Reign of Ota

The official website for Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon -Amour Eternal-, the fourth 20th-anniversary stage musical of Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon manga, unveiled a visual of the Sailor Guardian cast in costume on Friday.

The five Inner Guardians are new cast members:

• Kaede as Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter
• Yume Takeuchi as Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury
• Hotaru Nomoto as Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon
• Karen Kobayashi as Rei Hino/Sailor Mars
• Rimo Hasegawa as Minako Aino/Sailor Venus

The following cast members will return from earlier Sailor Moon musicals:

• Shū Shiotsuki as Haruka Tenō/Sailor Uranus
• Sayaka Fujioka as Michiru Kaiō/Sailor Neptune
• Karin Takahashi as Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn
• Mikako Ishii as Setsuna Meiō/Sailor Pluto
• Airi Kanda as Chibi-Usa/Sailor Chibi Moon
• Yūga Yamato as Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru Chiba

New characters include:

• Hikaru Hiyama as Helios
• Ayu Ōtsuki as Nehellenia
• Kanami Sakai as Zirconia
• Chihiro Andō as Tiger's Eye
• Riona Tatemichi as Hawk's Eye
• Yumi as Fish Eye
• Yoshika Kobayashi, Risa Kawamura, Yoshimi Hidano, Chiemi Doi, Ayano Nagasawa, and Ayumi Sagisaka as Dead Moon Circus members

Naoko Takeuchi was part of the panel judging auditions for the new cast.

The musical will debut with an initial run at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo venue from October 15 to 23, before moving to Canal City Theater in Fukuoka from October 29 to 30, and then Sankei Hall Breeze in Osaka from November 4 to 6.

The cast is replacing the main cast from Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon -Un Nouveau Voyage-, the third new stage play celebrating the manga's 20th anniversary. The former cast graduated after the third musical finished its run. Nomoto is the sixth actress to play the title character in a stage musical, including those who played Sailor Moon in the first string of productions that ran from 1993 to 2005.

Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon -Un Nouveau Voyage- ran last September at AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo. A home video release of the musical was released on February 24. It features recorded footage from the stage production itself, as well as a round table discussion between Karin Takahashi (Sailor Saturn), Yūga Yamato (Tuxedo Mask), Shū Shiootsuki (Sailor Uranus), Sayaka Fujioka (Sailor Neptune), and Mikako Ishii (Sailor Pluto). It also has footage of the "graduation ceremony" of Satomi Okubo (Sailor Moon), Momoyo Koyama (Sailor Mercury) Kanon Nanaki (Sailor Mars), Yu Takahashi (Sailor Jupiter), and Shiori Sakata (Sailor Venus).

[Via Famitsu]