Sailor Moon Eternal Limited Edition Blu-ray review

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Adam

Sailor Moon Eternal was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan on June 30th. This included both a standard and limited edition of both. Good news for Japan, which previously had seen only a theatrical release of the films. Less useful internationally as many countries are streaming the films on Netflix with English audio and subtitle options. Still the limited edition Blu-ray and DVD have a number of nice features fans may be interested in checking out. I picked up the limited edition Blu-ray, which I’ll be discussing in this post.

There were a number of vendor exclusive versions of this release which differed amongst retailers and while I got the release from Amazon Japan I opted not to pay the cchionsiderable extra cost on top of the already high price tag for these exclusives. In retrospect I enjoyed the box art so much that perhaps a nice print of it would have been worthwhile, but it’s a bit late for this!

The set itself comes with a really beautiful package. This isn’t a standard DVD or Blu-ray sized box but instead something the size of a laserdisc or LP jacket. Inside are four discs. There’s a Blu-ray of the films, a Blu-ray disc of bonus features and two audios CD soundtracks, one for each of the movies.

Blu-ray

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 - Big Chibiusa and Small Usagi

Netflix

Disc 1! The movies. There isn’t much on this except for the two Sailor Moon Eternal films. I won’t repeat my review of those films. I quite enjoyed them and you can read my more in depth thoughts in my full reviews of Part 1 and Part 2. Interestingly enough the two movies are just one long video track of this Blu-ray. This doesn’t mean this is one movie or that it was always intended as one movie as there are still ending and opening credits, but we could easily have had separate video tracks for these.

The disc’s menu has chapter markers which more or less break the movies up into single episode Acts, like with the TV series. This isn’t perfect again because some of them are shorter than others. The “Ami” chapter is only about 11 minutes and the “Rei” chapter is about 12. The second film’s chapters are broken up a bit more evenly as that story isn’t as clearly separated into distinct stories like with Part 1. Keep in mind that there are no English audio or subtitle options. As with all other Japanese Sailor Moon video releases, this is only meant to be viewed by a Japanese audience. If you want to watch it in English, get a Netflix subscription!

Blu-ray

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2 - The Sailor Quartet

Netflix

The video quality of the Blu-ray is quite good. It’s hard to compare a Blu-ray to a stream of a movie because there are all sorts of things which can affect a streaming video’s quality. Netflix adjusts its video quality based on a user’s bandwidth so I don’t know if the quality I was watching the movie at was the best possible. I took some screenshots from the Netflix stream for my reviews but there may have been issues with using a web browser to do that. The Blu-ray, to me, looks superior to the streaming version I’d seen on Netflix. I had watched the films twice on the Netflix app on PlayStation 5 and then once through the Netflix site a web browser on a laptop connected to a TV via HDMI. I’ll include a few screenshot comparisons here and at the end of the post. Keep in mind there is jpeg compression on these images which is a form of lossy compression but that same transformation was applied consistently to both types screenshots using the built in Mac OS screenshot function. I did find the level of detail in the Blu-ray release is superior to what I saw with the streaming version. The fine detail such as lines looks better.

Part 2 ends with a screen saying “To be continued”. This was included in the original Japanese theatrical release but was not in the Netflix version that most people have watched. The insinuation here is evident. They intend to continue Sailor Moon Crystal with a Stars arc. What that will look like or when we will get it remains to be seen. I hope we aren’t going to have to wait months for this one!

The second disc is another Blu-ray and includes all of the bonus features. The menu is all in Japanese but I will explain the feature in the order they’re seen on the menu. Many of these had previews posted on YouTube which I’ll include links to. As with the movies these are only available in Japanese. As many of the features involve some Japanese person or people talking throughout this might not be terribly useful for fans who don’t speak the language.

The first feature, accessed with the top left button, is an interview with the movie’s director Chiaki Kon. She was director on Season III of Sailor Moon Crystal as well as both films. For whatever reason a Luna plush on a stool is featured prominently in the center of the screen while Chiaki Kon is off to the side. The interview is 9m46s but you can watch a three minute preview on YouTube.

Next, the top right option, is an interview with character designer Kazuko Tadano who also worked on the original Sailor Moon anime. It’s hard to ignore the one very distracting aspect of this interview which is the large cartoon face which is superimposed over her face in every scene. I recall seeing Kazuko Tadano at Otakon in 2008 where she seemed to have no qualms about being seen in public. I recorded a panel she was on and my camera ended up losing the footage. Perhaps her image can’t be captured on camera! This feature is 10m30s and a short preview can be seen on YouTube.

The next feature is a Moon Effect music video. This is a long clip from the film only the actual dialog and sound effects are removed keeping only the song itself. The video is 6m11s long.

Next up is a series of trailers and ads for the film. Having seen a lot of these I think I may have seen them all but it’s so hard to tell at some point as many commercials and trailers reuse a lot of the same footage over and over again. The whole thing is 7m10s.

After this we have a 20 minute interview with the main cast of Sailor Guardians and Nehelenia from the first film. This, like many of the interviews, occurs on stage. This includes Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice of Sailor Moon, Hisako Kanemoto, Sailor Mercury, Rina Satō, Sailor Mars, Ami Koshimizu, Sailor Jupiter, Shizuka Itō, Sailor Venus, Misato Fukuen, Sailor Chibi Moon, and Nanao, the voice of Nehelenia. A short preview can be seen on YouTube.

We then have an interview with Kotono Mitsuishi and the voices of the Amazon Trio. By all indications this nearly 22 minute video is hilarious, but I have no idea what they’re really saying. At one point they do a game where there are four options per question and … well I don’t know what the questions or answers are. Check out a preview on YouTube.

Next we have all of the Sailor Guardians’ voices from both films in princess dresses. They all look quite lovely! Throughout this 18 minute clip we see them all answering various questions while wearing evening gowns which are colour coordinated to suit the Sailor Guardians they voice. There’s a lot of posing for photos going on. This preview is on YouTube.

Finally we have a stage interview with the voices of Chibiusa, her mom and her two boyfriends. This 21 minute interview includes Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice of Sailor Moon, Misato Fukuen, Sailor Chibi Moon, Kenji Nojima, Tuxedo Mask, and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Pegasus. I can’t tell if Yoshitsugu Matsuoka is really nervous, doing a bit or both. Is this Bob Newhart level awkward comedy or perhaps some sort of thing that women find appealing? Really not sure. One fun part of this feature is a wild crescent moon shaped flower arrangement. As with the other features you can watch a short clip on YouTube.

The 3rd and 4th discs are audio CDs. Disc 3 is the soundtrack for Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 and Disc 4 is the soundtrack for Part 2. The labels on the discs themselves indicate this and the track listing in the booklet also breaks them into “Part 1″ and “Part 2″. Both have large numbers of tracks as well as TV sized versions of the songs included in them. Disc 3 has more tracks which may be because of music which is used in both films appearing on this soundtrack. I haven’t done a detailed study of each track and identified where it appears in each film, but it seems to mostly be broken up by the films. The part 1 soundtrack has 51 tracks, 49 of which are fairly short instrumental tracks. Track 50 is Moon Color Chainon, the theme song for the films. At 2m35s it is a shorter version of the song, with the full length version being 4m20s. Track 51 is the movie sized version of Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute (Wanting to Be Together with You) by Yoko Ishida which is only 1m32s as opposed to the 5m17s full length version.

The part 2 soundtrack is similar but with only 34 tracks, most of which are are instrumental. Track 28 is the full version of Moon Effect which is a whopping 6m12s, like the version on the Sailor Moon Eternal character song album. Track 33 is another TV length version of Moon Color Chainon. At 2m34s it’s one second shorter than the version on the part 1 soundtrack. I guess one of these is the one with Momoiro Clover Z and one is the version with the voice actors but I honestly can’t tell the difference. Track 34 is the movie sized version of “Rashiku” Ikimasho (I’ll Go As Myself) cover by Anza. This version is only 1m34s. The full length versions of all of the songs on these soundtracks were previously released on the Eternal Edition of the Moon Color Chainon album. It seems like none of the tracks on these soundtrack CDs are available elsewhere, except for the full length version of Moon Effect.

Also included is a special booklet. I’ve included photos of each of the pages with most being at the end of this post. This starts off with character art for all of the characters in the movies. Next is a “Cast Comment” from each of the voice actresses portraying the Sailor Guardians. We then have the “Character Design Comment” which shows us individual art of each character which was used for the cover art. I think that cover image is quite amazing so it’s nice to see each character with a bit of detail here. We then have a “Key Animation Gallery” which shows storyboards and how they compare to images from the final product. There is then an “Event Report” which seems to give a bit of a description for a number of events related to the promotion and release of the film. A “Music Review” discusses the new songs featured in the film. There is then an “Interview” but it’s not entirely clear to me who that interview is with. Finally there is the track listing for the “Original Soundtrack”, the 3rd and 4th discs in this set.

So what’s the verdict? Is this set worth getting? Since it’s a Japanese only release with no English subtitles or audio for the films or any features, this has a limited appeal. While the movies are available to stream on Netflix the features in this set are most certainly not. The music soundtracks are the only way which is currently available to get most of the songs included, so that’s an aspect to consider. It’s worth noting that even though such a thing hasn’t been announced yet it seems quite likely that international versions of this film will be released in time. I expect a North American English DVD and Blu-Ray release will come eventually. That version will likely have Japanese audio as well as English audio and subtitle options. So why get this one? International releases (meaning outside of Japan) will likely include few to none of the special features in this release. Instead I would expect some cast interview with English voice actors and some character art. As always, we’ll be sure to share any info about such a release if and when we hear anything.

Keep reading for more images of the set including photos of all pages of the booklet.

Continue reading →

Moon Color Chainon Album CD and Blu-Ray review

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Adam

Two Moon Color Chainon singles were released on January 13th 2021. I moved a week after these were released so my review is a bit late! These CD singles also included a bonus Blu-ray. There are two version of the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon, hence the two releases. One is the Eternal Edition release which features the song performed by Momoiro Clover Z as well as the voice actors from Sailor Moon Crystal while the Momoiro Clover Z version has the song only performed by Momoiro Clover Z. Each CD has a number of other tracks though only the Eternal Edition features new tracks. Everything on the Momoiro Clover Z Edition has been released before.

If you’re looking to check out these albums and are hoping to save your money you’re in luck. Both the Eternal Edition and Momoiro Clover Z Edition albums are streaming on Spotify. The Eternal Edition includes the full album though the Momoiro Clover Z Edition only includes their version of Moon Color Chainon. That song is the only one that is new to this album so you could find the others on other albums though I don’t believe any of them are on Spotify.

I’ll break down each CD with a track by track review. First up is the Eternal Edition which features Super Sailor Moon on the cover art.

The first track is Moon Color Chainon. This version features vocals by not only Momoiro Clover Z but also the voice actors for the Sailor Team, that being Sailor Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus, from Sailor Moon Crystal. I suspect this is the actual one used in the film itself hence it’s called the Eternal Edition but I’m actually not certain of this. This song has grown on me since I first heard it and I quite enjoy both versions.

The second track is Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute or Wanting To Be Together With You, the first Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme, covered by Yoko Ishida. Yoko Ishida has previously provided the vocals for a number of Sailor Moon songs including Otome No Policy (Maiden’s Policy), the Sailor Moon R ending theme, and Ai No Senshi (Guardian of Love), which was used twice in the series. She did not provide the vocals for this song in the original series, so this is a first for her. I understand this song was used in the ending credits of Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 but I’m still waiting to actually see the film! This is a good cover of the song. It’s not a drastic change from the original.

The third track is a cover of “Rashiku” Ikumasho or I’ll Go As Myself, by Anza. This was the second ending theme for Sailor Moon SuperS. See a pattern here? Anza was the very first actress to play Sailor Moon in the musicals and held that role longer than anyone else. I believe this version was used at the end of Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2 which I am also looking forward to actually seeing at some point. Anza is fantastic and this cover is quite good.

The other three tracks are just instrumental versions of the first three tracks. This is a pretty standard thing to include in most Sailor Moon singles or short albums. I wonder who this appeals to. While I find these interesting bonuses which I appreciate having for completion’s sake I usually listen to them once and skip them every other time I listen to these albums. The whole point of the Eternal Edition is that the songs have different people doing the voices and those vocals aren’t even on these tracks.

Next up is the Momoiro Clover Z Edition which features just songs by that band. The first track is once again the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon however this one only features Momoiro Clover Z and none of the Sailor Moon Crystal cast. Whether you like this one more probably depends on whether or not you’re a fan of Momoiro Clover Z! I think this album is targeted towards fans of the band!

The second track is Moonlight Densetsu or Moonlight Legend, the theme song for the original Sailor Moon anime, as covered by Momoiro Clover Z. This track was previously included in the Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Tribute Album which was released on January 29th 2014. It’s a decent cover of the iconic theme song!

The third track is Moon Pride, the Sailor Moon Crystal theme songs for all of seasons 1 and 2, once again performed by Momoiro Clover Z. They are the original performers of this song so this track really isn’t something new. This track was previously released on the Moon Pride Single which was released in two versions on July 30th 2014.

The fourth track is Gekkou or Moon Rainbow, the first ending theme for Sailor Moon Crystal, again performed by Momoiro Clover Z. This version of the song was also included in the Moon Pride Single.

The fifth track is Tuxedo Mirage, the ending theme for Sailor Moon S, performed by Momoiro Clover Z. This song was previously released on the Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Tribute Album along with Moonlight Densetsu.

The sixth track is Moon Revenge from the Sailor Moon R movie performed by Momoiro Clover Z. It’s decent but I prefer the original. This was also included as part of the Moon Pride Single however it was only included as a bonus track on the CD version of the single and not the Blu-Ray version.

The seventh track is New Moon ni Koishite or In love with New Moon, which was the opening theme for Sailor Moon Crystal’s third season. This Momoiro Clover Z rendition was the third and final version of the song which was used for Acts 34 through 37. It’s not my favourite version of this theme song but it’s, again, decent. This was previously released on the third Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 CD single which came out on June 22nd 2016.

Finally the eighth track is the karaoke or instrumental version of Moon Color Chainon. As I mentioned I don’t particularly care for these tracks.

Each CD comes with a Blu-ray disc which has a music video of that version of Moon Color Chainon on it. These are pretty bare bones discs with a single image, similar to the album cover art, as the menu.

The Eternal Edition version includes the “Animation Music Video” which is available in its entirety on YouTube. It’s a nice video which includes a ton of footage and therefore a ton of spoilers for the Sailor Moon Eternal movie.

The Momoiro Clover Z version includes the “Artist Music Video” which has footage of Momoiro Clover Z recording the song in a studio. A lot of those clips are very similar to those seen in the short version of the Eternal version of the Artist Music Video which is available on YouTube however since this version is much longer, there is some new footage. One example is extra clips of musicians playing various musical instruments which were used in the song.

The packaging and booklet aren’t anything terribly earth shattering. We’ve got lyrics for the songs and some credits for those who worked on the albums. I’ll include more photos of the packaging and booklet at the end of the post.

I got my copies from Amazon and each came with a vendor exclusive card. It was actually the same card which came with each release so I ended up getting two identical cards! Had I known I may have opted to buy one of the albums at the slightly less expensive price for the version which didn’t come with this card.

Are these worth getting? I’m finding it tough to continue to justify buying Sailor Moon CDs when they’re being streamed on a server I already pay for. Physical media for music is become more and more obsolete with every passing year. It’s nice to have for collectors. You can hear all of the tracks in the Eternal version on services such as Spotify. You can hear the only new track from the Momoiro Clover Z version on Spotify as well. Although the other songs on that album were all released previously they do not appear to be available on streaming music platforms so unless you happen to have the 20th Anniversary Tribute Album, the CD only Moon Pride Single and the third Sailor Moon Crystal season 3 CD, this might be worth picking up to hear some of those songs.

I’m still waiting impatiently for news on when we will be seeing the Sailor Moon Eternal films outside of Japan! I certainly hope to be able to see the films soon.

Keep reading for more pictures of the packaging and from the Blu-ray video.

Continue reading →

The Moon Color Chainon Animation Music Video shows us many spoilers for the Sailor Moon Eternal films

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Adam

125

Sailor Moon Eternal is now out in Japanese theatres. Those of us outside of Japan are still hoping for news of when the movie will be out in their area. If you’re looking for a 4 minute and 20 second video which gives clips from throughout the entire movie I’ve got some good news for you! An “Animation Music Video” of the Momoiro Clover Z song Moon Color Chainon, the theme song for Sailor Moon Eternal, has been released. The entire video is footage from Sailor Moon Eternal. This seems to be mostly from Part 1 but it seems like this includes some scenes from Part 2. This is a mix of old footage and a ton of newer footage not in previously trailers and officially released clips. Be warned there’s everything in this. Every character people got annoyed at me for posting screencaps of is in this. If you haven’t read the Dream arc of the manga and don’t want to be spoiled for the films, don’t watch the clip which I’ve embedded below!

Of course at this point none of this is “new” footage as the first movie is actually out. I haven’t seen the film yet! I’m really looking forward to seeing a decent version of it, hopefully on Netflix some time soon, but I haven’t been watching the low quality cam footage which can be found if you spend a bit of time looking.

I figure this video is also on the Blu-Ray which comes with the Moon Color Chainon CD/Blu-Ray combo which came out a couple of days ago. My copy of both of the albums is in the mail somewhere in Cincinnati and I’ll be doing a review after I receive it at some point. I’ve got a big move coming up so my posting may slack a bit in the next few weeks but I’ll get around to it when I can.

Lots of fun stuff in here! What’s your favourite part? Young Rei and Usagi are very cute. Human Artemis and fairy Phobos and Deimos are cool! Chibiusa kissing the horse is always funny. Those cats are looking bad ass!

Keep reading for more screenshots from this clip.

Continue reading →

An in depth look at the Sailor Moon Eternal magazine

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Adam

The Sailor Moon Eternal magazine which we posted about last week was released on December 24th. Now that I’ve gotten my hands on a copy, and taken many photos of it, I’m prepared to share some thoughts on it. I’m very happy with this magazine! For the price this really is a great value. The magazine costs only 550 Japanese yen, a bit over $5 US, and includes 32 full colour pages with photos of Sailor Moon Eternal as well as other series from throughout the years. Don’t accept the photos I am sharing as substitutes for the real thing and pick a copy up for yourselves if you can. If you happen to live in Japan this is probably easy enough though international fans will find that the shipping cost for such an inexpensive item is significant, as was the case for me when I ordered my copy from Amazon Japan.

I’ll include photos of all pages of this magazine. These aren’t the best they could be as I don’t own a scanner anymore and because I’m in the middle of a move my camera is in a box somewhere. These were taken with my iPhone and edited to create smaller files. If anyone would like a close up photo of anything in this magazine let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

First off is the cover, which is quite beautiful. Note that this is the online exclusive cover featuring Sailor Saturn, Pluto, Uranus and Neptune with Chibi Moon on the back. There is also a cover which is sold in stores in Japan which features Sailor Moon on the cover and Sailor Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus on the back. I was surprised at just how big this was! This is much larger than a magazine and is probably more like a special edition newspaper. The paper quality isn’t the best and there is no binding. These are just loose sheets so the item came packaged in a sealed plastic bag. As indicated on the cover this magazine is released by Sponichi also known as Sport Nippon. Why is a daily sports magazine releasing a Sailor Moon magazine? Not sure!

Pages 2 and 3 feature a two page interview with Nanao, a Japanese actress and model who will be providing the voice of Nehelenia in the films.

Next is a two page interview with Japanese comedian Naomi Watanabe who will be providing the voice of Zirconia.

The following two pages include bios for all of the Sailor Guardians as well as Tuxedo Mask and Helios. The ordering of these, as well as some other elements in this magazine, strikes me as a bit odd. Anyone who reads manga will realize that Japanese is written “backwards” as compared to what is seen in the west where panels will be read from right to left and top to bottom. These bios however are sorted from left to right starting with Sailor Moon in the top left and ending with lowly Helios in the bottom right. All the while the Sailor Mercury transformation sequence at the top of the pages goes from right to left.

Page 8 shows us the Dead Moon Circus with Nehelenia, Zirconia, the Amazon Trio and the Amazoness Quartet. Page 9 has Chibiusa and Pegasus with an overview of the film’s story.

Page 10 is an interview with Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice of Sailor Moon, and it also includes a few images from the film, most of which we’ve seen in better quality at this point. Page 11 has information about Momoiro Clover Z and Moon Color Chainon, the theme for the film. It also includes some other staff information.

Pages 12 and 13 are layed out like newspaper clippings telling the story of Usagi and Mamoru’s “Miracle Romance”. This features images from earlier in the Sailor Moon Crystal series.

Page 14 is an ad for the Sailor Moon Cafe. Page 15 is half of a fold out which I’ll explain below.

This Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon’s History fold out is the back side of the centerfold which is actually pages 15 and 18. This shows a timeline of the various incarnations of Sailor Moon spanning manga, anime and musicals. Even the often forgotten live action series gets a mention! The final piece in the history is a poster for the Sailor Moon Prism On Ice show which we hope to see soon!

The centerfold for the magazine is a two page spread of the Small Worlds Tokyo exhibit which included a mini version of Tokyo as seen in Sailor Moon. This features some side by side photos of real locations in Tokyo compared to scenes from Sailor Moon Eternal!

Page 18 is the other half of the Sailor Moon’s History fold out and Page 19 has an ad for VR Dream Flight which is an event I haven’t posted about but probably should have. This is a Virtual Reality experience which lets fans fly around Tokyo with Pegasus, Chibiusa and Sailor Moon.

Pages 20 and 21 show us every single manga cover released in Japan! This includes four full releases and the first two covers of the new colour versions.

Page 22 is an ad for the Moon Color Chainon CD/Blu-ray releases which are coming on January 13th. These are still not in stock on Amazon Japan so I’m hoping that gets resolved in the next couple of weeks. Page 23 is a weird thing which I can’t quite figure out. It seems to be a fake group chat between various Sailor Moon characters though I’m not sure who’s who or what’s going on.

Page 24 is an ad for a Sky Garden Sailor Moon Eternal event which will include a screening of the film, a shop, a cafe and the VR event. Page 25 has a quiz where there are four choices each. Again the order of these question is a bit odd, reading left to right. Some of these are very easy but I’m frankly stumped by question 7 which asks which character is Phobos. Perhaps it will be obvious what colour Phobos and Deimos are in the film but as it currently stands there is only conflicting evidence of this from manga art book sources.

Pages 26 and 27 are ads for the Konica Minolta Planetarium where fans will be able to take their photo with a Sailor Moon poster, buy Sailor Moon themed drinks at the cafe as well as other merchandise.

Pages 28 and 29 show tons of Sailor Moon merchandise which is available for sale from various retailers.

Page 30 has a colour page based on the Nehelenia poster. I’m not sure the paper can be drawn on terribly well but I’m not about to let my children loose on this thing to test that theory out! Page 31 is an ad for 3coins which is a store which is selling a number of fairly inexpensive Sailor Moon products.

Finally the back cover of the magazine shows Super Sailor Chibi Moon!

All in all I really think this is a great magazine. It’s full of ads, yes, but they’re all Sailor Moon ads. For the low price point this is a fun collectible for fans to check out. Below I’ve included a few more close up images of some things in this magazine.

Spoiler! This is Artemis in human form! There was a leak of this image earlier but here is a higher quality version.

Which is Phobos and which is Deimos? Wikimoon mentions that there has been inconsistent evidence of which character is what colour. The two are only ever shown in black and white in the manga so there’s no conclusive evidence there. They are in some of the Sailor Moon art books however in volume IV Phobos is purple and Deimos is red (PIPDIR) while in volume V Phobos is red and Deimos is purple (PIRDIP). Hopefully the film will clear this up once and for all, but will this really settle things conclusively? This reminds me of the controversy in the Transformers fan community where there is a never ending conflict between the cartoon purist FIRRIB camp (Frenzy is red, Rumble is blue) and the toy collecting FIBRIR camp (Frenzy is blue, Rumble is red).

This is an image of Pegasus in a cage which I shared previously in lower quality.

I hadn’t seen this image of Mamoru and young Usagi before so I figured I’d share.

Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 will be released in theatres in Japan on January 8th 2021 with Part 2 coming shortly afterwards on February 11th. Get caught up with the series before the films are released by using the Amazon links below or streaming the episodes on Crunchyroll or Hulu in the US or on Tubi in Canada. Read the manga stories the film will be based on in volumes 7 and 8 of the Eternal Edition which collects Acts 39, Eclipse Dream, through 49, Earth and Moon Dream, as well as some side stories.

Watch the new music video for the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon featuring the Sailor Guardians’ voice actors!

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Adam

A longer video showing the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon which includes the voices of the Sailor Guardians singing has been shared on YouTube and the Official Sailor Moon Site. You can watch the video embedded below.

This is different from the full length video which was shared earlier this month. That was the Momoiro Clover Z version of the song. This version, which is the one included in the Eternal Edition of the album, is still sung by Momoiro Clover Z but joining them are the voices of the Sailor Guardians from Sailor Moon Crystal. That includes Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice of Sailor Moon, Hisako Kanemoto, the voice of Sailor Mercury, Rina Sato, the voice of Sailor Mars, Ami Koshimizu, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, and Shizuka Ito, the voice of Sailor Venus. We had gotten a preview of this version of the song in a very short clip which was released in October. This is a longer version but at a minute and a half it is still a short version of the song with the full version being about three and a half minutes.

All four members of Momoiro Clover Z as well as the five voice actors appear in this video. The close up shots are all of the members of Momoiro Clover Z while the shots of women standing in front of a brick wall with a TV screen are of the voice actors. You can tell who is who by the colour of the border around the image and of course the character shown on screen while they are singing.

The video also includes clips from the Sailor Moon Eternal films. Some of it is new and some of it we’ve seen before. I’ve included some screenshots of the new footage in this post.

Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 will be released in theatres in Japan on January 8th with Part 2 following the next month on February 11th. Though no date or specifics have been announced it seems likely that the English version of the films will be streamed on Netflix.

Keep reading for more screenshots from this video.

Continue reading →

The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon has been released … sort of

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Adam

The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song, Moon Color Chainon, has been released in Japan as we get many details about the CD and Blu-Ray releases posted to the official Sailor Moon site. Though Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 won’t be released until January 8th 2021 and the CDs and Blu-Rays of Moon Color Chainon will be released on January 13th the song is already available to stream on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. Unfortunately fans outside of Japan will find that any links to these songs won’t work! Momoiro Clover Z did perform this song live and full length versions are also available online. The YouTube video embedded below is one such example.

We’ve also gotten a lot of details about other track which will be included on the full albums. Here I was expecting these would be closer to a single but we can now see that there will be a few tracks on each!

The Momoiro Clover Z Edition of the album will include the version of Moon Color Chainon by Momoiro Clover Z without the Sailor Moon Eternal cast. The other songs on this album are listed as the “-ZZ ver.-” which most likely means that Momoiro Clover Z performs that version and not that Ziv Zulander, The Bots Master, will be recording the vocals. Note that all of the tracks but Moon Color Chainon were included with earlier Sailor Moon Crystal albums. Here’s a track listing.

M1: Gesshoku Chainon (Moon Color Chainon) – The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song – Momoiro Clover Z ver.
M2: Moonlight Densetsu (Moonlight Legend) – The original Sailor Moon anime theme song -ZZ ver.-
M3: Moon Pride – The first Sailor Moon Crystal theme song -ZZ ver.-
M4: Gekkou (Moon Rainbow) – The first Sailor Moon Crystal ending theme -ZZ ver.-
M5: Tuxedo Mirage – The Sailor Moon S ending theme -ZZ ver.-
M6: Moon Revenge – From Sailor Moon R The Movie -ZZ ver.-
M7: New Moon ni Koishite (In love with New Moon) – The opening theme for season 3 of Sailor Moon Crystal -ZZ ver.-
M8: Gesshoku Chainon (Moon Color Chainon) [Instrumental or Karaoke version]

The Eternal Edition of the Album includes the version of Moon Color Chainon by not only Momoiro Clover Z but also the cast of Sailor Moon Eternal! All three songs on this album are the ones which will be played with the films. The cover art for this album is included at the top of this post. The second track is a cover of the first Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme by Yoko Ishida, who performed a number of songs in the original Sailor Moon anime but not this one. This is the ending theme for Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1. The third track is a cover of the second Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme which will be performed by ANZA, the first actress to play Usagi in the Sailor Moon musicals. This is the ending theme for Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2.

M1: Gesshoku Chainin (Moon Color Chainon) – The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song – Momoiro Clover Z with Sailor Moon (Kotono Mitsuishi), Sailor Mercury (Hisako Kanemoto), Sailor Mars (Rina Sato), Sailor Jupiter (Ami Koshimizu) and Sailor Venus (Shizuka Ito)
M2: Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute (Wanting to Be Together with You) – The first Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme – Yoko Ishida
M3: “Rashiku” Ikimasho (I’ll Go As Myself) – The second Sailor Moon SuperS ending theme – ANZA
M4: Gesshoku Chainon (Moon Color Chainon) [Instrumental or Karaoke version]
M5: Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute (Wanting to Be Together with You) [Instrumental or Karaoke version]
M6 : “Rashiku” Ikimasho [Instrumental or Karaoke version]

All considered it seems like the Momoiro Clover Z Edition includes a version of the theme song which won’t actually be in the movie and some covers which we’ve actually gotten in other releases while the Eternal Edition includes three tracks which will be in the movie, all of which we’ve never actually heard on other releases! If you’re only going to buy one of these then the Eternal Edition seems like the obvious choice for Sailor Moon fans, though perhaps Momoiro Clover Z fans will be inclined to pick up the other album!

The CD and Blu-Ray can still be ordered from a number of online retailers, though currently Amazon Japan does not seem to have the items in stock. The Momoiro Clover Z version (Amazon Japan exclusive, regular edition, CD Japan) is 2500 yen which is about $24 US while the Sailor Moon Eternal version (Amazon Japan exclusive, regular edition, CD Japan) is 2200 yen which is about $21 US.

What do you think of the song? Which song are you most excited to hear?

Listen to a clip of “Moon Color Chainon”, the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song by Momoiro Clover Z

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Adam

A preview of the theme song for the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films has been posted to the official Sailor Moon site! The song, by Momoiro Clover Z, is “Gesshoku Chainon” which roughly translates to “Moon Color Chainon”. What’s a chainon? Chaînon is a french word meaning a link in a chain. I suppose this is a reference to the Sailor Guardians all being individual links in the chain that is the Sailor Team. You can check out the short clip of the song which features the members of Momoiro Clover Z below. It includes a few seconds of new footage from the upcoming films.

Two different CD and Blu-Ray sets for this song will be released on January 13th 2021. They will each include a different version of the song. The Momoiro Clover Z Edition includes the song performed only by the group Momoiro Clover Z. The Sailor Moon Eternal Edition includes a different version of the song which is performed by not only Momoiro Clover Z but also voice actors from the Sailor Moon Eternal film. The voice actors who will be providing vocals on this version of the song are Kotono Mitsuishi as Sailor Moon, Hisako Kanemoto as Sailor Mercury, Rina Sato as Sailor Mars, Ami Koshimizu as Sailor Jupiter and Shizuka Ito as Sailor Venus. There does not appear to be any version which includes both songs, so fans looking to get both will need to buy both versions.

Exclusive cards are available for those who order from specific retailers with each different retailer including a different card. The Momoiro Clover Z version (Amazon Japan exclusive, regular edition) is 2500 yen which is about $24 US while the Sailor Moon Eternal version (Amazon Japan exclusive, regular edition) is 2200 yen which is about $21 US.

The band Momoiro Clover Z has contributed a lot of music to Sailor Moon Crystal going back to the very beginning. They performed Moon Pride, the original opening theme for the series. Fans may notice that Momoiro Clover Z used to have five members but that this video only includes four. Momoka Ariyasu left the group at the beginning of 2018 and is not featured in this song.

Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 will be in theatres in Japan starting January 8th 2021. It will be followed shortly afterwards by Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2 which will hit theatres on February 11th. The movies are an adaptation of the Dream arc of the Sailor Moon manga which was also adapted as Sailor Moon SuperS in the original 90s anime.

What do you think of the song? Keep reading to see more screenshots from this video.

Continue reading →

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III CD 3 single review

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Adam

The 3rd and last Sailor Moon Crystal Season III CD single was released on June 22nd. If you’re interested in purchasing it you can get it from Amazon Japan. This third single features the third versions of the opening and ending themes for this season. The opening theme is still In Love With the New Moon, as it has been all season, but this one is sung by Momoiro Clover Z who performed the ending theme Moon Pride for the first 26 episodes. The new ending theme is Only Eternity Brings the Two Together, is sung by Kenji Nojima, the voice of Tuxedo Mask. The CD single comes with normal and karaoke versions of full length versions of both songs as well as a DVD with TV sized and full length videos for each.

The packaging is much like the other two singles. Now that we have all three we can put them together to get a full image of all of the Sailor Guardians.

As the music goes if you’ve seen the later episodes of the season you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. This version of the opening theme isn’t my favourite. I still prefer the first version, sung by Etsuko Yakushimaru. The ending theme is decent. I believe this is the only theme for Sailor Moon which features a man so that’s something!

The DVD is pretty basic. The menu doesn’t have much exciting. The opening and endings are the ones from the streaming version only in standard definition and without credits. Later versions of the intro featured Super Sailor Chibi Moon and then later Sailor Saturn but this one only has normal Sailor Chibi Moon alongside Super Sailor Moon. Fans looking to see wet t-shirt contest Mamoru without credits may appreciate this. The full length versions have clips from throughout the season. The intro has clips from the four episodes late in the season which used this intro. The ending theme has footage of Mamoru from throughout the season’s first 12 episodes which demonstrates just how little he’s actually done lately. That’s cool though because he looks good in a wet t-shirt.

Keep reading for more images of the packaging.

Continue reading →

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34, Infinity 8 – Infinite Labyrinth 1, review

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Adam

The latest episode of Sailor Moon Crystal aired on Japanese TV Monday May 30th at 11pm Japan Standard Time. Shortly afterwards, starting at 10:30am Eastern Time, it was available to stream on Crunchyroll, Neon Alley and Hulu. Act 34, Infinity 8 – Infinite Labyrinth, has Chibiusa dead and the gang reluctantly fighting to save her.

First off we have a new opening theme. Once again it’s In Love With the New Moon but this time sung by Momoiro Clover Z. They sang Moon Pride, the opening theme for the first two story arcs. This version is fine but I prefer the first version by Etsuko Yakushimaru. Not sure I have much else to say about that. Momoiro Clover Z seems like a perfectly mediocre J-Pop band.

Chibiusa is dead. The day fans have been waiting for since the 90s is here! With her soul ripped out, Chibiusa’s body dies. The doctor announces quite clearly that she went through cardiac arrest and then passed away. All hope is not lost though, as Mamoru is able to keep her alive through some sort of healing touch. It’s as if he’s able to keep her blood pulsing with his heart which only makes sense considering he has magic healing powers. In the manga he mentions that her body is so small that supporting her is easy, but in Sailor Moon Crystal we get the impression that this is draining on him.

Usagi is heartbroken by this, and really feels as if Chibiusa is dead. What option is there to save her? Well they just need to kill Hotaru! Actually they don’t have to kill anyone, they just need need to defeat Mistress 9. Not every enemy needs to be killed when they’re defeated! Oh right this is the manga version where Sailor Moon kills pretty much anyone. Original anime Sailor Moon seems to win over and heal more villains. Anyway the trolley problem is a bit different now. Instead of kill Hotaru vs. the world it’s Hotaru vs. Chibiusa vs. the world. And now the trolley has run over Chibiusa and is heading towards the world and pulling the lever will make it roll back in time, bringing Chibiusa back to life and then killing Hotaru. I’m not sure I want to attempt to illustrate that. So much to say despite hesitation everyone, including Mamoru, supports the idea of moving forward and trying to get Chibiusa’s soul back.

The whole thorn thing seems to be new to Sailor Moon Crystal. There are thorns around the building at Mugen Academy which makes it seem something like when the Makaiju grew all over the apartment building in Sailor Moon R. There are thorns and roses all around the lobby. What’s more Hotaru’s soul, which we see occasionally inside of Mistress 9, is held down by thorns. The manga doesn’t have this level of thorniness, and Hotaru is just seen sort of floating around in nothingness. This is a sort of physical visualization of the way she’s restricted inside of Mistress 9. All this really means is that Hotaru is still alive, so there’s still hope.

The Witches 5 return and now there are 6. Everyone seems to be getting a dream of something they would like. Sailor Mars sees a version of Eudial which pretty much just want to make out with her. She pins her down holding her hand and seems to want to kiss her. Did I ever mention that Eudial is my favourite of the Witches 5 and that Sailor Mars is my favourite Sailor Guardian? I’m totally shipping these two. The rest of the gang are presented with predictable things. Sailor Mercury sees a powerful artificial intelligence supercomputer, which is cool but probably nothing compared to the supercomputer on the Moon which has the consciousness of Queen Serenity uploaded to it. Sailor Venus holds a microphone for a while but doesn’t actually sing, which is disappointing. Sailor Jupiter likes flowers. The recurring theme is making them all want to quit being Sailor Guardians.

Sailor Moon gets a whopper of a dream. Chibiusa tries to choke and kill her! This is fake, unlike the time Chibiusa tried to shoot her in the head! This really is a great episode for Chibiusa haters! Sailor Moon doesn’t buy it though.

Turns out Kaolinite is actually a monster! This is not in the manga and new to Sailor Moon Crystal. She transforms into this weird kind of Daimon who the Sailor Guardians quickly dispose of. We see a couple of new attacks with Sailor Neptune’s Submarine Reflection, which is awesome, and Sailor Pluto’s Chronos Typhoon, which is completely disappointing.

To wrap up the episode Mistress 9 eats the Chibiusa’s Silver Crystal! How terrible! Does she even know that Chibiusa’s soul is in there? Good news for Hotaru though. She’ll have some company inside of Mistress 9.

Next is the new ending theme, Only Eternity Brings the Two Together, sung by Kenji Nojima, the voice of Tuxedo Mask. This ending theme contains wet shirt Mamoru which I find looks like something out Yaoi fan art. I guess some readers will appreciate this!

Next week is Sailor Moon Crystal Act 35, Infinity 9 – Infinite Labyrinth 2. Mistress 9 has reunited Chibiusa and Hotaru inside her being. Isn’t that great! Even in death these two good friends can hang around together! We’ll also see naked Usagi in this episode if that’s something that interests you.

Keep reading for more images of this episode and the next episode preview for Act 35.

Continue reading →

Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray Vol. 11 Review

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Adam

Late as usual here is my review of the 11th volume of Sailor Moon Crystal on Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray. This volume was released on August 12th and includes two episodes, Act 21 and 22, in a collectible set which includes a 20 page colour booklet and charm of Sailor Venus’s Star Power Stick. You can order this from Amazon Japan and other online retailers for about 5,194 yen, about $43 US, plus a ton of shipping. The next volume, volume 12, will be released next week on September 9th.

The art on the cover of this volume is of Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion, the future versions of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Since a lot of this second story arc takes place in the future these characters feature prominently in the episodes on this disk.

The charm included this time is Sailor Venus’s Star Power Stick. As with all of the other ones you can put them all together on a charm bracelet and be really cool.

Included are Act 21, Complication – Nemesis, and Act 22, Hidden Agenda – Nemesis. These two episode are based on two chapters of the manga from the versions which were released in 2003 however both episodes were originally a single manga chapter, Act 20, Complication – Nemsis. Because of this the pace may seem a bit slow.

Like with other releases there are a number of mostly minor changes to the animation. These mostly result in touch ups which make the animation a bit nicer looking and very occasionally results in more significant changes to what appears on screen. I’m unable to take screenshots of Blu-Rays with my current AV setup but a great site for examining these differences is Crystal Comparisons.

Almost nothing of significance is changed for Act 21. In one scene a chair is added behind Usagi mostly to compensate for an earlier continuity issue where a chair disappeared and then reappeared behind her. Other than that the changes are mostly cosmetic.

The next episode previews remain unaltered. I’ve mentioned Chibiusa’s shirt gate time and time again. The next episode preview for Act 22 which appeared at the end of Act 21 originally included her blue long sleeved uniform, which was an error, and that uniform still appears in this version. This had been corrected in the streaming version of Act 22 and is still corrected on this release.

If you check out the changes for Act 22, you’ll note some changes for the appearance of Black Lady. In the original streaming episode Black Lady first appeared pretty much as a shadowy black figure with glowing eyes who later became more visible. The intention was, and still is, to obscure her identity. Now in the Blu-Ray we see her as being more transparent and smokey than previously in her first appearance and then darker in her later appearance. It seems to do the job better, but was anyone really still wondering what her true identity was at this point? There are a couple of other minor changes to this episode. When Usagi is possessed by Neo Queen Serenity her eyes glow and in the streaming version they are a bit darker. The reactor effects have been redone a bit to add some circles around the main column of energy. We also see the Sailor Guaridans standing behind Sailor Moon in one scene where we previously didn’t.

Both episodes include an audio commentary. These feature Munehisa Sakai, director of Sailor Moon Crystal, Kenji Nojima, the voice of Mamoru Chiba and Misato Fukuen, the voice of Chibiusa.

Also included is the 20 page full colour special book. This one features the usual episode summaries, character designs, backgrounds, page for Osabu and two interviews. The first interview is with Momoiro Clover Z, the musical group which performs the Sailor Moon Crystal opening theme, Moon Pride, and ending theme, Gekkou. The second interview is with the four voice actors who portrayed the Ayakashi Sister. Wasabi Mizuta provides the voice of Petz. Rumi Kasahara, who provides the voice of Berthier, had previously voiced many small roles in the original Sailor Moon anime including Ptilol of the Witches 5. Tomoe Hanba voices Calaveras and Satsuki Yukino provides the voice of Koan.

As always I recommend this only to hardcore fans. English speaking fans should contend with the streaming version until the eventual multi language Blu-Ray is released by Viz. This is a cool set with some cool stuff in it, but it’s hard to justify the price tag for two episodes.

Keep reading for more photos of the set including all 20 pages of the special book.

Continue reading →

Sailor Moon News

Bringing you the latest news about the new anime series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal and all things Sailor Moon.

Tag Archives: Momoiro Clover Z

Sailor Moon Eternal Limited Edition Blu-ray review

Moon Color Chainon Album CD and Blu-Ray review

The Moon Color Chainon Animation Music Video shows us many spoilers for the Sailor Moon Eternal films

An in depth look at the Sailor Moon Eternal magazine

Watch the new music video for the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon featuring the Sailor Guardians’ voice actors!

The Sailor Moon Eternal theme song Moon Color Chainon has been released … sort of

Listen to a clip of “Moon Color Chainon”, the Sailor Moon Eternal theme song by Momoiro Clover Z

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III CD 3 single review

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 34, Infinity 8 – Infinite Labyrinth 1, review

Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray Vol. 11 Review