VIZ MEDIA LICENSES LEGENDARY SAILOR MOON ANIME FRANCHISE (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

VIZ MEDIA ACQUIRES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS FOR SAILOR MOON ANIME FRANCHISE​

North America’s Leading Anime Distributor Gains Digital, Streaming And Home Media Rights For Legendary Anime​

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Free Streaming Episodes Debut Today Exclusively​

On Neon Alley And Hulu!​

San Francisco, CA, May 19, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, is proud to announce the acquisition of the SAILOR MOON anime franchise. VIZ Media’s North American rights cover digital streaming, EST (Electronic Sell Through) and all home media products in the U.S. and Canada. Tokyo-based Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is the producer and global licensor for the SAILOR MOON anime property.

As part of the new agreement, VIZ Media has licensed all 200 episodes of the original SAILOR MOON anime series (rated ‘TV-PG’), including the never before licensed for North America fifth and final climatic season, “Sailor Stars.” The three feature films and additional specials for the long-running show are also part of the acquisition. SAILOR MOON will be presented digitally for the first time, with subtitled EST sets available starting Summer 2014 and dubbed editions late 2014, and DVD and deluxe limited edition Blu-ray/DVD combo packs are planned for Fall 2014. The uncut and uncensored VIZ Media release of SAILOR MOON, featuring its original uncropped 4:3 aspect ratio, will also feature all original Japanese names, story elements and relationships, as well as an all-new, uncut English dub with a new voice cast.

VIZ Media will premiere SAILOR MOON Episodes 1-4 (subbed) today on its free NeonAlley.com anime streaming destination and also via the subscription-based Hulu Plus in High Definition. Two new SAILOR MOON episodes will premiere every Monday. Visit www.NeonAlley.com and Hulu.com/sailormoon for more information; the trailer may also be viewed at http://www.hulu.com/watch/635233 and .

VIZ Media has also acquired the new SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL, and more details are forthcoming.

“We’re pleased to partner with VIZ Media to bring the beloved SAILOR MOON anime series back to North America,” says Masayuki Endo, General Manager, Toei Animation, Inc. “This fresh uncut and uncensored release of SAILOR MOON featuring the most accurate adaptation available will be just as creator Naoko Takeuchi intended. We look forward to fans current and new discovering and falling in love with this classic series all over again!”

“SAILOR MOON is one of the extremely rare breed of anime series truly deserving of the title of ‘Legendary’,” says Charlene Ingram, VIZ Media Senior Manager, Animation Marketing. “Since its initial debut in the mid-1990’s, SAILOR MOON has been unavailable to English-speaking fans for nearly a decade. It has also never seen a complete and proper unedited release in North America...until now!”

“SAILOR MOON was groundbreaking in the way its storyline and main characters resonated with both a male and female audience, and these aspects continue to attract a new generation of fans eager to see this iconic series,” says Brian Ige, VIZ Media Vice President of Animation. “We’re thrilled to be able to release this empowering action title uncut and in its entirety. We invite fans to catch the official premieres on Neon Alley and to enjoy the series on DVD and Blu-ray later this year!”

VIZ Media will be celebrating SAILOR MOON at the 2014 Anime Expo, taking place July 3rd–6th at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. Now celebrating its 23nd consecutive year, Anime Expo is sponsored by the SPJA and is the nation’s largest anime convention. VIZ Media will host a variety of special activities and panels throughout “Sailor Moon Day,” on Saturday July 5th. More details forthcoming.

The smash hit SAILOR MOON anime series is inspired by the bestselling manga (graphic novel) series created by Naoko Takeuchi (published in North America by Kodansha). In the series, Usagi Tsukino is a clumsy but kindhearted teenage girl who transforms into the powerful guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon. Meeting allies along the way who share similar fates, Usagi and her team of planetary Sailor Guardians fight to protect the universe from forces of evil and total annihilation!

Naoko Takeuchi was born on March 14. She is a Pisces and A blood type. In 1986 Takeuchi made her debut with the manga LOVE CALL. Her hits include Sailor Moon,Codename: Sailor V, and The Cherry Project.

For more information on SAILOR MOON, or other award-winning anime titles from VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.

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[battlebeast]

Ill get this. I used to love it, but out grew it... I want to check it out again!

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

I wonder what is everyone's take on this?
For me, it is best for Japanese animes to have the original Japanese dub with English subtitles.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

This is very worrying:

he uncut and uncensored VIZ Media release of SAILOR MOON, featuring its original uncropped 4:3 aspect ratio, will also feature all original Japanese names, story elements and relationships, as well as an all-new, uncut English dub with a new voice cast.

I hope this doesn't mean that the original Japanese audio track has been dropped. I hate hearing dubbed anime!

 

[Lord Dalek]

This is very worrying:

he uncut and uncensored VIZ Media release of SAILOR MOON, featuring its original uncropped 4:3 aspect ratio, will also feature all original Japanese names, story elements and relationships, as well as an all-new, uncut English dub with a new voice cast.

I hope this doesn't mean that the original Japanese audio track has been dropped. I hate hearing dubbed anime!

They have the original Japanese mono track, don't worry. What's gone and never coming back is the old DiC dub/edit, which, despite having lots of nostalgic fans, is pretty damn terrible.

 

[Vic Pardo]

The big news here is that "Sailor Stars" is coming! This season has never been released in the U.S. before. I have some bootleg fan-subbed episodes and they were good enough to make me want to see all of them.

However, the loss of the original dub is going to disappoint my daughter and her generation because they grew up with that dub.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I know nothing about Anime. I've never heard of this.

 

[EddieLarkin]

Unfortunately this will merely be an upscale of the SD masters done in 2009 and released in Japan on DVD:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2014-05-16/exclusive/viz-media-charlene-ingram-and-josh-lopez-on-sailor-moon

It's still a big deal since the show has been unavailable in NA for so long, and this will be newly subbed, dubbed, uncut and complete. But don't expect a lovely film like grain filled image like the recent Ranma 1/2 sets. There is a comparison in the above link; looks better than it's ever been, but pretty far from impressive.

 

[Lord Dalek]

This is Toei, they used the worst possible stock back in the day and you can even tell in SD. The company won't even bother to remaster their old shows in HD in Japan (which is why the US DBZ sets are all sorts of FUBAR'd) because of this.

You can complain all you want, but dems de breaks.

 

[Ejanss]

I know nothing about Anime. I've never heard of this.

It's a good place to start, like most in 1992 US did.

(Actually the Sailor Moon R: Promise of the Rose movie, which gives a good explanation of the characters, is a nice encapsulation of the series, although the ending is stronger if you've been with the series characters up to that point: )

Spoiler

And the new dub will be better!