While perusing Japanese news aggregators for anything interesting I could find for our readers, I came across this tidbit.  Keiko Kitagawa (Sailor Mars in PGSM) blogged a few days ago about meeting PGSM producer Shinichiro Shirakura and PGSM director Ryuta Tasaki, and they mentioned to her that it had been 10 years since she had acted in PGSM.  Keiko could not believe that much time had passed! She then shared the story of her audition for the show.  When she was just 17 year old, Keiko didn’t think she was very attractive, nor could she sing, dance, or do any sort of rhythmic gymnastics.  She considered herself to have no talent, and was just your average, boring, high school student.  The night before the audition, she still didn’t know what to do, so she cut a sweet potato in half and wrapped it in plastic, and put a chisel in her bag.  She slipped past the more attractive girls in the audition that had their skilled performances ready, and silently carved a potato stamp in front of the judges. She passed! And the rest is history.  She has not forgotten the generosity of Shirakura and Tasaki for accepting her act.  And with this potato, Keiko is living history that one of the biggest lessons we have all learned from Sailor Moon still holds true: be yourself no matter what!

In yesterday’s post (and apologies for the late-night typos, they have been fixed), it turns out that Fumio Osano (better known as Osabu), had written a message to the fans in the June 2013 issue of Dengeki Hobby Magazine. It is located in the orange box at the top of the second page. Here, is our translation (Thanks Emi!):

The orange part reads:

A message from Naoko sensei’s editor, Osabu. He’s been Naoko sensei’s editor back then and even now.  Well known among fans with his nickname Osabu,  Mr. Fumio Osano of Kodansha gave us, S.H. Figuarts, comments.

The white part reads:

While Bandai Collectors worked very hard to keep the original feel of  Usagi’s action pose and face, at the same time, they tried to update the looks to the current style. Even the ad is also very particular so please check it out. When you see the ad you would go “gotta buy this!” LOL  Hope you guys can bring all the senshi out.  If Usagi sells, all the senshi should become available I think. I personally like to see Sailor Saturn! Let’s do it!

And, I asked some questions that many of you had to Xavier Lim at Bluefin Tamashii Nations!

MC: Will the new figure have packaging/instructions in English? How much assembly will be required?
Bluefin/TN: As of this moment, the packaging and instructions will be still be in Japanese.  There may be an additional licensing sticker on the box that may vary by region, but that is there only to mark it as an officially licensed product.

MC: Is Sailor Mercury a prototype being tested or is it next in line? Are there figures of other characters also being planned or is it too early to say?
Bluefin/TN: Tamashii Nations will often tease figures of future releases or items they would like to test consumer reception on before continuing forward.  Prototype figures without release dates or pricing information do no indicate an item is going to be released next. There have been many cases in the other product lines where a prototype figure has been shown before, but has not been released, only to have other characters come out beforehand.

MC: When will the figure actually hit the shelves, August, September or October? Many sites are reporting different dates from August-October for when they will actually ship the figures to customers.
Bluefin/TN: The official Japanese release date is August 2013.  For the U.S. and Canada, it is Sept 2013.  Some stores that have very large fulfillment centers may believe they will not be able to ship out in time before the end of September and have indicated an early October release date.

MC:  How much input did Naoko Takeuchi have in the design of the figure?  What was the collaboration like? How were the facial expressions chosen? How long did this Sailor Moon figure take to develop?
Bluefin/TN: Yes she is involved.  This figure has actually been delayed until now by her request.  Otherwise this figure would have been revealed a few years ago.

MC: How long will the two bonus faces be available, and will all launch figures have them? Approximately how many figures will be in this first production?
Bluefin/TN: 1st release bonuses will be packaged inside and will be available on all figures in this 1st production cycle.  I cannot reveal production numbers at this time, nor can I indicate if/when a second production will occur.

MC: What is the timeline for the production run of the figure (first press and subsequent presses)? What window will there be for fans to purchase the figure before it gets removed from circulation?
Bluefin/TN: In N. America at least, the 1st release of the figure will be still readily available for retailers to re-order at least until December.

MC: At Tamashii Nations 2012, a figure of Sailor Moon and Luna in Chibi/Super-Deformed design was announced. Are they going to be released and if so when?
Bluefin/TN: Hopefully soon!

Only a few more months until release! Are you Moonies excited yet?

Hi Moonies! We managed to obtain some scans of the Sailor Moon pages in Dengeki Hobby Magazine’s  June 2013 issue, which went on sale in Japan just a few weeks ago.  This is a Japanese magazine devoted to plastic models, and even provides tips about their assembly, modification, and painting.  This issue featured a full page advertisement, along with a two-page article promoting the figure.  While we don’t know if any of the English magazines are going to feature anything on this upcoming figure (such as Neo Magazine UK or Otaku USA), we thought fans might like to have a look at some of the early press that this figure is receiving in Japan. Check out the pages below!

A few days ago, a blogger named Seaside Tears was wandering around Sofmap (a Japanese electronics store), and noticed that there was a small exhibition devoted to the upcoming Tamashii Nations S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figure featuring flyers, figures, and a large display playing the commercial over and over again. And surprisingly, there was also an unpainted Sailor Mercury prototype on display. The post got picked up by Tomopop, and later Crunchyroll, and then the news got to me via staff member BlueSwim. While the figure has not been officially announced, it is unknown if it ever will be either. This may be a test from Bandai to gauge public reception towards the figure. Many of our older fans may remember that Irwin did this once a very long time ago with the Amazoness Quartet. But unfortunately, they never got made due to Irwin dropping the line (and later facing bankruptcy). If fans are interested in seeing a Sailor Mercury figure produced, feel free to leave comments here or on our Facebook page, as well as on Bluefin Tamashii Nations’ Facebook Page, or on Tamashii Nations Japan’s Facebook Page if you can write in Japanese. For those of you looking to pre-order the Sailor Moon figure, please check our previous post for a comprehensive list of places you can pre-order the figure from. The exhibition is traveling around to different Sofmap stores around Japan until the end of the month (check here for a schedule). For now though, here are some images (credit to Seaside Tears) of the exhibition!

Naoko Takeuchi drew some new Sailor Moon pictures and they appeared in the March 2013 issue of Japanese fashion magazine TokyoViVi. There is a much older looking Sailor Moon, a lot of chibis, and the cover is adorned with a very angelic looking Usagi, Chibi-Usa, and Pegasus. What’s even better? In a few weeks I hope to have hi-res scans for you (the magazine is on the way to me). So more on this, later. But until then, there’s a beautiful high-res image of the cover on the magazine’s official blog.

So around April Fool’s Day, somehow a rumor got perpetuated around the fandom that on April 4th, the new Sailor Moon Series’ theme song (performed by Momoiro Clover Z) was going to be released. No fans shared the source of this rumor with me, nor was I able to find any news in Japan related to this. Sailor Moon likes to surprise all of us when we least expect it, so I was 95% sure that nothing was going to happen. Something did happen that day though! Bakusho Show Battle is a variety show in Japan that airs twice a year, and celebrities, bands, idol groups, and comedians come together to battle. And how do they battle? By parodying hit songs of course (either by shooting a video or performing live)! They are placed on two teams, Team Ronbu (or team “London Boots”), and Team Chutto. There are different categories, and one group from each team are placed head to head against each other. At the end of each battle, 5 celebrity judges pick their favorite, and at the end all the votes are tallied to see if Team Ronbu or Chutto wins. The episode can be found around the internets if you know how to look. Momoiro Clover Z was given the task of parodying the Sailor Moon S opening. While this gave fans a good taste of what they might sound like when the new series makes it to broadcast, at least one fan on our facebook page was not amused. Momoiro Clover Z did not win their challenge against Natsuki Kato, Oniyakko Tsubaki, Mou Chugakusei and Ryosuke Tsunaba (aka Ronbu) parodying the opening and the ending (where Nello and Patrasche die) to Dog of Flanders. Momoiro Clover Z came to the show in their typical character colors, adorned with sashes featuring their website address. While Momoiro Clover Z didn’t get much love from the judges (only one vote), they were on the winning team, Team Chutto! Here’s the video below for you to watch. Fans can see some photos from the show and read more about the challenges here.

As far as the new series goes, it’s probably going to be delayed (and some things aren’t even decided yet). Follow Osabu8 on Twitter - and he tweets in English too so don’t be afraid to ask him questions! We’ve noticed he’s pretty receptive to fans. We’re going to be taking Operation Moonrise in a completely new direction soon too, so watch out for that.