Many fans wished on a star and Kodansha Comics gave us the moon – yesterday it was announced that Kodansha would be re-releasing the Sailor Moon manga in English starting this upcoming September. They’ll also be releasing the never-before-released-in-English short series, Codename: Sailor V which was a precursor in both events and creation to Sailor Moon.
Suffice to say, many fans are excited (myself undoubtedly included) and the news spread quickly to the eyes and ears of lots of happy manga-reading folks. There’s something sort of surreal about getting exactly what you asked for isn’t there?
The edition Kodansha will be releasing is the new deluxe collection that was last published in Japan as part of Sailor Moon’s anniversary celebration.
“The original 18 volumes have been condensed into 12 volumes covering the main storyline, and two volumes dedicated to short stories. Each volume has gorgeous new cover art, retouched interior art and dialogue along with extensive bonus material from Takeuchi, and detailed translation notes.”
During my trip to New York last year I had the extreme joy of visiting the Kinokuniya bookstore. Surrounded by thousands of untranslated volumes of manga, Sailor Moon was high on my list of must-finds. They only had one volume but I was quick to pick it up – the re-released edition of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Vol. 06). I hope Kodansha Comics’ release is kept very similar to the Japanese editions because it’s gorgeous! The trim size is a little smaller than the ‘standard’ North American manga release with a smooth-finished cover-slip adorned in brand new artwork for the new editions. Inside are three full-spread, full-colour illustrations before starting into the retouched manga chapters. The page-count is a bit higher than normal also, showing how the new editions are twelve books instead of the original eighteen.
Kodansha will begin releasing the series in September 2011 and the books will come out on a bi-monthly schedule. Kodansha Comics has yet to release anything past their republishing of Dark Horse’s editions of Akira and Ghost in the Shell but it goes without saying there’s a lot of anticipation for the first of their summer line-up to start in May so we can get a better look at the quality we can expect from them. I speculated before that with their books we’ve seen so far, it seems likely they won’t be straying far from the original material in terms of design. Holding onto my Japanese edition of Sailor Moon, I can only go from speculating to hoping that that’s the case.
But as we sit and wait for those first volumes to land in store-shelves, may I say THANK YO U, KODANSHA! You have made many a moon-fan’s day.
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These rereleases will be right-to-left right? :3 And while the rerelease of Moon pattern will be bi-monthly, what about Codename: Sailor V's? :O
This the rerelease of tenjou tenge and K-on! volume two came out eraly at my local B&N somebody up their must like me but really I do hope the re release goes well.
Ooh, I like that picture of the spines. I hadn't realized how pretty they'd look on a shelf (my Japanese editions are put away currently). I hope Kodansha keeps the same color schemes!
Beyond psyched for this. They're releasing both series 1st volumes in September :) Looking forward to all of Kodansha's great plans!
Thought I'd post this to help out any fans who want to know what volumes cover what arcs in the releases, and what volumes we should be getting each month!
Sailor Moon
Volumes 1-3
Vol.1 September 2011
Vol. 2 November 2011
Vol. 3 January 2012
Black Moon
Volumes 3-5
Vol. 4 March 2012
Vol. 5 May 2012
Infinity (Mugen)
Volumes 5-7
Vol. 6 July 2012
Vol. 7 September 2012
Dream (Yume)
Volumes 7-10
Vol. 8 November 2012
Vol. 9 January 2013
Vol. 10 March 2013
Stars
Volumes 11-12
Vol. 11 May 2013
Vol. 12 July 2013
What is your favorite arc, Lissa?
Tough question! It's been so long since I've read the manga I couldn't say. There were lots of individual scenes I liked though – I loved when we first see Sailor Chibi Usa, and the final fight of the series when Chibi Chibi, Neo Sailor Moon and the tons of other Senshi come together. Helios time on page was always great too. Oh, and how shocked I was to read how they defeated the enemy in the first part – so different from the anime I saw first! I'm so excited to read it again – at which point I'll come back to this question ;)
[…] Comics isn’t slowing down after their huge news in March with a handful of new titles announced for their fall line-up later this […]
Lissa, if you don't mind could you edit my original comment with this new information? Turns out I made a slight error on what arcs cover what volumes in my original comment (due to using what was on Wikipedia ^^; ) and just found out from my friend who owns the Japanese volumes 'what volumes really cover what arc' thing.
Now, I was right that the untitled first arc (sometimes called the Sailor Moon or Dark Kingdom arc by fans) are covered by volumes 1-3, that the Black Moon arc is covered by volumes 3-5 and that the Stars arc is covered by volumes 11-12 in the rerelease. I was wrong about the other two arcs though so here are the proper 'what volumes cover what arc' thing for those two arcs.
The Infinity arc is covered by volumes 6-8, and the Dream arc is actually covered by volumes 8-10.
And there you guys go. Sorry about the mistake on my original comment.
[Note: If you can edit my prior comment and just replace or update with this information instead feel free to not approve this comment since there would be no need for it then. Otherwise just approve it if you can't fix my original one, lol. )
Isn't it though!? I've been having a hard time myself on trying to decide. Although with me it's not because it's been such a long time (since I actually got into the manga recently and have been reading my friend's volume) but because I'm really indecisive and they're all so great, lol. With me personally my favorite arc would actually be a tie between three of them — Infinity, Dream and Stars. I really liked the first arc and it was definitely better in the anime in every way, and I LOVED the second arc (Black Moon) and it was also way better than the anime (really all the arcs are), but I don't think I like either to a big enough extent to consider them my favorite. As for what my favorite out of my three-way tie is….I really can't decide. I'm tempted to say Infinity or Stars, but I need to read some more (not quite done with them all yet) and think about it some more before I decide. I can definitely say that those are my Top 3 though and that I would definitely include Black Moon in it as well — but I was trying to narrow it down as low as I could. And as much as I love Black Moon, there were a few things that prevented it from being a favorite for me personally.
I love a lot of the individual scenes you pointed out too though. :) Chibi usa's debut was great and Helios time on page was always AMAZING too. (it along with my love of the Amazon Quartet are actually part of the reason I love Dream so much) I'm not sure about the final fight of the series yet since I haven't read it yet (don't worry though, you didn't really spoil anything I already didn't know) but it sounds awesome as well and I can't wait to read it.
And I was shocked to read how they defeated the enemy in the first part too! Actually I've been shocked (a good shock) and impressed by almost everything in the manga since it's so different (and better, IMO. <3)than the anime I first saw as a little kid. (I rediscovered the anime a few years ago too, so I've seen it subbed as well) What really shocked me was when I saw that two seasons that were my least favorite in the anime (Sailor Moon R and Stars) were actually awesome in the manga and that I even liked them enough to consider them some of my favorite manga arcs! I was also shocked at how much better I liked some characters that I never really liked (and even disliked some of them) in the manga as well.
I'm excited to read it again with a new translation as well, and will definitely be buying Kodansha's releases of Codename: Sailor V (which I loved <3) and Sailor Moon when they come out. Partially just because I'd love to have my own copy of the volumes! And thank you! I'm glad to know that you'll come back to my question when you read them. :) I'll definitely be sure to keep an eye out for your reply when that time comes! ;) (which can come soon enough, IMO.)