Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray vol. 8 review

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray Vol. 8 - Contents

The latest release of Sailor Moon Crystal on Blu-Ray was released on May 13th. Volume 8 collects acts 15 and 16. It’s packaging showcases Chibiusa. You can buy this volume on Amazon Japan and CD Japan. It only has Japanese audio with no English subtitles, though it will play in North American Blu-Ray players.

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray Vol. 8 - Sailor Mercury transformation item charm

The charm included this time is Sailor Mercury’s Star Power Stick. Her original transformation item was released with volume 2 when Sailor Mercury first appeared on the cover. It’s a safe bet that the next 3 releases will have Sailor Mars, Jupiter and Venus’s Star Power Sticks as charms.

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray Vol. 8 - Special Booklet - Page 2 and 3 - Act 15 summary

The 20 page special booklet included this time has the same breakdown as others, included episode summaries, screenshots, character art and a special page by Fumio Osano, Osabu. The interviews included in this release are with Yu Kaminoki, producer for the series and Misato Fukuen, the voice actress who plays Chibiusa. The character art included mostly focuses on Chibiusa but also has Koan and Berthier of the Ayakashi Sisters. There’s a heavy amount of focus on Chibiusa with her gun. Can any gun nuts identify exactly what model of gun this is and whether or not it can be equipped with an optional flower clip?

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray Vol. 8 - Special Booklet - Page 14 & 15 - Character art

The episodes included are Act 15, Infiltration – Sailor Mars, in which Sailor Mars faces off again Koan, and Act 16, Abduction – Sailor Mercury, in which Sailor Mercury faces off again Berthier. Chibiusa showed up at the end of the last release so now we begin focusing on the battle with the Black Moon Clan. Both episodes on this disk have minor changes to their animation that’s been done for the Blu-Ray release. I didn’t note anything terribly significant as far as changes go. You can check out the differences in Act 15 and Act 16 on Crystal Comparisons, which details the changes between the streaming version and home video versions of the show.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17 - Chibiusa in her incorrect coloured uniform with Luna-P

Chibiusa in her incorrectly coloured uniform from the next episode preview for Act 17

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17 - Chibiusa with a white top

Chibiusa in her correctly coloured uniform in Act 17

More shocking here is the lack of change! The next episode preview for Act 17 shows Chibiusa with a short sleeved but dark blue uniform. As we’ve covered in our review of Act 17, this was an incorrect colour which was actually corrected for the episode proper. The animators change things like this up until the last minute and update all kinds of things for the Blu-Ray but no one is bothering to fix up the next episode previews so that they don’t include these errors! Shameful!

As always as I don’t speak Japanese I can’t comment much on the audio commentary. There are three people appearing on these commentaries. You can hear Rina Sato, the voice of Sailor Mars, Hisako Kanemoto, the voice of Sailor Mercury and Munehisa Sakai, the series director for Sailor Moon Crystal.

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray Vol. 8 - Packaging

As with other releases it’s hard to justify buying a fairly expensive release for just two episodes. I don’t imagine I’ll change anyone’s mind on buying these at this point. Either you’ve bought the other releases and will buy this too, or you won’t be buying any. With free viewing options available for Sailor Moon Crystal and an English version inevitably happening in the future, this isn’t something many English speaking fans will find much value in.

Keep reading for more images of the packaging and all pages of the included special booklet.

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Sailor Moon Crystal to air in Portugal starting May 2nd. Listen to a preview now!

Sailor Moon Crystal to air in Portugal on May 2nd

The first country to air a dubbed version of Sailor Moon Crystal will be Portugal! The Portugese dub of the series will begin airing this Saturday May 2nd at 8:30pm local time on BIGGS. This will be the equivalent of 3:30pm Eastern Time, 12:30pm Pacific Time. Check out this link to watch a commercial for the series which features clips from the new Portugese dub courtesy of the Sailor Moon Portugal Facebook Page. There isn’t much talking in this commercial but you can hear Sailor Moon using her “Moon Tiara Boomerang” attack and saying her famous “In the name of the Moon I will punish you” line. You can also hear a clip of Usagi’s classmate Yumiko.

Sailor Moon’s voice in this dub is provided by Raquel Ferreira whose previous anime credits included the voices of Ash Ketchum and Jessie of Team Rocket in Pokémon. She is also a singer who has appeared on Dancing with the Stars. Tuxedo Mask will be voiced by Rogério Jacques who also provides the voice of Nephrite. The voice of Sailor Mars and Luna will be provided by Cristina Cavalinhosas. Fernanda Figueiredo, who was the voice of Sailor Moon in the Portuguese dub of the original Sailor Moon anime, will be voicing Sailor Moon’s mother Queen Serenity.

The dub will be done by 112 Studios who have done many other Anime dubs such as Beyblade, Bakugan and Inuyasha.

Source: Sailor Moon Portugal

Listen to previews of every song from the Sailor Moon Crystal Character Song Collection CD

Sailor Moon Crystal Character Song Collection - Sea of Fire by Rei Hino

We previously announced that a Sailor Moon Crystal Character Song Collection CD would be released on April 29th. Previews of all songs have been posted to the official Sailor Moon Instagram page. The first 9 tracks posted match the names given in the track listing earlier. The final song was previously posted to YouTube. The clips on Instagram are all 15 seconds, the maximum length for videos on the site, but with a sample of every track we get a good idea of what’s in store for next week.

Sailor Moon Crystal Character Song Collection - I'm Going Down by the Shitennou

All video clips are embedded below.

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Sailor Moon S episodes 98 and 99 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon S episode 98 - Sailor Moon crushing on Sailor Uranus

The two latest episodes of Sailor Moon S are now available to stream on Hulu and Neon Alley. This week Mamoru’s two main love interests are shown to be attracted to other people, first as Sailor Moon is attracted to Sailor Uranus and then as Rei is attracted to Haruka and to a lesser extent Yuuichirou.

Sailor Moon S episode 98 - Sailor Uranus and Sailor Moon

Episode 98, To Save Our Friends: Moon and Uranus Join Forces is all about shipping Usagi and Haruka. The target is some motorcycle guy but we don’t care about him. Haruka does dirt biking and gets targeted by some thugs. This, combined with Usagi missing a bus, is a good excuse to have them ride a bike together and share some romantic moments. Once conveniently separated and transformed, Michiru falls into a waterfall leaving them together and alone, again. To make things even more intimate the Diamon ties them together with handcuffs, leading to great intimacy. The two hide in a cave where they do a little bonding, do a little scratching and then do some hugging. Sailor Moon notices that Sailor Uranus has a sent very similar to Haruka’s, but this moment of enlightenment is interrupted once again by the enemy. Unimportant monster fighting follows.

Sailor Moon S episode 99 - Rei crushing on Haruka

Episode 99, A Man’s Kindness: Yuichiro Heartbroken by Rei, continues the abusive relationship between Yuuichirou and Rei! Rei is seen flirting with someone who Yuuichirou believes to be a handsome man but who is actually Haruka, a handsome woman. He is heartbroken by this and no one really does anything to clear things up as he decides to leave town, knowing he can not compete with such an attractive man. He almost boards a train but it happens to become a monster at the last moment. The episode wraps up with Rei and Yuuichirou not really getting together once again! So this episode has some Rei and Haruka shipping and some not quite so satisfying Rei and Yuuichirou shipping. A song not included in any Sailor Moon soundtrack is played while Yuuichirou is leaving. This is a song from 1977 named Azusa Nigou by the band Karyudo.

Sailor Moon S episode 99 - Heartbroken Yuuichirou

Support the site by buying Viz’s dubbed and subbed episodes of Sailor Moon on DVD or Blu-Ray using the links below:

The first 14 episodes of Viz’s new dub of Sailor Moon R are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon R dub on Hulu

You can now watch the first 14 episodes of Sailor Moon R on Hulu and Neon Alley. This includes the entire Makai Tree story arc as well as the first episode featuring Chibiusa and the Black Moon Clan. Like with the previous releases of dubbed episodes on Hulu these will only be online for a limited time. They will be removed on June 7th 2015.

Sailor Moon episode 47 - Ail and An

Episodes 47 to 59 are a non manga story arc focusing on the characters of Ail and An, aliens posing as humans Seijuro and Natsumi. They arrive on Earth with the Makaiju or Makai Tree and proceed to drain human energy to feed it and keep themselves alive. Episode 60, Angel or Devil? the Mysterious Girl from the Sky, is the first episode to feature Chibiusa and the Black Moon Clan. The episodes included are somewhat strategic, meant to showcase a wide variety of voices and get us excited for the upcoming DVD and Blu-Ray release of Sailor Moon R. Sailor Moon R Season 2 Part 1 collects episodes 47 to 68 and is set to be released on July 14th. It can currently be pre-ordered from The Right Stuf.

Sailor Moon R episode 54 - Rei singing

One notable inclusion is episode 54, The School Festival Is for Me?! Queen Rei’s Song, which includes a couple of songs as performed by Rei’s voice actor Cristina Vee. In the original Japanese version Rei performs the song Eien no Melody which is translated here into English as Eternal Melody. In the original DiC dub of Sailor Moon had the song Oh Starry Night included, which has roughly the same melody as the original song but very different lyrics. The other song performed is Hottokenai Yo or I Can’t Leave Her Alone though only a short part of it is heard.

Check out a preview of the Sailor Moon Crystal Character Song Collection CD

Sailor Moon Crystal Character Song Collection

A Sailor Moon Crystal Character Song Collection CD will be released on April 29th. A preview of this CD has been posted to the Official Sailor Moon site. Just what is this? This is not music or songs from Sailor Moon Crystal but rather songs performed by the voice actors from the show. The old Sailor Moon Anime frequently had these and occasionally included them in the series. The site mentions that it has been nearly 20 years since the release of a Character Music Collection. This should be a surprise to fans of the 2003 Sailor Moon Live Action series which had many albums and singles of character songs by the main cast.

The full track listing in Japanese is on the Sailor Moon official site. There are 10 tracks in total. Songs will be performed by the voices of Sailor Moon by Kotono Mitsuishi, Sailor Mercury by Hisako Kanemoto, Sailor Mars by Rina Sato, Sailor Jupiter by Ami Koshimizu, Sailor Venus by Shizuka Ito, Tuxedo Mask by Kenji Nojima, Jadeite by Daisuke Kishio, Nephrite by Kosuke Toriumi, Zoisite by Masaya Matsukaze and Kunzite by Eiji Takemoto. All of the Sailor Guardians have their own solo tracks, as does Tuxedo Mask. The Shitennou all perform together on one track. Two duets are done, one with Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter and the other with Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus. The final track has all of the Sailor Guardians performing together.

Sailor Moon Crystal Character Song Collection

You can preorder the CD from Amazon Japan or CD Japan for 3240 yen, about $27 US.

Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray vol. 6 review

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Packaging

The 6th Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Edition Blu-Ray set was released on March 11th. It can be purchased on Amazon Japan and CD Japan. MSRP is 7020 yen, about $59 US dollars. If you’re thinking of importing this keep in mind it is in Japanese only and there are no subtitles. The disk will play in North American Blu-Ray players for this who still want to buy it. There is also a regular edition Blu-Ray and DVD that will be released April 8th, when vol. 7 is being released in a Deluxe Limited Edition set. The DVDs will not likely play in a North American region 1 DVD player.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Contents

As with other volumes the disk comes in a collectible box. This one features a silhouette of Tuxedo Mask on the cover. The cover of the disk itself has an image of Usagi and Tuxedo Mask on it.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Sailor Moon's transformation brooch charm

Every set comes with a charm which goes on the charm bracelet included with volume 1. This release includes Sailor Moon’s transformation brooch. This is the second Sailor Moon item included as volume 1 had Sailor Moon’s Moon Stick.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Booklet - Pages 12 and 13

A 24 page full colour booklet is also included. Amongst the pages are episode summaries, character art for Tuxedo Mask, the Shitennou and Reika, interviews with Yasuhara Takanashi, music composer for the series, and Kenji Nojima, the voice of Tuxedo Mask as well as a page by Fumio Osano, Osabu. Photographs of all pages in this booklet are included at the bottom of this post.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Booklet - Pages 14 and 15

The contents of the disk aren’t terribly exciting. Two episodes are included as usual. This time we have Act 11, Reunion – Endymion, and Act 12, Enemy – Queen Metaria. Many fans took issue with the many changes in Act 12 hoping they would be corrected with the video release but this not the case. Sailor Venus still does not kill Queen Beryl. Sailor Moon still breaks Beryl’s necklace with the sword. The Shitennou still die. Kunzite still says something that sounds like penis. Most of the video releases have some minor updates to the animation. Though I did not notice any specific changes with these episodes it’s likely they are updated as others had been.

Sailor Moon Blu-Ray vol. 6 - Disk

There is an audio commentary on this disk. I don’t speak Japanese so it’s hard for me to tell exactly what is going on or even who is present. I would seem that the voice actresses for Sailor Mars, Rina Sato, and Sailor Jupiter, Ami Koshimizu are present. There is also a man who’s identity I couldn’t figure out.

This set will likely appeal to fans with a lot of money or who feel they must have every bit of Sailor Moon on video. The video quality is better than the streaming version but is that difference really worth buying something in a language you can’t understand? I leave that call to you because at this point if you’re likely to buy this you probably already have the other volumes.

Keep reading for more images of the packaging including photos of all pages of the included booklet.

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Sailor Mars wearing a surgical mask

Keiko Kitagawa wearing a mask

Keiko Kitagawa, the actress who played Sailor Mars in the live action Sailor Moon series, is seen above wearing a surgical mask at an airport. This photo was posted to her official web site today as she is going overseas. Below is a picture of Sailor Mars wearing a surgical mask in episode 19 of the Sailor Moon Anime. This kind of thing is commonly seen in Japan amongst people who are sick, as Sailor Mars was in episode 19 of the anime, or simply trying to avoid getting sick. I am posting these for no real reason but I thought it was funny to see a picture of Keiko Kitagawa doing something so similar to her anime counterpart.

Sailor Moon episode 19 - Sailor Mars wearing a mask

Source: Keiko Kitagawa’s official web site and The Reality Check Podcast

Watch Sailor Moon R episodes 83 and 84 on Hulu

Sailor Moon R episode 83 - Sailor Mars, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask learn that Chibiusa is Usagi and Mamoru's daughter

The two latest episodes of Sailor Moon R have been added to Hulu and Neon Alley. This week we have episodes 83 and 84 which take place entirely in 30th century Crystal Tokyo! It takes a long time for the story to finally make it to the future but here we are. A lot of stuff that we mostly already figured gets revealed.

Sailor Moon R episode 83 - King Endymion

Episode 83, The Shocking Future: Demande’s Dark Ambition, introduces us to a world we have previously only seen in dreams and flashbacks. All of the girls assumed it couldn’t really be that bad when they saw this destroyed city in Chibiusa’s mind but this was obviously spot on. Things are very bad. The gang runs into a familiar face, the holographic projection of King Endymion who is the future version of Mamoru. His voice, which sounds nearly identical to Mamoru’s, sounds familiar! Does Toru Furuya as King Endymion sound that much different than Toru Furuya as Mamoru? Anyway, his voice is the one from the dreams that foretold a great calamity if Mamoru didn’t dump Usagi. Just what was the reason for this silly fabricated friction between characters which didn’t really last? Oh he just wanted to test their relationship to make sure it was strong. Sorry but I just don’t see the logic of this and there is no indication that it helped at all. It didn’t change the future, so it seems like it was meant to strengthen their relationship in the past so that… Tuxedo Mask didn’t let Prince Demande kiss Usagi? Well I’m getting ahead with myself. We learn all of the things we kind of already knew. Usagi is Neo Queen Serenity, oh wow! Chibiusa is Usagi and Mamoru’s daughter. Who knew? This surprises everyone and even makes Rei a little mad. Maybe Rei would be the queen of Crystal Tokyo if Usagi hadn’t stolen her boyfriend last season! In a somewhat rushed end of the episode Usagi is kidnapped by Prince Demande who dresses her up a bit like Neo Queen Serenity and tries to use his hypnotic powers to kiss her without consent. It’s a very uncomfortable scene that deals with a pretty serious issue, but Tuxedo Mask comes in to save the day.

Sailor Moon R episode 84 - Esmeraude the dragon

Episode 84, Wiseman’s Evil Hand: Chibi-Usa Disappears, has Chibiusa running off while the gang deals with Esmeraude. Esmeraude has been doing a pretty crappy job as villain but it’s okay, she can do more good as a dragon! This way she doesn’t need to be directly killed by the Sailor Guardians. Instead a dragon is killed who they didn’t really know was her. Prince Demande who was trying to sexually assault Usagi in the last episode seems only somewhat put off by Esmeraude’s death, tragically not returning her affections. Meanwhile Chibiusa is traumatized and runs off … to the park. In the past (our present) when Chibiusa runs away she always finds herself in the park. It’s not really clear why this is. But Chibiusa is not in some foreign city. She’s simply in another time. The park may be very familiar to her as it may be the same place she always run to, just from another time. Many landmarks from the future park seem to indicate that it is indeed the same once we often see in the past. Wiseman proceeds to mess with her memory of things. She remembers looking at the Silver Crystal, but not what happened to it. Her views of her family and friends is corrupted to make her think they are all against her. In the final moments of the episode we hear a laugh which sounds somewhat like that of Chibiusa but a bit different. We will see who this is in the next episode.

Sailor Moon R episode 84 - Chibiusa in the park in 30th Century Crystal Tokyo

Support the site by buying the first season of Sailor Moon on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Sailor Moon R episode 84 - Wiseman and Chibiusa

The cast of the new Viz English dub of Sailor Moon R was announced at Katsucon this weekend

Viz Media

This weekend is Katsucon in National Harbor Maryland. On Friday, February 13th, Viz hosted a Sailor Moon panel in which the dub cast for Sailor Moon R was announced. The panel was hosted by Charlene Ingram and included Cherami Leigh, the voice of Sailor Venus, Amanda Miller, the voice Sailor Jupiter, Cristina Vee, the voice of Sailor Mars and Robbie Daymond, the voice of Tuxedo Mask.

Sailor Moon episode 47 - Ail and An

The new actors who will be joining the show for Sailor Moon R are Johanna Luis as the alien An also known as Natsumi Ginga, Brian Beacock as the Alien Ail also known as Seijirou Ginga, Sandy Fox as Chibiusa and Veronica Taylor as Sailor Pluto. Veronica Taylor is likely the best known of these voice actors for providing the voice of Ash Ketchum in Pokémon.

Sailor Moon R episode 75 - Sailor Pluto

You can watch the panel on Ustream below:

The first season of Viz’s new Sailor Moon dub is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray in two half season sets. Buy them from Amazon using the links below to support the site:

Source: The Fandom Post