We have a third person to add to the list of VIPs who drew Sailor Moon recently in Japan! The first was Naoko Takeuchi, the second was Kimiharu Obata, and now, Sailor Moon Character Designer Kazuko Tadano (2nd from left)! We mentioned not too long ago that Kazuko would be attending JAM 2009 and appearing as part of a special panel devoted to 40 years of anime. Four other animators from different “generations” of anime were going to speak about the form and how they got into it, and how it has changed. They also shared their secrets on creating characters who demonstrate the theme of the anime. Kazuko had a neat tidbit to say about her time on Sailor Moon! Did you know that her designs for the Senshi had to go through a special, secret, “audition”? She remembers she had to fax in her drawings from a convenience store because faxes were not widespread in those days! This one, single, audition turned her life around, she said. Kazuko also felt that because she was drawing Sailor Moon live, there was increased pressure on her to draw her perfectly, making sure that her lines did not stray away from where they should be!

We really wish that there was more from Kazuko Tadano, and if another news report comes our way we will definitely share the details with you! For now though, here is her drawing-in-progress of Sailor Moon! We also found a larger version of the completed picture, as well as animator Atsuko Watanabe holding it proudly (we think it was a gift from Kazuko)! Atsuko was said to have been very happy to have the chance to see Kazuko draw Sailor Moon! Kazuko is also teaching special classes through Tokyo Design Academy.

**WARNING** we used a second article as a source for this post, however we are rating this site R simply because there are too many scantily clad girls posted on the sidebars. Please visit at your own discretion.

Using timed posts to our advantage, while these next two weeks are proving to be very busy for our staff members, here comes another sighting from our vault that we thought fans might like to revisit! NewType USA featured an article about Sailor Moon in their September 2003 issue, entitled “A Pretty Soldier’s Saga”. It had a lot of reflections of the series from Kazuko Tadano (Character Designer and Animation Director), as well as a very good account of the history of the show since the beginning. This article coincided with ADV’s release of the second season subtitled and “uncut”, but makes no mention of the fact that episode #67 was left off from it! Nonetheless, wherever Gerry Poulos is now, we’d like to thank him for writing such a great article. We kinda miss this magazine too, and we wish it was still around in some form. Click the images below for larger scans – however, the magazine is larger than the scanner so some images may be cut off.

The annual Japan Anime Collaboration (or Anikorabo) Market is set to take place on October 15th – 18th at the Akihabara UDX. This year’s special guests include the animators Toyoo Ashida, Atsuko Watanabe, and Kazuko Tadano, a character designer and animation director on Sailor Moon! These three animators almost represent three very different generations of animation, and the theme this year is “40 years of Character Design”. We imagine that they would have a lot to say, and we hope that Kazuko could say a few words about Sailor Moon‘s triumphant return! The market is aimed at recruiting both amateur and professional artists for careers in anime production. There will also be lots of seminars and workshops for attendees. The most interesting part of this market, is the “Challenge Audition” where professionals and amateurs sumbit proposals and ideas for new anime products or businesses. The winner will get their product manufactured. For a list of works that may be elaborated on for this challenge, check them out here!

We thought that Animazement was at the top of our list for cons we wish we could attend but couldn’t, and yesterday we found out news from another one that topped that! Baltimore’s Otakon is going to host three important people involved with Sailor Moon in Japan! Kappei Yamaguchi (Artemis in PGSM) will be appearing at the convention. So far he is the only Seiyuu on their guest list. The other two are the husband and wife team of Hiromi Matsushita and Kazuko Tadano! Kazuko worked on character design and animation directing in Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R seasons, and for the Sailor Moon R movie. She based her work on Naoko Takeuchi’s original manga. Hiromi directed the first episode ever of Sailor Moon, and set the tone for the entire series. He also worked key animation for the Sailor Moon R movie. Both of them also worked on the 21st episode of the series (the 17th one for those keeping track with the dub) where Ami/Amy visited an animation studio. The two made an interesting cameo as the two female students at the center of the plot! In the Japanese version, they were named Kazuko and Hiromi (Hiromi was the student that Nephrite targeted). Dubbies are familiar with them as Cassie and Lori, respectively. Unfortunately, no pictures of either exist on the internet, so we have provided you with a screenshot of their cameo characters from the show. We’re sure at least a few of our readers will be attending this con, and we would love to hear from you about what went on when these three took the stage!

☼ Junichi Sato (Director of the first two seasons) is going to appear on Anime Giga later today in Japan. Anime Giga is a monthly TV program which features important personalities from the anime industry and they are interviewed. Junichi is best known for his work on several children’s series, not just Sailor Moon! He has worked on series like Sargent Keroro, and Ojamajo Doremi. He is currently at work on the next installment of the Evangelion Movie Series, Evangelion 2,0. We are currently working on getting a clip for this episode, at the very least we will link you where you can watch it as soon as we can.

☼ JAniCA is the newly created union for animators in Japan. Kazuko Tadano was one of the animators who worked on the first two seasons, the R Movie, and Make Up! Sailor Senshi!.Kazuko was one of the founding members of this union, and they held an inaugural meeting on the 13th. The animators in attendance all signed a flag, which you can see at the link above. How many characters can you name?