Where, oh where, has our Sailor Stars gone?
03/24/05
: The hottest rumor in the Sailormoon community since at least the end of the dubbed run of Sailormoon SuperS on Cartoon Network concerns the release of the final series, Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon SailorStars, in North America. With the first four seasons having been released dubbed into English as well as subtitled, fans are wondering what will become of the final series. Pioneer, the company releasing the S and SuperS series on DVD and VHS, has only said they will deal with Stars when they are finished with the SuperS releases. They completed in mid-2003, but there has been no further response. ADV, who has the right to the first series and R, has supposedly been working on getting the rights but is still caught up in the corporate issues.Obviously, such mystery surrounding the release has been sending the rumor mill into a frenzy, as fans in North America are anxiously awaiting the release of the final series and go wild over any news bit dealing with the series, no matter how dubious the veracity. According to Animenation.net, the show is being held up due to the content of the final series:
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Q: I was wondering why we can't have Sailor Moon Stars in either US or Canada?
A: The 200 episode long Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon TV series is divided into 5 TV seasons. The first two seasons, Sailormoon and Sailormoon R (episodes 1-46 & 47-89) are presently available in America in dubbed and heavily censored versions, and will soon be released by AD Vision in uncut, subtitled DVD boxed sets. The third and fourth seasons, Sailormoon S (episodes 90-127) and Sailormoon SS (episodes 128-166) are available in unedited bilingual format from Pioneer. Episodes 167-200, the Sailormoon Sailorstars season, however, has never been released in America in any format. AD Vision general manager Matt Greenfield revealed, during at least the Fanimecon convention last April, that Toei Animation of Japan is hesitant to allow American distribution of the Sailorstars season for a number of reasons. The Sailorstars episodes prominently feature the Sailor Star Lights, three female Sailor Soldiers who disguise themselves by transforming into teen boys and reverting to their original female appearance only when they use their cosmic sailor powers. The lesbian romance between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune is virtually undeniable in the Sailorstars season. Although not graphic, Sailormoon appears nude through a significant portion of the final two episodes. And finally, the Sailorstars season is much darker and apocalyptic that usual for Sailormoon, featuring the deaths of numerous main characters. (But, of course there's a happy ending. This is Sailormoon we're talking about, after all.) According to Mr. Greenfield, Toei Animation is simply afraid that the potentially controversial sexual innuendo and themes in the Sailorstars season may tarnish the mainstream American perception of Sailormoon as non-controversial, non-offensive animation suitable for all ages and hurt sales of Sailormoon videos and merchandise in America. However, there's always a possibility that they may be persuaded otherwise, and Sailormoon Sailorstars may come to America someday. |
During July of 2002, an e-mail was sent to The Sailor Senshi Page, supposedly from Cloverway, and began wildly circulating the
web. The e-mail actually contains almost no details about the dubbing, saying only that they're still
trying to get it dubbed and they don't have the rights yet. According to Jackie Chiang of the Sailor Senshi Page,
the IP address leads right back to their servers. The IP address is something that cannot be faked. She does
not claim to know why she was sent an e-mail, but apparently the SOS has been livid about the
e-mails and has accused her site of inventing it. While the veracity of the e-mail is in doubt,
there is no doubt that The SSP would not be involved in inventing and spreading false information.
The e-mail, taken from the Sailor Senshi Page:
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Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 15:59:40 -0700 From: "Cloverway, Inc." (sailormoon@cloverway.com) Reply-to: sailormoon@cloverway.com Organization: Cloverway, Inc. To: airashii@airashii.org Subject: SailorMoon SailorStars Of our consideration: I reviewed your web page after receiving an e-mail from a fan. I can relate to NOT WANTING to receive any more e-mails asking about the dubbing of SailorMoon SailorStars; I get those abundantly. I would really appreciated if you can paste this information on your page regarding the dubbing of the series; hopefully the fans will stop asking about it for a while and keep their fingers crossed: We have been receiving calls from fans and fan clubs inquiring about the status of Sailor Moon Stars. To this date, the situation remains the same, Until the author, publisher, and producer company reach an agreement, we cannot proceed with the dubbing of the series. We are hoping that the negotiations are favorable so that we can launch Sailor Moon Stars in the United States. This is a very long and complicated process and has been going on for almost two years now; please bear with us. We assure you that the company that we represent (Toei Animation) is doing everything possible to reach a favorable decision and be able to license Sailor Moon Stars in all pending territories all over the world. We thank you and all the fans for your patience and understanding. Sincerly, Cloverway, Inc. FYI, I am attaching a file (with very low resolution images, sorry, I'm unauthorized to send high-res) created for presentation purposes. I know that you’re aware of all this information but consider it like a synopsis of the SailorMoon Stars. Comment: The names are tentative and would probably change. e.g. Mini Mini Moon is not an attractive name for the character. Thank you for your kind attention, Cloverway, Inc. |
Meanwhile, Anime News Service reported in August 2002 that they had contacted Cloverway and gotten
a similar response as in the letter above.
For a brief period in the late summer of 2003, rumors began to spread of someone seeing Cartoon Network run one short advertisement for Stars very late at night. This got a few hopes up despite the fact that only one person had actually claimed to see it. Hopes were dashed yet again when said person finally admitted they'd made it up.
Needless to say, no matter what you're hearing, Sailor Stars is STILL stuck in Japan, not for a lack of money or fan support, but due to some corporate wrangling. Things took a turn for the worst when ADV's license to the first two seasons of Sailormoon expired in April of 2004, and they had apparently been given no options to renew by Toei. Geneon's license for the movies expired as well in 2004, again with no option for renewal. The same is expected for the S and SuperS series sometime this year. Since the licenses are disappearing in North America, it's rather unlikely that any North American release of Sailor Stars is on the near horizon. This site will continue to report on the latest information dealing with the status of Stars in North America (be it dub or sub) in order to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the final season.