A new heated debate has reared its ugly head on January 1^st 1999, and as of February 17^th 1999 it is still plowing forward at full steam. The debate is centered on the possible dubbing of Sailor Moon S by the American company DiC. Somepeople want to have the entire series dubbed, while others would prefer it remain untouched. The first group is the dubbers, DiCers, and NA Newbies. The second group is the subbers, purists, and seasoned Otaku. Both groups make excellent points as to why they feel the way they do about the NA future of SMS.

The dub supporters are the most optimistic and active of the two later mentioned group. They are in league with SOS (Save Our Sailors), and the majority of them haven’t seen the original SMS. However some of them have read extensively about SMS, and are somewhat knowledged about the series. The dub supporters have been snail-mailing people like Ted Turner, in hopes of getting SMS dubbed. Despite their collective efforts the dub supporters still face the intervention of the anti-dubbers, or subbers.

The anti-sub supporters are totally against SMS being dubbed, and tend to have a much broader knowledge of Sailor Moon than the dub supporters. Since most of them have seen SMS in its original, or subbed form they are very anti-DiC. Most anti-dub supporters feel that if an English company is going to even think of touching SMS, they should only subtitle it. The anti-dub supporters look to be in a strong offensive position, and their efforts could easily derail the dubbing of SMS.

The two biggest problems facing the dubbing of SMS are sponsors, and content editing. The sponsor problem is the most difficult problem for the dubbing of SMS. To dub new episodes DiC requires a sponsor, or someone who will pay for the new episodes. In the past companies like Irwin have sponsored, but currently Irwin has not said a thing about dubbing SMS. The other major problem facing the dubbing of SMS is the issue of content. Such things as Michiru & Haruka’s relationship, the Holy Grail, and Usagi being labeled the Messiah will be tough to explain. The anti-dub supporters are most afraid of DiC totally destroying Michiru & Haruka’s relationship. The dubbers tend to want the relationship to stay the same, while some want Michiru & Haruka to just be friends. To explain the Holy Grail, Messiah problem some dubbers want to name them the Moon Chalice, and the Guardian. All of these problems are critical to the dubbed future of SMS.