Maj’s Top 5 Female Warriors

A recent entry from Geek’s Dream Girl, which is a blog that I semi-regularly read, actually inspired me to think about my own favorite top five favorite female warriors. Despite the fact that I love many empowered female characters, this was a tricky question for me because I kind of have my own definition for the word “warrior.” Personally, I consider a warrior to be a person that either bravely fights a lot or who is a soldier of some sort. I mention this because some of my choices may seem a bit odd to some. Also, like I said before, I’m pretty familiar with A LOT of butt-kicking characters, so some just may not make the cut for me, or there may be some that I’ve forgotten.

Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess

Growing up as a kid of the 90s, it is simply not fathomable to have a list of great [fictional] female warriors and neglect to mention Xena. For those that remember Xena, I don’t need to explain. For those that don’t, along with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, it was one of the two series that helped to make Sam Raimi a big name in the mainstream world. Here’s how it went:

This is the story of a time long ago – a time of myth and legend. When the ancient gods were petty and cruel, and they plagued mankind with destruction. Only one woman dared to challenge their power – Xena. Xena possessed a strength the world had never seen – a strength surpassed only by the power of her heart. She journeyed the earth, battling the minions of her evil archenemy, Ares, the all-powerful god of war. But wherever there was evil, wherever there was suffering, there would be Xena…

Okay, okay, so that’s actually a paraphrased version of the introduction to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, but they were more or less the same series - just with different main characters. Although Xena was but a mortal (though it was hinted that she may have been a demi-god), she could stand toe-to-toe with just about anybody in Ancient Greece, god, demigod, human or whatever. Another thing that made her interesting is that there were many subtle clues that her and her scribe sidekick, Gabrielle, were bisexual or gay, so a lot of young lesbians will often list Xena as a personal hero for themselves. Honestly, I’m personally not into the whole “girl-on-girl” thing. I say it’s interesting because this was the early-to-mid 90s and well before the time that homosexuals were portrayed well on mainstream tv.

Alice from Resident Evil (movie series)

As many know about me, I am a complete Milla Jovovich fanboy. Much like most of her other fans my age, I have been so since The Fifth Element. The interesting thing is now that I know who she is, I realize that I’ve also liked her back when she guest starred in some tv shows, such as Married…with Children and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose. Another tough part about being her fanboy is that I honestly had a hard time trying to come up with which role of hers was better for my list. Although Leeloo was my favorite character, it didn’t quite fit my definition of a warrior as she only fights once in the movie. Also, Ultraviolet would have been a great choice, but Alice is the character that I feel she developed the most and has gone through the most changes in terms of her fighting style and prowess.

Mamiya from Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star

Many younger readers who are not familiar with the legendary anime and manga series Hokuto no Ken may not understand my choice here. That’s simply because you haven’t seen Hokuto no Ken. Even though it’s over 25 years old, it is still known by all who have seen it to be the manliest [anime/manga] series ever created. In fact, (excepting maybe Bart,) ALL of the recurring characters of Hokuto no Ken are probably manlier than most current characters – and yes, that would include Lynn, a little girl who never actually fights anyone until Hokuto no Ken 2. So where does Mamiya come in? Hokuto no Ken takes place in a post-apocalyptic future plagued by anarchy where to guarantee survival, you MUST be so proficient in some sort of martial art that you’d appear to have super-powers. Enter Mamiya. Mamiya is the main security force of a village that Kenshiro (the protagonist), Rei, Lynn, and Bart visit about a quarter of the way through the story. Mamiya does NOT practice a martial art - however, she uses her physical (read: not sexual) prowess as well as spiked yo-yos and a crossbow to defend her village. In fact, she is the ONLY fighting [recurring] character in Hokuto no Ken that doesn’t use a martial art or has ungodly strength. Despite this, using all of these tools to her advantage, she manages to fend off just about everyone who stands in her way.

Alita/Gally from Battle Angel Alita/GUNNM

Battle Angel Alita is a classic manga/anime series that many anime fans are familiar with. However, unlike many of them, I only recently became acquainted with the world of GUNNM. For those that haven’t seen/read it – Alita is a cyborg. In fact, she’s an amnesiac butt-kicking cyborg. She practices a [fictional] German martial art called Panzer Kunst. Throughout the course of BAA, she becomes a bounty hunter and a player of the deadly sport, Motorball. Another interesting trait about Alita is that she seems to have the “Leeloo Effect” on people – that even though she deems herself a protector of the helpless, it makes many [in-story characters] want to protect her and they inevitably end up falling in love with her.

Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk from She-Hulk

This may come as a bit of a surprise to some people, but She-Hulk was actually my very first comic crush. To be honest, I’m a complete sucker for very [physically] strong female characters. When I first read The Fantastic Four (at the time, she was subbing in for The Thing), I was wondering who this green chick with the Hulk name was that was replacing Ben Grimm. And then I read the next issue…when she beat The Thing into the ground. LITERALLY. So now whenever I think of her, I’ll remember that quick fight when She-Hulk was able to take on The Thing and I’ll get the fuzzies.

 

Honorable Mentions

I generally have a hard time keeping a favorites list to a small number such as 5 or 10. Because of that, I usually end up adding an “Honorable Mentions” portion to just about every list I make.

Aeon Flux from Aeon Flux (cartoon)

Aeon Flux was absolutely one of the coolest female characters ever created. She was sexy, cool, open-minded, and could infiltrate anything whether it was someone’s mind or a fortress. And by the way, when I say this about Aeon Flux, I’m referring to the cartoon character. The live action movie kind of dulled her character and made her moralistic. The cartoon version would have NEVER ended the movie that way.

Buffy Summers from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (tv show)

I don’t believe there needs to really be an explanation for Buffy. At the beginning of the series, she is a clueless teen girl who is trying to deal with her newly-discovered destiny as a vampire/demon slayer. She has to take on many responsibilities that are far beyond her comprehension as a high schooler. However, just 7 years later, she has become a fearless battle-hardened general of hundreds strong.

Ellen Ripley from Alien (movie series)

Ellen Ripley was one of the original quintessential female movie badasses. She faced down the alien scourge and destroyed it wherever it was. My only issue is that [IMO anyway,] it took her about 3 movies to get there. In the Alien, she was in panicked survival mode. In Aliens, she was more or less, a victim. However, there is absolutely no question that in Alien 3, she manned the f%$@ up and ate some aliens for breakfast.

Mindy MacCready/Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass

Many comic characters tend to get watered down in the transition from book to screen. Vixen & Wesley from Wanted and X-Men’s Cyclops are perfect examples of this. However, Hit-Girl is NOT one of these characters. Whether it was in comic or movie, Hit-Girl remained an absolutely badass female character. In fact, the only reason she didn’t make my list is because I didn’t remember about her until after I’d already decided who was on it.

Sarah Connor from Terminator 2: Judgment Day

…um…’nuff said. Sorry she didn’t make the list. If you’re wondering why there’s nothing more to say, you need to go watch Terminator 2: Judgment Day right now. No, really – RIGHT NOW. One more thing – like many fans of this movie series, I really wish that she’d lived to see the battlefield. I think she’dve easily been John’s best general or commander. She definitely needed to be in more battles.

Saya from Blood: The Last Vampire

I can’t believe I forgot about this gem! Blood: The Last Vampire was an anime movie that was first premiered around 10 years ago about [what appeared to be] a little girl who is planted in the US Naval Base in Okinawa to kill demons. She is absolutely brutal and doesn’t bat an eyes as she destroys the chiropterans that have infiltrated the base. This movie is also something of a prequel to the series Blood+. However, I was turned off from that series by the complete change in Saya’s character from the movie to the series.

Tsunade from Naruto

I LOVE me some Naruto. I also love me some Tsunade, as many of my friends know. Not only is she voluptuous and beautiful (yes, I know she’s old), but she can destroy stuff. She can break the ground by stomping and pick up gigantic skyscraper-sized swords without breaking a sweat. Sound familiar? (hint: look up on the list)

[Belated] Manga Recommendation Monday: Daisuke Igarashi’s Kaijuu no Kodomo/Children of the Sea

Viz Signature - Publishing

Even though this past summer hasn’t exactly been the most fun for me, I still like to think of it as a time to have fun and be on a break. From the first summer that ended my first year of school well over 20 years ago (which I honestly don’t even remember), I learned much like most other kids that summer was playtime – road trips, seeing more tropical places, that was what summer was all about.  Which brings me to this week’s manga recommendation – Kaijuu no Kodomo, or as it’s known by few here, Children of the Sea. It’s a somewhat haunting story about a young Japanese girl named Ruka who meets two mysterious boys, Sora and Umi, while she is spending her summer vacation with her marine biologist father.

Ruka has never really gotten along with anyone her age before. She actually feels most comfortable while she is swimming in the ocean. This is initially what draws Ruka to Umi and Sora, the two boys that are staying with her father’s friend from his job at the aquarium, an extensively tattooed foreigner named Jim. After her frustration of other people while playing a [world] football game gets her kicked out of yet another recreational activity, Ruka begins to spend more time wandering around the nearby beach and aquarium when she meets Umi. They quickly bond and become fast friends despite Umi’s inexperience with people and Sora’s staunch distrust of anyone that isn’t Umi or Jim. While swimming in the ocean one day, they all notice a whale shark emitting the same stars that Ruka saw around the fish when she was a child. This along with the knowledge that Umi and Sora spent most of their earlier years being raised by dugongs (the real-life inspiration of the homophonic pokemon, Dewgong) proves this to be the beginning of an adventurous and enchanting summer for Ruka, and this does prove itself to be the case.

Personally, what drew me to this series and made me want to pick it up and read it was the artwork. In many series, you will find that the cover art will generally look a bit prettier than it does in the manga. Shonen Jump titles are a perfect example of this. However, the same intricate art that is seen on the cover is the same art that lines every page of this manga. Every time I read this, Daisuke’s tropical art style makes me feel as though I am on the beach or swimming in the ocean right along with Ruka, Umi, and Sora. Despite the fact that it feels and looks somewhat like a kids’ tale, the depth of the story will most likely go far above the head of most youth. Despite the unfamiliarity of the name , it is still relatively easy to find this series. I have spotted them at my local Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million! Not only that but if you’re one of those that is insistent on reading your manga for free online, Viz hosts free translations of this series on their site. Your average, run-of-the-mill anime or manga fan most likely wouldn’t give a story like this a second glance. There isn’t very much in the way of humor, the art is too odd to produce a definitive pretty-boy, and there isn’t very much in the way of action. However, to the fans of more cryptic series such as Haibane Renmei, Jing: King of Bandits, Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World, Last Exile, Mushi-Shi, or Wolf’s Rain, this is a series that you will most likely enjoy.

[Belated] Movie Recommendation Monday: Cannonball!

It shouldn’t be a big secret to most that I absolutely LOVE a good auto race. Especially when it takes place on actual streets/roads, and not on tracks. It also helps if the cars are street-legal as opposed to [NASCAR-type] stock or F-1s that you’re not allowed to drive off the track. Also, I’m a huge fan of taking road trips. This may be because I used to take them all the time with my mother growing up and got used to the peacefulness of the open road.  Unfortunately, these are still just pipe dreams at this point in my life as despite having a lifelong interest in cars, I’ve never once had the chance to own one. However, my attraction in this area has never waned and I have become a fan of a number of automobile-based TV series and movies, including The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, Speed Racer (live-action movie), The Fast and the Furious, Wacky Races, Initial D (live-action movie), and even the solar car race movie, Race the Sun.  What really caught my attention, though was when USA Network  aired a reality show called Cannonball Run 2001. In it, multiple teams of 3 people competed in a cross-country automotive race with no rules as to the conduct of how it was done. I became extremely engrossed in the show – it was finally a chance to fulfill a goal that I’d had (I was still a virgin and didn’t have a license then).

Since the name of the show was Cannonball Run 2001, I had a hunch that this probably wasn’t the first time that there had been a Cannonball Run. Since it was a show that year, I wrongly assumed that I had missed a previous season (I wasn’t then, nor am I currently too hip to reality shows), so that I could participate in a future season. However, this was not the case. What I found out was even more amazing – the Cannonball Run had been a very real (albeit ILLEGAL) race back in the 70s. Despite the fact that the race itself was kept under wraps, it still gained a level of fame. In fact, a number of movies were made about it. The most famous of these are the Cannonball Run movie series starring Burt Reynolds, the late Dom DeLuise, and a number of other celebrities of the era. While I’m a fan of Cannonball Run II, I would have to say my personal favorite of the Cannonball Run-based movies would be the first: Cannonball!

Unlike the more famous Cannonball Run movie series, Cannonball! is a more serious take on the race starring the late David Carradine. He plays a freshly paroled racer named “Cannonball” Coy Buckman who gets talked into competing in a trans-American race despite his wishes by his brother (Dick Miller or “Murray” from the Gremlins movies) because he owes the mob. Luckily, Coy happens to be dating his parole officer, played by Veronica Hamel, so she ends up coming along without too much of a fight. While it is serious, there are some comedic elements of the film – mainly among the other contestants. There’s a family man who takes a plane to NY & spends most of the race in a hotel room with his bimbo girlfriend, a girl-crazy black guy who was hired to transport a rich man’s limo to NY, a trio of girls that use their sexuality to get ahead any chance they get, and Coy’s rival – a vicious racer who is being sponsored by a country singer and his mother. There are other contestants, such as David’s [real-life] half-brother, Robert, whom most of us might remember as Lewis from the Revenge of the Nerds series (and the younger generation may know him as Sam McGuire – Lizzie’s dad from Disney’s Lizzie McGuire) but those are the more amusing ones. What we find out though, is that Coy’s brother is so desperate for Coy to win that he is sabotaging everyone that shows a hint of beating him. Unfortunately for Coy, though, most of his brother’s sabotaging efforts end up being wasted on him.

All in all, I find it to be a pretty enjoyable movie. Whenever I notice that it is coming on premium movie channels, I would watch it every chance I could get. It’s got drama, action, comedy, and most importantly, for any automotive fan, lots and lots of car scenes, whether the cars are exploding, racing, crashing, there’s even a chase scene near the end. Even though new race movies keep coming out (like Speed Racer and Fast and the Furious), this will always have a small place in terms of interest. Honestly, I believe this is because of the fact that it was based on a real race and therefore I maintain the hope that one day it may start up again and I may have an opportunity to race across the nation.

[VERY Belated] Manga Recommendation Monday: Captain Tsubasa/Whistle!

With the passing of the world championship of the world's most popular sport, I would like to put a spotlight on two manga series that share the joy of world football...as well as put a Japanese spin on them.  First off is the original anime and manga world football classic: Captain Tsubasa. Captain Tsubasa is a classic Shonen Jump title from the 80s that follows young Tsubasa Oozora through [the Japanese equivalent of] elementary and middle school as he yearns to one day lead Japan to winning the FIFA World Cup.

Much like most sports titles, like Kinnikuman, Eyeshield 21, and The Prince of Tennis, or even live action titles, like Shaolin Soccer, Angels in the Outfield, and The Waterboy, Captain Tsubasa is a fairly exaggerated series as it's full of super powers and special moves. However, this should not detract from the principal story at hand which is that of friendship and the willpower of not giving up your dreams, much like many other shounen titles. Despite the original series ending in 1988, it has resurfaced a number of times over the years with "World Youth," "Road to 2002" (which actually follows a friend of Tsubasa's - Kojiro Hyuga), and "Golden-23." Each story starts up at a later point chronologically in Tsubasa's life and follows his world travels from Japan to Brazil and finally to his professional career in the Spain futbol league. Unfortunately, while the original anime was shown in the United States under the title Flash Kicker, this legendary manga has not seemed to have found its way to these shores.

Next is a series that I'm somewhat biased about seeing as how it's my 3rd favorite manga of all time.  Whistle! is also a title that comes from the world-famous manga publisher Shonen Jump about the popular sport of [world] football. Once again, like its earlier counterpart, it follows a young middle school-aged boy, this time named Sho Kazamatsuri, who wishes to become a professional [world] football player. However, this is is where the similarities end. The main difference between these is in how the story is presented.


In most shounen, there is usually some element of fantasy or disbelief.  This is more often shown with the presence of some sort of unbelievable "special skill" or a "special move." Whistle! does not do this. Whistle!'s story is very much like an anime/manga version of stories like Rocky or Rudy, which while very unlikely, are completely possible to actually see happen in the real world. From start to end, Whistle! runs about 27 volumes (or 216 chapters), all of which take place during Sho's Junior High years.

 

Movie Recommendation Monday: The Boys & Girls' Guide to Getting Down

Part of growing up is experiencing the party scene. For at least one stage of our lives, we tend to go out with our friends every weekend to the hottest club or house party and get completely drunk/high. Well, most of us, anyway. For the rest of us, there's The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down - a comedic mockumentary that takes the viewer step-by-step through the party/clubbing scene.

Despite being a mockumentary, the information to be gleaned is quite valid if not over-the-top. From properly tipping your bartender to scoring drugs, and from faux-mo-sexuals to the legendary (but oh-so-real) "Pussy Power," The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down is an absolutely amusing and informative narrative on how to navigate your local party/club scene.

Possibly the one thing that may deter some potential viewers is the lack of big names or the lack of a large studio budget behind it. This, however, is actually where it shines. Whether it's the spoiled hot chick, the clueless average joes, or the ****blocking best friend, the characters are very easily recognizable. If you want to learn how to correctly infiltrate the party scene, this is for you. If you want a good laugh, this is for you. If those days are behind you & you want to reminisce, this is for you.

The End of "American Splendor"

Admittedly, I have not been familiar with American Splendor for that long a time. In fact, I only happened to notice them in the fiction section of my county library (unlike the other libraries in the county, they haven't created a separate section for non-juvenile graphic novels & manga) maybe a couple of years ago only because the series was on a higher shelf & and across from Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture.

Not too much long after, I began looking for new comics & manga that I'd never heard of and remembered those tall trade paperbacks that I'd neglected before. One of which had a picture of Paul Giamatti on the cover (which I'd later find out was the movie poster), another was subtitled "Our Cancer Year," a third was called "Our Movie Year," the fourth had a grungy-looking male character on the cover, and a far slimmer tale told about a black guy's experience in Vietnam. Not being too excited about a biography, but curious about Vietnam stories (I had read Punisher: Born not long before that) and wanting to err on the side of caution, I chose the Vietnam tale.

What I read was not at all what I was expecting. There weren't any gory tales - the man hadn't actually seen very much in the way of battle. Nonetheless, it was very straightforward in a way that I had never seen before. This prompted me to want to read more of these stories. Instead what I found out as I began to read the trade paperbacks was that this "American Splendor" was actually a rough autobiography. The author/main character was a cantankerous old man named Harvey Pekar. The previous straightforwardness that I had appreciated in his side tale about his co-worker, Bob McNeill was amplified in his own story. He wasn't looking to become famous, but he didn't want to be a nameless statistic in history. He wanted to earn enough to live, but had no interest in being rich. Both of these were traits I could understand and relate to. I noticed that he saw life for what it truly was. He knew that optimism & hard work don't necessarily get you anywhere and most people will never see a happy ending. It was a relief to finally be able to point to a real living, breathing person and say, " See?! HE gets it!"

Coincidentally, not too long after I finished "Our Movie Year," which details the storyline & what it was like behind the scenes of the American Splendor movie, IFC or Sundance (I forget which) suddenly started showing American Splendor. Not surprisingly, I loved that as well. It was probably somewhere around this point that I realized that I HAD to meet Harvey just to tell him how amazing his story was to me.Not because he triumphed over some major issue, not because he rose against the odds and defeated some form of internal demons, and certainly not because he perservered over some kind of tragedy. In the grand scheme of things, most people might look at American Splendor and ask, "What's so special about this? There's nothing interesting about his story." And that to me is where the interest lies. Harvey Pekar set out to prove that not everyone is going to have an amazing life. Not everyone can or wants to live the "American Dream." And this is why he became one of my personal heroes.

To add to that, as I write this and think about the traits that we share I'm realizing that he just may have had Asperger's, which would explain many of the traits that he noted were a bit "abnormal" as well. This would give me an even bigger reason reason for me to respect him.

Unfortunately, I will never get the chance I so hoped for - to share my appreciation with him, as he just has passed away. His wife, Joyce Brabner, found him dead this morning at 1am. Goodbye to an American legend. 

Harvey Lawrence Pekar

October 8, 1939 - July 12, 2010