Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal

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Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal (commonly referred to as Sailor Moon Crystal) is a next-generation Sailor Moon anime series adapted more faithfully to the manga. It is the second animated adaption of the series and, like the previous animated adaption of the 1990s, it is made by Toei Animation.

Summary

Season One: Dark Kingdom

Usagi Tsukino was an average girl who, after rescuing a cat, Luna, realizes she was the Sailor Senshi, Sailor Moon. Luna tells Usagi that she is a champion of justice and she needs to find the Moon Princess and the Legendary Silver Crystal before the enemy known as the Dark Kingdom finds it. In her fight against the Dark Kingdom, she meets new allies, Ami Mizuno or Sailor Mercury, Rei Hino-Sailor Mars and Makoto Kino-Sailor Jupiter. She also meets the mysterious Tuxedo Mask, who is searching for the legendary Silver Crystal. The Senshi are joined by Minako Aino-or the famous Sailor V who claims to be the Moon Princess. As the battles continue, Usagi begins to get closer to Tuxedo Mask, or Mamoru Chiba, and after he is mortally wounded in one battle, the the Silver Crystal is released from within itself to Sailor Moon, revealing her to be the real reincarnated Moon Princess, Serenity, and Mamoru revealing to be the reincarnation of Serenity's love, Endymion. Shortly after, Tuxedo Mask is kidnapped and brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom. Sailor Moon and the Senshi locate the Dark Kingdom and after freeing Tuxedo Mask from their control, Sailor Moon is able to use the Silver Crystal to destroy its leader forever, bringing about a seeming peace, until a little girl appears from out of no where.

Season Two: Black Moon

The mysterious girl called Usagi, or Chibiusa, who appeared from no where demanded the Silver Crystal from Usagi and later incorporated herself into Usagi's family. Meanwhile, a shady group, who call themselves the Black Moon Clan appeared as well. Following the advise of a shadowy figure named Wiseman, they planned to invade Earth and find and kill Chibiusa. Sailor Mars, Mercury, and Juptier get abducted by the Black Moon trying to stop them. Sailor Moon, Venus and Tuxedo Mask are told by Chibiusa that she is from the future and only they can save her home from the Black Moon Clan. Chibiusa used the Time Key to open the path to the future, where they meet the guardian of the Time Gate and Chibiusa's friend, Sailor Pluto. When they reach the future known as Crystal Tokyo, they find it in ruins from the Black Moon's attacks. Sailor Moon is kidnapped by Demande of the Black Moon. King Endymion, Tuxedo Mask's future self reveals the history of the Black Moon, its base on Nemesis, the tenth planet, and that Mamoru and Usagi are married and Chibiusa is their daughter. Chibiusa ran into the Time Gate with Tuxedo Mask following behind, causing them both to be lost in the time stream, and eventually brainwashed by Wiseman. Sailor Moon is able to free herself and her fellow Senshi from Nemesis and they escape to Earth. Chibiusa, now Black Lady, believing she was not loved in her home, attacked Crystal Tokyo and Wiseman's true identity is revealed as an evil entity known as Death Phantom, who had merged with Nemesis years ago. Demande, having gone mad, was able to obtain the Silver Crystals of past and future and threatened to touch them together, which would end all existance, and was stopped when Sailor Pluto stopped time, but at the cost of her own life. Seeing her only friend die caused Chibiusa to break free from Death Phantom's control and transformed into Sailor Chibi Moon. Sailor Moon, and Sailor Chibi Moon use their power to destory Death Phantom. The Senshi go back to the past and Chibiusa shortly returned from the future to receive Senshi training.

Season Three: Infinity

A few months have passed since the defeat of Death Phantom, and Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako, and Chibiusa have all enjoyed their daily lives in peace and harmony. With the third evolution of their standard Sailor forms and much stronger elemental abilities, the four Inner Sailor Soldiers are prepared for anything. Chibiusa is glad to train in order to become the sixth Sailor Guardian of the team by transforming into Sailor Chibi Moon, and using the mystical moonlight-related abilities of her own mystical weapon- the Pink Moon Stick. With the mystical Cosmic Heart Compact in her possession, Usagi now transforms into the third evolution of her regular Sailor form and is even stronger than ever with the Spiral Heart Moon Rod as her newest weapon. However, new forces arise out the blue, stealing peoples' pure hearts using vile monsters called Diamon. In addition to this new threat, two new mysterious Sailor Soldiers appear, but have ambiguous intentions. To make matters worse, Mamoru and Rei begin to have vividly recurring nightmares about the annihilation of the world, where the Messiah obliterates everything and everyone with a long sickle-like weapon.

As new mysterious and secrets are brought to light, these new villains (who are called the Death Busters) are harnessing a great power within someone that will lead the Earth toward annihilation, which requires the mighty power of the Holy Grail and the supremely powerful Silver Crystal held by Chibiusa. Also, another Sailor Guardian is introduced; one who is considered the strongest and most feared of all.

Cast

Main Characters

Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon - Kotono Mitsuishi - Stephanie Sheh
Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury - Hisako Kanemoto - Kate Higgins
Rei Hino/Sailor Mars - Rina Sato - Cristina Valenzuela
Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter - Ami Koshimizu - Amanda C. Miller
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus - Shizuka Ito - Cherami Leigh
Luna - Ryo Hirohashi - Michelle Ruff
Artemis - Youhei Oobayashi - Johnny Yong Bosch
Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask - Kenji Nojima - Robbie Daymond
Chibiusa Tsukino/Sailor Chibi Moon - Misato Fukuen - Sandy Fox
Sailor Pluto/Setsuna Meioh - Ai Maeda - Veronica Taylor
Sailor Uranus/Haruka Tenoh - Junko Minagawa - Erica Mendez
Sailor Neptune/Michiru Kaioh - Sayaka Ohara - Lauren Landa
Sailor Saturn/Hotaru Tomoe - Yukiyo Fujii - Christine Marie Cabanos

Dark Kingdom

Queen Beryl - Misa Watanabe - Cindy Robinson
Queen Metaria - Yoko Matsuoka - Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
Jadeite - Daisuke Kishio - Todd Haberkorn
Nephrite - Kosuke Toriumi - Liam O'Brien
Zoisite - Masaya Matsukaze - Lucien Dodge
Kunzite - Eiji Takemoto - Patrick Seitz

Black Moon Clan

Prince Demande - Mamoru Miyano - Matthew Mercer
Saphir - Tsubasa Yonaga - Greg Felden
Rubeus - Hiroki Takahashi - Steve Cannon
Esmeraude - Houko Kuwashima - Rena S. Mandel
Wiseman - Hiroshi Iwasaki - Steven M. Kramer
Koan - Satsuki Yukino - Eden Riegel
Berthier - Rumi Kasahara - Cindy Robinson
Petz - Wasabi Mizuta - Jessica Gee
Calaveras - Tomoe Hanba - Cassandra Lee Morris

Death Busters

Souichi Tomoe - Takuya Kirimoto -
Mistress 9 - Christine Marie Cabanos
Pharaoh 90 - Takaya Hashi
Germatoid -

Witches 5

Kaorinite - Hikari Yono - Tara Platt
Eudial - Chiaki Takahashi - Erin Fitzgerald
Viluy - Rina Honizumi - Cricket Brown
Mimete - Yuki Nagaku - Kira Buckland
Tellu - Naomi Ohzora - Laura Post
Cyprine & Ptilol - Umeka Shouji - Johanna Luis

Supporting Characters

Ikuko Tsukino - Yuko Mizutani
Shingo Tsukino - Seira Ryu
Kenji Tsukino - Mitsuaki Madono
Naru Osaka - Satomi Sato
Haruna Sakurada - Akemi Kanda
Motoki Furuhata - Hiroshi Okamoto
Gurio Umino - Daiki Yamashita
Yumiko - Hyang-Ri Kim
Kuri - Yukiko Morishita
Mayumi Osaka - Sanae Kobayashi
Queen Serenity - Maomi Kiyoama
Princess Serenity -
Neo Queen Serenity -

Staff

Original Creator - Naoko Takeuchi
Director - Munehisa Sakai
Series Script Supervisor - Yuuji Kobayashi
Animation Producer - Toei Animation
Theme Song Performance - Momoiro Clover Z
Character designer - Yukie Sako
Series composer - Yasuharu Takanashi
Art directors - Takashi Kurahashi and Yumi Hosaka
Animation directors - Kozue Komatsu
Soundtrack production - King Record Company, Limited
Color Design - Kunio Tsujita and Tomoko Kobiki
Director of Photography - Takeo Ogiwara

Production

Announcement Of The Anime, First Delay, And First New Estimated Premiere

The newly modified anime series was first announced at a 20th anniversary event streamed on niconico on July 6, 2012. There, it was announced that it would premiere in the summer of 2013. It was also announced that Momoiro Clover Z will be singing the theme song for the anime.^[1]

It was officially announced in spring 2013 that the Sailor Moon anime that was supposed to start airing in the summer of 2013 was going to be delayed until further notice.^[2]

In July 2013, the new Sailor Moon anime was officially estimated to premiere in November 2013 - January 2014. Nakayoshi Magazine announced that the series was officially in production followed by those dates of expected premiere.^[3]

Second Estimated Premiere, Second Delay and Third Estimated Premiere

During the second 20th Anniversary event on August 4, 2013, it was revealed that the new Sailor Moon anime will air in December 2013, and that it would be streamed internationally online via niconico. It was also revealed that Momoiro Clover Z will be doing both the opening and the ending for the new anime.

Sailor Moon Crystal image — Sailor Moon's standard Sailor from in the *Dark Kingdom* saga; first half of the second anime series.

Later, it was announced on October 17 that the anime will be subtitled in 10 languages.

It was confirmed January 9th that the anime will be premiering in July 2014. Before the announcement, Atsutoshi Umezawa confirmed in a press release that the new anime will not remake the old anime, but adapt from the manga.

Black Moon arc

At the Animate Girls Festival on November 7, 2014, the second half of Sailor Moon Crystal was announced and a key visual was shown as well. The second half, which premiered in January 2015, covers the Black Moon saga of the manga.

Later, Chibiusa's voice actress and Sailor Pluto's voice actress, as well as the new ending for the second half of the anime, were all announced on December 27, 2014, during an event.^[4] On January 26, 2015, the character designs and the cast for the members of the Black Moon Clan (excluding the Spectre Sisters) were all shown and announced on the official website for the twentieth anniversary project.^[5]

Toei Plans Announcements After Last Episode

At the end of Act 26, in place of the "To Be Continued" screen card, a "See You Soon" message was displayed instead. Following the episode itself, a staff member posted an image on the official Sailor Moon Twitter account, reading: "Regarding future developments, we plan to post sequential announcements on the 20th Anniversary Project's official website! Please look forward to it!!". The Twitter account added that the television broadcast of the second season (the Black Moon arc) is still continuing.

Toei Animation Europe had posted a news article in April that said, "A second season is currently under production in Japan where the broadcast will start this summer." Toei Europe did not say if the "second season" it was referring to is the television broadcast of the second 13 episodes of the original series (which just ended its online stream) or a brand new season. Toei did not respond to ANN's requests for clarification at that time.^[6]

Sailor Moon Crystal Renewed

On Monday September 28th at 11:30pm JST at the end of the TV broadcasting in Japan, Toei announced that the 3rd phase of Sailor Moon Crystal which will encompass the third arc of the manga, Infinity, so far. Just as the official site had stated, a special screening of the first episode on Sailor Neptune's birthday took place on March 6 in Japan. However the official broadcast will start in April 4 2016.

The series has a new opening and ending theme for the Infinity arc. The new opening is “New Moon ni Aishite” (In love with the New Moon) by Etsuko Yakushimaru. The new ending theme is “Eternal Eternity” and will be sung by the voices of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, Junko Minagawa and Sayaka Ohara.

A notable information from the screening of the first episode is that it contained only half of the story of the first manga chapter of the Infinity arc, the next half probably continuing in the second episode. This could also mean that the Infinity arc of the anime might have 24 episodes, each manga chapter equalling to two episodes in the anime. As such, the manner of naming each anime episode exactly as the corresponding manga chapter. ^[7]

Episode List

Season One: Dark Kingdom

#	Season Ep. #	Act	Episode Title	Japan Airdate	USA Airdate
1			"Usagi, Sailor Moon"	July 5, 2014	November 20, 2015
2			"Ami, Sailor Mercury"	July 19, 2014	November 20, 2015
3			"Rei, Sailor Mars"	August 2, 2014	November 27, 2015
4			"Masquerade Dance Party"	August 16, 2014	December 4, 2015
5			"Makoto, Sailor Jupiter"	September 6, 2014	December 11, 2015
6			"Tuxedo Mask..."	September 20, 2014	December 18, 2015
7			"Mamoru Chiba, Tuxedo Mask"	October 4, 2014	December 25, 2015
8			"Minako, Sailor V"	October 18, 2014	January 1, 2016
9			"Serenity, Princess"	November 1, 2014	January 8, 2016
10			"Moon"	November 15, 2014	January 15, 2016
11			"Reunion, Endymion"	December 6, 2014	January 22, 2016
12			"Enemy, Queen Metaria"	December 20, 2014	January 29, 2016
13			"Final Battle, Reincarnation"	January 3, 2015	February 5, 2016

Season Two: Black Moon

#	Act	Season Ep. #	Episode Title	Japan Airdate	USA Airdate
14		1	"Conclusion and Commencement, Petite Étrangere"	January 17, 2015	February 12, 2016
15		2	"Infiltration, Sailor Mars"	February 7, 2015	February 19, 2016
16		3	"Abduction, Sailor Mercury"	February 21, 2015	February 26, 2016
17		4	"Secret, Sailor Jupiter"	March 7, 2015	March 4, 2016
18		5	"Invasion, Sailor Venus"	March 21, 2015	March 11, 2016
19		6	"Time Warp, Sailor Pluto"	April 4, 2015	March 18, 2016
20		7	"Crystal Tokyo, King Endymion"	April 18, 2015	March 25, 2016
21		8	"Complication, Nemesis"	May 2, 2015	April 1, 2016
22		9	"Hidden Agenda, Nemesis"	May 16, 2015	April 8, 2016
23		10	"Covert Maneuvers, Wiseman"	June 6, 2015	April 15, 2016
24		11	"Attack, Black Lady"	June 20, 2015	April 22, 2016
25		12	"Showdown, Death Phantom"	July 4, 2015	April 29, 2016
26		13	"Replay, Never Ending"	July 18, 2015	May 6, 2016

Season Three: Infinity

#	Season Ep. #	Act	Episode Title	Japan Airdate	USA Airdate
27	1	27	"Infinity 1, Premonition (Part 1)"	April 4, 2016	TBA
28	2	27	"Infinity 1, Premonition (Part 2)"	April 11, 2016	TBA
29	3	28	"Infinity 2, Ripples"	April 18, 2016	TBA
30	4	29	"Infinity 3, Two New Soldiers"	April 25, 2016	TBA
31	5	30	"Infinity 4, Sailor Uranus Haruka Tenou, Sailor Neptune Michiru Kaiou	May 2, 2016	TBA
32	6	31	"Infinity 5, Sailor Pluto, Setsuna Meiou"	May 9, 2016	TBA
33	7	32	"Infinity 6, Three Guardians"	May 16, 2016	TBA
34	8	33	"Infinity 7, Transformation, Super Sailor Moon"	May 23, 2016	TBA
35	9	34	"Infinity 8, Infinite Labyrinth 1"	May 30, 2016	TBA
36	10	35	"Infinity 9, Infinite Labyrinth 2"	June 6, 2016	TBA
37	11	36	"Infinity 10, Infinite, Upper Atmosphere"	June 13, 2016	TBA
38	12	37	"Infinity 11, Infinite, Judge"	June 20, 2016	TBA
39	13	38	"Infinity 12, Infinite, Journey"	June 27, 2016	TBA