New Anime: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal Premieres July 2014!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal will premiere this summer on July 5, 2014! It is a new Sailor Moon anime for the 20th anniversary of Sailor Moon produced by Toei Animation and originally created by Naoko Takeuchi. The new 26-episode series will stream worldwide twice a month for one year with Kotono Mitsuishi reprising the starring title role. The anime will also star Hisako Kanemoto as Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury, Rina Satou as Rei Hino/Sailor Mars, Ami Koshimizu as Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter, and Shizuka Itou as Minako Aino/Sailor Venus. The new anime is scheduled to run on the first and third Saturdays every month, beginning July 5 at 7:00 p.m. (6:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time). On May 16th, Viz Media, a North American anime and manga distributor, announced that they have licensed Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal after their panel at Anime Central. Cruncyroll will do Internet streaming. For more information, visit Anime News Network (ANN). It is available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray.

ANN gave a synopsis of the story inspired by Naoko Takeuchi's original manga:

Usagi Tsukino is a second-year middle school girl who is a little clumsy and a crybaby, but she is full of energy. One day, she meets Luna, a black cat with a crescent moon on her forehead, and she transforms into Sailor Moon, a sailor-uniformed pretty guardian of love and justice! As a chosen guardian of justice, Usagi seems to have a mission to find the Illusionary Silver Crystal with the other guardians and to protect the princess. Meanwhile, the queen of the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl, also sends minions to the town where Usagi lives to obtain the Illusionary Silver Crystal, which has immense power. This causes strange events to unfold ...Can Sailor Moon really find the Illusionary Silver Crystal with the other Sailor guardians, and protect the princess ...!?

I am so ecstatic that I was jumping for joy when I heard the news. Sailor Moon is my favorite childhood anime series. I cannot wait to see how the new adaptation plays out next month! Watch the official trailer below: