Sailor Moon S episodes 94 and 95 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon S episode 94 - Unazuki kissing Makoto

The two latest episodes of Sailor Moon S are now available to stream on Hulu and Neon Alley. This week’s shows are all about love as episodes 94 and 95 deal with romance. First we have Unazuki dreaming of her first kiss and then we have a deepening of the romance between Umino and Naru.

Sailor Moon S episode 94 - Unazuki being sexually repressed by Rei

Episode 94, Protect the Pure Heart: The Three-Way Battle, is all about the purity of the first kiss. The main character and target this week is Unazuki Furuhata. Upon listening to this episode it seemed that Unazuki’s voice sounded a lot like Sailor Iron Mouse’s. This is because Miyako Endou, the actress who normally portrays Unazuki, did not voice her for episode 94. Instead she was voiced by Eriko Hara for this episode only. Eriko Hara also provided the voice of Sailor Iron Mouse in SailorStars as well as a number of monsters including the Dream Princess from episode 11. The main plot focusing on how pure a first kiss is. This all seems a bit silly. Yes Unazuki is young and there’s no shame in saving yourself for the right person but this story takes it a bit far. This kind of purity is often associated with a first sexual experience which is in itself a bit silly, but even more ridiculous when applied to something as innocent as a kiss. There is this pervasive idea presented in this episode, and throughout the series in general, that a young woman’s feelings are somehow embarrassing and that she should protect her innocence as if it was something sacred. We see this in Usagi’s reaction every time it’s asked if she’s kissed Mamoru. To me this seems like a somewhat antiquated point of view, the opposite being to allow women to be free to decide how to pursue their sexual interests without worrying about being shamed for it. When Unazuki has her pure heart removed what remains is a sort of husk without a soul intent on kissing anything that moves, which happens to be Makoto and Usagi. This insinuates something very impure and wrong about promiscuity which seems a bit too much like slut shaming to me. Rei needs to use her scroll to suppress her sinful desires.

Sailor Moon S episode 94 - Naked Usagi and Mamoru or Adam and Eve

In one scene Michiru mentions that the first kiss was between Adam and Eve. This is subject to some debate but I’ll avoid getting back on my soap box for this minor point. Usagi imagines the first kiss being being Adam and Eve who look just like her and Mamoru. She pictures two naked people kissing, complete with the somewhat visible outline of a nipple. No censoring on this one. It looks like they’re lying in grass. Must be the Garden of Eden.

Sailor Moon S episode 95 - Umino and Naru

Episode 95, Let Moon Help With Your Love Problems, once again focuses on Umino and Naru’s relationship. We’ve actually seen this touched on a number times at this point. Umino is trying to advance things, because saving someone’s life a bunch of times isn’t quite cutting it, so he goes to Usagi for advise. The brilliant idea is to enrol the two in a kind of game show for couples. Unfortunately Haruka and Michiru are also competing! Too bad the Death Busters have their eye on the monument they are doing all of this around. Luckily Haruka and Michiru drop out at the last minute. Why is this fortunate? Well if they hadn’t then perhaps the Daimon would have targeted them for their Pure Hearts instead of Umino. How differently the series would have played out had that happened. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Umino confesses his love to Naru in an impassioned speech which brings the audience to tears just as the Daimon bursts out. Naru is targeted and once again Umino shoves her aside and takes the attack for her. This is becoming a habit for him! Oh well Umino doesn’t have a Talisman. A humorous scene takes place during the battle. Some eligible bachelors invite the girls to dance. “Let’s dancing”. They accept and then they turn into monsters and attack them. Never accept an invitation for a dance during combat!

Sailor Moon S episode 95 - Michiru and Haruka

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Sailor Moon S episode 95 - Let's dancing

Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray vol. 4 review

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray vol. 4 - Box

The 4th volume of the Sailor Moon Crystal Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-Ray was released in Japan on January 14th. Because I’m irresponsible with my money I’ve purchased this, so here is my review. The set is Japanese audio and contains just two episodes, Act 7, Mamoru Chiba – Tuxedo Mask and Act 8, Minako – Sailor V. It comes with a 24 page full colour booklet and a charm of Sailor Jupiter’s transformation item in a decorative box.

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray vol. 4 - Contents

As with other releases, minor changes to the animation are included. This one it no different, though some of the changes here are more considerable. One of my favourite parts of act 7 is the part where Umino drops in uninvited to a conversation between Usagi, Makoto and Ami to talk about Sailor V. He’s ultimately creepy and for some unexplained reason is a black shadowy figure with yellow eyes and a mouth, looking something like a Heartless from the Kingdom Hearts games. For whatever reason this has been fixed up for the Blu-Ray release so that he is just normal looking, though still intensely creepy, Umino. While changes in the past were largely cosmetic, this is one that is a little more intrusive and something I’m not very comfortable with.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Creepy Umino looks like a heartless

Sailor Moon Crystal Act. 7 Blu-Ray - Umino is less creepy than in the streaming version

Other changes in the episode were not as big a deal. Act 7 contains what I would consider to be the worst animation of the series to date. Some of those shots have been fixed up, but a lot of the really terrible looking shots remain. An error that occurred in the original streaming version of act 7 was that Sailor Venus was wearing Sailor V’s uniform when seen from behind but then Sailor Venus’s orange uniform when seen from the front. This has been fixed to correctly show Sailor Venus’s uniform for all angles. It was unclear it this had been intended or not, as the idea might have been that at first Sailor Venus looked like Sailor V, but upon closer investigation was actually wearing a different costume. This wasn’t really what the scene seemed to insinuate so it’s a decent thing to change. I didn’t notice anything but fairly cosmetic changes to act 8.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Sailor V

Sailor Moon Crystal Act. 7 Blu-Ray - Sailor Venus is no longer dressed as Sailor V

The rest of the content was pretty much as expected. The cover of this one includes an image of Sailor Jupiter. The charm included, to go with the charm bracelet included in the first volume, is of Sailor Jupiter’s transformation item and bow.

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray vol. 4 - Sailor Jupiter charm

Also included as always is the full colour booklet. It includes interviews with Yukie Sako, animation director and character designer and Ami Koshimizu, the voice of Sailor Jupiter. There are also episode summaries, production art and a special page by Fumio Osano as always. Photos of all pages of the book are included at the bottom of this post.

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray vol. 4 - Booklet - Page 12 and 13

The disk itself includes the two episodes, act 7 and 8, as well as and audio commentary for each. The commentary track is in Japanese with no subtitles so I can’t really comment on it. From a brief listen I can tell that voice actors Kenji Nojima, Tuxedo Mask, and Shizuka Ito, Sailor Venus, are on this one as well as some other Japanese people who worked on the show who’s names and jobs you will quickly figure out if you can understand the commentary.

Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-Ray vol. 4 - Disk

You can import this disk from online stores such as Amazon Japan, CD Japan or YesAsia for as low as 5194 yen, which is about $45 US, though shipping can be considerable on some sites. The regular edition Blu-Ray and DVD versions will be released on February 11th if you’re feeling cheap. With only two episodes included as always I can’t really recommend buying these when a free an legal way to support the show always exists with the streaming options. If you’re hardcore about the show and video quality well you’ve probably bought other volumes so I don’t need to tell you what to do.

Keep reading for more images of the set and photos of all pages of the included booklet.

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Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7, Mamoru Chiba – Tuxedo Mask, Review

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Young Mamoru

Act 7 of Sailor Moon Crystal, Mamoru Chiba- Tuxedo Mask, is now available to view on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Niconico. This week Usagi has just found out that Mamoru is Tuxedo Mask, we learn more about the Dark Kingdom and we get our first look at Sailor Venus! But first, could Mamoru be Fatal Fury’s Terry Bogard?

terry-bogard_fatal_fury Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Young Mamoru

One of the first things we see in this episode is the flashback to Mamoru’s past. Mamoru’s parents died when he was just 6 years old. We get a look at them, two faceless people who have dark hair like his. Funny we see their faces in the Manga, though this doesn’t ever really come back. The more important issue is Mamoru’s hat, which looks just like Terry Bogard’s from Fatal Fury, a fighting game series originally on the Neo Geo. Am I forcing this connection? I don’t think so. I’ve never played a Fatal Fury game in my life but this connection was instantly obvious. In addition to this Tuxedo Mask does a bunch of punching in this week’s episode! His exchange of blows with Zoisite was not in the original Manga. Sailor Moon is attacked by Zoisite and then Artemis and Sailor Venus come to her rescue while Tuxedo Mask just watches. His punching must be due to an attempt at making him look more like Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Preparing to punch

The episode starts out with Mamoru and Usagi’s tender moments but this scene seems plagued with inconsistent animation to me. I’ve not been one to complain about the animation in this series to date but after starting to feel like things were improving this episode in particular seemed like a disappointing step back. After this we get to meet Queen Metalia, the evil energy that is behind the Dark Kingdom, and we get a bit more back story for Queen Beryl. We unfortunately don’t get a good look at a normal woman in the North Pole discovering the Dark Kingdom like we do in the manga but the same story seems to be going on here.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Queen Metalia

As expected, the VHS tapes from the original story were not kept, but instead updated to DVDs. Really? No Blu-Rays in 2014? Regardless of the technology upgrade the story can’t help but feel a bit dated. Video rental stores are not what they used to be, and the idea of the youth of today not spending enough time at the arcade because they’re renting video only reminds us that arcades are also not close to as popular as they were in the 90s. This is why things like updating Crown from an arcade to a Karaoke bar made sense for the live action series, but that Sailor Moon Crystal being so faithfully adapted but still taking place in moderns times at times doesn’t make a ton of sense. Also, do these DVDs look like Kuri’s boobs?

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Yumiko, Kuri and Naru renting antiquated DVDs

As technology goes, Ami’s computer has been replaced with a “FinePad” in this episode, an obvious take on the iPad. The icons in the background look like those on iOS though the windows and the red, yellow and green buttons on them are similar to Mac OS. This level of multitasking would be too convenient for an iPad.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Ami's FinePad

A funny scene in this episode shows us more of creepy, creepy Umino. Original manga and anime Umino was nerdy but pretty much harmless and non threatening but Sailor Moon Crystal Umino is downright creepy! Here he shows up to share that he’s looking for Sailor Moon, which makes sense as he’s been brainwashed along with everyone else into doing so, but we almost forget that this is part of the Dark Kingdom’s plot as this creepiness fits right in with his character! Not sure why he’s made to look like a Heartless from Kingdom Hearts. He also looks a bit like Professor Tomoe.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Creepy Umino looks like a heartless Heartless - Kingdom Hearts

This episode finally introduces us to two new charters, Artemis and Minako Aino as Sailor V and Sailor Venus. The first appearance of Sailor V in this episode is on Luna’s computer. In the manga when this conversation takes place you can see a bit of Minako’s bow but it’s not as obvious that this is Sailor V. Once the battle commences it’s Artemis, not Sailor Venus, that saves the day. We see the top of his head followed by him jumping and slashing Zoisite, who doesn’t die in this episode. Then we finally see both him and Sailor Venus together.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Artemis

The episode does an odd thing with Sailor Venus’s introduction. First we see her from behind, clearly wearing Sailor V’s outfit, but then when seen again from the front she’s clearly dressed as Sailor Venus. That’s a quick costume change!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Sailor V

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 7 - Sailor Venus

In two more weeks, October 18th, we’ll see Act 8, Minako – Sailor V. This one will be all about Sailor Venus. The team is finally all together!

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 8 Preview - Sailor Venus

Keep reading for more screenshots from this episode and the next episode preview.

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Sailor Moon episodes 31 and 32 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon episode 31 - Rhett Butler

The latest two episodes of the original Sailor Moon anime have been added to Hulu and Neon Alley. As with every Monday two new episodes, subbed by Viz, are added online. This week we have episodes 31 and 32 which are two of the funniest episodes of the series.

Sailor Moon episode 31 - Rhett Butler rescues Luna

In episode 31, Love and Chased: Luna’s Worst Day Ever, we meet Rhett Butler, a fat alley cat who falls in love with Luna. The search for the last Rainbow Crystal is on and leads Zoisite and the Sailor Guardians to the house of a young girl, but it’s her cat who’s actually the final Rainbow Crystal carrier! Rhett Butler choses to protect Luna from all of the stray cats in Tokyo. Their adventures take them deep into the sewers and ultimately back to the surface where Rhett Butler turns into the monster Bakene who is still able to keep his wits and protect Luna despite his monster status, a feat that none of the human Rainbow Crystal carriers were able to do. Like many of the romances early in the series, this one is short lived and the reasons are simply because there are other plans for some characters. Artemis will be showing up in just a few episodes and so there’s just no room to keep Rhett Bulter around beyond the scope of this episode, but in the final moments it’s quite clear that Luna and Rhett Butler shared a great love.

Sailor Moon episode 32 - Tuxedo Umino Kamen

In episode 32, Umino’s Resolve: I’ll Protect Naru, we see Umino’s protective side as he suits up and becomes Tuxedo Umino Kamen. Now that Usagi has new friends it’s long overdue that Naru and Umino hook up with each other so that we don’t have to feel bad about how neglected they are! Umino is of course completely socially awkward and has no idea how to win over Naru so he asks Usagi who describes what she is into as qualities attributed to Tuxedo Mask. Umino naturally decides to dress as Tuxedo Mask and protect Naru, which is met with some apprehension but is ultimately fairly successfull. They go on a date together to see Red Man, and when Zoisite misses Naru he ends up making a monster of the Power Ranger style character who attacks everyone in site, forcing Umino to step up as protector. Once again Umino isn’t terribly effective, but his heart is in the right place, and that’s what counts. This is one romance that isn’t about to get sidetracked by some inconvenient destiny as Umino and Naru are set to have a long and happy relationship.

Sailor Moon episode 32 - Tuxedo Umino Kamen and Naru

And here’s a funny still from episode 31:

Sailor Moon episode 31 - Sailor Jupiter looks at Sailor Mercury's butt

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4, Masquerade Dance Party, Review

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4 - Usagi and Mamoru dancing

The 4th episode of Sailor Moon Crystal became available on Saturday August 16th. You can watch it on Crunchyroll, Hulu or Niconico. Act 4, Masquerade Dance Party, has everyone crashing a party put on by the D Kingdom in order to steal their jewels, hoping to find the Silver Crystal. While this is an early story in the manga it is somewhat similar to episode 22 of the Sailor Moon anime, Romance Under the Moon: Usagi’s First Kiss.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4 - Jadeite lives

The episode largely follows act 4 of the original manga with one major exception, Jadeite is still alive. In the manga Sailor Mars kills Jadeite at the end of act 3 however in the last episode it was unclear if Jadeite actually died during the fight. Indeed Jadeite is still alive which is the biggest change to the story we’ve seen to date. Perhaps this change will lead to more differences down the line, as all of the Shitennou are still alive at this point leaving things open for different stories. In act 3 Jadeite made comments about how beautiful he thought Sailor Mars was, which may be related to a past and future relationship between the two of them. Manga art from the final Dark Kingdom story shows pairings between the Shintennou and Sailor Guardians during Silver Millennium. Sailor Mercury was with Zoisite, Sailor Mars is with Jadeite, Sailor Jupiter was with Nephrite and Sailor Venus was with Kunzite, a relationship which was also alluded to in the Sailor V manga. This may seem odd to anime fans who have only seen the Shintennou as villains however in the manga they were all friends of Endymion and good people from Earth prior to being corrupted by Queen Metalia. While we’ve followed the manga closely to date this may not last forever. By act 4 of the live action series we were still following the manga episode by episode but major changes were just around the corner.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4 - Newspaper from the future showing Sailor Moon doing Moon Twilight Flash

Sailor Moon gets a new tiara and attack this week! Her last tiara was destroyed by Sailor Mars as she burned Jadeite and so she gets a new upgraded one and with that has a new attack which she uses to destroy Nephrite’s shadow. The attack she uses in the manga is Moon Twilight Flash, seen frequently in the live action series, though the attack is not named in this episode. Strangely enough an image of Sailor Moon using this attack is seen in the newspaper on the morning before she gets her tiara upgrade and is first able to use this attack.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4 - Creeper Umino

Another fun moment has Umino acting like a total creeper when he reveals a photo of Princess D. Indeed Umino always having images of women at hand when needed is in itself creepy but something about the way he acts and speaks in this scene is particularly funny.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4 - Tuxedo Mask kissing Sailor Moon without consent

And speaking of creepy, the final scene of the episode needs to be addressed. Sailor Moon, after a long day at the party, passes out. In the manga she does this after consuming alcohol. While unconscious Tuxedo Mask approaches her and kisses her, causing fans to swoon at this romantic moment. She is unconscious and unable to consent to his advances. This behaviour is completely inappropriate. Luckily Luna shows up and comes to Sailor Moon’s defence.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4 - Makoto Kino

Unfortunately we have to wait 3 weeks for the next episode! We’ve gotten used to seeing shows every two weeks but Sailor Moon Crystal is released on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month, not every two weeks. The next episode will be available on Saturday September 6th. Act 5, Makoto – Sailor Jupiter, will introduce us to Makoto Kino who becomes Sailor Jupiter. We see a shot of her at the end of the episode and more of her during the next episode preview. This again follows the manga schedule with Sailor Jupiter appearing in act 5.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 5 Preview - Sailor Jupiter

Keep reading for more images from this episode and from the next episode preview.

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Roland Parliament, the voice of Melvin and voice director for Sailor Moon, to appear at Unplugged Expo in Toronto September 27th and 28th

Roland Parliament, the voice of Melvin

Roland Parliament, who supplied the voice of Melvin and was the voice director for the first 65 episodes of the DIC dub of the Sailor Moon anime, will once again be appearing at Unplugged Expo at the Chestnut Conference Centre in downtown Toronto September 27th and 28th.

Sailor Moon Reflections cover

Roland Parliament will be promoting his upcoming book, Sailor Moon Reflections: The inside story of the original recordings of the English version of Sailor Moon. This book was originally announced at Unplugged Expo last year at the Sailor Moon 20th Anniversary Voice Actor Panel which we posted on our site. As voice director and a voice actor for the series he gained a ton of insight into the recording of the show and will be sharing stories and photos of the behind the scenes moments recording Sailor Moon. You can pre-order the book from the official web site.

You can also check out Roland Parliament in Parliament Funkadelic, the latest episode of the Anime News Network Podcast ANNCast, in which he talks about the book and his time on the show.

Sailor Moon episodes 25 and 26 are now available on Hulu

Sailor Moon episode 25 - Makoto Kino

The latest two episodes of Sailor Moon, 24 and 25, were added to Hulu and Neon Alley this morning. Viz will be adding two new episodes of Sailor Moon every Monday. These are subbed only episodes. Dubbed episodes will be added at a later date.

Sailor Moon episode 25 - Sailor Jupiter

Episode 25, Jupiter, the Powerful Girl in Love, starts us out on a lot of new things. In this episodes Zoisite takes over as the new bad guy searching for the Rainbow Crystals. This marks the introduction of Makoto Kino, Sailor Jupiter. Makoto defends Usagi and she is getting bothered by some thugs on the street and they become instant friends. Meanwhile Makoto has met Crane Game Joe, who uses his telekenetic power to cheat at crane games. As with many other Rainbow Crystal carriers, Joe posesses a unique power. These people can be tracked down thanks to the Moon Stick which Usagi recieves in this episode.

Sailor Moon episode 26 - Usagi strangling Umino

Episode 26, Restore Naru’s Smile: Usagi’s Friendship, gives us a look at how Naru is doing after her heartbreak from episode 24 when Nephrite died. She is still troubled by what she went through, but Usagi and Umino are there to help get her back in good spirits. This marks the begining of Naru and Umino’s relationship which is off to a great start as Umino puts himself in danger to defend Naru from a monster. Naru’s affections for Umino are shown as she uses the bandage that was all she has left of Nephrite to patch him up. It’s a good thing Naru has Umino to keep her company as Usagi’s growing circle of super powered friends is putting her on the back burner.

Sailor Moon episode 26 - Umino saving Naru

Buy the first half of season 1 on DVD and Blu-Ray this November.

Listen to a bunch of new clips from Viz’s new Sailor Moon dub

Cricket Brown as Haruna having her skirt flipped by Umino

We’ve got four new dub clips to share from Viz’s new Sailor Moon dub. The first, uploaded to YouTube last week, is an exchange between Jadeite and Queen Beryl from episode 5, Scent of a Monster: Chanela Will Steal Your Love.

Two more clips have been added to Hulu’s Sailor Moon page. The first clip has Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars fighting Jadeite in episode 13, Girls Unite: The End of Jadeite. The next clip is an extension of the clip we already saw between Luna and Sailor Moon from the first episode, but this time includes her transformation and a short clip of Naru’s voice.

Finally we have more leaked footage, this time from San Diego Comic-Con. This fooage includes Umino from episode 2, Punishment Awaits: The House Of Fortune Is The Monster Mansion, acting evil under the influence of the fortune teller’s cards and interacting with Usagi, Naru and Haruna. We also see Usagi’s first meetings with Ami from episode 8, The Girl Genius Is a Monster: The Brainwashing Cram School of Horror, and with Rei from episode 9, The Cursed Bus: Enter Mars, the Guardian of Fire Several.

In these clips we hear the voices of Stephanie Sheh as Sailor Moon, Kate Higgins as Sailor Mercury, Cristina Vee as Sailor Mars, Michelle Ruff as Luna, Cindy Robinson as Queen Beryl, Todd Haberkorn as Jadeite, Ben Diskin as Umino and Danielle Nicole as Naru. Cricket Brown will be playing Haruna. This actress had not been announced previously. The actor voicing Rei’s grandpa is still unknown. Check out this link to see the rest of the cast.

The new Sailor Moon dub will be included on the upcoming DVD and Blu-Ray release coming November 11th. You can pre-order it from Amazon using the link below.

Press release and web site for Roland Parliament’s book Sailor Moon Reflections

Sailor Moon Reflections cover

A new web site for the Sailor Moon Reflections book has been set up. Roland Parliament, voice director for the first 65 episodes of Sailor Moon and the voice of Melvin from the dub, has written this book to share stories of his time working on the series. It will included many behind the scenes tales of the DIC English dub of Sailor Moon including some photos from the time of the recording. Check out the site for more information about the book and to pre-order your own copy. A press release which was included can be read below.

THE ART OF BRINGING THE SAILOR MOON CHARACTERS TO LIFE

After Directing 65 Episodes, Voice Director Tells All

[Toronto, ON – July 8, 2014]

In the summer of ’95 an iconic Japanese animated series was transformed into a monumental phenomenon that would improve the quality of English-dubbed animation forever and take the English-speaking world by storm.

Now the man who directed the voices of that cultural juggernaut reveals the process, the endlessly long hours, and the attention to detail that went into making the English version of Sailor Moon the standard by which all English translations of foreign animations are judged.

If you are a current or aspiring voice actor, writer, director, agent or producer, there is wisdom in the following pages. If you are interested in the history of Canada’s performing arts, consider this work an essential chapter. If you are a lover of anime, regard this treatise as a ‘must read’ — an important piece to the puzzle called ‘the gateway to anime’. If you are simply a fan of Sailor Moon, prepare yourself for an incredibly rare and delicious treat.

In this book, voice director, actor and teacher Roland Parliament has created a unique archive that touches on and contributes to the craft and business of voice acting, Canada’s rich performing arts community and the legend of ‘Sailor Moon’ — in particular, the English dubbing of the iconic anime series.

- From the foreword by Terri Hawkes (a.k.a. ‘Sailor Moon’)

What I do want to do is to share with the reader my observations about how this series came to be what it is, and to dispel any rumors that may exist, as I know them. Keep in mind that this is told from my perspective only, based on what I saw, heard and did, and may be contrary to the actual facts.

The second thing I want to do is to share with budding voice actors the way to go about getting into this business.

- Roland Parliament on why he wrote this book

Sailor Moon Reflections, published by FriesenPress, is the inside story of the English recording of Sailor Moon, and will show readers the true, arduous work that actually took place to achieve this groundbreaking series that still receives continuing adoration. Sailor Moon Reflections is as much for anyone with an ambition to be a voice actor as it is for any fan of the series.

Sailor Moon Reflections is available for pre-order from sailormoonreflections.com in both print and e-book. It will be available soon on Amazon and most other major book retailers. The e-book edition will be available for order for the Kindle, Barnes and Noble’s Nook, iTunes and GooglePlay.

About the Author

Roland Parliament is a voice actor, dialectician, composer, writer, musician and educator. He lives in Toronto, Canada. He teaches an advertising course at the Harris Institute for the Arts in Toronto. Over the past 22 years, he has been a dialects and voice acting teacher at Ryerson University and Humber College, Toronto, and a guest lecturer at the University of Toronto.

Roland has voiced thousands of commercials, and has composed and produced no fewer than 300 jingles. His company, Wizard Productions Inc., has won over 75 international awards for its work. Additionally, he has directed and acted in several animation projects.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act 1 first impressions

Sailor Moon Crystal Act.1 Usagi - Sailor Moon - Usagi and Luna

This morning the first episode of the new Sailor Moon anime, Sailor Moon Crystal, premiered worldwide on Crunchyroll, Niconico and Hulu. The show is free to watch on a number of these services. For more details, check out these instructions on how to watch the show. I personally found the quality of Crunchyroll’s stream to be higher than Hulu or Niconico’s and so I would recommend checking them out to watch the show if you haven’t already.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act.1 Usagi - Sailor Moon - Title screen

The episode, titled Act.1 Usagi – Sailor Moon, resembled the first episode of the original Sailor Moon anime quite closely. This is fairly expected given this series is meant to resemble the Manga closely and the first episode of each series was quite faithful to that. In fact the first Act of the manga is also titled Usagi – Sailor Moon. With only 26 episodes for this series we certainly can’t expect an episode per episode repeat of the original show.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act.1 Usagi - Sailor Moon - Morga

In this episode we get a pretty good look at Silver Millennium, the ancient kingdom on the Moon, as well as Princess Serenity and Endymion through a couple of Usagi’s dream sequences. Once again we have Morga, a monster impersonating Naru’s mother as ordered by Jadeite, as the main villain of the episode. We are also introduced to Luna, Naru, Umino, Shingo, Sailor Moon’s mother Ikuko and her teacher Haruna. We also see mention of Sailor V, who will later be appearing as Sailor Venus, who shows up in a newspaper, is mentioned by Umino and is the star of her own video game.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act.1 Usagi - Sailor Moon - Serenity and Endymion

One aspect which bothered me a bit was the reaction Usagi had to her first meeting of Mamoru. Instead of being annoyed but a little intrigued she is instead completely infatuated with him from the beginning. We shall see how this relationship develops throughout the series. If this show truly does mirror the manga, things should escalate fairly quickly.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act.1 Usagi - Sailor Moon - Super Sonic Wave Attack

Sailor Moon makes two attack in this episode. The first is the same Supersonic Waves attack which she made in the first episode of the original anime, which she almost never uses again. The second was Moon Tiara Boomerang. This attack was first used in the live action Sailor Moon series. In the original Manga the attack was Moon Frisbee and in the original anime it was Moon Tiara Action. In the rereleased Manga books the move was updated to be called Moon Tiara Boomerang, as is seen here.

Sailor Moon Crystal Act.1 Usagi - Sailor Moon - Ami Mizuno

Act.2, as I guess we are now referring to the episodes as acts, will be premiering in two weeks time, July 19th at 7pm JST, 6am EST and 3am PST in the same places. Since Ami is shown very briefly at the end of this episode I would imagine she will be joining as Sailor Mercury as of the next act. This would be consistent with Sailor Mercury’s appearance in the second act of the Sailor Moon manga “Act 2: Ami – Sailor Mercury”.

Keep reading for more screenshots from the episode.

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