m4e Secures Rights Deal for Sailor Moon

HÖHENKIRCHEN/MUNICH: German media company m4e has secured a deal with Japan’s Toei Animation for select rights to the Sailor Moon brand.

m4e will handle free- and pay-TV rights, as well as home entertainment, licensing and merchandising in the German-speaking territories. Sailor Moon, the Japanese anime series that became a worldwide hit in the mid-1990s, had its European relaunch in fall 2010 after a five-year break.

Hans Ulrich Stoef, m4e’s CEO, commented: "I am convinced that after a five-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. 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."

Kanji Kazahaya, the managing director at Toei Animation Europe, added: “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."