So if you were sleeping this Friday morning like I was, you might have missed the exciting news coming out of France’s Japan Expo.  It seems it was announced that a new Sailor Moon anime series is in the works.

Now, from what I’ve been seeing, there are a lot of conflicting reports on what exactly is going on.   

What little is fully known is that the new anime, which is going to be released worldwide come the summer of 2013, is that the show will be based closer to the manga.  This is at least a collaboration from publisher Kodansha and creator Naoko Takeuchi, so we’re at least looking at the manga proper and not someone elses interpretation on how the story should be told, or how the story will end.

Now onto the conflicting information.

It seems someone on twitter is watching the live stream from the net.  They’re “translating” the information and posting little pieces here and there from their twitter.   There are also two online news sites reporting on the information, all to varying degrees of translated “fact.”

Now the biggest news seems to be that Toei Animation has the rights to the new series.  Where this information is coming from is anyone’s guess, as even the sites that include this info are stating that this was not mentioned at the official press release.

Also, while original voice actors for Usagi and Mamoru, Kotono Mitsuishi and Tohru Furuya, were on hand for the announcement, and stated they hope to work on the new series, there has been nothing reported that they will be reprising their roles.

Idol group Momoiro Clover Z is reported to be doing the music for whatever opening theme is chosen.  They were special guests at Japan Expo and through a live feed to Japan, were able to be part of the 20th anniversary Sailor Moon special.  They preformed the original opening theme, Moonlight Densetsu, while in a sort of sailor magical girl cosplay.  Rumor from the twitter translator states that they will be doing the opening theme for the new series, a song called “Otome no Iro ni” or “The color of a maiden.”  Again, this has as of yet not been officially announced on any press release from Japan.

The other rumor is that this telling is geared to the old fans of the series and that one of the original directors of the anime, Kunihiko Ikuhara, will be doing a darker more adult telling.  How this then follows the manga, no one knows, as while the manga wasn’t always bubbly and joy, it was also not dark and adult.

Now, what does all this mean?  Basically it means that fans have something to hope for in the upcoming year.  Personally I’m hoping this is done well.  As a fan of the manga and the original anime, all I’m really hoping is that I don’t end up hating this redo.  I’m also dreading the elitism that may develop between diehard fans of the original series and those that come into the series with this new anime.  It wouldn’t be the first time that fans themselves screwed up a good thing.

Edit:

Like the good Moonie fan that I am, I’ve been following this story this whole weekend.  Finally a bit of the translation comes out (though I’m still waiting for the fully subbed version of the conference so I can squee with joy.)

Anyway, some of the rumors have been announced as fact, and new information has come up from all of this wonderfulness.

First off, we find out that the main reason for so many differences between anime and manga is that they were basically launched at the same time.  Conception of idea to anime launch was only 6 months.  Another secret that was revealed was that although the anime did really well, the toy sales weren’t so hot, and the series was actually scheduled to be cancelled.  Luckily the release of the Moon Wand had sales booming, and gave them the extra revenue to continue on.

Next, while Momoiro Clover Z is going to be doing at least the opening, and possibly the closing theme, there is no news as to what the song will actually be.  Assumptions were made that because they sang their new single, that it would be the theme, but nothing has been stated, and since the song is already in use for the new Pokemon Movie, this at least seems to put this part of the rumor to bed.

Now, while it’s still weak, the conference itself only had the voice actors stating they wished the new anime luck, and that they hoped to be a part of it.  Kotono Mitsuishi’s latest blog post, however, has her talking about how she has been looking forward to getting back into a lead role, and how she hopes she doesn’t mess this up.  So it looks as if at least Usagi will have the same voice.  From what little I’ve been reading, it does look like Tohru Furuya has also come back and will be Mamoru.  We can only hope that more of the old cast is brought back as well.

One rumor that can be put to rest is that the series will be geared towards older fans.  This seems to have been mistranslated.  The series is going to be based on the manga, and it’s hoped that the older, meaning the original fans, will enjoy the series now, just as much as they did when it first aired.

Now for stuff that I didn’t post about…merchandise.

It seems that with all this new excitement over the series, that more anniversary merch will be coming out.  While I don’t know how much of this stuff will actually make it passed the Japanese shores translated for the over seas fans, it’s still worth it as collectible stuff goes.  Starting in October, the manga will again be rereleased, this time in color.  Also, at least the first volume of Codename Sailor V will get a color release.
Also starting in October is a rerelease of the original anime.  One DVD a month will be released and each DVD will feature a different character on the cover, and it seems that a full bio work up will be included in the DVD as well.  Whether this means that it’s a full series release, or that each character DVD will just be particular senshi centric episodes isn’t detailed.

New merchandise from the old series is also rumored to be part of this “nostalgia” release.

As for the new anime, it will start in summer of 2013 and hopefully to a worldwide release. No word on if this will just be a subbed release, or if they’re going to be working with dubbing studios to do a fully translated world release.  While I assume it’s a subbed release, I can at least hope for both.
I am still waiting on a fully subbed version of the conference, and when I can finally see that, I hope to have more details in the information I’ve been able to bring.  However, this is still an exciting development!