Sailor Venus

Character Information

Name:	Sailor Venus
Name (kanji/kana):	セーラーヴィーナス
Alignment:	Moon Kingdom
Species:	Human
Gender:	Female
Lives:	Shiba Koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Occupation:	Shiba Koen Junior High School Student
Family:	Mother, Father
Associates:	Artemis, Boss, Usagi Tsukino and friends, Hikaru Sorano, Natsuna Sakurada, Toshio Wakagi, Katarina, Alan, Sugao Saitou
Aliases:	Minako Aino, Sailor V
First Anime Appearance:	Crybaby Usagi's Magnificent Transformation (non-talking), The Last Sailor Senshi! Sailor Venus Appears
First Manga Appearance:	Sailor V is Born!
First PGSM Appearance:	Act 1 - I am Sailor Moon!
English Name:	Sailor Venus, Mina Aino
Actors:	Rica Fukami (anime), Ayaka Komatsu (PGSM), Stephanie Morgenstern (1-65 dub), Emilie Barlow (83+ dub)

Sailor Venus

Sailor Venus was the first senshi to be awakened by the moon cats, one year before Sailor Moon. She worked solo for many months as Sailor V, trying to trick the Dark Kingdom (then acting as the Dark Agency) into thinking she was the princess while looking for the real one herself. Since Sailor Moon did not originally exist in the Silver Millennium, she is the "true" leader of the inner senshi. She met Artemis when she was 13 years old.

She is also the only senshi to have her own independent series and canon.

Powers

Transformations

• Venus Power, Make Up - Uses her first transformation pen to transform into Sailor Venus.
• Venus Star Power, Make Up - Uses her Star Power Stick to transform into Sailor Venus.
• Venus Planet Power, Make Up - Uses the planet powers granted to her by Neo Queen Serenity to transform into Sailor Venus. This transformation phrase was only used in the manga.
• Venus Crystal Power, Make Up - Uses her Crystal Change Rod to transform into a super version of Sailor Venus.

Attacks

• Crescent Beam - Sailor Venus's first attack. She sends a beam of light at the enemy.
• Crescent Beam Shower - A stronger version of Crescent Beam.
• Venus Love-Me Chain - Sailor Venus sends a whip to hit or grab the enemy.
• Rolling Heart Vibration - Used only in the manga, live action and numerous video games, Sailor Venus sends forth a rolling heart to damage the enemy.
• Venus Wink Chain Sword - Used only in the manga and numerous video games, Sailor Venus uses her chain as a sword to damage the enemy.
• Hissatsu Love-Me Moon Chain - Sailor Venus used this attack when she was disguised as Sailor Moon.
• Furious Random Crescent Beam Shots - An attack she used only once, it was probably made up on spot.
• Venus Love and Beauty Shock - This attack first appeared in the SuperS season.

Family

Minako has a mother and father who appear in Codename: Sailor V.

Minako's mother looks rather like Ikuko Tsukino, but her personality is much more abrasive. She is always yelling at Minako. This in itself might not be too bad, but she is shown to be dissatisfied with her life as a housewife and complains about her husband for being pathetic and not earning enough money. Minako's father is much quieter and tends to give in to his wife.

In the story Parallel Sailor Moon, she is married to an assistant director for a sitcom and has one child, Mina, who is also a Senshi.

Personal Life

While the girls are in middle school, Minako wears a different sailor school uniform from the other inner senshi. This is because she goes to school in Shiba Koen instead of Azabu Juuban. She joins them all later in high school.

She loves to follow different celebrities, and even does so in Parallel Sailor Moon (only in that case she took her daughter with her as sort of a "field trip"). Many of the enemies' plots have been foiled just by her being a groupie.

Sailor V

Sailor V

Sailor V first appeared in her own manga, Codename: Sailor V , fighting a group of villians called the Dark Agency led by Danburite. The manga was only originally intended to be a one shot but spawned the Sailormoon manga and Sailor V carried over to it.

When she finally debuted in the Sailor Moon manga, Artemis had her pose as the Moon Princess until Usagi regained her memories, as a diversion to throw off Queen Beryl.

In the anime, Sailor V briefly operated in London, England, until she returned to Japan and joined the group. In England, she was friends with Interpol officer Katarina and had a crush on a boy named Alan. It isn't clear who in the Dark Kingdom might have been running operations in England, but after she joined the others in Tokyo, there was no talk of Youma or anything else attacking England.

In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Sailor V operated in Tokyo but refused to work with the other Senshi at first. She was suspected to be the princess, which was exactly as she and Artemis wished it. They were waiting for the real princess to awaken.

Powers

Transformations

• Moon Power, Transform - Uses her first transformation pen to transform into Sailor V.
• Crescent Moon Power, Transform - Uses her compact to transform into any disguise she wants. Also used in the Sailor Moon manga.

Attacks

• Crescent Beam - Performed with her compact, otherwise same as described above.
• Venus Power! Crescent Shower of Love! - Sailor V uses her compact, a rain shower pours down and melts her enemy.
• Crescent Super Beam! - A more powerful version of Crescent Beam, again perfomed with her compact.
• Crescent Slender Beam! - Performed with her compact, it destroys the enemy
• Venus Sulfur Smoke - Creates a pungent sulfurous cloud of smoke that overwhelms the enemy
• V-chan Striking Katana! - Sailor V strikes her enemy with her katana
• Diphenhydramine Combo! - Used against Chuu-Chuu
• Venus-Brand Anti-Mosquito Incense Typhoon!! - Used against Chuu-Chuu
• Venus Ten Billion Volt Rock 'N' Rouge!! - Uses the Venus Mike to create a sound wave that destroys her enemy
• Venus Megaton Shower of Love! - Creates a powerful shining light that destroys the enemy

Physical Attacks

• Sailor V Kick! - Sailor V kicks her enemy
• Sailor V Chop! - She karate chops her enemy with her arm
• Rolling Screw Sailor V Punch! - She uppercuts her enemy
• V-chan Rub Out Sailor V Chop! - Another karate chop
• Venus Iron Muscle Punch! - She punches her enemy

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

Minako was an idol singer with an unclear medical condition that was slowly killing her. She dedicated the remainder of her life to being a Senshi and following the mission of her past life, since once Minako died she expected she would be reborn in another form. She first appeared as Sailor V, then in an extra-sparkly variation of her Sailor Venus costume as the presumed princess (acting as Princess Serenity's decoy), and finally as Sailor Venus herself.

Personality

PGSM Minako is notably more serious than her anime and manga counterparts. This is not surprising: although she presents a cheerful image for the public, Minako is constantly living a demanding double life, first as Sailor V, then as Sailor Venus. Her life as an idol means that she is isolated from the general public and she seems to have no parents; the only constant people in her life are Artemis and her manager. As a result, she is more mature than most girls of her own age, and finds Usagi rather irritating upon first meeting her (a complete contrast from their easy relationship in the manga and anime). However, on further contact, Minako warms up to Usagi's friendliness and open nature (often protecting Usagi from Mio Kuroki in later episodes). She has most contact with Rei Hino, since she trains her to be the leader in her absence. Minako has high standards and is constantly challenging Rei and giving her unusual tasks. At first, Rei is both irritated and puzzled by Minako's behaviour. Gradually, however, they develop respect and friendship for each other. Minako is completely dedicated to her mission and is determined to accomplish her goals. This leads to her making some desperate measures, such as working with Zoisite to erase Usagi's memory of Mamoru, and often using herself as bait. Rei and Artemis are often critical of this tendency, but when Minako has made her mind up, she doesn't listen to anybody.

Minako's illness means that she only has a certain amount of time in which to accomplish her goals and stop the past from repeating itself, which adds more pressure to her already heavy burden. Later in the series, she begins to have blackouts and her powers start to fade because of her physical condition. Despite all this, she occasionally shows flashes of a mischievous humour with Artemis, Rei, and Usagi that is familiar from her manga and anime incarnations. This, together with her more girlish behaviors shown in Act Zero when she first met Artemis and became Sailor V, indicates that her original personality would have been more in line with the other incarnations, had her double burdens of special duties and fatal illness not been inflicted upon her. After her death, she is revived thanks to the Ginzuishou. Special Act - We're Getting Married! shows that she continues with her idol career and has even won awards for her work; despite this, she remains friends with the other girls.

Trivia

• It is noticeable that she is the only Senshi among the other ones of the Solar System whose civilian family name does not begin with the Japanese kanji character(s) directly denoting the corresponding celestial object. However, her family name begins with the character meaning "love", which still indirectly represents the planet of Venus as Venus is the goddess of love in Western mythology.

• Her sailor-style school uniform during her junior high period is the most classic or orthodox among those of the Sailor Team. Such style reflects the Japanese militarized schooling system of the past, which can be traced back to the Meiji Period. However, it is actually originated in Europe, where it is also worn by school boys and is not exclusively for girls as in Japan.

See also

• Act Zero - The Story Before the Birth of Sailor V
• Special Act - We're Getting Married!