Tales of Festival Adds More Seiyuu!

More seiyuu have been announced to appear at the upcoming Tales of Festival! In February we told you that two seiyuu that were involved with Sailor Moon were going to appear, and we can now add a third to that list! Joining Masaya Onosaka (Jadeite) and Hikaru Midorikawa (Fiore, Ail/Alan, pictured right) is Nobuyuki Hiyama who had two small roles as Yosaku Eda and Tsunawataro. Nobuyuki Hiyama plays Veigue Lungberg in two Tales of titles, Rebirth and Graces. This is the third year in a row that the festival is being held. Since February, fans have had the option to help decide what will be performed at this 5-day festival and are currently voting on their favorite skits. Tickets are selling fast, so fans that are in Japan (or will be) had better hurry up and get them quickly as there are only 12,000 available!

And there are even more connections between Sailor Moon and the Tales of Franchise – the brand new PSP game Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X, features Mika Kanai (Mimete) as Arche Klaine, a playful half-elf. She feels doomed that because she is a half-elf she lives forever, and loses many of those who are close to her in her life. No release date has been announced yet, but the game has been teased around the Japanese media since March.

Daisuke Sakaguchi On New Daisuke CD and in New Gin Tama movie!

In Japan, a bunch of seiyuu with the first name “Daisuke” all got together and recorded a drama about the lives of 5 different young men, united by their first name: Daisuke. Among the real Daisukes is Daisuke Sakaguchi, better known to Sailor Moon fans for his very small roles in the show including a Cat, a Boy, a Young Man, and Kyuusuke Sarashina. In Daisuke, he plays the cute, younger Daisuke of the bunch, Daisuke Toma. His character is very close to that of Mitsukuni “Honey” Haninozuka from Ouran! A new drama cd was released on April 24th, and revolves around the birthday of Daisuke Toma. Buzz among fans is pretty good for this comedy! Daisuke also reprised his role as Shimura Shinpachi in the new Gin Tama movie Gintama: A New Retelling Benizakura Arc and attended the premiere. The theaters have been packed since the movie’s release, and over 2000 fans attended a special event weeks before the premiere. He is pictured here in the green-striped shirt! Kazuya Nakai (Oranja and Ittou Asanuma) and Akira Ishida (Fisheye) also appeared at the premiere, and reprised their roles as Hijikata Toushirou and Kotaro Katsura for the movie.

Kazuya Nakai sings with Nobuo Tobita and is So Not A Hero!

Just released in Japan is a brand new character single devoted to the villains Shade and Torch of Kiddy Girl-and, the sequel to the popular anime Kiddy Grade. Kazuya Nakai (Oranja and Ittou Asanuma) plays Torch (left) and Nobuo Tobita (Pupuran, Jinta Araki,Honjou and Yamagishi) plays Shade (right). The two are partners in crime ’till the end, and the songs of Kiddy Girl-and Vol. 6 Phantom of Rainbow are supposed to reflect that.As of this writing we were unable to find any samples of the songs online. And for those of you who are big fans of the Wii Game No More Heroes, did you know that the role of the Video Game Otaku Travis Touchdown is played by none other than Kazuya? He is set to reprise his role in the upcoming port of No More Heroes to the PS3 and XBOX No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise, and will probably play Travis again in the Japanese sequel No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle when a Japanese release is announced.

Machiko Toyoshima Can Finally Play an RPG That She Is In!

For ten years now, Machiko Toyoshima (PallaPalla) has been the voice of Misha (the love interest of the main character Carmaine) in the Growlanser RPG franchise for Playstation. A year ago, an adaptation of the RPG was finally released to PSP, and Machiko was excited at the chance to finally play this RPG since she couldn’t before. In honor of the franchise’s tenth anniversary, a special series of drama CDs are being released and Machiko reprised her character in them. She was happy that ten years later this franchise is still going strong. The CD will be released on May 26th.

JunJun Invades Space!

Kumiko Watanabe (JunJun) is the voice of the lead character in Keroro Gunso (Sgt. Frog), Sergeant Keroro. The fourth movie Keroro Gunso the Super Movie: Creation! Ultimate Keroro, Wonder Space-Time Island just premiered in Japan, and Kumiko attended the premiere event held at Ikebukuro Sunshine Cinema. On stage, she was joking around with her other castmates and told the critics to give the movie a good review so that the fans can be as excited to see the movie as they were making it!She also made special mention that it took a lot of teamwork to make this movie special and acknowledged her fellow castmates. This movie also has a second connection to Sailor Moon, in that it was directed by the same animation director, Junichi Sato! As of this writing we do not know if any of these movies will be released by FUNImation, as officially we understand that they have only dubbed the first 51 episodes (first season).

Toru Furuya Reprises Role in A Ramen Commercial?

Some say it was bound to happen. The Nissin Freedom Project reminded us a lot of other anime series, mainly Gundam, Evangelion and Eureka 7. Now we have learned of a new crossover between Nissin and the Gundam series, wherein Gundam characters revel at the sight of a bowl of noodles after being starved from fighting their battles. The noodles are inserted into memorable scenes from the first-ever Mobile Suit Gundam series. Toru Furuya (Tuxedo Kamen) reprises his role as Ray Amuro, who can be seen here (left side) joyously relieved after seeing a floating bowl of noodles in space, before his delusion causes him to fall out of his spaceship. Banjou Ginga also reprises his role as Gihren Zabi in the commercials (on the same page as above, but on the right). We find it funny the lengths some Japanese companies will go through to have their products appeal to the masses – we couldn’t help but laugh at the randomness of the noodles that floated in space.

Ai Nonaka Inspired by Megumi Ogata

Ai Nonaka is 26 years old, but has dreamed of being an actress since she was very young. In high school, she was the head of the drama club and dreamed of playing the male roles in the famous Takarazuka Revue. However she was not tall enough for an audition there, and turned to radio acting school. Today she is both a singer and a Seiyuu, and sat down with Famitsu for an interview. She revealed that she was inspired by the performances of Megumi Ogata (Sailor Uranus) who typically plays roles of women who are tomboyish, sometimes playing even boys and men. She even got to meet Megumi Ogata when she was a guest star on one of the radio shows that she was acting in, and stayed behind so that she could meet her idol. Ai says that while she is happy to have achieved her dream, she has very little time to herself. She has just added aromatherapy to her daily regiment to help relieve all the stress from being an actress and singing! Ai Nonaka is famous for such roles as Shima Katase in Stellvia of the Universe, Konoka Konoe in Mahou Sensei Negima, and most recently, Fuko Ibuki in Clannad.

New Gackt Album Inspired by Gundam!

Japanese Rocker Gackt released a new album of covers from 0079-0088 Gundam Series on December 21st. Entitled 0079-0088 , the limited edition features narration from none other than Toru Furuya and Shuichi Ikeda. There was a party held that day in Kinokuniya to commemorate the album’s release, and Keiko Han (Luna and Queen Beryl) was in attendance. She once played the role of Lalah Sune on the series. A video message was also shown from Toru Furuya, who was in China for a cultural exchange on that day. Fans looking to purchase either narrated version (Toru’s or Shuichi’s) or the normal version can click the links to find them on YesAsia.com.

Jadeite and Artemis in Upcoming Anime!

Masaya Onosaka (Jadeite) is set to voice the character Jade “J.D.” in an anime to debut this April, Neo Angelique Abyss. There will also be a video game out for Sony’s PlayStation 2 at around the same time. This one is a romantic, magical girl anime which continues from the previous series, Angelique. Angelique is now a Queen and must defend her kingdom from Thanatos, which has consumed many other societies around her in darkness. The show also stars Kappei Yamaguchi (PGSM Artemis) in the role of René. Jade is on Angelique’s side and wants to help so he can see lots of people smiling, however René is a very gloomy and devilish person. The series was created by Koei and is expected to be a big hit.

Aya Sugimoto Takes On New Role…

As a producer! Aya, who is famous to us for playing Queen Beryl in PGSM , and to others for her “modelling”, produced a Kabuki show in Japan on the 23rd of December. She attended one of the classes to learn Kabuki, and found that it took a lot of energy ! She found the restrictive movements difficult, and admired the 12 women for their grace and persistence in the art. For those of our readers who are unaware what Kabuki is, it is a style of dance drama that is usually performed by females, though in recent history some men perform it as well. They are usually short comedic plays based on stories along the walk of life. The performers always wear fancy kimonos and a lot of makeup when they perform these on stage.

Mika Kanai Soldiers on!

Mika Kanai (Mimete) put on quite the show at the Suchi Pie Christmas Special December 16th! Despite recent news of her divorce, she sang alongside several maids and put on a very successful concert along with the rest of the cast of Suchi Pie. When she came to perform, not many people knew that it was her, since she rarely appears in public, let alone even to sing. She sang You And Me , the second ending to the most recent video game of the series, Idol Sparrow Suchi Pie IV. Mika also serves as the voice of a character in this game, Misaki Kyoko. Rika Fukami (Sailor Venus) plays the role of Nanjou Rie, but she was not at this event. Mika was supported by a chorus of girls dressed up as café maids, which serve as the premise of this game. She came dressed in a cute black elf costume and sang with lots of enthusiasm! This game is unique because it was formatted for the home market, and is based on the popular Asian matching game of Mahjong. Fans can check out some more information about the series here. As of this writing, we have not heard if this game will be released here.

Masaya Kikawada to Appear in Chronic Complainer!

Chronic Complainers is a short TV Movie that is set to air January the 6th on Fuji’s Tokai TV. It is about life in a department store, specifically the complaints that are received at the returns counter. The department store is 140 years old, and has an aging management that has to deal with a variety of occurrences at the store, such as a drunk person who passes out while shopping, and not wanting to have to reimburse a customer for a faulty piece of kitchenware – that should be the manufacturer’s job! It looks like it will be a heartwarming comedy about the skills needed to cope with such a job, as well as the relationships among the workers. Masaya Kikawada (PGSM Motoki) plays Eren Tatsuya, a clerk at the store.

And thus ends our last article of the year! Thanks for a great 2007!

Beware of Fake Rika Izumi aka Chisaki Hama Blog!

Ahh,Rika Izumi, or better known by a stage name of years passed, Chisaki Hama (Sailor Mercury in PGSM). Her whereabouts since last year have only been documented in blogs from the other actresses of PGSM when they have hung out. This year saw something different though, a resurrection! But wait, it’s probably not her. It all started last October when someone posted some pretty grainy cell phone videos of Rika Izumi – or so they say. It could be her, but we really doubt the authenticity of this channel. Besides, the only “stars” we know that would post private videos are usually aiming for a different audience. And some of these “private videos” show Rika in situations that look scripted. We don’t think that this is Rika and that this channel is probably fake. Late last month, we learned of this website, which features a blog translated by her roommate “Michiko”. We thought it was a little shady since it appeared to be a community of all the PGSM actresses, and featured very little of their work outside of the show. We also learned that the English parts of the blog are some poorly translated entries, that are supposedly posted by the stars themselves. Some of the stars though, notably Ayaka Komatsu, have their own blogs elsewhere, and to be able to post comments, you have to pay a fee to be a member of their fan club. Then you can post all the comments you like! We highly doubt they would also run a free site on the side. We’re sure if her management knew about how her entries were being copied and frauded around like this something would be done. We have reason to believe that this site is also fake as Jay Navok of Genvid has pointed out that the Japanese probably isn’t correct either. We have tried our hardest to contact as many of the talent agents of the other stars, to warn them that content is being stolen, however as of this writing it appears none of them have done anything about it.

Mop Girl Only The Latest In A Growing Trend

Keiko Kitagawa‘s (Sailor Mars in PGSM) new late-night drama Mop Girl is only the latest in a recent trend in Japanese Television. 10 years ago, “midnight dramas” were not really in existence, and Japanese people were not likely to watch television late at night. This time slot attracts the youth especially and is almost becoming the new primetime for that demographic. Mop Girl is especially popular with viewers aged 20-24.

Phone Girls is out on DVD!

Rina Koike (Sailor Luna in PGSM) continues her ascent in the idol world, and her new series called Phone Girls / Keitai Shoujo was released on DVD November 26th in Japan. It’s about schoolgirls who love to talk and use their cell phones! The show has an animated RPG component, as well as a live action drama about a phone girl falling in love on a class trip. Last week all the idols of the show did a live show which will be released on DVD in February. They all played instruments and this was the first time Rina performed the drums for an audience! We were smitten with cute when we saw this picture, Rina is such a darling!!

Megumi Ogata Holds Concert Celebrating 15 Years in Anime!

Yesterday, Megumi Ogata (Sailor Uranus) held a concert in Shibuya O-EAST celebrating her 15 years in the Anime industry. She sang a whopping 38 songs , and opening the show was Moonlight Densetsu, better known as the opening theme of the first four seasons of Sailor Moon! And there cheering her on was none other than frequent co-stars Aya Hisakawa (Sailor Mercury) and Kikuko Inoue (Sailor Aluminum Siren)! She sang hits from all her work, including Cruel Angel’s Thesis from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Congratulations Emi and here’s to more years of hearing your voice in anime! Fans may be interested to know that Jamiroquai Frontman Jay Kay is a producer of one of the floors at Shibuya O-EAST where fans can enjoy a fine meal while they are at a concert.

In Other Concert News…

Yoko Ishida will also be performing a concert December 24th, to thank her fans. Coincidentally, she is also celebrating 15 years in the industry! Her first hit was Otome no Policy from Sailor Moon R in 1993. The concert begins at 5:30 PM and tickets are ¥4000. For those of our fans who are in Japan and can attend Thankful X’mas, they can find out more information from the venue, Eggman.

Toru Furuya Appears at Yet Another Intel Event!

Toru Furuya (Tuxedo Kamen) is such a technophile! He has made yet another appearance at an Intel event November 25th to promote Intel’s processors. This time he appeared at the Special Stage of Intel in Osaka 2007. He joked that the new Core 2 Quad processor has 5x as much power as a Gundam! He did voices of his most famous characters at the event to get the audience’s attention, including Tuxedo Kamen! He said something to the effect of not standing for men who break an elegant girl’s heart. We wonder why Intel hasn’t bothered to hire Vince Corazza to make Sailor Mon fans everywhere swoon enough to buy Intel Processors! Nonetheless, we absolutely love this shot of Toru holding the processor box in his hands!

Mika Kanai And Her Husband Get Divorced 🙁

Last week, several Japanese news outlets covered the sad news that Mika Kanai (Mimete) and her husband, Kouichi Yamadera have been divorced for over a year. They divorced after around 12 years of marriage in spring of 2006, but this has only come to light now. The two are long-time veterans of voice, with Kouichi being the Japanese dub voice of such hollywood heavyweights like Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey. He proposed to her in 1994 after they had gotten to know each other from co-starring together in a radio drama. His proposal was infamous as he had popped the question to her while standing on a mailbox! Though the cause of the split is unknown, many are speculating that their busy schedules over the last few years was likely the cause. They probably barely had time to spend with each other after their careers.

The two had worked together on many series, such as the children’s favorite Anpanman, Ranma ½, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, and Pokemon. They even worked together on the dub of Tiny Toons Adventures , playing Shirley McLoon and Plucky Duck. While this may come to a shock to us now, friends of the couple say that they had been discussing divorce for several years repeatedly. Mika is now living in the three-story house they once shared, and Kouichi is living in an apartment in Tokyo. The two still remain friends, and neither wishes to speak about the divorce saying that this is a private matter and they will not comment. Mika can be seen next in a sold-out concert December 16th. She and other seiyuu from the popular OVA Suchie Pai will be performing a Christmas special at Live Inn Magic in Tokyo.