It's Almost Friday! Are you ready Sailormoon fans?

For those of you who might not already know about this, there's something awesome happening on Friday!  Nico Nico is streaming a live event with Japanese Sailormoon VAs, "nostalgic memories", behind the scenes info, an UNVEILING OF 20th ANNIVERSARY MERCHANDISE (collective gasp and clutching of wallet), and...

..."an exciting new announcement!"

Check out this CrunchyRoll post for all the details.  Momoiro Clover Z, a popular idol group, is joining the event live from Japan Expo 2012 in Paris. Could their attendance have something to do with the special announcement? What will this exciting new announcement be?!

New merch alone is super exciting for me, but oh man, we have just no idea what else they have in store for us!  But that hasn't stopped fans from speculating and guessing all week!

Here's some of my favorite ideas on what it could be, silly and serious:

• A new animated series of Sailormoon for TV (either a reboot of the original with less filler, or a new season/arc)
• An OVA series or a new movie 
• A 20th Anniversary Sailormoon musical (Sera Myu has been on hiatus for a while)
• Naoko is writing a new manga series based on the Sailormoon universe, telling some untold part of the story (Crystal Tokyo, Moon Kingdom, Galaxia's story, etc.)
• A new Sailormoon Theme park (haha this one is kind of silly, but come on, who wouldn't want to go?!)
• A 20th Anniversary Sailor Moon Artbook with all new art from Naoko
• A Sailormoon Retrospective Museum opening in Tokyo (I'll go! I'll go!)

Those are just some fun ideas of what it could be, but we really have no idea. I just can't wait to find out!  It really feels like it something big since they are sending out international press releases and making such a fuss over it.

Some fans have expressed hope that this means the series is going to be licensed and possibly re-dubbed for the English market.  While many fans are very hopeful for that eventuality, it seems unlikely that such an announcement would be made for a Japanese audience.

Don't get me wrong though! I'm all about a fresh take on Sailormoon with a more accurate translation of the script and without all the random stuff cut out!  It would be nice if some of the original voices would return (I have a soft spot for Stephanie Morgenstern as Venus, tehe) but most likely it would be a new cast.
That's kind of sad for nostalgic reasons, but an updated dub would bring new life to the series and new, younger fans!

The 90s dub will always have a special place in my heart, but it wouldn't speak to kids today the same way.  If we want the Sailormoon fandom to thrive and live on, we have to be open to change and exciting new things!  I think no matter who does the voices, as long as the story is true to heart then people will love it once more! 

GANBATTE SAILORMOON! \ ^ 0 ^ /