Anime fans looking forward to the Sailor Moon Crystal Season 4 release date now have a new reason to be excited now that the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos release date is confirmed for Summer 2023.
Similar to how Knights of Sidonia ended with a movie rather than a third season, the final Sailor Moon Crystal Stars story arc will be adapted by a two-part film rather than a fourth season.
We know the Sailor Moon 2023 movie is ending the entire story of the manga since the Sailor Moon Cosmos trailer calls this movie “the final chapter”.
The Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal movies were a direct sequel to the third season of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series. Originally scheduled for late summer 2020 but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Part 1 release in Japanese theaters happened on January 8, 2021.
The full title for the film was Pretty Guardians Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie (Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon Eternal). The movie was 80 minutes long.
When it comes to global streaming, Netflix’s Sailor Moon Eternal release date for the USA, Canada, and many other countries was on June 3, 2021.
When the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2 release date happened on February 11, 2021, the film’s ending teased audiences by stating, “To be continued.” Rather than a Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal Season 4 TV sequel, we now know the sequel will come in the form of another two-part movie series.
The production of Sailor Moon Eternal was affected by the worldwide SARS-COV-2 pandemic. In April 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a national state of emergency. Tokyo especially was impacted by the virus, which went through multiple waves in Japan.
Many anime studios’ schedules suffered from cascading effects due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the mitigation efforts by all nations. Many studios outsource parts of the production process to contractors located in China and South Korea. Sometimes compositing is outsourced entirely, and these companies handle multiple projects at the same time.
Due to the interlinked nature of the production process, the progress rate for many studios has decreased dramatically to the point that rescheduling is necessary. The Promised Neverland Season 2, Food Wars! Season 5, Re:ZERO Season 2, Sword Art Online: Alicization Final Season, and No Guns Life Part 2 were all pushed back to later dates.
Hopefully, the same will not happen to the Sailor Moon Cosmos movie.
Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie was the fourth film in the entire anime series and the first new Sailor Moon movie in theaters since 1995. The new Sailor Moon movie used the art style established during Sailor Moon Crystal, which has been airing on Japanese TV since 2014.
In the past, VIZ Media handled the Sailor Moon Crystal English dub release in North America. Details about a potential Sailor Moon Eternal dub have not yet been released.
For the Sailor Moon Cosmos film projects, Toei Animation is once again collaborating with animation Studio DEEN, which is best known for producing the KonoSuba anime series. Most of the same cast and staff will return for creating the 2023 Sailor Moon Crystal Cosmos.
Director Chiaki Kon, who directed the third season of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series, returned for the two-part Sailor Moon Eternal movies. However, the Sailor Moon Cosmos director will be Tomoya Takahashi. He’s directed episodes for famous series such as Hunter x Hunter and Kill la Kill.
Kazuyuki Fudeyasu is returning to write the Sailor Moon Cosmos screenplay. He’s written for numerous anime series in the past including Black Clover, Bleach, and several Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure arcs (the JoJo Stone Ocean Part 2 release date is in Fall 2022).
The primary staff will also include returning character designer Kazuko Tadano. Fans of the franchise may recognize her work from the original Sailor Moon anime, where she served as animation director.
Manga creator Naoko Takeuchi will be acting in a supervisory role for the project.
The voice cast from the Sailor Moon Crystal series will also be returning:
- Kotono Mitsuishi as Sailor Moon
- Hisako Kanemoto as Sailor Mercury
- Rina Satou as Sailor Mars
- Ami Koshimizu as Sailor Jupiter
- Shizuka Itou as Sailor Venus
- Misato Fukuen as Sailor Chibi Moon
More details concerning the Sailor Moon Cosmos movie will be added over time.
The Sailor Moon Crystal OP (opening) theme song music “Moonlight Chainon (Tsukiiro Chainon)” was performed by Momoiro Clover Z and the main voice cast.
- Updated April 28, 2022: Sailor Moon Cosmos release date confirmed for Summer 2023.
- Updated April 27, 2021: Added Sailor Moon Eternal Netflix release date.
- Updated December 4, 2020: Added Sailor Moon Crystal OP info and transformation trailer.
- Updated November 30, 2020: Added Sailor Moon Eternal poster.
- Updated October 16, 2020: Added new Pretty Guardians Sailor Moon Eternal trailer.
- Updated September 8, 2020: Added updated Sailor Moon Eternal release date and info on Sailor Moon Eternal 2.
- Updated April 23, 2020: Added Sailor Moon Eternal movie key visual and pandemic info.
This article provides everything that is known about the Sailor Moon Crystal Season 4 (Sailor Moon Cosmos) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Sailor Moon Crystal Cosmos’ story to finish the manga’s fifth and final story arc?
The original Sailor Moon manga series by creator Naoko Takeuchi ran from 1991 through 1997. The 60 chapters were collected into 18 tankobon volumes. Kodansha Comics has been releasing the official English translation in North America.
The original conception for Sailor Moon was only one story arc featuring the Dark Kingdom. The anime version’s episodes were aired only months after the corresponding manga chapters arrived in Japan.
Despite the series being closely linked and controlled, there were some significant differences between the original anime and the manga. Takeuchi desired to kill off the main characters but wasn’t allowed to since it was a shojo manga series intended for the teenage girl demographic. While Takeuchi wasn’t allowed to enact her vision, the anime version had the Sailor Soldiers dying in the fight against Queen Metaria only to be resurrected by Usagi using the Silver Crystal.
Due to the great success of the first story arc, Toei asked Takeuchi to create a sequel. And each of the additional story arcs was adapted into anime back in the ’90s.
The Sailor Moon Crystal anime is intended to be a reboot of the entire series that follows the manga’s story more closely. The original plot was divided up into five major story arcs and their corresponding villains.
The third season of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime adapted the Death Busters arc, based on the Infinity arc of the manga series. The two-part movie series takes the place of Sailor Moon Crystal Season 4 by covering the story events of the Dead Moon arc of the manga.
Since the Sailor Moon Eternal movies cover the story events of the fourth manga story arc rather than Sailor Moon Moon Crystal Season 4, the Sailor Moon Cosmos movie will similarly take the place of Sailor Moon Crystal Season 5.
Warning: The following contains spoilers as part of a plot summary/synopsis for Sailor Moon Eternal and the future Sailor Moon Cosmos movie.
The story of the Sailor Moon Eternal movie focused on High Priest Helios attempting to save his kingdom of Elysion. Facing off against the Sailor Guardians is the Dead Moon Circus, which is led by Zirconia in the absence of the dark Queen Nehelenia, trapped in a mirror at the time.
To take over the Earth, Zirconia is searching for the legendary Golden Crystal that will allow her to free the dark Queen Nehelenia from her imprisonment. To fight back against this threat, the Sailor Sailors figure out how to transform Usagi into Eternal Sailor Moon, which is where the movie series receives its title.
That means the Sailor Moon Crystal Season 4 could potentially be the ending of the entire story and finish off the manga’s fifth and final story arc, the Sailor Stars arc. It tells the tale of Sailor Guardians known as the Sailor Starlights, who are looking for the missing princess of their home planet Kinmoku.
The Sailor Guardians will be battling against Shadow Galactica and its leader Sailor Galaxia, the most powerful Sailor Guardian in the galaxy. Galaxia has ruined worlds, literally busting planets in her obsession to obtain the strongest Sailor Crystal.
Under Galaxia’s orders, her followers have killed the Sailor Guardians of their home planets and used their crystals to become the Sailor Animamates. Galaxia desires to take over the galaxy and destroy an evil lifeform called Chaos.
Sailor Moon Cosmos release date likely in July 2023?
As of the last update, Toei Animation, or any company related to the production of the anime, has not officially confirmed the exact Sailor Moon Cosmos release date. On April 28, 2022, the time frame was confirmed to be Summer 2023, but not the exact month.
Once the news is officially confirmed, this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when the Sailor Moon Cosmos release date will occur in the future.
May to July is typically considered the best timing for a tentpole film to have a chance at being a blockbuster premiere whereas January and February are considered the “dump months” for bad movies. Considering that info, it would not be surprising if the Sailor Moon Cosmos movie release date was set for July 2023 which is considered to be early Summer 2023 in the anime industry.
It’s been a long wait for Toei Animation to continue the story. Since Sailor Moon Eternal 2 will release in February 2021, fans were forced to endure a multi-year wait.
Let’s just be glad Toei Animation is finishing the entire story. Stay tuned!