One of anime’s most popular voice actors joins the cast as Helios/Pegasus.

Sailor Moon is never far from the spotlight, what with the franchise’s permanent stage show restaurant in Tokyo, beautiful apparel collaboration with Uniqlo, and the distribution of Sailor Moon condoms from the Japanese government. However, anime’s most famous magical girl has been absent from television screens for quite some time now.

The newest piece of Sailor Moon animation out there is the third season of reboot Sailor Moon Crystal, which aired its last episode in June of 2016. But after a four-year hiatus, Sailor Moon is set to return with the brand-new Sailor Moon Eternal theatrical feature, and the first footage from the movie can be seen in the just-released trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2k5g6yO-rw

“The famous anime which captivated the world returns to the screen after 25 years with a new dream,” says the onscreen text as the melody of iconic opening theme “Moonlight Densetsu” (“Moonlight Legend”) plays.

The video gives us our first in-motion look at the updated character designs from Kazuko Tadano. With Sailor Moon Crystal’s original intent to stick closely to the original manga source material, its character artwork features longer limbs and twiggier physiques than the 1990s anime series which served as many fans’ point of entry into the franchise, a change that has been somewhat divisive among fans.

Tadano, who was also the character designer for the original arcs of the ‘90s Sailor Moon anime, seems to be walking back some of Crystal’s changes by reintroducing the warmth and charm of more rounded lines

As an adaptation of Sailor Moon’s Dead Moon Circus arc, Sailor Moon Eternal will be covering the narrative space occupied by the Sailor Moon SuperS episodes of the ‘90s anime, which means the arrival of Helios/Pegasus. While Sailor Moon herself continues to be portrayed by original voice actress Kotono Mitsuishi (who recently shared a photo of her personal copy of the very first Sailor Moon anime script), the rest of the characters have been recast, and Helios will now be played by Yoshitsugu Masaoka, best known for his roles as Kirito in Sword Art Online and Sōma Yukihira in Food Wars.

▼ Masaoka and Helios’ new character design

▼ Also, by this point in the story we’re way past the part where Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask try to pretend like they aren’t in love with each other.

“The light of the moon is a message of love from beyond time,” Sailor Moon says as the trailer comes to a close.

Barring any unfortunate delays, Sailor Moon Eternal, the first of two upcoming Sailor Moon anime movies, is set to open in Japanese theaters on September 11. In the meantime, if you need a refresher on the story so far, don’t forget that the hundred-plus episodes of the ‘90s Sailor Moon that take place prior to the start of the Dead Moon Circus arc are going to be free to watch online.

Source: Sailor Moon official website
Images: YouTube/sailormoon-official
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