More voice actors have been added to the roster of guests of honour for this year’s Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration: Sugar Lyn Beard (Rini/Sailor Minimoon) and Susan Roman (Sailor Jupiter).

Sugar Lyn Beard was the second voice actress for the character of Rini who transformed into Sailor Minimoon in the original English dubs of Sailor Moon and played the majority of the episodes featuring the child of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask from the future. Sugar is known as an actress as well as a television and radio personality.

For Susan Roman, being part of the wacky, wonderful world of animation for most of her adult life has been a dream come true. Along the way, she worked on projects that have since become mainstream classics. She is probably best known as the voice of Sailor Jupiter in the original English dub of Sailor Moon.

Additional sponsors have also recently been added for this year’s convention. The current list of sponsors includes:

• Tessellate Videos (official photo and video sponsor)
• Chop Shop Goods (clothing sponsor – selling show exclusive T-shirts)
• Right Stuf Anime (prize sponsor, enter the contest here)
• Arda Wigs (prize sponsor for cosplay contest)
• Pink City (prize sponsor)
• Girl Guides of Canada (activity sponsor)

The complete program is set to be released by the end of May and will include scheduled times for a variety of panels, activities, and screenings. The Sailor Moon R movie will have a featured screening at this event, for those fans who missed the theatrical screening or who wish to watch it again with other Sailor Moon fans.

Crafting and video games are returning in “Game Center Crown” and attendees will be able to try a couple of Sailor Moon video games included with their admission as well as make a selection of crafts including buttons, hair bow clips, tutus, mini backpacks, and more. Outdoors, there will also be an area where fans can play a giant game of chess and see if they have what it takes to be a chess master like Sailor Mercury! There will also be “capture the rose” and some other casual games.

Additional features for this convention celebrating the 24th anniversary of the classic anime series are to be announced at a later date.

Pre-registration tickets are $25 general admission, $20 for children 6-11. Admission at the door is $30 general admission, $25 for children 6-11. Children 5 and under are always free.

Fans attending Anime North can also meet some of the Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration crew and hear more about the only Sailor Moon convention in Toronto.

Full press release is available here for the guest announcements.

Voice actors Ron Rubin, Jill Frappier, and Loretta Jafelice will have a reunion for the first time at a convention, for their roles as the talking celestial cats in Sailor Moon.

Ron Rubin is well known as the original voice of Artemis for the entire run of the DiC and Cloverway dubs of Sailor Moon. He is one of the busiest animation actors around and his voice can be heard in countless anime shows and cartoon series.

Jill Frappier was the original voice of Luna for the entire run of the DiC and Cloverway dubs of Sailor Moon. She is an actor, storyteller, drama teacher “extraordinaire,” and has performed in well over 100 plays at major theatres in Toronto and across Canada, including the Shaw and Stratford Festivals. She also makes pottery, under the brand Jill’s Objets.

Loretta Jafelice is best known for her roles of Eugeal of the Witches 5 and Diana, the celestial kitten from the future. She also voiced some monsters of the day.

Another highlight guest for us this year is the wonderfully talented Jennifer Cihi, the singing voice of Sailor Moon.

Jennifer will be performing alongside Serasymphony in a special ticket concert that will run appriximately 90 minutes including intermission and will start at 8pm in the Imperial Oil auditorium. Concert tickets are discounted for attendees of the Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration if purchased in advance. Public sales of the concert tickets will open on April 24th for those who wish to only attend the concert.

Concert ticket prices are discounted to $12.50 for Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration general attendees (Ages 12+), $6.25 – for Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration Child attendees (Ages 6-11), and free for children 5 and under accompanying a Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration general attendee with a concert ticket. Prices go up for event attendees on April 24th (the discount will be reduced). Questions about tickets for the concert can be emailed to info@blc3music.com.

Fans will also have the opportunity to meet SeraSymphony and Jennifer Cihi before the concert at the convention, even if they do not have concert tickets. Their will be separate panels for Jennifer Cihi and SeraSymphony as well.

Other guests of honour added to this year’s event are:

Cosplay Guest of Honour – Grey Cosplay

Our seventh cosplay guest of honour, GreyCosplay, is a Toronto based cosplayer who has been enjoying the art and the challenge of bringing his favourite characters to life for 4 years.  From anime and manga to video games and comics, Grey has dabbled in it all.

Cosplay Guest of Honour – Phil Mizuno

Our sixth cosplay guest this year is Phil Mizuno, an up and coming Canadian-native cosplayer who followed his heart and is pursuing his passion to empower others through positivity and creativity. Phil has been cosplaying for just over 2 years, and currently lives and creates his cosplays in Toronto, Ontario.

Guest of Honour – Fan Fiction The Show

Joining us for a second year, Fan Fiction The Show will be entertaining you again with the hilarious antics of a Sailor Moon themed fan fiction comedy performance. The one hour performance will be rated PG so that all of our attendees can enjoy it!

This year’s event is quickly evolving into a very full day of spectacular guests and lots of fun activities. We hope to see you there if you can make it!

Pre-registration tickets are $25 for general admission to the convention. General admission at the door will be $30. Children 6-11 are $5 off and children 5 and under are free.

The full press release is available here. If you would like to be added to the press list for future press releases about this event, please send an email to info@sailormooncelebration.com

We are proud to announce SeraSymphony as the next guest of honour for the Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration. This talented, fan-created live music tribute to the Japanese series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon will be showcased for the first time in Toronto with a special ticket concert. Conducted by Bobbie Lee Crow III, the orchestral concert features background music and image songs from the many adaptations of Naoko Takeuchi’s magical girl series.

Tickets for the concert will first go on sale for Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration attendees on February 14th! Limited tickets will be available to the public at a later date. Questions about tickets for the concert can be emailed to info@blc3music.com.

The SeraSymphony group will also be doing a panel at the Toronto Sailor Moon Celebration that our attendees can see to ask questions and get a preview of what to expect at the concert.

Other guests of honour for this year’s event are:

Cosplay Guest of Honour – Lee Scion

Lee Scion is a master level cosplayer with over a decade of experience in the hobby. Working as a professional seamstress, Lee attended post secondary school for Stage Acting, Fashion and Design, as well as a graduate program for Historical Costuming.

Guest of Honour – Bear Sailor Moon

Bear Sailor Moon will be returning as masquerade director and will be giving a sneak peek of his upcoming musical show, Bear Sailor Moon Songbook debuting in July 2017.

Cosplay Guest of Honour – Jelly Cosplay

Jelly Cosplay is a master level cosplayer who found her passion of cosplay in 2001. She has crafted over 70 cosplays, including Sailor Mercury, Queen Beryl, and NoFlutter’s version of Sailor Venus. She brandishes several awards under her belt.

Cosplay Guest of Honour – Ammie Cosplay

Ammie Cosplay started sewing well over a decade ago and has been actively making Sailor Moon costumes for 10 years. As a masters level cosplayer she strives to teach other cosplayers, both novice and masters, tricks of the trade and believes through her own trial and error in the art of costume making, she would like to share the wealth of knowledge she has obtained in the hobby. She has been featured in magazines and books around the world regarding her costumes.

The full press release is available here. If you would like to be added to the press list for future press releases about this event, please send an email to info@sailormooncelebration.com

If you’re in the Toronto area, you might be interested in checking out one of the International Sailor Moon Day events on Saturday, August 15th.

I will be hosting the Sailor Moon Celebration at the Ontario Science Centre. I am currently reaching out to more possible Sailor Moon guests, but I am proud to announce that our first guest of honour is Roland Parliament!

Roland will be doing a Q&A session with the fans and will be available for autographs and photo ops. If you haven’t had a chance yet to buy his book (which I recommend for anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the original dub), you can order a copy in advance from his website. Roland will be happy to sign and personalize your copy in person.

Roland would love to have copies available to sell to attendees, and if 50 books are ordered soon, he will bring them to the event and deliver to you in person!

Other events at the Sailor Moon Celebration at the Ontario Science Centre will include panels & presentations such as:

• The latest Sailor Moon merchandise news
• Sailor Moon Crystal versus Sailor Moon Classic – discussing the differences
• Win, Lose, or Draw!
• And more!

The event costs $10 to attend and will be running one day only on August 15th. Tentative times are 10am-4pm, but this may change.

If a more casual event is your style, there is also going to be a Sailor Moon picnic on Toronto island, from 12pm-5pm, hosted by Abby Green.

Hello Moonies!

I was multitasking and binge-watching the ever-popular Orange is the New Black when I had to look up from what I was doing to make sure what I heard was right. If you are a fan of the series and are trying to avoid spoilers, Don’t read after this bold print, okay??

In Episode 6: “Ching Chong Chang”, our favorite hopeless romantic and creepy stalker Lorna Morello has struck up a new relationship with Ron, her brand new prison pen-pal. During his visit, they talk about their love of anime, and Ron talks about a horse-fight at “the expo” involving one of our own. Below, are screenshots with captions from the exchange that happens around the 28-minute mark. If the image below is hard to read, click to enlarge.

I’m also wondering if this might have been a jab at the brony fandom from the writers? Have any of you gotten into weird fandom fights with fans?

Moonbeams forever,
Sailordees.

Edit: For those who want to watch this episode, watch it on Netflix here.