Whilst researching data for the "low-down" on the new re-release Sailor V manga, lots of information has come my way from many different nefarious and underground sources, some of which I deemed to be utterly scandalous and beyond belief. "Takeuchi-sensei would never do that!" I would protest, secure in my confidence that she would only permit changes beneficial to her flagship franchise. But there have been namy shocks to my conscience, last Friday's abomination of a Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon episode prime among them. Thus it was that when intrepid manga maniac "NipponCha_Cha_Chai" (who provides the quick-and-dirty translations for these pre-print proofs of the new Sailor V manga told me of her latest find in the deep dumpsters behind the Tokyo offices of Kodansha, I really wasn't all that shocked.
As I explained before, it's been known for some time now that Sailor V was going to get the same "George Lucas" treatment of refinement and revision as the Sailor Moon Manga has, and that certain plot elements would be dropped, revised, introduced or expanded to make this new edition of the manga an interesting read for a whole new audience, perhaps as a precursor to the foundation of a whole new continuity. As we have shown before, there have been many shocking revelations, new twists added to old favorite characters like Artemis and Tuxedo Kamen. I had been told to expect something dramatic in this week's preview regarding Artemis, but there was no way I could be prepared for what I saw.
And NO, Mr. Moldavian "Sailer the V-bushka numher 1 fanatical" webmaster "Zoran the Mighty Yakmaster whose masculines are larger than the size of garbage trucks used to haul frozen spittle across tundra" ARTEMIS DOES NOT TURN OUT TO BE AN ALIEN SHAPESHIFTER FROM THE PLANET MAU WHOSE TRUE FORM IS A YOUNG BOY SHAPED LIKE A CERTAIN PIECE OF QUESTIONABLE "HELLO KITTY" MERCHANDISE. I don't know what reporters you're employing on your "Sailer the V Benuisan Paradisings Love-Web Supar the Site", but those kinds of rumours do NONE of us in the Sailor V fan community any good. Go back to nerf-herding :P
This week we focus once again on Artemis (not surprising, since he is one of the two main characters in the manga), but Takeuchi has given him a rather... interesting hobby. It's not something we haven't all suspected, but to have the data confirmed in such a forthright way was shocking, to say the least. As usual, my thanks to Unnamed_Mangaholic_Z for the pre-print scan and NipponCha_Cha_Chai for the quick trans/scanslation of the new text; Please remember to buy the manga when it's commercially available once again. (Read from right to left)
Interestingly, there is also a bit of a "product placement" on this page, another (satirical?) nod to the various rmeans to which content providers must stoop in order to raise funds.
Poor Artemis, how the mighty have fallen. Next week, our look into the new world of Sailor V 2004 continues, leading up to the finale before the re-launch of the manga on October 22nd!
Aino Minako / Sailor V forever!