Sailor Moon Crystal’s voice actors for Sailor Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and more revealed at this morning’s live event

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Adam

There was a live streaming event this morning in Japan, related to the upcoming Infinity arc of Sailor Moon Crystal. Art was shown, but since we’d seen that earlier this week this was not a big revelation. We did not get any details about a schedule for the series but we did get cast information for the upcoming season. Junko Minagawa, the voice of Sailor Uranus and Sayaka Ohara, the voice of Sailor Neptune, joined the event. The actress voicing Sailor Saturn, Fujii Yukiyo, showed up momentarily via a separate video.

In addition to this the actors playing the Death Busters, including the Witches 5, were announced. A full cast list, with IMDB links, is included below.

Sailor Uranus – Junko Minagawa
Sailor Neptune – Sayaka Ohara
Sailor Saturn – Yukiyo Fujii

Professor Tomoe – Takuya Kirimoto
Kaolinite – Hikari Yono
Pharaon 90 – Takaya Hashi

Eudial – Chiaki Takahashi
Mimete – Yuki Nagaku
Viluy – Rina Honizumi
Tellu – Naomi Ohzora
Cyprine – Umeka Shouji

I don’t watch much newer anime but a lot of these voice actors have a great deal of experience from recent years. MoonSisters.org posted a nice summary of all of their works on their Facebook Page. Most noteable is Takaya Hashi, who will be voicing Pharaon 90, who played a few small characters in the original Sailor Moon anime. He played Astronomer Dr. Sergai Ajimov in episode 120 of Sailor Moon S and the ventriloquist in the Sailor Moon SuperS Special.

Another odd thing was the inclusion of Cyprene but not Ptilol. In the recent musical Un Nouveau Voyage only Cyprene appeared, though Cyprene and Ptilol, twins, appeared together in the manga and original Sailor Moon anime. Assuming Sailor Moon Crystal will continue to be faithful to the manga it seems only logical that Ptilol will also be making an appearance. If this is the case she will likely also be voiced by Umeka Shouji.

Also announced at the event this morning was “The Exhibition of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” in Tokyo from April 16th to June 19th. This exhibit will have stuff from the Sailor Moon comics and anime as well as merchandise for sale.

An image of the Infinity arc’s art was revealed, but as this was the same we’d seen earlier this week this wasn’t really anything new. We continue to wait for some confirmation of a timeline for the new episodes. At this point we can only speculate as to when it will be released.

Thanks to Twitter user @aers00 for streaming the event. I was unable to view the feed on Niconico and so I was happy to have an option to watch it while showering and getting ready this morning. I hope others who were looking to do the same found the feed as well.

The Infinity arc of Sailor Moon Crystal is officially being referred to as “Season III”

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Adam

The official Japanese Sailor Moon site has referenced the upcoming Infinity story arc of Sailor Moon Crystal as “Season 3″ in a news posting about next Wednesday’s streaming event. Since the announcement of new episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal a semantic confusion has been gripping the fandom! Some referred to this third story arc as “Season 3″ while others called it “Season 2″, the first 26 episodes having only taken place over a year, it seems logical to refer to them as a single season. Further adding to the confusion Hulu refers to the first 26 episodes as “Season 1″ on their site. If they add the new episodes as “Season 2″, this could be a problem. I personally chose to follow the Japanese convention of calling it a 3rd “Phase”, intentionally avoiding the confusing term season, but now we are safe to officially refer to this as the 3rd season. Fear not! As always I will strive to be as unconfusing as possible in my posts.

As previously reported, the streaming event will take place next Wednesday January 27th at 8pm Japan Standard Time, 6am Easter Time, 3am Pacific Time on Niconico. The post on the site was to mention that Kotono Mitsuishi, the original voice of Sailor Moon, will be making an appearance at the event. We will keep you advised of any details which we learn on Wednesday.

Source: Sailor Moon Official Site, Niconico

New episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal are coming this Spring. A new director and character designer have been announced.

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Adam

The Sailor Moon Official Site has posted some information about the upcoming new episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal. The Infinity story arc will start this Spring. The production staff has been revealed with more details coming during a live event which will be shown on Niconico Wednesday January 27th at 8pm Japan Standard Time, 6am Easter Time, 3am Pacific Time.

Sailor Moon Crystal’s new director is Chiaki Kon. She has directed a number of Anime shows I’ve never heard of including Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Junjo Romantica and Hanasakeru Seishonen. It’s nice to see a woman directing a show that is largely about and for women and girls. Akira Takahashi, who was an animation director for individual episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal, will be taking on the role of character designer.

Other staff remain the same. Series writer Yuji Kobayashi returns. Takashi Kurahashi remains the animation director. Yasuharu Takanashi will continue to do the music.

The third arc of Sailor Moon Crystal, called the second season by some and the third season by others, will cover the Infinity story arc of the manga, which is the Sailor Moon S season of the original anime. This will introduce us to Sailor Uranus, Neptune and Saturn as well as the Death Busters. The rest of the gang, including Sailor Pluto, will return. Unlike in the original anime Chibiusa will be present throughout this arc. She didn’t stay in the future for any period of time following the fight against the Black Moon Clan. We previously learned that the new episodes will air on TV in Japan first, though it is unclear how quickly it will be available to stream for international viewers. One way or another, the show will likely be made available either officially or through fansubs within a few days of the original broadcast. You can always count on this site sharing specifics about how to enjoy the show.

You can check out the stream on the Niconico site starting January 27th at 6am Eastern Time. I’ve watched many of the older streams online but I have been region blocked from viewing more recent ones for not being in Japan. I will do my best to watch the feed or at the very least follow news of the event and share all of the details.

As always take all news for what it is. The original release of Sailor Moon Crystal was delayed a number of time before having a firm release date. A very official source is claiming that the show will be available in the Spring but there is always the possibility of further delays. For reference, Spring this year will run from March 20th to June 20th.

The Sailor Moon Un Nouveau Voyage musical will be streamed on Niconico October 4th

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Adam

The final performance of the Sailor Moon Un Nouveau Voyage musical will be streamed online on Niconico October 4th. Viewers in Japan can watch it using this link. This is a paid broadcast which is limited to viewing in Japan only. I managed to watch the last musical online using this system though I have not had much luck watching content that is restricted by country lately. I’ll add some details on how to view it if I figure it out. This will be a Japanese only stream with no subtitles. It will be available to view time shifted until October 12th.

Presale tickets are 2000 points, which equates to 2000 yen or $17 US, and will be available until October 2nd to purchase via the Niconico web site. Day of tickets, available from October 4th to the 10th, will be 2500 points, which equates to 2500 yen or $21 US.

Miss Dream has mentioned on their Facebook and Twitter pages that they will be recording the stream and putting together an English fan subbed version. Given their usual turnaround with subtitling things it should be available within about a week of the broadcast. Once this happens, I will be sure to mention it here.

Source: The Official Sailor Moon site

Ayaka Komatsu to host a Halloween special October 31st at 5am Eastern Time on Niconico

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Adam

Hate sleep and love Halloween and the live action Sailor Moon show? Then you should get up at 5am tomorrow morning to watch Ayaka Komatsu, who played Sailor Venus in the live action Sailor Moon series, host a live Halloween show on her Niconico channel Komachannel. Ayaka will be dressed up for Halloween. What costume will she be wearing? The broadcast begins at 6pm Japan Standard time which is actually 5am Eastern Time. The live broadcast will be free to all viewers however after 7pm (6am Easter Time) it will only be available to members of her channel who pay the monthly 540 yen (about $5 US). The broadcast will be in Japanese.

The following message was posted in English to Ayaka Komatsu’s Facebook page:

Fri 31st Oct 6:00pm-

Tomorrow,at last!!
Live broadcast by Ayaka will be available at Nico Nico Official Channel “Komachannel”.
I’m going to dress up for Halloween!
Let’s talk with Ayaka and have a relaxed time！

Getting up at 5am tomorrow will make getting up at 6am on Saturday to watch the next episode of Sailor Moon Crystal that much easier!

Update! She dressed as a witch.

Watch the next episode preview for Act.2 Ami – Sailor Mercury

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Adam

The preview for the next episode of Sailor Moon Crystal was not included in the Crunchyroll and Hulu feeds of the show however it was included in the Niconico version. I had not seen it when I posted about the first episode, only speculating about what was coming next. You can watch that clip by viewing it on Niconico or watching the YouTube clip embedded below.

Act.2 Ami – Sailor Mercury, follows the naming convention for chapters of the manga as we’re introduced to Sailor Moon’s first companion, the Sailor Guardian Sailor Mercury as voiced by Hisako Kanemoto. From the looks of it this episode will once again be following the manga fairly closely. Episode 2 will air on Saturday July 19th at 7pm Japan Standard Time which is 6am Eastern Standard Time or 3am Pacific Standard Time. Check out this link for details on how to watch the show.

Want to keep watching the next episode previews? You’ll have to keep watching on Niconico which is only free for the first two weeks. Niconico’s premium service is fairly painless to sign up for through the web site with Pay Pal for 540 yen (about $5 US) per month. This is also the easiest way to view the show in Japanese without subtitles.

How to watch Sailor Moon Crystal

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Adam

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.

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.

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.

How to view Sunday’s live Sailor Moon event

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Adam

As was previously announced, this Sunday there will be a live Sailor Moon event which promises to announce the cast of the new Sailor Moon anime Sailor Moon Crystal, show more character art and reveal the cast of this summer’s Sailor Moon musical. The event will be broadcast live on Niconico. You can watch that live stream in Japanese by following instructions that were posted at the Moonkitty Facebook page. Another option, for those having trouble getting on to the Niconico web site, is to watch a live stream of the event at the Miss Dream web site.

The event will air at 4pm Japan Standard Time which is 3am Eastern Standard Time. Prior to this just follow this link to the Niconico site where the event will be streamed. Use the links on the right to either create an account or link your Twitter or Facebook account. A bit before 3am (or whatever the time may be in your time zone) on Sunday just go back to that link, log in and enjoy the show! I’ll be out of town this weekend but I will be doing my best to give live updates via the Sailor Moon News Twitter account and of course post any new information we get to the site once the event is complete.

New Sailor Moon anime voice cast and art to be announced this Sunday April 27th

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Adam

This Sunday, April 27th 2014, there will be a live streaming event on Niconico which will include announcements of the voice cast and some character art for the new Sailor Moon anime, Sailor Moon Crystal, as well as the cast for this summer’s new Sailor Moon Musical. The special will air at 4pm Japan Standard Time or 3am Eastern Standard Time. Hope you don’t like sleep!

This event was first announced on the Sailor Moon official web site on April 8th but we only got details about the event in an update on April 18th which mentioned the unveiling of the voice cast and the appearance of the five main cast members from the new Sailor Moon musical! Atsutoshi Umezawa, director for the new series, mentioned via Twitter that we would also be seeing character art from the new show at the event!

The event will also feature Fumio Osana, the original editor for the Sailor Moon manga, Munehisa Sakai, the director for the new series and Yuh Kamiki who is listed as being a producer for the Sailor Moon Crystal anime. Yuh Kamiki had not been previously announced as being affiliated with this show. A quick search finds a Japanese actor by that name with no anime series producing experience who I do not believe is the anime series producer who will be at this event.

Continue reading →

The new Sailor Moon anime will begin airing in July 2014

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Adam

It has been confirmed on the Niconico blog and the official Sailor Moon site that the new Sailor Moon 2014 anime will begin streaming worldwide this July. We had previously heard that it would be released this Winter, and later that it would be January, but this date has not been pushed back to July. It has been stated in the past that the series will be streaming on Niconico on release. We also have more new information as well as confirmation of things we had already learned.

The series will be directed by Munehisa Sakai who is best known as the director of the One Piece anime series. The series composition will be done by Yuji Kobayashi. This role is that of writer who guides the story throughout the series. The anime will be once again produced by Toei, who did the original series. As we’ve already learned the theme song will be sung by Momoiro Clover Z, though we have no details about what that song will be. There is no information at this time about what, if any, channel TV channel this anime series will be airing on. It is entirely possible that it will only be available streaming on Niconico, a subscription based streaming service. We will have details on what exactly will need to be done by our readers to be able to watch this series as it gets closer to airing.

A delay may not be ideal but at this point it is expected and it’s nice to have what seems to be a more concrete date, even though it’s a year later than we originally anticipated this series. Be patient fans! We’ve waited almost 17 years for new episodes of Sailor Moon. We can wait another 6 months.

As always we will bring you new information as it becomes available.

Thanks to Brianna from our Facebook page for bringing this to my attention.

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