Good news to all fans of Sailor Moon based in Japan. The Japanese shōjo manga series will be coming to YouTube.
According to an article by Crunchyroll, the creators of the anime are preparing for the release of the two-part film Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie.
Part of their promotional preparation is to stream the first three seasons of the Sailor Moon series on the franchise’s official YouTube channel. Fans must take note though that the free streaming will only be available in Japan.
Total of 127 episodes
The episodes will be released starting April 24. It will not be coming out all once though.
There will be 10 episodes each week with a total of 127 episodes from the three series. The last day of release will be on July 23.
The first series, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, has 46 episodes and aired in 1992 to 1993. The second one, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R, has 43 episodes and aired in 1993 to 1994. The last series, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S, has 38 episodes and aired for a year also, 1994 to 1995.
Movie promotion
The anime’s producer Toei Animation intentionally decided to start the weekly marathon to refresh fans’ memory of the events from the last three series.
The upcoming Sailor Moon movie is going to based on the fourth “Dead Moon” arc of Naoko Takeuchi’s original Sailor Moon manga.
Watching the first three series beforehand will not only bring nostalgia to the 90’s kids. It also allows the viewers to intertwine the story plots when they watch the upcoming film.
“Dead Moon” was also adapted into the fourth TV anime series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon SuperS, which has 34 episodes that air dated from 1995 to 1996.
Sad to say, it’s not included in the free streaming on YouTube in Japan. But of course, the upcoming Eternal The Movie will cover that one.
The movie is directed by Chiaki Kon while creator Takeuchi is the supervisor of the movie. Kazuko Tadano, the original character designer of the animated series, has also reprised her role for the franchise.
About the series
The Sailor Moon series first follows the adventure of a middle school student named Usagi Tsukino. She became Sailor Moon after meeting a magical talking cat named Luna, who also gave her powers to turn into her alter ego.
Her fellow soldiers are Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury), Rei Hino (Sailor Mars), Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter), and Minako Aino (Sailor Venus).
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie is set to hit theaters in Japan on Sept. 11.
Featured image courtesy of Kanesue/Flickr