagasawa was in the Amour Eternal musical as one of the Dead Moon Circus.

With the musical coming up in September there are still some travel restrictions in place in Japan for foreign visitors. Are any of you expecting to be able to see this musical or are we all holding out for a home video release of some kind?

Sailor Moon S The Movie is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray October 2nd

Sailor Moon S The Movie Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack

Following its recent theatrical release Sailor Moon S The Movie is coming to home video on October 2nd! Listings for the Blu-Ray/DVD Combo pack as well as just the DVD have shown up on the Viz web site, Right Stuf (Blu-Ray, DVD) and Amazon (Blu-Ray, DVD). MSRP for the combo set is a reasonable $29.99 with some sites selling it for a few dollars less. This is a good price for anyone who remembers spending more than twice that for coloured VHS tapes back in the day! The DVD is quite a bit cheaper but given the quality of the Blu-Ray this seems like it would be a poor choice for fans. Even if you don’t have a Blu-Ray player it’s worth the extra $10 to get the combo pack and have it for the future. If you’re planning on buying the set on Amazon you can support the site by using the links below.

Sailor Moon S The Movie Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack - Back

With the back of the packaging we get details of what’s included in this release though there isn’t much that’s surprising here. The technical specs say it’s 1080p and 16×9 aspect ratio which is the standard as Blu-Ray and what we saw with Sailor Moon R The Movie. This is also likely the same quality video for what fans saw in theatres. Though I didn’t get a chance to see Sailor Moon S The Movie theatrically I would say it’s likely the video quality was high. The master used for the Japanese movie release was of a very high quality and the Sailor Moon R The Movie Blu-Ray we got was comparable in quality. These are mastered from the original film source, not upscaled using software like the TV series releases, which means a very high level of detail in the image. Also mentioned are the English and Japanese audio for those wanting to see it in English or to experience the original film with subtitles. This is Viz’s new dub of the Sailor Moon S movie including the cast we previously reported on. This includes Chris Hackeny as Kakeru, the human Luna falls in love with, Claudia Lenz as Himeko, his love interest, and Melissa Fahn as Princess Snow Kaguya, the alien who’s trying to kill them and everyone else on Earth. Also included are interviews with that English cast, trailers and more. The statement “Remastered for the first time in high definite!~” conveniently ignores the recent Japanese release.

Sailor Moon S The Movie - Luna kisses Kakeru

No mention at this time of when Sailor Moon SuperS: The Nine Sailor Guardians Unite! Miracle of the Black Dream Hole will be released on Blu-Ray along with the Ami’s First Love special though, given both were released in theatres within a week, it shouldn’t be too long. Do you plan on picking up this release?

The new English voice cast for the Sailor Moon S and SuperS movies as well as the Ami’s First Love special have been announced

Sailor Moon S The Movie - Luna kisses Kakeru

Last weekend was Anime Expo in Los Angeles and, as has occurred at past conventions, Viz had a Moon Panel on Sailor Moon Day. One thing which was announced at this panel was the cast for the upcoming English versions of Sailor Moon S The Movie, Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie and the Ami’s First Love special which plays with Sailor Moon SuperS. The films will be showing in theatres in late July and early August. The cast is a mix of new voice actors, a few who are returning after minor roles and some main cast members doing minor roles in the films.

First up is the cast of the Sailor Moon S Movie which has Kakeru, the man who Luna falls in love with, Himeko, an astronaut and part of Kakeru’s love triangle, and Princess Snow Kaguya, the villain of the film.

Sailor Moon S The Movie English cast

Kakeru – Chris Hackeny
Himeko – Claudia Lenz
Princess Snow Kaguya – Melissa Fahn

Himeko is voiced by Claudia Lenz, who also goes by the name of Eden Riegel, who previously voiced Koan in Viz’s new dub of Sailor Moon R and Sailor Moon Crystal.

Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie - Perle, Chibiusa and Diana

For the long titled Sailor Moon SuperS: The Nine Sailor Guardians Unite! Miracle of the Black Dream Hole we have a cast which includes Poupelin, Banae and Oranja, the three villain henchmen, Perle, the reformed villain and love interest for Chibiusa, the Bonbon Babies, giant candy looking monsters, and Badiane, the main villain seeking to imprison the Earth’s children into an energy dreaming eternal slumber not unlike The Matrix.

Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie English cast

Poupelin – Kyle McCarley
Banane – Ben Diskin
Oranja – Robbie Daymond
Bonbon Babies – Erica Mendez
Perle – Colleen O’Shaughnessey
Badiane – Tara Sands

We have a few returning cast members here! Banane is voiced by Ben Diskin who is Umino in the series and the Ami’s First Love special as well as Fiore from Sailor Moon R The Movie. Oranja is voiced by Robbie Daymond who plays Tuxedo Mask in the series and all of these movies. The Bonbon Babies are voiced by Erica Mendez who Sailor Uranus in the series and films and also voiced Reika. Badiane is voiced by Tara Sands who has played a number of single episode roles in Sailor Moon and was also Bulbasaur in Pokémon.

Ami's First Love - Mercurius

Finally we have the Ami’s First Love short which plays with the Sailor Moon SuperS film. The only new voices here are Bunnun, the voice of the monster, and Mercurius, Ami’s rival.

Ami's First Love voice cast

Bonnun – Colleen O’Shaughnessey
Mercurius – Kyle McCarley

Both of these actors were also in Sailor Moon SuperS. The voice of Bonnun, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, is also Perle in the SuperS film. The voice of Mercurius, Kyle McCarley, was also Poupelin in the SuperS film.

For show times and a list of participating theatres be sure to check out the Fathom Events web site. The Sailor Moon S movie will be shown with the R movie dubbed on July 28th and subbed on July 30th. The Sailor Moon SuperS movie will be shown with the Ami’s First Love special dubbed on August 4th and subbed on August 6th.

Though the Fathom Events site only lists US theatres Canadians will also have a chance to see these films on those same dates at select Cineplex theatres. Though show times and theatres are not yet listed on their site keep and eye out on their listings for dubbed and subbed showings of Sailor Moon R and S as well as dubbed and subbed showings of Sailor Moon SuperS and Ami’s First Love.

Are any of you going to be able to see these films in your cities? It was a real treat to see Sailor Moon R in theatres a couple of years ago and I hope to be able to get out to see the other films as well!

Jennifer Gould, the voice of Sailor Saturn, to appear at Unplugged Expo 4 from July 31st to August 2nd in Toronto

Jen Gould the voice of Sailor Saturn

Unplugged Expo continues in their tradition of having great Sailor Moon voice actors as guests at their convention. For Unplugged Expo 4 in downtown Toronto the weekend of July 31st to August 2nd they will have voice actors from the original and new Sailor Moon dub! First up is Jennifer Gould, who played the voice of Sailor Saturn in the original English dub of Sailor Moon S. She also appeared as the voice of Parapara of the Amazoness Quartet in Sailor Moon SuperS and as the astronaut Himeko Nayotake, Kakeru’s love interest in the Sailor Moon S movie. Jennifer Gould is also an accomplished singer who won a Juno in 2008. Juno is Canadian for Grammy.

Reika Nishimura

Also appearing is Erica Mendez, the voice of Reika, Motoki’s girlfriend, in Viz’s new dub of the original Sailor Moon anime. This is a somewhat minor role in the series though Erica Mendez is more well known for other anime voice acting credits such as Aladdin in Magi: The Kingdom of Magic and Ryuko Matoi in Kill la Kill.