Thoughts on RWBY Episode 1 + Who Would Be On My Cross-Branded All Women Superhero Team?

Click here to watch Episode 1 of RWBY

So, I’m kinda late at doing this, but I thought I’d give my thoughts on the first episode of RWBY. If you’ve followed along with my recaps on the trailers, you’d know that RWBY is all about a team of four young women who fight monsters, gangsters, and other such scum of the world. The first episode is a bit different from what I expected, depicting the first of the characters to be revealed, Ruby Rose, as a tiny bit of a stereotypical anime teenager who’s still in combat training when she gets caught up in a situation involving criminals and Huntresses, women who protect the world from monsters. I won’t give too much away, since I want people to go check it out themselves, but I will say that I like what I’ve seen thus far. You can find it at RoosterTeeth‘s website, or, if you’re still curious, check out the links below for info.

You’re a Huntress…Can I have your autograph??? 😀

Overall, seeing the trailers and this first episode makes me wonder how these four young women, all with varying fighting styles and weaponry, will fare as a team. And that got me thinking: What would it be like to take four women, all superheroes in their own ways, with different personalities, utilizing different combat styles, possibly even completely different universes, and put them on the same team? Heck, who would I even pick?

So, that’s what I have here: A list of four women from different tv series, comics, etc, but all considered superheroes, and all having various powers, abilities, skills, and personalities. This is my all-women superhero team!

Kara Zor-L, AKA Power Girl

So naturally, I’d start with a DC Superheroine, and of them all, Power Girl seemed the most logical choice. She has all the strength and powers of Superman, and is smart enough to run a multi-million dollar business. She’s not invincible, mind you, as she has the same vulnerabilities as Superman too (red sunlight, magic, and Kryptonite), but on a team with three other badass superheroines, she should have more than enough back-up to get her out of trouble should any of those weaknesses come up.

Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk

Another comic book superheroine, and like Power Girl, She-Hulk has powers and abilities comparable to one of her universe’s mightiest heroes: The Incredible Hulk. Her strength is just slightly below that of Thor, making her easily the strongest woman in the Marvel Universe. However, unlike her cousin the Hulk, her transformation has little effect on her mental state, meaning she keeps her intelligence, and she’s also worked to make her human form of Jennifer Walters in shape as well, which makes She-Hulk all the more potent a combatant. She possesses a vulnerability to radiation that can mess with her ability to transform, but since she would have three team-mates to back her up, I don’t think that would be a problem. Heck, beyond that, the only way to put a dent in her is to have that kind of power yourself. I’d be surprised if even Power Girl could beat her in a fight……………Note to self: Suggest Power Girl vs She-Hulk in a DEATH BATTLE…Possibly a Bra and Panties Match. XD

Lauren, AKA the true Red Samurai Ranger

You can make the argument that there are plenty of women who have served as Power Rangers that are better characters than Lauren, and I’d tend to agree. However, I don’t really fault her for that, since she came in near the end of Power Rangers Super Samurai and wasn’t given much time to develop a character. What we DO know, however, is that she’s the true Red Samurai Ranger, and is a samurai at least on par with Jayden, the leader of the team while she was in hiding. Not only is she fast, strong, possesses near-limitless fire Symbol Power, and pilots the mighty Lion Folding Zord, her greatest feat is her taste buds, so mighty that even Mia’s cooking tastes good to her…which, I will admit, actually managed to make that terrible running gag funny again after not being funny for at least a year…so I guess I’ll add THAT to her feats, too. In fact, in those few episodes she was in, I found the team dynamic worked a lot better with her as leader. Why the hell did they switch back to Jayden? Oh yeah, ‘cuz that’s what happened in Shinkenger…Note to self, do a rant on Power Rangers Samurai. SOON.

Serena Tsukino, AKA Sailor Moon

Really, who better to be a member of a team of superheroines than the leader of the Sailor Scouts and Princess of the Moon Kingdom, Sailor Moon. While occasionally (okay, a bit more than occasionally), Sailor Moon can succumb to clumsiness and air-headedness, Serena (Usagi in the original Japanese version) possesses incredible powers. She can purify people of evil, she can create perfect disguises for herself with a magic pen, even her tiara can become a miniature Destructo Disk (Man, EVERYBODY’S ripping off poor Krillin these days). Again, she’s not without her faults, but with her friends backing her up, there is nothing she can’t do.

Anyway, that’s it for tonight. Comment below, and tomorrow I will be sure to talk about…

…Ja né!

Related articles

• RWBY Fan-Made Mega Trailer (jygersrant.wordpress.com)
• First Look: RWBY (rhapsodistreviews.wordpress.com)
• Rooster Teeth Finally Unleash The Pilot Episode of Their New Anime RWBY (techfleece.com)
• SDCC 2013: ‘RWBY’ Series Premiere Sneak Peek (geek-news.mtv.com)
• RWBY Recap – Episode 1: Ruby Rose (thunderwell.wordpress.com)
• What Your Favorite Superhero Says About You (businessinsider.com)
• Superheroines vs. Superheroes (musicholic55.wordpress.com)
• Superheroines vs. Superheroes pt 2 (musicholic55.wordpress.com)
• The Best New Superhero Costumes of 2013 (wholesalehalloweencostumes.com)
• New Sailor Moon pendants help you move one step closer to complete superheroine transformation (en.rocketnews24.com)

Jyger’s Favourite 10?! – 10 Favourite Animated Women of All Time

Okay, same rules apply last time, only this time I’m looking at 10 of my all time favourite animated women. So let’s go ahead and kick this off with one I’m sure some were probably surprised wasn’t in the animated hotties list…

#1 – Wonder Woman from Justice League

Although I also count the 2009 movie version as tied with it, since they’re both different takes on the same character and are both AWESOME.

Wonder Woman from the 2009 Wonder Woman Movie

I don’t get why, given my love of dark-haired strong women, but I don’t feel physically attracted to Wonder Woman. Maybe it’s just because my love of the character in other ways just completely overwhelms that. She’s an inspiration among DC Superheroes, men and women, for her strength, honour, and compassion. What I don’t get is why that seems so hard for others to get. The worst example is the version that appeared in the pilot for the 2011 Wonder Woman series that, thank goodness, never came to fruition. Then again, as Lewis Lovhaug has brought up, she IS something of a walking contradiction at times, because while she IS the most compassionate and loving of the Justice League, if you wanna fight a war, you bring Wonder Woman. Still, if you want good examples of her, watch the 2009 movie or the Justice League cartoon.

#2 – Tish from The Weekenders

I know a lot of people really liked the show Recess, but I was always way more into The Weekenders, and Tish is easily my favourite part of the show. Intelligent, clever, witty, and also possessing the occasional hilarious quirk. I think my favourite is when she starts talking like cheesy old-school detectives for an entire weekend after having a marathon of detective movies…Just trust me, it’s funnier than I’m making it sound.

#3 – Yuki Nagato from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Yeah, kinda saw this coming, huh? What with the character N. Harmonik played on my show basically being Yuki. I really feel like they should’ve done a spin-off show that centres around her. I’ve already reviewed one of my favourite episodes of the show, which really helps to show just why Nagato is so awesome. In addition to that, while they technically aren’t in canon with either the show or the manga, I highly recommend watching the episodes of Haruhi-chan that centre around her. They are some of the funniest things I have EVER seen, and while she occasionally breaks out of her usual character, she mostly stays true to it just enough to make what she does in the show all the funnier.

#4 – Dawn from Pokémon

I’ve mentioned this before, but Dawn is easily my favourite of the female protagonists from the Pokémon anime. First off, she wasn’t really so much a tomboy like Misty or May were before her, which made her a bit more fresh a character to have around. She was also quite clever with her moves in Contests, and as I’ve brought up before, she acted as a bit of an inspiration for Ash, her Contest moves giving Ash ideas for tactics to use in battle. And when she was down in the dumps and on her losing streak, you genuinely felt bad for her. I think my favourite episodes of hers was when they went to Veilstone City and Dawn helped to bring Maylene out of her funk with a Gym Battle, then went on to cheer both Maylene and Ash in their battle the next episode.

#5 – Raven from Teen Titans

Like I said before, Raven was just pure awesomeness on Teen Titans. A lot of times she acted as a foil for Beast Boy and his repeated failed attempts at being funny, which honestly I found WAY funnier than anything Beast Boy ever did on his own. The dark nature of her powers and, in turn, her personality, made her unique on a team that was usually pretty bright and chipper. But as time went on, you really saw just how much her friends really mattered to her, to the point where her sort of heel turn was only done so that her friends would remain unharmed, and even then it was the love for her friends and their love for her that brought her back to good.

#6 – Cybersix from…well, Cybersix

Huh, I sense a number 6 theme. Anyway, Cybersix is just awesome in every way. I mean really, can you get much more badass than a super-heroine who leaps from building-tops, getting the drop on mutants in a kickass costume she stole from a prostitute?…Okay, that little bit wasn’t in the cartoon, just the comics. However, seeing as how they never addressed where it came from in the show, I therefore consider it to still be canon in the cartoon. Also, in a nice twist on the old-fashioned cunning disguise of a pair of hipster glasses, she also disguises herself as a man to hide her identity…so that she can spend more time with her love interest…Okay, suddenly this turned kinda stalkerish. lol

#7 – Rika Nonaka from Digimon

Rika played an interesting position on the Digimon Tamers team, as the one with all the attitude on previous teams (and every team since) was a boy. Yeah, she kind of had a more antagonistic relation to the team early on, but as time went by, she came to accept the fact that they were a team and that these were her friends. Also, she was the most adept at DigiModifying in battle, and unlike other female DigiDestined to come before her, her partner actually reached the Mega Level, though admittedly one other female DigiDestined has reached the same achievement, and two of Rika’s predecessors reached the Mega Level in the Digimon Adventure game for the PSP.

#8 – Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon

The most hot-tempered (and hot bodied, :3) of the Sailor Scouts, Sailor Mars is easily my favourite character of that show. Armed with the fire of Mars and the abilities of a Shinto priestess, Rei Hino served as the second-in-command of the team, and probably one of the more potent fighters of the group. As I mentioned before, she had a bit of an attitude problem early on in that she refused to acknowledge Serena as the leader, but put yourself in her shoes (which might be hard, considering I have NO idea how she runs and fights in those high heels, but whatever): You’re one of the strongest and most talented members of the team, and yet THIS klutz…

…is the leader. You don’t know why, you don’t know what she could’ve possibly done to deserve it, you’re just asked to accept it. Would YOU be okay with that? After the truth of Serena’s past as Princess of the Moon Kingdom was revealed, though, and more of Serena’s more compassionate side came out, Rei kinda chilled a little bit, and most of her issues with Serena afterwards was more friendly rivalry/teasing.

#9 – Akiza Izinski from Yugioh 5D’s

For me, Akiza is easily the greatest female character from the entirety of Yugioh. She has the sex appeal and raw Dueling talent of Mai Valentine and Alexis Rhodes, and when she realised that Yusei was trying to help her, she gained the appreciation for friendship of Téa Gardner without having to become a glorified cheerleader. She was also a Psychic Duelist, and could materialise Duel Monsters for real, an ability that saved their asses more than once. I do wish that she had gained an advanced Synchro Monster like Yusei and Jack did, but considering that by the end she was still able to kick some ass without one, she may not have needed it.

So yeah, yer thinking to yourself, “Go ahead, Jyger. We know who #10 is, so just get it over with”. Well, believe it or not, my last pick might just surprise you a bit…

#10 – Barbara Gordon from Batman: The Animated Series

Yes, I’ve gone on and on and on about how hot Poison Ivy is. However, the fact is, I find Barbara’s run throughout Batman: The Animated Series, as well as her role in Batman Beyond, to make her a bit more interesting character to follow. She started her run in the show as just Commissioner Gordon’s daughter and a love interest for Dick Grayson, which inevitably got her into trouble at times, but she eventually decided to don her own cape and cowl, becoming Batgirl. At first, Bruce and Dick weren’t all that pleased by her presence, but after a while, Bruce welcomed her onto the team, becoming Batman’s partner whenever Robin wasn’t available. At some point after the death of the Joker, she retired her position and became a cop, eventually rising to the same position her father had once held, which is admittedly very different from what became of her in the comics, but still makes sense from a storyline perspective. I like it. What I don’t like is the idea that her and Bruce were in a romantic relationship at some point…Ew…She was initially distrustful of Terry, AKA Batman Beyond, but after some time working together, they eventually came to have a similar relationship her father had once had with Batman in a sort of everything-old-is-new-again type of deal.

So that’s my 10 Favourite Animated Women of All Time. Now if you’re wondering why certain women aren’t on here, don’t worry, I plan to do a list of honourable mentions later, but for now, this is the list as it stands. Feel free to discuss below and also compile your own lists if you’d like. Ja né!

Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Animated Hotties

…*sighs* Yes, I’m doing this, okay? And yes, I know I’m coming off as an objective pig here. Don’t worry, I plan to do my favourite animated women based on actual character later, but I DO gotta play to the male demographic here, so what can I do? Not to say that these women aren’t strong characters either, mind you, and most will likely end up on that list too…which will mean it’ll probably be more than 5. But before I get to this, I need to set some ground rules.

1. No hentai. So Reika Kitami is unfortunately out.
2. No anthropomorphics. Not because I personally have any kind of issue with it, I just don’t want to open the door to THAT little argument that never wants to frigging go away. lol
3. Only one entry per franchise. So if I pick someone from say Batman The Animated Series (and I did, lol), I can’t pick anyone else from it.
4. This is JUST MY LIST. I am not arguing with anyone else’s, it’s just my list. So don’t freak out if one of yours isn’t on here or if I don’t include any from other well-known lists, AKA Doug Walker’s.
5. For anyone who finds this particularly distasteful for any reason, TURN AWAY NOW. This is your only warning.

Anyway, with all that said, let’s go ahead and get the obvious one outta the way…

#1 – Poison Ivy from Batman: The Animated Series

I’m well aware that getting involved with this woman could be hazardous to my health, but I might just chance it, honestly. Now I should note that I’m referring to the version we saw before the big art change. I never really liked when they changed her skin green. And yeah, I know they did it in the comics, but I really liked how Ivy looked with normal looking skin (no racist jokes, you know what I mean, people).

#2 – Rei Hino, AKA Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon

As anyone who knows me personally can tell you, I have a MASSIVE weakness for women with dark hair. I also find myself hopelessly attracted to strong women. Put them together and you get Sailor Mars. OH MAN, do I love Sailor Mars. Yeah, she was kind of a dick in the early episodes, but to be fair, Serena was kind of a screw up and a ditz, and it must’ve been hard to accept her as a leader, but she eventually did and mellowed out a bit.

#3 – Raven from Teen Titans

Yeah, I know a lot of people prefer Starfire, but I was more a Raven kind of guy. Her sarcasm, her dark nature, and honestly, I found her to be kind of hot too. She also seemed kind of lonely at times, like no one really understood her, which on at least one occasion caused trouble for her. Oh, and I would just like to note that unlike the comics, Raven only turned heel one time in the show, and even then not really.

#4 – Akiza from Yugioh 5D’s

Beware the coming of the uber boob! XD Seriously, I suspect the real reason Bonds Beyond Time didn’t feature all three casts interacting was because they couldn’t risk putting Akiza and Mai Valentine in the same shot for fear it would cause the big screen to implode. I think probably my favourite episode of the show is when Akiza decides for herself that she wants to be a Turbo Duelist as well and really struggles to make it happen. It took a lot of guts…as well as a skin tight leather riding suit that made her cleavage look ginormous. Y’know, for kids. lol

#5 – Elisa Maza from Gargoyles

Like I said, I find myself hopelessly attracted to strong women… … …She’s a cop! And not just a cop in any ol’ city, she’s with the NYPD in a universe filled with all manners of terrifying threats. That requires some serious inner strength to deal with, and we see her get taken to the limits of that inner strength more than once.

So, that’s my list for my favourite animated hotties, but we’re not done yet my friends. Check in next time when I reveal my 10 Favourite Animated Women of All Time! Ja né!

Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Animated Villainesses

This is one I’ve actually been sitting on for a while now. Originally it was gonna be a video, and also it was gonna be contained to anime only, but I eventually decided to change it to include all forms of animation. I guess I just really like evil women as villains in my stories, and of course like to see them in my cartoons too. So let’s go ahead and look at five of my all-time favourites, and keep in mind that these are limited to one entry per franchise.

#1 – Pokémon Hunter J from Pokémon

I always felt like Pokémon needed a villain like Pokémon Hunter J: A villain who is ruthless, takes no nonsense, and because we don’t know her backstory or her motivations, she’s someone that cannot be reasoned with and is therefore more frightening. Now, I know a lot of people would likely say Jessie or Cassidy or Domino is the best villainess from Pokémon, but for me, it’s J. And why? BECAUSE SHE ACTUALLY TRIES TO KILL ASH! Everyone else just tries to get Ash out of the way, kidnap him, or at worst knock him out. J has actually fired Hyper Beams at him, had Drapion try to crush him, and dropped him out the back of her aircraft from super high up. In other words, she is thus guilty of not only poaching like most villains on the show, but also attempted murder…Not that it would matter though, since Ash would just regenerate. Hee-hee, never gets old.

#2 – Queen Beryl from Sailor Moon

Yes, I watched this show, I admit it. I’ll also admit that on the odd occasion that I get nostalgic for it, I have a couple of seasons of the dub. And in the initial season of the show, the big bad was Queen Beryl. Now the thing about Beryl was that she demonstrated a number of times that she had more than enough power to destroy Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts…at least if she’d done so early on. Sadly, as is the case with many evil rulers, she let her generals take care of her dirty work for her, punished them horrifically when they failed, and ultimately allowed her enemies to grow strong enough to take her down in the end. So yeah, not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was powerful and wicked, and very sadistic to her enemies and to her underlings that fell out of her favour.

Now, I should note that as a kid, Beryl was not my favourite villainess from Sailor Moon. So why am I not counting them now? Well…because it was Zoisite. As you’ve probably noticed from the way I described Beryl, my main exposure to this show was the original English dub, and thus is the main form of it in my mind. This kinda messes with me as not only was Zoisite my favourite villain on the show, I actually had a crush on her…then I found out that Zoisite was really a dude and that they changed him to a girl in the dub because of his romantic affiliation with Malachite…Yeah, I was messed up for a while ‘cuz of that…

#3 Poison Ivy from Batman: The Animated Series

Before you say anything, let me just point out that I’m referring strictly to the version from Batman: The Animated Series, though I’m partial to pretty much any version of her. Hell, even the one from the Batman & Robin movie, despite the sheer amounts of cheese involved. But anyway, what can I say about Poison Ivy? Well, for starters, HUMINA HUMINA HUMINA! That said, do not sleep with this woman, it will NEVER stop itching. Once a brilliant botanist, Pamela Isley turned to a life of crime and became one of Batman’s greatest enemies. And considering she can grow massive man-eating plant monsters, it’s not all that hard to understand why. She also occasionally formed a tag team with Harley Quinn, a major fan favourite who got her start in that show. Though personally, Ivy just edges out over her in my opinion.

#4 – Arukenimon from Digimon

Yeah okay, I just wanted a villainess from Digimon, and…well, Arukenimon is the one that got the most screen time. Okay, I think maybe Lilithmon might’ve gotten as much in Xros Wars, but I haven’t seen much of that, so I can’t count it. I will give Arukenimon this much: She was cunning (for the most part) and had the power to turn Control Spires into evil Digimon with no hearts with just a single one of her hairs for each Spire used. In addition, SHE CREATED BLACKWARGREYMON. However, the truth is she really wasn’t all THAT great a villainess. Now who could’ve been much better if they’d gotten the same amount of screen time? LadyDevimon, of course. I mean she was evil to the core, tried to murder helpless civilians, and best of all, regularly got into cat fights with Angewomon. Now who wouldn’t love to have someone like that as a regular antagonist on a children’s show?!…Wait…

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Is that really the best you can do when it comes to animated villainesses? Well, no. No it isn’t.  Because this last one trumps them all in my opinion…

#5 – Reika Kitami from Bible Black

The victim of a horrific incident as a teenager that led to the creation of arguably the most evil woman walking the Earth, Reika Kitami is LITERALLY a servant to Satan and is imbued with his dark powers, twisting her mind into a sadist, a masochist, and just completely insane in her every goal. I don’t know if there exists someone worse…and honestly, if there is, I don’t think I wanna know. But most horrifying of all is that she has the ability to draw you in, wrap you around her finger, and once she’s got you, not only will she never let go, but a part of you won’t want her to. Now I can’t officially recommend people check this series out, and I won’t be adding links to it. Why? Well, with good reason: It’s pornography, and honestly, it can be morally sick. But because it’s still animated, there is no reason to leave her out of this list, and frankly every reason to include her, as she is quite simply the most evil of all animated villainesses.

So those are my 5 Favourite Animated Villainesses. Hope you enjoyed, and hey, here’s hoping we get to see more great animated villainesses in the future! Ja né!