With the cult TV series and brand “Sailor Moon”, the Munich-based brand management and media company m4e AG is adding one of the most successful and renown anime properties of all time to its portfolio. On behalf of Japanese rights holder Toei Animation Co. Ltd., m4e AG will exploit an extensive package of rights (Free- & pay TV, home entertainment, licensing & merchandising) in the German-speaking territories and thus play an important part in the international comeback of the TV series and licensing brand.

It was “Sailor Moon” that was responsible for the eventual breakthrough of Japanese manga in Europe during the mid-1990s, and for producer Toei Animation (“One Piece”, “Dragonball Z”, “Digimon” among others) it marked one of the greatest television and merchandising successes in its company history. Based on the successful manga series by Naoko Takeuchi, a TV-series was produced by Toei Animation in 1992 that has since grown to five seasons with a total of 200 episodes (200 x 26 minutes). The series has been broadcast with great success all over the world; in Germany it was first seen in 1995 on ZDF and later on RTL II and SAT.1. in Austria on ORF1 and in Switzerland on SF1.

After a break of more than 5 years and supported by a completely new styleguide, the European relaunch of the brand started in Fall 2010 in Italy, where the TV series immediately reached top ratings. First products from the toy line were available in Italian stores before Christmas – achieving great sales figures. In a second phase, the same is planned for the Iberian, Scandinavian and German markets.

“I am convinced that after a 5 year TV break in Germany, it is now the perfect time to bring this classic back on screen. Sailor Moon is still an outstanding TV series, even for today’s markets”, comments Hans Ulrich Stoef, CEO of m4e AG. “This is proved not only by an enormous interest from the advertising and licensing industry, even before the TV series has been sold to a German broadcaster, but also since Sailor Moon is a huge subject in various online anime forums. Moreover I am looking forward to once more cooperating with Toei Animation, we share a profound and personal collaboration of almost 20 years.”

“We are glad to collaborate again with m4e on the Sailor Moon European relaunch and we look forward to expanding the success of the property in the German speaking key territories“, comments Kanji Kazahaya, Managing Director, Toei Animation Europe.

The story of “Sailor Moon” begins with a 14-year-old girl rescuing a black cat on the way to school. The cat, which has a mysterious moon sign on its forehead, tells the girl that she is Sailor Moon, protector of the Earth and the Moon. The cat gives her a magic brooch and tells her the key word to change into Sailor Moon. This marks the start of the action-packed and romantic story of Sailor Moon, in the course of which she encounters a range of characters, both good and evil.