Aino Minako
The Golden Popoko
Owner: Crow
Job: Stylist

☽ Usagi Tsukino
☿ Mizuno Ami

♂ Hino Rei
♃ Kino Makoto

♅ Tenoh Haruka
♆ Kaioh Michiru

♇ Meioh Setsuna
♄ Tomoe Hotaru

♥ Chibiusa
♡ Chibi Chibi

★ Seiya Kou
★ Taiki Kou

★ Yaten Kou

♀ AINO MINAKO ♀

"Soldier of Love and Beauty, the pretty sailor-suited soldier Sailor Venus! In the name of love, I will punish you!"

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Aino Minako (愛野 ­美奈子) has a story unlike any of the other Senshi. Awakened even before Sailor Moon, she fought crime as Sailor V with the help of another guardian cat, Artemis. Facing the Dark Agency without any fellow Senshi, Minako had to fight fear, loneliness, and heartbreak all alone. She is already a full-fledged Senshi when she finally meets the others and takes her place alongside them as Venus...

Despite what she's had to face, Minako is bubbly and vivacious, with big dreams about being a starlet or a pop idol. She is up for anything new, exciting, and fun -- so much so that she can seem flighty and loopy, rushing from one experience to the next. But the truth is that Minako is determined to live life to the fullest, seizing on every opportunity that comes her way and full of ambition. She can sometimes be selfish and shallow; but when she's honest with herself and her friends, she is intensely dedicated, talented, and ultimately unstoppable.

As the leader of the Senshi, Sailor Venus is their strategist. She is the general who can direct the other soldiers in battle, as well as being an immensely powerful soldier in her own right. Agile and quick, using her genius for spotting all the possibilities, Venus leads the other Senshi in protecting their princess and fighting for love and justice!

♀ WHAT'S IN A NAME ♀

♀ Minako's name sounds like the phrase 愛の美奈子, ai no Minako ("Minako of love"). The kanji of her given name can translate loosely to "beautiful girl" or "beautiful child", making the full play on words of her name into something like "beautiful child of love".

♀ Artemis often calls her Mina.

♀ Minako's names in various dubs include Mina (English and Spanish); Mathilda (French); Amélie Morin (French manga translation); Marta (Italian); Arianne (Swedish); Joanna Lima (Portuguese); Carola (Castilian); 愛野­美奈子, Oiye Meinoiji (Cantonese); and 미나, Mina (Korean).

♀ In Saban's scrapped live-action/animated remake, Minako's counterpart was named Carrie. She had long, dark, curly hair and seemed to be the "girly-girl" of the team.

♀ BITS AND PIECES ♀

♀ Minako's birthday is October 22^nd, making her a Libra. In astrology, Libra is ruled by Venus.

♀ Minako is a poor student all around, but her least favorite class is math. (In the manga, she also disliked English; however, in the anime, she had lived in England and presumably spoke English.)

♀ She is a talented athlete who is good at most sports. She excels at volleyball and was on her school volleyball team before becoming a Senshi.

♀ She likes oolong tea, curry, ramen, and gyoza, but hates shiitake mushrooms.

♀ Minako's favorite colors are orange and yellow, and her favorite gem is topaz. She also likes dandelions, orchids, and birds.

♀ Minako loves popular culture, especially idol singers and actors. Her goal is to become a pop idol herself (except in PGSM, where she already is one) and she sometimes attends auditions or performs as an amateur.
Unlike most of the other characters, Minako is shown writing and performing one of her image songs in the series itself -- she performs "Route Venus" twice in the series. (The only other character who does this in-universe is Rei.)

♀ She often uses proverbs and common sayings in her speech, but invariably garbles them.

♀ Minako always wears a red bow in her hair. In Code Name: Sailor V, a boy she liked told her she would look pretty wearing a red ribbon. Later, Minako found out that he was an enemy from the Dark Kingdom who marked his female victims by asking them to wear red ribbons -- but she liked how it looked, so she kept it anyway.

♀ Minako lives with her parents. In CNSV, she frequently clashes with her mother, who is critical, pushy, and overbearing toward both Minako and her father. Because of Sailor V's run-ins with the police, she also dislikes police officers.

♀ Minako and Usagi often "mirror" each other, performing the same actions and speaking in unison or in rapid sequence.

♀ GUARDIAN CAT ♀

♀ Minako is the only non-lunar Senshi with a guardian cat, Artemis.

♀ Artemis is a white cat with a gold crescent mark on his forehead. In the anime he has blue eyes, and in the manga he has green eyes.

♀ Artemis was an ancient Greek goddess of the moon; despite being named for a goddess, Artemis is male.

♀ Artemis and Minako have a very close relationship, with less squabbling than there is between Usagi and Luna. Although Artemis often seems exasperated with Minako's antics, he also sympathizes deeply with her mixed feelings about being a Senshi. When Minako laments not having someone to bring her flowers and ask her out on a date, for example, Artemis later brings her a bouquet and asks her to spend the evening with him to cheer her up.

♀ As the series progresses, it's hinted that Artemis is in love with Luna -- although Luna herself often misinterprets Artemis and scolds him, or develops crushes on other people.

♀ Artemis is shown to be friends with Mamoru, and they occasionally commiserate over being the only men in the group.

♀ In the future, Artemis and Luna will have a daughter, Diana.

♀ In the manga, Artemis and Luna are originally from the planet Mau, as is Sailor Tin Nyanko.

♀ Also in the manga, Artemis (along with Luna and Diana) is capable of assuming a human form. He is shown to be a tall young man with long white hair.

♀ CODE NAME: SAILOR V ♀

Spoilers behind highlighted text! Hover over it to read.

♀ Minako was actually the first sailor Senshi created by Takeuchi Naoko. She was originally the sole protagonist of a manga called Code Name: Sailor V. In that manga, her powers were connected to both the moon and the planet Venus -- Earth's satellite and its twin planet. When this manga was expanded into Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, Sailor V was retconned to be an alternate identity of Sailor Venus.

♀ Although it had serious moments -- especially as it drew to an end and was connected directly to BSSM -- CNSV overall was more lighthearted, with comical villains and joke attacks.

♀ In CNSV, Minako and Artemis took their orders from "Boss", an entity who spoke to Minako through her henshin pen. "Boss" was never shown and it was never explained who they were.
One theory is that it may have been the remnants of Queen Serenity's intelligence/essence, contacting Minako from the remaining Silver Millennium databases on the moon. (This lingering part of Queen Serenity's consciousness faded away for good later in the Sailor Moon manga.)

♀ Artemis and Minako had a hidden room below Crown Arcade, which served as their central command base. It would later be used by the rest of the Senshi as well. The Sailor V game in Crown Arcade was also planted there by Artemis; it helped with Minako's combat training (and later the other Senshis' training as well), and alerted them to possible other Senshi who played it.

♀ Two police officers -- Wakagi Toshio, a detective, and Sakurada Natsuna, the Inspector-General of the Tokyo Police -- spend the first half of the manga trying to catch Sailor V, and eventually discover her identity. Natsuna is a Sailor V fangirl and often tries to get Minako to join the police force.

♀ In the anime, Minako lived in England for some time, and fought the Dark Kingdom there as Sailor V. She returned to Japan around the time when the other Senshi awakened. (In the manga, her adventures as Sailor V took place in Japan.)
It's revealed in the anime that Minako was close friends with a young man named Alan and an Interpol officer named Katarina, whom she introduced to each other. Minako was in love with Alan, but Alan and Katarina fell in love with each other, unaware of Minako's feelings. Heartbroken, she allowed them both to think she had died in battle and returned to Japan.
Eventually Katarina, who knew Minako's alternate identity of Sailor V, learned she was still alive and traveled to Japan to see her. Minako struggled with ambivalent feelings toward her, only to discover that Kunzite had possessed her with a youma to try to find the Senshi. Presented with the choice to destroy or free Katarina after battling the youma, Venus asked Sailor Moon to heal her. After freeing her old friend, Minako was able to finally overcome and let go of her past heartbreak.

♀ In CNSV, Minako falls in love with an idol named Saijou Ace. He's a rising star throughout several chapters of the series, but also occasionally assists Sailor V -- he is inexplicably able to heal people who have been brainwashed by the Dark Agency.
He eventually reveals that in their past lives, his name was Adonis and he was a common soldier on Venus; he loved Sailor Venus from afar, but was conscripted to fight against the Moon with the Shitennou. Adonis was reborn in the present day, but when he realized that he would never be able to win Venus' love, he joined the Dark Kingdom as Danburite and once again fought against her under the Shitennou. His words cause Minako to regain her memories of her past life, and she kills him as an enemy in spite of her feelings for Ace. Before he dies, Ace/Danburite tells her that even though she's the "Goddess of Love", Venus will always choose her love for Serenity over romantic love.

♀ The Code Name: Sailor V and Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon mangas ran concurrently for some time, and the other inner Senshi make cameo appearances in CNSV as Minako comes closer and closer to joining them.

♀ PRETTY SOLDIER ♀

♀ Sailor Venus was originally the leader of the Senshi -- in Silver Millennium, they existed to protect Princess Serenity, and there was no Sailor Moon.

♀ Sailor Venus' attacks are based on several aspects: metal, light, and love. Minako often refers to herself as the Goddess of Love, a reference to the Greco-Roman deity Aphrodite/Venus; and in Japan, the planet Venus is traditionally associated with the element of metal. As Sailor V, many of her attacks were based on moonlight.

♀ Her dominant color is orange and her uniform colors are orange, yellow, and blue.

♀ Minako's design is physically similar to Usagi's -- they both have long blonde hair and blue eyes. In-universe, this is to allow Venus to act as a decoy for Sailor Moon/Princess Serenity.
In the manga and in PGSM, Minako poses as Princess Serenity (even to the other Senshi) in order to draw the Dark Kingdom's attention away from the as-yet unrevealed true princess. When Sailor Moon is revealed to be the bearer of the Silver Crystal and therefore the real Princess Serenity, Venus' moon marking disappears and is replaced with her proper tiara. This plotline doesn't appear in the anime, although Venus does at one point disguise herself as Sailor Moon to protect Usagi (to rather comical effect).

♀ In the manga and PGSM, Minako regains her memories of Silver Millennium and her past life before any of the other Senshi do. In the anime, she also seems to know more than the others do about the true nature of the Senshi, although not to the extent that she does in other continuities.

♀ In the manga, there is a panel that hints that Venus was attracted to Kunzite in Silver Millennium.

♀ Sailor Venus eventually powers up and achieves Super form; in the manga, she later achieves Eternal form as well.

♀ In the manga, each of the planetary Senshi is the princess of her own planet and has her own castle, given to her by Queen Serenity. These castles are named after the respective planets' moons. As the planet Venus has no moon, Princess Venus' castle is called Castle Magellan, after the Magellan spacecraft which mapped the surface of Venus.

♀ PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON ♀

Spoilers behind highlighted text! Hover over it to read.

♀ PGSM is the only series where Minako's appearance drastically changes during her transformation -- Minako's hair turns from black to blonde and lengthens considerably. She also doesn't wear a red ribbon when not transformed.

♀ Unlike the manga and the anime, where Minako aspires to become a pop idol, in PGSM she already is one.

♀ Minako is, on the surface, a much more serious and less bubbly character in PGSM. It is revealed that this is because she is Sailor V -- and because she has a terminal illness. With no time to waste, and believing that she will only cause grief to the others with her impending death if she becomes close to them, she dedicates herself to her duties as a Senshi. Glimpses of her more mischievous side do appear, though, especially as she interacts with Rei and Artemis.

♀ In PGSM, the title of Minako's hit song "C'est La Vie" was a pun -- the French phrase "c'est la vie" ("that's life") sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "Sailor V".
In-universe, she also had albums called Venus and Imitation, with songs that hinted at her role as a Senshi and a decoy for the Princess. These include "Origin of the Legend", "Imitation", "Love Versus Dream", "Secret!", "Orange Heart", and "Make Up! Power!!". (These songs exist as titles only and were never performed in the series.) Ironically, it was only Mamoru who put the clues together and realized that Minako was Sailor V, while none of the other Senshi figured it out before she revealed herself.

♀ MUSIC ♀

♀ "Anata no Yume wo Mita wa" ("I Saw Your Dream"), from the album In Another Dream. It was accompanied by a spoken monologue.
(Translations available here)

♀ "Route Venus", from the album Mirai e Mukatte. Minako sings this song twice in-series, in episodes 154 and 192.
(Translated lyrics here)

♀ "Setsunakute Ii" ("Even If It Hurts, It's All Right"), Minako's R character single. It was accompanied by a spoken prologue and poem.
(Translated lyrics here, translated monologues here)

♀ "Ai no Megami no How to Love" ("How to Love, by the Goddess of Love"), Minako's Sailor Stars character single. It was accompanied with a spoken prologue and poem.
(Translated lyrics here, translated monologues here)

♀ "Romance", from Minako's PGSM character single. Minako sings "Romance" in episodes 30 and 35.
(Translated lyrics here)

♀ "Katagoshi ni Kinsei" ("Venus Over My Shoulder"), from Minako's PGSM character single. Minako sings part of "Katagoshi ni Kinsei" in episode 12.
(Translated lyrics here)

♀ I'll Be Here, a PGSM mini-album released in character for Minako as part of the Moonlight Real Girl set. Along with "Romance" and "Katagoshi ni Kinsei", it included the songs "I'm Here", "C'est La Vie ~ Watashi no Naka no Koisuru Bubun" ("C'est La Vie ~ The Loving Part Inside of Me"), "Kiss!² Bang!²", and "Sayonara Sweet Days" ("Goodbye Sweet Days"). Minako sang "Kiss!² Bang!²" in Episode 40, and "C'est La Vie" appeared in several episodes.
(Translated lyrics here, here, here, and here)

♀ PLAYED BY ♀

♀ Minako was voiced by Rica Fukami in the original anime.

♀ She was played by Ayaka Komatsu in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.

♀ In the SeraMyu musicals, Minako was played by Nana Suzuki, Chizuru Soya, Kanatsu Nakaya, Akiko Miyazawa, Miyu Otani, Nao Inada, Yuki Nakamura, Ayumi Murata, Mizuki Watanabe, Momoko Shibuya, and Erica.

♀ Minako was portrayed by Shiori Sakata and Rimo Hasegawa in the revival musicals.

♀ In the original English dub, Mina was voiced by Stephanie Morgenstern and Emilie Barlow.

♀ In the new English dub by Viz, Minako was voiced by Cherami Leigh.

♀ MAGICAL GIRL ♀

♀ indicates a video! NB: Videos may contain flashing images!

CODE NAME: SAILOR V

Transformation Pen: In the manga, Minako has a different transformation pen as Sailor V than the first pens of the other Senshi, given to her by Artemis. In CNSV and the first arc of the manga, she transforms with the phrase "Moon Power, Makeup!" (until Usagi is revealed to be the princess in BSSM). She can use her pen to speak to "Boss", the unknown entity who gives Minako and Artemis information and instructions in CNSV. Minako's pen is also connected to the Sailor V game in Game Center Crown, and reacts when someone is playing the game unusually well, alerting her to possible new Senshi or enemies. Finally, since her pen only writes whats true, Minako uses it to cheat on tests.

Red ribbon: Unlike the other accessories that the girls wear (with the exception of Makoto's rose earrings), Minako keeps her red hair ribbon in Senshi form.

Mask: Sailor V's uniform includes a red mask, which she wears throughout the series; in both the anime and the manga, she takes off the mask to reveal herself as Sailor Venus to the other Senshi, and stops wearing it from that point.

Crescent Compact: A crescent moon-shaped compact with multiple uses. When opened, the mirror reflects a person's true form; for example, it shows Minako's reflection as Sailor V, and human-disguised enemies as youma. She can use it to disguise herself with the phrase "Crescent Moon Power, Transform!", similar to Usagi's Disguise Pen. She also used it as part of several attacks.

Crescent Beam: In CNSV, Crescent Beam was an attack performed with the Crescent Compact, using it to reflect a beam of light at its target. Variations called "Crescent Slender Beam" and "Crescent Super Beam" also appeared (the former against an enemy who caused weight gain, and the latter being a more powerful version).

Venus Mic: An item that appears in only one chapter of the manga. Artemis gives it to Minako to fight a karaoke-themed monster. It shoots a ball of energy with the phrase "Venus Ten-Billion Volt Rockin' Rouge".

Diphenhydramine Dispersa! Venus Brand: Mosquito Incense Typhoon: Another one-off and comical attack, Minako sends a spiral of energy (shaped like a mosquito coil) at a mosquito-like enemy.

Venus Power: Love Crescent Shower: A technique that used the Crescent Compact to reflect light to purify areas or people tainted by enemies. Sailor V could also use it as an attack against enemies.

Crescent Boomerang: An attack that used the Crescent Compact as a physical weapon by throwing it like a boomerang.

Venus Love Megaton Shower: The most powerful single attack in the Sailor V manga, it's used by Minako in the last chapter, where it releases enough energy to destroy a building.

CLASSIC SEASON/DARK KINGDOM ARC

Transformation Pen: Minako presumably receives her original transformation pen from Artemis. It allows her to transform into Sailor Venus with the phrase "♀ Venus Power, Makeup!"
In the manga, she keeps her pen from the Sailor V manga during the first arc.

Communicator: Disguised as a calculator, this allows Minako to communicate at any time with the other Senshi. They were given to the Senshi by Luna, although Minako may have received hers from Artemis. In the manga, they are wristwatches that appeared as prizes from the Sailor V game, and which Luna modified to serve as communicators.

♀ Crescent Beam: A callback to Minako's moon-related powers as Sailor V, this is a laser-like attack in which two glowing crescent moons collide above Minako's head; she reaches up and directs their light at the target in a powerful beam.

Rolling Heart Vibration: A manga-only attack in which Venus creates a heart-shaped burst of energy and directs it at her target.

Venus Wink Chain Sword: A manga-only attack. Venus transforms her Love-Me Chain into a sword of light.

Holy Blade: Also called the Sword of the Silver Crystal, this is a broadsword originally used by the Senshi in Silver Millennium to protect Princess Serenity. The Senshi of the present day find it embedded in the ground in the ruins of the lunar palace, and only Venus is able to remove it. Sailor Venus uses the sword to kill Queen Beryl, but she and the Senshi are unable to use it to kill Metallia; it never appears again and is presumably destroyed. The Holy Blade appears only in the manga.

R SEASON/BLACK MOON ARC

Star Power Stick: This allows Minako to transform into a more powerful version of Sailor Venus with the phrase "♀ Venus Star Power, Makeup!" It is given to her by Luna and Artemis. In the manga, she receives it from Luna after her original pen is destroyed in the final battle against Metallia.

♀ Crescent Beam Shower: A special version of Venus Crescent Beam. It creates an ultra powerful beam of light that then splits into multiple beams.

♀ Venus Love-Me Chain: An attack in which Venus summons a long chain of hearts, made of light, and directs it at an opponent. The chain is extremely versatile and can strike as pure energy, or wrap around an enemy to trap them. Venus can also solidify it into an actual chain of linked golden hearts and use it that way, to catch someone without harming them or even to use as a rope.
In the manga, her chain is a metal chain set with red gemstones, and she wears it around her waist. The attack "Venus Love-Me Chain" first appears in the Dark Kingdom arc, using the chain as a lash.

Wrist Communicator: Performs the same function as the earlier communicator, but in the shape of a wristwatch. They are given to the Senshi by Luna and Artemis. The original communicator watches are also replaced with these in the manga.

Sailor Planet Power: A combined attack in which each of the Senshi channel their power, combine it, and direct it in a huge beam of energy. It is sometimes called ♀ Sailor Planet Attack.
In the manga, it first appeared in the Dark Kingdom arc, performed by Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus (without Sailor Moon) to attack Metallia.

S SEASON/INFINITY ARC

Venus Planet Power: In the manga, Neo Queen Serenity grants the Inner Senshi more powerful transformations after they defeat Death Phantom. Minako uses the phrase "Venus Planet Power, Makeup!" in the Infinity arc to transform into a stronger version of Sailor Venus; she no longer needs an item to transform at this stage. This version of the transformation never appears in the anime.

SUPERS SEASON/DREAM ARC

Venus Crystal Change Rod: An upgrade to the Star Power Stick, created by Pegasus with the power of the Golden Crystal. It allows Minako to transform into Super Sailor Venus with the phrase "♀ Venus Crystal Power, Makeup!" The Crystal Change Rods appear only in the anime.

Venus Crystal: Minako's sailor crystal. It is a heart-shaped stone revealed to her by Artemis. She uses it to transform into Super Sailor Venus with the phrase "Venus Crystal Power, Makeup!" The Venus Crystal appears only in the manga.

Guardian Venus: A Sailor Power Guardian, Guardian Venus appears as a small sprite who looks like a tiny version of Sailor Venus, and refers to herself as Minako's "other self". She resides in Castle Magellan. Guardian Venus appears only in the manga.

♀ Venus Love and Beauty Shock: An attack in which Minako creates a heart-shaped burst of energy and sends it at her target.
In the manga, while Venus is controlled by Galaxia, she performs a variant called Venus Love and Galactica Shock.

SAILOR STARS SEASON/STARS ARC

Star Seed: Star seeds are crystals that are the embodiment of each person's life. In the anime, Minako's star seed is an orange crystal with a glowing core; in the manga, it is the Venus Crystal.
It is a true star seed (anime) or sailor crystal (manga), the star seed of a planet(/star/asteroid/etc). Being born with a true star seed/sailor crystal enables a person to transform into the Senshi or guardian of that planet.

PRETTY GUARDIAN SAILOR MOON

Jewelry Star Bracelet: A silver charm bracelet that allows Minako to transform into Sailor Venus with the phrase "♀ Venus Power, Makeup!" When transformed, the bracelet changes form into a thick jeweled cuff. (There is also a slightly longer ♀ alternate version of this transformation.)

Teletia S: A magical cell phone that each of the Senshi has. In addition to being used for communication, it fulfills the same role as the Disguise Pen, allowing the user to wear any outfit by using the phones camera function to take a picture of it. In Act 0, Artemis uses the Teletia S to ♀ transform Minako into Sailor V for the first time.

♀ Crescent Beam: An attack in which Venus fires a laser-like beam of light at her target.

♀ Venus Love-Me Chain: An attack in which Venus uses the jeweled chain around her waist as a whip.

♀ Rolling Heart Vibration: An attack in which Venus shoots heart-shaped bursts of energy at her target.

♀ Crescent Moon Cutter: A jeweled item shaped like a crescent moon. Minako used this both as Sailor V and as Sailor Venus. It looks very similar to the Crescent Compact from CNSV, but is used a small boomerang/blade, and is never shown to have the magical abilities of the compact.

Star Tambourine: A star-shaped tambourine that Venus can use to attack enemies on its own or as part of ♀ Moonlight Attractive Attack. She can also transform it into the Venus Dagger.

Venus Dagger: Sailor Venus' Star Tambourine can be transformed into a long orange dagger. It works as a pair with the Mars Dagger.

♀

"The legendary mask is a thing of the past, and the face revealed is also beautiful! I’m the last Sailor Senshi to appear, Sailor Venus!"