Reports have surfaced this week that VIZ Media has acquired the North American rights for the legendary Sailor Moon anime franchise. The rights cover digital streaming, EST (Electronic Sell Through) and all home media products in the U.S. and Canada.
“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!”
Essentially, the license means that Viz are free to make all 200 episodes of the original SAILOR MOON series, including the never before licensed for North America fifth and final climatic season, “Sailor Stars” on the net through their streaming service, NeonAlley.com and DVD/Blu-Ray.
The way it will work is that Viz will premiere Sailor Moon episodes 1-4 this week with another two new episodes uploaded every Monday for the foreseeable future. Originally these episodes will be subtitled, but the dubbed editions are expected late 2014. What most fans will be excited about is the fact that this release of the series will be uncut and also feature all original Japanese names, story elements and relationships, as well as an all-new, uncut English dub with a new voice cast (the original cast – like soooo many animes – failed to inspire fans).
This acquisition adds to the already impressive line-up for Viz’s US streaming service that includes anime and manga titles such as: Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Death Note, Mar, Hikaru No Gu – among others.
For those unfamiliar with the series, SAILOR MOON is a smash hit anime series that 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!
You can watch the trailer here:
Three feature films and additional specials for the long-running show are also part of the acquisition and, perhaps most important to fans who have seen the original series as part of this deal VIZ Media has also acquired the new SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL.
“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!”
Sailor Moon may not be for everyone, but those who like it seem to really treasure the viewing experience.
