Vol.3 Sailor V Arrives! - "Channel 44" Pandora's Ambition

A fresh idol called Pandora is about to launch her career, and Minako Aino finds herself unable to catch the broadcast. That stroke of bad luck saves her, since everyone around town falls under the singer's mind control. Racing to the studio behind Channel 44, Minako reveals Pandora as the true villain, battles her as Sailor V, and frees the countless people who had been reduced to obedient followers.

While browsing the shopping district, Minako helps herself to a few of the idol's posters and earns a lecture from Artemis, whom she scolds for speaking aloud where a talking cat draws attention. Reading one flyer, he learns that Channel 44 plans a full day of idol programming. Distracted on her bike, Minako collides with Gurikazu Amano before hurrying off to night classes, where a late arrival saddles her with fifty English problems. She tries cheating with her transformation pen until Artemis intervenes and nearly gives them away.

Classmates mention that the station has already fitted antennas onto every household for promotion, yet Minako's family cannot get their set working, so she goes to bed frustrated. By morning the classrooms sit nearly empty, the few students present are glassy-eyed, and lessons are replaced with television. Hikaru drifts home to keep watching, the streets fall silent, and even Minako's mother shoves her aside while giggling at pure static. Boss then confirms that the whole town has been enslaved and warns that all of Japan will follow if the culprit is not stopped.

Minako and Artemis rush to the broadcaster, with Gurikazu trailing behind. She slips past security by turning her compact into a policewoman's disguise, then discovers a dressing room stripped of every mirror. When Pandora pauses her show and reverts to her monstrous shape, she seizes the shrieking Gurikazu, prompting Minako to hurl her compact, draw a pistol, and transform into Sailor V. Immune to the hypnosis, she is nearly overwhelmed by the horde of thralls until Artemis recalls the missing mirrors and tells her to reflect Pandora's real form with her compact. That exposure lets Sailor V finish the idol with Crescent Beam, dissolving her into a foul sludge. The victims wake unharmed, though Minako's relief instantly turns to panic over being late for school again.

This chapter introduces Gurikazu Amano, Minako's father Mr. Aino, the villainous idol Pandora, the Channel 44 location, and the Crescent Beam attack. It also holds a distinction within the wider brand: it stands as the earliest piece of media produced across the entire Sailor Moon franchise. The closing gag has Minako once more punished with fifty problems, only for Artemis to confiscate her pen and order her to actually study.