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Exclusive Interview: Viz Media's Charlene Ingram and Josh Lopez on Sailor Moon

As time went on, I grew to appreciate the performances. This was not a cheap fan dub effort since the idea was to pitch this to independent TV stations looking for kids programming. Katie Griffin's Mars and Susan Roman's Jupiter reminded me a lot of older, more mature versions of Peanuts characters Lucy and Peppermint Patty, respectively. I've always loved Stephanie Morganstern's Venus although it's hard for me to explain why. Sailor V was the original prototype character of the manga which led to this series, and the Venus characterization is less ditzy and all over the place than Sailor Moon, sort of the kind of performance you get from someone who had been being a Sailor Senshi longer than anyone else. Karen Bernstein pretty much nailed Mercury from the beginning.

As for Sailor Moon herself, the biggest compliment I can give Terri Hawkes is that she began with the problem of continuing after Tracy Moore's original characterization and eventually made it her own as the episodes progressed. She's my favorite Sailor Moon actress because of that. All of the Tuxedo Mask actors are interchangeable to me though some were better at it than others. I never liked either of the "Rini" performances...my opinion was that they should have found an actual child actor. Finally, I think the one big casting mistake was Jill Frappier's Luna. I think Frappier is a great performer, but I wouldn't have chosen a "Angela Lansbury" type voice for Luna. It makes you think that she's very old, and yes I know that she was supposed to come off as the mature voice of reason in the series...very matronly. But the voice characterization comes off as someone around 60 years old, versus say Julie Andrews' Mary Poppins character (she was 28 during filming).

Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing some of all of major characters voiced by their original Vas (assuming age doesn't make that impractical). It's a level of comfort since those English language voices are what most of us have known for 15 years. I have no problem correcting the editorial decisions of the past (name changes, sex changes, editing for mature content, etc). But new actors or new actors who come completely with new characterizations across the board may take some getting used to. I'm sure that decision made for some spirited debate around Viz. We'll see what they decided soon enough.

Toei isn't known for treating their negatives well. I might even go as far as saying they're infamous for poor preservation. Who knows if usable negatives still exist for Sailor Moon.

Toei isn't know for treating anything well. If you ever get the chance to visit their museum, go. I went in 2008 and saw lots of Sailor Moon artwork and toys placed in a glass shelf, under a bright sunny window. All the colors on them had been faded and the artwork was destroyed. They also cut up artwork to make a collage to hang up in one of the rooms. It was truly a disappointing experience, and as someone who collects Sailor Moon cels as a hobby, I left the museum in tears. It was one of the very few times I've even thought that, as a collector, I'm doing a service to fans by preserving the artwork.

Toei uses cheap ink and paint, so what this means is that the colors do not hold up well. Specifically, the outliner Toei uses turns brown over time. This leads me to also believe that Toei used the cheapest film possible when originally recording the series and that, if the masters do exist, they're probably in such a condition where they would largely be unusable. Japan is very humid in the summer and this can really impact film. Unless Toei stored the originals properly, I doubt they're still around. And that probably explains the difficulty Viz is having with its picture quality.

rainbowrabbit wrote:

At the risk of getting another rude response from a certain arrogant patronizing ANN staff member, I'm now wondering about how the new dub will handle certain terms. Like if "odango" will be changed to "dumpling." Or if characters like Mamoru will keep his "Mamo-chan" nickname. I loved when Mamoru called Usagi "Usako." It was cute. I wouldn't mind seeing that one kept in the new dub.

Nothing I said to you was rude in the slightest. Good lord.

I doubt they would not know that master material should not be stored in conditions that would expose it to the outside environment. Besides I will hazard a guess that SM was done on video tape, not film too.

You absolutely were rude. You responded with a dismissive "I'm right, you're wrong." comment, which was totally uncalled for. (That's anime fans for you.) I've had my say and from now on, I'll just be sure to avoid you at all costs. Starting with this particular thread. I'm out. *z snap*

Maybe this isn't common knowledge or something but Takeuchi controls Sailor Moon with an iron fist. There is nothing in that Kodansha release that she didn't approve, I can guarantee you that.

I'm fully aware of that. But those books also contained translations such as "Spark Ring Wide Pressure" and "Champion of justice." There was also censorship at times. So we don't really know the extent of what was approved by her. Can you offer proof that she specifically said she approved "guardian" in the rerelease?

If 15 years worth of stories about Takeuchi's legendarily tight leash on this franchise ain't enough proof for you then fine, but that's how it is and how it's always been. Viz is sending stuff for this release directly to her for approval, as is stated in the interview.

(That's anime fans for you.)

Right next to A-ko, B-ko, & C-ko, Usagi/Serena & her team are among my favorite schoolgirls.

Quote:

One of the things about the previous dub is that there were so many cast changes throughout that there's no one Sailor Moon, there's almost no "one" of anybody.

And no, Moon herself had three different English VAs: Tracey Moore for dub eps 1-11, 15, and 21; Terri Hawkes for eps 12-14, 16-20, 22-82, and the movies; and Linda Ballantyne for eps 83+.

Mohawk52 wrote:

I doubt they would not know that master material should not be stored in conditions that would expose it to the outside environment. Besides I will hazard a guess that SM was done on video tape, not film too.

Has any anime, ever, been recorded straight from cel onto video? It's not exactly designed for frame-by-frame capture.
People have original cels to trade because the studios got rid of them. Other materials aren't always treated much better and, even with the best of intentions, may not have held up well (remember how much time, money and effort they had to spend restoring the negatives for even something huge like Star Wars?)

If Sailor Moon followed the same production process as DBZ, it was recorded on 16mm film then transferred onto Betacam master tapes for storage and distribution.

Ojamajo LimePie wrote:

If Sailor Moon followed the same production process as DBZ, it was recorded on 16mm film then transferred onto Betacam master tapes for storage and distribution.

What I can't believe is when people (including the Viz rep) use "but it's a 1992 anime!" as a defense for a godawful upscale, as if low budget 16mm TV anime that are even older haven't already had presentable BluRay releases.

"But it's a 1902 film!"
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/A-Trip-to-the-Moon-Blu-ray/36593/
isn't even an excuse. So it can only be lack of proper materials on which to work.

I have about zero problems with them removing the grain, because it looks cleaner.

zeo1fan wrote:

I have about zero problems with them removing the grain, because it looks cleaner.

Guess you would love the remastered Predator BD.

http://oi50.tinypic.com/96z5f7.jpg