This is probably going to be one of the final updates from the newsmedia (unless other articles show up). CinemaToday had the same quotes from Kotono Mitsuishi in their article and didn’t have anything new to say (except for a comment that HIMEKA felt like she was ready to die since she felt like she was in heaven seeing all the seiyuu!). But, that story did have a nice photo! In the next few days we’re just going to have a post with all the photos from the event we have been able to find. That way, you fans can see them all in one place! TV Life didn’t have anything new either, except for a quote which I think I forgot to translate in my previous article – Kotono joked that even when they are all fat and old, they would still be happy to have been known for a work that both adults and children can continue to enjoy forever and ever! AV Watch didn’t have anything new either. I am going to save 2Chan for a whole other post, later. Now, onto another interesting blog entry I came across! This blogger also went to the event, and she featured a photo (which we have uploaded here for you today) of two flyers the staff handed out after the event was over, advertising the mobile site and the DVD collection release (featured above). This blogger waited outside the hall after the event, and all of the seiyuu and Naoko walked in front of her! She was so in awe that she didn’t know what to say , and asked Kotono some dumb questions like “will this be broadcast on ANIMAX?” She said that she expected that it would be! We haven’t seen or heard anything about any plans to air this on TV, but as soon as we find any footage, we promise we will post a copy! The blogger was so in awe of Naoko’s presence, that all she wrote was that she looked beautiful in purple and that the Great Master had passed.

We’ve been noticing a few blogs have been slightly altering the pictures that we have posted and putting their own watermarks on them – it is a blog’s choice to do so, however please remember that these photos came from news articles which we linked to and referenced in our posts. It isn’t fair to claim them as your own! Also, it’s okay to reference us when posting about this event, but please also give the Japanese sites and blogs credits – they are where this all originally came from!

Hi guys! Busy morning ahead of me so there will be a full post later (and hopefully over the next few days when more news outlets pick this up). Animeanime.jp has posted a press release covering the reunion! And, the 5 actresses and HIMEKA were not the only guests there – the master of ceremonies was gravure idol Chiaki Kyan who cosplayed as Sailor Moon for the event (really? Shoko Nakagawa wasn’t available?). HIMEKA sang the theme song, Moonlight Densetsu (Moonlight Legend) and opened the show. Then the 5 actresses appeared! HIMEKA was the only person not dressed in colors that were matched to the characters! Kotono looked at the other actresses as her classmates from that time so long ago, and when they got together, it was like nothing had changed. You could not even tell that they were once some of the world’s most beloved superheroes! HIMEKA was in awe of their presence and admired them. Fans may recall that she first fell in love with Sailor Moon at the age of 15, growing up in Canada! Kotono said that she was happy to be Sailor Moon again after a long time, and Emi and Rika both felt they had gone back in time for a moment. Aya couldn’t believe that they were all on the stage together after more than 10 years! The actresses spoke about how this reunion was a complete surprise to them, that they didn’t know anything about it until very close to this event. Michie Tomizawa had nothing booked, and she suddenly had a “Christmas Party” to go to and she didn’t know what to expect months ago! They each introduced favorite and memorable episodes, and spoke about their roles. At the end, Kotono finished with a beautiful quote that I really hope someone uploads some video of soon – “Usagi-chan is a girl who wants to run away from everything even if she is a klutz and becomes a crybaby during her fights. However, she fights for the people she loves and for the friend until the very end.” Well said, Kotono.

There’s a whole other blog entry I have to translate, but I will hit that later today! For now though, here are your much awaited pictures, courtesy of AnimeAnime.jp!

EDIT: This release was first posted at ANIMAX!

Kotono Mitsuishi (Sailor Moon) has been getting a lot of press lately with the recent resurgence of Sailor Moon in Japan. Her latest movie Rebirth of Buddha, is proving to be a huge hit as it debuted at the #2 spot! But this begs the question: What are the others up to now? We’re going to briefly answer that question!

☽ Aya Hisakawa (Sailor Mercury) played the character of Shizuku in the first four episodes of Aoi Bungaku. This horror series retells 6 famous stories of Japanese literature, and the story that she played this character was based on Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human. These four episodes were just released on DVD, and are also going to be reworked into a longer movie set to open in Japanese theaters on December 12th! Set to open in Japanese theaters on January 23rd, is Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st, the first movie based on the hugely popular Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise. Aya will reprise her role as Lindy Harlaown, the commander and motherly figure, in the movie. She is pictured here at a recent promotional event second from the right in the back row! Upon learning of rumors that the series might be made into a movie, she said “When I heard a rumor that it was going to be made into a film, I did not know if I was going to be chosen! When I got the script I was surprised to read it!” Aya also felt that she has to play many kinds of women all rolled into one with her character.

☽ Michie Tomizawa (Sailor Mars) is still in retirement but occasionally comes to speak at events and perform one-off roles in anime.

☽ Emi Shinohara (Sailor Jupiter) has not been in too much recently, but continues to play the role of Katsura and Yukiji Hinagiku’s stepmother in Hayate the Combat Butler (one of our staff favourites).

☽ Rika Fukami (Sailor Venus) has been involved in voiceovers for many variety shows and TV networks, and most recently dubbed the voice of Jennifer Aniston in Japanese in the movie Marley and Me. She has also reprised her role as Myung Fang Lone in the new Macross Plus Ultimate Frontier video game for the PSP.

☽ Keiko Han (Luna) was deeply missed by fans during this year’s Animazement! It is unfortunate that Swine Flu continues to affect us months later, but hopefully she will return next year (and we will get the chance to interview her). She has a voice role as a narrator on the space opera anime Tytania which began late last year and finished at the end of March. The show has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray in Japan. She continues to be a special guest instructor of drama at Tokyo Media Academy, as well as keeping up with her astrology hobbies!

☽ Yasuhiro Takato (Artemis) has had a variety of roles in the last few years playing Gluttony in Full Metal Alchemist, Bamboo in NANA, and is now playing Geld in Dragon Ball Kai and numerous characters in One Piece.

☽ Toru Furuya (Tuxedo Mask) is still our beloved ToFu-san and is just as active as ever! He just appeared at one of the last celebrations for Gundam’s 30th anniversary! “Soul-G”, or otherwise known as “Gundam 30th Anniversary Commemoration Music Live”, was a music festival dedicated to the warriors from the anime. He read some excerpts from Gundam light novels.The event also featured readings from other stars, and performances of many of the Gundam theme songs. However, it doesn’t look like Two-Mix was there to sing Just Communication. There was a special “unit” there to sing the song: singers Akira Asakura, Kawazoe Tomohisa, and Hitoshi Aya Ushima. He also continues to show his geek side, and appeared at an event launching Windows 7. He is still maintaining his own homepage – but we think he needs to get with the times and make use of some new web technologies. His page looks like it’s from the nineties!

☽ Kae Araki (Chibi-Usa) hasn’t been up to anything this year, unfortunately. Even her fans are wondering where she is – and her birthday is coming up pretty quick!

We have to wonder why Keiko, Yasuhiro, Toru, and Kae are not being included in the 20th anniversary celebrations. Sailor Moon is not Sailor Moon without the cats, Chibi-Usa or Tuxedo Mask! Next Week, we will take a quick look at the Outer Senshi and Starlights!

This broke about 6 hours ago in Japan! (Will add a picture later). After 12 years, Kotono Mitsuishi (Sailor Moon), Aya Hisakawa (Sailor Mercury), Michie Tomizawa (Sailor Mars), Emi Shinohara (Sailor Jupiter) and Rika Fukami (Sailor Venus) will be appearing at a special event on December 6, 5 days ahead of the release and ahead of the 20th anniversary of the manga in 2011. The doors will open at 4:30PM, and the event will start from 5 and run until 9! They will be sharing their memories of working on Sailor Moon at the event with fans, and there will also be an episode screening. Admission is free but tickets will be limited! For those of you who want to try to get tickets, they will be available via a lottery at Toei’s DVD shop. 20 people will be chosen from those who have pre-ordered the collection by then. ANIMAX will also have a contest.Rising star Himeka, who was partly inspired by Sailor Moon to pursue her anime singing career, will also be singing at this event! We have covered her in the past on Moon Chase. In the press release on animeanime.jp, she says that Sailor Moon is what “jump started” her on anime! This will be taking place at UDX in Akihabara, at the same place Kazuko Tadano recently appeared at a session for JAM 2009.

As of this writing, it is unknown if Naoko Takeuchi herself will be attending this event. She is not listed to attend at all in the press release, and we really hope she does. The other strange thing is that the press release makes note that it is the 20th Anniversary of the manga in 2011, and that this is an early celebration. We think this might be happening now because the boxsets are set to go out of print at the end of 2011. She posted about the show re-airing on Sailor Moon Channel a month after it came back on the air, but has yet to mention the new boxsets. Kotono has also been doing much of the publicity for the show. This is great news Moonies! We are sure there are more details to come! Toei has even put up a new banner announcing the event at their official 20th Anniversary page! Special Thanks to Toy Soldier for pointing that out to us this morning!

For Japanese fans who want to get in on the lottery to attend this event, pre-order your DVDs from here, or here. They are a little more pricey than other places, but if we were in Japan, we’d pre-order from Toei just to get in on this draw!

EDIT: ANIMAX now has a page up, along with another with the rules and regulations of the lottery. They are dubbing the event “Sailor Moon Event Sailor Talk”. We love the banner and the graphics on their site. ANIMAX has 50 tickets to the event that fans can win, and from what the site says there can only be 100 guests. 100 seems a little low for something like this, why not up it to 500? Those of you who are in Japan and want to read the regulations, click here!

Last night, we discovered the blogs of many stars who worked with Miyuki Kanbe, and we’re going to share with you some of the highlights from what we read of their entries about her. Almost all of them remembered her cheerful spirit, her cute voice, and her charming personality. It’s almost like all the Sera Myu actors, whether they worked together or not, formed a kind of kindred with each other. A few stars who didn’t get the chance to work onstage with her, met her at many Sera Myu events. We also uncovered an old 2005 interview with Miyuki, which we are working hard to translate. It’s quite long, and it’s being worked on a little bit each day. At the earliest, it will probably be posted late next week.

There are a lot of pictures in this post, so we decided to slice it for the homepage. Read the rest of it after the jump!

Nao Takagi (Sailor Uranus #2 in Sera Myu) wrote that she thought it was a lie when she heard the news. To her, Miyuki had a beautiful and powerful smile, and the two were beru close. Nao thought of her as the younger sister she never had. Miyuki often called Nao “Nao-chan”, and one of these recordings will become her new ringtone. She finishes with “I pray her soul may rest in peace now, with a smile in heaven. I love you so much Miyuki, the princess who I will never forget. Thank you for all the love you gave me.”

Hikari Ono played many roles in her 477 show run with Sera Myu. She was Sailor Star Maker, Hawk’s Eye, Neo Hawk’s Eye, Loof Merrow, Prince Dimande and Bloody Dracul Vampir. In an entry simply titled Regret, she writes of her grandmother who promised to take her to the hot springs. Unfortunately, she died when Hikari was only 17, without ever fulfilling that promise. It was then that she learned the true meaning of the word “regret”. She finds it hard when she loses someone, to think of all the things that they could not do. It is hard to move forward without regretting the past. It would be better if in some shape or form after death if life could go back and do these things. She ends with telling everyone not to regret all the things that they could not do. Many fans think that she is referring to Miyuki in this entry.

Anza Oyama was the first actress to play Sailor Moon in Sera Myu. Now a nu metal singer, she writes on her blog, that she is very sad and truly heart broken. Miyuki had a lot of courage and hope and she put smiles on everyone’s faces! The two of them talked together about their role as Sailor Moon and they had the same realizations of the character and their experiences. She prays cute Miyuki-chan finds happiness in the next world.

Marina Kuroki was the fourth and last person to play Sailor Moon in the musicals. She wrote that she didn’t have very much contact with Miyuki during the transition from the third to the fourth sailor team, but that she had many memories of the times all the Sera Myu actors would come together. Miyuki was cute, gave her a lot of advice, and talked to her once in a while. Even she could not believe the reality of the news. From her heart she prays that her heart finds happiness in the next world.

Shibue Jyoji is best known to Sailor Moon fans as playing Tuxedo Kamen in PGSM, but he also worked with Miyuki on Kamen Rider Hibiki. He played Iori Izumi (Kamen Rider Ibuki). He posted that parting is really painful, and that there is no forgetting her cute voice once you heard it the first time. It is very painful for him to know he will never hear her voice again. He remembers how she used to say he was one of her best friends, and how it delighted him enormously. He was also in disbelief when he heard the news, and wishes he could have met with her one last time. He thanked her for everything and bid her a solemn farewell.

Nana Akiyama also worked with her on Kamen Rider Hibiki, playing Akira Amami. She wrote two entries. The first one says, “I heard the sad news two days ago from some people. I have lived for 18 years, and this is the most sad news of all. I still can’t believe it. She was a good person and I wished to meet her once again. That wish will no longer be fulfilled. Still, I want to keep wishing. Just one more time, she could come out from somewhere so we could meet. I’ll write more later, right now I want to leave my feelings here.” The second one, written four days later, says “Feelings that want to be conveyed do not become words. It was not possible for me to update easily. But it was also not possible for me to settle down after today. When I think of her, my feelings surely come. But now they can become something real (NOTE: this is the best translation, these three sentences were hard). I loved everything that Miss Kanbe did, and none of my love changes for her. I think that she is watching me somewhere, and I will not say goodbye. I look foreward to the day I can meet Miss Kanbe again. You were in this world. I will not forget for a long time.” Then she addressed a couple people who sent her email, “To (usernames). Thank you for your warm and gentle reassurance. We are together with the same feelings, and you have given me the green light to cry. Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you. From all the pain last week, it is not possible to remember every day that we spent together, but now I think I’ll be okay not to forget her. Tomorrow, I will update the blog. It was closed while there was so much going on, news of the tragedy a little at a time. I look forward to pleasing you. Now, it will be nice to see you tomorrow. Goodnight.

Emi Kuriyama played Sailor Jupiter from 1999-2000 in the musicals, and worked with Miyuki. She is very hurt and saddened by this news. In her entry Still now…, she couldn’t accept this news and has an empty hole in her heart. She attended the funeral, and can still to this day remember Miyuki calling to her “Kururin” in her cute and childish voice, in her healthy body. She is sad she can’t see her again, and rejected her death. She can’t come out with the words for her feelings, for the situation. But she feels that those left behind must live their lives with more strength. She got so much power, love, and kindness from Miyuki’s words , and she loved her very much. She wants to laugh hard again like fools until her stomach hurts with her again. She ends thanking Miyuki. In later entries, she expresses that she is still hurt but is doing a lot better.

Ayumi Murata played Sailor Venus in the musicals from 2001-2002. On her blog, she wrote that she was saddened and surprised to hear of the news of her co-star’s death. She sent her condolences, and prayed for her sincerely.

Chieco Kawabe played Sailor Mercury in the musicals from 2000-2002. She also played Naru Osaka in PGSM. She was also shocked by the sudden news, and was very sad. She sent her deepest condolences to those who were mourning her death. She is also praying for her.

Akiko Kosaka composed many of the Sera Myu musicals. She remembered Miyuki’s audition, how she seemed like she had stepped right out of the cartoon. Miyuki to her was sugary, lovelym and super-energetic. She was very shocked at this sudden news, and thought that Miyuki’s health had not been good for the last two years, leaving her in a lot of pain. She was certainly someone Akiko wished she had gotten to know more. She is sincerely praying for her third Sailor Moon.

Tomoko Inami played Mistress 9 and Sailor Neptune in the musicals. Though she never worked with Miyuki, she met her at many events. She sends her condolences and sincerely prays for her. Miyuki’s death in her youth of only 24 years was a true tragedy.

Fumina Hara was the third actress to play Sailor Moon in the musicals. Though she was followed by Miyuki, there were times that they got together for events. Miyuki used to call her “Fumina-chaaaaan” with a big, tense grin on her face, and lots of energy. Her death was very unfortunate, because she was very adorable, cute, and was a fantastic girl. She prays her soul will rest in peace.