Interview with Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon, at Fan Expo 2013

Interview with Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon, at Fan Expo 2013

A couple of weeks ago at Fan Expo 2013 I caught up with Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon from the Sailor Moon S and SuperS seasons, for the following interview.

The radio show that’s mentioned is “I’m Just Sayin'” which is part of Canada Talks, Channel 167, on SiriusXM Canada. You can also check out the show’s Facebook page.

Thanks a lot to Linda Ballantyne for joining us for this interview. Already posted to the site are the panel from this year’s Fan Expo as well as an interview with Susan Roman, the voice of Sailor Jupiter. An interview with Toby Proctor, the voice of Tuxedo Mask, will be posted to the site as time permits.

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New cover art revealed for the upcoming Japanese Sailor Moon manga complete versions

New Sailor Moon manga covers - Book 1 featuring Sailor Moon - By Naoko Takeuchi

We’re finally getting some details about the new Kanzenban or “Complete Versions” of the Sailor Moon manga set to be released this fall in Japan. They will include new cover art by Naoko Takeuchi, the original author and artist of the Sailor Moon manga. The first two covers feature Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury and were shared on the official Sailor Moon site. Though they are to be released this fall no specific date has yet been announced. Both volumes 1 and 2 will be released on the same date with the rest being released at monthly intervals.

New Sailor Moon manga covers - Book 2 featuring Sailor Mercury - By Naoko Takeuchi

The last release was over 14 volumes while this release will only have 12. The original release of the manga was over 18 books. Will there be more pages per volume or will we simply be losing the side stories with this release? It’s not clear at this time. These will be printed in an A5 size. This is 148.5 × 210 mm or 5.83 × 8.27 inches. That’s a bit bigger than the English versions that are currently being released which are themselves a bit bigger than the usual Japanese manga compilation.

There are no current plans to release this version of the manga in English. When asked about it Kodansha USA mentioned on their tumblr page that it’s unlikely this version will be released any time soon unless there are significant differences given they are still in the process of releasing the current version of the manga.

Fan Expo’s Sailor Moon panel will be at 2:30pm on Friday August 23rd

Sailor Moon Voice Actors' Q&A panel at Anime North 2013 featuring John Stocker, Linda Ballantyne, Katie Griffin and Susan Roman

The schedule for Fan Expo 2013, the convention taking place August 22nd to the 25th, has been released online. In it we see that the “Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Cast Reunion” panel will be taking place on Friday afternoon at 2:30pm so if you’re not a big fan of Richard Dean Anderson I suggest you cancel all other plans and make it to that panel! As we mentioned previously there will be many guests from the Sailor Moon dub in attendance at the convention. The panel will include Toby Proctor, the voice of Tuxedo Mask, Linda Ballantyne, the voice of Sailor Moon, Susan Roman, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, Katie Griffin, the voice of Sailor Mars and John Stocker, voice director for the series.

Sailor Moon voice actor location Fan Expo 2013

There are no autograph sessions listed for any of these actors. The Sailor Moon guests have spots at a table in a hall on the same floor at the Expo Hall. If it’s anything like last year attendees will be free to approach them for autographs throughout the weekend while they’re at their tables. Check out the area that says “Cartoon Voice Actors” on the floor plan to find your favourite Sailor Moon star.

Sailor Moon panel location Fan Expo 2013

The panel will be taking place in 701B which you can see from the floor plan is located one floor up from the main expo hall at the far end of the hall with the main elevators.

I hope to see you at the convention.

Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter Legend Studio figure prototypes

Sailor Moon, Mars and Jupiter Legend Studio prototype figures

A few weeks ago we had our first look at the Sailor Moon prototype for Legend Studio’s line of figures at the ACG HK 2013 convention. Sailor Mars and Jupiter’s prototype figures, seen in this picutre, were unveiled the next day. I had no idea this had occurred until I read about it on Sailor Moon Collectibles yesterday. This image comes from this Chinese page on the Japanese Geocities. That’s right, in Japan Geocities is still a thing.

Legend Studio's Sailor Moon S figure in colour

We also now have a better look at the Sailor Moon figure in colour courtesy of NextMedia. We previously saw what this figure looked like from a photo of a standee but now we have a photo of the actual figure.

Bandai’s Sailor Moon S. H. Figuarts figure is now out in Japan!

Bandai's Sailor Moon S. H. Figuarts figure booth

Bandai’s S. H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figure has hit stores in Japan. A few people have already gotten their hands on the figure and so there are a lot of pictures of it surfacing online. We’ve got a look at some of the packaging and all the individual pieces as well as a ton of other photos on this Japanese blog post.

Bandai's Sailor Moon S. H. Figuarts figure box

As we had previously seen there are a lot of different swappable faces. Here is a good look at all six of them.

Bandai's Sailor Moon S. H. Figuarts figure - All faces

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Terri Hawkes, the voice of Sailor Moon, to appear at Unplugged Expo in Toronto this October

Terri Hawkes, the voice of Sailor Moon

This weekend at Con Bravo it was announced that Terri Hawkes, the voice of Sailor Moon, will be a guest of honour at Unplugged Expo in downtown Toronto this October 26th and 27th! Check out the announcement video below!

Unplugged Expo has gathered quite a large number of Sailor Moon voice actors for their Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary celebration. Terri Hawkes mentions in this video that a number of panels will be held by the cast. To date the convention has already confirmed the attendance of Stephanie Morgenstern, the voice of Sailor Venus, Susan Roman, the voice of Sailor Jupiter, Katie Griffin, the voice of Sailor Mars and Roland Parliament, the voice of Melvin and voice director for the first 65 episodes. Who else could they still be getting between now and October?

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New Sailor Moon R Figuarts ZERO figure

Sailor Moon R Figuarts Zero figure

Here’s yet another Sailor Moon figure that was spotted at Wonder Festival 2013 Summer held this weekend in Chiba, Japan! This is from Bandai and Volks’s Figuarts ZERO line of figures. These are not posable like the S. H. Figuarts line but rather single piece immoveable figures. These are very detailed high quality figures. Here we see Sailor Moon with her Cutie Moon Rod, her weapon from the Sailor Moon R season of the anime.

Sailor Moon R Figuarts Zero figure

Source: @figureadictos, @ho_shiraya and Sailor Moon Collectibles.

As is often the case we’re only seeing a prototype at first. If all goes well we’ll be seeing the completed version in colour soon.

First look at Legend Studio’s Sailor Moon S figure

Legend Studio's Sailor  Moon S figure - Standing

We haven’t heard about Legend Studio’s line of Sailor Moon S figures since February but we’ve finally got a first look at them from the ACG HK 2013 convention. We previously only saw images of the characters and some rough 3D renders of the pieces making up the figure but now we can see a prototype of the figure itself. As is often the case with prototypes we don’t have any colours however a cardboard display does show us what the figure would look like in full colour and it looks pretty good.

Legend Studio's Sailor  Moon S figure - Cardboard cutout

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GE Animation has released a new Sailor Moon figure

GE Animation's new Sailor Moon figure

GE Animation has announced a new Sailor Moon figure on their Facebook page. After their first image was posted they also shared pictures of the front and back of the box. This item, like others made by GE Animation, are sold by a variety of retailers such as local anime stores, not directly to consumers by GE animation. This figure should eventually show up on Amazon. For now it is currently listed at online store Circle Red for $30 though it is not currently in stock.

GE Animation's new Sailor Moon figure

This figure is less expensive and not as high quality looking as Bandai’s S. H. Figuarts figure which we’ve been posting quite a bit about on this site. The figure is shipping out to vendors now so you we should be seeing it in stores shortly. GE Animation has mentioned that figures for more characters may be made if sales of this figure go well.

New Sailor Moon necklaces from Bandai will have you selling your car

Sailor Moon accessory series necklaces by Bandai

Bandai will be releasing a series of very nice looking very expensive Sailor Moon necklaces which are made to resemble some of Sailor Moon’s transformation items. From left to right on the larger image we have gold and silver versions of Sailor Moon’s original Transformation Brooch from the first season, a pink and silver version of the Crystal Star Brooch from Sailor Moon R and Sailor Chibi Moon’s Prism Heart Compact and Sailor Moon’s Cosmic Heart Compact from Sailor Moon S.

The Sailor Moon Cosmic Heart Compact Necklace from Bandai is Tiny

These are high end items! Like the rings we reported on earlier they are real jewelry. All are made of silver and some are gold plated. They’re sold at real jewelry prices! Each necklace is currently price at 12,600 yen which equates to about $125 US. Go ahead and get approval for that loan if you’re hoping to get all six! As you can see from the model wearing one these are quite small. No this is not a gigantic Japanese model wearing a life sized broach, they are about 3/4 of an inch in diameter.

Our baller readers may pre-order these items now through Bandai’s store. Keep reading for a close up look of all of the necklaces.

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