SAILOR VENUS (Minako Aino, aka Sailor V)
Dub Name: Mina
Role: Wannabe Starlet, The Annoying One, The Copy of the Main Hero
Main Fuku Colour: Orange
Elemental Alignment: Metal, Love
Hair Colour: Blonde
PL 9 (139)
STRENGTH 1/2
STAMINA 4
AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8
DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 8 (+8, +10 Sailor)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Idol) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 8 (+8)
Expertise (Volleyball Player) 4 (+9) -- Uses Agility
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Venus Attacks) 4 (+10)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Daze (Persuasion), Defensive Attack, Equipment (Sailor Communicator), Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Move-By Action, Seize Initiative, Set-Up 2, Ranged Attack 3, Taunt, Teamwork
Powers:
"Sailor Strength"
Enhanced Strength 1 [2]
Strength-Damage +1 [1]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Movement 1 (Safe Fall) [2]
"Venus Love-Me Chain!" Blast 8 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 4) (21) -- [29]
- AE: "Love-Me Chain as Snare" Snare 8 (Feats: Tether, Reversible, Fast Grab) (Flaws: Limited to One Target) (19)
- AE: "Love-Me Chain as Whip" Damage 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (16)
- AE: "Love-Me Chain as Object-Grabber" Move Object 7 (14)
- AE: "Crescent Beam!" Blast 7 (Feats: Improved Critical (15)
- AE: "Crescent Beam Shower!" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (Flaws: Tiring) (16)
- AE: "Sailor Teleport!" Teleport 14 (Extras: Extended Only +0, Accurate) (Flaws: Requires Other Sailors -2) (14)
- AE: "Sailor Planet Attack!" Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Burst +2, Penetrating 6) (Flaws: Requires Other Sailors -2) (20)
- AE: "Sailor Planet Power!" Force Field 8 (Flaws: Requires Other Sailors -2) (2)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Sailor Strength +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Crescent Beam +10 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Crescent Beam Shower +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Love-Me Chain +10 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Chain Whip +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Planet Attack +14 Area (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Initiative +9
Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +8
Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers)- Sailor Senshi must be able to gesture and speak freely to use their powers. If they are Bound or Snared, they cannot use their attacks easily.
Normal Identity (Aino Minako, Without Power Stick)
Responsibility (Sailor Senshi)- The Senshi are charged to fight evil, and protect Sailor Moon.
Responsibility (Schooling)
Secret (Identity)- The Senshi must not reveal their identities to the world at large, nor their villains.
Obsession (Idols & Becoming an Idol)- Minako eventually shifts in personality to become desperately obsessed with idol singers. She loves them, and she wants to BE one, at all costs.
Relationship (Katarina & Alan)- Minako loved Alan, but upon realizing that he cared for Katarina more, she stepped aside and let them be together.
Reputation (Idol Chasing Ditz)- The other girls eventually become rather annoyed as Mina becomes more and more manic.
Reputation (Unlucky in Love)- Minako was cursed as "Sailor V" to always be unlucky in love- all of her attempts at it will go awry.
Enemy (The Dark Kingdom, Ail & An, The Black Moon Clan, The Death Busters, Queen Nehellenia, Sailor Galaxia)
Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 36 / Defenses: 19 (139)
Sailor V- From Upstart Manga to Additional Cast Member:
-Sailor Venus was the toughest "fit" into the
Sailor Moon cast, and took the longest to be normalized. Problematically, she started life as "Sailor V", from a manga of the same name, by the same creator- Naoko Takeuchi essentially had a pretty popular little deal with
Sailor V, and took the entire concept and shifted it a bit (mineral-themed villains, a talking cat sidekick, called attacks, etc.) for
Sailor Moon, which ended up as a sequel. And so with Sailor V joining THAT cast... suddenly we had two characters with more or less the same personality, as Moon was essentially the same kind of character as V- a giddy, crush-having schoolgirl. They even had the
same family- a group based off of Naoko's own!
-This heavily contrasts the manga, in which Venus was the actual straight-up LEADER of the Sailor Senshi, packing a dangerous sword and probably being the best overall fighter. "Serious Venus" was around for quite some time, as the others had been around for so long and had so much time to develop their relationships, so there was less time for her.
Sailor Venus- The Final Inner Senshi:
-This was made worse by the timing- Sailor Venus actually didn't make her debut until
Episode #33, and the first season only lasted thirteen more episodes! Up until that point,
Sailor V was just some silly thing the girls were all obsessed with, with episodes featuring her arcade games, her upcoming movie, etc. And right after she debuts is when Zoisite is killed, Sailor Moon is revealed to be the Moon Princess, and Mamoru/Endymion is kidnapped and brainwashed! There's STUFF going on! And so her characterization kind of has to fall by the wayside.
-This left Sailor Venus (as she was renamed) in a tough spot- the anime creators either had her as the most serious, mature Sailor, or the silliest- she's a bit normal in her civilian form, but in the "Countess Trains Girls To Be Princesses" episode, she's dancing with her partner as if she was a kindergartener, pumping her arms with her eyes closed! And the later seasons seem to kind of blow poor Minako off- in a few
Sailor Moon R episodes, she's actually stuck SHARING Focus Episodes with Sailor Jupiter- one of them shows the two like they've paired off as a regular duo, arguing over some silly thing like friends do.
Her Past Explained:
-The Original Dub was extremely weird with her, too- the whole
Sailor V/Sailor Venus thing is literally NEVER EXPLAINED, and she just pops up one day as Sailor Venus, despite numerous episodes having featured
Sailor V stuff heavily. Things were made worse by her biggest, big-time Focus Episode being left out of the airing, as it deals with her "Sailor V" past. Minako's old friend Katarina (who's hooked up with Minako's old crush, Allan, from back when they all lived in England...) arrives under the sway of Kunzite, and becomes the monster Papillon (Butterfly) in order to kill Minako. Usagi helps out (magically able to pilot boats when her Disguise Pen transforms her into an ACTUAL Sailor), and soon we get the backstory- Minako & Katarina were partners, fighting crime and Monsters in England back when Minako was just Sailor V. Minako was in love with Allan, but when she found out that Allan & Katarina were in love, she allowed them to believe that she was killed in a blast.
-Sailor Moon thinks Venus should be SUPER-bitter and hate them, but the more-mature Venus insists she's not EVIL or anything, and convinces Sailor Moon to use the Healing Activation to cure Katarina of the Dark Kingdom's brainwashing. The final summation: Venus is the most-mature of the Sailors. Well, THAT'd go away once she became the "Idol singer-obsessed" one of the bunch. This one was a nice showcasing of the old
Sailor V manga. But it's REALLY weird that this "Allan" guy was the key to much of the backstory, but didn't even actually APPEAR- he was just in the flashbacks!
Venus Becomes Set In Stone:
-Eventually, the writers would give up on her "maturity" and just turn her into the wackiest, goofballiest, Idol-obsessed Sailor. This was pretty much finalized in the episode where she begins taking care of the other girls, who've all come down with colds. "Nurse Venus" begins taking care of them in increasingly-horrible ways, eventually driving Mercury, Mars & Jupiter crazy with her incompetent care (Mars is fed a soup full of salt, then has music blared at her at maximum volume). This goofy version of Venus seems to be the "iconic" one, as Venus Fans almost always cite it as their favorite episode. It's a bit odd to see the "Weird, Idol-Obsessed One" in a show where SAILOR MOON is the main character, but that was always kind of my issue with the character- I could never figure out Venus Fans, because to me, it was like cheering on the one character who was basically like the main character, but moreso.
Venus's Stats:
-Sailor Venus is a pretty "typical Sailor"- fast and Blast-y. Faster than she is tough, she eventually packs some serious firepower, using multiple variations of her base power and the Snares from her Love-Me Chain. The basic Chain is really just a Blast, much like the Crescent Beam, but I figure it's stronger since she dropped the Beam almost entirely once she got the Chain attack. She also uses the one-off
R technique "Crescent Meteor Shower"- a Multiattack Tiring Blast, or can alternately use the Chain as a Snare or a Move Object (in a one-off episode, she grabs a boulder with it and moves it out of the way- something she could never do unarmed).
My notes on the famous Sailor Venus episode:
Episode #78: This is a pretty famous one for Sailor Venus fans, largely because it completely defined her new personality. Perfected it, basically. A wave of flu virus has hit Juban District in Tokyo (even back then, the Japanese always wore medical masks to avoid transfering illness to others), and all of the Sailors have come down with it... except for Minako. And unfortunately... she is the world's crappiest nurse. She leaves Makoto's place a disaster area, and is then taking care of poor Rei, insisting she'll get her "rice gruel" right this time. Watching Rei eye it suspiciously while Minako's eyes light up like a child on Christmas morning is hilarious. And then of course she A) adds too much salt, B) spills the ENTIRE THING on Rei, and C) dumps her out of bed while trying to change the sheets. Then somehow she blows up Rei's stereo, and the poor girl has had it.
In a bizarre moment, Mina jumps from the ground to the second-floor balcony of Usagi's home! Not even in Sailor form! This... this goes against my theory that their Sailor Forms are powered-up compared to their normal ones! How... how did this happen?!?
Then stuff gets awesome- Mina finally stops F-ing up and Usagi feels a bit better. They have one of those "girl chats" where Usagi's all "is this 'cause I'm the Princess?" and Minas all "Nah, it's because we're great friends and I feel at ease around you". Then, while the Sailors triumphantly stagger through the streets, REFUSING to let the flu virus hold them back from their duty, Mina stumbles upon Esmeraude's plot, and the villainess goes "this means you found out about my plan to make everyone sick, then give them medicine laced with Dark Power?". Mina's all "of course I knew that!" Even though SHE HAD NO IDEA. That is so rad.
Hey- Venus uses the CRESCENT BEAM in her solo fight! We haven't seen that in ages! And then the others arrive, and we get Bubble Spray! Some director was nostalgic, I see. They make short work of the Droid, Esmeraude leaves, and soon poor Minako now has to deal with a flu of her very own... and must survive the ordeal of NURSE USAGI. One of the funnier episodes, largely for slapstick and the growing anger/frustration of the poor Sailors.
SAILOR VENUS (Minako Aino, aka Sailor V)- First Season
Dub Name: Mina
Role: Wannabe Starlet, The Annoying One, The Copy of the Main Hero
Main Fuku Colour: Orange
Elemental Alignment: Metal, Love
Hair Colour: Blonde
PL 8 (124)
STRENGTH 1/2
STAMINA 4
AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8
DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 8 (+8, +10 Sailor)
Deception 3 (+6)
Expertise (Idol) 2 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 8 (+8)
Expertise (Volleyball Player) 4 (+9) -- Uses Agility
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Venus Attacks) 4 (+10)
Stealth 1 (+6)
Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Daze (Persuasion), Defensive Attack, Equipment (Sailor Communicator), Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Move-By Action, Seize Initiative, Set-Up 2, Ranged Attack 2, Taunt, Teamwork
Powers:
"Sailor Strength"
Enhanced Strength 1 [2]
Strength-Damage +1 [1]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Movement 1 (Safe Fall) [2]
"Crescent Beam!" Blast 7 (Feats: Improved Critical) [15]
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Sailor Strength +8 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Crescent Beam +9 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +9
Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +8
Complications:
Power Loss (All Powers)- Sailor Senshi must be able to gesture and speak freely to use their powers. If they are Bound or Snared, they cannot use their attacks easily.
Normal Identity (Aino Minako, Without Power Stick)
Responsibility (Sailor Senshi)- The Senshi are charged to fight evil, and protect Sailor Moon.
Responsibility (Schooling)
Secret (Identity)- The Senshi must not reveal their identities to the world at large, nor their villains.
Obsession (Idols & Becoming an Idol)- Minako eventually shifts in personality to become desperately obsessed with idol singers. She loves them, and she wants to BE one, at all costs.
Relationship (Katarina & Alan)- Minako loved Alan, but upon realizing that he cared for Katarina more, she stepped aside and let them be together.
Reputation (Idol Chasing Ditz)- The other girls eventually become rather annoyed as Mina becomes more and more manic.
Reputation (Unlucky in Love)- Minako was cursed as "Sailor V" to always be unlucky in love- all of her attempts at it will go awry.
Enemy (The Dark Kingdom, Ail & An, The Black Moon Clan, The Death Busters, Queen Nehellenia, Sailor Galaxia)
Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 15 / Powers: 22 / Defenses: 19 (124)
-Sailor Venus drops to the standard PL 8 Sailor build in the first season.
Sailor Moon S Notes:
-
S really seems to be "Sailor Venus's Coming Out Party"- it gives her more focus than ever, finishes defining her as "the weird, childlike one", and even gives her more backstory. Early on, it's revealed that she was once a major volleyball star, and a lower-level boy had a crush on her. This realization kind of startles her- it makes her realize how much she gave up to be Sailor V, reconsider the focus it has in her life, and makes her think of giving up that life for good. Ultimately, seeing her friends in danger, and realizing the boy actually HAD a girlfriend this time around (she'd interpreted his admission as him saying he STILL liked her), causes her to rejoin the fight, even using her trademark "Serve Return!" technique to defeat the Volleyball-Themed Daimon. She basically confesses to herself that "I am a Sailor Guardian, and there are things that only I can protect", accepting her role in life. And in a cute moment, Artemis (who'd been flabbergasted by her behavior thus far, not understanding the teenage girl mind) gives her a bouquet of roses and asks "will you be my date tonight?".
-Probably her greatest moment is the 109th episode, where she starts to worry about the fact that she hasn't been targetted for her Pure Heart Crystal yet. She obsesses over it to excess- donating dangerous amounts of blood to prove her pure-heartedness, getting equally introspective and manic. And then finally gets her wish- her Heart Crystal is removed! And then, in the greatest bit EVER, she lurches forward like a zombie, grasps the heart... AND RUNS AWAY WITH IT, cackling about how this proves she was pure-hearted after all! Usagi and Eudial are aghast and have to friggin' chase after the lunatic. Minako finally collapses with an exhausted smile on her face, and we can get down to actually fighting the villain.
-Finally, she gets a Focus Episode based around her "Idol Singer" ideal, which becomes a more notable thing later on. It's a great one, focusing on her and the villain Mimete trying to win a contest to become an Idol Singer's costar. Both girls, instead of being rivals, actually BOND over being "True Fans" for having the obscure gear to prove it, and cheer each other on. When Minako falls just short, and her disappointment is stunted by Arajin, who confesses that "your memories of me will fade", as idol worship always does- and that girls will drop following celebrities once they find TRUE love. Minako is of course even MORE entranced by this. Fantastic episode, though. Minako is actually relatively sane for once (her weirdest thing is hiding fangirling from the others), and Mimete is adorably crazy and mercurial.