I would only recommend this to you if you are either: a fan of oldschool run-of-the-mill mahou shoujo, someone who's interested in where BSSM got its roots, or both. Otherwise, steer clear.

Half the story follows the same formula: Minako is called out for being lazy, gets interested in something pop-culture related (idol, video game) that turns out to be a monster-of-the-week, deals with it, and all is well until the next chapter. You could safely skip chapters 4-8 and 11-13 without missing anything of importance.

There's zero explanation of who the "boss" that Minako reports to is, and the reason why she fights is revealed literally in the last pages of the entire story. Until that point, Minako is risking her life...because plot.

The ending is rushed, the antagonist is only there to lead Minako to becoming Sailor Venus, no side character is really important, Artemis is annoying and naggy (the horror—a teenage girl being interested in pop culture and not wanting to fight monsters who want to kill her!), the humor isn't funny, and reading this only served to remind me that no, I don't like Takeuchi's art (apparently, you can have either noses or mouths, but not both).

Fun little prequel (that actually predates the Sailor Moon series) that introduces us to Minako/Sailor Venus before the rest of the cast gets to know her. A proto-Sailor Moon of sorts with it's own nerd with swirly glasses, curly haired girl, and masked hero coming in to save the day. The story follows Sailor V's awakening as the original Sailor Warrior and ends up leading right into the Sailor Moon story we all know and love.

The story has the same lighthearted and fun feel; Codename wa Sailor V and Sailor Moon set the pace for the magical girl epics that the 90s graced us with. Recommended for any shoujo or magical girl fans!

Short review: Code Name Sailor V is a fun prequel to the Sailor Moon series, where we get to know Minako (Sailor V) better as her fun self before meeting the other Senshi. The manga is quite similar to Sailor Moon - it's almost a prototype, but it's still an enjoyable read.

Full review:

Warning: review contains spoilers

Sailor V is a short Sailor Moon prequel series, and from the get-go we are introduced to Minako Aino as a ditzy, loud, boy-crazy, and funny heroine. The beginning almost mirrors Usagi's first becoming Sailor Moon as well. Personality-wise they are almost the same, and there are even parallels to Naru-chan and Umino characters. Minako has a crush on Motoki-san too!

Putting all that aside though, Code Name: Sailor V has a separate cast that I would have liked to see in the anime as well. We get some cute origin stories like how Minako decides to always wear a red ribbon in her hair, and how she met Artemis. The monster of the week concept is still alive in this series, but some of the side stories are pretty interesting - one of them is the doomed love story of Sailor Venus and Kunzite in the form of a high school short romance with "Saitou-kun."

One of the important characters is Phantom Ace - he plays something similar to the Tuxedo Mask we know and love, a vigilante hero of sorts, except he is actually Sailor V's enemy. This leads to Sailor V ing her past as the leader of the Sailor Senshi and why she has the powers and the transformation wand, among other things. All of this is crammed into a short 15 chapters, which makes it a bit bittersweet as we are still getting to know her when the story moves on to the Sailor Moon we know and it becomes mostly an Usagi-Mamoru show.

There's not much that can be done, but I was quite sad to see that Sailor Venus was eternally doomed in of romance. It's quite ironic that way, but it also makes her a better fit as the leader of the Senshi.

(Just a quick note, anything of the Sailor Moon series has "old-style" art so it could be a turn off to some readers.)

Overall, it was a quick and enjoyable read, and it's a nice backstory for Minako that touches on both a lot of comedy and a lot of tragedy. Still, I wish we saw more of Minako as a main character instead of just a path to Usagi, and that her story wasn't so crammed this way.

Plot 7/10
Art 7/10
Characters 7.5/10
Overall 7/10

I’ve been an avid manga reader for close to 14 years now and yet I have never had any connection to the Sailor Moon universe; When it was shown on TV in Europe I moved to New Zealand and by the time I went back to Europe Sailor Moon was long gone. With that I only got my hands on copies of the Sailor Moon manga series about 20 years after its first release.

Sailor V is a lovely prequel to Sailor Moon. I love when stories have crossovers or when characters make a guest appearance. It was always fun discovering Usagi and the others in the odd here and there. I believe the Sailor Moon universe was mainly created for a younger audience. For those who are a bit older it may be more difficult to connect with this story if one, like me, hasn’t grown up with it. But nonetheless, as long as you don’t take it too serious and pin down everything that doesn’t make sense (after all – it’s a magical girl shoujo manga… they hardly ever make much sense) it can be a very enjoyable read. Minako is a nice lead character who is both feminine and strong and always delivers hilarious scenes. Naoko Takeuchi’s artwork is gorgeous. Some years back I didn’t appreciate older manga style as much as I do these days but I had to stop on so many pages to ire her line art – she always manages to make sure graceful poses for her characters as well as the movement of hair and clothing!

I thought the ending was rather sad despite the overall comedic tone of the manga. Still – I thought it was a lovely setup for its transition to the sequel.

P.S.:
I feel lucky to own the older 3 Volume edition as I find the cover art to be so much nicer.

Is an episodic shojo that not pretends too much: a lively girl who fights evil.
Code Name wa: Sailor V does its job well. Minako is a good character, the story is enjoyable and the art is clean and pretty, very shojo.
Minako has common shojo characteristics, like how she isnt good at studying, but has her good points: she is very lively, optimistic and independent.
Sailor Moon is a more mature and longer version. I really recommend this If you are into Sailor Moon, or If you are just looking a great Mahou Shojo.

I think Codename Sailor V is pretty good. Although if i had to improve 1 thing, it would be that i would have to improve the villains because every chapter, they have the same personality. I think that's booring