In 1991, a young mangaka, or comic artist, combined the concepts of sentai (think Power Rangers) and sailor suits into a story. That mangaka was Naoko Takeuchi, and the idea she birthed was Codename: Sailor V.
The titular character, known in her civilian life as Minako Aino, is a 13-year-old middle school student. She’s athletic, a bit of a brat, and loves love. (It is in her last name, after all; “Ai” = love.) Her life is flipped upside-down when she meets Artemis, a very serious talking cat. He tasks her with fighting the forces of evil while attending school at the same time. Simple, right?
The three-volume series (or two if you bought the re-released versions in 2004 or 2014, 2011 in the US, or the Eternal Edition in 2021) is action-packed, silly at times, and filled with stylish outfits, both in the disguises and sailor uniforms. Although the plot is straightforward, the manga’s release schedule was not.
Codename: Sailor V initially debuted as a one-shot in the manga magazine RunRun’s Summer Break issue. The next year, in March 1992, it was published in RunRun’s Spring Break issue. RunRun relaunched into a magazine that publishes manga every other month, but Sailor V didn’t catch the memo. With the exception of 1995, Codename: Sailor V was published at least twice a year until 1997. Fifteen chapters in a six-year period…What happened?
One reason: a crybaby who wears buns, or odangos, in her hair.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, formerly Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, was created December 28, 1991, four months after Codename: Sailor V, and Takeuchi was balancing them both. The latter series became a major hit, revitalizing the magical girl genre. It currently has two anime series (OG 90s & Crystal), video games, a live action series, and beaucoup merch, musicals, soundtracks, and movies, its most recent film being 2021’s Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal, The Movie. To say Takeuchi was busy during this time is an understatement.
Codename: Sailor V actually had a few references to Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon sprinkled within their chapters. There were cameos of Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon (and Naru Osaka, her best friend), Rei Hino/Sailor Mars, Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury, and Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter. An in-universe manga called Aurora Wedding showed silhouettes of characters that look very similar to the Inner and Outer Senshi and mentioned a man named “Coattail Mask,” which is definitely a reference to Tuxedo Mask. (The mangaka of Aurora Wedding might also be a parody of Takeuchi? Who knows?)
Codename: Sailor V contained some other cool aspects that were fun to spot. The design of Hikaru Sorano, Minako’s best friend, was the prototype for Ami, and Gurikazu Amano, another friend of Minako’s, was definitely the basis for Gurio Umino, Usagi’s nerdy friend. The Dark Agency was established by the Dark Kingdom, the first antagonist group of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Also, there was one character (who will not be spoiled here) in Codename: Sailor V that possessed a nearly-identical backstory to Queen Beryl in the “Dark Kingdom” arc. Oh, and trips to other countries like Greece and China. International hijinks!
Takeuchi completed Codename: Sailor V in November 1997. The manga was supposed to have an OVA (original video animation), but when RunRun closed its doors in the same year, so did its chances of having its story animated. Remnants of said OVA can be found in episodes 21 and 42 of the first season of Sailor Moon. As popular as the Sailor Moon franchise has become, maybe some more love could be thrown towards Codename: Sailor V as well. Maybe it could finally get the OVA series it deserved, and more.
Justice for Codename: Sailor V!