Why We Deserve a Sailor V Anime

Nobody wanted to be Sailor Venus when we played Sailor Moon back in elementary school. It’s pretty harsh in retrospect now but as devoted watchers of Toonami’s anime block, we knew Mars had the kickass fire powers, Jupiter was the strongest fighter, Mercury was the smart one, and Sailor Moon got the show title and the boyfriend, but Venus? I mean, she had a chain whip and a cat, but mostly we thought she was just a poor copy of Sailor Moon. Despite what American publication history might indicate, though, Naoko Takeuchi’s internationally renowned mahou shoujo manga Codename wa: Sailor V is not one of those prequels you can skip. Not only was Sailor V (the “Venus” was originally shortened) instrumental in developing the classic cosmic story we know and love, but it stands as a strong story in its own right that in some ways dwarfs its successor. By the time I first read Sailor V a decade had passed and I became absolutely livid that I hadn’t gotten the chance to grow up giving Minako the respect she so rightfully deserves given how ditzy and superficial she’s presented in the original anime. Add to this the fact that a successful manga that’s been around for two decades still doesn’t have its own anime to speak of when Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon got an entire reboot and I can’t help but think something is seriously wrong (‘cmon, y’all, we’re talking two or three volumes of content here depending on the version). Until the anime industry gets its act together, here are some r…