October 4th 2003, 10 years ago, the first episode of the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon TV series premiered in Japan. The show didn’t achieve much success with a North American audience but many fans did have a fondness for it. With a total of 49 episodes the series ran for about a year and also had two direct to video specials and a live stage show, along with a lot of merchandise.

The story of this series was a retelling of the Dark Kingdom storyline from the manga and anime. While at the beginning there were many similarities, the series quickly defied expectations and did it’s own thing going so far as to introduce new variations of classic characters like Sailor Luna, Dark Mercury, Mio Kuroki and Princess Sailor Moon. The effects were a bit cheap and Luna was a plush most of the time but the show still had a certain quality to it that made it very much Sailor Moon.

I am happy to call myself a fan of the series and enjoyed it immensely. The few issues I had with it paled in comparison to some of it’s great aspects such as the powerful story lines that were unique to the show and of course the lovely Keiko Kitagawa. If you’ve never taken the time to give this show a proper chance I would suggest you do so. What else are you going to do with your time while you wait for the new anime? The complete series and specials are available with English subtitles from Miss Dream. There aren’t many options to support the series in North America but you can always import the DVDs from Amazon Japan.

With the main story of the Sailor Moon manga already released fans may be wanting more, and that’s where these Sailor Moon manga short stories come in. Originally the manga was released with various side stories inserted throughout the main story. In the rerelease of the manga these stories were all removed in order to keep the main story intact without any interruption, but it would hardly be right to leave these stories on the cutting room floor. With that in mind the Sailor Moon short stories have been compiled into two book with the first book being released today. You can pick it up at your local store or though the Amazon link below. You can also preorder the second book which will be available November 26th.

This first book collects Chibiusa’s short stories as well as some other side stories related to entrance exam preparation. The second book’s main story is the story of Princess Kaguya, which was later adapted as the Sailor Moon S movie. It also includes a story about Rei’s past and Parallel Sailor Moon, a look at a possible future which includes the daughters of all of the main characters.

I wish I had some photos of the book to share but there don’t seem to be any copies stocked at any Chapters, Coles or Indigo locations in Ottawa. Included is an image from Kodansha’s tumblr page. The cover art features Chibiusa, Chibi Chibi and Diana. The back of the book features Princess Sailor Moon, a character from the live action series who has never made an appearance in the manga.

As always these and other products are available for purchase through the Amazon links on the left sidebar of the main page. By using these links you support this site which we greatly appreciate.