In September of 2025, the Japanese newspaper “The Yomiuri Shimbum” published an article about the Sailor Moon Super Live as well as a joint interview with the two main actresses who play Usagi in the musical: Yui Yokoyama (Team UK) and Riko Tanaka (Team US) and the director, Kaori Miura.

The article was published on September 17th, 2025 (vol. 964) in their “POPSTYLE” section where they cover current events and happenings in the Japanese pop culture scene.

This article appeared in both physical format and digital on the website. The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper can be found at magazine kiosks or in convenience stores in Japan for ¥70. Their digital article can be found HERE, and pictures of the printed issue are posted at the bottom of this page.

The Article

✦ A Sailor Moon Show for Overseas Fans.
Yui Yokoyama and Riko Tanaka perform triumphantly ✦

Article dated September 17, 2025.

The musical “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon – The Super Live” based on the “Sailor Moon” manga which is very popular in Japan and abroad will be held in Tokyo starting October 9th, 2025. The show ran from February to April earlier this year, perfomed by two different casts in two different countries. The show was a huge success that attracted many fans in London and North America. We asked Yui Yokoyama, Riko Tanaka, and Kaori Miura ( script writer, lyrics, and director) about their experiences.

✦ Attracting fans in London and North America

Q: Yui Yokoyama appeared in 43 performances in London, and Riko Tanaka participated in a tour of 21 cities in North America. It seems that it was the first time for both of you to perform overseas.

– Riko: The culture is different from Japan, so there were cheers in unexpected places, which surprised me at the first performance. There was a synergistic effect that built up excitement.

– Yui: It really felt like the viewers were joining in to complete the piece.

Q: Were you able to go sightseeing between the performances?

– Riko: When I was in Los Angeles, I had a day off and went to a theme park with the other members. Team UK (members performing in London) had a party, right?

– Yui: The room was filled to capacity! The performances were in winter, and many of the cast members were born in winter, so we had lots of birthday parties. We ate cake, exchanged presents, called our mothers…

– Riko: That is so cute! It’s really like the 5 Guardians!

✦ Powering-up Overseas

Q: How did you feel when you were chosen to appear?

– Yui: It’s a work I’ve been exposed to since I was in elementary school, so I was trembling with excitement, nervousness, and a desire to do my best.

– Riko: I’ve known the work since I was young, and I had a dream of becoming a “fighting girl”, but I never thought it would actually happen to me.

Q: This is Riko Tanaka’s second appearance following the 2021 musical “Sailor Moon: Princess Kaguya’s Lover”, right?

– Riko: When the North American tour was announced, we were so excited that the Five Guardians immediately got in touch. We were so happy to be able to get together as a team again, and we were also really looking forward to welcoming new members to Team UK.

Q: Director Miura said, “Riko is stronger as a guardian, and Yui exudes the feeling of a princess who needs to be protected,” but what are your impressions of each other’s roles?

– Riko: Yui is innocent, clumsy and a crybaby, but she’s also incredibly cute – just like Usagi-chan. I learned a lot from her, from how to deliver lines, to her gestures and movements.

– Yui: I read the original work over and over and tried and tested a lot, but I also watched Riko’s Moon a lot. She’s really good at using the gaze. It’s the way the person standing in the middle uses their eyes!

– Riko: We watched each other’s footage and stole from each other.

Q: What did you have a hard time with during rehearsals?

– Yui: I’ve been doing street dance since the third grade of elementary school, but the way I use my body is completely different, so I couldn’t adapt to the choreography at all. With the help of my teacher and other the cast members with ballet experience, I think we were able to make it work.

– Riko: I have always been involved in regular plays and had no experience in dance, so I received intensive training for the 2021 performance. There was a lot I didn’t know, so I spent every day studying and learning.

Q: What are your thoughts on this triumphant return performance?

– Yui: I’ve been practicing with the hope that people in Japan will be able to see it somewhere, so I’m really happy that people will be able to see this performance that has been powered up thanks to our overseas performances. I’ll do my best.

– Riko: I hope you enjoy the different personalities of the UK team led by Yui Moon and the US team led by me. I would love to see it unveiled at the traditional Sunshine Theatre for long-time fans of the Sailor Moon musical.

✦ Overseas fans’ enthusiasm is on the verge of short-circuiting
Kaori Miura (script writer, lyrics and director) ✦

This musical is divided in two: The story part where Usagi fights the “Dark Kingdom” and an aftershow part where they sing and dance to various songs. During the script writing, the entirety of the original “Dark Kingdom Edition” story was written. I wrote hundreds of pages and cut 80% of it, but I was still able to achieve the charm of the original.

✦ Incorporating Japanese elements

The production was designed with overseas fans in mind, we were particular about making it possible to convey the fun daily life of junior high school girls, as well as the bad things that are happening, even if you don’t understand the language. Traditional Japanese elements such as fans and yukata robes are also incorporated. The accordion-folding props, a uniquely Japanese design, were conceived as a way to save space when carrying them overseas.

Thanks to everyone’s efforts, fans were thrilled at the overseas performances. When the catchphrase, “In the name of the moon” was said, the audience enthusiastically responded with, “I’ll punish you”. Apparently, there were also couples and parents and children who came to see the play in cosplay. “I’ll do my best to make the audience think of us as the pride of Japan,” said Miura about the triumphant return performance. “I’d be happy if the audience cheered along with us.”

✦ About the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon manga

One day, Usagi Tsukino, a slightly clumsy and crybaby second-year junior high school student, receives a mysterious brooch from Luna, a talking black cat. She is told to say a certain phrase to transform her into Sailor Moon. Together with a group of Guardians named after the planets in the Solar System, she searches for the Legendary Silver Crystal and fights against their enemies.

Naoko Takeuchi’s original work was serialized in Nakayoshi magazine from 1991 to 1997, and the manga have been translated into 17 languages. The anime series has been distributed in over 40 countries.

✦ Performance Information

Mayu Tsuyuzume and Sayaka Okamura will appear as Queen Beryl, and Sufa and Riona Tatemichi will appear as Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru Chiba. The show will run from October 9th to 13th at the Sunshine Theater (Toshima-ku, Tokyo). Tickets are on sale at E-plus and other sites.

Original work: Naoko Takeuchi

Screenplay, lyrics, and direction: Kaori Miura

Choreographer: Satomi Toma

Music: Tsuyoshi Sakabe/KYOHEI

(Yomiuri Shimbun Culture Department reporter: Risaki Tanabe)

✦ Actress profiles ✦

✦ Yui Yokoyama

Born February 22, 2001 in Aomori Prefecture. She had been a member of the idol group AKB48 since 2014 and graduated in 2021. Her favorite character is Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino. “When I was in elementary and junior high school, I used to organize my stationery with Jupiter’s goods.”

✦ Riko Tanaka

Born February 27, 2003 in Tokyo. Under the influence of her father, an actor and director, she made her debut as a child actor at the age of 6 and appeared in several movies. Her favorite character is Sailor Jupiter/Kino Makoto. “I’ve loved her since I was little, and when I’m not in a scene, I stare at her.”