Sailor Moon fan club taking applications for 2017, with English sign-up support

The Sailor Moon manga debuted 26 years ago, and during the decades since, the franchise has built one of the most passionate fanbases around. So it’s surprising to think that until last year, there wasn’t an official fan club for anime’s most famous magical girl.

That changed in the spring of 2016, with the formation of Pretty Guardians, the Japanese-administered official Sailor Moon fan club. Memberships are good for one year, which means it’s now time for the Pretty Guardians to start gearing up for its next round of recruiting, and the organization has just announced its pricing and benefits for 2017.

Joining gets you a few cool items right off the bat. First, there’s your numbered membership card, featuring an illustration of Princess Serenity drawn by series creator Naoko Takeuchi herself. You’ll also get a pendant styled after Sailor Moon’s magical Moon Stick, a fashionable upgrade from the Transformation Brooch lip gloss container last year’s members received.

If you’re renewing a membership from the previous year, you’ll also get a Sailor Moon stationery set, which is a reproduction of a freebie given to readers of the "Nakayoshi" manga anthology back when Takeuchi’s manga was being serialized in its pages.

Other benefits include a quarterly newsletter, the option to purchase member-exclusive merchandise, advance ticket sales to the live-action Sailor Moon stage musicals, and the opportunity to attend special fan events for members only. You’ll also get access to the online "Kotono Misuishi’s Punishment Radio," hosted by voice actress Kotono Mitsuishi, who so famously performed Sailor Moon’s dialogue, including the iconic line “In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”

Fan club applicants residing in Japan can apply here for a 5,500-yen membership effective from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018. However, since Sailor Moon fandom has become a global phenomenon, the Pretty Guardians are officially accepting applications from would-be members from over 120 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, Australia, and Singapore (a complete list can be found here). Tokyo Otaku Mode is handling English-language membership application here, priced at U.S.$58, so as long as you’ve got the cash to spare, the language barrier is no hurdle to becoming a card-carrying Sailor Moon fan.

Source: Sailor Moon official website

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© Japan Today