Welcome back to the blog! I uh… am very aware that I keep making “Happy New Year” posts and then disappearing, but I promise you, it was because I had to move ASAP, start a business course, start a business, plan a convention, get a job, and then catch COVID first LOL.
That’s right, it’s been a BUSY 8 months for me, and TBH for some of it I’m not even sure how I made it out with my sanity. SOMEHOW in all of that I planned a vendor hall for Animethon and got the lucky opportunity to host Edmonton Gunpla Builders beside our booths. For the weekend they held contests, workshops, and a wonderfully awesome Gunpla display! They put the call out in one of our meetings for kits made by Bandai, and I admittedly misheard but approached them about a Sailor Moon display for the 30th Anniversary. A Bandi display wouldn’t be THAT hard, right?
Well, it is once you start accounting for all of the smaller companies they own and that it ESPECIALLY will be when half of your collection is still in boxes and you left packing for the night before you leave for the hotel.
Thankfully everything turned out beautifully! Unfortunately, I was unable to print out a write-up on it because of how busy I was and some people mistook it for an official display, but nope! This is 100% my personal collection. But I’m flattered some people might have mistaken it for a Bandai display.
Despite being Vendor Coordinator for the event there wasn’t a whole lot of Sailor Moon in the hall that I didn’t already have, so I don’t really have a haul, but I did manage to snag the Sailor Mercury Q-Posket A version (Little Star Gifts), and some PVC magnets from Monogram (Star Cast Anime).
Hopefully, I’ll get to do more next year. The crew said everyone loved my display and invited me to display with them at other events. So check back for updates on that! Also check below for a new wallpaper if you have dual monitors 😉
I apologize for making this blog so late. TBH I kept going to write this post and failing to have the words lol.
Seeing “Sailor Moon R The Movie” in-theatre was AMAZING. The day started out with meeting a few members of my Sailor Moon group (Edmonton Sailor Moon Fans) in the mall food court for some Usagi-esque food (crepes, ice cream, or, in my case, bubble tea ^^;). We sat and talked for a bit about everything that’s happening with Sailor Moon, some of the funny things happening in the new dub, and whether people were enjoying it.
Then… it was TIME!
Picture by Christina Pelly
We lined up for the movie around 5:30-6ish, and got there JUST before they handed out the posters. Unfortunately, the last poster was given out to the person directly in front of myself and my friend Christy. TBH, I’m still bummed about it. We got there that early specifically for those posters, but you win some, you lose some (I’m still looking to buy one if you’re selling!). At least when it was time to go in we were guaranteed a postcard and an envelope as there were multiple MASSIVE stacks.
What was really fricken awesome was walking into a theatre and seeing “Sailor Moon R 7:00” across the sign, and a digital Sailor Moon poster on display. Something we’ve never had the opportunity to see in North America in the entirety of Sailor Moon.
So into the theatre we went with 30 minutes until start! With so much time on our hands, we found seats and cracked open our envelopes to work out some trades.
Turns out, basically everyone in the theatre got Moon, Venus, or Jupiter. Guess who I got?
JUPITER!
And I couldn’t find a single Sailor Mercury to trade with. That was super disappointing, but oh well. I LOVE the advertisements that came with the postcard, though. What no one is talking about is that the postcard is on really nice card stock! Same with the postcard version of the movie poster that came separately. Also despite what staff said, the two movie poster advertisements ARE different! Here are some pictures of the fronts and backs of the cards below.
FRONT of MANGA AD and CHARACTER CARD
BACK of the MANGA AD and CHARACTER CARD
Left: Glossy Thin Ad, Right: Postcard Print Ad
Left: Glossy Thin Ad, Right: Postcard Print Ad
SURPRISE! Something no one seems to be talking about is that the back of the glossy advertisement gives us a time frame for Sailor Moon Super Part 2 on DVD and Blu-ray.
Then the lights dimmed, the crowd got quiet, and instead of the expected short, we got a small interview from the voice actors of Tuxedo Mask (Robbie Daymond), Fiore (Benjamin Diskin), and Sailor Moon (Stephanie Sheh). They were adorable and talked about their favourite parts of the movie without being spoilery, and how it felt to be a part of a series with so much behind it.
But to be honest, I don’t remember most of it because I was too busy laughing at Robbie Daymond’s sweater.
Oh yea. That suckers covered in ROSES. Of course it is.
Then FINALLY, Make-Up! Sailor Guardian began. It was from that point on that there was hardly a dry eye in our entire row. We’ve all been fans since childhood, and seeing Sailor Moon look so beautiful on such a MASSIVE screen was everything we had ever dreamed of.
Let’s be honest, Sailor Moon was animated over two decades ago. Not everything held up to being BLOWN UP to the size of a theatre screen, but that’s acceptable. We’ve all witnessed some of the bad animation still show up on our small parent-approved bedroom televisions. It wasn’t going away.
But the colours, the characters, the love put into making the redub of Sailor Moon R The Movie was very apparent from both TOEI and Viz Media. I’ll be honest, I’ve been trying to keep up with the Limited Edition box sets from Viz and Rightstuf, but since I moved out a year and a half ago… that hasn’t been so easy. On top of that, I now have a whole bunch of new responsibilities, and I haven’t even managed to watch them aside from what I caught during the showing of my own Blu-rays during the International Sailor Moon Day that I hosted during Animethon last year.
Based on that, I was very impressed with what I saw from Sailor Moon R The Movie. Everything was cleaned up nicely, the voice actors were wonderful, and it took me very little time to adjust to hearing them as their characters (though I supremely missed the old VA’s out of nostalgia for sure). Seeing the iconic kiss between Mamoru and Usagi that saves Usagi’s life so beautifully preserved was my breaking point. When the movie comes out in April I very much doubt I’ll be able to watch to that point without crying.
If you couldn’t tell, I had an AMAZING time at Viz Media’s showing of Sailor Moon R The Movie, and I can’t wait to see the next one!
Tomorrow is the day most Moonies have been waiting for since the beginning of the 20th Anniversary, and the announcement from Viz Media that they would be dubbing ALL of Sailor Moons classic anime and Crystal.
I am going to see Sailor Moon R: The Movie (formally Promise of the Rose) in the theatre.
(I’m Canadian, we’re a little behind ^^;)
I discovered Sailor Moon when I was young. Probably when it first began airing in Canada. Unfortunately, I discovered it at a friends house, and I didn’t have the channel it aired on, but it’s one of the few times I’ve ever said “STOP! GO BACK!” while someone else had control of the television.
There were roughly 3-5 years in there before I rediscovered Sailor Moon, and was able to watch it for myself at home. Every day after school I rushed out at 3:30 pm, in the door at 3:55 pm, GLUED TO MY TELEVISION AT 4 pm. God help anyone who tried to stop me.
It was the beginning of it all. From a couple dolls, a board game, and some bootleg stickers, to a room full of merchandise, a blog, a local Sailor Moon club, and this website. Actually, now there’s even a youtube channel. I’ve run TWO full-day events dedicated to this series, along with several years worth of panels. Most of my art is even Sailor Moon related.
My boyfriend calls me the King of Sailor Moon.
It’s safe to say Sailor Moon has had a major impact on my life.
Getting to see Sailor Moon R: The Movie on the big screen is a little intimidating. I don’t expect to be disappointed, but I do expect excitement, tears, and a lot of fun. I hope it’s as awesome to see as I’m expecting, and I hope to make some new friends. I feel like Naoko Takeuchi and Usagi would really love that.
So, Thank You, Viz Media, and Cineplex, for giving us Moonies this opportunity.
If you can’t make it to either of these events, but want to say hello I’ve made it into the Artist Alley with my friend James. I’m not sure where we’ll be yet since we JUST made it in, but take a look for me :D. I’ll be the artist with lots of Sailor Moon art 😉
#InternationalSailorMoonDay on August 15th was a success! The Edmonton event page listed an awesome 360 people RSVP’d, but FB nature aside, we got roughly 45-50 people at the event. I never quite kept track because I was busy running everything, but all of my bracelets disappeared, so that helped keep count.
Because I was so busy I’m gonna do an awful lot of Twitter linking. Forgive me XD. Next year I’ll bug someone to take pictures for me.
A photo posted by Pauline French (@moonfigures) on Aug 6, 2015 at 4:14pm PDT
The event was held at Happy Harbor, located downtown, just a week after Animethon. Though events started late we kicked things off with a colouring table, and the first few episodes of Viz Media’s Sailor Moon dub to keep people busy while I set up.
We also kept a small photo booth with props during the event. If you took photos in the hand made photo booth I set up please feel free to post the photos to Twitter and Instagram tagged #ISMD and #YEGISMD! I keep checking back for new pictures as I know there were many taken, but not a lot posted.
Snacks were provided by the wonderful KitchChick! I could have eaten her entire stock. So good. Contact her on Facebook if you’re interested! I know she had a bunch in the freezer.
After a bit of information about Sailor Moon news and merchandise we dove into some Sailor Moon trivia! The prizes were Sailor Moon Twinkle Dolly’s, and Sailor Moon Tablet cases. Congrats to the winners! We stumped you on a couple, but you were all really knowledgeable!
Thank you to everyone who came out! I’m really looking forward to planning for next year, and I’ll be sure to have some cool stuff prepared. Maybe if we’re lucky it’ll fall on Animethon weekend? I wanna make one of those Instagram signs for everyone to take pictures in 😀
Check out the bottom of the post for pictures from the event!
Friday
…was the test run for the weekend lol. James and I set up our table, I grabbed my passes, ran down to the vendors, kept my table going, and ran my How to Spot Bootlegs panel! The panel was a huge success and I might be running it elsewhere because of that. Everyone seemed to love the info that I had to share with them, and I even seen some surprised faces in the crowd when I provided some facts.
Managed to make it through Friday without spending money!! …and then parking cost me $28. Who thought that was reasonable?!
Saturday
…was the day I feared. Along with my staff position I had my table, and TWO panels!
My morning was BUSY. We re-positioned our art on our display to better display some new pieces, I raided the vendors, and sold some art!
My first panel of the day was at 3:30pm in building 9. My Sailor Moon Panel! The room was nearly full, so I’d hazard a guess of about 70 people showed up. We laughed, we cried (over pretty things), and had a good laugh. The panel was wonderful and I can’t wait for it every year.
Panel 2 was a Sailor Moon Trivia panel I ended up taking over for my friend Beth, with my friend Alison. Beth couldn’t make it, and Alison and I had never run a trivia panel before… soooo this one was interesting. It was mostly crazy chaos lmao, but we got a winner who kicked everyone’s butts, and was even dressed as her prize (a Girls Memories chibi Saturn).
Sunday
It’s always sad when you reach convention wind down day. Everyone is out shopping for good deals, going to panels they decided on last minute, and saying goodbye to friends as we pack up and leave for the weekend.
Thankfully Sunday was fairly easy going for me. I just sat, sold art, and checked out vendors one last time.
Animethon is the convention that doesn’t seem to end for me. When I go back it feels like we never left the previous year. It’s great! the community is welcoming, everyone has fun, it has dramas, but never anything too horrible. Here’s hoping I can go back next year!
Animethon 22 is August 7-9 in Edmonton, Alberta, and I’m gonna be involved in a lot!
Artist Alley
First I’ll be in the Artist Alley at table 15 with my friend James. We’ll have LOTS of art you’ll enjoy, and we’d love it if you stopped by to say hello.
Next I’ll have several panels going on the weekend.
How to Spot Bootlegs
…is a walk through and Q&A about… how to identify bootlegs! lol. There will be pictures, and examples, as well as more information than you can handle! Check it out on Friday before the vendor hall opens!
Sailor Moon Panel
…will be my usual run down of news, merchandise, and a look at some of the new stuff up close and personal. Due to the fact that I am moving the week before my selection may be small or none. Sorry guys D= I’ll do what I can!
Sailor Moon Trivia
…is not my panel. It’s by my friend Beth, and I’ll be helping out! Come test your knowledge of Sailor Moon 😉
That’s it for now! Check back for updates, or check the Animethon schedule for times when it’s released =)
This was my driveway this morning. My brother shoveled it out 3x yesterday ;_;
Due to the 30+ cm of snow we received over the last two days and over night I am unable to make it to Otafest Aurora tomorrow. I am not confident enough in the roads to drive the 3 hours after this snow fall, and promise that, budget permitting, I’ll try to host a Sailor Moon panel for Calgary at Otafest 2015.
To the people in Alberta, Canada right now, drive safe, and if you’re still going to Otafest Aurora take GREAT care in your drive. The amount of accidents on the highway alone are enough to intimidate me from the drive.
I apologize for making this blog so late. TBH I kept going to write this post and failing to have the words lol.
Sailor Moon Collection 