We want to start this article by first of all congratulating SOS Brazil for all their hard work. We understand your struggles completely because we have been there (and still are). But please don’t view this as a fight you lost! You should be proud of everything you were able to do with your surveys – besides, the other parts of your survey will probably be a help when it comes to other aspects of the revival. We are proud of what you were able to accomplish, and we are sending you big Moonie hugs and lots of love from North America.

Save our Sailors Brazil reported the sad news yesterday that after a long and lengthy crusade to get a redub of Sailor Moon, it was not meant to be. A statement posted to their site from Márcio S. Reginnette, a representative of Brazil’s CD & DVD Factory, states that a redub of Sailor Moon S is not authorized because Naoko Takeuchi has not approved of any redubbing in any language. The same request was made in Italy as well, and was also denied. The statement also makes mention that Toei Animation does not have any exclusivity over the franchise, and prior approval has to be obtained by Naoko Takeuchi. There is also an excellent response to these developments posted over at Papo de Budega.

From what we know, the anime and manga are a sort of “co-agreement” between Naoko Takeuchi and the companies involved. Fans probably also notice that Naoko Takeuchi’s name is on every piece of Sailor Moon merchandise coming out their way these days. With the manga, Kodansha has the rights to publish it, but only after obtaining Naoko Takeuchi’s permission. But at the same time, she cannot hold it back. The same deal goes with the anime and Toei Animation as well. We do not know how many years that this current co-agreement is going to last, but that if matters regarding Sailor Moon do not go smoothly, they could be pulled away at any time.

While we understand fans’ anger, sadness, and frustration over this turn of events, please don’t be mad at Naoko Takeuchi. For all we know, the time frame for Sailor Moon’s return could be really short, and she may not like the idea of a redub keeping the series away from fans in an already shortened timeframe. Or, perhaps she likes everything the way it is and doesn’t want to change things too much. We are disgruntled too, as this leaves the fate of an English release of Sailor Stars up in the air, but at the same time we are thankful to have the Sailor Moon manga back (and hopefully soon, the anime).

Once again, huge hugs from Moon Chase to Save Our Sailors Brazil and everything they have worked so hard for. Keep up the strength, although your release has had it’s turmoils (starting with Season 3), you have done a lot for the fandom and we are sure every one of your readers thanks you for that!

For fans who want a little more detail on the ins and outs of the Brazilian revival, check out this interview in January with CD + DVD Factory’s Márcio S. Reginnette.

Hi Moonies – I have received confirmation that Naoko Takeuchi, Yoshihiro Togashi, and their family, as well as employees of Toei Animation are safe. They were all in the Tokyo area which was not as severely affected. However, their major worries now are the massive cleanup, traffic, and electrical power now that their tsunami woes are not a concern.

Fans wishing to donate to relief efforts are best off doing so through the Red Cross as the UN has not established an effort just yet.

In the USA, click here to donate.
In Canada, click here to donate.

Fans can also donate via Twitter, Text Messaging, and Facebook.

Alternatively, fans can also donate to Shelterbox, which is sending shelter kits to those affected in the Sendai region of Japan.

Last week, Toei Animation Europe announced that they will appear at 3 different entertainment branding trade shows over the next couple of months. These are:

☾Prague’s World Content Market, from February 21-23
☾Paris’ Kazachok Forum from March 31st to April 1st
☾Cannes’ MIPTV April 4-7.

All of these are pretty big events that are attended major players in licensing and broadcasting from around the world. Sailor Moon will be marketed at all 3, as will other properties that Toei Animation shopped around last year. We didn’t notice any new properties on their exhibition lists this year.

We encourage fans in European countries that are still waiting for Sailor Moon to write not only Toei Animation Europe (pick Sales License and make sure you write in your letter what country you are in), but also any anime licensing companies that you want to see release Sailor Moon. Also, make note that Toei Animation will be featuring Sailor Moon as a part of their exhibition booth at the events we’ve listed above. Companies all over the world are aware of Sailor Moon’s resurgence, but it never hurts to put a face to the fandom who wants to enjoy it again!

Oh yeah, and just for kicks, we think you fans might want to see this. Kazachok has a gallery available of all the exhibitors from last year, and we finally found a shot of Toei Animation’s Booth! And look who the booth is themed around?

Hey Moonies! The Sailor Moon Licensing News train is showing no signs of slowing down! A new press release confirms new Latin American licensing deals from Toei Animation Inc. of Los Angeles. Brazil’s “little known” CD & DVD Factory as well as Mexico’s Towers Entertainment are both set to release the series on DVD. As of this writing, there are no merchandise deals being announced, however if you are a fan of DragonBall and Saint Seiya, we recommend reading the rest of the release here if you would like to learn of DVD and merchandise releases in Latin America. Toei is also predicted to have a much higher annual dividend this year than originally forecast. Enhorabuena a Mexico y Brasil! Viva la Sailormoon!

Hey Moonies,

We know that this is a tense time for all of us, hearing about the revival of Sailor Moon in other countries and listening as the rumor mill churns out endless slivers of hope.

We’d like to take a moment to talk about the current wave of rumors surrounding the takedown notices of various Sailor Moon related videos on youtube. However, in order to completely understand the situation we first need to understand how Toei Animation is organized.

The parent company in Japan is Toei Animation Co. LTD. This portion of the company, under that name, manages their properties primarily in Japan. There are also branches that operate in different regions of the world and manage the properties in those regions. In North America, the branch is located in California and is named Toei Animation Inc. A subtle, but important difference. This is the branch to watch for with regard to licensing deals in the US and Canada (along with most other English speaking countries). While Toei Animation Co. LTD. could be cited in press releases announcing licenses and other business ventured, they are not the ones actually dealing with the business deals for North American licenses.

All of the takedown notices that people have shown us have specifically come from Toei Animation Co. LTD. This means that this is the Japanese branch issuing the notice. And while they oversee the other branches, they won’t have a direct hand in any licensing deals in the English market. Therefore, we hope the fans don’t take this as any hint of a license for North America, because it really isn’t. It is just a case of a company enforcing their copyrights.

It is very likely that these videos were found by matching video or audio segments from the anime. Such methods are popular because they can be automated, and the scripts that perform this tedious work can’t distinguish parody from blatant copying. The same thing happens in every genre of entertainment on youtube. Videos stay up for long periods of time and suddenly disappear because they happen to have been found at last. DVDs are finally being re-released in Japan after a very long time, so Toei Animation has stepped up their game to get episodes removed in a bid to encourage fans to purchase the episodes either on DVD or through their Anime BB service.

Everyone also has to realize that Sailor Moon also has an image to be kept up. Toei Animation will be on the lookout for content utilizing Sailor Moon (as they will with all of their properties) that in their opinion doesn’t portray it in the light that they would like it to be. While a video parody may be intended to mock the series humorously from the uploader’s perspective, it may not be seen that way from the original copyright holder’s perspective. If something happens to fit this bill, it will be targeted. And while parodies are legal, their legality falls within certain bounds. If Toei Animation (or any other company with any other property) doesn’t approve of some use of their property, they can and will fight for their rights just as anyone else will. We suspect that this may be a second reason for at least some of the takedowns.

While hearing this may dismay some fans, we would encourage you to be careful with any use of Sailor Moon images, videos and audio clips until the end of the revival. And definitely, definitely do not try to profit from directly related Sailor Moon content, or you will be a sure-fire target. And once again, do not believe everything you hear without a press release (if we had a nickel for every time we have heard this from the companies involved when approaching them to confirm or deny a new rumor, we’d be rich). Let’s show all the companies involved that the Sailor Moon fandom is mature and responsible and that we deserve our heroine back!