Miyuki Kanbe’s funeral was held on June 21st in Kawasaki. Many of the office staff of her agency Rouge attended, as well as family and friends. One of those friends was popular idol, Shoko Nakagawa. There was a large portrait of her dressed in her Sera Myu costume (complete with odangoes) among the sea of flowers at the altar, along with around 20 other photos of her life. When everyone at her funeral saw her smiling pictures, they all began to cry. Shoko Nakagawa also fought tears many times at the service. She was very sad that she had lost one of her best friends so suddenly. Her tearful father spoke at the funeral, just before the casket was moved out. He said that Miyuki was very lucky to have so many people at this funeral whose lives she had touched. She was cremated afterwards.

Shoko wrote two heartbreaking entries mourning Miyuki. In the first one, Shoko says that when you close your eyes it is dark, much like what it is like to die. But the light that Miyuki gave will stay shining in everyone for eternity. She is comforted in knowing that wherever Miyuki is now, she is smiling down on everyone. Even though she is hurt, she will still have the many happy memories of her dear friend. In the second one, Shoko wishes she could meet Miyuki at Disneyland again or go out to eat, and wishes that they could have hung out a bit more in the last few years. She ends with a note asking Miyuki to rest in peace until they can meet again, so she can see her smile.

In another news story we read today, the entire cast of Miss Saigon was both saddened and shocked to hear of her death. One of the stars of the show, Seiko Niizuma, was quoted as saying “I thought her death was a bad joke”. Miyuki was scheduled to be a part of Miss Saigon as well, but unfortunately she never got that chance.

On behalf of all Sailor Moon fans, we are very sorry to hear of what happened to Miyuki last week, and we send our deepest sympathies and condolences to her family, friends, and Rouge.

EDIT: Some users have reported that this page is crashing because of the MIDI. I am working on a solution to this problem, for now though if you want to hear the song, open this link in a new tab or window so it plays and you still have the ambiance if you want to listen to the song while reading the page.

~Miyuki Kanbe – 1984-2008~

We have some sad, breaking news to report to you all this morning. Beloved Sera Myu actress Miyuki Kanbe unfortunately passed away June 18th at 4:08 AM in Japan. Originally from Kanagawa Prefecture, she was best known for being the third actress to play Sailor Moon in the Sera Myu musicals (2000-2001), and for playing the student Kyoko Kakei in Battle Royale II. She also had a role in Kamen Rider Hibiki as Hinaka Tachibana. She played the same role in the companion movie, Kamen Rider Hibiki & The Seven Fighting Demons. Miyuki was the best of 500 girls who had auditioned for the part of Sailor Moon. Miyuki also appeared on the popular Japanese variety show, Ucchan Nanchan no Urinari. There will be a small, private funeral and wake, to be arranged by her close relatives. This news has hit the Sailor Moon community pretty hard, as many fansites are mourning her loss. One fan has even uploaded one of her more memorable Sera Myu performances here.

Her health took a turn for the worse just as she had landed a starring role in the Japanese production of Les Miserables in February of 2007. She was supposed to play the tragic role of Eponine. Her agency, Rouge, had released a statement apologizing for pulling out of her six-month stint in the role, but that she needed to rest and get strong again. They also thanked everyone for their warm wishes for her recovery. Since then she had been in and out of the hospital. The producers of the show had left her a standing offer that she could return when she was better. Just a few weeks ago on June 9th, she had enough energy to meet with the President of her agency, Masaki Honda, in Shibuya to talk about her career. She expressed that she didn’t only want to act, she loved fashion and wanted to work in the industry. She especially loved rehashing old clothes into new ones! The President remarked that she was looking a lot better and had more energy than she did before, and everyone around her thought her woes were over. Sadly, in the last few days, her health condition took a sharp turn for the worst, and the emergency department at the hospital couldn’t save her. She was hit by cardiac arrest while she was undergoing some medical treatment. Honda remarked that he felt like he had lost his own child, and ever since she was young she had the power and the drive to be the best performer she could. Once again, this is truly devastating news and our deepest sympathies and condolences are with her family and friends at this time. She will truly be missed.

The song you should be hearing in the background is Ayumi Hamasaki’s Memorial Address. We chose to play this song in her memory because just as Miyuki’s star was rising, her life ended tragically, and suddenly. This song was written by Ayumi for her own Grandmother, who was her rock all throughout her childhood as her dad had walked out on her own mother. She wasn’t there for Ayu very much when she was growing up, and she was raised for the most part by her Grandmother. She died just as Ayu was recording her first single Poker Face, and this song was written for her and released many years later on the mini-album of the same name. To read the translation of the lyrics, click here, and to hear the song in full, click here.

Stephanie Beard Posts New Promo Reel!

Stephanie Beard (Rini #2) isn’t giving up her quest on achieving her dreams in Los Angeles. She has posted a new promo reel on her official MySpace showing the different characters she has played on the Zone! There’s even a Katie Griffin sighting in there for all you Sailor Mars fans! Stephanie has definitely proved she is great for all ages to enjoy and we continue to wish her the best of luck! Fans wanting to check out the reel can click here (and wink, wink, nudge, nudge, Stephanie has returned you know where).

Moon Chase Counts Down To Stephanie Morgenstern’s Big TV Debut!

Look where the poll is – we’re counting down to the premiere of Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and her husband Mark Ellis’s brainchild, Flashpoint! The show will be running simultaneously on both CBS in the USA and CTV in Canada July 11th at 10PM EST (check your local listings). CBS has started to put together an official website for the show here, but CTV hasn’t put one up yet. We will be watching the show and keeping you updated with show summaries , but we think that this deserves a really big celebration. In the past, we have featured clips of the VAs appearances on TV shows, but for this show we will not because it is currently on the air and episodes are viewable online. We will only post if we get a clip from Stephanie or the producers themselves. We encourage all Sailor Moon fans to come together and watch this when it premieres, grab your family and friends to show Stephanie support for her new venture! In the meantime, check out this sneek peek at CBS’s site – Stephanie Morgenstern herself appears as the hostage! Flashpoint also stars Amy Jo Johnson as Julianna. Amy is probably better known among our readers as the Pink Ranger from the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers (don’t be afraid to admit it, you used to watch it as a kid)!
In another sighting we completely forgot to mention last time, Stephanie also appeared on Degrassi: The Next Generation in the episode right before Dennis Akayama appeared. In Death Or Glory: Part 1, she appeared as Dr. Rota, and gave Spinner the diagnosis that he was suffering from cancer. Fans can watch the episode online at CTV (in Canada) or The N (in the United States).

Toby Proctor in New Comedy!

Toby Proctor (Darien #2) plays a bouncer in Dawgs Playing Poker. This is an indie film all about a group’s escapades at night involving electrocution, bar-hopping, kidnapping, and lots of other things that make it R-rated. Dawgs has been in production since late 2006, and despite having a very low budget, was found to be highly entertaining by one blogger. The movie had its first premiere at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival last weekend. Fans can check out a trailer for the movie here! We really don’t think our younger readers should go catch this movie because of the film’s nature.

Linda Ballantyne is a Turtle and a Newscaster!

Linda Ballantyne (Sailor Moon #3) hasn’t been up to a whole lot as of late. She voiced a turtle named Shelley on the popular Kids WB Jr. and YTV show Will and Dewitt. Unfortunately the show was panned by viewers, mainly because the characters were based off of Procter and Gamble’s Kandoo line of soaps, shampoos, and other toiletries for kids. What we were most excited to learn about was that Linda can actually be seen in the flesh in a movie!Teddy Bear is a story of your average man who lives a secret life as a serial killer. Linda has a role playing a Newscaster in the film, and we were able to find a picture of her on the movie’s official site! Now we all know what she looks like !And we can finally tell you that she was the woman in the orange shirt and overalls in the Rubber Chicken Farmers’ short, Oh Baby! Fans can watch the short here (it’s the last one at the very bottom). Teddy Bear was on Super Channel’s schedule not too long ago, but isn’t at this moment. It may return at a later time since these movie channels are known to cycle their movies often. Click here to see a trailer!

Dennis Akayama in New Roxy Hunter TV-Movie!

This sighting is especially for our tween members! Nickelodeon’s Roxy Hunter series is going to have another TV Movie air very soon, called Roxy Hunter and the Myth of the Mermaid. This one is about the young genius in pursuit of a local journalism award. She brings home a soaking wet amnesiac from a coffee shop and soon comes to the conclusion that the amnesiac is in fact, a mermaid! Dennis has a supporting role as Kyoto in this one. We were unable to find an airtime for this movie, so any fan who finds out when this movie airs, please let us know!

Robert Bockstael and David Fraser Scream Mayday!

Robert Bockstael (Prince Diamond) and David Fraser (Grandpa Hino) were both seen in the same episode of Discovery Channel’s air tragedy docudrama, Mayday. They appeared in the episode Gimli Glider, which was all about the tragedy of an Air Canada jet which was exhausted of it’s fuel supply. Robert played Captain Pearson, and David played Robert Hewett. The Captain was a lifesaver as he was able to fly this plane and land it safely as it was gliding. David also appeared in the episode Runaway Train in 2006. These episodes are more than likely to rerun since the show is on almost every day, so watch out for them on your local TV schedules!

While We’re Talking About Robert Bockstael…

Robert has a couple appearances in some big productions happening very soon! On July 1st, a movie called Time Bomb will be released straight to DVD. It’s a war-themed movie about a father named Jason, who lost his son when his SUV exploded. Now he is in Iraq, and the constant suicide bombings around him remind him of his son. An army scientist approaches him about an experimental virus that would create a squad of suicide bombers they could use against the enemy. Uncertain if he has already been infected by the virus, he must struggle to decipher which explosions are real and which are in his head. Robert has a supporting role in this movie as Black. Trailer can be seen here! Robert is also busy with his new role as a Principal in Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, a brand new TV movie based on the beloved books by Lucy Maud Montgomery. From what we have read, this story tells of Anne’s life before she came to Green Gables. Look for this to air sometime later this year on CTV!

Tidbits:

☼ Rino Romano (Tuxedo Mask #1) has a role in a new Mel Brooks cartoon, Spaceballs: The Animated Series. No word on when it is going to air in the United States, but he will be the voice of Lone Star. The show premiered earlier this month on Canada’s Super Channel.

☼ Wendy Lyon (Queen Serenity) plays Sally Rainfield in the TV Movie Mayerthorpe. This one is based on the tragic story of four Mounties which were killed in the line of duty while stopping a drug operation. The movie aired last February on CTV.

☼ Sabrina Grdevich had a supporting role in the Lifetime Movie Matters of Life and Dating (Originally Titled “A Very Lucky Girl”). The movie about a woman’s journey to re-enter the dating scene and repair her life after a battle with breast cancer aired last October.

☼ It turns out Vince Corazza (Tuxedo Mask #3) was the class clown! Read this hilarious thread for more information!

Hello Everyone! There is a VA article in the works but something or other keeps coming up and I never get around to working on it for as long as I would like to. I did get asked recently if I have abandoned this site, and the answer to that is NO! I would never abandon this place – it means a lot to me and the other staff members and of course we know lots of you like to come read what’s going on here!

So, I’m going to introduce a new feature! Sometimes, we come across fanart that makes us really wonder what the artists were thinking when they created it. So, courtesy of The Me, he is responsible for this inaugural entry! He found this very weird crossover between Disney Princesses and Sailor Moon on an image board a few days ago. We can’t even tell who the leader of the pack is! We open up our comments to you, go ahead and caption this!