A production listing on the official website for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union has revealed that Netflix will be producing the English dub for Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie.
A direct sequel to the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie adapts the manga’s Dream arc and follows the Sailor Scouts as they battle to prevent the evil Queen Nehellenia and her mysterious Dead Moon Circus from acquiring the Silver Crystal, lest she unleash its power and conquer the galaxy.
The first in a two-part film series, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie was originally slated to premiere in Japan on September 11th, 2020, but in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, saw its release pushed back to January 8th, 2021.
Despite its release date delays, a recent entry in the SAG-AFTRA’s signatory database, discovered by the aptly named Sailor Moon news outlet Sailor Moon News, indicates that efforts to localize the film have continued to move forward unabated, as according to the database entry, a “Netflix Dubbing Agreement” for “Astro Girl” [sic] (Aka: Pretty Guardian Saior Moon Eternal The Movie)” is listed as “Active/Approved”.
The listed production company, The Best Ever Entertainment LLC, appears to be either a pseudonym for or dummy corporation related to Voice & Script International (VSI), a veteran dub production company who has worked extensively with Netflix.
Series localized by the studio for the streaming giant include Japanese anime Aggretsuko, the Icelandic drama The Valhalla Murders, and the Mexican supernatural television series Diablero.
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One question prompted by the potential transfer of the property from ViZ Media, the studio that produced the recent dub of Sailor Moon Crystal, to Netflix, is whether the streaming giant will have the anime voice actors reprise their roles or replace them all together.
Interestingly, Usagi Tsukino voice actress Stephanie Sheh recently posted a picture of herself wearing a Sailor Moon t-shirt while “laying on the floor of my booth waiting to do my pickups” for an unspecified series.
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Given the dub’s current listing as “active,” if Sheh were to hypothetically be recording lines as Usagi, it could indicate that the Sailor Moon Crystal voice cast will return.
Of course, as cautioned by Sailor Moon News, “this could simply be a coincidence.”
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