Minako Aino
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Minako Aino (愛野美奈子 Aino Minako?) is a fictional character, a Sailor Senshi, one of the central characters in the metaseries known as Sailor Moon. She is known in the English adaptations as Mina Aino.
Minako was first introduced in Naoko Takeuchi's much-shorter manga series Codename wa Sailor V, which was a prototype for the Sailor Moon series itself. The backstory from the older series is generally compatible with the newer, but the two are usually considered as separate.
Her first mention as Sailor V is in the first episode or act of every series. Her first appearance as Minako and Sailor Venus is in Episode 33 of the anime or episode 29 in the English version. She appears as Minako in Act 8 of the manga, and as Sailor Venus in Act 9. She appears as Minako in Act 1 of the live action series (see Variations), and as Sailor Venus in Act 12.
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[edit] Sailor Venus
In the Sailor Moon series, Minako's primary Senshi form is that of Sailor Venus. She refers to herself as the 'Soldier of Love', and many of her special powers are based on this title rather than on any specific element. Other attacks incorporate metal (the element traditionally associated with her planet) or moonlight (a vestige of her previous role as Sailor V--see Other forms). Sailor Venus is the de facto leader of the Inner Senshi, and in turn is under the sometimes-awkward leadership of Sailor Moon. Her uniform is colored in shades of orange and yellow, with a splash of dark blue. In the manga and live-action series, she wears an item called the "wink chain" around her waist; in every version she wears flat orange shoes.
[edit] Profile
This section focuses on Minako as she appears in the anime and 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.
As a result of her past battles, Minako 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-ja, #71-en), titled The Problems of Venus-Minako as a Nurse (Venus Minako no nurse daisoudou), or in English, No Thanks, Nurse Venus!
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 loves volleyball, a fact which actually comes up several times throughout the series, and is a terrible cook. Minako's greatest dream is to become a famous idol, and she is often shown practicing for this, attending auditions, or obsessing over real idols.
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. In the anime, Minako displays a certain attraction to Haruka Tenoh, even after finding out the latter is female. This is probably the doing of the director, Kunihiko Ikuhara, who has stated on multiple occasions that he "prefers lesbians." Naoko Takeuchi, however, invariably portrays Minako as heterosexual.
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.
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.
[edit] Other forms
Senshi forms - 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 form appears only in the manga, also unnamed but analogous to Eternal Sailor Moon.
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 Act 41, 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.
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".
The family name Aino (愛野) does not start with the same kanji as that of the Japanese name for her planet, Kinsei (金星). If the pattern of the other Senshi were followed, the logical name for her would be the characters 金野 (usually read Kinno). On the other hand, the characters of her given name, Minako (美奈子), can (using unconventional but extant readings) be read as Binasu — a Japanese approximation of the name "Venus".
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 it had sleeves, but in the anime it did not.
[edit] Statistics
- Name (Japanese): 愛野美奈子 Aino Minako [1]
- Name (North America): Mina Aino
- Senshi alias: Sailor Venus [1], Sailor V
- Birthday: October 22 [1]
- Astrological sign: Libra [1]
- Blood type: B [1]
- Favorite colors: Yellow and red [1]
- Hobbies: Idol chasing [1]
- Favorite food: curry rice [1]
- Least favorite food: Shiitake mushrooms [1]
- Favorite subject: Physical Education [1]
- Worst subject: Math, English (the language) (manga) [1][2]
- Has trouble with: Her mother, the police [1]
- Dreams: To be an idol [1]
- Soldier title: Soldier of Love, [3] Soldier of Love and Beauty [4] Soldier of Justice (As Sailor V)
- Guardian planet: Venus [5]
- Elements: Metal, light
- Height: 157.48 cm / 5'2" [6] [7]
- Age: 13 in Codename wa Sailor V, 14 to 16 throughout Sailor Moon storyline
- Favorite animal: Bird[8]
- Image gemstone: Topaz [9]
- School club: Volleyball Club [10]
[edit] Senshi powers
[edit] Anime and manga
[edit] Transformations
(Note: In the English dub, she transforms without saying "Make-up" at the end.)
- Venus Power, Make-up! — Used to transform into Sailor Venus.
- Venus Star Power, Make-up! — Used to transform into Sailor Venus.
- 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.
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.
[edit] Attacks
- Rolling Heart Vibration! — A rolling heart of golden light flies at her enemy (only used in the manga).
- 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 anime, 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 creates a chain of metal with which she can either attack enemies as a whip or aid friends as a rope. In the English anime, the attack is called Venus Love Chain Encircle, Venus Love Chain Harness, Venus Love Chain Whip, Venus Love Chain, Super Venus Love Chain, or Venus Love Chain Knockout. In the manga, Venus Love Me Chain is her first attack and she uses the chain wraped around her waist. It can be used as an attack or can "heal" people similar to Moon Healing Escalation.
- 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.
- 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.
[edit] Live-action drama
- Venus Power, Make Up! — Minako's words to transform into Sailor Venus.
- Unnamed beam attack — No attack name is shouted when Venus uses this, but it has a similar effect to that of Crescent Beam.
- Venus Love Me Chain! — Venus whips enemies with the chain around her waist.
- Rolling Heart Vibration! — Sailor Venus's attack after her awakening. Visually similar to its manga counterpart, 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. It was strong enough to rid a youma possessed of Metallia's power. It is only used once in PGSM.
[edit] As Sailor V
- See Sailor V Powers.
[edit] 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 first album 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.
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 illness, 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.
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.
[edit] Music
[edit] Anime
Minako has a number of songs and character singles from the anime. All were sung by her voice actress, Rika Fukami:
- "Setsunakute Ii" (I'll Stand Alone) from Sailor Moon R
- "Anata no Yume wo Mita wa" (I Saw Your Dream)
- "Ai no Megami no How To Love" (The Goddess of Love's "How to Love") from Sailor Stars
[edit] Live-action
In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, as fitting with her role of an idol, Minako has many songs. These were sung by Ayaka Komatsu. [11]
- "Romance"
- "I'm Here"
- "C'est la vie ~ Watashi no Naka no Koi Suru Bubun" (C'est la vie ~ The Loving Part Inside Me)
- "Katagoshi ni Kinsei" (Venus Over My Shoulder)
- "Kiss!2 Bang!2"
- "Sayonara ~ Sweet Days" (Goodbye ~ Sweet Days)
- "Happy Time, Happy Life"
[edit] Actresses
- In the anime, Minako is voiced by Rika Fukami.
- In the English-language dub, Mina is voiced by Stephanie Morgenstern (episodes 29-82 and movies) and Emilie Barlow [1] (episodes 90-166).
- In the musical version, Minako has been played by 11 actresses: Nana Suzuki, Sakae Yamashita(Yume Senshi - Ai - Eien Ni's CD Only), Chizuru Soya, Kanatsu Nakaya, Akiko Miyazawa[2], Miyu Otani, Nao Inada, Yuuki Nakamura, Ayumi Murata[3], Mizuki Watanabe[4], Momoko Shibuya[5], half-American idol Erica[6]. 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. Ayaka loved her character so much that in some of her albums she is credited as "Aino Minako".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Takeuchi, Naoko (June 6, 1995). “Back of volume”, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 10. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178806-X.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (July 6, 1994). “Act 23”, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 7. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178781-0.
- ^ Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Act 17
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (March 6, 1996). “Act 42”, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 14. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178826-4.
- ^ (April 1993) “Chapter 1: Stage”, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon album I. Kodansha. 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
- ^ Aromdee, Ken. Sailor Moon FAQ. Retrieved on October 17, 2006., estimates of heights from here.
- ^ From the back of the Irwin Toy Boxes
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (October 1999). Materials Collection. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-324521-7.
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (September 6, 1996). “Act 43”, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Volume 16. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178841-8.
- ^ Sailormusic.net. Retrieved on 2006-10-14.
- Biggs, Gina. Sailor V ~ Before Awakening. Retrieved December 14, 2005.
- Doi, Hitoshi. Aino Minako/Sailor Venus. Retrieved February 1, 2005.
[edit] External links
- Sailor Venus @ The Oracle - Information & Images
- Total Venus Destination - Detailed information on Sailor Venus
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| Codename: Sailor V | Manga | Anime | Episode list | English adaptations | Musicals | Video games | Live action Actors | Story locations | Sailor Moon R movie | Sailor Moon S movie | Sailor Moon SuperS movie | Parallel Sailor Moon |
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