Engeki Book (“Theater Book”) is a monthly publication that focuses exclusively on Japanese theater and musicals. This particular issue features a Sailor Moon La Reconquista cast interview, with the five actresses who portray the inner soldiers – Satomi Ookubo as Sailor Moon / Tsukino Usagi, Miyabi Matsuura as Sailor Mercury / Mizuno Ami, Kanon Nanaki as Sailor Mars / Hino Rei, Yuu Takahashi as Sailor Jupiter / Kino Makoto, and Shiori Sakata as Sailor Venus / Aino Minako.
Special thanks to ainomessage for letting me know about this publication, and also for allowing me to scan pages from her copy!





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Turning into the cool sailor soldiers everyone looks up to!
The strong beautiful sailor guardians who were admired by girls everywhere have come back!
Ever since its original serialization in “Nakayoshi” magazine in 1992, the charm of the heroines clad in sailor suits “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” continues to be loved all over the world.
Until now these legendary musicals, with 27 story lines has been performed over 800 times, until its current revival with an all-female cast and stylish new costumes.
Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino/Satomi Ookubo, Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno/Miyabi Matsuura, Sailor Mars/Rei Hino/Kanon Nanaki,
Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino/YuuTakahashi, Sailor Venus/Minako Aino/Shiori Sakata,
These five will be playing the charming sailor guardian, and we’re here to talk to them about their work and their new roles.
Satomi Ookubo — Born in ā95, Chiba-ken. Active with TV dramas, commercials, magazines, etc. This musical is her full-blown stage debut.
Miyabi Matsuura — Born in ā95, Hyougo-ken. In ā12, she acquired grand prize in the first Junon Produce Girlsā Contest. After that, sheās played parts in TV drama ā35-sai no koukouseiā, plays āOnna no ko monogatariā and āBokunchiā (Rieko Nishihara Theater Festival 2013), etc.
Kanon Nanaki — Born in ā97, Tokyo-to. While working as a regular model for āNicolaā magazine, sheās taken part in TV dramas, commercials, āKokuhakuā movie, etc.
Yuu Takahashi — Born in ā91, Shiga-ken. Sheās appeared as a model in many magazines. Sheās played in a wide-range of things such as āKamen Rider Kibaā, etc. TV dramas, variety shows, and commercials.
Shiori Sakata — Born in ā91, Tokyo-to. After activity in an idol college until ā12, sheās taken part in āKingyo Clubā TV drama, āSing!ā musical, etc.
Usagi is a leader āwithout awarenessā?!
Weād like to ask everyone what their impression was of playing a sailor soldier — First off is Ms. Ookubo who plays the role of Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino.
Ookubo: I think it fits me! Those around me say that the parts about her like oversleeping, liking games and speaking resembles me LOL
Nanaki: But you get with it at times.
Sakata: Even during practice, sheās looking at her surroundings the most, when it comes to it, she pulls us along as a leader, and she gives us advice that makes us think we should aim for the top, so I think sheās Usagi.
Matsuura: Yepyep. Her lack of self-awareness is most like Usagi LOL
Matsuura plays the part of Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno.
Matsuura: Sheās a genius, and sheās so bad with boys that she breaks out in hives when she receives love letters. The way that she always worries about Usagi and thinks āI need to save herā resembles me. When she helps her friends or parents, etc. she moved swiftly. But I donāt have an IQ of 300 LOL
Sakata: Sheās intelligence and the most with it, and with things like āIf I say this, what will they think?ā, with the wholeheartedness of wanting to make something good, sheās cautious regardless of age. Sheās very knowledgeable, and the way she takes the initiative to act makes me think āThatās Amiā.
Nanaki: Right!
Ookubo: Everyone said everything LOL
Sakata: She doesnāt slack off! LOL
Nanaki plays the role of Sailor Mars/Rei Hino
Nanaki: She sometimes really fights with Usagi, but she gets along with everyone. She attends a high-class lady school, sheās scary when she gets angry, and she doesnāt trust men LOL When fighting, she goes right into the heat of battle to fight, and she properly really likes Usagi. Iām not refined like a high-class lady, though LOL
Matsuura: Rei is a priestess, so thereās a different level of difficulty of approach with Ami. But when it comes to acting, she totally changes. Rei also has a different look than usual when she prays, so the aspect of āShe does it when she concentratesā is similar.
Ookubo: In the play, she fights with Usagi, but she doesnāt at all normally.
Nanaki: I always meet up with Saaton (Ookubo), and go to practice togetherā¦ā¦
Ookubo: Sheās looking after me LOL
Matsuura: And Yuu (Takahashi) gets even more help from her LOL
That Takahashi plays the role of Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino.
Takahashi: At a first glance, sheās tall, powerful, and strong-minded, how sheās very girlish inside is the same as me, itās my true nature LOL How she really likes her friends, and when sheās with them, sheās really happy is the same as me. Itās truly an easy role to fill.
Ookubo: During practice, sheās competent and pulls me along LOL
Takahashi: I was told āYouāre too strongā LOL
Sailor Venus/Minako Aino is played by Sakata.
Sakata: Sheās adult-like, kind of like a hidden leader, and has the power to raise everyone up, but normally she has the role of playing around with Usagi and getting scolded by Rei LOL I also really like fun things and being with everyone, and Iām usually made out to be an idiot LOL
Ookubo: Sheās the most messed with character LOL
Matsuura: Shii (Sakata) and Saaton resemble each other. Like when they start talking, they donāt see their surroundings, etc. LOL
Takahashi: Sheās incredibly knowledgeable about constellations, and she loves to talk about them LOL
Sakata: Sheās non-stop LOL Minako is a girl who falls in love, but my imagination also runs wild LOL As far as Leo girls go, there are many girls like her, and perhaps her love sense resembles me a bit.
Itās like a dream to be able to play this role!
Everyone, apparently you auditioned, but when you each got the part, what was your mental state?
Ookubo: I have no idea what my actual feeling was. Itās a truly big work, so I had both the uncertainty of āAm I a good choice?ā and the confidence of āThis might go well!ā. Before undergoing the audition, when I looked up what kind of girl Usagi-chan was, there were many overlapping aspects. Only, itās my first musical, so Iām not quite there yet on singing and dancing.
Matsuura: When I was in kindergarten, I saw a Sailor Moon musical, and I still have the video and pamphlet at my house. I absolutely loved it, so it was enough being able to audition, but who would have thought Iād be accepted?
Ookubo: You cried at the audition, didnāt you?
Matsuura: Itās because the original creator, Naoko Takeuchi, was there. Iāve had so many fun memories of Sailor Moon since childhood, when I think that those times wouldnāt have come to be if Naoko wasnāt aroundā¦ā¦ Therefore, itās still like Iām in a dream. Iām a fan of the original work, so my eyes are the most scary. I often think that āIām not Ami-chan at allā, and Iām a little worried, but when Iām wearing the battle clothing and when Iām have blue hair on, I donāt have as much of an uncomfortable feeling as I thought I would, so Iād like to go on with confidence.
Nanaki: Iām not with it whatsoever, and my personality is the opposite of Rei-chanās. I want to create a Mars thatās more like me, but the current me would ultimately crush the image, so I feel that I have to change it up. Of course, itās my first time acting in a musical, so Iād like to do my best.
Takahashi: Since I was young, Iād watch it in real time, and for the first time in my life, the females I looked up to were sailor soldiers — To think that Iām able to pass that onto others and that this day would actually come in my life, are the feelings I have. When I auditioned, I thought that if Iām going to do it, it would have to be Jupiter, so Iām happy.
Matsuura: You are truly perfect!
Takahashi: There are songs, dancing, and harmonization, so itās challenging LOL, but weāve formed relationships with each other in no time, so I feel that this will be a wonderful work.
Sakata: I had happy tears. I watched Sailor Moon with Mom and my older sisters, and we played transformation together, so itās like a dream. I saw the movie yesterday, but itās a work that even adults can enjoy, and every day I feel that itās amazing that itās becoming a musical. This work is everything to me at the moment, so much so that everyone appears in my dreams, and I think that itās a wonderful encounter, so Iām so happy that it would be okay if I were to turn into an old lady LOL
Please tell the kids of today some of the best parts of the series
From when you all first saw the show, what was secretly the part you loved best about it?
Ookubo: Love! And I loved Tuxedo Mask (Chiba Mamoru) too. lol
Sakata: Probably the transformations. Seeing the girls fight, it was so dazzling, we all wished we could have been like tht.
Nanaki: I loved the parts that made you emotional.
Takahashi: The bonds of friendship.
Ookubo: Everyone’s purity. They have such beautiful hearts!
Matsuura: The good-looking guys. The Four Generals are awesome bad guys, so they’ll always be in my heart, lol.
Takahashi: There are tons of girl guardians these days, but series done in the best style is “Sailor Moon”. What I want most is for today’s kids to see our performances, and say, “They’re so cool!”, just the way we used to do when we were kids.
Ookubo: I want to show the kids of today who may not know about “Sailor Moon” how it is – to have them say, “Oh, that’s what this series is about!”.
So Momoiro Clover Z is doing the theme song and releasing a CD for it.
Ookubo: When they sand the song, they were really cute!
Sakata: Momoiro Clover Z is really energetic, and they’ve put a lot of effort and hard work into what they’re doing, that’s what I noticed when I first heard them. When I saw them at the EXPO last year, I thought they were really wonderful.
Matsuura: We’re going to sing the theme song on stage too!
Nanaki: So we’re under some pressure lol
Takahashi: All of us girls are going to show you how cool “Sailor Moon” is!