Hi Moonies! Yours truly had heard rumblings of a new musical a few days ago but waited for someone official to say something publicly. I can now confirm that there will be a new Sera Myu musical premiering in Japan this September for a very limited run of 9 days – from the 14^th to the 23^rd at the AiiA Theater Tokyo in Shibuya.  Obviously, the production team is very busy in trying to work out the kinks involved in the new anime series, so while Naoko Takeuchi is likely to be overseeing the production, an entirely different team is going to be producing and directing the musical.  Among those is  Takuya Hiramitsu who has written the screenplay and will be directing.  Takuya has previously directed and wrote screenplays for 10 Sera Myu musicals from 1995-1998 – so he is well seasoned towards Sailor Moon (Super Senshi e no Michi, Yume Senshi, Sailor Stars, Eien Densetsu, Shin Densetsu Kourin and all their kaitebans).

Organization will be handled by DWANGO (probably manage the web presence of the musical), NELKE Planning (likely casting and production), and Kodansha. As of this writing, Toei Animation is not involved as they had been in previous musicals. Sera Myu was very successful in its run of 27 different productions and 800 performances from 1993-2005.

There will also be an entirely new cast made up of entirely women, akin to Japan’s Takarazuka revue.  This was a shock to me when I had heard about it, (and I did not believe this) but nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this takes Sailor Moon in a brand new direction. Naoko Takeuchi was also there  for and participated in the casting process!  The biggest confirmed cast member at this point is none other than former Takarazuka star Yuuga Yamato, who will be playing Tuxedo Kamen (or Tuxedo Mask) who has had plenty of amazing roles under her belt playing male characters.  Playing Sailor Moon is Satomi Ohkubo, whose biggest role so far has been playing Lisa Izawa this year in the Japanese supernatural detective drama Galileo.  Playing Sailor Mercury is newcomer Miyabi Matsuura who was chosen as Junon’s Grand Prix winner for their girl’s talent contest last year, and who had her first stage role in Girl Story earlier this year. Playing Sailor Mars is Kanon Nanaki, who is an idol singer.  Playing Sailor Jupiter is Yu Takahashi, who played Yuri Aso in Kamen Rider Kiva. And finally, Sailor Venus will be played by Shiori Sakata, who graduated from the idol group Idol College in 2012, and has been in NHK’s high school drama Kingyo Club, and had a role in the musical Sing! last year.

For fans who want to get tickets, there will be details in tomorrow’s edition of Nakayoshi.  A schedule of performances is posted at Sailor Moon Channel, and tickets will cost 6800 Japanese Yen (or around 68 US Dollars). But those who pick up Nakayoshi will be able to start reserving tickets from tomorrow!

This new team definitely has many high expectations for this production not only from fans, but from everyone involved at the top level of Sailor Moon, (considering the excessive secrecy behind the new anime series, this could be the only new production anyone sees for a long time)??? We wish them all the best of luck, and we will keep you posted of any new details as soon as they happen.

Hi Moonies! I’m still in the midst of travelling and a big move, but I have a few days to catch up on the big news (I apologize to our readers for being late on this but there were a lot of things beyond my control). I will also apologize for stating early on that Kotono Mitsuishi and Toru Furuya would return to their roles – this came from an article that I had read early in the morning of the 20th Anniversary Event, but I have been unable to find again. I was going with what I was reading that morning because the internet at the hotel I was at kept cutting in and out and I missed a lot of the event (I hope to watch it soon). The upcoming anime is still very early in the development stages, and nothing has been set in stone yet. Naoko Takeuchi has posted a new Moon Photo to Sailor Moon Channel, and for the first time there is an official translation provided by Kodansha Comics Japan. Out of respect, since an official one exists, we will not translate this for Moon Chase. Kodansha Comics Japan has also posted a wonderful blog post in English talking about the highlights of the event.

About.com Manga has posted a transcript of relevant questions for Sailor Moon fans from Kodansha USA’s recent panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. With respect to the artbooks, they are still in limbo (as far as we know). The artbooks were announced for release during the beginning of the revival in 2009, but Naoko Takeuchi had pulled the rights for them sometime after. As of November of last year, the artbooks are still being withheld. We here at Moon Chase appreciate everything Kodansha USA has done and will continue to do for Sailor Moon.

Today’s Fine Print? I nearly forgot about an article with a juicy tidbit from 2chan a few years ago. In my communications with all companies involved I had gotten the sense that everything Sailor Moon needed to be handled with kid gloves and that the creator had a stronghold on the series and what was done with it. A month ago, I learned something else interesting about a visit by Naoko Takeuchi to Texas a few years ago (she even visited Funimation) from a Funimation VA. But I’m not ready to let go of that factoid just yet (it had NOTHING to do with a redub of Sailor Moon, before you start speculating). Tangents aside, talk of a new series must have happened quickly and recently, and was probably dependent on the international success of the series. So thanks to Moonies all over the world for supporting Sailor Moon strongly during this revival ☺.

Hot off the press conference and 20th anniversary celebration streaming on Nicovideo and for fans at France’s Japan Expo, the big announcement has caught us all by surprise! There will be a new Sailor Moon anime in 2013, and so far Kotono Mitsuishi and Toru Furuya are confirmed to reprise their roles as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen! And it will also be broadcast to all countries at around the same time. At this time we are unable to confirm who else will be returning, or which studio is going to animate it. This announcement was made by Japanese Idol Group Momoiro Clover Z, who performed Moonlight Densetsu in Sailor Moon cosplay. We will keep you posted once we know more! Be happy Moonies!

EDIT: Yes, Toei Animation will be producing this anime and idol group Momoiro Clover Z will be singing the theme song. We’d like to note at this time that Toei Animation’s copyrights, logo, or name were not mentioned at all on the official press release.

I have some great news to report regarding the recent re-release of the Manga by Kodansha Comics – the first volume was recently honoured at the 2011 Diamond Comic Distributers Gem Awards. Sailor Moon Volume 1 received one of the highest honours from the comic book industry, as it was awarded the 2011 Manga Trade Paperback Of The Year award. The award results are primarily based off of overall sales figures for the 2011 calendar year, and are also voted on by the major comic book retail outlets. We are so proud of the success of Sailor Moon, and we would like to congratulate Kodansha Comics USA on the win. It is truly astounding to see the continued positive reception being directed towards the manga reissue campaign, and the staff at Moon Chase would like to applaud the fans that have supported the release!

Great news out of France today from both a French manga news site, as well as a release! Moonies in France, mark your calendars for July 2012 – the renewal editions of Sailor Moon and Codename: Sailor V will be published by Pika Édition (as we predicted back in July).  It looks like their release schedule will mimic what we have seen in North America and other countries around the world, with the two titles being published simultaneously.  In about a week or so one of our staff members will contact Pika Édition’s distribution arm in Quebec to double check if the releases will be hitting Québécois Moonies (which they likely will, but we just want to make sure).

Sorry Moonies there weren’t any updates over the holidays. Not much has been going on and we’ve been busy preparing things we need to get going throughout this month.  More soon! Happy New Year – and 2012 WILL be a good year for Sailor Moon!