Toronto’s fan-run Anime North was crowded this year, with an attendance 20,000 anime fans. There was plenty to enjoy this year at the event, with activities that could appeal to all kind of anime fans.

The unseasonably hot weather prompted many fans to wear sunscreen and parasols became functional, not just a cosplay accessory. Convention organizers also ensured that a number of strategically placed water stations were available for attendees, staff, and guests to stay cool and hydrated all weekend. Many attendees were seen making use of the welcome refreshement, particularly shortly after entering the Toronto Congress Centre.

Upon entering the TCC, congoers could find the information desk, registration, weapons check, club tables, photographers, a couple event areas, and an entry which led to the shopping area containing the Artists’ Alley, Crafter’s Corner, a wrestling demonstration, and the ever-popular Dealers’ Room. Surrounding hotels housed other programming including panels, video screenings, gaming events, and special ticket events.

Getting to the convention on Friday afternoon (and the rest of the weekend) via TTC proved to be over-crowded.

(I highly recommend that congoers in future attempt to find an alternative method of getting to the convention each day aside from the popular #58 bus from Lawrence West station, or even consider staying at a hotel and splitting the cost of a room with friends. As it was, I found that traveling via this route through Lawrence West station was inefficient, with long lines of passengers and buses quickly filling to capacity. I will certainly try to make other arrangements for next year!)

As soon as I arrived on Friday afternoon and picked up my media kit and checked in at the panels office, I made my way to my first event of the weekend — my “Return of Sailor Moon” presentation.

I handed out one-inch Moon Chase buttons to most people in the audience and began my powerpoint presentation, which you can view here.

Please note that this presentation was last modified about a week prior to Anime North and does not include any news that has happened past late May 2012.

Fans seemed to quite enjoy the presentation and the two video clips I shared. Embedding video within the presentation didn’t work (but I have embedded them in this post below), so I shared two clips at the end: the Luna Splende video game trailer (in Italian) and the television commercial for Sailor Moon returning to TVB J2 in Hong Kong. The commercial from Hong Kong had everyone laughing about Sailor Mars’s unique weight loss technique and Tuxedo Mask as a waiter.

Here’s the Luna Splende video game trailer I shared:

And the commercial from Hong Kong:

Of course, at this presentation the question on everyone’s mind was (and still is) when is the Sailor Moon anime returning to the English speaking market? Sorry fans, we still have no news on that front! All I can say is that there is at least one distributor in talks to try to secure the rights for Canada and the US. In light of the recent announcement that there will be a new anime series premiering in Japan next year, we will also be keeping an eye on if this series would be included in a deal with the original anime series.

Other questions at the presentation included:

Why is Sailor Moon in her original costume but the other senshi wear their Eternal costumes on the comers of the new manga graphic novels?
I suspect Sailor Moon’s costume was the original version for recognizability, but I’m not sure why the others are in their Eternal outfits. Any ideas, Sailordees?

Where can Canadian fans find the new merchandise, and how much does it cost in Canada?
Aside from comic shops (if they don’t have something and it’s made by Great Eastern, ask if they can order it for you!) and Amazon.ca, fans can also try Hot Topic stores if there are any in their area. Unfortunately, there are very few Hot Topic locations in Canada (and only in Ontario). The prices get marked up a fair bit in Canada too. The one shirt I bought at a Hot Topic was $32 new (plus taxes), regular price. I think this is too much for a T-shirt, so I personally won’t be buying any more at regular price. Also, it would be nice to see Hot Topic appearing at conventions to sell merchandise to fans that are exclusive to Hot Topic. Fans may travel far for a convention, but rarely for a single shopping trip at a store.

We hope you enjoy the beginning of convention coverage for this year’s Anime North. More coming soon!

Hi Moonies! I’m still in the midst of travelling and a big move, but I have a few days to catch up on the big news (I apologize to our readers for being late on this but there were a lot of things beyond my control). I will also apologize for stating early on that Kotono Mitsuishi and Toru Furuya would return to their roles – this came from an article that I had read early in the morning of the 20th Anniversary Event, but I have been unable to find again. I was going with what I was reading that morning because the internet at the hotel I was at kept cutting in and out and I missed a lot of the event (I hope to watch it soon). The upcoming anime is still very early in the development stages, and nothing has been set in stone yet. Naoko Takeuchi has posted a new Moon Photo to Sailor Moon Channel, and for the first time there is an official translation provided by Kodansha Comics Japan. Out of respect, since an official one exists, we will not translate this for Moon Chase. Kodansha Comics Japan has also posted a wonderful blog post in English talking about the highlights of the event.

About.com Manga has posted a transcript of relevant questions for Sailor Moon fans from Kodansha USA’s recent panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. With respect to the artbooks, they are still in limbo (as far as we know). The artbooks were announced for release during the beginning of the revival in 2009, but Naoko Takeuchi had pulled the rights for them sometime after. As of November of last year, the artbooks are still being withheld. We here at Moon Chase appreciate everything Kodansha USA has done and will continue to do for Sailor Moon.

Today’s Fine Print? I nearly forgot about an article with a juicy tidbit from 2chan a few years ago. In my communications with all companies involved I had gotten the sense that everything Sailor Moon needed to be handled with kid gloves and that the creator had a stronghold on the series and what was done with it. A month ago, I learned something else interesting about a visit by Naoko Takeuchi to Texas a few years ago (she even visited Funimation) from a Funimation VA. But I’m not ready to let go of that factoid just yet (it had NOTHING to do with a redub of Sailor Moon, before you start speculating). Tangents aside, talk of a new series must have happened quickly and recently, and was probably dependent on the international success of the series. So thanks to Moonies all over the world for supporting Sailor Moon strongly during this revival ☺.

We’d like to thank our reader Sea Sixtythousand for sharing this sighting with us! Buycostumes.com has a Sailor Moon costume, as well as a new Sailor Mars and Tuxedo Mask costume available for pre-order, and we have confirmed that these are official costumes produced by Leg Avenue. Our contact at Leg Avenue has also informed us that Hot Topic will not be carrying any Sailor Moon costumes this year and that these costumes will be available exclusively online through buycostumes.com. Furthermore, those of you who have asked for larger sizes are in luck this year, as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars will be available in both regular and plus sizes! The Tuxedo Mask costume is the first we’ve heard of an official costume for men anywhere, so guys who are interested in cosplaying as their favorite male sidekick are also in luck this year! We’d like to take this time to mention that the “Anime Adult Boots” and “Anime Adult Wig” are not officially licensed Sailor Moon products. The boots are a part of Ellie Shoes’ Let’s Party line, and Ellie Shoes makes the best, long lasting, colored boots of all the costume companies in the industry. So if you are comfortable wearing stick heels, the boots are worth buying if you plan to cosplay as Sailor Moon for a while. We have been unable to confirm the manufacturer of the wig as of this writing. For those fans who are also wondering why there are costumes for Sailor Mars and Tuxedo Mask, but no other characters, this decision was made by buycostumes.com. We are still sorting through your responses on the costumes part of our survey (and will continue to do so when we get the last of our responses). Leg Avenue is still making the costumes, and rest assured your comments will get to them. If there are other characters you would like to see costumes of, please take our latest survey (link is in the post directly below this one).

Hi Moonies! Unfortunately, Kwiksurveys has been hacked to the point where the service has to shut down. We have downloaded the results but it appears we have lost another 20 or so again. We have decided to therefore move the survey for these last few responses to esurveyspro.com. Since there are 4 new T-shirts as well as a new place to purchase the costumes, we are looking for 200 responses within the next week. We know that there are at least several times that many of you who read this page daily, so we would appreciate if you could take the time to please take the survey and share your comments on the merchandise that has been released so far. We are sad to see Kwiksurveys shut down – our successes would not have been possible without the service. We sincerely hope that those who have harmed the company are brought to justice. Click below for the new link!

Hot off the press conference and 20th anniversary celebration streaming on Nicovideo and for fans at France’s Japan Expo, the big announcement has caught us all by surprise! There will be a new Sailor Moon anime in 2013, and so far Kotono Mitsuishi and Toru Furuya are confirmed to reprise their roles as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen! And it will also be broadcast to all countries at around the same time. At this time we are unable to confirm who else will be returning, or which studio is going to animate it. This announcement was made by Japanese Idol Group Momoiro Clover Z, who performed Moonlight Densetsu in Sailor Moon cosplay. We will keep you posted once we know more! Be happy Moonies!

EDIT: Yes, Toei Animation will be producing this anime and idol group Momoiro Clover Z will be singing the theme song. We’d like to note at this time that Toei Animation’s copyrights, logo, or name were not mentioned at all on the official press release.