Reader Sean sent us in a link to the Toei Animation official My Space page, which is interesting insofar as the company is trying (and from the size of the friends list, kinda failing) at a viral marketing campaign for its direct2drive service. They write there:
Toei Animation Inc. (TAI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toei Animation Co., Ltd. established in Los Angeles in 2004, looks forward to spreading the world-renowned Japanese animation studio's extensive library and pursuing co-production in English-speaking territories worldwide.
With a rich catalogue of unique animated properties including such famous titles and franchises as Digimon, Dragonball, Sailor Moon, Saint Seiya, One Piece, Slam Dunk and Fist of the North Star, Toei Animation everyone the ability to dream.
TAI is committed to the challenge of marrying its various assets with cutting edge technologies such as VOD, the internet and mobile media to best deliver the company's message of unbound possibilities to this and future generations.
Direct2Drive, mentioned on that page, is their direct download service and related to the poll from last year where Toei was testing the waters for direct-to-consumer video.
Reader Stina sent us in a link to this MMO screenshot, featuring a certain sailor-suited heroine of justice, and reader Kamikaze noted in recent G4 coverage of comic con that there was at least one costumed Sailor Mars walking around... anyone get pictures?
Moon Chase is pushing for Sailor Moon fans to watch tomorrow's premiere of Flashpoint on CBS, a new series with Stephanie Morgenstern of Sailor Venus dub fame. Please support the series!
Also, several fans sent in Sailor Moon sightings.
Anton writes of a detective series called "K 11" on German channel Sat 1. A Sailor Moon poster appeared in the background in one of episodes.
Cordelia LeFay notes In Season 2, Episode 17 of Entourage the main character, Vincent, has been offered the part of Aquaman. For publicity, he vists San Diego's Comic Con. In the crowd, I spotted Eternal Sailor Saturn and PGSM Sailor Mercury.
Lastly, several days ago ANN reported that Otakon will host Kazuko Tadano and Hiromi Matsushita, designers and animation directors of the Sailor Moon anime.
Hello everyone! Cordelia LeFay here with your Sailor Moon Spot! It’s been a dry few months, so you can imagine my delight when I found this “textbook” example! I work in Japan as an English teacher and was copying the materials for a lesson for my teenagers when I found ‘Sailor Moon’ on one of the dittos.
In class, my teenagers had no idea who Sailor Moon was, so I was all prepared to whip up a drawing of our favorite lunar warrior when I used the Japanese pronunciation ‘sera muun.’ With that, they all gave me an “oh” of recognition! I was a little surprised they knew of Sailor Moon, but I suppose they would have been at the right target audience.
But that’s not all folks! When that Sailor Moon craving hits you, why not just make a spot of your own? That’s what I did—thankfully I had an educational excuse too!
In my adventures in studying Japanese, I’ve found that the Sailor Senshi has helped me remember the days of the week. For example, the word for the planet Venus is kinsei, with kin meaning gold. Friday in Japanese is kinyoubi. So guess who is my featured senshi for Friday? Sailor Venus! Moreover, it’s a great way to remember the English equivalent—Friday comes from the Norse Goddess of Love and Beauty, Freyja. Of course, that goes over the heads of my kids, but they still seem fascinated by the brightly colored senshi regardless.
My co-worker and I ventured to the Toys R Us in Minami-Hikone for some kids’ games for our students. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some Card Captor dresses and I figured I would investigate. Among the Card Captor and Pretty Cure dresses, I found Sailor Luna! It was on sale for 3000 Yen (about $28). I was tempted to buy one for a friend’s daughter, but I didn’t.
First off today, a couple of Sailor Moon sightings that was sent into us from readers like you. At the forums, Mercurius found a resort hotel offering a "Sailor Moon room."Apart from using some of Takeuchi's artwork apparently without attributing copyright, I'm not quite sure what the room has to do with Sailor Moon, but take that as you will.
From Jay: We have a pair of guest updates today by two readers living in Japan. Before we get to those, though, I wanted to mention two other things readers sent in on a similar theme of Sailor Moon references. First, reader Yatenkaiouh links us to this product which has a morph that looks curiously similar to Sailor Venus on the cover. Second, Yoshimoon sent this image from Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner. He notes, "After investigating a haunted hill called Kurisu-zaka in Ginza learn that the ghost appears during a full moon. When you arrive there during a full moon a ghost car attacks you, angered that you are messing with it. Before engaging it it says "In the name of the Full Moon I will punish you!""
This same style of cartooning is known as "anime," when the pictures are moving, in video or film.
"There was an audience here waiting, girls that watched 'Sailor Moon' and loved it," said Svetlana Chmakova, an artist who draws Japanese-style manga comics, for Cosmo Girl Magazine and publisher TokyoPop.
"Sailor Moon" is one of the most famous Japanese television cartoons in the world.
