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 ☺.

Here are a few quick hits for you all!

In Hong Kong, MTR began selling the last of their Classic Anime Series Souvenir Ticket sets on Sunday. The last set features Sailor Moon characters with the new branding! For $105 HKD ($13 USD), riders can get the entire set of all 3 souvenir passes, a specially designed ticket holder, as well as a keychain. Each pass is valid for a single ride on or before November 30th, and the pass will be returned to the owner as a souvenir.

In Japan, Naoko Takeuchi has drawn a new Chibi version of Tuxedo Kamen to be animated in 3D for an RPG! He will be making an appearance in Level 5’s “Girls RPG Cinderelife”, an RPG where a player will be able to experience aspects of a typical girl’s life from work, to fashion, to shopping, and even a little dating. The really interesting thing to note on this screengrab we have featured for you is that Naoko Takeuchi PNP is the only copyright listed – so this is being done independently of Toei Animation or Kodansha (which is probably why this is a new drawing). Reprising his role as the voice of Tuxedo Mask is none other than the original voice himself, Toru Furuya! Fans can check out a trailer here and the official site here. The game will be released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS sometime next year.

And who watched Saturday Night Live? Did anyone notice Anna Faris dressed up as Sailor Moon Cherry Cherry Rock and Roll? The skit this cosplay appeared in was “J Pop America Fun Time Now”, and Anna appeared at the end as Jennifer, a fan who had the largest anime video collection at Michigan State University. While this wasn’t the greatest skit, it reminded us of every otaku we have met that has pretended to know everything about Japan. Fans can watch this episode online at Hulu in the USA or later this week at Global TV’s site in Canada.

Hey there, readers! We have another Sailormoon Channel update for you. The photos were added at the beginning of August and we recently finished editing screengrabs to include our translations.

The images below include Moon Chase translations. Enjoy 🙂

Today is Mother’s Day, and to our readers who are mothers, and the mothers of our readers, the staff wishes you a very Happy Mother’s Day! We also can’t forget about Sailor Moon’s “mother” (and mother of two herself), Naoko Takeuchi. Naoko, we also wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day, and will wait as long as it takes for a complete release of the Sailor Moon anime. For those of you in Japan, once again the orange Sailor Moon Carnations are in high demand for Mother’s Day despite a decrease in their supply! You can spot them in this photo from the Chunichi Shimbun in the back, being packed by a florist.

On this Mother’s Day, we have a couple short Naoko updates to share. One is that last week, Sailor Moon Channel was updated to feature character profiles of all the Senshi (except for the Starlights), as well as a story page. The art on these pages is all from the manga. If there is enough demand from the fans, we may translate these pages beginning later this week (though we will always translate anything she posts on her front page, news, and photo sections).

The second update is that there was a small mention of Naoko Takeuchi in the Shenzhen Daily about a month ago. The article is a reaction to the Earthquake and how at the time it was unknown if many mangaka had survived (as well as rumors of their perish). It then took a happier tone and spoke of how anime in China is as popular as Chinese, South Korean, American, and Taiwanese dramas. The author also writes that anime is second-to-none compared to animation from the rest of the world. There is some mention of Naoko’s husband, Yoshihiro Togashi and the new animated adaptation of Level E, and his ongoing manga series Hunter x Hunter. His work will continue and never be forgotten. We’ll spare you of the descriptions of the other two paragraphs which are gossipy in tone, and lash out at him for taking the fans for granted. Naoko Takeuchi is named by this author as the greatest contributor to girls’ manga (which began in 1963), and was the mangaka who opened the door for Chinese girls to love anime featuring girl superheroes and romance (despite her limited repertoire of work). At first, girls 8-16 years old would be the only ones reading these comics, but slowly men and women now appreciate them. The author even goes on to say that the girls’ anime industry in Japan is the most widely used class!

Fans can check out our most recent translations of Naoko’s updates here, here, and here.