There is going to be a new Sailor Moon performance in France in 2018 to celebrate 160 years of friendship between Japan and France! The performance will include song, dance, and video.

While the announcement is not listed under the musicals section of the official website, it did give a brief history of both old and new myu, so it will likely hold many similarities!

What do y'all think? Will it have an entirely new cast, continue the new myu casting, or maybe feature cast members from both new and old myu? Likewise, will it follow a storyline or simply be a music/dance special?

And, of course, will anyone be going to go see it? I won't be able to go because international travel is unrealistic for me at this point, but this gets my hopes up for the possibility of more shows in the US!

Link to the page on the official website: http://sailormoon-official.com/information/japonismes2018.php

Yay awesome!!

It alludes to the performances done in Shanghai and the USA@Anime Matsuri, sort of indicating that this is an extension of their overseas advances. So, I think it's definitely going to be very Myu-like if not a Myu itself. Perhaps like one of the Fan Kansha? It looks like it's probably going to be another retelling of the DK story ("the original", as they've put it). Or maybe "the original" is in reference to the first Myu stage as a whole? So it could be like an entire DK-Stars plot summary? Though that's a lot of info for one show XD. Or maybe they're going back to having a male Tuxedo Mask XD.

Anyways, it's clear to me that they've freed themselves up to recast if they want to, but I couldn't guess if they will or not. It would be amazing if they featured actors/actresses from both new and old Myu, even if just a few!!

Something new that I learned from trying to parse the announcement is that SeraMyu is considered a "2.5 dimensional musical" - musicals (and related musical shows) that are based on popular 2-D works (manga/anime/games). Takarazuka have done several of course and there's even been a Dragon Quest ballet apparently! "2.5" is to suggest that it's a middle ground between the original source and a traditional (3D/live) musical. I had no idea that they had labelled these shows like that haha! Looks like there's going to be another 2.5 musical featured as part of the same event based on Touken Ranbu.

Anyways!! Here's a screenshot from the official program PDF that I found HERE (page 42):

pic~:

It's basically the same message as the announcement that cardea linked. It looks like the exact date is still unknown...

Wow though, France in 2018? Would be nice, ne?

Ahh I forgot about this announcement. Was there a date or at least like a month announced besides 2018?

It's interesting that they are doing these special performances! I hope there will be pictures or video after the event is over.

Brit-chan wrote:

Ahh I forgot about this announcement. Was there a date or at least like a month announced besides 2018?

Nope... And the official program still lists the date as tbd. The other events for the celebration seem to span midway through this year into early 2019.

http://sailormoon-official.com/stage/information/stage_contents.php

New Announcement!! Still no information on the exact dates for the Japonismes performance, but there are some more details on it as well as some other things!! I'll give a general summary, but take it with a grain of salt as I'm going off twitter and google translate. There were 3 things announced!

First is a Sailor Moon and Nogizaka46 collaboration. Nogizaka46 is a Japanese girl group that from a quick google search appears to have 33 members (not including their in-training members). There aren't many details about it, but it seems interesting!

Second is the Japonismes performance! It is now being called "The Super Live" which reminds me of the Kirari Super Live from PGSM, so bonus points there. Apparently it will feature the dancer/choreographer Takahiro Ueno, though I'm uncertain as to whether that is as a dancer, choreographer, or both! As stated before it will have song, dance, and video gimmicks.

And lastly!!! A new musical project has been announced! Whereas the others were simply referred to as projects or performances, this one is specifically called a musical! It says "the sera myu so far will be further refined and reborn." The use of "refined" suggests it will draw off previous myus, but "reborn" sounds like it could also be totally new... In any case, they are currently planning for 3 major performances, with the first one being in Summer 2019!

So much good news!!! What are yall looking forward to and what do you think the new musicals will be like? With only 3 planned, I highly doubt it will be a restart from the Dark Kingdom. I don't think its necessarily likely, but there were 3 different Dracul musicals.

Technically 4 Dracul musicals cause TnM K is like a pseudo sequel XD

I haven't been huge on the new Myu stuff but I'm still curious to see where this will all lead. I'll have to look into the Nogizaka46 group! Guess that means Momoiro Clover is probably dropping from doing anymore SM related stuff (even though its only been theme songs so far and Momoka is graduating this year ;-; ).

The Super Live sounds like the most interesting to me. Mostly cause if its anything like Kirari Super Live, it should be fun and cute. I'm also reminded of the Dreaming Moon special with the original VAs of Moon and the Inners doing something similar. I hope it pulls from old and new SM stuff!

I'd be curious to get a good translation of the refined and reborn. Are they saying this is the rebirth of the Bandai sponsored musicals? Or just saying its a whole new Myu with all new cast/staff? As much as I don't care for the current new Myu stuff, it would be disappointing for the current cast to not get proper graduations. However, I personally would love to see some original musical content as the original story shows ended up being my favorite musicals in the old Myu line up.

It would be funny if this is finally the old myu ending its "hiatus" from 2005 XD XD XD

Oh wow, so is this going to be an entirely new musical, or just a new stage of an older one?

The way I understand it, it's going to be a new musical, though I have no idea whether that means repeating previously done plots or having a new original plot. I've seen some people saying they thought it would be like a kaiteiban of the new myu, but I got the feeling it was more separate. 

As a side note, I swear I saw on some official source (either the twitter or the site) the 2019 musical being referred to as a 25th anniversary project, which would further separate them from the new myus which were a 20th anniversary project. However, I can't find that anymore, so take it with a grain of salt.

Anyways, I would laugh so hard if they ended the 2005 hiatus right now, but if that means we get Akiko composing again, I would be soooo for it. But I would also be sad if they ended the new myu without a proper graduation... But yeah, whether it's redoing the old original plot lines Riona Tatemichi as Loof Merrow please or introducing entirely new plot lines, I really hope we get something other than the main 5 arcs again. The announcement of 3 musicals instead of 1 or 5 gets my hopes up that that might be the case!

I'm surprised they *didn't* have some sort of graduation at the end of LMF... Like on the last day's performance or whatever. Did they also not have one for Marina et al then?

The 2005 Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu is officially titled Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu (Kaiteiban) - Marinamoon Final because this was Marina's graduation but not the final third stage (you'll notice, they named Kakyou Ouhi - Final Second Stage along with Eien Densetsu - Final First Stage). There may have been some other graduations but as far as I know, it wasn't anything major like the change between First and Second stage and was deemed to be Marina's graduation with the suggestion of a continuation afterwards. Unfortunately, that's when Myu went on hiatus along with all of the other hiatus of SM licensed stuff (aka the dark times).

So yeah...you would think they would have done graduations for the LMF cast if they hadn't planned to use them for future shows, so who knows what's gunna happen now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So... Looking back at the newest announcement on the official website, Google Translate is telling me that Takahiro (the director/choreographer?) intends to "borrow the power of performers with high physical abilities."

I wonder if that means the cast will be all professionals instead of using some inexperienced girls too (which seems to have been a trend with SeraMyu..?)

Ooooo, I would definitely like some acrobatics like in the first stage musicals with Yuuta and Ryuuji. Seeing the senshi do that as well would be super cool!! Since they're making emphasis on the choreography specifically, I'm really excited for the dances/fight scenes. assuming there are fight scenes

Heh. I wanna see aerial acrobatics!!

Also, I'mma move this over to the News Section. Hope that's alright!

So, we finally have dates for the performance in France and news that there will be an additional performance run beforehand in Tokyo!

Tokyo: Aug 31 - Sept 9
Paris: Nov 3 - Nov 4

Also, they've announced additional members of the creative team:
Screenplay: Akiko Kodama
Music: Hyadayne

Official Fan Club members will have access to advance ticket sales (though probably just for the Tokyo run...).

Source: http://sailormoon-official.com/stage/news/superlive_0531.php

----

Now, this is my own conjecture, but with the Tokyo performance being so long it sort of seems like what started out as a bit of a minor project for a small slot in a huge festival probably took on the next level once Takahiro got involved. He seems to be very "in" at the moment. My guess is his presence attracted the other two personnel and also more money to turn this into something more on par with what is happening with the Nogizaka46 project...

What's interesting to me is that even though this is now called "The Super Live" and there's no "Musical" in the logo as there is in the Myu and Nogizaka46 project logos, it's still being called a 2.5 Musical in the Japonismes info page and is being held in Tokyo's Aiia 2.5 Theatre, which plays - you guessed it - only 2.5 musicals! Further to that, Ms. Kodama (credited for screenplay which could also be translated as script writer it looks like) is well-known for her work on that format.

The kink in all this is that the composer is in the opposite camp: his work is solidly anime and pop hits and remixes - NOT stage-oriented music. And without that background, I really doubt they'll be putting on a true "musical". Also, the level of choreography that Takahiro himself is able to perform is way beyond the capability of anyone singing at the same time and I want to think that he'd probably demand a similarly high level of performance from the dancers involved in this - otherwise why use him? It's common in the Myus to see more skill exhibited by the extras/back-up dancers for the villain side, but they're never really the focus. I just don't think that's where things are going to stop for the choreography here.

So, my guess is that we're going to see the singing and dancing done by separate performers. How this will be worked into a plot by Ms. Kodama should be very interesting! As for the remnants of the "2.5 musical" term and venue, it's probably just marketing to make sure that fans of staged versions of anime are drawn to this one as well.

What do you guys think? Am I totally out to lunch? XD

So I finally got curious about what exactly a 2.5 musical is and from what I gather it's literally just a musical/stage show based off of an anime and/or manga series. And then i discovered that there's a 2.5 myu of Show by Rock!! which looked...ok? Well some of the singers weren't so great but it looked cute. xD

So anyway, I kinda think you are on the right track here. Rereading the news article and going to the Super Live page on the official site, I think you are accurate in that it (and the Nogizaka46 stage show) won't be like the past 5 musicals. Heck even on the side bar of the Super Live page they have the past 5 musicals separated from the Nogizaka46 and Super Live projects.

See hereeee:

So I guess we'll see what happens. I'm sure we'll get some preview videos as I was able to find videos for several of the current 2.5 shows that are on AiiA's website. ^_^

Yaaaay preview vids!! I can't wait *___*.

I just had another thought too... What if there's not even any live singing at all in it?! Just a bunch of songs remixed and danced to, maybe??

I think the Nogizaka46 one is meant to be a full musical though. I think it's been separated in the side bar only because it's a one-off/special collaboration. But now I'm squinting way too hard at this XD.

I'M HERE AND I HAVE A LOT TO SAY.

Brit your confusion of 2.5D reminded me of this little segment called "what's 2.5D." They have a different 2.5D ambassador every year and pretty much just get hype about it. I'm hype about it. I love 2.5D. Anyways, just as a note, one reason it's called 2.5D, at least to my knowledge, is because there is a high level of integration between the 3D actors and the 2D projections in the background, which can feature caps from the manga, prerecorded scenes with the actors, or other visual effects. So take the average of the two, and you get 2.5D! Like you said, some of them are musicals, and some of them are stage plays, so even if The Super Live isn't a musical, it could still have a lot of 2.5D elements! Some similar visual effects have been used in the musicals, but since this seems to be focusing more on being a spectacle rather than plot-focused, I'm hoping for lots of cool effects!

And diagnosed's idea of no live singing... seems super likely to me? Both because the level of choreography will likely be higher, and because if there was a musical group or singers connected with the show, I feel like there's a chance they would have announced them by now. Of course, they could also be saving that in order to purposely keep it vague. But I would actually really, really like this! It would lend itself to a different style of music, and allow them to do more complex things both with the music and the choreography. Plus this would mean they HAVE to do studio recordings of the songs

As far as plot goes, I was thinking there's a chance this will be more similar to the Kirari Super Live, the Houston myu, and even the USJ ride, focusing on a single enemy attack rather than an entire storyline. (Whether that be self contained or an "oh no the enemy is attacking Paris!") Especially with the nogizaki myu being based on the Dark Kindgom arc, and the refusal to call this a musical. Plus, with less plot to focus on, that gives more time to focus on making everything look and sound cool.

While of course I'm excited to see the senshi in this, I'm really excited to see how the villains are done! There's more freedom with their costuming, and they could do some really cool stuff to represent some of the more formless villains from the manga, and there could be some really cool group choreography...

One final note for now, a lot of times preview videos come from either one of the earlier performances (like they did for LMF), or from special press showings soon before the actual run begins. So in any case, it will probably be a while before we see any...

Ooooh I didn't realize there was a wider 2.5D genre beyond just musicals! The more you know...

cardea wrote:

"oh no the enemy is attacking Paris!"

I COULD TOTALLY SEE THIS BEING THE ACTUAL PLOT! XDDDDD

cardea wrote:

While of course I'm excited to see the senshi in this, I'm really excited to see how the villains are done! There's more freedom with their costuming, and they could do some really cool stuff to represent some of the more formless villains from the manga, and there could be some really cool group choreography...

You're making me picture an epicly avant-garde Metallia Blob dance using multiple dancers to make her form XD. I would very much like to see this tho.

It looks like the cast will be revealed this weekend at Usagi's Birthday Party in Harajuku!

http://sailormoon-official.com/fc/0627_usagi_birthday_special_party_2018.php

I cam here to see if the video had been posted and yay it had. I CANNOT GET OVER HOW MUCH I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. I don't know why but i friggin love those high heels and that whole promo. I feel like its Sailor Moon gone Kpop. haha

YUssssss!!! The more I hear about this the more pumped I get!

In addition to the video, there was also some other news announced! There will be THREE different teams of senshi: Team Heart, Team Diamond, and Team Music Note. I won't list all of the actresses right now, but notables include:

Team Heart's Venus: Sena. A member of a girl group called The Hoopers whose tagline is "8 Girls Dressed as Beautiful Boys:
Team Music Note's Mars: Yui Hasegawa. Played Viluy in Un Nouveau Voyage.

AND Tuxedo Mask: Riona Tatemichi. Played Rubeus, Hawkeye, and Sailor Star Maker in the Nelke musicals. Generally an incredibly attractive woman. 

While I'm really excited from the promo, I do find it a bit odd that there are 3 teams. I know teams are common in takarazuka, so it makes sense they'd start using them more now that myu is pulling more from takarazuka, but still, I think the norm is generally just 2. However, if this show is super intensive, it would make sense to have 3 teams for to not overwork them, so it could also be a good thing!

And while I'm super excited about Riona because I love her, I am also a bit... nervous. One of my biggest complaints about Yuuga is the focus on her being cool, handsome, etc. and not on being Mamoru. Since Riona is so cool, I'm afraid they might be taking that route again and putting what is, in my opinion, a bit too much emphasis on Mamoru's coolness and not enough on his dorkiness. (Though Yuuga's Mamoru does get some dorky scenes, and I love those!! It's just... much less in comparison to the number of winks he gives.)

OH also, back on the news side of things! Interesting note is there is a cast listing for Kunzite and Beryl, but not for the rest of the shitennou. I think this makes it even more likely that they're doing something like a "Kunzite attacks Paris!" plotline, but they could also be changing up the DK plot in some other way.

Yay! Thanks for posting the updates, guys!!

All in all this is starting to sound less "different" from the Myus than I was hoping but I'm not too unhappy about it~. The heels look pretty killer! I wonder how they will dance in them? Maybe it really will be super kpop style!

There's an article up with an interview with a few members of the cast from the Super Live. I haven't finished reading it, but you can get a rough translation with google translate if you're interested in reading it. xD

https://spice.eplus.jp/articles/203349

Wow some of those "translated" sentences are just... stellar >.>...
XD

At least I think it's safe to say from the number of ways it's mentioned that the choreography/dancing in this is definitely most important! (And of course, the common sentiment in these sort of articles that everyone is working super hard :p.)

Thanks for the link~.

Today was the first day of the Super Live in Tokyo!!!

For pictures from the show, check out Natalie and Overture. There are probably some other news sources I haven't seen yet, and generally SailorBusters makes a masterpost of all the new images.

this is my favorite of the pictures:

From what I've heard, the show is light on dialogue, which is likely due to the fact that it's intended for international audiences, with most of the focus on choreography, music, and lighting, with a fairly simple set. The projections have vastly improved from NogiMyu and NelkeMyu, and it seems they use some of the same attack effects that are used in NogiMyu (specifically for Moon and Venus). I've heard the overall effect of the choreo and projections is very intense! 

As for actor comments, I haven't heard too many? I think this was team heart (but maybe with a different moon?). I've seen comments that Mercury was especially good, and also Jupiter. Nothing negative about any of them, though! Also, I've heard lots of Riona is really cool as Tux, but honestly, were we expecting anything else?

And last but not least, the music! I'm not sure how much of it is instrumental vs sung, but 3 new song titles and 2 returning were announced in the Natalie article linked above! 

I'll put them in a spoiler :

OK THATS ALL I'VE GOT. It looks like a really fun show tho, so I really hope they do a DVD release of this after the Paris show!

Yayyy!! Ugh I can't wait to see clips!

Re: Riona, yes exactly: "were we expecting anything less?" XD. That pic is great omg >___
Thanks for the full report, cardea!! A++!

Sorry for the double post but I JUST REALIZED...!!

Spoiler:

I feel tricked XDD.

I found this review linked on reddit this morning. It gives a good overall idea of what the plot is like and some other things. It's pretty spoilery if you didn't want to learn anything about it at all. xD

Confirmed: La Soldier and Otome no Policy are in it but I believe that had been confirmed in other statements anyway.

http://kitto-toberu-sa.tumblr.com/post/177724605366/sailor-moon-the-super-live-report-august-31st