Tokyo Otaku Mode set a new date for overseas registration for the official Sailor Moon Fan Club, Pretty Guardians, following a site crash during the initial launch on Sept. 23. The club will re-open to overseas members on Thurs, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. EDT.
Sailor Moon fans who attempted to sign up for Pretty Guardians were disappointed when Tokyo Otaku Mode’s registration site crashed on the evening of Sept. 23 due to server problems. The company was quick to acknowledge customer complaints via Twitter, but wasn’t able to bring the site back online to process registrations.
We're so sorry everyone! Please know we're working on the server issues right now!
— Tokyo Otaku Mode (TOM) (@TokyoOtakuMode) September 24, 2016
SM Fanclub Announcement: We will be closing the registration page for now, and start again at a later date so everyone gets a fair restart!
— Tokyo Otaku Mode (TOM) (@TokyoOtakuMode) September 24, 2016
Those who managed to squeak through to the product description page for club membership were likely further disappointed when, instead of a list of exclusive perks, they discovered a whole bunch of benefits overseas members won’t get. These include:
- No access to “secret” Premium Bandai merchandise page
- Pretty Guardians app will be in Japanese only
- Some member-only merchandise cannot be mailed overseas, other items will incur duty (and presumably costly shipping)
- Limited access to print materials and audio / podcast content
- Membership only runs until June 30, 2017 (roughly nine months)
By the sound of it, $58 gets you a membership card, a lip gloss, the occasional email and the opportunity to spend more money on merchandise from the Tokyo Otaku Mode site (which still won’t give overseas fans a full selection of member-exclusive merchandise). In other words, the Pretty Guardians’ worldwide expansion sounded great in theory but, as it turns out, might not be so great in practice. After finding out more details, a number of once-eager fans on the Sailor Moon subreddit expressed doubts about the value of joining the club.
Are you still planning to join Pretty Guardians? Waiting for more information about member benefits? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Can’t get enough Sailor Moon? Check out our moonie news, Sailor Moon Crystal recaps and more, here.
