I have always been a strong supporter of buying series from official sources (which is why you won't find any links to Sailor Moon fansubs or torrents on this site) and was always planning to start an online campaign once it was "officially announced" Sailor Moon was being redubbed or rereleased encouraging Sailor Moon fan sites to take down links to manga and episode downloads to support the series which would prove to the higher-ups that there is a market for Sailor Moon which in turn would result in more Sailor Moon being released.

This is especially true in Japan where due to the different business models there companies end up making most of their income from DVD sales. In fact it was officially stated that because the PGSM live action DVDs sold so well they decided to produce the Act Zero and Special Act DVDs.

The reason I'm bringing this up now is due something that happened yesterday.

You know how Funimation is considering redubbing and rreleasing Sailor Moon in the US? And how they did a poll a year or so ago asking if people would like to see a subtitled Sailor Stars viewable online officially?

Well Funimation was going do something very cool last night (US time) that would have been the first step towards a rerelease of Sailor Moon being a reality... but the fans screwed it up. BIG TIME.

Here's the official statement from Funimation concerning what happened:

As anime fans know, FUNimation Entertainment and Toei Animation had planned for the first ever online simulcast of the series ‘One Piece’ tonight at 9:00 pm CDT., just one hour after its premiere on Japan's Fuji Television. Unfortunately, in the last 24 hours we have determined that the FUNimation servers were compromised, even though we employ strict security standards. An unknown individual accessed and posted episode 403 online and as a direct result of this illegal act, all U.S. and Canadian fans will be deprived of access to this great anime series for the immediate future. We will make every effort to locate and prosecute the perpetrator(s) to the fullest extent of the law and will provide updates regarding this most serious matter.

This could have been the beginning of something amazing for English speaking anime fans, but someone decided they couldn't wait 24 hours for a FREE officially subtitled anime episode officially released subbed one hour after it aired in Japan!

Obviously this has impacted the experiment as they've now removed One Piece (the anime in question) from not only Funimation's website but Hulu and Joost as well. And it's not only an episode or two... they've removed the entire series.

Funimation and Toei are the two companies that would have released Sailor Moon and Sailor Stars and now perhaps, it may not happen.

This literally happened hours ago so I'll keep you updated on any developments.

You can read more about it here.

Needless to say, if and when Sailor Moon and Sailor Stars are officially announced as being released, stop downloading and wait for what you've wanted so long for.

Labels: Sailor Moon Anime, Sailor Moon DVDs

Posted By: Brad # Monday, June 01, 2009

Comments:

One would think it would still be mutually beneficial for both companies to work together, provided that slip ups like this never happen again. That said, I'm terribly dissapointed by this news.

# posted by

NenoC : 01 June, 2009 22:10

Yeah, I'm PRAYING that this doesn't affect Sailor Moon!

# posted by

Brad : 01 June, 2009 22:32

First off, I love this site, it's amazing, I check it everyday!
And yea, talk about a bone headed move on someone's part. Myself and several friends took that survey to get Sailor Moon re-dubbed, and even a few others on that list, and now it's possible no one will get their wish.
I did have another question though, several times you've put updates about the Official Sailor Moon Site, the Sailor Moon channel, but the problem being my Japanese is rusty to say the least and I was never good with Kanji, is there any other way to see these great updates?

# posted by

Anonymous : 02 June, 2009 01:03

Thanks for the warm comments!

Don't worry too much about missing out on the official site's content. Most of the time it's simply new flash games or letters saying "I want to be like Sailor Moon!" or "We have the same birthday!"

When Sailor Moon Channel has interesting news I always post it in the news updates (most likely on the roundup on Fridays).

# posted by

Brad : 02 June, 2009 01:16

I hate when people do that, there is always someone in a group that will ruin everything!

It was a good idea for funimation to try this idea out. It looks like its working great on Crunchyroll. They also do a stimulcast, but in order to watch live it you need to pay for it. It then becomes free after a week has past for everyone to watch it. Thats how I watch my other animes. ^^

# posted by

Anonymous : 02 June, 2009 08:17

Wow! that blows. Thanks so much for posting that Brad. I have been sadly looking around for something similar for Pretty Cure (it is owned by TOEI). I feel the exact same way -- stay away from the torrents so we can get some REAL licenses DVDs!

# posted by

JRS Toys : 05 June, 2009 04:52

Kind of overreacting to the whole One Piece thing. If my guess is right, we won't be seeing more official Sailor Moon releases for awhile.

# posted by

Anonymous : 07 June, 2009 07:23

Don't say that! We have to stay positive! ;)

Twittered Funimation about two separate things. They replied to one tweet but not the one about Sailor Moon. hmmm...

# posted by

Brad : 07 June, 2009 20:35

Then again, the article states their server was hacked, and the episode was stolen. I doubt they will take the time to search every inch of the Internet for episode downloads, so I guess we do have a chance.

# posted by

Anonymous : 09 June, 2009 15:19

Monday, June 01, 2009

Funimation News + A Challenge