There will be a new series of novel adaptations, written by Miyoko Ikeda. The first novel in the series is set to be released in June of this year, and is titled Bishōji Senshi Sailor Moon 1 Erabareta Senshi (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 1: The Chosen Guardian).


It looks like we're getting another reiteration of the Dark Kingdoms arc, based on the name of the first novel. There's no information on how many books will be in the series, or if any other writers will be involved. Based on the previous works of this author, and the fact that it will be published under Kodansha's children's label, the tone of the novel will be kept a little on the more lighthearted side.

To be completely honest, I'm not that interested or excited because the plot of the Dark Kingdoms arc has been told and retold so many times. If anything, I wish they'd have given us a side story, or better yet, a sequel. But Naoko Takeuchi seems to be done expanding on the Sailor Moon universe, and is content to let others keep reiterating her story through various mediums.

  I don't feel excited either. There's so much that could be expanded on and told.  Retelling things isn't...fun.  Especially if it's the same story and nothing new. (Unlike PGSM, which I was actually fine with because it was a different take. But there's only so many ways of it.)  Also, not a fan of the artwork.  like reeeaallly not. (but that's me.)

I wonder what they're aiming for with these new novels, presumably for children. The manga is already intended for a young audience. I'm surprised they think there's enough interest from that age range to sell them novels as well.

I only have the English-language prose adaptations to compare them to, which weren't ground-breaking. I wonder if it will be any different for these new Japanese retellings.

This is what my fears were to be honest. I at least would have liked a new storyline or discovering carachter development of the other planets such as Mau. It can't be helped. I'll probably still check it out. I can't knock it too much until I try it.

From what I've seen, these have been advertised as "children's novels," so yeah... It does remind me of the US novelizations which, while I haven't read in their entirety, seem hilarious in entirely unintended ways. Hopefully these will be better than that, but yeah, I'm not really all that excited for them either. The only comment I've seen which made these slightly interesting is the prospect of new artwork in them.

Ktenshi wrote:

I don't feel excited either. There's so much that could be expanded on and told.  Retelling things isn't...fun.  Especially if it's the same story and nothing new. (Unlike PGSM, which I was actually fine with because it was a different take. But there's only so many ways of it.)  Also, not a fan of the artwork.  like reeeaallly not. (but that's me.)

Miyoko Ikeda is listed as the author, no the artist (she write Fairy Navigator Runa, while the art was drawn by Michiyo Kikuta). There's no word on who the cover artist will be or if there will be illustrations in the novel, though I wouldn't be surprised if there will be, especially since the target audience might be geared more towards a younger audience.

Maybe at this point the only way we would get new stories is if the franchise is sold to another company. I am really tired of seeing the same old things because I am afraid that it will get stale if the same story is retold too many times. I would love to see stories about Chibiusa and her senshi team!

chibichibicutie wrote:

Maybe at this point the only way we would get new stories is if the franchise is sold to another company. I am really tired of seeing the same old things because I am afraid that it will get stale if the same story is retold too many times. I would love to see stories about Chibiusa and her senshi team!

I would say that any new derivative work will probably have to be left to fans at this point. Sailor Moon is such a high profile property for Kodansha/Toei that I doubt they'd ever let it go. There's also the fact that Naoko Takeuchi still has control over the property, and if she doesn't authorize something it's not going to become official.

mangaka-chan wrote:

I would say that any new derivative work will probably have to be left to fans at this point. Sailor Moon is such a high profile property for Kodansha/Toei that I doubt they'd ever let it go. There's also the fact that Naoko Takeuchi still has control over the property, and if she doesn't authorize something it's not going to become official.

Agreed. There's a reason so many Doujinshii were made in the 90s/2000s. It's the sad reality of Sailor Moon. Hopefully this is a ploy to get younger audiences interested in the franchise so they can do other projects - but that is totally just a pipe dream for me.

I love fanwork and fanfictions but an official book ? with the first arc ? no... there is lots of things to do, before and after sailor moon anime. pff I think it's a bad idea, even if it's for children....

It all depends on what iteration it's going to be re-telling, as well as how well it's written. While I was hopeful that there'd be some original sailor moon content-it seems highly unrealistic and unlikely since Naoko's moved on from creating additional stories for it. If it ever ends up in the west, I'll give it a look through.

I mean, i guess they could add in other stuff to expand on the Dark Kingdom arc but at this point who cares? XD Unless it does something along the lines of PGSM's take on the Dark Kingdom arc which is practically a whole new directions, but that's obviously not what its doing. I've read a little of those old English novelizations and they did take liberties and added scenes and little character development bits that weren't in the original episodes, I guess it could still happen...?

AND THEN WHERE'S THAT DANG NEW ARTBOOK???

How old is this lady?... I'm just thinking.

Yeah this sounds like a pass for me, pretty boring. I mean, I've been watching Sailor Moon season one now and it's pretty cool, but who wants to see the same thing a million times? Wai Toei, waiii. I'm fed up with this... uh, what's it 25th anniversary?

It would be nice if there's at least some new illustrations ^^;;;. But yeah... DK again...

I'm not gonna lie, I read the Mixx books to DEATH, like to literally pieces....

Even if it's the same thing I actually don't mind, I can't wait to buy them for my young 9 year old pretty much sister. I will also probably read them... I am glad to see something like this again and really hope we get more than 8 this time.

Oh I forgot about those for a hot second! I owned the one with Sailor V on the cover, I can't remember the name of it for the life of me though. Cel Mates?

But the nostalgia will be enough to draw me in and tell my Children about this wonderful work of art called Sailor Moon. (My oldest already knows her name lol)

Neo Queen Serenity wrote:

I'm not gonna lie, I read the Mixx books to DEATH, like to literally pieces....

Even if it's the same thing I actually don't mind, I can't wait to buy them for my young 9 year old pretty much sister. I will also probably read them... I am glad to see something like this again and really hope we get more than 8 this time.

Well that depends if we end up getting an English release of them. I haven't seen anything about that yet. :/ You could always go and learn Japanese JUST to read these to her tho. XD

Most of you probably saw this on Discord and Twitter already but the first volume of the book will be out June 23!!

Here's the cover art~~

Spoiler:

Okay, it looks cute. Like, super cute. XD
Any idea which rendition it's gonna be retelling, yet?

Interesting that Naoko Takeuchi is listed as the creator and illustrator on this book. I wonder if that means we'll have new illustrations, or if it just means she drew the cover image. :p

The cover is really underwhelming. xD It's just a reused image.... hmm I did notice her name being on there but it's right next to the copyright sign so it's probably just there for the copyright show.

^^^ Exactly what Brit said. That image is from what, 04? Earlier? I know it's from the PGSM era, because it's an image from the coloring book, not to mention her brooch is heart shaped. 
Really disappointed that they took the low road with this.

Have any scans from the book been released?

So far, I haven't been able to find any? I haven't done a search on tumblr yet though.

Had to clear some files on my phone and found the one I had of volume 3's cover, so I decided to dig around a bit more for info!

Covers for 2 & 3:

Also, Instagram user Chibimoonhsu posted a pic of all three volumes [here]. They look pretty cute but yeah... if only it were new art lol. I think all three of these are from the 20th anniversary?

Judging by the page counts as well as the descriptions from the Amazon.jp pages, it looks like books 2 and 3 only covered roughly 4 acts each, so completed the Dark Kingdom Arc. Since it's a novelization, I'd be really shocked if they tacked on the start of Black Moon at the end with Chibiusa's appearance. Then again, the 3rd volume was only released in March of this year, so who knows?? I'd have to look harder to find someone that's reviewed the 3rd volume... Maybe one of you have seen something further on it?

I wish I could read Japanese ^^;;... I wanna know how the writer describes the ending - Usagi's feelings and all that, y'know?

Anyways, the set is only ~$20 USD plus shipping/etc. so I guess good for anyone who might be learning to read Japanese sometime soon haha.

Order links from Amazon.jp for those who know how to get goods from there:
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3

I think these covers are actually art from PGSM era when the manga was first re-released in Japan? Book 2 is cute tho...

It's also tempting to purchase these and see if I can convince my translator over on SOS to translate these because a fan in the Myu discord server I'm in was talking about the La Reconquista novelization and all the changes/additions they did to it and they seemed really interesting! I'd be curious to see how much they added on to the story, especially with Beryl's background!

!!! I didn't even think about the possibilities of Beryl's background being expanded *__*! (Or other things.)

Ah yes you're right it does look pgsm era ^^;. They used one of the images in the 20th anni logo so I got confused lol.