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Template:Sailor Moon character Minako Aino (愛野美奈子, Aino Minako, or Mina in the English versions) is one of the central characters in the Sailor Moon metaseries. She is best known by the name Sailor Venus (セーラーヴィーナス, Sērā Vīnasu), one of the series' primary heroines — the Sailor Senshi.

Minako was first introduced as the protagonist of Naoko Takeuchi's much-shorter manga series, Codename wa Sailor V, of which Sailor Moon is a sequel. In it (and the early part of Sailor Moon), she goes by the pseudonym Sailor V, and is given personal backstory. The plotlines of Sailor V are generally compatible with the newer series, but are usually considered as separate.

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Profile

This section focuses on Minako as she appears in the anime and manga and the Sailor V Manga. For information about her character in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, see Variations.

When Minako is first introduced, she has been fighting on her own for some time as Sailor V, having been awoken by Artemis about a year prior to Usagi being awoken as Sailor Moon by Luna. In the anime, she spent some of that time in England, fighting as Sailor V, where she met a young police woman named Katarina and a young man called Alan, with whom she fell in love. When she found out Alan and Katarina, who was as close to her as an older sister, had become a couple, she felt betrayed and moved back to Japan, leaving the two of them to believe her to have died in an explosion.

In the manga, she stays in Japan and there becomes friends with police superintendent Natsuna Sakurada, a big Sailor V fan.

Minako almost always wears a bright red bow in her hair, even in Senshi form. As a result of her past battles, she has a relatively serious personality, and is very focused on their mission as Sailor Senshi. As time goes by, she is able to relax, and in later seasons her personality slowly mutates into a more excitable, even goofy character. With the proper conviction, an off-hand interest of hers can quickly evolve into humorously obsessive ambition. In addition to distancing her from Usagi design-wise, this is generally regarded as a delayed manifestation of the carefree life she could not enjoy while fighting solo. The beginning of this trend is often traced to the very popular second-season episode (#78), titled The Problems of Venus-Minako as a Nurse (Venus Minako no nurse daisoudou), or in English, No Thanks, Nurse Venus!, in which her overzealous efforts to care for her ailing friends backfire in humorous ways. Her speech is also notoriously peppered with various malapropisms.

Silly or serious, Minako consistently displays great confidence, enthusiasm, and leadership skill. She is the "owner" of Artemis, the white guardian cat who introduced her to her life as a Senshi. He lives in her home (as Luna lives in Usagi's) and is one of her closest friends. She is the only Senshi other than Usagi to live with both parents, although references to her family life are downplayed outside of the Sailor V manga (perhaps because her father looks almost identical to Usagi's).

For the first four anime seasons, Minako attends a different junior high school (Shiba Kōen) from the others. In the fifth season, she joins Usagi, Ami, and Makoto at Azabu Jūban High School. She belongs to the Volleyball club, and her favorite class is Physical Education (while her least favorites are math and the English language).

One of Minako's greatest loves is pop culture. She wants to be an idol, and so makes a hobby of chasing them whenever possible. Her favorite colors are yellow and red, and she also likes birds and curry rice. She has trouble with shiitake mushrooms, her mother, and the police (presumably because of her experiences as Sailor V). She is blood type B and stands 157.48 centimeters tall (5 ft 2 in).

Minako takes her role as the 'Soldier of Love' literally, and enjoys regaling friends and acquaintances with advice about romance. She is very boy-crazy and a flirt. Despite her declared expertise, Minako herself has little personal experience in relationships, though she is generally on the lookout for opportunities. Her most consistent crush was on Yaten Kou, during the Stars storyline. Thinking about him even gave her a nosebleed at one point--a common symbol of sexual attraction in anime, and the only occurrence of this in the entire series.

Minako shares a special manga episode with Rei Hino, entitled Rei and Minako's Girls School Battle. In it, she disguises herself as a student at Rei's private school and wanders around enjoying herself (and annoying her friend). In the process, she accidentally releases an evil spirit, which attempts to eat the students.

The kanji in Minako's name translate as "love" (愛, ai), "field" (野, no), "beauty" (美, mi), "what/how" (奈, na), and "child" (子, ko). It is structured as a pun, as the syllable "no" indicates a possessive, so that her name can also be understood as "Minako of Love." Unlike the other Senshi, her family name does not begin with the same kanji as her planet, which would have been "gold" (金, kin). However, like them it is still a representation of her primary element. The characters of her given name can also, using unconventional but extant readings, be read as Binasu—a Japanese approximation of the name "Venus". In an early DiC promotional tape that advertised Sailor Moon to television stations, Minako was called Carrie. Another preliminary name, appearing on Kodansha's English website in an advertisement for the series, was Monica.

Aspects and forms

As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations and a long lifetime virtually spanned between the Silver Millennium era and the 30th century, Minako gains multiple aspects and aliases as the series progresses.

Sailor Venus

Minako's primary Senshi identity. She wears a uniform colored in orange, navy blue, and yellow, and retains the red bow she wears as a civilian. In the live-action series, this bow appears only when she is in one of her Senshi forms, and has a gem in the center. In the manga and live-action series, she also wears an item called the "wink chain" around her waist, which she sometimes uses as a weapon. She is given specific titles throughout the various series, including Soldier of Love, and Soldier of Love and Beauty. Her personality is no different from when she is a civilian, although certain powers are unavailable to her in that form.

In Japanese, the name for the planet Venus is Kinsei (金星), the first kanji indicating a metal, especially gold, and the second indicating a celestial object. Unlike the other Inner Senshi, however, her special abilities are not derived from the element in her planet's name; in fact, the only appearance of metal in her powers is the chain she uses as her primary weapon. Instead, most of Sailor Venus' powers are based on the concept of love, a reference to the Roman goddess of love, Venus. She also has a few moonlight-inspired attacks due to her time as Sailor V.

Sailor Venus is the de facto leader of the Inner Senshi, and in turn is under the sometimes-awkward leadership of Sailor Moon. In the manga, as the leader, she is entrusted with the poisonous sword used to kill Queen Beryl, which turns the stone blade into a sword made of Silver Crystal. Her role as the leader of the Inner Senshi is rarely mentioned in the anime, in which Sailor Moon is nearly always the one to finish off each enemy. It is mentioned frequently in the live-action version, although Sailor Venus rarely spends any time with the other Senshi.

In the live-action series only, upon her introduction, Sailor Venus's outfit is slightly different to represent her disguise as the Moon Princess. She bears the crescent moon symbol on her forehead in place of a tiara (just as she did when she was Sailor V), and wears a crown with a fake Silver Crystal on it. The latter disappears after the gem is revealed to be a fake, and she gains a normal tiara when Usagi is revealed as the real princess. This form is often refered to as Princess Sailor Venus.

As she grows stronger, Sailor Venus gains additional powers, and at key points her uniform changes to reflect this. The first change takes place in Act 39 of the manga, when she obtains the Venus Crystal and her outfit becomes similar to that of Super Sailor Moon. She is not given a new title. A similar event takes place in Episode 143 of the anime, and she is given the name Super Sailor Venus. A third, manga-only form appears in Act 42, also unnamed but analogous to Eternal Sailor Moon (sans wings).

Princess Venus

During the Silver Millennium, Sailor Venus was also the Princess of her home planet. She was the leader of those who protected Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. As Princess Venus, she dwelt in Magellan Castle and wore a yellow gown--she appears in this form in the original manga, as well as in supplementary art. Naoko Takeuchi once drew her in the arms of Kunzite, leader of the Shitennou. No further romantic link between them was established, although in the Original Picture Collection Vol. I, Takeuchi expresses a desire to explore the possibility of such relationships. In one flashback (Act 13), Minako blushes and seems flustered around Kunzite after a conversation about love.

Sailor V

A preliminary form, under which Minako fought alone before the other Sailor Senshi were awakened. She wore a very different uniform under this name, most notably a red mask, and her appearance and powers were more often related to the Moon than to Venus. In the early storyline of Sailor Moon, she is something of a celebrity figure, of whom Usagi Tsukino is a great fan. She called herself the Soldier of Justice.

Because Minako's creation predates the Sailor Moon metaseries, some aspects of her character are slightly incompatible with the other Senshi. For example, her magical attacks lack the strict elemental rules: Venus is typically associated with metal in Chinese astrology, but her attacks are vague and 'light'- or 'love'-related. The incorporation of the 'love' element comes from the Roman goddess Venus, while the association with light is only found in the anime version: in the BSSM manga, Sailor Venus never performs her 'Crescent Beam' attack she once used as Sailor V, presumably because she no longer needs to appear as a Moon Princess. Nonetheless, the planet Venus is associated with light and shine, as it is the first and brightest celestial body to appear in the sky during half of the year. It is also known as Myōjō (明星), literally "Bright Star".

Sailor V's uniform is considerably more elaborate that those of the planet-based Senshi. It is mostly blue and red, and includes shoulder-armor, quarter-length sleeves, and broad stripes of color. She wears a shirt rather than a leotard, as well as her characteristic red mask. In the manga and live-action series the shirt had sleeves and smooth gloves, but in the anime it was sleeveless with ring-topped gloves. The anime also added a second layer to her shoulder guards. The Materials Collection shows the anime version of her outfit. Like the red parts of Sailor Moon's costume, the bow on Sailor V's chest was made dark pink in the live-action series. The colors of her mask and hair bow are unaltered.

Senshi powers

Throughout the various series, Minako, as both Sailor V and Sailor Venus, gains access to a number of special attacks and other powers.

Transformations

(Note: In the English dub, she transforms without saying "Make-up" at the end.)

• Moon Power Transform! — This phrase transforms her into Sailor V in the Sailor V manga.
• Crescent Moon Power Transform! — This phrase is usually followed by whatever disguise she wants to take and she appears in that form. Used in the Sailor V and Sailor Moon manga, it requires the use of the crescent compact.
• Venus Power, Make-up! — Used to transform into Sailor Venus in the first manga and anime arcs as well as the live action version
• Venus Star Power, Make-up! — Used to transform into Sailor Venus. In the dub, it appears once as Venus Crystal Power!
• Venus Planet Power, Make-up! — Used to transform into Sailor Venus. (Manga only.)
• Venus Crystal Power, Make-up! — Used to transform into Sailor Venus's two more powerful forms in the manga, and into Super Sailor Venus in the anime.
• Unnamed transformation— Minako transforms into Sailor V in the live action version series, using her "Teletia S" cellphone the first time (in Act Zero) but not thereafter. She uses no transformation phrase.

All of Sailor Venus's transformation sequences are essentially the same. All involve a ribbon of stars which she whips around to form her outfit. Sailor V's transformation sequences are not shown.

Attacks

Sailor Venus

• Rolling Heart Vibration! — A rolling heart of golden light flies at her enemy (only used in the manga and once in the live action series). Sailor Venus makes a heart shape with her hands and waves it around in a circle. Releasing the energy, the attack comes off as repeating hearts, with alternating colors. In PGSM It was strong enough to rid a youma possessed of Metallia's power.
• Crescent Beam! — This attack is only used in the anime, and is based on Sailor V's attack. Sailor Venus points and creates a crescent of light, which turns into a beam fired at the enemy. She does not have to use an item with this attack. In the English dub, it is called Venus Crescent Beam, Smash.
• Crescent Beam Shower! — Sailor Venus fires an enormous speeding shower of Crescent Beams. In the English anime, it is called Venus Meteor Shower.
• Venus Love Me Chain! — Sailor Venus attacks with a chain. It can also be used to heal people or as a rope. In the anime, she creates a gold chain of energy. In the manga and live action, she uses the chain wrapped around her waist and is her first attack. In the English dub, the attack is primarily called Venus Love Chain, Encircle, but has also been called Venus Love Chain Harness, Venus Love Chain Whip, Venus Love Chain, Super Venus Love Chain, or Venus Love Chain Knockout.
• Venus Wink Chain Sword! — A manga-only attack that is seemingly a powered-up version of "Venus Love Me Chain," although in the video games it sends a projectile from her Love Chain.
• Hissatsu Love Me Moon Chain! — Sailor Venus used this attack when she was disguised as Sailor Moon. In actuality it is just her Venus Love me Chain Attack under a different name.
• Crescent Beam no Midareutsu! — A random attack. It is a large number of crescent beams she launches in anger on Tiger's Eye and Hawk's Eye for tricking her.
• Venus Love and Beauty Shock! — An attack that Sailor Venus gains in her Super form. She winks and blows a kiss at the opponent, which turns into a golden heart of explosive energy. In the manga, an attack by the same name was a stronger version of "Venus Love Me Chain," in which the chain had flower patterns.
• Galactica Love and Beauty Shock! — Sailor Venus used this attack when she was under the control of Sailor Galaxia in the manga. It was not used in the anime. This attack takes the form of a chain, but instead of flowers, it has geometric designs that resemble a galaxy.
• Unnamed beam attack — No attack name is shouted when Venus uses this in the live action version, but it has a similar effect to that of Crescent Beam.
• Unnamed Tambo attack — Shoots a star from her Sailor Star Tambo. Used in Act 31 of the live action to defeat a weak yourma that was about to attack Sailor Moon
• Unnamed crescent Compact Boomerang attack — In the live action series and Sailor Moon manga, her compact can be as a boomerang. It is sharp, and capable of cutting through trees.

Sailor V

• Crescent Beam — Allows her to see the enemy's true form and destroy them. First, she must put her crescent compact in the full moon's light to charge it.
• Sailor V Kick! — She jumps in the air and kicks her enemy in the face.
• Venus Power! Crescent Shower of Love! Shower Down Rain! — This attack brings down a rain that melts her enemy.
• Sailor V Chop! — She makes a chopping attack with her arm.
• Rolling Screw Sailor V Punch! — She uppercuts her opponent.
• Crescent Super Beam! — An upgraded version of the Crescent Beam attack.
• V-chan Rub Out Sailor V Chop! — A stronger chopping attack.
• Crescent Slender Beam! — Another beam attack.
• Venus Sulfur Smoke — Creates an awful smell of the atmosphere of the planet Venus, which overpowers the enemy.
• Venus Iron Muscle Punch! — She punches her enemy.
• V-chan Striking Katana! — She slices the enemy with a katana.
• Diphenhydramine Combo! — Used against the villainess Chuu-Chuu.
• Venus-Brand Anti-Mosquito Incense Typhoon!! — Used against the villainess Chuu-Chuu.
• Venus Ten Billion Volt Rock 'N' Rouge!! — Sonic waves which destroy Karaoke Soldier Mike Makkii.
• Venus Megaton Shower of Love! — A powerful shining light that destroys Lin Lin.
• Unnamed crescent Compact Boomerang attack — In the live action series and Sailor V and Sailor Moon mangas, her compact can be as a boomerang. It is sharp, and capable of cutting through trees. She also uses this attack as Sailor Venus once.

Variations

In the anime and manga, Minako dreams of being an idol. In the live-action series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, she actually is one, which is the largest character alteration ever made within the metaseries. Starting in Act 1, Minako is shown as a famous singer, of whom Usagi Tsukino in particular is an enormous fan. Her second album, newly released at the start of the series, is called "Venus" and her most popular song is "C'est La Vie", which is a Japanese pun. In Japanese, the French phrase is pronounced almost identically to the name of her alter-ego, Sailor V. Her first album, "Imitation," was released prior to the events of Act Zero. It foreshadows later plot developments, even though she recorded it prior to meeting Artemis and becoming a Senshi. The track listing: "Origin of the Legend", "Imitation", "Don't Lose! Christmas Girl", "Love Versus Dream", "Happily", "Secret!", "Orange Heart", "White Rendezvous", and "Make Up! Power!!".

Minako secretly leads a double life as idol and Senshi--famous as a singer, and perhaps equally well-known as Sailor V. She remains distant from the other girls, but is aware of each of their identities (possibly because of Artemis, whose character is largely unchanged). As in the other series, she eventually discards the guise of Sailor V in favor of her true form: Sailor Venus. Nevertheless, she becomes only slightly involved with the others (except for Rei Hino), and frequently expresses disapproval of their effectiveness as Senshi. She is frustrated by their lack of focus, and generally separates herself for that reason and others.

Minako has a conflicted relationship with Rei in the live-action series. Though they often disagree and compete with each other, they also share great respect. Minako even sometimes lets her guard down around Rei, and eventually confides to her about what she feels is her destiny as a Senshi.

In terms of personality, Minako is almost completely different from her anime/manga counterpart. She is deeply solemn and rarely smiles. Besides the complications from an unnamed, seemingly terminal illness (the doctors in one episode give her 6 months to live), her obsession with the collective past life makes her feel detached from the world, considering her current life less important. However, she does seem to genuinely love singing, and does show a small mischievous side. In Act 19 she gives Artemis a prank Valentine's Day gift, which springs open and scares him, much to his displeasure. Laughing, she then gives him his real gift. In Act 47 she pulls the same trick again, this time having a stuffed lion pop out of a box that she said contained a recording of her new song. In Act 47, Minako goes to an examination for her surgery. Later that day, Artemis shows up at Rei's temple to tell her that Minako has died. The information crushes Rei and the others. Curiously, Minako seems to have been aware that she would die that day, as she leaves the others a note at the Crown Game Corner giving her good-byes. Though Minako officially dies before the final battle, Usagi's use of the Silver Crystal in the finale gives Minako a second chance at life. This also allows her to take part in the battle in the Special Act, in which she uses her own weapon as well as Rei's (who was in the hosptial) in combat.

As in the manga, she serves as a decoy Moon Princess for some time. She seems to be aware of her true position, often endangering herself to protect the real princess, Sailor Moon. In a twist, Usagi serves as a decoy Minako in Act 12, chasing away a group of autograph hounds. She does this because she figures Minako needed to be away from the trappings of stardom for a while.

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Actresses

In the anime, Minako's seiyū is Rika Fukami. In the English-language dub, Mina is voiced by Stephanie Morgenstern (episodes 29-82 and movies) and Emilie Barlow (episodes 90-166).

In the stage musicals, Minako has been played by eleven actresses: Nana Suzuki, Sakae Yamashita(Yume Senshi - Ai - Eien Ni's CD Only), Chizuru Soya, Kanatsu Nakaya, Akiko Miyazawa, Miyu Otani, Nao Inada, Yuki Nakamura, Ayumi Murata, Mizuki Watanabe, Momoko Shibuya, half-American idol Erica. Some sites have reported that gravure idol Erika Sawajiri played Venus in the musicals, but this is incorrect.

In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Minako is played by Ayaka Komatsu. Komatsu loved her character so much that in her album "I'll Be Here" she is credited as "Aino Minako".

See also

• Codename wa Sailor V
• Venus (planet)
• Venus (mythology)
• Aphrodite

References

1. Takeuchi, Naoko (September 6, 1996). "Act 43". Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 16. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178841-8.
2. Cite error: The named reference vol 10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. In the anime she is said to be skilled at the English language, and Usagi even begs for her to teach her. However in the manga she never went to England, so she does not speak English and is not good at the language.
4. From the back of the Irwin Toy Boxes
5. "Chapter 1: Stage". Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon album I. Kodansha. April 1993. ISBN 4-06-177734-3., The height is guessed at from page 103, and V2, page 94 and 111 since Usagi's height is given
6. Aromdee, Ken. "Sailor Moon FAQ". Retrieved October 17, 2006., estimates of heights from here.
7. Takeuchi, Naoko (July 6, 1994). "Act 23". Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 7. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178781-0.
8. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 17
9. Takeuchi, Naoko (July 5, 1996). "Act 42". Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 15. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178835-3.
10. Takeuchi, Naoko (July 5, 1996). "Act 41". Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 15. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178835-3.
11. Takeuchi, Naoko (September 1996). Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Volume IV Original Picture Collection. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-324519-5.
12. Takeuchi, Naoko (August 1994). Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Volume I Original Picture Collection. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-324507-1., Naoko Takeuchi quote about it from the artbook: "This is the title page for the conclusion of the first series of Sailor Moon. It had a great deal of impact on the first series. Probably because the four couplings on the right side were very unexpected. I was thinking of love stories of the previous lives of these couples. I'd like to be able to draw that someday..."
13. Takeuchi, Naoko (August 1991). "Vol. 1". Codename wa Sailor V Book 1. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-322801-0.
14. Carroll, Elizabeth (September 9, 2006). "The Oracle". Retrieved 2006-10-01.
15. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Act 1.
16. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Act Zero.
17. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Act Zero. The track listing in English can be seen 35 seconds into the Act.
18. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Act Zero. Artemis knows who Sailor Moon is before Tsukino Usagi even knows!
19. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Act 12.
20. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Act 19.
21. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Act 47.
22. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Act 12.
23. Doi, Hitoshi. "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon". Retrieved 2006-10-31.
24. Chiang, Jackie. "The Sailor Senshi Page: North American Dub". Retrieved 2006-10-31.
25. "eternal.legend". Retrieved 2006-11-04. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
26. Nae. "Shingetsu". Retrieved 2006-10-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• Biggs, Gina. Sailor V ~ Before Awakening. Retrieved December 14, 2005.
• Doi, Hitoshi. Aino Minako/Sailor Venus. Retrieved February 1, 2005.

v t e Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
Media	Chapters Codename: Sailor V Musicals North American pilot Collectible card game Live-action series
Anime	Sailor Moon episodes Season 1 R S SuperS Sailor Stars Sailor Moon Crystal episodes
Films	Original series R S SuperS Crystal series Eternal Cosmos
Video games	Sailor Moon R Panic in Nakayoshi World S: Jōgai Rantō!? Shuyaku Sōdatsusen Pretty Soldier S Pretty Soldier Another Story SuperS: Shin Shuyaku Sōdatsusen La Luna Splende Drops
Soundtracks	"Moonlight Densetsu" "Sailor Star Song" "Kaze mo Sora mo Kitto..." "Moon Pride" "Moon Color Chainon" Super Moonies
Characters	Protagonists Sailor Moon Luna Tuxedo Mask Sailor Mercury Sailor Mars Sailor Jupiter Sailor Venus Chibiusa Sailor Pluto Sailor Uranus Sailor Neptune Sailor Saturn Antagonists Dark Kingdom Black Moon Clan Death Busters Dead Moon Circus Shadow Galactica
Category

• Sailor Team
• Fictional celebrities
• Fictional volleyball players
• Fictional characters with the power to manipulate light
• Fictional students