The anime adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Level E now has two official websites: one from Pierrot and another from TV Tokyo. The TV Tokyo site has a special treat for all you Level E fans that can’t wait to see the anime – a promotional video featuring some teasers from the anime, as well as everyone’s favorite idol, Shoko Nakagawa! Shokotan enters her dressing room over the voice of the narrator, Fumihiko Tachiki who says “Hundreds of kinds of aliens come and go to Earth and live”. Shokotan, then turns into a long-tongued alien that is “giza” scary, and we see a preview of the anime. At the end of the video, Shokotan reverts from her alien to her human form, and leaves, ready to perform. We wonder if this could be a hint for who will be singing the theme song? Shokotan shot this during the most recent Jump Super Anime Tour, and was happy to be chosen to play an alien in this short. She hopes everyone will watch the anime when it airs on TV – we are sure all of Togashi’s fans will watch it too!

(In other Shoko Nakagawa news, she was showing some of her old favorite video games on her blog, and look which one she chose for one of the entries!)

If you remember some time back, it was revealed that Namco Bandai Europe was making a Sailor Moon video game for the Nintendo DS set to come out in Italy later this year. Unfortunately, with the supposed by-the-end-of-the-year release date rapidly approaching, neither screenshots, nor a trailer have surfaced. We don’t even know what type of game it is. It could very easily mean that the game is going to be delayed.

In the past, Sailor Moon video games have been RPGs(Another Story on the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo), beat-em-ups(the arcade game), and fighting(Sailor Moon S on the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo) games. With no one knowing anything about this new Sailor Moon video game beyond the fact that it exists, I thought it would be fun to pose the question to you, the readers.


What genre do you want the Sailor Moon Nintendo DS game to be?

One of the genres from the above paragraph? An action/adventure game? Maybe a kart racer? Sailor Moon: Xtreme Beach Volleyball? Sound off in the comments section and let us know what you think. In the mean time, I’ll keep an eye out for anything on the mystery game and report back when something turns up.

Hey Moonies! Tonight was the broadcast gala of the 25th Annual Gemini Awards in Canada, and our lone hope Sailor Moon nominee won! Catherine Disher (Mimet) won the Gemini for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series for her work as Maggie Norton on CBC’s drama, The Border. Catherine has been nominated for this role for the last 3 years, so we are so glad she has finally gotten the recognition she deserves! For those of you who are Mimet fans that want to celebrate this occasion and do something for your favorite of the Witches 5, we have a special thread set up for you (members only) in our forums. Congratulations to Catherine Disher again and best of luck for continued success on The Border!

Bandai Moves to Cosmetics?!

The beloved company Bandai, best known for making some of the best toys known to Otaku the world over is having a bit of a problem in today’s economy. Sales of girls’ toys just aren’t what they used to be, and the company has had to come up with creative ways to keep the girls interested. And more than ever these days, girls want to feel more “grown up” and play with makeup over dolls. So what did they think of? Real cosmetics based on the popular anime and manga series, Nodame Cantabile. Girls and women who adore this series are now able to purchase easy-to-use eyeliner and mascara from Bandai’s “Creer Beaute” line. Creer Beaute also has a line of beauty items (including face masks) inspired by the series Rose of Versailles, and another that includes nail polish fashioned after Fujiko Mine of Lupin the 3rd. The article makes special mention that Bandai was a huge success with girls in the past, especially with their Sailor Moon toys in the 90s. While they made some Sailor Moon themed cosmetics back then, it was “play makeup” and it was not the focus of their merchandise strategy. The company has shifted towards cosmetics just in the last year or so, but they have not stopped making toys entirely. This is also an innovative merchandising attempt to appeal to “big girls” (women over 30). The Creer Beaute site will also in the future feature beauty tips and videos on how best to use the makeup. Business analysts are predicting this to be a success for Bandai, and also admire their bravery for expanding into new market areas for their merchandise in a changing economy. This brand they say, is one to watch. We know that Sailor Moon in the beginning stages of the revival was lauded as something for two generations to watch, mothers and their daughters. While we still have no idea if there will be any new merchandise in Japan, we wonder if Bandai may consider Sailor Moon for their Creer Beaute line? It would fit right in with both generations!

Keiko Kitagawa (PGSM Sailor Mars) has recently landed an endorsement for Knorr in Japan. The commercial (which is currently on the air in Japan) finds Kitagawa paired with Haruma Miura, and together they pitch a cup soup and bread meal. Keiko and Haruma represent different ways of enjoying the soup and bread – Keiko is for soaking the bread in the soup while Haruma is for dipping the bread in it. The official site is also taking a poll to determine which is the best way to enjoy the soup! Keiko fans will also want to know that she will be starring in a live action rendition of the popular manga series “Paradise Kiss”. Shooting for the film has included a surprise guest appearance at a fashion show, in which footage will be used in the movie. Keiko has also appeared in the remake of the classic French movie “Ascenseur pour l’echafaud”, playing Mikayo Matusmoto, a character whose car is stolen during the movie. The movie saw a release date of October 9, and Kitagawa appeared alongside the rest of the cast for the movie premiere. Keiko described the movie as one of her most challenging roles, but found the overall results to be satisfying. On October 19th, Keiko started shooting a new commercial, in which she met an unidentified member of the PGSM production staff (on her blog entry, titled “It’s Funny to Have This Happen”, Keiko did not identify the member). Keiko received a warm welcome and great praise from the PGSM staff member for her continued evolution as an actress since her time playing Sailor Mars back in 2003. Keiko states in her entry that she felt confident during the shoot, and that she was not expecting to be in contact with this person after the end of PGSM (she was going to try to keep in contact with the staff member, however the two did not meet until this most recent commercial shoot). For a fun side story, Kitagawa has also been promoting Hello Kitty merchandise (and even appearing alongside Hello Kitty) in collaboration with fashion designer Samantha Thavasa. Keiko has been a fan of Hello Kitty since she was growing up, and she has stated that she has been having fun promoting the merchandise.

Aya Sugimoto (PGSM Queen Beryl) has also been busy lately – she has recently been promoting the DVD release of the American drama “Lipstick Jungle” (this is another series created by Sex and the City creator, Candace Bushnell). During the promotional event, Sugimoto participated in a question and answer session, which focused primarily on the relationships between men and women. In an interesting and controversial twist, Sugimoto stated during the question and answer session that no person should be committed to another person in a relationship, and she has no problems with cheating. She also stated that as long as one finds their perfect partner, that having fickle tastes in an relationship is okay. Sugimoto has also penned her autobiography in the last year – the book “Liberal Life” is currently available on Amazon. Fans of Sugimoto will find this book to be an intriguing read – she opens up about a suicide attempt at age 15, the separation of her own family, as well as her own problems with marriage and divorce. Sugimoto has described the writing process as being able to “free her heart” of the problems she has encountered in her life. Sugimoto has also revealed her plans to enter the world of cosmetics – fans will want to check out her new company called Liberata.

Mariko Tsutsui (Ami’s mother in PGSM) will be appearing as a minor character in a BeeTV television drama called “Sekai No Owari ni Saku Hana”. This drama is about a young couple who is suffering from kidney disease and are waiting for a transplant. Tsutsui has landed the role of Manami Yano, the mother of the boy who is suffering from the kidney ailment. The series has been running on television in Japan since September 20th, and a total of 12 episodes are planned to air.

Kaori Moriwaka (Ikuko Tsukino) was busy this summer promoting her J-Rock band the Go-Bangs. She recently performed at a function called Nexus: Battle 80’s”,“ which featured J-Rock bands from the 1980’s engaging in a head on battle. . She will also be rocking out on November 21st at “Nexus Respectable 80s” in Shibuya’s C.C. Lemon hall in Tokyo. Tickets for this event have just gone on sale!

Jyoji Shibue (PGSM Tuxedo Kamen) has recently appeared in a new romantic comedy called “Miss Kurosawa”. In this movie (directed by Taku Watanabe), he falls in love with a female comedian – like most romantic comedies, the couple starts to get closer to each other until the inevitable setbacks occur. He plays himself in this movie (as does everyone else), a hunky actor who is a big fan of the comedian!This is definitely a movie for all you Shibby fangirls, and it is even an award winner! It won the top award at the 2nd annual Okinawa Film Festival! The movie opened on October 9th. The entire cast wore white tuxes and wedding dresses. All of the press surrounding this film is around the star Kazuko Kurosawa, and there has not been a lot heard from Shibby in the press. Earlier, Shibby noted that Kazuko was his complete opposite!