コードネームはセーラーV
Codename Sailor V Volume 2

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*SPOILERS*

The second, and final (of what was originally a 3-volume series that has been reformed into a 2-volume set) Codename Sailor V continues with the light, fluffy bunny stories from the previous volume. Thus, the stories have the boy-crazed Minako (Mina-chan to her friends) still falling madly in love with various boys, but having a somewhat special feeling for one guy named Phantom Ace, who comes off as being almost identical to Sailor Moon‘s Tuxedo Mask.   Along the way, she ends up foiling the plans of the Dark Agency, which of course turns out to be part of the Dark Empire from Sailor Moon.

Through the final Phantom Ace storyline, Mina is able to regain her true memories as Sailor Venus and thus a change of costume to match what the girls in Sailor Moon wear, but ends up cursed in regards to love. The manga ends with Mina deciding to let Inspector Natsuna hire her on a part-time basis to earn money while searching for her comrades from her former life.

With the stories all pretty much having the same pattern of Mina falling for some guy, somehow getting involved in the Dark Agency’s latest scheme, saving the day, then going back and doing it again, a deep nor riveting read is in store for anyone out of their teen years. The final story breaks that a small amount, with Mina apparently becoming cursed regarding love, but even then, Takeuchi-sensei goes out on a light note.

I did do some looking and I was surprised to learn that not only did Codename Sailor V start the whole Sailor Moon franchise, but ended after the Sailor Moon manga series had ended.  I am somewhat interested to see if Mina’s character stays the same in Sailor Moon or is changed at all. One thing about Takeuchi-sensei’s writing style is that she’s not tied down by continuity.  She appears to make good use of the old retcon brush so that things can change from her original settings to what she ended up doing, complete with enough of an explanation to satisfy most folks.

On the Kodansha Comics side, we get some color pages up front, which I heartily approve of. There is a nice section of translator notes, which is always a plus for me. Translation-wise, the standard Japanese honorifics are here, but I also noticed that the brother/sister honorifics survived this time too. Yay! ^_^ So, that was an unexpected, but welcome change from series translator/adapter William Flanagan.  I’ve heard some complaints about some errors in the script, whether grammatical or the like, but when it comes to a series that I’m not deeply engrossed in, I tend not to notice these things.

While I certainly had some sense of entertainment at reading the antics of a much older looking 13-year old do her thing and go through her boy crushes, this is not a manga I’ll ever read again.  I’m not the target audience, so it is understandable that I would go this route. However, I don’t regret reading this manga series since the Sailor Moon franchise is a much revered one and reading this continues my anime/manga education.  No doubt in a few years, I’ll give this to my nieces to read and enjoy.