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Ghost in the Shell: US Production White-Washes Kusanagi Character
I find the continuous trend of changing long established characters to be very annoying, whether it is by race or sex. It is a slap in the face to all the fans of the characters, and often totally unnecessary. That applies to changing non-white to white and vice versa. Just don't do it.
V.W. wrote: "I find the continuous trend of changing long established characters to be very annoying, whether it is by race or sex. It is a slap in the face to all the fans of the characters, and often totally unnecessary. That applies to changing non-white to white and vice versa. Just don't do it."Agreed. I am also getting tired of these endless remakes. The original is superb, one of my all time favourites. Leave it be.
I know what? Why not come up with a completely NEW story? Or, if you are going to adapt something, how about something that has never been adapted before? (Or could it be that is a far harder sell? Much easier to ride in on the back of an already iconic piece of work.)
Simon wrote: "Why not come up with a completely NEW story? Or, if you are going to adapt something, how about something that has never been adapted before? (Or could it be that is a far harder sell? Much easier to ride in on the back of an already iconic piece of work.) "that's hollywood big business for you, now isn't it?
dreamworks is pretty big and this one is being co-produced and distributed thru paramount.
http://www.fairfieldcitizenonline.com...
Wait, I didn't even know hollywood was planning to attack this classic film/manga. Scarlet Johansson? REALLY? This is a terrible decision.
I'm in agreement. Ghost in the Shell does not need a remake. A new story would be fine, as long as it had Japanese actors portraying the Japanese characters. The stupidest part about the whole thing is that it's a universe that frequently has the main cast encounter foreigners. If they desperately wanted white people in the movie they could have cast them as foreign investigators/villains/government agents.
This is so pathetic.
My reaction:Hollywood remakes coming soon! #whitewash pic.twitter.com/QVSIrchJOh
— Trike (@Trike) April 18, 2016
Roots??? Oh my god, I may actually die laughing.
Sarah Anne wrote: "Roots??? Oh my god, I may actually die laughing."That is gorgeous! I have tears!
Alex G wrote: "that's hollywood big business for you, now isn't it?"
Here are two paragraphs that I found particularly interesting:
The problem, Landis said, is a cultural one involving Hollywood’s dated star system, which makes it difficult for actors of color to get opportunities. “As recently as about 10 years ago, there stopped being big stars. There are fewer and fewer stars who mean anything,” said Landis, pointing out that these days, Asian actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Lucy Liu are no longer the same box office draws they were in the ’90s.
“Ghost in the Shell” is a big-budget production, and that necessitates the casting of a major star known to global audiences. Since there are no “A-list female Asian celebrities,” according to Landis — a point that’s hard to refute — the only female actors who can get expensive movies off the ground at studios are “all distressingly white.”
From this it sounds like they are on the road to extinction. They control an ever-diminishing resource, and it is the only thing they have to spend.
I don't know what the filmmakers are going for in this adaptation. That is, if they're setting it in an American city rather than Japan, for instance. If they're re-interpreting it as an American story then casting SJ makes as much sense as just about anybody else.It seems to me that the argument against casting SJ in this role is conflated with the issue of casting white actors in traditionally ethnic roles. However, that conflation is misapplied to this particular project. That is, unless they are setting their re-interpretation in Tokyo, a Ghost in the Shell live action adaptation in the U.S. isn't white-washing an ethnic identity. There are, of course, elements of technology and its incorporation into society (let alone our bodies...) that Japanese culture has a unique interpretation of, but the fundamental concepts of that series are no more Japanese than is technology itself.
That said, such re-interpretations are often problematic. One article I read on this issue suggested that setting it in Japan is somehow part of the core ideas of the franchise, and I'd take issue with that assessment. Casting a non-Asian American in an American adaptation doesn't seem problematic to me by itself. Rather, the adaptation process is what makes me leery. Sometimes such re-interpretations can work more or less. Kurosawa turned Shakespeare's King Lear into Ran and John Sturges turned Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai into The Magnificent Seven. Clearly, it can be done well.
On the other hand, the re-interpretation/adaptation of Shall We Dance? from the 1996 Japanese version to the 2004 American version should make anyone who has seen the original long for the sweet release of a medically induced coma. I took a Leaving Las Vegas style trauma-shower after sitting through that movie, and refused to speak to the woman who insisted I see it ever again. I still have flashbacks when I see photos of Jennifer Lopez. Think of American versions of Godzilla movies, the American version of Ju-On that turned into The Grudge as examples of how that process can be done badly. It needn't be Japanese source material either, of course. I dare you, DARE YOU!, to watch the Nicolas Cage version of The Wicker Man after watching the 70's British version.
Many such adaptations are low-end ripoffs from pathetic hacks engaged in a process that really has to be acknowledged as outright theft of intellectual ideas.
However, the core ideas of The Ghost in the Shell have to do with the nature of intelligence and E/evolution (both upper case and lower case versions of that word) and those things are not inherently Japanese. Using an American actress for an American adaptation with an American interpretation is fine. If they set the thing in Japan or reference too strongly some of the more Japanese cultural aspects of the original... THEN it's a problem.
Gary wrote: "I don't know what the filmmakers are going for in this adaptation. That is, if they're setting it in an American city rather than Japan, for instance. If they're re-interpreting it as an American s..."Agree with you entirely, as far as it goes. 'Ran' and 'The Magnificent Seven' are splendid reworkings. But they are also far enough from the originals that you do not notice the change. Agree also on 'The Wicker Man'. The Nicholas Cage version made me want to pull my own head off!
But, and it is a big but, my betting is that they have set this in Tokyo. And since SJ is being cast as Motoko Kusanagi, they are rumoured to be using software to 'asianify' her face. That made me cringe a little.
One of the surprising things about modern film techniques is that some of the older ways of doing things are still infinitely better than CGI. LOTR is a case in point. Many of the sets involved models, like Barad-Dur, (one of Peter Jackson's 'bigatures'). And I defy anyone not to be blown away by the beginning of 'Blade Runner'. If you watch the film 'Dangerous Days', the making of 'Blade Runner', and see how the Hades shot was done, you will be amazed!
Don't CGI Scarlet's face! Just get a Japanese actress to do the job instead! (Too late, they cried!)
Oh well! I doubt I will be seeing it anyway. The original is firmly set in my mind as one of those benchmark experiences. There is a wonderful sequence, midway through the film, where we just have Kenji Kawai's music and Tokyo in the rain. Gorgeous.
Simon wrote: "But, and it is a big but, my betting is that they have set this in Tokyo. And since SJ is being cast as Motoko Kusanagi, they are rumoured to be using software to 'asianify' her face. That made me cringe a little."Agreed. If the Hollywood adaptation is set in Tokyo then casting SJ makes little sense, and actually does evoke all the issues of Hollywood white-washing. It's remotely possible that they could still pull it off with some elaborate justifications. Instead of a Japanese police agency, it's some sort of U.N. policing group, for instance. But that kind of thing starts to get pretty goofy quickly and needs exposition of the type that is often very hamfisted.
The haircut is one thing, but "asianifying" SJ's face strikes me as a particularly bad idea. There could be a few makeup choices that would be OK, but actually trying to give an actor the facial appearance of another ethnicity can quickly start to look like John Wayne playing Ghengis Khan or Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's and I have serious doubts that modern computerization would be more much than a technological version of that same, ridiculous makeup process.
Again, it's possible that they could pull it off.... I mean, Robert Downy, Jr. playing an Australian actor playing an African American soldier playing a "Chinese" farmer was entertaining, and the makeup worked in that context, but if they're trying to play it straight it could easily look ridiculous.
That aside, at a certain point one has to wonder why they'd bother making a "live action" version of an animated film at all if they're going to computer animate the face of the lead actress in every shot in which she appears. Combined with the inevitable amount of computer animated action sequences, why not just make it computer animated in the first place? I guess "live action" is something of a relative concept in action films these days....
Simon wrote: "From this it sounds like they are on the road to extinction. They control an ever-diminishing resource, and it is the only thing they have to spend."It's a bit more complicated than that, primarily because China is emerging as the second-largest consumer of American movies, and the Chinese (for various complicated cultural reasons that would take pages to explain) are more interested in the LAST crop of American movie stars. People that American audiences find blasé and have turned their backs on are still hot commodities in China.
Kevin Costner is a case in point. His films do terrible business in the US, but he's still big in China. So when you see someone releasing a movie and you wonder why, that's the reason. It's also a major factor for why they cast people like Costner in tentpoles like Man of Steel: yes, he's a good actor, but he gets the nod over other equally-talented actors because of his draw overseas.
South Korea and Russia have similar tastes as China, to a lesser degree.
Trike wrote: "It's a bit more complicated than that, primarily because China is emerging as the second-largest consumer of American movies, and the Chinese (for various complicated cultural reasons that would take pages to explain) are more interested in the LAST crop of American movie stars. People that American audiences find blasé and have turned their backs on are still hot commodities in China."The last crop? Intriguing! I didn't know that. Is this something to do with age, I wonder?
There's so much more I want to say, but it would become a rant, so I'll leave it at this.Nope. No, Hollywood, I won't see this. I won't watch it, ever.
Thomas wrote: "There's so much more I want to say, but it would become a rant, so I'll leave it at this.Nope. No, Hollywood, I won't see this. I won't watch it, ever."
well maybe just maybe you can torrent it for free
no i didn't say that ignore me bad SIFOU bad.
Sifou wrote: "well maybe just maybe you can torrent it for free no i didn't say that ignore me bad SIFOU bad.
"
Hah. I wouldn't even do that. That would still give Hollywood recognition in some way, even though it wouldn't be throwing $$ at them. (As someone with material which could be pirated, I view piracy as promotion, but I won't derail too hard. We'll leave that for a different topic).
I found a Fry anti-take my money meme. It's fitting.
The character is described as Motoko Kusanagi. How is that a white girl? Apologetics aside, a Japanese woman should be playing this part, or at the very least, someone asian.
Having a non-Japanese Asian play her would be just as bad. The uproar over the Chinese actresses in Memoirs of a Geisha is a case in point.
How is using CGI to make Johansson look Asian not the same as Blackface? It would certainly not be an improvement over simply changing the character's race. I thought they had given that up after Charlie Chan.
Blackface is an intentional caricature; it is literally clown makeup. Using makeup or these days CGI to portray physical characteristics of an ethnic group is not done in order to make that performance a lampoon, but in an attempt at transforming an actor into a specific role. In a broader sense, that's what actors do.Take, for instance, Alec Guinness as an Arab:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sAamY9K-pJY...
Or as Asian:
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/im...
I'll grant you that it's arguable how well that can be done. That is, a poorly done makeup job can easily appear to be intentionally satirical, especially with the benefit of hindsight. Here's John Wayne playing Genghis Khan:
http://media.tumblr.com/92a51db39b498...
And here's Charlton Heston playing a Mexican:
https://mygeekblasphemy.files.wordpre...
I don't think those last two were intentionally bad, but it's hard not to roll one's eyes when watching them these days....
Also, given the historical role of blackface in entertainment, any use of makeup to change an actor's racial appearance is going to evoke that comparison, depending on how drastic the change might be. The odds of pulling something like that off without it being offensive are pretty slim. Reference the recent Bob Marley lens from Snapchat.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/20/techn...
So, it's a pretty dicey thing for film makers to attempt, and probably not a great plan for the success of a movie.
The difference between blackface and digital race-changing is a matter of degree rather than kind.Gary wrote: "So, it's a pretty dicey thing for film makers to attempt, and probably not a great plan for the success of a movie."
This last bit makes these decisions even more bizarre.
I'm not sure why filmmakers are continually doing this. I mean, they've SEEN the backlash against Ridley Scott's Exodus, Cameron Crowe's Aloha, Alex Proyas' Gods of Egypt and Nina where they put Zoe Saldana in blackface to play Nina Simone. They aren't just being excoriated on social media, these films are actively bombing at the box office and the issue of race and whitewashing is front-and-center.
Yet they continue to do it. It's completely mystifying.
Trike wrote: "Yet they continue to do it. It's completely mystifying."I do have a thought on this one. Ivory towers?
I know that Ridley Scott can suffer a bit from tunnel vision, just watch the documentaries on the making of for his films, but that is also what makes him such a good director. He has a very clear vision of what he is striving for, and tends to barrel on towards it regardless. (Blade Runner, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven).
And just to point out that sometimes it does happen the right way, Kingdom of Heaven being a case in point. The two lead Arabic parts, Saladin and Imad, were very appropriately played by Ghassan Massoud and Alexander Siddig.
Just gonna point out that Japans twitter and boards laugh at the US every time about how much we care about this stuff. Also “Looking at her career so far, I think Scarlett Johansson is well cast. She has the cyberpunk feel. And we never imagined it would be a Japanese actress in the first place. This is a chance for a Japanese property to be seen around the world.” - Quote from studioAlso implying having a Chinese actor playing a Japanese character would somehow be better than a white actor is hilarious.
What the Japanese think is irrelevant when it comes to the bottom line. Japanese attendance of movies is a fraction of America's, and the US is where studios still make the bulk of their money. So if you lose the audience in the US, you're cutting into your profits.The biggest movie in Japan last year was Big Hero 6, and it only made $5.5 million. It made 10 times that amount opening weekend alone in the US. The studios keep a larger percentage of the box office in the US than they do overseas, so in a single weekend Disney earned fifty million dollars from Big Hero 6, whereas in Japan they probably only made two or three million from its entire run.
So it's nice if some Japanese people don't care, but it's vital that they appease American audiences.
The fact that fans of the manga in Japan assumed a white actress would be cast speaks volumes, at least to me. To me it basically means that they expect us to Americanize most anything that comes our way, despite it's origin. It's a sad fact that America is conceited, and concerned with the almighty dollar so much that it has to change a story/character just to pander to the masses so they don't hurt profits.Just because Yoshiba, the director of international business at Kodansha's, says she's well cast doesn't actually anything about the issue. I like Johansson as an actress and she probably will do well as that character, but that's not the point.
Has anyone found if the creator of the series feels the same way in regard to not caring?
Thomas wrote: "Has anyone found if the creator of the series feels the same way in regard to not caring?"It is a sad fact of life, or so it appears, but the general rule of thumb seems to be that the last persons to be asked or considered are the writers/creators when the rights have been sold.
Aaron wrote: "Just gonna point out that Japans twitter and boards laugh at the US every time about how much we care about this stuff."
Not sure that is entirely accurate. The quotes I saw from Kotaku.com seemed pretty mixed. My overall impression is that most of them are somewhat resigned to the situation. Which is, as Thomas said, rather telling.
And the bottom line, as Trike has already pointed out, is bums on seats.
Thomas wrote: "The fact that fans of the manga in Japan assumed a white actress would be cast speaks volumes, at least to me. To me it basically means that they expect us to Americanize most anything that comes o..."To be fair, it goes the other way, too. Japan assimilates and Japanifies anything that comes into their culture. I think most cultures do this. Japan takes it a step further and fetishizes something to the nth degree, to the point where it becomes its own little subculture. As someone once said, 1,000 years from now no one in the west will remember The Beatles, but in Japan you'll have clubs devoted to four guys performing with ancient instruments calling themselves Da Beataru.
There's also this weird thing where manga and anime specifically draw their characters as Caucasian rather than Japanese. It was a big deal when Akira had clearly Japanese characters. There are a number of theories as to why this might be, but it's certainly not due to money since America has largely ignored the vast majority of manga until fairly recently.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single Shirow character who is Japanese, even despite their names. It seems like everyone *except* the Japanese live in his future Japan.
Trike wrote: "There's also this weird thing where manga and anime specifically draw their characters as Caucasian rather than Japanese. It was a big deal when Akira had clearly Japanese characters. There are a number of theories as to why this might be, but it's certainly not due to money since America has largely ignored the vast majority of manga until fairly recently."Thanks Trike, that is really enlightening. I have wondered, before now, about manga and anime depictions, but considered it a stylistic thing (much as you would recognise a Moebius or Druillet). I did not realise it was due to assimilation! (Clearly, the Japanese ARE the Borg - run for the hills!)
OK, I'll just stick to not being that interested in a live action version.
(Though I do wonder where it will end. We have already got a live action '101 Dalmations', a live action 'Cinderella' and a live action 'Jungle Book'. What next? A live action 'Bambi'? A live action 'Dumbo'? A live action 'Toy Story'?)
Two words:It's irrelevant. Oh here is two more:Who cares?
:/
Richard wrote: "Two words:It's irrelevant. Oh here is two more:Who cares?
:/"
Geeks. Specifically American otaku.
Trike wrote: "There's also this weird thing where manga and anime specifically draw their characters as Caucasian rather than Japanese. ."there's a lot of variation in manga. Manga: Masters of the Art is really good at providing a survey.
Please stop repeating this meme that they draw their characters as Caucasian rather than Japanese. It's the art style that came about from
Disney>Tezuka>all the others>today
A few manga/animes go for a way more realistic focused character design which is why people will talk that they look more Asian. But generally these styles require significantly more budget to work with, or have their own problems that occur...often both.
Sometimes this realistic focused character design works well see PingPong...sometimes it's awful and is mocked see Aku no Hana.
Aaron wrote: "Please stop repeating this meme that they draw their characters as Caucasian rather than Japanese. It's the art style that came about from
Disney>Tezuka>all the others>today"
Forgive me if i sound ignorant but do you mean that the Japanese only draw Caucasian looking characters after Disney was founded? Or that they don't draw Caucasian characters? That drawing characters like that wasn't the intention at all?
On Ghost in the Shell
I read somewhere that Japanese people doesn't have to diversify in the anime/manga/movies the westerners mostly watch because they have enough Asian role models in their part of the world. So they don't see the need to change that. That also can be a reason why they don't seem to care about the casting of Scarlet Johansson. BUT I'm absolutely no expert on all things Japanese so I could be wrong.
Here's a related situation, though I would have to suggest that white-washing is more apt for the Doctor Strange/Tilda Swinton case than than the Ghost in the Shell/Scarlet Johansson one. At least, as far as what we know about the latter so far. The Doctor Strange supporting/background character references an extensive backstory that is rooted in real world historical and cultural dynamics, where that's less true of tGitS character. That one is, after all, a character in a dystopic future, so the cultural and ethnic references are, at the very least, more oblique.Casting Tilda Swinton as a character who references a whole history of specifically Eastern religious/spiritual practices is more problematic. Further, the arguments being presented here by Marvel all ring of the same old, same old. When it comes to diversity, I would agree that comic books and their film adaptations do tend to be ahead of the curve when compared to mainstream Hollywood, but it looks like they missed an opportunity, or simply dropped the ball, on this one.
Marvel Responds to Tilda Swinton Casting Uproar Over ‘Doctor Strange’ Role
“The Ancient One is a title that is not exclusively held by any one character, but rather a moniker passed down through time, and in this particular film the embodiment is Celtic.Full article: http://www.thewrap.com/marvel-tilda-s...
“We are very proud to have the enormously talented Tilda Swinton portray this unique and complex character alongside our richly diverse cast,” it continued.
Ah, the ancient Celts of medieval China.
Well, if John Waine could play Gengis Khan...
Michel wrote: "Well, if John Waine could play Gengis Khan..."That might be a the most appropriate comparison. Did you get a look at the screenshots in that article? Tilda Swinton is a talented (or maybe skilled is a better word) actress, and she has a kind of "blank slate" face upon which a lot of different looks can be applied, but that bald cap.... Yeesh. I googled a little bit and there are other images that don't look so bad, but their argument rings hollow on several levels when compared to what they actually did.
If all that Marvel spin is legit ("The Ancient One is a title that is not exclusively held by any one character, but rather a moniker passed down through time, and in this particular film the embodiment is Celtic.") why bother giving her such an Asian appearance at all? Why not put her in Celtic garb or, for that matter, jeans and a T-shirt? And why does she have to be bald? The Ancient One is the embodiment of time-honored wisdom, guru spiritual guidance and hair loss? Fuck off with that nonsense, Marvel. You boned this one. Own up or shut up.
Gary wrote: "Here's a related situation, though I would have to suggest that white-washing is more apt for the Doctor Strange/Tilda Swinton case than than the Ghost in the Shell/Scarlet Johansson one. At least,..."See now here I agree, because it stood out to me in the trailer and it can suspend your disbelief for a sec and make you go wait what the ancient one is a white person. Which it might be racist in many ways to think that because of course they could be white, but it's jarring and not what your dumb brain expects combined with all the Chinese magic.
In the linked article there is mention of a decision not to offend China by acknowledging Tibet. That is a real concern that I wish could have been handled better than they did.But this is not the first time that they [movie ppl] have used this excuse as to major character changes. The first time that I actually recall was in the Catwoman movie. Though I enjoyed the movie and the casting.
Mod
I do have high hopes that we're seeing the birth of a "new" era in which we start seeing more inclusion of those people whose stories we're trying to capture. And possibly the beginning of the end of the assumption of whiteness. One can hope.
I agree Allison. I think that the era of whitewashed blockbusters with little-to-no research is reaching its end.
Increasingly, especially in the genre for which Ghost in the Shell is a great example, technical accuracy is very, very important. And that includes cultural depiction.
For things to change, we would need to see the present gang of moronic dinosaurs that call themselves studio executives to move away and make place for truly intelligent people. The main problem though is that those same studio executives think that they are smarter than everybody else.
Mod
It still takes too long, and makes for faux pas's like this one.
Doctor Strange director responds:http://www.comicbookresources.com/art...
George Takei weighs in:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/...
Eric Molinksy's excellent podcast Imaginary Worlds just did an episode on Ghost in the Shell and talked about the new adaptation. Worth the listen. But then all of his episodes are.https://soundcloud.com/emolinsky/ghos...
Here is the Emily Yoshida article they reference: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/9/1161...
Trike wrote: "Here is the Emily Yoshida article they reference: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/9/1161..."
a quite well-written article. i just skimmed it, so i'm not too sure where i stand with her on her deconstruction of Ghost in the Shell and anime. nevertheless, thought-provoking.
thx!
I recently came across this analysis of Ghost in the Shell which asserts that it is a collision of three schools of Western (!) philosophy:Major Mutako Kusanagi is an existential hero in a post-modern world.
I'm still working my head around this point of view, but I sense that it is a valid analysis.
I can wrap my head around all the attempts to retcon or rationalize the casting choice. At the end of the day though, I'm disappointed that we're going to get another Hollywood film with white stars, especially given that the context and even a lot of the rationale defending the casting choice would indicate that the opposite would be so much more interesting and appropriate. The character is full-cyborg, could be any race. Should be Japanese due to story context, but they're saying that because of her lack of original flesh body she could easily be caucasian. I get that, but I still think that it's unimaginative, against the spirit of GiTS, and a cheap grab attempting to Westernize the story to sell more tickets.
If they HAD to play it that way, a smart and interesting choice would have been to start the film with Scarlett and then have her exchange bodies with one of Asian appearance, with a different actor playing the part. Then we'd get the GiTS spirit while starring some big-name western white girl, and pleasing fans like myself of the original Japanese story.
If they recreate the original first scene, I suspect they will use a digital 'stunt body' anyway. Not to diss Scarlett, but actors at that level tend to demand perfection. It's a very, um, revealing scene.Once they've embarked down that road then any replacement is game. They took a lot of heat when it was disclosed that they tried to digitally alter caucasians to make them look more oriental.
At this point with the technology they can have it all - famous caucasian actors that appear to be something else. Yeah, it brings up blackface and a host of other issues, but aren't we trying to be post-racial?
Tom wrote: "At this point with the technology they can have it all - famous caucasian actors that appear to be something else. Yeah, it brings up blackface and a host of other issues, but aren't we trying to be post-racial? "You can't be post-racial if only white actors get to be on the stage. We need for representation to be equal (or at last equitable) to get to that point.
There is a long history of Caucasians playing ethnic characters when there's literally no reason for it besides racism. The argument that John Wayne had to play Genghis Khan because he was the biggest movie star at that time ignores the fact that Asian actors were never given the chance to become stars. The studio trotting out that same argument for GitS 50 years later is inexcusable.
It's the same faulty reasoning behind the #AllLivesMatter response to #BlackLivesMatter. The reason Black Lives Matter had to be said is because blacks in America have historically been valued less -- and are currently valued less -- than whites, with a system of pervasive racism making that the status quo for centuries.
Trying to claim All Lives Matter ignores that systemic and long-standing problem entirely. So we can't get to a post-racial society or entertainment until we acknowledge the issue and fix the problem.
Whitewashing characters in movies is part of that.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Liar (other topics)Manga: Masters of the Art (other topics)
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/...
i think that Daisy Johnson (played by Chloe Bennett) in Agents of Shield could kick Black Widow's ass (Johansson's character in the Marvel franchise) any day of the week.
Rinko Kikuchi is pretty fast w/the bokken too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw8z8...
Here's the topic w/a really brief historical analysis:
https://mediadiversified.org/2016/04/...
Here's what you can do now w/digitization:
http://screencrush.com/ghost-in-the-s...