Anime:
Before there ever was a Sailor Venus or even a Sailor Moon there was.. *drum roll* Sailor V, the original champion of love and justice! In... England? Wowie, yes indeedy, Sailor V worked in England and there befriended Alan and Katarina. Minako had a *huge* crush on Alan but it wasn't meant to be. After a mission gone wrong [namely an explosion that Minako was very lucky to have walked away from], Minako finds out that while Alan and Katarina both loved her, they were *in* love with each other. It was with a heavy, not to mention broken, heart that Minako and her guardian cat Artemis returned home to Japan to find and join the sailor senshi. *sniffle*
When Sailorvenus finally arrives and joins the team (and saves their butts as well as Tuxie's from Kunzite and Zoisite) she is shown as their idol. Whyso? Because, sillies, Sailor V was immensely popular and had video games (that Usagi is often seen playing), dolls, toys, drinks, and other assorted goodies. Not too bad for a 13 year old from Japan, eh?
Sailorvenus is the actual leader of the Senshi, however this is rarely shown in the anime. Usually Usagi comes across as the leader and Luna as her advisor, while Minako rallies the girls together when Moon enevitably gets them into trouble. ^^;; Sometimes, on rare occasions, she shows off her stuff, like in the R movie where she orders everyone on how to attack or the Stars episode where Pluto comments on Venus' leadership. Sailorvenus also never claims to be the moon princess, but since she's so well known the other girls seem to accept that she must be.
Minako herself is a sweet and caring person. Somewhere between Sailormoon and Sailormoon R she has a horrible ditz attack and loses the maturity she's admired for. Maybe she felt she could let her guard down finally and just be a normal teenage girl, who knows. She constantly messes up famous sayings and Ami and Artemis are constantly having to correct her on this so she doesn't confuse poor Mako-chan and Usagi. ^^ However, under the sweet and silly persona is a pain that Minako rarely speaks of. Her past still haunts her, much like Mako's and she also seems to remember the most about the Moon Kingdom and one of her greatest fears appears to be the repition of history and the destruction of the wonderful life that Usagi represents.
she is the joy and the laughter
While the above quote comes from the Powerpuff girls regarding Bubbles, it also applies to Minako. Minako is often seen laughing, or goofing off,or trying to cheer her friends up, even though she herself isn't a very happy camper all the time. She's bright, bubbly, and a very sweet girl, prone to ditzy attacks, though never a crybaby like Usagi. However she does share a lot of characteristics with the title character, such as her klutzyness, laziness to a degree (sailorv manga..), looks, and addiction to junk food. Minako could be described as the heart of the inner senshi, always looking out for others, always worrying, even if it isn't obvious, and generally just being a very loving person. In the manga she appears to be best friends with Usagi and Rei, while in the Anime she seems closer to Makoto and Usagi. Also, her closest friend without a doubt, is Artemis, her guardian cat.
Episode Spotlights:
wanna see more? Sure you do.
Episode 33: Saigono Sailor Senshi Venus toujou
Woohoo! Venus hits the scene. Nuff said.
Episode 42: Sailor Venus no kako, Minako no hiren
The missing Venus episode from DiC's evil tirade to cut, slice, and dice the series to heck and back. See why Sailor V quit her day job.
SailorMoon R
Episode 52: Nerawareta enji! Venus daikatsuyaku
When kindergarten kids are attacked, Sailor Venus comes to the rescue. Also gets a new nifty power. Yayyyyy!!
Episode 78: Venus Minako no nurse daisoudou
*snicker* One of the funnier episodes, Minako decides to "help" her friends when they are sick. This time the cure really is worse than sickness. But she triiiiies!
SailormoonS
Episode 100: Sailor Senshi wo yametai!? Minako no nayami
Minako's darker side shows up in this one, well, from the episode summaries anyway. She doesn't seem her happy cheerful self, and yet again love eludes her, though it has a vewwie sweet ending. ^_^
Episode 109: Shougeki no toki! Akasareta tagai shoutai
When everyone else's heart crystals are taken, Minako begins to worry why hers hasn't been. So to prove she is pure hearted, she goeson a crazy wacky ride of self doubt. Her friends worry, but don't know what to do, so they stand behind her and watch out for her. Needless to say when she does get attacked, she's overjoyed.
Episode 114: Idol Daisuki! Nayameru Mimete (we love idols! the worrying mimete)
( special thanks to neoqueenbunnyluv for pointing this out to me!)
Minako finds herself going up against Mimete of the Witches 4 (heh.. poor, poor Eudial..) for the part of Araki Jinta's love interest in a new movie. It's a Mimete ep! It must be good! I wouldn't know cuz I'm still too broke to own it for now *sniff* -_- Neither Minako nor Mimete win, but hey, there's still time to become rich and famous.
Sailormoon SuperS
Episode 141: Koi no Arashi! Minako no Futamata Daisakusen
In Minako's endless quest to find true love she decides to date two boys at once. Too bad they happen to both be the enemy! Poor Minako!
Sailormoon SailorStars
Episode 171: Ai Yueni! Hateshinaki Makai no Tatakai
Neherenia is back from the semi-dead and she ain't too happy with the Senshi. So far the Senshi aren't faring too well against her either. Neptune, Mars, Uranus, and Mercury have already been captured by Neherenia's mirror parodies... next up are Venus and Pluto. Poor Minako slips and lands flat on her butt and that scene alone is enough to watch this ep. ^^ So cute! It's also the ep where Pluto tells Venus she *is* the leader and has to go save their Princess. *sniff* but neither makes it cuz the bridge collapses and flash, they are gone. *sniffle*
Episode 175: Idol wo Mezase! Minko no Yabou
Following her dream to be an "idol", Minako tries to break into show business anyway she can. After failed picture attempts, she decides to become the Three Lights assistant. And if she just happened to become famous while working with them.. where's the harm in that? ^_- Too bad her plan didn't work.
Episode 192: Yume Icchokusen! Idol Minako Tanjou!?
Minako's dream of fame comes back into play as she attends round two of an "idol" competition. After scolding from Yaten (starhealer) and encouragement from Usagi, she is accepted into round 3, thus proving her dream. Opting to chase after her dream later, Minako sticks with the team. Awww.
Now go see them!! And get me a copy of them too! ^_~
some things you just can't ignore...
A few other things I think you should know. A) Minako/Venus is perhaps the most ill represented character in the whole series, lacking the die hard fan following of the only senshi I will concede gets less air time, Saturn. Venus is generally pushed to the back of a lot of pics, she doesn't get half as much merchandise [that I've seen anyway], stickers don't tend to have her on them, etc.
DiC's interpretation of Venus is pretty crappy. Her defining epsiode gets cut out completely, and she is ditzed up to the max, and it's impossible to see that she is the leader, so I don't think they want her to be. They make Raye the leader for all intents. *shrugs* The cut epsiode, btw, is basically about why V left England. She was in love with Alan, but he was in luv with Katarina (another of her friend's, best friend in fact) and when they believed she was dead she overheard them talking and realized she had no chances with Alan and left. *sniff*