[Anime] Sailor Moon Cast Announced along with Character Designs!

I won't mince too many words on this one as I'm a bit late to the party, but this past Sunday at the 20th Anniversary Project Special Stage Event at the Niconico Chōkaigi 3 convention the announcement was finally made. However, they showed a lot more than just that during their presentation as well!

One of the first thing is the name for the new anime series, being Sailor Moon Crystal. According to Anime News Network, the name came from about 100 or so different varieties but original creator, Naoko Takeuchi, liked the way Crystal worked with the current world and technology. So, yeah, we'll go with that, hard to argue, right?

Also announced was that show will start airing on July 5th at 7pm and run every other week through the full run. No clue as to how long the show will go on fore, but it's safe to say that they'll be covering the entire story at this point. So, with that in mind, probably looking for at least 4-5 seasons depending on how they break them down.

As far as the cast goes, Kotono Mitsuishi is back to reprise her role as Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino after she started the character 22 years ago. When asked about what it felt like, she had this to say about coming back to voicing Usagi once again:

"I want to hurry up and meet moving Usagi again." She thinks that there are some people who are worried about the new cast. This is because the fans loved the work, and they loved the characters. She added that she is the same way. She said that she will not put a lid on her feelings about the earlier anime and throw them away, but she will take them with her into the new work. She asks fans to cheer the staff on, and "miracle romance" with her.

The rest of the cast includes; Hisako Kanemoto as Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury, Rina Satou as Rei Hino/Sailor Mars, Ami Koshimizu as Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter, and Shizuka Itou as Minako Aino/Sailor Venus. Other members of the cast haven't been released yet, but should be interesting to see how the rest fleshes out.

So, now that we have out of the way, on with the character designs. Overall, it's a great look to the series and gives it a much needed update while still keeping with the older style quite a bit too. Should be something here for everyone I think.