Naoko Takeuchi, as part of her monthly communication with younger Japanese fans, has been revealing recent developments concerning a new Sailormoon television series.

What, No Screen Grabs? We would love to have screengrabs from Naoko's site to help illustrate this story but Bandai has posted some pretty clear restrictions IN ENGLISH! (Well, Japlish sorta but we know what they mean.) Warning: All rights reserved. Copyright and other proprietary in the editorial material, artwork, photographs, sound recordings, database and other material provided on this Website are owned by Bandai Co., Ltd., its affiliates and/or any other person(s) who may have such right in the material. Unauthorized duplication or distribution is strictly prohibited. And then, for some reason, the Japanese get treated to another special warning which we have translated as: On the content of this website, we use Emuken's electronic watermark technology, "Lucentmark," which enables us to check on the copyright information.

Ms. Takeuchi included this bit of information in an October 2002 posting in the "Naoko-hime no oheya" ("Naoko's Secret Room") section of her Bandai hosted website (an image on the news page says "Princess Room" where the following appeared), "Thanks for your email asking for a new Sailormoon series. I probably won't be able to run a new Sailormoon manga but I, too, would really like to see Sailor team in motion on TV. It may take a while but I wish to give you good news someday. I will try my best. If you have any ideas on the new story line, do let me hear." ( A slightly different translation appears on Alex Glover's site: The Manga of Takeuchi Naoko.) This was the first time (that we know of) where Naoko has solicited Japanese fans for story ideas.

Then in January's "New Year" message, Naoko wrote, "Soshite kotoshi wa sailormoon no moshikashitara big news ga arukamo! (kotoshi kouhan). Kono koonaa de oshirase shite iku yotei nanode (futeiki dayo) ohima na kata wa zehizehi hime no page mo mitene." We have translated this to mean, "And this year maybe there is going to be big news about sailormoon. (In the last half of the year.) We are planning to make an announcement (unscheduled) in this corner. If you have time, please check my page." So although she doesn't say what kind of news this might be, it has been generally assumed in Japan that this concerns a new television series - though there is no confirmation of this.

English speaking fans should not send any email to Naoko's site unless they know the Japanese language (translation programs can easily produce messages that are unintentionally offensive). Ms. Takeuchi's website, messages, and responses are geared for Japanese children (under 13 years of age) and not for any other language or age group. Furthermore, too much email may crash the server(s) (with all those English language addresses pointing out the rogue nation).

No fans, English or Japanese speaking, should submit any new story ideas for Sailormoon at this time. Naoko's request for story ideas was made back in October and ended in November when that request got archived.

The SOS delayed the reporting of this story, in part, to give Japanese children the opportunity to communicate before the possibility of Ms. Takeuchi being besieged by hundreds of indecipherable messages from America. Besides, English speaking fans have already had the chance to suggest story ideas back in 1998. Also, it's been generally understood that her website has been a convenient, quiet way for Naoko to informally leak information (which no fan should want to disturb).

In hindsight, it becomes clearer why it has taken so long for another series to become a possibility (and why live action may be considered). Naoko Takeuchi, by plan or by happenstance, has waited until certain rights reverted back to her.

Recent Naoko Timeline 1998 - Leaks complaints about Kodansha and switches to Shuu Ei Sha. 1999 - Gets married. Agrees to Sailormoon World campaign with Kodansha, Bandai & Toei. 2000 - Kodansha publishes a Settei Gengashuu. Naoko gives birth to a boy. 2001 - Keeps Shuu Ei Sha and adds Kodansha which publishes Toki*Meka. 2002 - Forms PNP. Kodansha publishes Love Witch.

Publishing Rights

For the last few years Kodansha tried to renew the publishing rights (and all of the ancillary rights which spring forth from such rights) with Ms. Takeuchi. The original publishing contract concerning Sailormoon started in 1992 and was for 10 years. (Sailor V started in 1991.)

Naoko had what most believed to be a good relationship with the publisher until around the time the final manga and anime series were completed. Some associated with the property felt, "...Once she had the time to take a break also became the time for her to have a fight." Ms. Takeuchi took issue with how she had been treated and leaked it to her fans. Naoko, it now seems, gave up on the company as far as Sailormoon was concerned as far back as 1998.

Late 2000

While expecting a baby, Naoko was considering a return to drawing a manga and was tired of (or disappointed by the reaction to) her autobiographical works. After giving birth to a boy, her husband, Yoshihiro Togashi, documented the event in his own autobiographical manga published in Jump magazine.

2001

There were more details about the birth in Naoko's story, "Hime to Ouji no Baby Punch," which appeared in the January 2001 issue of Shuu Ei Sha's (which in this English usage should be spelled "Shueisha's") Young You magazine.

With the publication (one year earlier) of a Settei Gengashuu on Sailormoon, and other later, unpublicized actions, Kodansha seemed to have met enough of Ms. Takeuchi's demands so that she could return to the company but under very different conditions. She gave the company the rights to reprint old Sailormoon mangas and to publish new (so far, non-Sailormoon) mangas. Kodansha would continue to administer some of the old ancillary rights established under the previous contract (1992-2002) but not the anime which is now administrated partly by Toei and TV Asahi (which includes Sailorstars).

Naoko would receive, in early 2002, the right to administer new ancillary rights to Sailormoon and in 2001, (this has not been confirmed) all of her new manga as well. This meant that Ms. Takeuchi would decide, among other rights:

• Which production companies (anime or live action) are used.
• Which toy companies get which products.
• Which game companies get which licenses.
• The right to decide how to change ongoing agreements.

In short, Naoko would make (or delegate) the decision of how much the different ancillary rights would be worth, how long they would last and what controls she would have. Naoko would now decide how her creations were to be produced in other media (anime, live action, theatrical, etc.). Naoko (or a delegate) would now have to seek out and/or negotiate with any new, interested companies.

All of the above (and more) was originally handled by Kodansha, which would submit most of these plans for her approval. Depending upon the deal, Kodansha received a fee and/or percentage of the money due to Ms. Takeuchi.

The transition was not smooth, with Kodansha informing companies with expiring agreements that they (Kodansha) could not renew them. Kodansha told companies that Takeuchi Naoko would soon have those rights and that they should contact her. It seemed to us that sometimes Kodansha gave the companies the right address or phone number and sometimes not. It's also highly likely that Naoko wasn't prepared for all the work involved and, in several instances, may not have returned phone calls or letters to interested parties.

The SOS started to receive more than the usual number of inquiries from potential licensees starting in late 2001 and was able to assist only a few. We were not able to confirm exactly what was happening until we pressed Kodansha on the matter in 2002 (and by that time, Kodansha seemed so infuriated with the situation that they may have stopped providing a forwarding address or phone number for Naoko altogether). (They might have been tired of doing her work and not getting paid for it.) Indeed, we had started to muse that maybe we should go into business with Naoko in creating a website that listed all the available licensing rights and whom to contact. But some of us had schoolwork or had to do the lawn (and we didn't want to miss summer vacation) so nothing came of it. But briefly back to 2001.....

The first new manga under the agreement was Toki*Meka, the story of a 12 year old girl genius who builds a female robot. Only one chapter was published in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine because of the lack of public interest.

Our Favorite Guinea Pig Or should that be canary in a coal mine? One of the companies that the SOS had very little contact with (concerning Naoko and PNP) was the Guardians Of Order - which was just the way we like it! Why? Because we needed to report on one company as an example but keep them innocent of providing any information to us. (In fact, our non-investigation unintentionally prompted the company to make a public comment on the situation months later.) The Guardians Of Order is a terrific (and very public) example of the problems with Sailor Moon licensing since they obtained publishing licenses (like the Resource book from Kodansha and Toei) and certain games (like the CCG & Button Men from Kodansha, Toei and DiC). Although the difference between the two may only seem to be DiC, the licenses and approvals are worlds apart. Watching what gets approved, how it gets approved, and how the product comes out reveals a lot of what is going on back in Kodansha and with Naoko Takeuchi. One needs to look no further than when the Guardians announced that they could not go ahead with expanding the very successful line of books and games. In the past when one of these areas had a problem it usually meant a content, payment, or contractual issue but when everything suddenly came to a halt - it was like a canary in a coal mine. It was the signal that Kodansha was losing the rights and that PNP was dropping the ball.

2002

Naoko then started Love Witch, the story of a 13 year old girl who becomes a witch. This had a better run with 3 chapters and 1 off-shoot published, but as of this writing (January 2003) seems to have stopped.

But the year truly started with the ancillary rights to Sailormoon expiring and Naoko, finally, forming the Japanese equivalent of a DBA ("Doing Business As" - a fictional name for an individual which is not a partnership or corporation). Naoko created PNP, which stands for "Princess Naoko Planning." The business usage of the word "planning" is a very common practice in Japan but is usually reserved for when different partnerships or corporations want to get together on a project without having to swap stock or money.

The fact that Naoko chose the words "Princess Naoko" to help define her business name seemed to surprise none of her former and current business associates but caused more than a few to roll their eyes. Several complained to one of our members of how she (Naoko) now wanted to be in charge of everything and took exception to Naoko's claim that she could get better deals. But even when asked if they could be quoted anonymously, all of them refused for fear of the quote being traced back to them. (Editor's Note: See?! There are no quotes here!)

Many companies and individuals have complained that once PNP took over the rights to Sailormoon that all deals and negotiations stopped. It was not a matter of disagreeing on licenses or contracts but the simple problem of no response to phone calls and proposals. The creation of PNP seemed to have no affect on the situation which started in 2001. PNP does seem to have been able to continue some existing agreements (such as Bandai's Sera-Myu) but not others (such as The Guardians Of Order). To date, we haven't seen a single, completely new deal started and finished by PNP.

And this is one of the reasons why we had to go (again) suddenly slow on our quest for getting Sailorstars dubbed and subtitled into English. The SOS did not want fans to waste their time convincing a network or company to make a commitment only to get the deal killed by PNP's inaction. Even though contractually a deal would still be up to Cloverway/Toei, PNP could still kill the deal by simply failing to approve it.

A really good example of this concerns Sera-Myu. Bandai America directly (or indirectly through Bandai of Japan) wanted to release English subtitled versions of the Japanese Home Videos because of strong consumer interest in the United States (just like with Sailorstars). Bandai, in mid 2002, informally told us that they had to abandon the effort when Toei Animation would not (or could not) negotiate a change in the Sera-Myu deal. The original deal for Sera-Myu was for Japan only, so any change in the deal would need the approval of Ms. Takeuchi.

Toei partly administrated the Sera-Myu deal since the musicals are partly based on elements from their anime productions.

We believe that Toei was completely in favor of making more money but could not get Naoko to agree or to return their calls and letters. In Ms. Takeuchi's defense, we would understand her reluctance to tell one of current business partners, "No." Furthermore, her reasons for not going ahead with a deal could include:

• To wait just another year and make more money (with Toei and Kodansha's percentage expiring).
• To be able to personally oversee the licensing to foreign companies (which would include Bandai America).
• To make sure that an English language version of the live action musicals didn't interfere with an English language version of a live action feature.

Today, this has slightly changed. With an English language version of a live action feature now only a remote possibility, the protection of a live action television series becomes more likely.

We hope that the problems with PNP are being addressed. There are still a number of companies which would like to make deals concerning Sailormoon.

Morning Musume "Morning Musume" has been the most popular all girl music (and idol) group in Japan for the last few years. Starting off with 5 members, the group made its first appearance on the television program Asayan in 1997, losing in a musical talent contest. However, they made such an impression that they (along with 3 new members) released their first album a year later. Their most popular song is the 1999 hit, "Love Machine." Many changes to the group have been made over the years. Today there are 16 girls, with only 2 of the original members left (Natsumi Abe and Kaori Iida, the current group leader). The group endorses products (most notably the chocolate snack "Pocky") on television commercials, appear in print ads, perform on TV shows, make movies, musicals, and give lots and lots of magazine interviews. You cannot escape them in Japan, they appear everywhere. The name "Morning Musume," according to their producer, Tsunku, came in part from "morning set," the English words said in Japanese coffee shop/tea houses to order a special breakfast where you not only get a beverage but also a small salad and some fruit! The idea is that you always get something extra and feel like you got a good deal. "Musume" can mean daughter or girl, but in an all female JPop group it means girl. And just as Sailor Moon Musical is pronounced as "See raa moon myuuzicaru" and then shortened to "Sera-Myu," "Morning Musume" can be contracted to "Momusu." Morning Musume is owned by the production company, "Hello Project" (which has no relation to Sanrio's Hello Kitty). Hello Project has spun off many other girl groups to take advantage of currently being (in Australian terms) the flavor of the month. "Minimoni" is made up of the younger members of Morning Musume. "Tanpopo" and "Sannin Matsuri" are separate groups yet share from the same pool of about 80 girls who all work in the Hello Project groups.

Meanwhile, the favorite pastime of online sites for the last few years has been to be the first to report of new Sailormoon manga stories and anime series. It seems that every so often someone rediscovers some old news and reports it wrong or some deal which turns out to be premature. (Has anyone noticed that this story is not about a new Sailormoon TV series being produced? It is about Naoko wanting to work on one. There is still no final agreement.)

In early May 2002, an online site (now defunct) listed a Sailormoon X series for broadcast in the fall. The listing was noted by a contributor to Anime on DVD.com which then started a flurry of rumors. Meanwhile, other sites in Japan picked up the listing which sparked their own set of rumors. The SOS did not post any of the rumors since we knew they were not true but we also did not refute them as we were a little tired of having to do this sort of thing over and over again.

All of this might have prompted (for the first time) a denial of sorts from Naoko Takeuchi. On Friday, May 17, she posted on her site, "Toei-san, nanka ima atarashii daihon tsukutteru rashii kedo (chinami ni naiyou wa Mugen Gakuen o butai ni shita mono datta) jikai wa zehi yoroshiku," which we translated (but did not post) as, "I heard that Toei is currently working on a new script (by the way the content was about things that happened at Mugen Gakuen) for next time, yoroshiku!"

Mugen Gakuen was the name of the school in the anime series Sailor Moon S and most recently was the subject of a Sera-Myu musical. "Yoroshiku" is a hard word to translate (so we haven't done it). It can mean many different things (and sometimes nothing); in this case it could be translated as, "Please be nice!"

Naoko also wrote about attending a Morning Musume concert (a famous, all girl JPop group that she likes a lot) and revealed that at one time there was a plan to make a live action Sailormoon movie with them. We can guess why a feature wasn't made - it would be over the soundtrack rights. Both properties (Sailormoon and Morning Musume) have had very popular songs with a lot of the same demographic. If they did a project together the total CD sales would not be that much more than what they were each used to getting AND because they'd have to split the profits, they would make far less money.

But Ms. Takeuchi's interest in a live action Sailormoon is clear. Sera-Myu has been very successful for Naoko (and she doesn't have to change or approve a single drawing). A live action project doesn't have to be with Morning Musume and it doesn't have to be a feature. We don't know what Ms. Takeuchi is considering right now but from other developments (which we can't post) it seems that while she could easily return to anime, the door has been left open for a live action series as well.

Naoko chose her words very carefully: She had "heard" of Toei working on a script (which means she didn't know if it was true and therefore could not have even approved of it) and mentioned an old, dead project (perhaps if that were the cause of some confusion).

We posted, in part, the following on our tickertape the same day Naoko made her posting:

"Ms. Takeuchi may have been prompted to make a statement since a false report on the internet appeared suggesting that a new "Sailormoon" production was to premiere this Fall. New anime series generally do not premiere in Japan in the Fall (they premiere in April). Further, anime series need at least 6 to 9 months to produce before they can air. Toei refuses to claim that any production has started on any "Sailormoon" anime (series, home video, or feature). As we have previously reported, new "Sailormoon" productions have been discussed with Naoko in the past. However, this first public acknowledgment from Naoko may be a signal that she may approve a new production of "Sailormoon" or possibly another property of hers. More premature, false rumors will not help this situation."

Within a few days all the rumors thankfully stopped.

If Live Action: Why A Co-Production Would Be Best Or is the following a flagrant violation of the October 31st deadline? "There's no getting rid of me!" A number of children's television production companies (in Japan and the United States) would probably be very much in favor of seeing a live action Sailormoon series produced - even if they had nothing to do with it. The Go Ranger/Mighty Morphin formula has been done to death and is needlessly expensive. Such shows emphasize action, action, action, effects, effects, effects. A live action Sailormoon series would bring back: pacing, drama, comedy and romance (besides many other benefits). But Naoko Takeuchi would have to avoid getting into a Haim Saban-like production as one of our Industry Contacts alludes to below: Live action is much harder to adapt than anime -which is why there has never been a hit live action series from Japan. Foreign markets (such as the U.S.) find that they have to reproduce the entire concept of even the simplest of shows (like Iron Chef) just to get lukewarm ratings. And even with anime being easier, international versions can vary greatly and still end up making no money. What PNP may not be aware of is that a Japanese live action Sailormoon may not perform as well internationally as the anime version. But what the U.S. television industry has excelled at, is to produce hit shows internationally. A good U.S. co-production would bring more money to make a better show with versions which could easily be dubbed (and accepted) in any language. In Sailormoon's case the cast could even be half Japanese, half non-Japanese. If an English language version is photographed and recorded, a good U.S. co-producer would want the show shot in Japan. (The foreign setting becomes a plus.) Beware of the producer who wants to shoot in the U.S. Currently, the interested broadcast networks would include ABC, WB and UPN. These networks are actively courting some or all of the Sailormoon demographic (with a family hour primetime slot a real possibility). Stay away from weekday afternoons or Saturday mornings - PNP would be better off making their own version in Japan.

One of the few agreements to continue through PNP is the scheduled reprinting of the original Sailormoon mangas. To help sales, new covers are being drawn by Naoko which include (these are only drafts of) Ami for cover #2 and Chibi chibi for cover #11. Besides the original stories there may also be some omake (extra stuff).

New merchandise continues from Bandai as well as Gashapon. Our bicoastal correspondent remarked, "Most of the merchandise is for kids but there are a couple of things good enough for grownup fans to buy. (I got them of course.)" Of special interest are the Gashapon figures, such as "HGIF #1" which includes Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Black Lady. "HGIF #2" contains Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Chibi Moon, Saturn and Mistress Nine. "HGIF #3" has not yet been released but we've already seen some of the figures (and this might be the must buy). It includes a Sailor V and one of Rei in her robes!

Can't afford figures? Gashapon also puts out stickers!

A Sera-Myu trading card signed by the current Sailor Venus, Mizuki Watanabe.

Bandai's Sera-Myu remains very popular in Japan. Although the shows may not make much money (they look expensive!) their cost is more than offset by all the merchandise they sell. (After attendees hand their tickets to the usher they enter a hallway jam-packed with Sailormerchandise.) Probably the hottest new items are the Sera-Myu trading cards. On the cards are photos of the stars and scenes from the show. Bandai says that each box (and not each pack) contains one card signed by a cast member. Each box holds 15 packs, so your odds of finding a signed card are one in fifteen but only if you buy a box. (Some stores buy a box and open packs until they find the signed card . Then they sell the remaining packs.)

And you might notice a (new?) warning for Sailormoon merchandise. On the Sera-Myu trading card boxes it reads, "FOR SALE IN JAPAN ONLY" which could be a signal that PNP (& Bandai?) may be planning a foreign release of Sera-Myu. (Or maybe, because of the loss of Irwin Toys, they are upset with the rapid increase of unauthorized U.S. sales.)

Your Bonus 2003 Section!

And although this report is supposed to cover only those events in 2001 and 2002, we'll get a little bit into 2003 with the latest Sera-Myu (which we alluded to way earlier in this report). The "2003 Winter Special Musical, Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, Mugen Gakuen - Mistress Labyrinth (Revision)" started on January 2 and finished on January 14.

In the souvenir program book, Naoko Takeuchi wrote the following to the Sera-Myu audience: "Again we were able to welcome the new year with a Sailormoon musical. For the year 2003, we are planning many new projects. Renewal of the homepage and a reprint of the manga with new covers (artwork). And also ... a secret project! And of course we are planning to create a new and fun world for the musical, even more so than the previous ones. I hope we can create many wonderful memories again with Sailormoon in 2003. Please let me borrow your power, also. Sailor team is there because of everyone's support. Naoko Takeuchi 2003"