The Outer Guardians join in on Sailor Moon and Sanrio's crossover project.
The collaboration between the classic magical girl franchise and the house of Hello Kitty kicked off in January, when each of the original five Sailor Scouts were paired up with one of Sanrio's adorable mascots. The project is now expanding with the addition of the Outer Guardians: Sailor Uranus and Neptune are being paired up with Kiki and Lala, the LittleTwinStars. The guardian of time, Sailor Pluto, is teamed up with the dog Pochacco. Sailor Saturn joins My Piano, mirroring the partnership of Sailor Chibi Moon and My Melody in the first part of the collaboration.
【更新】サンリオの人気キャラクターとのコラボレーション企画、劇場版「美少女戦士セーラームーンEternal」×サンリオキャラクターズ第2弾の発表です！https://t.co/EcyZPFZmYE pic.twitter.com/2zsqPJFiDN
— セーラームーン30th公式 (@sailormoon30th_) March 9, 2022
As of right now, the collaboration has only resulted in the release of new artwork, but Sanrio is planning a new line of apparel and merchandise for the team-up, which will begin being released in the summer of 2022. This is the second time the beloved shojo franchise has teamed up with Sanrio: My Melody previously met the Sailor Scouts in a similar collaboration that took place in 2017 and 2018.
The new project was put together to mark the 30th anniversary of the premiere of the original Sailor Moon anime. In addition to the Sanrio crossover, Japanese clothing brand UNIQLO will also produce a brand new collection of clothing featuring the Sailor Scouts, and watch maker Citizen will also introduce a new line of Sailor Moon-branded watches sometime this year. Universal Studios Japan has also announced a brand new VR experience based on the classic anime series, though unfortunately this attraction will be exclusive to the theme park's Japanese location and won't be coming to the company's parks overseas.
Sailor Moon was created by artist and writer Naoko Takeuchi and was first published in Japan in 1991. The original anime adaptation, which was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Junichi Sato (Princess Tutu), was one of the first shojo shows to be localized and broadcast outside of Japan. Several of the anime industry's most celebrated creators, such as Revolutionary Girl Utena co-creator Kunihiko Ikuhara and Bungo Stray Dogs director Takuya Igarashi, would work on the show during its five season run. Takeuchi's story received a second anime adaptation, entitled Sailor Moon Crystal, which premiered in 2014. The franchise is regarded as one of the most influential shojo and magical girl series of all time and has managed to remain popular to this day. The most recent animated entry in the series, the two-part Sailor Moon Eternal movie series, was released as a Netflix streaming exclusive in 2021.
Source: Twitter
