Ooo! We have an interesting one this time Moonies!
A few days ago, Jlist tweeted they had gotten a catalog with new anime merch and it included some never-seen-before Sailor Moon schedule books/calendars!! At this point new merch isn't exactly *new* to us because we've been getting new merch for about a year and a half now! Namely all those goodies from GE Animation, the Hot Topic shirts, the mangas (with a confirmed art book on the way too!), and the recently released S.H. Figuarts. It's been a pretty exciting ride for the fandom! Here are a few pics of the merch that is available now for pre-orer on Jlist! and yes, these are 2014 calendars.
Aren't those sparkles soooo Moonesque!? Also, LOVE LOVE LOVE the locket on the vinyl notebook!! However, the rest of the images raise a bunch of questions and throw mixed messages all over the place. What's the hell going on here? First and foremost, the question we're all asking is: Why are they using old artwork!? Granted, we've been getting a bunch of "already seen" images coming from Marco Albiero's illustrations, many based directly off the art books, and many of his own creation. But Marco has his own style and flare. We enjoy his rendering and the colors he uses are so bright and wonderful, but the images seen here are really old and the design is less than attractive. We have been joking around on Twitter that they look like a poorly sourced fan made notebook.
Secondly, Why are they all mixed? Seriously! We have artwork from SM Classic, with the Crystal Brooch from SMR, mixed with images of the Outer Senshi from SMS. IT'S ALL OVER THE PLACE! Why?!?! So weird.
Thirdly, Why is it written in English? Is this destined only to international markets or do they think English just looks cooler on their stationery? I dunno what they're thinking, but I've seen them use better fonts and designs than what we have here. Yes there's some Japanese in there too, but the English is like RIGHT IN OUR FACE OMG Dx
The obi has the 20th anniversary logo, so this is a 20th anniversary release. I just hope they improve on the quality of this merch cause it leaves much to be desired. The colors are poor, the design is lacking and we want NEW ARTWORK! Today, the new merch has also made an appearance on the official site. The Sailor Moon channel posted it and clearly, they're a big deal because they never update the site for this kind of random merch. So yeah! Happy hunting!
So, we finally have a bunch of news about Sailor Moon DVDs progressing nicely in other parts of the world. Thailand has recently published volume 2 of their release with gorgeous artwork and unique style. Chile has been steadily releasing their volumes of Sailor Stars (weekly releases with 9 volumes planned) using very colorful covers with tones of blues, purples and pinks! Sooo cute! Also we have recently learned that Germany, France and possibly other countries will be getting their of DVD sets soon. Everywhere we look, Sailor Moon this, Sailor Moon that. Who ever says nothing is happening in the Moonieverse is dead wrong. So much going on everywhere! The only country noticeably missing out on Sailor Moon is the US and other English speaking countries that got the series with the DIC dub.
Here at the SMObss, I've been closely following in particular the Mexican edition of the DVDs called Talk-Boxes because that's the version I grew up with and the one I'm interested in acquiring. Also, Capital 8/Towers Entertainment have done a wonderful, wonderful job designing these sets, from the mechanism on the DVD box that has a speaker which makes the box "talk", to the gorgeous graphics on the DVD menu, to the recording of the episode intros that were not there before, to the amazing parties and special guests they invite to the launch events. Each new volume in kind of a big deal. Not only do they hand out the DVDs, but also a bunch of other extras, like postcards, posters and even a collectible mug for those who bought it in pre-sale.
Last Saturday, April 27th, the launch event for Talk-Box Mars (the third of the Talk-Boxes and the first half of Sailor Moon R) took place in Mexico City. At first, the plan was to gather the Moonies at a local restaurant in celebration of their Facebook Page reaching 10 000 likes (congrats to them!!), but the launch date of the new boxset was pushed forward to make these two events coincide, so unlike previous occasions, the party did NOT take place at the Capital 8 storefront at the Pabellón Cuauhtémoc mall, this time the decided to move the event to the restaurant as well. This time, the event itself had its own name and marketing. They called it "The Silver Millenium Party" and this is the banner they used to promote the event:
This isn't their first event though. Lately they've been having a series of smaller Moonie events where fans get together and have fun with trivia and karaoke. Marisa de Lille (singer of the Spanish intro and ending) has been interacting with fans and selling copies of her SM inspired music at these events, so we've seen her around a few times (she likes to come out in cosplay! So cute!). This event was initially going to be just another get together as the ones they've been doing up to now, but with the launch of the Talk-Box deadline approaching fast, they decided to just merge the two events together.
I don't know if marketing-wise this was a good or a bad move (I'm unaware of how sales for the Talk-Box Mars went) but I do know that pre-sales for the DVDs were a little bit rushed. My previous experiences with them is that Capital 8 announces the pre-sales a few weeks before hand, then they do the pre-sales for about two or three weeks, and then the actual launch event is scheduled for after another week or two after that. It sounds like a long process, but this gave a reasonable amount of time for word to spread out amongst Moonies and give the ones who live outside the city a chance to drive in or contact someone who could buy it for them.
This time, they only gave a few days notice for the pre-sale, and this one lasted only for like a week and a half. Then, only a few days later the launch event took place. This process was so quick I almost missed out on my order because it was hard to get a hold of someone on such short notice!
It seems to me they weren't fully prepared to make the "10 000 Likes Celebration" into the official Talk-Box release event because –typically– they invite the the voice actor of the character on the cover (who in this case would be Mónica Manjarréz, VA for Sailor Mars) to give a little talk about her experience dubbing the anime and sign posters for attendees, but she wasn't even at the party at all. However, the Sailor Moon fandom is a force to be reckoned with, because in spite of Mónica not being there, a horde of Moonies showed up at the restaurant and filled the place with giddy, excited people. According to sources about 150 or 200 fans were cramped into the small restaurant space. They definitely weren't expecting so many people to show up, but it's always nice to see there is still this much enthusiasm for the series. I personally wasn't in Mexico to describe exactly how the events occurred, but I tweeted back and forth with @mitellezr who is part of the staff and he gave me a general idea of what happened.
The restaurant was a small place close to downtown. The staff and hosts adorned the walls of the place using their own personal posters and wall scrolls in order to set the mood. The first order of business was to hand out the Talk Boxes. It took a about an hour and a half to hand out the pre-sale TBs to those who had bought them before hand. This time around there were only a mere 50 mugs made, so this item was really really limited (and bound to be highly desired by collectors) and two different posters were given out (no postcard this time T.T). Afterwards, when all the DVDs were delivered, Marisa de Lille and Rossy Aguirre (VA for Sailor Mercurty!) arrived. Marisa was briefly interviewed by the fans and then she began doing what she does best: SINGING SAILOR MOON THEMES!
Marisa sung "Melodía Estelar" (SailorStar Song), "Legendaria luz de Luna" (Moonlight Densetsu), "Ilusión de Amor" (Tuxedo Mirage), "Heart Moving" acapella with the fans, "La Política de una Doncella" (Otome no Policy) and "Maravilloso Cristal de Plata" (Maboroshi no Ginsuisho). Pretty amazing themes as you can see :D Whoa! So sad I missed out on this! T.T
Marisa and Rossy received a certificate of attendance for accepting the invitation to the event and a Talk-Box Mars (hey I'm sure they're making they DVD colection too! Teehee!). They held a karaoke contest and a cosplay contest as well. Prizes for the winners included a Talk-Box Moon, posters and cards. Of course the coolest gift they all received was the chance to meet and hang out with other Moonies and the free concert! I'm sure this was an amazing event, and I look forward to Talk-Box Jupiter (presumably out in December of this year), and I really hope I can attend 'cause this one looks like a lot of fun!
Here is some video of the event. I did not take this video, I only found it on YT, so I can't really explain everything that's going on or why the quality is so low, but it's okay for illustrative purposes :D!
And here are some pics of the DVD box, posters and mugs they gave away. That R poster is breathtaking *0*!!
Por fin tenemos un montón de noticias sobre los DVDs de Sailor Moon progresando muy bien en otras partes del mundo. Tailandia ha publicado recientemente el volumen 2 de su box set con que tiene hermosísimo arte en la caratula y su propio diseño en las cajas. Chile también ha estado muy puntual con el lanzamiento de sus volúmes de Sailor Stars ( 9 volúmenes previstos) con portadas muy coloridas con tonos de azules, púrpuras y rosas! SUUUPER CHIC MIL!! También nos hemos enterado recientemente de que Alemania, Francia y posiblemente otros países tendrán su s propias versiones de DVDs pronto. Dondequiera que miremos, Sailor Moon esto, Sailor Moon aquello. ¿Quién dice que no pasa nada con Sailor Moon estos dias? Totalmente equivocado. Estan sucediendo muchísimas cosas en el mundo ahorita. El único país que notablemente se está perdiendo de Sailor Moon en DVD es los EE.UU. y en otros países de habla inglesa que recibieron la serie con el doblaje DIC, aunque no sabemos por que es asi.
Aquí en el SMObss, he estado siguiendo de cerca la edición mexicana de los DVDs llamados Talk-Box por que esa es la versión con la que yo crecí y la que estoy interesada en adquirir. Además, Capital 8/Towers Entertainment ha hecho una inigualable labor con estos sets, desde el diseño del mecanismo de la caja de DVD con la bocina que hace que la caja "hable", a los magníficos gráficos en el menú del DVD, la grabación de las intros episodio que no estaban allí antes, hasta las increíbles fiestas e invitados especiales que tienen en los eventos de lanzamiento. Cada nuevo volumen no sólo se reparten los DVDs, sino también un montón de extras, como tarjetas postales, pósters e incluso una taza de colección para aquellos que ordenaron sus DVDs en pre-venta.
El pasado sábado 27 de Abril la presentación del Talk-Box Mars (el tercer TB que es la primera mitad de Sailor Moon R) se llevó a cabo en la Ciudad de México. Al principio, el plan era reunir a los Moonies en un restaurante local en celebración de que el Facebook de Sailor Moon México llegó a los 10 000 likes (Felicidades chicos!!), pero la fecha de lanzamiento del nuevo boxset fue adelantado para que estos dos eventos coincidieran, por lo que a diferencia de ocasiones anteriores, el evento no tuvo lugar en la tienda Capital 8 en el centro comercial Pabellón Cuauhtémoc, en esta ocasión se decidió trasladar el lanzamiento al restaurante también. El evento en sí tuvo su propio nombre y marketing. Lo llamaron "Fiesta del Milenio de Plata" y este es el arte que utilizaron para promocionar el evento:
Pero esta no es la primera fiesta que han organizado. Últimamente ha estado teniendo una serie de eventos Moonies más pequeños donde los fans se reúnen y se divierten con trivia y karaoke. Marisa de Lille (cantante del intro y saildas en español) ha estado asistiendo a estas fiestas e interactuando con los fans, ofreciendo también copias de su CD de SM, por lo que la hemos visto ya un par de veces (a ella le gusta salir en cosplay! Es taaaan linda!). Este evento solo iba a ser uno mas como los que han estado haciendo hasta ahora, pero con la fecha de lanzamiento del Talk-Box Mars acercándose rápidamente, decidieron simplemente fusionar los dos eventos juntos.
No sé si (mercadotécnicamente hablando) fue buena o una mala idea juntar el lanzamiento con la fiesta (no sé como van las ventas) pero sí sé que la pre-venta de los DVDs fue un poco apresurado. Mis experiencia con los TB anteriores es que el Capital 8 anuncia la pre-venta unas semanas antes y luego hacen la pre-venta durante unas dos o tres semanas y después el lanzamiento se planea para dentro de una o dos semanas. Suena como un proceso largo, pero esto le daba oportunidad que la noticia se extendiera entre los Moonies y dar tiempo para los que viven fuera de la ciudad se prepararan para conducir o para ponerse en contacto con alguien que pudiera comprarlo por ellos.
Esta vez, sólo se dio unos cuantos días de aviso para la pre-venta, y éste duró como una semana y media. Tan sólo unos pocos días más tarde, el evento de lanzamiento se llevó a cabo. Este proceso fue tan rápido que casi pierdo la oportunidad de hacer mi pedido porque me fue difícil conseguir a alguien que me ayudara con tan poco tiempo de anticipación!
Me parece que no estaban preparados para que la celebracion de los "10 000 Likes" en el evento de lanzamiento oficial Talk-Box porque por lo general invitan a la actriz del personaje en la portada (que en este caso sería Mónica Manjarréz, voz de Sailor Mars) para dar una plática sobre su experiencia en el doblaje del anime y firmar los pósters de los asistentes, pero ella no estuvo en la fiesta. Sin embargo, los fans de Sailor Moon son como una fuerza de la naturaleza, porque a pesar de Mónica que no fue, una horda de Moonies se presentó en el restaurante y llenaron el lugar con mucha gente muy entusiasmada. Me dicen que unos 150 o 200 aficionados se apretujaron en el pequeño espacio del restaurante. Definitivamente no esperaban a tanta gente, pero siempre es agradable ver que todavía hay tanto entusiasmo por la serie. Yo no pude estar personalmente ahí para poder describir exactamente cómo sucedieron el evento, pero platiqué vía Twitter con @mitellezr que forma parte del staff de Sailor Moon México y me dió una idea general de lo que sucedió.
El restaurante era un pequeño lugar cerca del centro. El personal y los anfitriones adornaron las paredes del lugar con sus propios pósters y mantas para ambientar la fiesta. Lo primero fue para entregar las Talk-Box. Tomó cerca de una hora y media para entregar las cajas que se habían vendido en pre-venta . Esta vez sólamentese mandaron a hacer 50 tazas, osea que ese extra es muy, muy limitado (y será muy deseada por coleccionistas) y regalaron también dos pósteres diferentes (sin postal esta ves T.T). Después que se entregaron todos los DVDs, llegaron Marisa de Lille y Rossy Aguirre (la voz de Sailor Mercury). Marisa fue entrevistada brevemente por los fans y luego empezó a cantar temas Sailor Moon!
Marisa cantó "Melodía Estelar" (Sailorstar Song), "Legendaria Luz de Luna" (Moonlight Densetsu), "Ilusión de Amor" (Tuxedo Mirage), "Heart Moving" acapella con con los fans, "La Política De Una Doncella" (Otome no Policy) y "Maravilloso Cristal de Plata" (Maboroshi no Ginsuisho). Como verán, son canciones bastante icónicas! Lloro por que me perdí de todo esto! T.T
Marisa y Rossy recibieron un reconocimiento por haber aceptado la invitación al evento y unTalk-Box MArs ( Seguro que ellas están armando su propia colección de DVDs, verdad? Hahhaa). Llevaron a cabo un concurso de karaoke y un concurso de cosplay también. Los premios para los ganadores fueron un Talk-Box Moon, pósteres y tarjetas. Por supuesto que el mejor regalo que recibieron todos fue la oportunidad de conocer y reunirse con Moonies y el concierto gratuito! Estoy segura de que fue un evento increíble, y espero ansiosamente el Talk-Box Jupiter (probablemente salga en Diciembre de este año), y realmente espero poder asistir porque estos eventos parecen divertidísimos!
Aquí hay un vídeo del evento.Yo no grabé este video, lo encontré en YT, así que realmente no puedo explicar todo lo que está pasando o por qué la calidad es tan baja, pero sirve para fines ilustrativos.
Y aquí están algunas fotos de la caja de DVD, póster y taza que regalaban. El de Sailor Moon R es impresionante *0*!
Check out this amazing preview video! SO AMAZING! CANNOT WAIT!
Hey Moonies!
It's been really rough for me these last few days, been sick and work and boring stuff, also trying to get the podcast out on time, but I HAVE been following all the news through Twitter and other venues, so I'm not totally disconnected! And as *ALL* of you might have heard already from aaaaaaall around the internet, there's a lot of excitement in the Moonieverse because we now have official info about the highly anticipated S.H. Figurarts and also a bunch of official pics! Most of you might have seen these already but they're still an eye candy and worthy to re-post. Not only that, but we also have a release date!! This is a huge huge deal because it is the first official figure to come out of Japan for the 20th Anniversary. I mean, they even updated the always neglected Sailor Moon Channel for crying out loud! XD Check out the Channel ad! Doesn't Usagi look ahmazing?
The Figuarts Facebook and other sources have confirmed the figure will be officially for sale in August of 2013, priced around 4410 yen, (roughly about $43 USD) but many Japan toy sites who deal figures in international markets are starting to offer pre-orders as of right now. Here is a list of places that will offer or are currently offering the Sailor Moon S.H. Figuarts. Keep in mind that I personally have never ordered from these sites, so I cannot speak of the reliability of these shops. You'll just have to go with your instinct and check around to see the store's reputation. As far as I know, all of these are honest, but I don't know about shipping times and costs. Good luck Moonies!
Places to pre-order the Sailor Moon S.H. Figurarts:
More will be added as the appear. Here are a few other pics of the figure that have been popping up in various hobby magazines and other sources. Below also appear pics of Luna who will be included in the set, and also a couple of Usagi's interchangeable face plates, a winky face and a crying face that will only come in the first edition of the figures. So hurry and pre-order yours if you want the little extras! This doll is amazing and I'm sure none of us want to miss out!
So.. yeah, the podcast is late. AGAIN! Hahaha, but there hasn't been much info about the new anime anyway so we mostly focus on answering Moonie questions and get into other topics like the censoring on the Dic version. Also, we talked a bit about the fan-funded Sailor Moon artbook that was shut down (presumably) by Kodansha. Was this a legitimate move on their part or was it a low blow to the fandom? Discover our points of view on this subject!
Notably absent: Comments about the new S.H. Figuarts doll. We now have more pictures and a release date for it, but at the time we recorded this, there was still no announcement. I will update the blog on that topic soon, but for now, enjoy the podcast! :D
We put a lot of effort and passion into each episode, so if you enjoy it or would like to help us spread the word, go ahead and click the "Like" button to show us some Moonie love on Facebook!
Love,
Eku, Brad and Cycyn.
Links to the stuff we talked about coming soon.
For now there is no information yet on when it will be available and if there will be an event at their store for the launch of Talk-Box Mars with the voice actress, but I will share the dates as soon as they come out. I'm assuming Jupiter won't come out until the end of 2013 or early 2014, but it's still exciting to see these DVDs for Latin America have been consistent and the designs are amazing! At least the anime is moving forward in SOME places (looking your way, Japan!). More info as it comes out.
UPDATE: We have a video preview! :D! Mars' voice actress Monica Manjarrez is speculatively providing her voice for the "talk action" on the box. Her voice has changed a bit, but you can still hear the Rei Hino in there. YAAAY! :D
