A new trailer and poster for Sailor Moon Cosmos have been released

Sailor Moon Cosmos poster

There were a couple of big updates yesterday as the official Sailor Moon site was updated with a new Sailor Moon Cosmos poster and trailer. The poster includes Sailor Galaxia, Princess Kakyuu, the Sailor Starlights and even a quick look at Sailor Cosmos in the gem on the bottom right of the poster. The trailer includes a lot of scenes from later in the story. You can watch it on YouTube or embedded below.

To me this trailer feels like it could be the trailer for Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 2, the second of the two films. Sailor Moon Cosmos Part 1 will be released on June 9th with Part 2 planned for June 30th, Usagi’s birthday. I would have expected a trailer like this showing many scenes which are likely in the second film, to be released only after the first part hits theatres. There is no specific distinction in the trailer which makes it apply more to one part or another as it simply refers to the films as Sailor Moon Cosmos.

Sailor Moon Cosmos trailer - Chibi Chibi

In this trailer we once again see the Sailor Starlights but also get a good look at Sailor Galaxia, Princess Kakyuu and Chibi Chibi. Chibiusa and Mamoru also feature briefly, which is how they will also be appearing in the films.

Sailor Moon Cosmos trailer - Galaxia

What do you think of the trailer? Who were you most excited to see in it?

Keep reading for more screenshots from the trailer.

Continue reading

Check out the first images and voice actor information for Princess Kakyuu, Sailor Galaxia and Chibi Chibi

Nana Mizuki as Princess Kakyuu,, Megumi Hayashibara as Sailor Galaxia and Kotono Mitsuishi as Chibi Chbibi

We’ve got more cast details and our first look at Princess Kakyuu, Sailor Galaxia and Chibi Chibi from the upcoming Sailor Moon Cosmos films. The movies will start Nana Mizuki as Princess Kakyuu, Megumi Hayashibara as Sailor Galaxy and Kotono Mitsuishi as Chibi Chibi.

Nana Mizuki as Princess Kakyuu

Nana Mizuki, the voice of Sailor Kakyuu, is a voice actor known for such roles as Hinata Hyuga in Naruto, Tsubomi Hanasaki in Heartcatch Precure! and Ann Takamaki in Persona 5.

Megumi Hayashibara as Sailor Galaxia

Megumi Hayashibara, the voice of Sailor Galaxia, is a well known veteran voice actor. Some of her more memorable roles include Rei Ayanami and Pen Pen in Evangelion, Pidgeotto and Pidgeot in Pokémon, Ai Amano in Video Girl Ai, Lina Inverse in Slayers, Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop and Ai Haibara in Detective Conan.

Kotono Mitsuishi as Chibi Chibi

Fans will surely recognize Kotono Mitsuishi, the voice of Chibi Chibi, as providing the voice of Sailor Moon in both the original Sailor Moon anime and Sailor Moon Crystal. By providing the voice for Chibi Chibi this continues the tradition from the original Sailor Moon anime of having Kotono Mitsuishi provide the voices of both Sailor Moon and Chibi Chibi. As Sailor Moon Cosmos will more closely follow the story of the manga than the original anime this will make sense considering Chibi Chibi’s true identity.

What do you think of the designs for these characters? Are you excited for this new cast?

Source: The Sailor Moon Official Site

A two day concert, Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Sailor Moon Music History Supported by Pretty Guardians, is coming to Tokyo November 9th and 10th

Anza and Akiko Kosaka from the Sailor Moon Crystal visual book

A two day concert named “Akiko Kosaka’s 45th Anniversary Sailor Moon Music History Supported by Pretty Guardians” will be taking place in Tokyo on November 9th and 10th. This two days concert will actually include two different performances with completely different artists on each day. November 9th will be a relaxed piano concert with some conversations and the 10th will have a band performance. So what exactly is this? Akiko Kosaka is well known for having written many songs for the original Sailor Moon anime as well as Sailor Moon Crystal but in this case it is likely her involvement writing many songs for the Sailor Moon musicals which is the basis for this concert. We can tell from the other artists appearing at this event that this will almost certainly involve performances of a number of Sailor Moon musical songs as this will involve performers from the musicals. Across the two days actresses who portrayed almost all of the Sailor Guardians in the musicals, that being everyone but Sailor Pluto, as well as others will be performing. Sailor Pluto is likely only absent because Yuuko Hosaka, who originally played Sailor Pluto in some musicals, was originally scheduled to be involved with the event but had to cancel.

With this year’s Sailor Moon musical being delayed until 2020 this concert may serve as a nice alternative for some fans. I can only speculate as to the specific format but with there being performers to represent each characters with no duplicates it seems likely that some effort to have someone take the part of the Sailor Guardian they previously portrayed is likely. Will they wear some sort of costume or just sing some classic songs? Who knows! Here’s a breakdown of who’s going to be involved and when.

Anza as Usagi from the first Sailor Moon musical

Not everyone is going to be involved with both days, but here’s a list of the actors which are going to be there for both November 9th and 10th. Akiko Kosaka, who’s career is being celebrated with this concert, will evidently be there for both days. Anza, the first actress to play Sailor Moon in a musical from 1993 to 1998, will likely be performing as Sailor Moon. Hisano Akamine, the third actress to play Sailor Mercury from 1999 to 2000, will likely be performing as Sailor Mercury. Misako Kotani, the second actress to play Sailor Mars from 1994 to 1997, will likely be performing as Sailor Mars. Emi Kuriyama, the seventh actress to play Sailor Jupiter from 1999 to 2000, will likely be performing as Sailor Jupiter. Akiko Miyazawa, the fourth actress to play Sailor Venus also played Queen Beryl and musical exclusive characters Bilhah Emerald and Elizabeth Bathory, a vampire. She will likely be performing as Sailor Venus. Sanae Kimura, the first actress to play Sailor Uranus from 1994 to 1997, will likely be performing as Sailor Uranus.

Yuuta Mochizuki, the second actor to play Tuxedo Mask, also played Kunzite in the very first musical and later the musical exclusive character Count Dracul. He is also well known for playing the Red Power Ranger in Zyuurangers, the series which was adapted in North America as the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. He will likely be performing as Tuxedo Mask. Hikari Ono has played Hawk’s Eye, Sailor Star Maker, Loof Merrow, a musical exclusive pirate, Bloody Dracul Vampir, a musical exclusive vampire who is Dracula’s daughter, and Prince Demande. It isn’t clear who she would be portraying in this concert as there doesn’t seem to be an actress to represent each of the Sailor Starlights.

The only person who will only be at the first day performance is Sakoto Yoshioka who played Princess Kakyuu in a musical in 1997. While it’s possible that she could be reprising her role as Princess Kakyuu, there is currently only one Sailor Starlight scheduled to be present on the first day so it doesn’t really add up.

There are a more performers who will only be there on the second day. This is when the full cast was originally planned to be together all at once. Yuuka Asami, the sixth actress to play Sailor Neptune from 1999 to 2002, later returned to play Jadeite in 2003. She will likely be performing as Sailor Neptune. Mao Mita, the fourth actress to play Sailor Saturn from 1999 to 2000, will likely be performing as Sailor Saturn. Tamaki Dia Shirai, the third actress to play Chibiusa from 1995 to 1996, will likely be performing as Sailor Chibi Moon. Ryuuji Kasahara played a number of characters including Kunzite, Death Ra, a musical exclusive member of the Death Busters, Tiger’s Eye, MC Fly, a musical exclusive minion of Galaxia, Chaos, Professor Tomoe, Baron Gilles de Rais, a musical exclusive vampire, and Dark Nibiru, a musical exclusive character. It’s not clear who he will be portraying. Momoko Okuyama, the first actress to play Sailor Star Healer in musicals from 1996 to 1998, may be reprising her role but once again as there is no Sailor Star Fighter actress involved we can’t be sure what role she will be playing.

Akiko Kosaka 45th Anniversary Music history

With this event only taking place on a single day it may prove more difficult to get tickets than other musicals. Do any of you hope to be able to make it to this concert? I’m certainly hoping a CD or video release will be made available for fans who aren’t likely to attend.

Source: Sailor Moon official site Original Story with an Update.

Allegra Clark will voice Princess Kakyu in the Sailor Stars dub

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 1 Blu-Ray - Booklet - Allegra Clark as Princess Kakyu

Though we had previously gotten cast announcements for the main cast appearing in Sailor Stars Part 1, the 17 episode first set of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars which was released last week on DVD and Blu-Ray, we never got an official announcement from Viz as to who would voice Princess Kakyu! Now that the set has been released we can see, in the booklet which covers the entire series, that she will be voiced by Allegra Clark!

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 193 - Princess Kakyuu

Allegra Clark has done a number of television and video game voice acting roles including Felicity in Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty, Bloodhound in Apex Legends, Nakmor Kesh in Mass Effect: Andromeda and a number of characters in Dragon Age: Inquisition. We certainly look forward to hearing her voice when the second half of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars is released on home video. The exact date of this release has not yet been announced.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 185 - Princess Kakyuu

Have you picked up Sailor Stars Part 1 yet? For those who haven’t you can support the site by buying it using the Amazon links below.

Thanks to Fred Francis on Twitter for first noticing this.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Part 1 Blu-Ray - Booklet - Cast

Check out the Sailor Starlights and Princess Kakyuu from the Sailor Moon Le Mouvement Final musical

Princess Kakyuu, Sailor Star Maker, Sailor Star Fighter and Sailor Star Healer from the Sailor Moon Le Mouvement Final musical

The official Sailor Moon site has been updated with an image of Princess Kakyuu and the Sailor Starlights, Sailor Star Maker, Fighter and Healer, from the upcoming Sailor Moon Le Mouvement Final musical. The cast of this musical was previously announced with Asami Okamura as Princess Kakyuu, Riona Tatemichi as Sailor Star Maker, Meiku Harukawa as Sailor Star Fighter and Saki Matsuda. as Sailor Star Healer. What do you think of the new costumes?

satomi_okubo_as_sailor_cosmos_with_chibi_chibis

Last week we also got a look at the Sailor Cosmos and Sailor Chibi Chibi costumes as it was announced that Satomi Okubo, who previously played Sailor Moon in earlier musicals, will be returning as Sailor Cosmos.

The Sailor Moon Le Mouvement Final musical poster, story, cast and schedule have been released

Sailor Moon Le Mouvement Final banner

A ton of information about the Sailor Moon Le Mouvement Final musical has been released! The musical will start in September and run in three different cities in Japan, those being Tokyo, Aichi and Osaka. As expected this musical will cover the Stars arc of the manga, which has the Sailor Guardians joining forces with the Sailor Starlights to fight Sailor Galaxia.

Sailor Moon Le Mouvement Final banner

Check out the new cast members! Note that I don’t speak Japanese so for some of these I couldn’t get a good English version of the name so I just included the Japanese text. I’ll update those when I get some better into.

Harukawa Meiku - Sailor Star Fighter

Seiya Kou, Sailor Star Fighter, will be played by Meiku Harukawa.

Riona Tatemichi as Rubeus

Taiki Kou, Sailor Star Maker, will be played by Riona Tatemichi. Riona previously played Rubeus in the Petite Étrangère musical.

Saki Matsuda Sailor Star Healer

Yaten Kou, Sailor Star Healer, will be played by Saki Matsuda.

Princess Kakyuu

Princess Kakyuu will be played by 岡村麻未.

Coco Isuzu Sailor Galaxia

Sailor Galaxia will be played by Coco Isuzu (Twitter, Instagram).

Aoki Shion - Sailor Iron Mouse

Sailor Iron Mouse will be played by Aoki Shion.

Sailor Tin Nyanko

Sailor Tin Nyanko will be played by 橋垣美佑.

Sailor Aluminum Siren will be played by 小林由佳.

Juri Hirayu - Sailor Lead Crow

Sailor Lead Crow will be played by Juri Hirayu (Twitter, Instagram).

Hirani Yamaguchi as Chibi Chibi

There will be two actresses playing Chibi Chibi. Hinari Yamaguchi and 新津ちせ.

There will also be some dancers playing additional villains. These are 椎原夕加里, 肥田野好美, 匂坂あゆ美 and Ayano Nagasawa. A number of them played villains in past musicals.

Performances in Tokyo will be from September 8th to the 18th. Performances in Aichi will be September 23rd and 24th. Performances in Osaka will be held from September 29th to October 1st.

Will any of you be attending this round of musicals?

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episodes 194 and 195 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 194 - Seiya and Usagi

The two latest episode of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars have been added to Hulu and Neon Alley. This week with episodes 194 and 195 we learn a lot more about Sailor Galaxia as we get pretty much all of the anime’s time with Princess Kakyuu. It’s a bad week for Seiya’s relationships as Usagi starts to come to terms with Mamoru’s absence. Also to note there are no more monsters of the week for the rest of the series. The last Phage was in episode 192!

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 194 - Sailor Galaxia

Episode 194, Crusade for the Galaxy: Legend of the Sailor Wars, gives us a ton of back story. Princess Kakyuu is here and she seems to be the one with all the answers, and is willing to give us just a few of them. We get a description of the Sailor Wars. Some great Sailor Guardian sealed Chaos inside herself and became totally evil. That’s Sailor Galaxia. She’s treating Star Seeds like Pokémon and she won’t stop until she’s caught ‘em all. Usagi is missing Mamoru quite a bit and calls him and … his answering machine picks up. Did Mamoru keep his massive apartment in downtown Tokyo while he went to study in the United States where a physical answering machine is located or has he just left his phone line with voice mail set up? Did he pay for all of this with his part time job at the resort he showed up for once a year ago? Who exactly is continuing to pay these bills while he’s not even available to return phone calls and mail to his girlfriend? Seiya meanwhile gets a busy signal while calling Usagi who is trying to call her boyfriend. Oh boy, that’s a symbolic busy signal! Seiya then mistakes Kakyuu for Usagi. Tell me about it. There are a bunch of jokes about keeping Usagi safe in this episode. Fair enough! She’s the princess and that’s kind of what these people need to be doing. Sailor Tin Nyanko shows up at the school, masquerading as student Nyanko Suzu. Once again no monster as Sailor Tin Nyanko attacks Usagi, who tries to take her on alone. The fight is interrupted by a red rose which is tossed into the fray. Wow! WTF? Chills. The rose was tossed by… Seiya. Damn. A fight ensues and Sailor Moon half heals Sailor Tin Nyanko with Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss. We’ll see how that goes later. Usagi breaks down crying at this point with the rose reminding her of Mamoru. Seiya asks if he’s not good enough for her. It’s not looking great for Seiya.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 194 - Seiya's rose

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 195 - Sailor Tin Nyanko is confused

Episode 195, Princess Kakyu Perishes: Advent of Galaxia, is sort of a double spoiler title. It’s just doubly terrible. Anyway. The Three Lights are doing one last concert! Why? They found their Princess! Well now they are looking for the Light of Hope, which apparently is the thing that can stop Galaxia. Why just do one concert to call the Light of Hope? Either they’re done and don’t need to sing anymore or they aren’t and it should just be status quo. Whatever. It’s their last concert. More importantly, Mamoru is totally off the grid. Usagi admits to Rei that he hasn’t actually responded to any of her letters. When Ami looks into it he never arrived in America. He’s not in his old apartment, which still has an active phone line and perhaps an answering machine, so where is he? How is he paying his bills? So Mamoru is not in US but we saw him and the plane with that light and the … oh boy let’s think about something else. So concert. Sailor Tin Nyanko attacks the concert and she’s totally messed up. She was half healed with the Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss “attack” last episode so she’s sort of like Two Face only without the coin. This is sort of tragic. The Animamates aren’t evil at all. They are being controlled. Sailor Moon has the power to heal them but has failed to do so at every attempt. Tragic. Lots of other people are at the fight like Sailor Uranus and Neptune. Oh wait of course no Sailor Saturn. Whatever. Galaxia shows up and she’s collecting all the Star Seeds. She takes Sailor Tin Nyanko and then Princess Kakyuu tries to hold her off while the Starlights escape. Princess Kakyuu has her Star Seed taken. Wow that was kind of quick. I kind of thought maybe she’d transform into a Sailor Guardian and maybe have some kind of fireball attack but she doesn’t really do much. Oh well moving on. As Kakyuu is dying Sailor Chibi Chibi Moon takes her hand and with her last breath says that Princess Kakyuu feels the Light of Hope. Whatever that is! I guess this means Princess Kakyuu isn’t Chibi Chibi like I thought!

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 195 - Princess Kakyuu and Sailor Chibi Chibi Moon

Support this site by buying the first two seasons of Sailor Moon on DVD and Blu-Ray using the links below.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 194 - Usagi listening to Mamoru's answering machine

Continue reading

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episodes 192 and 193 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 192 - Minako loves Artemis

This week’s new episodes of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars on Hulu and Neon Alley are all about Yaten threatening people! First he gets upset at Minako for trying to do the thing he’s doing and then he tries to steal an incense burner from innocent little Chibi Chibi! It’s also all about fetish costumes as Minako auditions to be an idol in all form of ridiculous costume and then the gang dress up as maids for a sort of school run Maid Café. This week also features the double whammy of two piece swimsuits and Usagi holding a child in her arms.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 192 - Yaten threatens Minako

Episode 192, Go for Your Dream: Minako Becomes an Idol, continues Minako’s quest to become an idol. Didn’t we already see this episode? Episode 114 is kind of exactly this as Minako faced off against Mimete to become an idol. Minako made it to the final five in the episode before losing. Usagi herself tried to be an idol in episode 7 as well. In the live action series Minako is an idol all along, but in the anime she has to work for it! This is a popular topic in Japan. Frankly I was a bit baffled by these kinds of episodes back in the 90s, as such a thing was not that common here. I’d seen shows like Star Search but in this pre American Idol world it seemed to be a bigger thing in Japan. These days there is no shortage of shows which are pretty close to what is depicted here, somewhat of a mix between American Idol and a beauty pageant. While stars for such shows are often picked with their physical appearance in mind, this is less overtly stated as a requirement than it might be in Japan. What’s more the circus in Japan seems to just be amped up to 11, with competitors showing up with rabbit ears, tuxedos, school uniforms and other costumes that are indistinguishable from cosplay. Yaten is real upset at Minako for trying to be an idol. Yaten, an idol himself and member of what is surely the most popular boy band in Japan, thinks being an idol is incompatible with Minako’s duties as a Sailor Guardian. I wonder if throughout this episode Yaten, when coming face to face with Artemis, has noticed that he has a crescent moon in his forehead that looks just like the one Luna has. Artemis doesn’t seem to be very jealous of Yaten either, which is odd considering both loves of his life, Minako and Luna, have shown overt signs of being attracted to him. Oh well Artemis and Luna are great at hiding their emotions. They never even talk about their daughter who went back to the future between episodes with no fanfare. The competition of course includes a swimsuit portion. This must be good news to some readers, though sadly Minako only sports a one piece suit. Some other competitors wear bikinis though. Minako performs Route Venus at the competition. Though this song first appears in Sailor Moon SuperS it is a Sailor Moon R character song for Sailor Venus and is performed by Minako’s voice actress Rica Fukami. The target this week is Takuya Moroboshi who is like the Japanese Simon Cowell. He turns into Sailor Musician who is totally ridiculous looking, like most Phages. During the fight Usagi asks Luna to watch Chibi Chibi. I always find this funny as Usagi did it to Chibiusa in Sailor Moon R as well. Minako ultimately wins the competition, but decides not to pursue it at this time. I guess hypocritical Yaten got through to her! She seems to think she can become an idol at any time because she forgets that she lives in Japan and that her chances of success diminish with each passing year.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 192 - Sailor Musician

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 193 - Minako dressed as a French maid

Episode 193, The Stolen Silver Crystal: Princess Kakyu Appears, is all about a Maid café though I’m not sure it was called that at the time. A little poking around tells me the first Maid Café dates back to 2001 but this episode aired in November 1996. Regardless of the specifics, this a restaurant where the girls dress up as French maids to serve their customers. It’s nice to see these school girls replace the highly fetishized Japanese school uniform with a French maid outfit. Seiya takes a page from 80s romantic comedies as he appears outside of Usagi’s balcony to chat with her. Usagi is there with Chibi Chibi who is dressed a rabbit. Could Chibi Chibi’s rabbit outfit be a clue to her actual identity? No. The rabbit outfit is in no way related to her identity in the anime. At this point on my first viewing I still thought she was Princess Kakyuu which we’re about to learn is not the case. Chibi Chibi got that incense burner a few episodes ago which is surrounded with butterflies and smells like Princess Kakyuu. This causes jerk faces Taiki and Yaten to try to get it from her. This is pretty sketchy, seeing large teenage boys threatening a little kid to fork over something. Naturally this causes Makoto and the rest of the girls to come to her defense. The target this week is … Sailor Moon! Sailor Lead Crow does something right for a change and targets someone who actually has a True Star Seed. She threatens to destroy the school with a black hole, as if a school which endorsed a fetish café was worth saving, and this seems to work on Usagi who submits to those bracelet things. Her Star Seed is the Silver Crystal and when it is retrieved Sailor Moon turns into Usagi. Let’s tease this apart for a moment. A normal person, when deprived on their Star Seed, becomes a Phage who is Sailor something which has to do with their interest. When Sailor Moon loses her Star Seed her Phage is Usagi dressed as a maid, which happens to be what she was wearing before. Is Sailor Moon’s Phage Usagi? So Lead Crow is sucked into the black hole, because these things are dangerous, and so are Usagi and Chibi Chibi but that’s okay because Princess Kakyuu shows up and it seems like she’s the one to destroy the black hole somehow. Wow it’s great this big climactic thing we were waiting for finally happened. I can’t wait to see what Princess Kakyuu does!

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 193 - Princess Kakyuu

Support this site by buying the first two seasons of Sailor Moon on DVD and Blu-Ray using the links below.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 192 - Minako's drawer

Continue reading

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episodes 190 and 191 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 191 - Usagi is Shinji

This week on Hulu and Neon Alley‘s new episodes of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars things get really emo! Seiya got hurt last week and we spend two episodes fixating on that and being all Shinji about it. Also a ton of video game references and inspiration from the Sailor V comic.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 190 - Seiya sings for Usagi

Episode 190, Truth Revealed: The Star Lights’ Past, is all about how to scam a free concert. No actually it’s mostly about silly drama. Seiya got hurt helping Usagi and now the Three Lights don’t like the Sailor Guardians and then Sailor Uranus, Neptune and Pluto get into the mix. They confront Sailor Star Healer and Maker, and everyone seems to agree that it’s best for everyone to be hostile for no terribly good reason. Forced drama! So where the hell is Hotaru? I mean she still hasn’t had a transformation sequence and we never get to see her when her friends show up. She’s probably in bed at home alone without a babysitter. She should have stayed with her father. This anime doesn’t seem to like Sailor Saturn at all. Anyway it’s all about trying to cheer up Usagi while still keeping her away from Seiya which is ultimately what is making her miserable. Drama, drama, drama. Finally Seiya breaks his silience and asks Usagi to come to a live performance he’s doing, with two other guys who are intent on keeping her away. Too bad it’s sold out! But this doesn’t stop Usagi who for once can’t just use her contacts to see a free concert. She goes to the top of a Ferris Wheel to watch the concert from there! This reminds me of the Sailor V comic which has Amano, the Sailor V version of Umino, uses some sort of radio receiver to scam free music from a concert. For a comic and show that frequently features musical artists, they sure do like to teach us how to scam music! Seiya is able to see Usagi in that far off ferris wheel, and so it’s like he’s singing for her. This gives us cool backstory for the Sailor Starlights. We see their planet getting destroyed and them following their Princess to Earth. Seiya passes out from his injuries. The target this week is the amusement park manager who turns into Sailor Amusement. The bad guys are so bad at their job! Guess who shows up to fight?! Not Sailor Saturn!

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 190 - The Sailor Starlights planet is destroyed

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 191 - Cosplay Codename: Sailor V Volume 2 - Minako as a game character

Episode 191, Butterflies of Light: A New Chapter On the Horizon, continues with last episode’s Usagi/Seiya drama. Chibi Chibi is chasing a red butterfly which coalesces with others to form an incense burner. Full confession. At this point in the series, upon my first viewing in the 90s, I was convinced that Chibi Chibi was Princess Kakyuu. The Three Lights know that these butterflies indicate that their Princess is around. Back to the drama Usagi is crying on her bed while listening to her walkman. Total Shinji moment. Terrible. Chibi Chibi has a slipper that says Chibi^2. Witty! There’s a video game event and Taiki is going to be present! The gang go out in costume. Ami is dressed in a toga that somewhat resembles Palutena from the Kid Icarus games. Why is this relevant? In Kid Icarus Uprising for the 3DS and the Super Smash Bros. games the voice of Palutena is provided by Aya Hisakawa, the voice of Sailor Mercury. Of course she was cast in this role some 15 years after this episode aired, so the resemblance can’t be more than a coincidence. A lot of little video game references follow. A trophy thing that looks like Mario, fighting games that looks like Street Fighther and Virtual Fighter. Even a t-shirt referencing Sailor Moon musical actress Anza Ohyama. Cosplayers dressed as all kinds of characters like Chun-Li and Felicia. I have no idea what Rei, Makoto and Minako are supposed to be dressed as but they seem to be somewhat generic video game characters. Maybe from fighting games. Minako’s costume somewhat resembles that of a game character she dressed as in Volume 2 of the Sailor V comic, Minako in Game Center Crown. Similarly Ami’s rival in the final round, Yukihide Ohbayashi, looks just like Taku from that same issue. It should have been Minako to fight him if this parallel was to continue but for whatever reason Ami episodes are as common as Taiki episodes this season. The target this week is idol Reiko Kanagawa who turns into Sailor Gamer. How many of our readers would turn into Sailor Gamer? Probably a few!

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 191 - Yukihide Ohbayashi who looks like Taku Codename: Sailor V Volume 2 - Taku
Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 191 - Ami dressed as Palutena Palutena from Super Smash Bros. Wii U and 3DS

Support this site by buying the first two seasons of Sailor Moon on DVD and Blu-Ray using the links below.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 190 - Princess Kakyuu

Continue reading

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episodes 184 and 185 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 184 - Chibi Chibi tries to take Seiya's towel

This week on Hulu and Neon Alley‘s new episodes of Sailor Stars we get a real mix of emotions. First in episode 184 we get one of the more comedy filled episodes of the entire series and then things sober up real quick for episode 185 which is about a little girl who might die in surgery.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 184 - Seiya the wolf and Usagi the sheep

Episode 184, A Night Alone Together: Usagi in Danger, is a bit of a contradiction. How can you be alone together? How can you be alone together when there are a dozen or so people in your dining room? I’m getting ahead of myself. There are burglaries in Usagi’s neighbourhood so Seiya offers to be a sort of bodyguard. Luna thinks this is a bad idea, likening Seiya to a dog or worse a wolf that wants to eat the sheepish Usagi, an obvious metaphor for some sort of unwanted sexual advance. Seiya comes over anyway, and seeing a photo of Mamoru and Usagi together, gets quite upset. Usagi is happy in the photo, which is no doubt at the core of what’s really upsetting him, but he then becomes upset at Mamoru for hurting Usagi. Things get a little intimate as it seems Seiya is about to kiss Usagi… and then Chibi Chibi stuffs some cake in his face. Classic Chibi Chibi! Next up is a sexy shower scene where we see a partial nude butt for Seiya! This shower is perfectly timed with the arrival of Usagi’s friends who see Seiya in a ridiculous tiny towel, which Chibi Chibi tries to take with humourous consequences. Yaten and Taiki join the party and things are really staring to get crowded. They play a card game which appears to be Hearts and then… Haruka and Michiru are down the street with car trouble so why not. Then a TV crew shows up to ask what they’re having for dinner which means the Three Lights need to hide because I guess it’s scandalous that they’d be at Usagi’s house, even though the convoluted explanation of events is totally legit. Sailor Aluminum Siren and Lead Crow show up to target the TV show guy, because once again we are completely passing up opportunities to steal Star Seeds from Sailor Guardians for whatever reason. Usagi has trouble finding a place to transform but finally does so in Chibiusa’s attic room. This makes me wonder what is going on with this room. When Chibiusa left and the Tsukino family forgot that she existed, did they also forget that there is a room in the attic or do they just use it for storage now? Chibiusa seems to have left with a backpack too small for most of her possession. Is it full of children’s toys, clothes and a dusty Stallion Rêve that smells funky? A fight breaks out and there are way too many people and it’s all funny. Still all considered Usagi’s family must have a ridiculously expensive house given its size and the neighbourhood.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 184 - Too many Sailor Guardians in Usagi's dining room

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 185 - Princess Kakyuu

Episode 185, Taiki’s Song Filled With Passion and Faith, is unfortunately another Taiki episode. I won’t pretend to hide my dislike for this character, and this episode is another example of why I don’t really appreciate him. A young girl Misa is in the hospital awaiting important surgery. I know what you’re thinking. It’s a TV show for little kids. She’s definitely going to survive the surgery. They wouldn’t have a character in a children’s show like Sailor Moon die in surgery. Right. So Misa draws Princess Kakyuu which is kind of weird, since we haven’t seen this character yet. Interestingly enough there are also three stars in the sky above the Princess, which I imagine represent the three Sailor Starlights. I don’t know what little green celestial body is, but it’s cool. Taiki is given to young Misa as a gift, complete with bow on his head, but he draws the line at autographs! He notices Kakyuu and mentions that it’s the Princess they’ve been singing for, but Taiki is losing faith! It seems the image of Kakyuu came to Misa when she heard their music, but it hadn’t been there lately. Oh no! Taiki sings for Misa but her surgery is delayed because the Doctor gets turned into a Phage. I don’t know about Doctors but if I get my Star Seed removed and I turn into a monster I’m at least taking the rest of the day off, but the Doctor does his job and Misa is fine!

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 185 - Misa recovered and not getting her baby stolen

During the fight the monster x-rays Eternal Sailor Moon. We see her skeleton and there are no bones in her wings. A bird, who’s wings Eternal Sailor Moon’s most resemble, has bones in its wings. So what exactly is holding these feathers in place?

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 185 - Sailor Moon's skeleton

Support this site by buying the first two seasons of Sailor Moon on DVD and Blu-Ray using the links below.

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars episode 184 - Seiya the dog and Usagi the sheep

Continue reading