View source for Codename: Sailor V (2021)

Minako runs down the street, having woken up late. Barely managing to make it to school (during which she says hello to several of her friends), Minako bolts into the classroom, only to trip over one of the desks and fall flat on her face, much to her classmates amusement and her teacher’s exasperation. 

	During lunch, Minako is chatting with her friend Hikari, both of them talking about the latest Idol to appear, Hina-Hina. While no one has actually seen her in person, her videos are the latest craze. However, that is all about to change. Hikari tells Minako how there’s a new contest out and those lucky few winners get the chance to actually not only meet her in person, but also take part in one of her videos! Minako gets excited and is told by Hikari that all she has to do is answer a few questions from her phone and she’ll be entered. Both girls immediately try their hands at it and much to their shock, both of them win! The two agree to meet at the PhasmaLive HQ, where the contest winners are to gather for the meet and greet. 

	Minako arrives at the large building the next day, only to be stunned to see the long line in front of it and even more distressed when she finds out that all she won was the chance to be in line and that they’ll be picked by Hina-Hina’s manager if they’ll be able to actually see her! Minako spots Hikari further ahead in line but decides to try and wait it out, hoping she’ll be the one to actually see the Idol. While waiting, she spots a rather dishelved man creeping up through the bushes, trying to approach the building. Mina is tempted to tell one of the guards, not certain she trusts the look of him but gets distracted when the line moves further. She spots Hikari get chosen to enter the building but soon after, the rest of the contest winners are told to return home, as the actually finalists have all been chosen. Dishearted, Minako heads back, thinking about how lucky Hikari is to get this chance. Meanwhile, Hikari meets the manager, a Takeshi Sato, who tells the group of girls she’s a part of about how lucky they are and how they’re going to help contribute to Hina-Hina’s popularity in many ways. Hikari is a little unsure by this speech and even more so when they’re lead into a featureless room. The door slams shut and the other girls quickly realize they’re locked inside. All of a sudden, a bright light fills the space and the girls scream in terror. 

	The next day, Minako finds that Hikari isn’t at her usual desk. Worried, when class ends that day, Minako plans to go and see if she got sick and stayed home. As she walks through the school, she spots Hikari, sitting alone in the computer lab and staring at the screen in front of her. Minako goes to talk to Hikari, only for the other girl to suddenly attack her! Minako is able to kick her aside but is stunned by what had just happened. 

	At the small temple, Minako is telling her friends about what had happened. Mamoru takes a puff from her cigarette and slightly mocks Minako for not realizing how creepy that whole situation is, while Miyabi tells Minako how lucky she was not to be chosen. Amia lists off the probability of the chances of something undue happening, which finally forces the other girls to try and shut her up. Minako, however, decides that she’s going to try and investigate what happened, much to everyone’s dismay. 

	Later that night, the girls, in their Sailor Armors, carefully sneak towards the building. Sailor M carefully scans the immediate area and tells the others the building itself seems to be filled with sensors, mostly on the visual scale. Sailor J, cracking her knuckles, sends an Electric Flower Attack out, knocking out much of the sensors in the surrounding room. Satisfied, Sailor V and the rest of the group sneak in. Sailor MII feels uneasy, sensing that they aren’t alone, while Sailor M gives the probability of their being any chance of further attacks being quite low, only for a group of security guards to appear out of nowhere, causing J to sarcastically wonder if M really is the smart one of their group. The girls manage to take out most of the guards, only to find to their shock all of them to be hypnotized. They don’t have very long to ponder this mystery, however, as the floor suddenly becomes electricfied, knocking them to the ground. V briefly sees Takeshi Sato looking down at them, a wicked grin on his face before completely blacking out. 

	Minako slowly comes to in what looks like a locked room. She quickly realizes she’s not alone and is startled to see the man from before that she saw try and sneak into the building. After a brief moment of thinking him to be some kind of pervert, Minako soon learns his name is Dr. Kenji Noroto. He explains that Hina-Hina is in fact his daughter..or rather was. Hina had been a fan of idols all her life but she was stricken with a deadly disease. Not wanting to lose her, he managed to transfer her mind on the moment of death, saving her consciousness. However, he made the mistake of telling Takeshi Sato of the project and Sato stole away the disc containing her essence before he could boot her back up and now he fears Takeshi is using her for some wicked plan. Minako quickly uses her V Crescent Shot to destroy the lock, causing Kenji to wonder why it took her so long to stay in the cell itself as well as wonder at her power. The two manage to sneak out and after getting past another guard, make their way to the basement. 

	Inside the basement, the two are stunned to find Minako’s friends chained up on crosses, connected to wires directly to a large bank of computers. Hina-Hina herself is on the screen and is astonished to see the intruders, demanding to know who they are. Minako introduces herself as the Champion of Justice, Codename: Sailor V! and also this guy who might be her dad. Kenji begs Hina-Hina to remember him, but she seems uncertain. Takeshi Sato appears and commands Hina-Hina not to stop the process, reminding her on his promise to her. Sailor V demands to know what he’s planning and he tells her that he is going to use Hina-Hina to create a media empire all across Japan and the world. The popularity of digital idols is rising and Hina-Hina will become the greatest but due to her energy needs to keep running, it means that he has to have her drain the life force of her fans to keep running. With these words, the girls start to have their energy drained. Kenji tries once again to get through to his daughter and Minako reminds Hina-Hina that being an Idol is more then just being popular but that she is suppose to uplift the dreams of those around her and inspire them as well and that all she’s become is a selfish monster, eating her own fans. This seems to get through to Hina-Hina who stops the process and as Kenji tries to to thank his daughter, Takeshi shoots him in anger. Hina-Hina goes insane with fury, shooting Takeshi with bolts of energy before taking out her anger on Sailor V, who had just finished freeing her friends. The group try to take cover from the insane machine, with Sailor M calculating the needed energy they would require to stop her attacks. She ultimately suggests they combine their powers into a single blast. Waiting for the right moment, the four girls leap in the way and use all of their ultimate attacks at once, forcing back the bolts and striking at the main computer. As the system shuts down, Hina-Hina calls out to her father one more time. Sailor V is about to go and check on Kenji when the entire building starts to shake. Sailor M tells them that the structure of the building has been compromised and that they have to escape, Sailor V doesn’t want to go but Sailor J grabs the girl and the four rush out to escape. As they leave, the entire building falls to the ground. They don’t have time to contemplate this, however, as they find the area surrounded by news vehicles, cameras quickly taking their pictures. The four just stay long enough for Sailor V to introduce herself dramatically before escaping into the night. 

	The next day, Minako goes to visit Hikari, who is resting at home. Hikari herself doesn’t remember anything that happened and asks Minako if she’s upset that she got chosen instead of her. Minako says she isn’t and that she has had enough with Idols, only to change her mind when Hikari to reveal she just got her hands on a few tickets for a new concert. Outside the house, Mamoru, Amia and Miyabi comment on how Minako never seems to change.

	Epilogue

	Two women look over a few photos which had been taken at the PhasmaLive incident. They have no idea how to explain it and argue for a moment on which one of them is going to tell this to their boss. There is a sudden knock at the door, causing them to turn. Aya Reiko and Karasuma Akane see their boss, Minako Aino, standing in the doorway, wondering if the two have anything they can add to the news program that night. The two tell her that there really isn’t anything that hasn’t already been reported, causing the former senshi to leave, though not before reminding them of their assignments. Giving a sigh of relief, the two give one last glance at the photo of Codename Sailor V and her friends before quickly turning off the laptop.