Death Busters arc to premiere this spring with new staff

The staff of the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal anime announced the new voice cast members for Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune at a live-streamed event on Wednesday.

Junko Minagawa (pictured left) as Haruka Tenou/Sailor Uranus

Sayaka Ohara (pictured right) as Michiru Kaioh/Sailor Neptune

Minagawa and Ohara appeared at the event with Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon's voice actress Kotono Mitsuishi (pictured center).

The anime will have a stage program at the AnimeJapan 2016 event on March 26. The stage program will announce more information on the third season, as well as a new project.

The third season is premiering in spring with new staff. Chiaki Kon ( Nodame Cantabile: Paris , Junjō Romantica , Golden Time ) will take over from Munehisa Sakai in directing the anime. Akira Takahashi ( Dokidoki! Precure , Suite Precure character design, Sailor Moon Crystal episode animation director) will take over from Yukie Sako in drawing the character designs. Yūji Kobayashi is still in charge of the series' scripts. Takashi Kurahashi is returning as art director, and Yasuharu Takanashi is returning to compose the music. King Records will once again produce the music, and Toei Animation will again animate the series.

The third season will focus on the Death Busters arc (also called the Infinity arc). The new season will assemble all 10 Senshi — specifically, the popular outer Senshi such as Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Saturn will join Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi Moon, and the others. The new season will adapt the arc from the fifth and sixth volumes of the complete edition of Naoko Takeuchi's original Sailor Moon manga.

Kotono Mitsuishi will continue to reprise the starring title role for the third season. Other returning cast for the third season includes: Hisako Kanemoto as Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury, Rina Satou as Rei Hino/Sailor Mars, Ami Koshimizu as Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter, Shizuka Itou as Minako Aino/Sailor Venus, Ryou Hirohashi as Luna, and Kenji Nojima as Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru Chiba.

Crunchyroll, Niconico, Hulu, and other services streamed the first two Sailor Moon Crystal seasons overseas as they debuted online in Japan. Viz Media licensed both seasons for release in North America.

Takeuchi's original magical girl manga inspired an earlier anime incarnation that aired for five seasons from 1992 to 1997. That television anime from two decades ago spawned several feature films and theatrical shorts as well. A string of popular stage musicals ran from 1993 to 2005, and a new all-female musical production helped launch the franchise's 20th anniversary in 2013. The third musical in the current revival ended its run in October, and like the upcoming third Crystal season, it covered the Death Busters arc.

Update: Photographs by Yoshihito Kiba added