Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 Premiere Date, Trailer, and More

Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 Premiere Date

At long last, the wait is finally over, and Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 will premiere this Monday, April 4th, on Hulu, Neon Alley, and CrunchyRoll! As before, it will be available to stream simultaneously with the Japanese release of the episode, but unlike the first two seasons, episodes will be dropped on a weekly basis.

(we had previously reported March 6th, which happens to be Sailor Neptune’s birthday, as the premiere date, but that turned out to just be a preview event…sorry about that!)

Seriously. For real. Weekly. No more waiting 2-3 weeks for a new episode that doesn’t even look all that good. No way. If the leaked footage of the season premiere is any indication, we’re looking at gorgeous animation on a weekly basis! 

Here’s everything else we know…

Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 Story

Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 will follow the manga’s Infinity arc, which introduces the Death Busters, a nefarious cult for the intergalactic Pharaoh 90 and his herald, the Messiah of Silence. To combat such an awesome enemy, new Sailor Senshi will enter the fray, but their goals and Sailor Moon’s don’t completely mesh, leading to a three-way conflict that could get worse before it gets better.

It has already been reported from various sources that the premiere won’t cover the entire first act of Infinity, in which case… could we really be free from the tyranny of the manga’s pacing? Could it be? Might we actually, with the 20+ years of hindsight that Naoko Takeuchi didn’t have when she was writing it, actually take steps to pace it better and take a little (not even a lot) more time to let the plot and characters beats sink in? Because that would be swell, and given everything I’ve heard so far, I’m willing to risk a little hope here.

Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 Trailer

The first trailer was released a few weeks ago…

Both the opening and closing sequences have been released online.

Though I really do miss Moon Pride and its charged, kick-ass energy, the new song, “New Moon ni Ai Shite,” (Fall in Love with the New Moon) is rather charming and as it bids me, I am already falling in love with it. The animation for this new opening sequence is also really nice. I’m not going to lie, no matter how innocent the context of the brief nudity in it is — and I’m hardly a prude by any standard — naked Hotaru and Chibi-Usa seems just a little much to me. The spiritual silhouette of the transform sequences is one thing, but these are plain old skintone and like a hair’s breadth away from showing nipple.

Still, a small gripe. Overall, it’s a beautiful sequence.

As for the closing, “Eternal Eternity,” it was an unexpected but not unwelcome choice to have it be a duet between Haruka (Sailor Uranus) and Michiru (Sailor Neptune). There’s no denying they’re the dark horses of this arc, some could argue the series, and the first official beta couple (and for my money, a far more interesting relationship than Usagi and Mamoru). It’s a nice song, a nice sequence. I’m really digging it.

There are two more ending themes to come.  “Otome no Susume” (The Maiden’s Advice) will be sung by Chibi-Usa, and “Eien Dake ga Futari o Kakeru” (Only Eternity Brings the Two Together) will be sung by Tuxedo Mask. It also seems that Mitsuko Horie and Momoiro Clover Z will sing alternate versions of the opening theme, likely paired with the other closing themes.

To this music lover, it all sounds very exciting!

Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 premieres this Monday at 10:00am on participating online streaming services and will run for 13 episodes. Seasons 1 is available both subtitled and dubbed, and Season 2 is available subtitled, with dubbed episodes still being released every Friday night.