Viz Media Licenses Sailor Moon Anime Franchise

Posted on May 21, 2014

Sailor Moon is back. The bestselling manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi spawned an entire video and film franchise which followed the adventures of Usagi Tsukino, an awkward teenage girl who transforms into a powerful guardian of love and justice called Sailor Moon. She and her new allies fight to protect the universe from evil. Now Viz Media has announced that it has licensed the original Sailor Moon anime franchise. Viz picked up the streaming, digital, and home video licenses which will include three feature films, tie-in specials and 200 episodes from the tv series. Sailor Moon began as comic books, but soon expanded to multiple formats.

Brian Ige, Viz Media's Vice President of Animation had this to say about the deal: "Sailor Moon was groundbreaking in the way its storyline and main characters resonated with both a male and female audience, and these aspects continue to attract a new generation of fans eager to see this iconic series. We're thrilled to be able to release this empowering action title uncut and in its entirety."

Viz will release the films and episodes with English subtitles this summer. It will release the content with English dubs later this year. It will also release Blue Ray and DVDs this fall. Viz is going all out for this year's "Sailor Moon Day" which will be celebrated on Saturday, July 5th. The company will be a big presence at the Anime Expo where the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal anime will premiere. Viz is hosting what they hope will be the world's largest Sailor Moon cosplay gathering, which should be quite a fun spectacle. Here's the video that accompanied the announcement just to give you ideas for your costume: