Fumio Osano On New SAILOR MOON Stage Musical, PETITE ETRANGER

A brand new stage musical based on the super-successful long-running Japanese anime series SAILOR MOON is set to premiere later this year in Tokyo and the managing editor of the franchise, Fumio Osano, opens up about the origins of the stage iteration as well as what we can expect from the new musical as part of a new interview.

Commenting on the original impetus behind the stage edition of SAILOR MOON, Osano remembers, "I remember that one day, I went into the office and my boss said to me, 'We're going to make a page spread on the new musical in 'Nakayoshi' magazine,' and we had only just decided that a new musical would be happening at all (laughs). A few years earlier we went to watch the "Saint Seiya" musical at the Aoyama Round Theater, and that's when we thought that we could make a revival for "Sailor Moon" just like it."

As for the original author's approval and her thoughts on the newest stage edition, Osano shares, "This year's - Petite Étrangère - is also going to follow the original work. But I've talked with Mrs. Takeuchi about it, and she said, 'I want you to do the musicals with freedom,' so we've done that in some places."

Additionally, Osano says of the last SAILOR MOON stage musical, "Last year Ms. Takeuchi was in attendance, and she raved about it. I kept having to stand up again and again to give more applause."

As for what fans can expect from the new edition, Osano relates, "After you've relived last summer's excitement by enjoying the DVD release, please visit us again at the theater this year. This next musical corresponds with the second arc of the series, "Sailor Moon R". It's a musical, but a lot goes on plot-wise, and it's similar almost to the anime series. In fact, we kept a lot of elements from one of the most popular anime episodes from this arc, but we freshened it up a bit. Our staff worked hard and we're all looking forward to sharing our work with you."

While details are still scarce, the new musical will undoubtedly capitalize on the warm reception and boffo box office afforded to the recent SAILOR MOON musical, LA RECONQUISTA, which premiered last year.

The new SAILOR MOON musical will be titled PETITE ETRANGER for short, with the full title being PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON PETITE ETRANGER.

Of note, the new SAILOR MOON musical will move to Osaka following a debut in Tokyo this September.

According to recent reports, the new musical will be set in Crystal Tokyo and spotlight the popular Black Moon Clan, also featuring the return of popular character Tuxedo Mask as well as the addition of Sailor Pluto and Chibiusa.

SAILOR MOON creator Naoko Takeuchi recently addressed the various multimedia adaptations of her work as part of a longer interview late last year, as well.

Visit the official SAILOR MOON site for the original post confirming the new musical here and here.

Also, the official site for SAILOR MOON: PETITE ETRANGER is now up, available here.

Check out BroadwayWorld's coverage of Takeuchi commenting on SAILOR MOON and more, available here.