The official Sailor Moon Fan Club did an interview with Kazuko Tadano, the animation director for the upcoming new season of Sailor Moon Crystal. What did we learn? Unfortunately not much. Fans have been hoping for new information about this series, which will be taking place in the form of two movies released in theatres, for what seems like forever. It has been nearly 3 years since the last episode of Sailor Moon Crystal aired.

The entire interview has been translated by Tuxedo Unmasked. I suggest checking out the full translation for some nice insight into Kazuko Tadono’s involvement in the original Sailor Moon anime. Tuxedo Unmasked is a great resource providing in depth insight into all things Sailor Moon which all fans should check out.

So what was mentioned about Sailor Moon Crystal? A few things, just perhaps not what we’d been waiting for. First she discusses how she was picked for the role, and she mentions that she auditioned. This seems a bit bizarre to me. Did Kotono Mitsuishi audition for the role of Usagi in Sailor Moon Crystal? Why would someone with Kazuko Tadano’s cred from the vastly better looking original series need to audition for Sailor Moon Crystal? I won’t pretend to understand how this industry works. She also mentioned that it was interesting to work on the beginning and the end of Sailor Moon. Does this mean that after the Dream arc she also expects to work on a Stars arc or perhaps that she doesn’t think a Stars arc will ever happen? Beyond Sailor Moon Crystal can anyone really know when the end of Sailor Moon will really occur? We could very well be looking at a new series for the 40th Anniversary, assuming Sailor Moon Crystal has wrapped up by then!

Next she was asked how she is approaching the series which is potentially relevant! She says she will be faithful to the past but also to the manga and something modern. Well that’s all well and good but until we see what it looks like we won’t really know how much of the old, the new and the manga made it into the new design. We’ve seen what her newer art style looks like with the 2013 sketch included above but we don’t know how much her designs for Crystal will resemble this. Interestingly she doesn’t actually mention trying to make it look like other seasons of Sailor Moon Crystal, unless that’s what she meant by modern. Not looking like Sailor Moon Crystal might be a move in the right direction, though a lack of continuity might be odd.

All said this is something, it’s just not really what fans may have been hoping for. A release date would be nice, though too early and the date may not stick. Some sort of art would be really amazing! I suppose it’s just good to get confirmation that the project appears to still be proceeding, though we don’t have any indication as to how far along the films are, if any work has even been done at this point.

As always if we get anything resembling new information about Sailor Moon Crystal it will be posted to this site! Be patient fans!

The renewing membership benefit is a “Sailor Moon Princess briefcase” and “Sailor Princess notebook”. Not sure what’s princessey about these. The briefcase isn’t really anything like what I think of when I hear briefcase. It’s more like a folder for holding paper or, in this case, a notebook! Both items feature manga art by Naoko Takeuchi. Neither feature images of Princess Serenity or any other characters in Princess form.

The art on the membership card is fairly underwhelming. This is art we’ve already seen on the special book and 25th Anniversary Tribute Album. This is fairly new art by Naoko Takeuchi so I suppose it decently encompasses the current feel of the franchise.

I’m a bit on the fence about renewing my membership. The idea of the Fan Club is sound, that you sign up and get a special gift and have the chance to get a bunch of exclusive merchandise. That said I haven’t found many of the fan club exclusive offerings terribly compelling. With such a massive amount of Sailor Moon merchandise being sold in Japan over the last few years I hardly feel like I need to buy more but rather pass up a lot of items. The only fan club exclusive I’ve gotten in the past 2 years is the stamp set, which I was quite happy with. A lot of the benefits for Japanese fan club members, like access to items only for sale in Asia or events in Japan, aren’t applicable to international members. Some fans choose to get a Japanese fan club membership though again for fans outside of Japan a lot of those benefits, such as for events held in Japan, aren’t something they can make much use of!

Are you a fan club member? Do you plan on renewing your membership? What advantages has membership in the fan club gotten you?

The 2nd year benefits for the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club have finally been shipped. I watched many other fans receive them over the past weeks and finally got mine. I was a bit disappointed with the first year Sailor Moon Fan Club as I got the membership, which included a card and a lip gloss package, but then I never ended up buying any of the fan club exclusive merchandise. This second year’s membership includes yet another membership card, this time with Princess Serenity on it, as well as a Moon Stick necklace. As a special incentive for returning members a stationary set is also included. This year’s fan club offerings already seem a bit better than last year’s. I’ve already pre-ordered the stamp set that will be released next year.

I wouldn’t call this a review as I’m really just going to itemize and briefly explain what was received! First we have the membership card itself which includes the membership number. The number is kept from the first year membership which is nice I guess if you like consistency! The art on the card is nice enough. I’m not sure what I would do with such a card. Keep it in my wallet and accidentally try to tap it when I make in store purchases? It’s a nice collectible I suppose.

The Moon Stick necklace is nice enough. Again I’m not sure what I would do with it. Some fans may choose to wear theirs and it’s nice enough to not look too much like a toy. Good for conventions or Sailor Moon meet ups. I’m not sure it’s really my style though so I’ll probably just keep it in its box. Back in the day I used to hang the crescent moon shaped necklace that came with the Sailor Luna cell phone in my car. Fans who don’t want to wear this as a necklace may find a similar use for this. The back of the necklace is hollow which makes it look a bit cheap if you’re wearing it and it accidentally flips.

The stationary set is a nice incentive. The cover and contents feature the Sailor Guardians in their civilian forms dressed as sailors. Real sailors for boats I mean, not as Sailor Guardians! The cover shows Usagi and Chibiusa with the words “Nakayosi” (presumably intended to be Nakayoshi) on a life preserver ring.

Inside we have stationary in the form of some sheets of paper of different colours. Three of each. One shows Chibiusa and Usagi with a life preserver ring, another Minako and Rei with a wheel or helm and the last shows Ami and Makoto with an anchor.

The flip side has room for writing on it. I imagine it would be real nice to write a letter on this but I could never get myself to. I have other Sailor Moon stationary I’ve gotten over the years and I’ve never tarnished them with actual ink!

Also included are these sort of mini postcard type things.

All of these can be put into these cute mini envelopes which I can’t imagine ever actually writing on, sealing and sending to someone. Am I just selfish?

Well that’s about it. I had also never actually opened my first year lip gloss. Keep reading if you’d like some photos of that as well as other photos of these items.

Lip gloss… what I am to do with this? The first year incentive was lip gloss in a replica of Sailor Moon’s transformation broach. I couldn’t get myself to open the package since I intended to do a review not unlike this one and never really got around to it. Well I guess here it is! Would anyone really just use this as lip gloss? I didn’t actually put it on my lips. Not really my style!

Sailor Moon stamps are coming to Japan! 10 different stamps, featuring the Sailor Soldiers in manga designs by Naoko Takeuchi, will be released in Japan. These are 62 yen stamps, which is equivalent to 55 cents American, so this would be your standard stamp used for postage on an envelope. A special stamp set will be sold in Japan for 5,900 yen, nearly 10 times the cost of a all 10 stamps combined! Fans in Japan will be able to buy a collector’s stamp set from the post office and many fans worldwide will be able to do the same if they are part of the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club! The set is listed on the Tokyo Otaku Mode site for fans with a membership. This set sells for $63.99 US, which is a bit more than the exchange for 5,900 yen but somewhat comparable. Pre-orders are being taken now. The product will ship in March 2018.

The set includes more than just the 10 stamps! There is also a stamp holder, 8 premium post cards based on manga art and 24 deluxe postcards which are manga cover art for both the original and the most recent editions of the manga. A clear folder which is included in both the fan club and post office package is slightly different between the two. I believe it’s simply a different colour.

Do you plan on getting this set? Keep reading for individual images of the contents!

The second year of the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club will be from July 1st 2017 to June 30th 2018. Pre-orders for new memberships and renewals are now available for fans in Japan and around the world. New and returning fans will get a new membership card and an exclusive Moon Stick pendant. Fans who are renewing are also going to receive a stationary set. Overseas fans will also have access to the Fan Club App and site though it will remains mostly in Japanese. Elaborate instructions for signing up to the Japanese fan club site are included. Though it’s stated that you will get such an e-mail in the future, I was able to use the link mentioned in the document to sign up for the fan club with the e-mail address I used for my Tokyo Otaku Mode account. I tried to use a dummy account I made for my cat to do the same but I got an error stating that the e-mail address was not found, so a membership does appear to be necessary to get access to this site. Current English language versions of the newsletter were available once I logged on to the site. These are the same as the Japanese newsletters, which are also available, but they are posted months after the fact. A comparison of the most recent newsletter appears below. The full newsletter is just a large jpeg file.

Fan Club membership for the year is $58 US. I can’t say I was terribly excited by any of the Fan Club exclusives I had the option to get last year. My lip gloss is sitting in its original box. I’ve still pre-ordered my second year membership from the Tokyo Otaku Mode site. It’s a bit of a gamble on my part in the event that some of this year’s exclusives are of interest to me. The exclusives aren’t expected to ship until October so there will be quite a wait for that.

Do you plan on signing up for the Fan Club or renewing your existing membership?

A new item is now available for pre-order from the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club. If you’re not already a Fan Club member, you’re pretty much out of luck as the period to sign up has long since passed. The latest item is a cell phone case for Apple iPhones featuring an image of Princess Serenity by Naoko Takeuchi which was made for the Sailor Moon Exhibit. It comes in a somewhat affordable “Normal Version”, only $20.99 US, or a “Crystal Version” which is a significantly less affordable $140.99 US. Preorders can be done until January 27th and the item will be released in March.

What kind of gems account for this difference in price? Any actual precious stones would likely drive up the price much more than $100. These are Swarovski crystals which are basically cut glass. Actually that’s not completely accurate. These are lead glass which is a kind of glass that has a high refractive index which basically means it’s more shiny than normal glass! The case is available for iPhones only and at that it’s only for 6, 6s and 7 models. I’m out of luck to get one to fit my iPhone 6+ but maybe I’ll just buy another Sailor Moon case and stick some rhinestones on it.

What do you think of this case? Will you be picking one up?

Source: Sailor Moon Fan Club Newsletter, Otaku Mode Shop

Members who signed up for the official Sailor Moon Fan Club should have received an e-mail this morning informing them of the merchandise which they are able to order. You can check out an online copy of this e-mail using this link. These Fan Club items are available to members worldwide, but only if they previously signed up for the club.

There are two exclusive items which fans can order. The main item is a Sailor Moon Primo Art Print. It’s manga art by Naoko Takeuchi which was featured in the April 1993 issue of Nakayoshi. The print is A4 sized, which is roughly the size of a standard 8.5×11″ sheet of paper. It’s a nice looking print, ideal for framing. It’s $230.99 US. A bit more than I’d be willing to shell out for something like this. It’s a limited edition item meaning they will only print those that are bought through the fan club but they will make as many as are ordered. The print will be released in March 2017.

The other item isn’t really an exclusive at all. It’s the recently released Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Art Book which I’ve already reviewed on this site. The exclusive that comes with it is a sticker of the cover art. At $27.99 the price is comparable to what you could pay to order it online so this seems as fine a place as any to order the book if you’re interested in getting it but haven’t yet and don’t mind waiting until next month to get your hands on it.

The other two items are only available through a lottery. They are a Princess Serenity Series Princess Room Dress with Hairband and Bath Towel. A room dress seems to be a sort of pyjama or night gown and it costs $94.99. The bath towel is $77.99. If you are interested in ordering either you will have to fill out this form which enters you into a lottery for a chance to pay a bunch of money for these.

All in all these items seem fairly expensive. This is pretty much what fans were expecting considering the Japanese Fan Club items. If you haven’t signed up for the Fan Club yet membership is closed so you won’t actually be able to order these. To put in an order you’ll need to sign in with an account which has purchased a Fan Club membership. If you don’t have one you will be told you need to first buy the membership which is out of stock.

Following a failed attempt to launch the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club to international users a couple of weeks ago, registration is now open to fans around the world on the Tokyo Otaku Mode web site. You can pre-order your membership using this link.

Membership to the Fan Club costs $58. There are a number of shipping options, some of which may be expensive for where you live, but there is a free shipping option, which will take a bit longer if you aren’t in a rush to get your membership card and lip gloss. Aside from those original incentives membership to the Fan Club will allow fans to pay even more money to buy Fan Club exclusive merchandise and give them access to the Official Fan Club app for mobile devices.

The first attempted launch of the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club caused the site to be overloaded to the point where no memberships were sold. This time however there appear to be only minor problems. I was able to get my membership with no issues late last night and other fans appear to have success as well.

Last Friday, September 23rd, the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club very disastrously attempted to open registration to overseas fans around the world. The Tokyo Otaku Mode web site was incapable of handing the load of the overwhelming interest from Sailor Moon fans and immediately become unavailable. As promised a new registration date has now been set! The Tokyo Otaku Mode web site has announced that registration will be opened on October 5th, next Wednesday, at 6pm PDT, which is 9pm Eastern Time. Though there has been no indication of what exactly has been done, if anything, to alleviate the server issues suffered last week, Tokyo Otaku Mode has stated that “we are certain that fans will be able to safely purchase their memberships.”.

The Official Sailor Moon Fan Club will cost $58 and give membership until June 30th 2017. Members will get a membership card, transformation brooch designed lip gloss and the opportunity to spend even more money on Fan Club exclusive products. This will also give access to the somewhat terrible Sailor Moon Fan Club App for mobile devices.

Last night at 6pm Pacific Time, 9pm Eastern Time, the Tokyo Otaku Mode web site began accepting pre-orders for the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club. This included allowing fans in Canada, the US and other countries outside of Japan to apply. Unfortunately the web site which hosted the Tokyo Otaku Mode store immediately became unresponsive and no orders were successfully processed. Unlike Kunzite I was not too proud to refresh the page for a few hours which caused long page loads followed by a series of “Bad Gateway” and “Gateway Timeout” errors and eventually 404 errors as the product page for the Fan Club registration was taken offline.

A message was sent out on the Tokyo Otaku Mode Twitter account stating that registration was closing and that it would be reopened at a later date. A full e-mail was later sent out to users who had previously asked to be notified of details about the Fan Club stating that indeed the site was down due to high traffic and that the fans would be able to sign up at a later, as of yet unannounced date, when they assure us that fans will be able to safely purchase their memberships. Fans who had signed up to be notified by e-mail will get some notification when this occurs. If you haven’t signed up for that e-mail notification yet you can still do so following this link to the Tokyo Otaku Mode site. The Tokyo Otaku Mode Twitter account has claimed that registration will be announced well in advance.

Read the full e-mail sent to interested users below:

Hello Sailor Moon Fans,

Thank you very much for your interest in the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club. We are sending this message to update on the current status of membership registration.

Registration for the Official Sailor Moon Fan Club was initially opened on September 23, 2016 at 6:00 PM (PDT). However, due to an overwhelmingly large show of support from the Sailor Moon fan community, our servers were brought down and memberships were not able to be purchased. We would like to offer our most heartfelt apologies for the worry and inconvenience that this issue has caused for everyone who waited for registration to open.

As a result, we have decided to temporarily delay registration until a later date when we are certain that fans will be able to safely purchase their memberships. If you are receiving this message, please be assured that we will contact you again once a new registration date has been decided.

Again, we would like to humbly apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused.
We hope to be in touch again soon with more details!

– The TOM Team
Let’s Enjoy OTAKU Life!

Fan Club membership will cost $58 US and last until June 30th. This will give fans a membership card, access to the Fan Club App for mobile devices and lip gloss fashioned after Sailor Moon’s original Transformation Brooch as well as the option to buy Fan Club exclusive merchandise in the future.