Well one of the most famous sites, SOS is saying farewell and passing on the mantle of Saving our Sailors to whomever is willing (that's your cue SOSAU!). SOS has been one of the oldest sites online, and in fact was one of the first SM sites I ever visited, however through the years they have built the reputation of spreading rumours, misinformation, etc, etc, etc... I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. ;) Taking this into account, when reading their final report, take note that A LOT of it is speculation based on their own beiefs and not facts. Here's an example:
In Japan (as in the U.S.) producers hold back on releasing DVDs to help keep a good series on the air in repeats. Release DVDs too early and they can kill a series in repeats. Emotion (Bandai Visual's Home Video company in Japan), is wasting no time in releasing DVDs of PGSM. This is still yet another signal that Toei is expecting little repeatability of the series. It's the smart thing to do under the current circumstances.
Um, actually in Japan DVDs come out almost immediately after the show/movie airs. It has nothing to do with repeats as PGSM most likely won't repeat until the whole series has finished. We're expecting around 50 episodes for this one season and normally after one season in Japan, the next one starts immediately leaving no space for repeats while the next season is in production (what happenes with shows in the US and OZ as most English speaking shows only have 26 episode seasons).
Another sign of Toei's current Sailormoon strategy is in their merchandise. All of it is for PGSM and none of it is for the anime. It's as if the anime had never existed. And when it comes to any graphics associated with the merchandise it seems to be always a Naoko drawing and not the anime style.
It's as if the anime finished airing YEARS AGO..... Of course they would market a new show. On a side note, they admit there is cartoon merchandise, they say it's in a slightly different style??? What's it going to be guys?
I could make comments on the whole article but quite frankly it's too long. Happy reading! http://www.iwaynet.net/~sos/kablooey.html
