Anime magical girl stage show features choreography from famous idol singer collaborator.

There was a 17-year gap between the original Sailor Moon anime and the Sailor Moon Crystal reboot, which ended in 2016. But even when there’s no Sailor Moon anime airing on TV, the franchise stays in the spotlight through its numerous fan events, with some of the most popular being the musical live-action Sailor Moon stage shows.

Usually, if you want to see one of these shows live, you’ve got to buy a plane ticket to Japan, but that’s not the case for the upcoming Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon The Super Live. While it will have a preview in Tokyo, the official play will be performed in Paris this fall, as part of the Japonismes 2018 cultural event series commemorating 150 years of official international relations between France and Japan.

While the Paris debut is still a few months away, the organizers have released a preview video for Sailor Moon The Super Live showing off the costumes and giving a hint at the overall tone of the show.

While many of the previous Sailor Moon stage shows take cues from traditional musical theater, The Super Live’s choreography is by Takahiro Ueno, a frequent collaborator with popular multi-member idol unit Keyakizaka46, one of AKB48’s many connected acts. As such, The Super Live is likely to contain a bit more modern flash and kinetic energy than previous Sailor Moon musicals.

▼ The Super Live is set during Sailor Moon’s first arc, with Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus making up the roster of Sailor Senshi.

Oddly, the Tokyo “preview” is actually, by certain measures, a larger-scale production than the official Paris run. Over the course of 10 days at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo, three separate casts will perform the play a total of nine times between August 31 and September 9. On the other side of the globe, the Palais des Congrès de Paris will serve as venue for only two days, November 3 and 4, during which it’s unlikely to match the number of performances held in Japan.

Still, this is a rare opportunity for fans outside of Japan to see an official Sailor Moon musical performance in-person. Pricing is yet to be announced for Paris, while tickets for the Japan shows can be reserved online here for 5,800 yen (US$53).

Source: Sailor Moon official website via IT Media
Top image: Sailor Moon official website
Insert images: YouTube/sailormoon-official