REPOST - The Speakeasy #001: Bloody Mary, A Discussion of Strong Female Characters

Kate and Alain from the Reverse Thieves decided to go back to the roots of their blog for this inaugural podcast. They start off with the initial question: Is anime actually filled with good, strong female characters or is that dream much like a Satoshi Kon movie? The discussion then unfolds as they look at what their initial expectations of strong female characters were when they started watching anime, the realities of the medium, and its future.      

 

And now your helpful bartenders at the Speakeasy present your drink:

Bloody Mary
* 1 oz. to 1 1/2 oz. (30-45 ml) vodka in a Highball glass filled with ice.
* Fill glass with tomato juice
* 1 dash celery salt
* 1 dash ground black pepper
* 1 dash Tabasco
* 2-4 dashes of Lea & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce
* 1/8 tsp. horseradish (pure, never creamed)
* Dash of lemon or lime juice

Garnish with celery stalk.

May be shaken vigorously or stirred lazily, as desired. Garnish with a celery stalk; a skewer of olives, pickles, carrots, mushrooms, or other vegetables; or even meat or fish (salami, shrimp, etc.) and cheese. Occasionally, pickled asparagus spears or pickled beans are also used.

Notes:

 

Opening: The Sherlock Hound Opening: Sora Kara Koboreta Story (A story that fell from the sky) by Da Capo

Sherlock Hound

[00:16] Intro: Just in case you wanted to know who we are and what we are about. We also give all the standard contact info as we introduce ourselves.

Including:

• Our Blog: Reverse Thieves
• Our Host Site: Anime 3000
• The Podcast's Website: The Speakeasy
• The Reverse Thieves e-mail: [e-mail]
• Alain's Twitter - HisuiRT
• Kate's Twitter - NarutakiRT

[1:30] The News: A Statement of Intent Or What the Heck is the Speakeasy

We discuss the unique blend of ideas and perspectives that went into making our new podcast and what you can expect every month. Normally a cool news OP-ED pieces and/or reader feedback would go here.

[4:32] Transition song: The Revolutionary Girl Utena Opening: Rinbu Revolution (round Dance Revolution) by Masami Okui
Revolutionary Girl Utena 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL25C0H9vVw

[5:59] The Cocktail: Strong Female Characters in Amime and Manga

Our original stab at an article about strong female characters.

[6:20] We start with my shattered dreams and expectations.

• Rainbow Bright is a cherished childhood memory but you too can give a slutty edge to your childhood.
• Jem and the Holograms. She is truly outrageous, Truly truly truly outrageous.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20BZID081Vk
  
• I was talking about the Pink Bishoujo Ghetto not the phenomenon of  "pink-collar" professions.
• Lady Jaye,  Scarlet, or the Baroness are great examples of strong female characters from GI Joe and American cartoons in general. Cool people will write in to give us more great strong female characters from cartoons in general.
• Lisa Hayes was what they called Misa Hayase in Robotech. In my defense I have not seen Robotech since I was in junior high school.
• Princess Allura is the name of the princess from Voltron or Princess Fala for all the Beast King GoLion purists.
• The Super Dimension Fortress Macross was the show that part 1 of Robotech was based on. Robotech never gave us Robotech 7 sadly enough.
• Oh Lynn Minmay. You are such a memorable character for better or for worse. Instead of going into more detail I will just leave you
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH0H_idMtHI
  
• I have mixed feelings on Lynn Minmay but goodness I hate you Lynn Kaifun.
• Kagero from Ninja Scroll is such a bizarre contrast of strong and weak in the same person.  Characters like her could be their own podcast onto themselves.

[13:50] We begin to wonder where did this ideal of anime being populated with nothing but strong females and the reality start to be two separate things in the eyes of fandom.

• The Dirty Pair is used as an example for the shame of fan service.
• OGT aka One Great Turtle aka Caleb Dunaway. Might as well introduce him because I will mention him and his blog, Anime wa Bakuhatsu da!, again in the future. This I guarantee.
• We both happen to love the Dirty Pair. But would Dirty Pair get the same reaction it did back in the day if it were released today? Would it even be close to the same type of show?
• Even though 90% of the people this far into the show notes know what it means I have to give you the definition of moe. Or at least the closest anyone can give you to a definition of moe.
• Deconstruction is an amazingly useful tool for creative thought and analysis while also being such a great tool for crushing it.
• I will sum up my feelings on Paul "Otaking" Johnson by saying I feel about him much the same way I feel about Kaifun.

[20:12] Then we go into my bother's ex-girlfriend and how she would not watch anime. We turn this into a discussion about people being up in arms about the beautiful people.

• As if it were not obvious there are many benefits of being attractive including being considered more trustworthy, getting jobs easier, and getting more pay at said job.
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00 which apparently has too many hot women for Gundam fans. I will let that statement try to sink into your head.
• Joss Whedon always comes up when you talk about nerds and strong female characters.
• Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp are both people that Narutaki would like to meet. Intimately.
• Faye Valentine is almost the very definition of a Femme fatale. Although Julia might even have the role more so.

[31:10] Talking about externally strong vs internally strong

• Cecily Cambell from The Sacred Blacksmith just grinds my gears.
• Oscar François de Jarjayes from the The Rose of Versailles show us clearly that the manliest man is actually a woman.
• Hans Axel von Fersen is the man that makes Oscar realize there is value in being a woman. By the way this is the historical Fersen.
• Utena Tenjou from Revolutionary Girl Utena comes up as a rather fascinating study on how some people can have completely different views of the same woman.
• Fujiko Mine proves she is a classic woman admired by other women. I think this Oricon survey sums it up pretty well.
• Hataraki Man has Hiroko Matsukata who is one of the best examples of being a strong female character in a modern day office setting.
• Yumi Nogawa is the other woman from Hiroko's office we were talking about who uses her feminine wiles at work.
• Girls with Guns anime is a time honored tradition.
• And speaking of girls with guns Narutaki mentions Black Lagoon. Characters like Revy and Balalaika are what Narutaki was talking about.
• Ikkitousen is totally a show that exploits outwardly strong female characters for fan-service purposes.
• Oh! Great is the manga artist behind Air Gear and Tenjou Tenge. Aya and Maya Natsume are the two girls I was talking about from Tenjou Tenge. Itsuki Minami and Ringo Noyamano are the main characters of Air Gear.
• Our Claymore review for the blog. Claire is a complex character so it is hard to throw the simple label of unfeminine at her without some thought.
• Guys in Girl Suits are female characters who act like men for all intensive purposes but are female to fill some need of the story. I swear I first heard the term on Fast Karate for the Gentleman. Proving as goofy as they may be at times, they say some very smart stuff.
• Major Motoko Kusanagi is a great character but also an easy character to point the accusation of being a Guy in Girl Suit at. We leave the truth of the matter up to the reader.
• The Ghost in the Shell Movie and Stand Alone Complex TV Show.
• Masamune Shirow is the author of the original Ghost in the Shell manga and Kenji Kamiyama is the director of Stand Alone Complex TV show. Things that are very similar and yet OH SO different at times.

[55:40] We the move on to discussing internally strong female characters

• Sawako "Sadako" Kuronuma from Kimi ni Todoke might not be the first character that jumps to mind when you think strong female character but she is an excellent example.
• Tomoyo Daidouji from Cardcaptor Sakura is one of my favorite anime females.
• Sakura Kinomoto and Eriol Hiiragizawa are the other characters I mention from Cardcaptor Sakura.
• Yuya Shiina from Samurai Deeper Kyo is the one the the best examples of a useless female sidekick in manga. Her main power seems to be getting into trouble and shouting "KYO!"
• Everyone should love and respect Nami from One Piece. That is all.
• I don't remember disliking Keiko Yukimura from YuYu Hakusho but in general Narutaki hates this sort of character. Still a classic female support character.
• Akane Tendo from Ranma 1/2 is the classic girl who hits the guy she secretly likes.
• We had to mention the always lovely Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed. Do not be fooled by bootleg imitations.
• Cagalli Yula Athha is another great strong female character from Gundam Seed.
• Daisuke Aramaki is the old man in charge of Section 9 that I mentioned.

[66:29] So why do these characters show up in anime?

• The super famous 49ers are some of the greatest examples of early female manga artists.

[71:28] Our ideas for the future of strong females characters

• Sakura Haruno from Naruto is usually an example people give as a useless female character.
• Hana Adachi from Yankee-kun to Megane-chan is a great character from a great manga. This is a series that should really get an anime.

[74:00] We wrap up our first podcast and pimp some cool stuff on the web site.

• Our Interview with Ed Chavez of Vertical Inc.
• The Otaku Diaries is still going strong.
• Our news monthly feature is the Final Denouement a section for philosophical musing
• Ending: Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century
• Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century
  
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkn8n18yS7A