Sailor Moon Crystal is coming to Netflix on July 1st

Sailor Moon Crystal on Netflix July 1st

More good news for Sailor Moon fans with a Netflix subscription! The Sailor Moon Crystal TV series will be added to the service soon, on July 1st! The Sailor Moon Eternal films were both added to Netflix on June 3rd. As those films are a continuation of the Sailor Moon Crystal series which started airing in 2014 it’s nice to see everything in the same place! A page for the series is up on Netflix and it mentions “Seasons” are coming July 1st. I assume this means all three story arcs, but we won’t know for sure until the 1st. It also seems likely this will include both the original Japanese and English dubbed versions of the shows and perhaps some others.

The series may not be available in all countries. It is coming to the US and I can confirm that it’s on the Canadian Netflix as well but you might want to check to see if the series is listed in your own country’s Netflix if you aren’t sure!

For now the series is still available to stream on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Funimation in the US as well as on Tubi in Canada. No end date appears to be listed for any of those services, so it’s likely the series will stream on Netflix while still being available on other sties.

The Sailor Moon Eternal films will be released this Thursday, June 3rd, at 3:01am Eastern Time

Usagi tired

We’ve known for some time that both Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 and 2 will be released on Netflix June 3rd. For those planning to watch it as early as possible you may have been wondering when exactly that might be! Netflix generally releases all of their new content at 12:01am Pacific Time. I happen to live in the Eastern Time Zone, a fairly populace area, so it will be available at 3:01am Eastern Time. To be more specific Netflix uses Pacific Time and so since that currently uses Pacific Daylight Time and not Pacific Standard Time, that is what will be used. With Sailor Moon Crystal episodes being released using Japanese time in the past this caused some confusion when Daylight Savings Time began and ended as it changed the time of episodes’ release to those who change their clocks!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 28 - Usagi and Chibiusa sleeping

The Sailor Moon Eternal films will cover the Dream arc of the Sailor Moon Manga which deal with the Dead Moon Circus. This was previously adapted as Sailor Moon SuperS in the original Sailor Moon anime. These movies are a continuation of Sailor Moon Crystal which previously adapted the first three story arcs of the manga as episodes.

Sailor Moon episode 9 - How did Luna tie this clock to herself?

At what time do you plan on watching the movies? Will you try to catch them when they first become available in your time zone or will you wait until later in the day?

Netflix has released a new Sailor Moon Eternal trailer

Sailor Moon Eternal Netflix Trailer - Young Rei

Netflix has released a few Sailor Moon Eternal trailer which features new clips which we have not seen in other trailers. It also features English voices from the Viz dub cast. The trailer is making the rounds online on YouTube and various Netflix social media accounts. If you log in to Netflix and search for Sailor Moon Eternal you will be able to see three trailers. The third one, “Netflix Original Trailer: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie” is the same one you can see on YouTube though on Netflix you are able to listen to it in English, Spanish, French, Italian or Japanese. Check out the trailer embedded below.

What’s your favourite part of this new trailer?

Sailor Moon Eternal Netflix Trailer - Helios

Continue reading

The Sailor Moon Eternal movies are coming to Netflix worldwide on June 3rd!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie - Only on Netflix June 3rd

We finally have official confirmation of something we’ve suspected for a long time. The Sailor Moon Eternal films are coming to Netflix! Both Part 1 and Part 2 will be released worldwide on the streaming service in many languages on June 3rd! Watch the announcement trailer which includes Sailor Moon voice actors from around the world and some odd music which is absolutely not in the actual movie.

A listing for the film is also now up on Netflix. It is mentioned to be a double feature but it isn’t clear if this will be one amalgamated movie or if both parts will be released separately. With Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 having been released in theatres in Japan on January 8th of this year the worldwide release will take place nearly five months later. Fans have been waiting for a date for the Netflix release for a while. The fact that the movies were coming to Netflix for international audiences outside of Japan has been one of the worst kept secrets in the industry!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie on Netflix

The first hint that Netflix would be dubbing the series goes back to November with the Astro Girl fiasco. A listing showed up on the Screen Actors Guild web site suggesting that “Astro Girl: (Aka: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie)” was being done with a “Netflix dubbing agreement”. The simplest interpretation of this was that Netflix was dubbing the series, which we now know to be correct. At the time I classified this as a rumour.

The next hint came in December as a voice actor accidentally shared a photo which unbeknownst to him revealed a monitor in the background showing an image of the Amazoness Quartet and the words “Property of Netflix”. As this voice actor previously voiced Tiger’s Eye in Sailor Moon SuperS it seemed evident that he was reprising his role in Sailor Moon Eternal. At this point I thought there was no longer any doubt that the movies would be released on Netflix. The only question remaining was when. We now have that answer!

Finally in January there was a Facebook post by a Spanish voice actor of Tuxedo Mask who straight up stated that he recorded Sailor Moon Eternal and thanked Netflix for bringing him and some other Spanish voice actors back to reprise their roles. This not only served as further confirmation of the already evident fact that Sailor Moon Eternal would appear on Netflix, but that it was also being dubbed in a number of other languages. We can now see from the trailer that this is in fact the case!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie on Netflix

For those of you who would only be satisfied by the most official of official statements, here it is! Please don’t mind my saying I told you so!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie

It’s worth noting that the trailer also includes a brief clip of Kotono Mitsuishi performing Sailor Moon’s voice in Japanese which suggests that fans will have the option to watch the movie in the original Japanese with subtitles in addition to the dub language of their choosing.

Are you already subscribed to Netflix? If not, will you be signing up in order to see these films?

A Facebook post by actor Mario Arenas, the Spanish voice of Tuxedo Mask, suggests that Sailor Moon Eternal has been dubbed by Netflix

Mario Arenas Torres Facebook Post

More evidence has been found that suggests quite strongly that the Sailor Moon Eternal films, the first of which has been released in theatres in Japan, will be released to stream on Netflix outside of Japan. The post in question, which was shared to me by the SailorMoonOoC Twitter account, is a message posted by voice actor Mario Arenas on Facebook. In the post, which is in Spanish, he thanks Netflix for the opportunity to reprise his role as Tuxedo Mask. The original post, which was public at the time when the screenshot was taken, no longer exists and the Facebook profile for Mario Arenas Torres is currently unavailable. I do not speak or read Spanish however I transcribed the message and translated it via Google translate. It isn’t perfect, but it gives us a good idea of what is being said.

The other day life gave me a dubbing (the movie of Sailor moon, character, the lord of the mask). I want to thank Netflix who insisted on finding the original voices for the series; Cecilia Santiago, director of the dubbing that I take on a fly; Carmen from production who treated me like a rock star; to the technician who put all the meat on the grill and finally thanks to Sonygraf.

This pretty clearly indicates that Mario Arenas was reprising the role of Tuxedo Mask for Netflix, who made an effort to use the original voice actors from this Spanish version of the series. Note that this is for the European Spanish version of the dub, from Spain, and not the Latin American version, from Mexico. Mario Arenas provided the voice of Tuxedo Mask for the dubs of Sailor Moon S and SuperS. While he was not involved with the dub of Sailor Stars that series was dubbed in Spanish with Ángel Sacristán recording the few lines Tuxedo Mask has in that season. It’s worth noting that Mario Arenas did not provide the voice of Tuxedo Mask for earlier episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal. That role was done by Gerardo Reyero who was the voice of Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon R. Apologies if some of those specifics are incorrect as I’m getting some conflicting sources on some of that information. The important part as it relates to this message is that this recording could only be about the Sailor Moon Eternal films as all other episodes of Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal had already been dubbed prior to this December 18th Facebook post.

Mario Arenas Torres Facebook Post

This seems like a pretty compelling piece of evidence. Unfortunately with the post no longer being publicly available I can’t verify its authenticity beyond any doubt. I have seen two different screenshots of it taken at different times which suggests it is authentic. One is from the Twitter post mentioned earlier and the other is from this December 26th Facebook post, which was made at a time when the profile was still public and those seeing the post would be able to verify its authenticity. This is old news to the Spanish speaking world, it seems. The information mentioned in the post is listed on the Anime News Network page for the Sailor Moon Eternal film. I am always cautious to share rumours or unproven claims without the proper context and so I’ve given all of the relevant context and I must say that in this case I’m convinced.

Netflix

This is of course only relevant to the dub from Spain. What about the English dub? Last month we posted about an American voice actor who shared an image on Instagram which inadvertently showed that he was recording lines for Sailor Moon Eternal and the monitor he was working with had the word Netflix on it. This was following the information on the Screen Actors Guild web site telling us that “Astro Girl” was being dubbed by Netflix. With these strong pieces of evidence telling us that Netflix is doing the English and European Spanish dubs for Sailor Moon Eternal it seems likely that the same will be true for many other languages outside of Japan.

Sailor Moon Eternal - Mamoru looking weird

The question of whether or not the movies will be streamed on Netflix seems to have been answered, though we currently have no indication of when this will be. Now that Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 is out in theatres in Japan a simultaneous release is impossible. The delay in releasing the films on streaming platforms outside of Japan may be an effort to encourage fans to attend screenings in movie theatres. We also don’t know if the movies will be streamed on Netflix in Japan along with the rest of the world. Some official information would be nice right about now!

Additional sources: Sailor Moon (European Spanish dubs) – Sailor Moon Wiki, Mamoru Chiba – Wikipedia (Spanish)

An Instagram post accidentally confirmed that the Sailor Moon Eternal films are coming to Netflix

Sailor Moon Eternal - VesVes and JunJun - Property of Netflix

A voice actor’s post on Instagram appears to show him recording the dub of the Sailor Moon Eternal films for Netflix. Those who follow this site know that I’m not one to jump to conclusions when rumours are flying around but at this point I feel confident in stating that the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films, which are coming to Japanese theatres on January 8th and February 11th, are coming to Netflix. The post made to Instagram earlier today seems to all but confirm this. Thank you to Twitter user Gabe Nwagbala for pointing this out to me. You can thank him by checking out his YouTube channel which features Super Smash Bros., Tekken and Soulcalibur! The post in question, which has since been deleted, was made by voice actor Michael Yurchak. He provided the voice for Hawk’s Eye in the Viz dub of the original Sailor Moon anime. As Viz had generally kept the same voice actors for both their dubs of the original Sailor Moon anime and Sailor Moon Crystal it makes sense that he might be reprising his role for the Sailor Moon Eternal films, which are the equivalent of the fourth season of Sailor Moon Crystal. The photo in question was not meant to leak any information about the project and was likely quite unintentional. Michael Yurchak was simply commending the VSI group for their safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The monitor in the background of this photo shows two of the Amazoness Quartet, who look to be VesVes or maybe CereCere and JunJun, while the writing at the top of the monitor reads “of Netflix”. That could say “Property of Netflix” or something of the sort. This confirms what was previously suspected when the Screen Actors Guild had a listing for “Astro Girl (Aka: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie)” which had a note stating it was a Netflix dubbing agreement. Note that Michael Yurchak’s Instagram profile states that he is a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Michael Yurchak recording Sailor Moon Eternal

This isn’t an official announcement but it’s really hard to deny the implications here. This is a voice actor who was previously associated with the series who’s indadvertedly shown us that he’s working on a Netflix project and those characters are from the new Sailor Moon Eternal films and they appear to be in the style in which this movie is going to be. Netflix generally dubs their own series so it’s not unreasonable to expect that since Netflix dubbed this movie it is so that it will appear on Netflix. This post also seems to confirm what many had been hoping and that is that the original voice cast of Sailor Moon Crystal is returning for the Sailor Moon Eternal films. Though Michael Yurchak’s character Hawk’s Eye was not in the earlier seasons he was in the original Sailor Moon anime and Viz kept the same voice cast from the original anime for Sailor Moon Crystal. The obvious interpretation of this image, given the Amazon Trio do interact with the Amazoness Quarter, is that Michael Yurchak is voicing Hawk’s Eye in these films and that, when possible, the rest of the Viz cast will be reprising their roles. There’s a bit of speculation here as I don’t know if Netflix and Viz need to have some sort of agreement, if guild work is a factor or if all of the actors were available and willing to be in these films. We will have to wait for some official confirmation before determining more details about the full cast. If most of the cast is in fact returning there is still some question as to whether Chris Niosi will be returning as the voice of Pegasus, a significant role in these films, as the actor had been recast in some other voice acting work he’d been doing following some controversy.

Stephanie Sheh recording some lines in a Sailor Moon shirt

It is worth noting that last month voice actor Stephanie Sheh, who provides the voice for Usagi in Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal, shared a photo of herself doing voice over work while wearing a Sailor Moon shirt. While this alone is not definitive proof of anything if we consider it in the context of what we’ve learned since it seems plausible that she could have been recording her lines for Sailor Moon Eternal at that time.

We still of course don’t have official confirmation of this. I am a skeptical person who’s threshold for believing rumours is pretty high, but I really do think it is now well established that these films are coming to Netflix. It remains to be seen when we might actually be getting these films. Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 will be out in Japan on January 8th and Part 2 will follow shortly afterwards on February 11th. While a simultaneous release of an English dubbed and subbed version on Netflix would be nice I don’t know if we should realistically expect this. It is nice to see them recording their lines prior to the film’s release which does suggest it could be added to the service sooner rather than later. It also has not yet been confirmed that a subtitled version of the film will be released along with the dub. While a lot of anime on Netflix is both dubbed and subbed I’m reminded of the Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back – Evolution film which had the option of including Japanese audio but had dubtitles, basically closed captions for the English dub, rather than subtitles of the Japanese dialogue.

Some fans have also wondered if the movies being on Netflix would mean no home video DVD and Blu-Ray release. I would say such a release is still quite likely. Many Netflix original movies and series still get home video releases and it is certainly likely that these films would sell quite well to fans who’ve bought the rest of the series even though it was available on other streaming services.

Ultimately a Netflix release of a Sailor Moon film just means more people being exposed to it. While a lot of anime fans subscribe to services like Crunchyroll and Funimation a lot more people subscribe to Netflix. This might allow the Sailor Moon Eternal films to reach a much wider audience beyond the dedicated fans which have been following the series to date!

I sincerely hope that sharing this photo does not have negative consequences for Michael Yurchak. By the time I was made aware of this photo’s existence it seemed to me like the genie was out of the bottle and although I subsequently had a large part in propagating it I think that next step was inevitable, whether it would have been me or someone else who did that. It is clear to me that no Michael Yurchak did not intend to have anything he was working on identifiable based on the image and it was only obvious to fans because of existing rumours about Netflix doing this dub.

Thanks again to Gabe Nwagbala for pointing out the original post to me. He also shared that this was predicted in a video from August by Animal Lover & Anime Fan Natalie “LifeLight” Glevicky. She later posted this new video which discusses the evidence for the Netflix series including this post! If you’re a fan of fighting games such as Tekken, Super Smash Bros. and Soul Calibur you’d be wise to check out his YouTube channel.

Get caught up on Sailor Moon Crystal before the new movies hit Netflix by purchasing the series using the Amazon links below which supports this site:

You can also stream Sailor Moon Crystal on Crunchyroll.

Astro Girl: (Aka: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie)

Rumour: Is Netflix dubbing the Sailor Moon Eternal films?

Astro Girl (Aka: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie)

A listing of an actor’s union web site suggests that Netflix may be dubbing the upcoming Sailor Moon Eternal films, which will be hitting theatres in Japan January 8th and February 11th. If this information really means that Netflix will be dubbing these films, it seems likely that they will be streamed on Netflix rather than released in theatres. So what’s all this about?

An entry for “Astro Girl: (Aka: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie)” can be found on the SAG-AFTRA web site. The entry further details that this is a “Netflix Dubbing Agreement”. What is SAG-AFTRA? This is the web site for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. This is the primary labour union for actors, including voice actors, in the United States. As such this project is being listed because there are union actors who are working on the project.

I will not claim to be an expert on what’s listed in this particular database. I do not know if all information listed on this site is definitive and final confirmation of the parties affiliated with those works. There’s little doubt that “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie” is a reference to the films Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 and Part 2. It’s worth noting that this entry only lists one film and is dated 2019, back when we didn’t actually know that the film would be broken up into two parts. If this information is outdated, does it still represent the current state of the project?

The production company on this listing is “The Best Entertainment, LLC”. A search for other shows by this company on the SAG-AFTRA site turns up an extensive list of foreign language animated and live action series many of which are currently streaming on Netflix.

Uran aka Astro Girl

The name “Astro Girl” is certainly odd. Is this a code name for the project? If so, why use Sailor Moon Eternal as the AKA? It’s possible that for reasons of secrecy the project was referred to as Astro Girl while recording so that no everyone knew what it was. I’m reminded of the Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon series which was referred to internally as Project “Y”. The name Astro Girl does vaguely fit the idea of Sailor Moon, who is a girl who is from space. It happens to also be the English name of Astro Boy’s sister.

Toon Makers' Sailor Moon voice-over session script title

What are the implications of this? If Netflix is dubbing the films, rather than Viz Media who had dubbed the Sailor Moon Crystal series to date, would we be seeing the same voice cast returning? Earlier today Stephanie Sheh, who plays Usagi in the Viz dub of Sailor Moon Crystal, shared a photo of herself in a Sailor Moon shirt while recording “pickups” for an unspecified series. This could simply be a coincidence!

If Netflix is in fact dubbing these films, does that means that it will absolutely play on Netflix? A series made or dubbed by Netflix is generally something which will likely be released on Netflix. Such films are usually not released in theatres in any significant capacity, though a home video release is not unheard of. Many Netflix series and Netflix dubbed anime series and films have been released on DVD and Blu-Ray after being released to the streaming service.

I present this information to you with all of the relevant context I’m aware of. I would welcome any additional information or insight anyone may have. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. At this point I would take this information with a grain of salt. SAG-AFTRA is a legitimate organization which has many similar Netflix projects listed, though we have not received official confirmation of this information. I am not an industry expert and don’t know if projects are only listed on the SAG-AFTRA site if they are confirmed. I am also unsure of whether or not Viz Media or what other voice acting companies do or don’t use union actors. There was speculation that when Barbara Goodson used the alias Janis Carol in Sailor Moon SuperS that this may have been related to non union work, but I never did learn of the specific reason for this credit.

What do you think? In light of the ongoing pandemic are you pleased at the prospect of the Sailor Moon Eternal films being released directly to a streaming service or would you rather see them in theatres? Would you still pick up a physical copy of these films if they are released to stream first?

Source: JRPictures on Twitter

Watch the Sailor Moon R movie on Netflix Japan

Sailor Moon R The Movie on Netflix Japan

While a lot of Sailor Moon episodes have been released on Hulu and Blu-Ray recently we still haven’t had any recent releases of the Sailor Moon movies in North America. Now you can watch my favourite of the films, Sailor Moon R The Movie, on Netflix Japan. I know what you’re saying! “Adam, you moron, if I lived in Japan I wouldn’t have this problem”. It’s easy enough to browse Netflix with services which disguise your country of origin. I personally use Unblock-Us to do this. That is a pay service but is a good way to access Netflix from any device using DNS. There are many similar such pay services as well as free option. In the past I mentioned Hola.org for browsing Hulu from Canada and I’ve been able to use that to access Netflix Japan as well. Check out this article for other suggestions for options which might work for you. All that said, the movie is in Japanese with no subtitles.

Sailor Moon R The Movie on Netflix Japan - Endymion and Serenity

For now only the first movie is available with no indication as to whether or not Sailor Moon S The Movie, Sailor Moon SuperS The Movie or any of the TV series will be made available in the future. The quality is decent and seems to come from the Japanese DVD release. This is a wide screen copy of the movie as the North American release from back in the day was presented in unmated full screen. I’ve included a few screenshots for reference. Needless to say you’ll need a Netflix account to watch this.

Sailor Moon R The Movie on Netflix Japan - Fiore, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask

Sailor Moon R The Movie follows the story of Fiore, a young man who has a strong friendship with Mamoru which borders on romantic. He is enchanted by the evil Kissenian Flower which threatens the Earth leading the Sailor Guardians to fight on a massive flower covered asteroid! It takes place during the Sailor Moon R season, though it’s hard to situate in continuity.

Source: Netflix