Rumor Killer: Funimation DOES NOT Have Sailor Moon (Updated)
July 20th, 2010 | 
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So a few nights ago on Twitter, a message started circulating that a user on YouTube had his video featuring Sailor Moon footage removed. Yeah, whoop de doo right? Well, according to this person the reason why the video had been removed was because of a copyright claim by Funimation. Naturally (because this IS the internet after all) this was followed by rampant speculation and rumor mongering that Funimation had finally rescued the classic and beloved magical girl series from obscurity.
I, for one, am a proud member of the Sailor Moon generation of anime fans so this intrigued me quite a bit. I was never able to afford the DVDs upon their original release and still can’t as an adult because of the extraordinary collector prices it’s fetching now (Used copies of the Season 1 Box Set released by ADV sells for over $100 on Amazon). I’m not one to put stock in Twitter rumors however and so I went straight to the source and asked, does Funimation have Sailor Moon? Short answer: No.
In an email from Funimation rep Jackie Smith, I was told very firmly that while Sailor Moon is ‘”one of the most popular anime series of all time and most U.S. licensing companies would love to add it to their respective libraries”, Funimation doesn’t have it.
Sorry everyone, guess we’re going to have to wait for another day to fight evil by moonlight. But don’t worry, hopefully someday there will be a company always ready for a real fight who will be able to acquire the one named Sailor Moon.
Updated: Here’s the full quote from Jackie Smith at Funimation that should’ve been included with the original posting of the article:
Updated Again to make the quote readable
Yes, there is no doubt Sailor Moon is one of the most popular anime series of all time and most U.S. licensing companies would love to add it to their respective libraries, but we do not have it.
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That doesn’t mean anything. They could be negotiated terms for the series. Also, even if they technically had it, they might be under a gag order until the ink is dried. So saying they had it would effectively hurt any chances of a big con announcement. I was going to follow-up on that rumor, but knew that Funi wouldn’t and shouldn’t confirm a juicy rumor like that for anyone short of ANN.
@Sean Russell: I’m not an expert but if I’ve noticed correctly from the past, generally companies (i.e. Funimation) wouldn’t bother giving a flat denial if there was any sort of truth to the rumor. If the rumor held any water whatsoever, the request for comment I sent could have been ignored entirely or been returned with ‘can neither confirm nor deny’, etc. Giving a very firm and not vaguely worded comment however gives no wiggle room in the future if something is in the works. If Funimation does make a rescue announcement in the future, I will retract my words of course.
I do disagree w/ the statement that this is news that only ANN could handle/be trusted with. They are the best and biggest but shouldn’t be the only English site in the world to be able to confirm a rumor or put it to rest.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I’m so sad.
Like what Sean said, FUNimation could just be playing us. Announcing you have a franchise as big as Sailor Moon that’s been in obscurity for the last couple of years is something you would probably want to keep a tight lid on. Remember no one thought Revolutionary Girl Utena was ever going to come back and look what happened. Granted, you could be right and we (Sailor Moon fans) are getting are hopes up for nothing. At this point, optimism is all we have. We’ll see if the rumors are true or not in a few hours.
@Cowboy Dev: I’ve been wrong in the past but it doesn’t seem like it’s in anyone’s best interests to outright lie about not having it. If they were vague or left room for doubt I wouldn’t have posted the quote but it was a very flat denial which I don’t get very often. We’ll wait and see I suppose, Otakon and NYAF are both right around the corner after all.
I would love to see Sailor Moon return to DVD, maybe even w/ a new dub track. Though now I’m wondering, would a new dub track (that, for example, kept the original Japanese names instead of the English ones) take away some of its charm it had originally or open it to a new audience?
Hey, I would just like to clarify that nobody (not even Funimation) has Sailor Moon YET, but it’s eventually coming. The series is in it’s early stages of returning, which is being up for license.
Furthermore, while Funimation does not have Sailor Moon YET, we also do not know YET if Funimation plans to dub Sailor Stars.
@Chris: What are you basing that on?
I would love for them to do a new sailor moon dub, with also the japanese and who knows maybe even the series with the US dic broadcast music lol. It would also be cool if toei decided to then do what theyve done to dragonball z and to make another whole sailor moon series more close to the manga.
Then what is up with all of this? http://blog.funimation.com/2009/05/we-need-your-input/?cp=96
@Q: I don’t know what you’re referring to. Lots of people wanting to see Sailor Moon re-released?
Shame….Guess I’ll go watch the original version, which will ALWAYS beat any dub anyway. (:
I hope they do NOT do Sailor Moon… Give it back to the Canada… Let Ocean Group do it.. The Funimation Voice Actors are HORRIBLE… except on a few animes… they ruined One Piece and DBZ. The voices for Fairy Tail are terrible also…
@Chao_Sweetie: Kinda weeaboo-ish don’t you think? Trololol
You can tell Funimation from me to keep their hands off Sailor Moon. I do not care how good people “think” they are but let me say seeing their dub of Dragonball constantly at used stores in HUGE amounts tells me they suck at dubbing. I will boycott whatever they just need to give it up drop their interest in obtaining the rights and find another show to ruin, they do not need to do it to Sailor Moon so they can just drop the idea all together.