Editing Sailor Venus (section)

==Development==
In the transition between the ''Sailor V'' and ''Sailor Moon'' series, Minako's basic character design did not change&mdash; in fact, creator [[Naoko Takeuchi]] has written that the concept of Minako has barely changed at all from the first moment she created. The magazine that serialized ''Sailor V'', [[Run-Run]], intended to produce an [[OVA]] based on the character but went bankrupt before it could happen, so Minako was relegated to the sidelines as one of Sailor Moon's costars, to Takeuchi's regret.<ref name="AfterwordPunch"/>

In Minako's new form as Sailor Venus, she would have a new uniform, and this went through many changes before settling to the one used in the publication. Early on, each of the Sailor Guardians had a fully unique costume, and Venus's was inspired largely by the Sailor V outfit. It was colored mostly in dark blue, with orange used only for the chest ribbon (which was not bow-shaped), and included a crescent moon motif, prominent armor, and white- and red stripes. Her red hair ribbon and trademark Sailor V mask were present as well. Later, Takeuchi was surprised by these sketches and stated that she did not remember drawing them.<ref>{{cite book |last= Takeuchi |first= Naoko | title= Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon vol. 2 |publisher= [[Kodansha]] |date= September 6, 1992 |isbn= 4-06-178731-4}}</ref>

The [[kanji]] in Minako's name translate as {{nihongo|"love"|愛|ai}}, {{nihongo|"field" or "civilian"|野|no}}, {{nihongo|"beauty"|美|mi}}, {{nihongo|"what" or "how"|奈|na}}, and {{nihongo|"child"|子|ko}}. It is structured as a [[pun]], as the syllable "no" indicates a [[possessive]], so that her name can also be understood as "Beautiful Child of Love." This pun with the name being based on the aspect of the planet, in this case Venus being the goddess of love in Roman Mythology, runs across all the Sailor Soldiers. As Minako was "transplanted" from her previous series,<ref name=Drazenname/> unlike the other Soldiers, her [[family name]] does not begin with the same kanji as her planet, which would have been {{nihongo|"gold"|金|kin}}. However, like them it is still a representation of her primary element, the "inevitable" connection with Venus, the Roman goddess of love.<ref name=Drazenname>{{cite book |last=Drazen |first=Patrick |title=[[Anime Explosion! The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation]] |date=October 2002 |publisher=Stone Bridge Press |location=[[Berkeley, California]] |isbn=1-880656-72-8 |oclc=50898281 |page=286}}</ref>  The characters of her [[given name]] can also, using unconventional but extant readings, be read as ''Binasu''—a Japanese approximation of the name "Venus".

===Actresses===
In the original Japanese version of the ''Sailor Moon'' anime series, Minako is voiced by [[Rika Fukami]], with [[Nanae Sumitomo]] as a stand-in for portions of episode 163 of SuperS.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wikimoon.org/index.php?title=Sailor_Venus|title=Sailor Venus - WikiMoon|website=wikimoon.org|access-date=2016-07-01|archive-date=2016-08-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810212328/http://wikimoon.org/index.php?title=Sailor_Venus|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sailormoonforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=9770&p=256101|title=Sailor Moon Forum • View topic - Double Cast Voice Actors|website=sailormoonforum.com|access-date=2016-07-01}} {{dead link|date=November 2021}}</ref> [[Shizuka Itō]] voiced her from ''Sailor Moon Crystal'' onwards.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kotono Mitsuishi Leads Sailor Moon Crystal Cast|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-04-27/kotono-mitsuishi-leads-sailor-moon-crystal-cast|work=Anime News Network|access-date=27 April 2014|archive-date=2016-10-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015021417/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-04-27/kotono-mitsuishi-leads-sailor-moon-crystal-cast|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the original English-language dub of Sailor Moon, her name was changed to "Mina" (originally a nickname used in the Japanese version) and she was voiced by [[Stephanie Morgenstern]] for the first two seasons and all three movies. [[Emilie-Claire Barlow]] provided her voice in Cloverway's dub of episodes 90-166. In the Viz Media dub Minako is voiced by [[Cherami Leigh]] in [[Viz Media]]'s dub of the entire ''Sailor Moon'' series (produced in association with [[Studiopolis]]).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-07-05/new-sailor-moon-dub-cast-revealed-at-anime-expo/.76285 |title=New Sailor Moon Dub Cast Revealed at Anime Expo |work=Anime News Network |date=July 5, 2014 |access-date=2016-11-10 |archive-date=2014-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708003709/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-07-05/new-sailor-moon-dub-cast-revealed-at-anime-expo/.76285 |url-status=live }}</ref> A ''Sailor Moon'' fan, Leigh read the female roles in California and was selected for Minako during her wedding in her homeland Texas.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2014-07-16/exclusive-the-new-english-language-cast-of-sailor-moon/.76730|title=Exclusive Interview: The New English Language Cast of Sailor Moon|date=July 16, 2014|work=Anime News Network|access-date=July 16, 2014|archive-date=March 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309063441/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2014-07-16/exclusive-the-new-english-language-cast-of-sailor-moon/.76730|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[Sailor Moon musicals|stage musicals]], Minako has been played by twenty one actresses: Nana Suzuki, Sakae Yamashita (''Yume Senshi - Ai - Eien Ni'' soundtrack only and is not considered the 2nd actress to play her but the 2nd person to be cast since she was never in the musical performing as her), Chizuru Soya, Kanatsu Nakaya, Akiko Miyazawa, Miyu Otani, Nao Inada, Yuki Nakamura, [[Ayumi Murata]], [[Miz (singer)|Mizuki Watanabe]], [[Momoko Shibuya]], half-American idol Erica, Shiori Sakata.,<ref>{{cite web | last = Takeuchi | first = Naoko | author-link = Naoko Takeuchi | author2 = Bandai | title = Sailor Moon Musical News | date = 2009-07-03 | url = http://sailormoon.channel.or.jp/musical/index.html | access-date = 2009-09-21 | archive-date = 2009-01-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090122224038/http://sailormoon.channel.or.jp/musical/index.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Rimo Hasegawa, Hina Higuchi, Kana Nakada, Mayu Tamura, Sena, Yu Nakanishi, Saya Goto, Teresa Ikeda and Sakura Kawasaki.

In ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (2003 TV series)|Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]'', Minako is portrayed by [[Ayaka Komatsu]].