With the official trailer for Sailor Moon Cosmos being released, the latest adaptation of Naoko Takeuchi's smash series is nearing its end. The announcement comes as Sailor Moon celebrates its 30th anniversary. However, one burning question about the franchise remains: Why hasn't the prequel series, Codename: Sailor V, ever been animated?

Originally published in RunRun from 1991-1997, Codename: Sailor V was Takeuchi's first attempt at what would later become Sailor Moon. The three-volume series followed Minako Aino, a 13-year-old middle school student who, similar to Usagi, meets a talking cat that bestows the ability to transform into a superhero upon her. Donning the hero name Sailor V, she would use the tools Artemis provided her to fight the villains working for the Dark Agency. As she continues on her journey to become a Sailor Senshi, she meets Ace, a mysterious young man who seems to know more about Sailor V's past than she herself did.

RELATED: Sailor Moon Creator Unveils New Art for 30th Anniversary Celebration

Sailor V from Sailor Moon

In Codename: Sailor V, Minako had yet to remember her past life as Princess Venus, thinking herself to be an ordinary girl before meeting Artemis. She was more interested in becoming an idol and falling in love than anything else. One of the first villains she faces convinces her to wear a red ribbon in her hair -- which in actuality was a method of control the Dark Agency was using on love-struck teenagers -- later becoming Minako's iconic ribbon. By the series' end, she comes to realize that her duty in finding Princess Serenity and protecting the Earth comes first, putting her love life on hold for the time being.

Codename: Sailor V was initially passed over in favor of adapting Sailor Moon into an anime in the '90s, but many fans wonder why it hasn't been picked up since. With how successful the latter was, it seems odd that its predecessor wasn't considered for adaptation in the following decades -- especially when Sailor V was played up to be so important in the original anime. She's mentioned in the first episode and even Usagi fangirls over meeting her.

RELATED:Why are Anime Adaptations of Video Games So Bad?

Artemis Scolding Minako For Cheating

Rather than using the source material, Sailor Moon opted to have Minako go to England and work as a hero there. She did find a boyfriend, but he would eventually fall in love with her partner at Interpol Katarina. Minako found out before allowing the two to think she died in an explosion -- while actually moving to Japan -- so that they could be happy together. While she did lose a potential lover in Codename: Sailor V, it didn't play out as it did in the anime. It's never truly explained how she and Artemis became partners or how she became a Sailor Senshi.

There was talk of making an OVA back before Sailor Moon, but Toei Animation preferred the idea of Sailor Moon's team of Senshi over just the one. However, the backstory could have worked as a short before the Sailor Moon Eternal movie. It's common for anime films to have shorts before the feature, like Pikachu's Vacation before Pokémon: The First Movie. While the entire story couldn't fit in a single short, Minako and Artemis' meeting could have. It would have at least expanded on Sailor Moon Crystal's canon. Regardless of the reason, fans can only hope that Sailor V will one day get the anime adaptation she deserves.