Category Archives: Lists

6 Sailor Moon Seiyuu Alumni That Came Back for Crystal

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Filed under Anime, Articles, Crystal, Lists, Making Of, Real World
Two faces, one voice

Two faces, one voice

Ever since the initial announcement of Kotono’s triumphant return as Usagi in Sailor Moon Crystal, there’s been one question that I haven’t quite been able to shake: Why is she the only cast member to come back?

Be it scheduling conflicts, concerns over whether the other cast members still “fit” their characters, or simply the belief that fans would be unwilling to accept anyone else as Usagi, there are a lot of different directions to attack this question from.

What I learned through the course of my research, though, is that Kotono isn’t the only cast member to come back from the 90s anime at all — in fact, she was just one of six 90s Sailor Moon alumni to come back to Crystal.

Today we’re going into the recording booth to introduce some of the unsung heroes and heroines that voiced our favorite characters not once, but twice!

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3 Problematic Names in Sailor Moon Translations

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Filed under Articles, Fandom, Language, Lists, Making Of
Usagi's got some serious questions here

Usagi’s got some serious questions here

One thing that I find fascinating is the concept of what is the “official” Sailor Moon translation. In North America alone, both the anime and manga have had a whopping three different officially licensed adaptations since hitting this side of the Pacific.1

This, of course, doesn’t even take into account all of the subtitled versions, scanlations, and other fan-established terminology.

So what’s the right answer, and why is it so hard for all these qualified translators to “get it right”?

Today we’re going to take a look at some of the more challenging names to translate in Sailor Moon, and about some of the strategies used to get around them. Be sure to take notes — there might be a test at the end!2

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5 Things You Didn’t Know About Sailor Moon (I Promise!)

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Filed under Articles, In-Universe Lore, Lists, Real World
Five Senshi, Five Facts... it all works out!

Five Senshi, Five Facts… it all works out!

Nearly without exception, the “X facts you didn’t know about Y” style of article is pretty much doomed to certain failure. After all, you must have gotten your information from somewhere, and invariably other devoted fans have probably scoured the same resources you have.

And don’t get me started on how the articles are riddled with inaccuracies, or that most of these writers aren’t even fans of the series to begin with…

After seeing yet another of these articles pop up into my news feed this morning, it got me wondering: if I were to come up with some of the most obscure Sailor Moon trivia I could think of, what would I write about? And — more importantly — do I actually think I could come up with anything that would surprise even the most diehard Sailor Moon fans who read this blog?

You know what? I think I can… but I’ll leave you to be the final judge of that!

Read on as I pull out all stops and discuss some of the most obscure bits of Sailor Moon trivia I know!

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5 of the Greatest Unsolved Sailor Moon Mysteries

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Perhaps you may be able to help solve a (Sailor Moon) mystery

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a (Sailor Moon) mystery

In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a firm believer that you can answer — or at least come up with a sufficient explanation — almost any question as long as you have the right data to work with. Be it information provided in the anime/manga, from official interviews, or even offhand comments made by characters, there are a lot of Sailor Moon mysteries that you can put to bed if you can just find the right angle to approach them from.

Alas, much like the hunt for the great Loch Ness monster, there are still some that simply defy all explanation. Whether you want to call them plot holes, oversights, or mere story omissions, the series hasn’t really left us with anything to work with to bring us any closer to solving these annoying questions.

Join me, dear readers, on a look at some of Sailor Moon‘s greatest unsolved mysteries. As the great, late Robert Stack would put it, “perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.”

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5 Sailor Moon Rumors That Just Won’t Die

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Seriously, why are these rumors still a thing??

Seriously, why are these rumors still a thing??

While I’m generally more interested in expanding on less discussed aspects in the Sailor Moon universe, every once in awhile I find it hard to resist the urge to confront some of the crazier fan rumors running rampant across the internet in a (probably ill-conceived) effort to set the record straight.

By the nature of how these things work, it unfortunately leaves me in the unenviable position of trying to prove a negative (i.e., Bigfoot isn’t real, but it is impossible to provide evidence that it doesn’t exist),1 so if you strongly believe any of the following, I probably won’t be changing your mind any time soon.

However, if we’re lucky, at the very least least I hope to open up some dialogue on how these rumors came to be, and why they continue to be repeated throughout the Sailor Moon fandom.

Following in the footsteps of the immortal Doctor Beckett,2 join me on my journey as I strive to put right what once went wrong — Sailor Moon style!

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5 of the Most Bizarre Sailor Moon Products and Tie-Ins

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Sailor Moon hawking her curry (YouTube)

Sailor Moon hawking her curry (YouTube)

The Sailor Moon franchise is definitely no stranger to marketing tie-ups. From medicated eye-drops to tabletop D&D-inspired RPGs, and even including fully-immersive theme park rides, it seems like there’s almost nothing that they won’t slap the Sailor Moon name on.

And I love it.

No, really, I do. I spend entire train commutes to and from work reading up on obscure Sailor Moon products that no one in their right mind could possibly care about.

And that’s why I’ve decided to share some of my favorite with you, my dear valued reader, so that way we can both enjoy some of these memorable pieces of Sailor Moon together. If you’re prone to collecting random merchandise, you may want to put away your credit card now. Some of these can get pricey!

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5 Surprising Real World Locations in Sailor Moon

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Filed under Articles, Lists, Real World
The Mita Suzuki Building in Minako-ku

The Mita Suzuki Building in Minako-ku

As any longtime reader can probably tell you, many of the landmarks shown in Sailor Moon are often grounded in the real world. From the iconic Tokyo Tower — a staple of nearly any pre-2000s anime — to the pachinko-parlor-turned-game-center Pachinko Crown, there’s no end to the references to keep your budding Japanophile busy researching late into the night.

But as I’m sure you also know, I’m not exactly interested in rehashing the same tired trivia you can find anywhere else on the internet. Nope, I built my self-proclaimed Sailor Moon “blogging career”1 around the concept of discussing the minutia that is so bizarre, so seemingly insignificant that you wouldn’t even think to question it.

So today I’m going to talk about five of my favorite blink-and-you’ll-miss-it real world locations that showed up in the Sailor Moon anime. Whether you’re preparing for a round of Trivial Pursuit: Anime Edition or just happen to be a fan of early 90s Japanese pop culture, you won’t want to miss this one!

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