New Sailor Moon Anime's Producer: Not Remaking 1st Anime

Producer Atsutoshi Umezawa (Precure franchise) said in a press release posted on Friday that the new Sailor Moon anime is not a remake. He explained, "This second anime adaptation of Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon is not remaking the previous anime, but adapting [Naoko Takeuchi's] original manga and starting from scratch again. It is quite a project. The entire staff has been working hard to show everyone an entirely new Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon, so please look forward to it."

The new anime's director, Munehisa Sakai (One Piece, One Piece: Strong World, Suite Precure), noted a personal connection, since the first Sailor Moon anime began the same year he joined Toei Animation. He said that he never imagined that he himself would be in charge of the new anime two decades later. He remembered looking enviously at the staff who worked on the first anime, and thanked the twist of fate that brought him here. He vowed to do his best.

The new anime will begin streaming worldwide on the Niconico service in July. Yūji Kobayashi (scripts on Saint Seiya Omega, Smile Precure!) is in charge of the series scripts, and Momoiro Clover Z is performing the theme song.

Takeuchi launched the original magical girl team manga series in the shōjo monthly manga magazine Nakayoshi in 1992. It soon spawned anime, a live-action television project, musicals, and other adaptations, and it also sparked a worldwide boom. The 20th anniversary project began in 2012, and featured the first musical in eight years at the AiiA Theater Tokyo last September. Kodansha has been republishing the original manga in a complete edition since last November, and Kodansha USA Publishing's Kodansha Comics imprint has been publishing the manga in North America.