As suspected, the announcement for another season of Sailor Moon Crystal was announced close to the release of the final blu-ray and the beginning of the second round of airing for the anime in Japan. That’s right, we WILL be getting the third (and in my opinion, the most popular) arc in the Sailor Moon franchise, the Infinity Arc. For those of you that don’t know, this season will be introducing us to the Death Busters and the final three Senshi (Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn).

This is a story arc where I feel the manga and the classic anime were very different. I’m excited to see it told through the lens and style of Crystal but I, as many others, have my worries.

Other than the confirmation we have gotten no other news. As excited as I and many others might be, I’m sure we all have some questions on the brain.

1.Will it only be Infinity? We know there are five story arcs in the Sailor Moon universe. The first season of Crystal featured the first two (Dark Kingdom and Black Moon). With another season confirmed we have no idea if this will follow the same ‘two arc per season’ format or if we are going to get the Infinity Arc alone.

Guess- The season will once again feature the two arc format. Personally, this makes me nervous. One of the key issues with Crystal was the pace of the show. Yes, it was an exact representation of the manga, but that didn’t always translate smoothly. I want to hope that they will look at the pros and cons of the previous season and try and fix it up a bit. I want them to feel more relaxed when it comes to adapting the manga and add their own elements or elaborate on what’s there to give a more balanced experience.

2. When will it air? The first season began in July 2014 (feels like yesterday!!!) and ended about one year later.

Guess: The announcement for the next season came in October so I think it’s safe to say we could be getting the next season in July 2016. If anyone isn’t aware, much of the first season of Crystal wasn’t even completed yet when the show started to air! This could be why they went with the ‘twice a month airing schedule’ rather than once a week. This also ties to the first question. If it is JUST the Infinity Arc I feel that the airing time will be the same. Besides, I’d rather wait for something great then rush to something sloppy.

3. How many episodes will it be? We got 26 episodes in the first season for both arcs.

Guess: This is where it’s tricky. If it will be the Infinity Arc and the Dream Arc then the total number of acts is 23, not 26. Will they make up material to fill in the extra three episodes? I’m not sure. If anyone remembers, there was a small side story in the manga ( Kaguya-hime no Koibito) which actually fit into three different acts(!) We already got it as the movie for Sailor Moon S but I could see it being the three acts in between Infinity and Dream if they want to complete the 26 episode count.

4. Inner Senshi remain one character? One of the prices to pay of getting a story that wastes no time on ‘monster of the day’ is that we don’t get to explore the inner senshi as well as we used to in the classic anime. The four were very much compiled together as one blob character with little to deferential them from one another. I do feel Venus was exempt from that a bit as she did get more solo time than the other three.

Guess: Three new senshi will be joining us next season as well as the return of Pluto. The four characters will play a HUGE roll in the story and sadly, for something that will most likely only be 12 acts, you can best believe that the inner senshi will be one character more than ever.

5. Will there be new Transformation sequences? Don’t lie-it’s so important. One thing I will say Crystal got so right was the new transformation sequences that paid tribute to the classics while adding something modern and cool.

Guess: I was letdown when Usagi didn’t get a new sequence for her second brooch but fear not, I will TRUST that the new season will give us something brand new. The inner senshi will keep what they have but the outer senshi will certainly get updated versions as well. I will go out on a limb and say yes, this DOES include a new (and first!) sequence for Saturn. This is going to be something special for Crystal because for the first time they have nothing to work off when it comes to transformations. The Saturn transformation will be completely original. Based off what they’ve already created, I’m really not worried. I’m sure it will find a way to follow the uniform presentation of the others and be outstanding.

6. Will it be twice a month again? This was annoying.

Guess: Yes. I say it because I like to prepare for the worst. Doing the twice a month deal allowed for the season to run for a full year and for the company to make more profit off Sailor Moon merchandise. After all, this is a kids show so selling the stuff is unfortunately the point.