The English version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter, is now available on Hulu

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Adam

The latest English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal is now available on Hulu and Neon Alley. Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter, is all about Makoto and her secrets. It focuses on her relationship with Ittou Asanuma, a boy who is himself infatuated with Mamoru. The villain this week is Petz of the Specter Sisters.

We get a bit of backstory about Makoto’s parents who died in a plane crash. They are seen in a photo and Makoto’s mother looks just like Brock from Pokémon. The timeline doesn’t really make sense if this were a real thing, plus there are no Pokémon in the world of Sailor Moon, but it’s fun to think about these things!

Next week is Act 18 – Invasion – Sailor Venus. In this episode we will see the Shitennou once more!

Watch English dubbed version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter, Friday March 4th at 9pm EST

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Adam

The next English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will be available on Hulu and Neon Alley this Friday night at 9pm Eastern Time, 8pm Central Time and 6pm Pacific Time! If you’re from Newfoundland you’ll just have to do the math as usual. Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter, is all about Makoto. She befriends Ittou Asanuma, who would much rather get a kiss from Mamoru!

This episode features some back story on Makoto’s past in which we learn that her father is Brock from Pokémon! Funny her mother look nothing like either Officer Jenny or Nurse Joy. Johnny Yong Bosch, who voices Artemis in this English version of Sailor Moon Crystal, also provides the voice of Brock in Pokémon Origins! This means that if for whatever reason future episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal deviate widely from the manga and include a spoken scene from Makoto’s father, he can not only look like but also sound like Brock in the English version! Here’s a picture of Brock I drew decades ago when I was trying to make a Pokémon site. Apologies for all of the broken links. It was 1999.

The English version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16, Abduction – Sailor Mercury, is now available on Hulu

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Adam

The latest English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal is now available on Hulu and Neon Alley. Act 16, Abduction – Sailor Mercury, is all about chess. Ami faces off against Berthier of the Spectre Sisters, who’s not really dressed appropriately for a chess tournament, in this wonderfully animated episode. Amongst other things we see a Sailor Moon Crystal exclusive look at young Ami.

Fans of the original Sailor Moon anime will note many similarities to Sailor Moon R episode 71, For Friendship: Ami vs. Berthier, which was itself based on Act 16 of the Sailor Moon manga. There are however some resemblances to the original anime that aren’t from the manga, such as Usagi’s inappropriate cheering during the tournament. Also of note is that this is a swimsuit episode! Usagi, Naru and Ami are all seen in swimsuits, which seems to be a really big deal for some people. Though not a ton of detail is seen Naru’s swimsuit is based on the one she wears in the first season of the original Sailor Moon anime.

Who wore it best?

Next week is Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter, where Makoto confides in Ittou Asanuma.

Watch English dubbed version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 16, Abduction – Sailor Mercury, Friday February 26th at 9pm EST

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Adam

The next English dubbed episode of Sailor moon Crystal will be available on Hulu and Neon Alley this Friday. Act 16, Abduction – Sailor Mercury, has Ami facing off against Berthier of the Ayakashi Sisters or the Spectre Sisters as we’re referring to them in the dub. The conflict this week is over a game of chess! There are some interesting references to the original anime this week. On its surface this episode closely resembles Sailor Moon R episode 71, For Friendship: Ami vs. Berthier. Another similarity is Naru’s swimsuit which looks a lot like the one seen in the first season of the original Sailor Moon anime.

This episode includes young Ami, who is seen in one scene interacting with her dead beat father. He’s an artist who likes chess and doesn’t seem to care much about his daughter. Ami gets her love of chess from him but she wants to be a doctor like her mother, so it sounds like she chose the right role model when it counts!

The English version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 15, Infiltration – Sailor Mars, is now available on Hulu

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Adam

The first full episode from the Black Moon Clan story arc is now available to view in English on Hulu and Neon Alley. Act 15, Infiltration – Sailor Mars, introduces us to a bunch of character from the Black Moon Clan including Rubeus, Demande, Esmeraude, Saphir and the Ayakashi Sisters. This episode focuses mainly on the rivalry between Sailor Mars and Koan. Many new voice actors are showing up this week, who are all reprising their roles from the new English dub of the original Sailor Moon anime. Those actors are:

Claudia Lenz as Koan
Cindy Robinson as Berthier
Cassandra Lee Morris as Calaveras
Jessica Gee as Petz
Steve Cannon as Rubeus
Rena S. Mandel as Esmeraude
Greg Felden as Saphir
Matthew Mercer as Prince Demande

This week also gives us a better look at Chibiusa who first showed up at the end of Act 14. Amongst some background character we see a boy who looks an awful lot like Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing. What do you think?

The English dubbed version of the Black Moon story arc of Sailor Moon Crystal begins Friday Febuary 19th at 9pm

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Adam

The Black Moon Clan will be joining the English version of Sailor Moon Crystal this Friday as, Act 15, Infiltration – Sailor Mars, is released on Hulu and Neon Alley. We’ll see a lot more of Chibiusa, who we saw briefly at the end of last week’s episode, as well as the Black Moon Clan which includes Rubeus, Demande, Esmeraude and the Ayakashi sisters.

This episode focuses more heavily on Koan and Sailor Mars. We’ll go through this formula for the next handful of episodes the as Ayakashi Sisters face off against Sailor Guardians. One scene features a guy who looks a lot like Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing. What do you think?

Watch the English dubbed version of Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14, Conclusion and Commencement – Petite Étrangère, Friday Febuary 12th at 9pm

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Adam

It’s the end of one era and the beginning of a new one in this week’s English dubbed episode of Sailor Moon Crystal. With Act 14, Conclusion and Commencement – Petite Etrangère, we will wrap up the Dark Kingdom story arc and start the Black Moon story arc with the arrival of a small stranger! The episode will be available on Hulu and Neon Alley this Friday starting at 9pm Eastern Time.

Usagi will need to make a hard decision. Stay on Earth with the 7 billion or so people living there, including all of her friends, or be Queen of the dead and desolate Kingdom on the Moon?! It won’t be easy! This episode will also feature a Sailor Moon Crystal exclusive look at the human version of Luna!

Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray Vol. 11 Review

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Adam

Late as usual here is my review of the 11th volume of Sailor Moon Crystal on Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray. This volume was released on August 12th and includes two episodes, Act 21 and 22, in a collectible set which includes a 20 page colour booklet and charm of Sailor Venus’s Star Power Stick. You can order this from Amazon Japan and other online retailers for about 5,194 yen, about $43 US, plus a ton of shipping. The next volume, volume 12, will be released next week on September 9th.

The art on the cover of this volume is of Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion, the future versions of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Since a lot of this second story arc takes place in the future these characters feature prominently in the episodes on this disk.

The charm included this time is Sailor Venus’s Star Power Stick. As with all of the other ones you can put them all together on a charm bracelet and be really cool.

Included are Act 21, Complication – Nemesis, and Act 22, Hidden Agenda – Nemesis. These two episode are based on two chapters of the manga from the versions which were released in 2003 however both episodes were originally a single manga chapter, Act 20, Complication – Nemsis. Because of this the pace may seem a bit slow.

Like with other releases there are a number of mostly minor changes to the animation. These mostly result in touch ups which make the animation a bit nicer looking and very occasionally results in more significant changes to what appears on screen. I’m unable to take screenshots of Blu-Rays with my current AV setup but a great site for examining these differences is Crystal Comparisons.

Almost nothing of significance is changed for Act 21. In one scene a chair is added behind Usagi mostly to compensate for an earlier continuity issue where a chair disappeared and then reappeared behind her. Other than that the changes are mostly cosmetic.

The next episode previews remain unaltered. I’ve mentioned Chibiusa’s shirt gate time and time again. The next episode preview for Act 22 which appeared at the end of Act 21 originally included her blue long sleeved uniform, which was an error, and that uniform still appears in this version. This had been corrected in the streaming version of Act 22 and is still corrected on this release.

If you check out the changes for Act 22, you’ll note some changes for the appearance of Black Lady. In the original streaming episode Black Lady first appeared pretty much as a shadowy black figure with glowing eyes who later became more visible. The intention was, and still is, to obscure her identity. Now in the Blu-Ray we see her as being more transparent and smokey than previously in her first appearance and then darker in her later appearance. It seems to do the job better, but was anyone really still wondering what her true identity was at this point? There are a couple of other minor changes to this episode. When Usagi is possessed by Neo Queen Serenity her eyes glow and in the streaming version they are a bit darker. The reactor effects have been redone a bit to add some circles around the main column of energy. We also see the Sailor Guaridans standing behind Sailor Moon in one scene where we previously didn’t.

Both episodes include an audio commentary. These feature Munehisa Sakai, director of Sailor Moon Crystal, Kenji Nojima, the voice of Mamoru Chiba and Misato Fukuen, the voice of Chibiusa.

Also included is the 20 page full colour special book. This one features the usual episode summaries, character designs, backgrounds, page for Osabu and two interviews. The first interview is with Momoiro Clover Z, the musical group which performs the Sailor Moon Crystal opening theme, Moon Pride, and ending theme, Gekkou. The second interview is with the four voice actors who portrayed the Ayakashi Sister. Wasabi Mizuta provides the voice of Petz. Rumi Kasahara, who provides the voice of Berthier, had previously voiced many small roles in the original Sailor Moon anime including Ptilol of the Witches 5. Tomoe Hanba voices Calaveras and Satsuki Yukino provides the voice of Koan.

As always I recommend this only to hardcore fans. English speaking fans should contend with the streaming version until the eventual multi language Blu-Ray is released by Viz. This is a cool set with some cool stuff in it, but it’s hard to justify the price tag for two episodes.

Keep reading for more photos of the set including all 20 pages of the special book.

Continue reading →

Watch the final episode of Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 26, Replay – Neverending, July 18th at 6am Eastern Time

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Adam

This weekend is the final episode of Sailor Moon Crystal, Act 26, Replay – Neverending. Though fans continue to hope for more episodes, we still have not had any confirmation of any episodes following the initial 26 episode run. This next episode will be available on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico starting this Saturday, July 18th, at 7pm Japan Standard Time which is 6am Eastern Time, 3am Pacific Time. This will be the final episode of the Dark Moon story arc as we wrap up the story of Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis.

This is it. Chibiusa has become Sailor Chibi Moon and Nemesis has been blasted away, but with it we also lost Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask! We will finally get to see Neo Queen Serenity return as the final battle with Death Phantom takes place. It’s unclear where exactly things will leave off with this being a finale. Will Chibiusa leave for the future and wrap things up perfectly? Will they still bother upgrading Sailor Moon’s transformation broach and giving her the Heart Moon Rod which she won’t ever get around to using? If another season is ever planned they probably will. Finally will we see the “À Suivre” (to be continued) message at the end of this one as we have with every other episode to date? If we don’t that will certainly be an indicator that there are no new episodes planned.

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray vol. 9 review

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Adam

I’m a little late with this review but the latest volume of Sailor Moon Crystal, volume 9, was released on Blu-Ray on June 10th. Like with other releases this only includes two episodes, in this case Act 17 and 18. These stories, part of the Black Moon story arc, focus on Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus. The cover for this release features all of the Sailor Guardians together in their civilian school uniforms. The volume 10 box art will feature the often neglected Sailor Pluto. You can buy volume 9 from Amazon Japan for 5194 yen, about $42 US, plus shipping. Pre-orders for volume 10 will be shipped out tomorrow.

The charm included with this release is Sailor Mars’s Star Power Stick. We will likely be seeing Sailor Jupiter and Venus’s Star Power Sticks as the next two charms.

The contents of the disk are pretty standard. Two episodes are included. Act 17, Secret – Sailor Jupiter and Act 18 – Invasion – Sailor Venus. Video quality is great, as always. There are animation changes from the original streaming versions which are mostly minor and cosmetic. Crystal Comparisons is a great site to check out to compare the two versions. A frame which had Chibiusa incorrectly wearing a short sleeved blue uniform has been corrected to have her with the white uniform she wears in the rest of the scene. A scene in Act 17 had Usagi using the Moon Stick instead of the Cutie Moon Rod to use Moon Princess Halation. This has not been corrected for the Blu-Ray version.

Commentary are included as always. On these episodes we have Munehisa Sakai, the director for the series, as well as Ami Koshimizu, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, and Shizuka Ito, the voice of Sailor Venus. As always I do not speak Japanese so I can’t really comment on the quality of the commentary itself.

Once again a 20 page full colour special booklet is included. This book includes episode summaries and art for the included episodes 17 and 18. The first interview is with Revo, the composer for Sailor Moon Crystal’s opening theme Moon Pride. The other interview is with Ryo Hirohashi, the voice of Luna, and Yohei Obayashi, the voice of Artemis. Character art included shows Luna, Calaveras, Petz, Asanuma and a bunch of items.

It’s hard to recommend buying this. Episodes are still available to stream for free online. This is a Japanese only release with no subtitles. It’s probably worth the wait to get the English version which Viz will be released at some undetermined time in the future. But you don’t need me to tell you whether or not to buy something.

Keep reading for more images from this set including photos of all pages of the included special book.