My present to you this holiday? Catching up on a few posts on both blogs I have missed – starting with this one! The Yaesu Book Store, located on the 6th floor of the Kei Kyu Department store in Konan Ward, Yokohama, collected old children’s books from November 16th to the 30th, and donated them to 16 district child-care facilities. They collected 442 books, to help bring up the children’s minds to value books again. Books included those that were based on animated cartoons, comics, and fairy tales, including Pokemon and Sailor Moon. Some new picture books were also donated. Each child-care facility got 30 books, and the Konan Ward Welfare and Health Center also donated some books as well. In previous years, they had asked for toys, dolls, and puzzles as well, but they always got more toys than books. Organizers felt that these centers needed more books to encourage the children to learn reading skills, and the number of books that they collected this year was much more than they expected! The book presentation ceremony was held on December 11th. A class of 22 Kindergarteners participated in the ceremony, and for many of them, this was their first book! The school’s director, Takako Takasaki said that he was happy with this donation, and he hopes that the kids will start learning how to read hiragana little by little. He promises to make good use of these books, and showed gratitude. In these times when Sailor Moon can once again teach so many important lessons to children , it is wonderful to see that she is being passed on to the next generation in such a generous way during the holiday season!

Two nights ago, a new article was posted on Sankei MSN about the event, and it featured a few new details. Of all the articles we have read, this one takes the cake for snappiest intro: “The Sailor Senshi who had the eyes of the world nailed to them in the 1990’s came back!” There were some interesting comments from Rika Fukami (Sailor Venus) saying that “the boys have become herbivores and the girls are becoming stronger and stronger” since Sailor Moon’s reign. Since then, anime featuring girls transforming into superheroes and fighting has become standard. This especially connects with the popular “Fresh Pretty Cure” that is taking Japan by storm as we speak! She is interested in the origins of that series. Aya Hisakawa said that before this role, she had many small parts playing babies and young children. Working on the very last post, with all of the photos compiled together, along with translations of the entries featured on Kotono Mitsuishi’s blog. This will be up soon, I promise!

It seems that Chieco Kawabe Ochi’s pregnancy isn’t the only baby news to grace the Sailor Moon world this Christmas season! Fans of both Hunter X Hunter and Sailor Moon have more reason to rejoice with the 27th volume of Hunter X Hunter (which is being sold as of now in Japan). We found a scan of the announcement around 2Chan, and we have posted it here for you all to read! Naoko Takeuchi and Yoshihiro Togashi had their second child last year! In his announcement, he wrote that they had their second child, and “before they knew it, the child was one year old”. Many are speculating now that this is the reason Togashi took his most recent hiatus, saying “it is assumed that Togashi contributed to taking care of his children”. Most recently, the hero from Hunter X Hunter Gon Fresces, was featured on the spine of this winter’s Comiket Programme. The Korean writer of this article wrote of this: Note that due to Hunter x Hunter’s author Yoshihiro Togashi’s frequent series breaks and quality degradation, the manga fans’ rumor mill has been busy [turning out new ideas] (Special thanks to Babelglyph for that translation)! Accompanying the short announcement is a drawing of a cute baby bunny, that is babbling (more specifically, the characters read “adaba”). As of this writing, there is no other information (such as a birthday or if the child is a boy or a girl). But, since Yoshihiro is often represented as a dog, and Naoko is often represented as a bunny, perhaps they had a daughter?! We can’t put our finger on when the baby was born , and we’re also not entirely sure if Naoko was early in her pregnancy in those pictures from last October, or if her child had been born fairly recently before the time that these were taken. Naoko Takeuchi and Yoshihiro Togashi were married in 1999, and had their first son in 2001. They collaborated together on a picture book for kids, Ooboomee and Chiboomee, in 2005. We’d like to take this time to send out belated congratulations to both Naoko and Yoshihiro on the arrival of their little one!

The entire staff of the Moon Chase Blogs Network wishes all of our readers the best of the Holiday Season! This was a huge year for us and we wouldn’t have persevered with our ventures without our readers! In May of this year, we began the first part of a campaign to bring Sailor Moon back to the North American market, which lasted around 6 months. We can now tell you that the reports are currently making their way around important people, and we want to thank every reader that participated in the campaign for their support. Your voices are being heard and both companies are very aware of how much we all want the show back! In July of this year, we expanded from Moon Chase and added We Got The Solution, a blog devoted to the TV show Flashpoint. Though we may not always have time to keep up with our blogs, we are forever grateful that our readers come back to read when we do get around to posting! We want to thank the stars and crew of both shows for their support, and to congratulate you on your milestones this year! We wish you all the best and continued success in the New Year! Thanks to all of the sites around the world who have linked to stories that we have posted, and we only hope that we can continue to keep up the good work! And last but not least, a special thanks to all of our staff’s family, friends, and colleagues who gave us that extra kick of support when we needed it most – it means a lot to each of us!

Warmest wishes for the Holiday Season,
The Staff of The Moon Chase Blogs Network.

Chieco Kawabe Ochi Announces Pregnancy

Chieco Kawabe Ochi, who has portrayed Sailor Mercury in the Sera Myu musical events as well as Naru Osaka in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, has announced on her blog that she is pregnant with her first child. You can view the entry at http://ameblo.jp/ochichieko/entry-10413490558.html. This child will also be the second for Masato Ochi, a renowned TV producer who Chieco married in 2008. Before posting the news on her blog, Chieco broke the news to her husband by making a child’s lunch box for him consisting of Shirataki sliced beef, vegatables, tofu, rice and a soft boiled egg (which you can view on her cooking blog at http://oixi.jpochichieko/archive/141). During her blog entry, Chieco states that while she has been packing her husband’s lunches for quite some time, the thought of packing her child’s lunch “swells her imagination”. Prior to the official announcement on her blog, some of Chieco’s friends have noticed that she was pregnant – fashion designer Ayano Fukuoji (seen in this picture) recently commented to Chieco about her growing stomach.

The child is expected to be born sometime in the spring of 2010. Chieco has previously stated on her blog that her marriage to Masato Ochi has led to newfound happiness in her life, and that she is now looking forward to having a new person in her family.