The news has come down from above….Sailor Moon Crystal is going to a third season!

ANN reports that the Death Busters arc was announced today, and will include the Outer Senshi. There is no announcement yet on the Sailor Moon Official page that voice actors or release dates have been chosen, but I’ll let you know as soon as we have word.

I know what you’re thinking…zOMG, Haruka and Michiru! And I want you to be very happy, of course. But let’s think a little about what this will mean to us. We know that Crystal is a literal animation of the manga, and the manga is a known quantity. So let’s think about it for a bit.

As I mentioned in my review of Strawberry Shake, what was once ground-breaking can wear a little unevenly over time. Haruka and Michiru are presented as a Takarazuka-esque couple. Haruka is passing as a man, but only as it suits her, she herself is not constrained by gender role. This is a little different from the original anime, in which she was consistently an otokoyaku, to the point where many consider her a cross-dresser. As I personally wear mostly men’s clothes, and do not think of myself that way, I of course do not think of her that way. ^_^ But it’s a valid perspective, as almost all perspectives are…except one. For years some American fans insisted that she was either a hermaphrodite or was originally a man, but reborn as a woman, because of the lines about her having the “heart of a man and a woman.” We here at Okazu know that this line was meant to recall Safire of Ribon no Kishi/Princess Knight. The manga Haruka dresses in a feminine manner as often as she does masculine. That will come as a surprise to some older fans, but I hope not many. In fact, some her outfits as an adult woman are quite stylish in a 1990s Japanese women’s magazine kind of way. ^_^

Haruka is going to kiss Usagi. This is a given. But she will not kiss Michiru. Vexing, maybe, but I believe they can remedy this with a single simple act.

In Volume 5 of the new edition, Haruka and Michiru speak urgently of the Talismans. In the anime, this conversation becomes the “I love your hands” moment, which is beloved by fans. In the manga, we get this instead:

To make every Haruka x Michiru fan in the world happy, they need to do one thing. Before this scene cuts out, have them edge closer together, as if they are moving in for a kiss. They don’t have to actually kiss, just appear to moving towards one.

The upshot is, we’re going to get them more couple-y, more famous and cooler than in the anime, but we’re going to get less time in their heads, and less time building their relationship. Good and bad, as with all of Crystal.

In any case, let’s celebrate the 3rd season and I’m sure we’ll spend plenty of time raging and dying and crying and laughing over the news in days to come.