Rurouni Kenshin

A few years ago I saw an Anime series on Cartoon Network. I know by now you all know I love Japanese Anime, but this series was different. First, it is not set in the future. It is set in the past, Japan in the 1870s to be exact. That period of history is rich with drama, angst, and action-packed. The series is called Rurouni Kenshin. I think of it as historical fiction. It was a time when Japan was desiring to become an international player on the world stage. Japan became rapidly westernized after a brutal and bloody civil war. Up to that point Japan was feudal society. The ruling class were Samurais and if you know any thing about feudalism when a nation industrializes the peasants and serfs tend to "boss up". The civil war, simplistically was between people who wanted to see Japan modernize and take a place in the international community and people who wanted Japan to remain close to the rest of the World and keep their culture as it had been for centuries. Rurouni Kenshin is the story of a wandering Samurai named Kenshin Himura. He is fictional but his story has a real historical backdrop. He had fought 10 years earlier during that civil war serving the emperor, who wanted to westernize, with distinction because he thought he was doing the right thing. He thought that if the imperialist won poor farmers and peasants would have better lives and more freedom. Unfortunately, after the war he became disillusioned and guilt-ridden over all the people he killed, and started wandering. The series is about Kenshin finding redemption. He feels like he took so many lives that he himself does not deserve happiness - that he brings death to anyone close to him. We see him throughout the series protecting people from new and old foes and constantly being challenged by people who want to prove themselves the best by killing the best. A major theme of the series is asking questions such as: Are there something for which there is no forgiveness no matter how much "good" you do?

Kenshin is a powerful swordsman. During his battles he killed a lot of people. He picked up a nickname in those days "Hitokiri Battōsai" which means in English "The Man-Slayer". We see that Kenshin has taken an oath to never kill again. He still uses his skills to protect people and carries a sword. His Katana is very different. It's a sakabatō ("reverse-blade") sword. The cutting edge is on the slightly curved inside edge so it is almost impossible to kill anyone with it. However in the hands of such a skilled warrior, its nonetheless effective. Along the way Kenshin meets friends and builds healthy loving relationships, inspiring others by his example. The show has comedy and action because sometimes Kenshin seems too much of a country-bumpkin to be the threat he actually is. The show has real-world and fictional martial arts, weapons, and techniques. The animation is beautiful and epic. The action can be very stylized and over-the-top. Sometimes it's so out there, Kenshin has to explain what he did.

Kenshin training and skills grant him almost superhuman speed and strength. He appears so fast because he can read his opponents and figure out they are going to next and instinctually knows how to counter his opponents. The fictional sword technique he uses is called Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū style meaning "Flying Heaven Honorable Sword Style" or sometimes referred to "Ultrasonic Sword Style". Kenshin's skills and knowledge grow throughout the series. He learns the ultimate technique called Kuzu-ryūsen and Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki which involve hitting your opponent 9-12 times with powerful strikes that are almost totally impossible to block or dodge.

The cool thing is that Kenshin was inspired by a real-life historical person. His name was Gensai Kawakami. He was born in 1834 and died in 1871. If Kenshin was a real-life samurai he and Kawakami would have been on the same side. Kawakami supported the samurai who wanted to keep Japan as it was and was loyal to the emperor not the shogunate. He died relatively young because the govenment excuted him because he did not agree with the decison not to close Japan to foreigners. Intersting how in 4 short years he went from being a hero to an executed crimninal. He was a master of Shiranui-ryu sword style and was said to be almost unbeatable. His picture is on the right.

If you have never seen this series, or seen its prequel series (shows how Kenshin got that cross-shaped scar on his face), or the movie called SamuraiX, I strongly recommend them. Tom Cruise's movie The Last Samurai is also set in the same time period and Cruise's character goes through much the same journey as Kenshin does. Kenshin is a very popular character in Japan and around the world among fans of Manga and Anime. There has been 2 or 3 video games based in his world and I have found MUGEN characters based on the series. I have found 4 distinct version of Kenshin characters for MUGEN. What follows is a video of the best of those Kenshins verses the "Big Bad" of the Anime series named Shishio. I was in control of Shishio and Keshin was controlled by the MUGEN's AI.






Here are some reference links
Gensai Kawakami - Inspiration for Kenshin Himura
Himura Kenshin
The Gallery of Antiheroes and Villians: Keshin Himura
Kawakami Gensai


And Here is clip from the show:

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Black Comic Characters - Green Lantern

The Green Lantern is one of those comic book characters that has a very convoluted history...especially to the mainstream culture. When discussing Green Lantern it is important to realize that it is not really a single character, but an intergalactic police corps. Each Lantern possesses a power ring that they wear on one their fingers (or tentacles depending on the species). The ring, through unknown fictional energies, can create anything in physical space that the user can imagine. It allows them to fly through the air, in space, or underwater. The more will power and the more imagination the user has, the more powerful the ring makes them. On occasion, the rings have shown sentience by choosing their own wielders. The Green Lantern Corps are controlled and overseen by a race of powerful beings called The Guardians. They created the rings, ultimately choose the beings in the core, and assigns which Green Lantern is responsible for which sector of space.

Because of various reasons, the sector of space containing earth has had about 5 different humans functioning as Green Lantern and sometimes simultaneously. The one that appears in media outside of comic books in the past most often was a test pilot named Hal Jordan, a white man. He is the Green Lantern featured in the animated movie released on DVD spring of 2008 called Justice League: The New Frontier. He was also the Green Lantern used in almost every cartoon I saw growing up. However since 2001, when Justice League was adapted into a television animated show, Hal Jordon was not chosen to be the Green Lantern by the shows' creators. Instead they chose the only black man from the comic books to be Green Lantern, John Stewart. The show did not go into his back story as much as they did in the books. In the show it mentions that John had been a marine and been in love with his Green Lantern trainer just like in the comic books. However in the books it was pointed out that because John is an architect, he has a powerful imagination that allows him to be very good at using his power ring. Also in both incarnation, John is very disciplined, moral, and not given to wise cracking all that much. The other departure from the comic book that they did in the show was having John fall in love with Hawkgirl and develop a complicated relationship between him, Hawkgirl, and Vixen( a black female superhero). John also guest starred in a couple of episodes of the show Static Shock, made by many of the same producers of Justice League.

All in all I like this version of Green Lantern the best. He was one of the first major black superhero at DC Comics. His ring puts him almost on the same footing as Superman and he definitely knows how to use that power. Thankfully there is a mugen character based on John Stewart. Here is a short video of computer controlling him fighting a computer controlled Sinestro.

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Black Comic Characters - Cyborg

Cyborg is a DC comics character and has been with the Teen Titans since the team was first formed in 1980s. I did a little research and realized that there is a lot more to cyborg than I thought. If part of the historical experience of being African-American is to be outside of mainstream America, then Cyborg being black and being cybernetic means that he deals with predjudice from the whole human race. Cyborg is a tortured soul who instead of turning evil after disaster and tragedy chooses to be a hero. I think that is what I like most about him. He is such a major DC character that he has appeared in other media like cartoons as the Super Friends in the early eighties. In that incarnation he looks much like his original comic book depiction (pictured on the left). During the early 2000's there was a show on Cartoon Network based on the Teen Titans that included Cyborg. In that version he looked very different (on the right) and it took sometime for it to grow on me. He has even been in two episodes on Smallville portrayed by Lee Thompson Young (above in the center). In Smallville Cyborg's cybernetics are not visible. He looks like everyone else. I dislike that because then you can't explore that expect of his character - how does he deal people who refuse to see past his appearance? The show isn't about him and it would take way too much time to do that subject justice. Also for non-comic book fans, visible cybernetics could have made him harder to identify with. This is why in the Spider-man films, the film makers decided to have the characters face unmasked at key emotional moments of those films. Cyborg has a huge fan base and I am grateful that someone decided to make a Mugen character for him. I have demo at the end of this article.

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Black Comic Characters - Black Panther

Marvel Comics must have published thousands of characters during its nearly 70 year history. Not all of those characters are as well known as Spider-Man, Wolverine, or the Hulk, especially black characters. Black Panther may not be well known but he's one of my favorite. He's not an African-American character because he is an African. He's a born and raised African monarch in a fictional African nation called Wakanda. Keep in mind that all of Marvel's characters populate the same universe (or multi-verse). This means that they are all connected. That is one of the things that makes it all very interesting. In our world, most (if not all) the nations of Africa are poorly developed, impoverished, and economically exploited for their wealth of resources. (You know writing about that make me want to address that at a future date.)

However, Wakanda is far different. It is one of the most (arguably the most) sophisticated nation on the fictional earth of the Marvel Universe. They had never been subjugated by anyone and this is because of their fighting skills and remoteness. Their King is given superhuman abilities through the use of a herb. This is why the Black Panther can go toe-to-toe with super villains and keep up with his teammates in the superhero team called the Avengers. The Avengers will be made into a movie soon, I hope Black Panther will be included. The Black Panther is not just a great fighter but he is a top-notch military strategist, scientist, and engineer, rivaling Tony Stark (Iron Man), Reed Richards (from the Fantastic Four), and Dr. Doom. Wakanda is almost a Utopia. Wakanda is a sovereign and rich nation independent from the rest of the world.

If you are unfamiliar with the politics and stories Marvel publishes you may wonder why Black Panther has so much conflict and drama? Why would he have to fight so hard to protect his people? (I mean besides racism.) Simple. Black Panther's country contains the only deposits of a fictional metal called Vibranium. It's precious because it can absorb any form of energy thrown at it and reflect it. It's rare. It doesn't take much imagination to see a great many people would want it and not all for ethical reasons, even if it means destroying Wakandans to get it. I mean why pay for it when you can take it. That's is what such people do in Africa in real life. Black Panther however will not all his people to be bullied or destroyed. He does not play and won't cower before anyone not even the United States. He manipulates his enemies staying many many steps ahead of them. Don't get me wrong, if he has to fight he does, like his namesake with moves that Batman would envy.

To give an idea of how important vibranium is consider that Captain America's indestructible shield is made of vibranium alloyed with adamantium, an indestructible fictional metal and the same metal that laces Wolverine's skeleton.

Over much of time he has been depicted more as a superhero than a true monarch -- along side the Avengers, saving the world. More recently they have play up his role as a king. Exploring the politics and culture in his country. Looking at his motivations. How does a guy like this deals with American Foreign policy? All interesting and heavy questions. I love that stuff as much as I like the high-paced action/fight sequences.

Black Panther will be getting a solo animate television series next year on BET. As far as I know, BET's President of programming, REGINALD HUDLIN, is currently the writer of Black Panther's current comic book series. Mr Hudlin is very talented and he's been taking Black Panther is some new directions...for example in the books, Black Panther has gotten married....to Storm from X-men. Good choice. She is very regal and queenly. It also adds all the dynamics that comes from Storm being there. I mean he's got to deal with the fact that I'm sure many of his subjects don't like the idea of their queen being a mutant....oh the drama.

Another writer on the book I admire is Christopher Priest...who was the first black writer/editor at both Marvel and DC Comics. I'll be writing about him in the future as well. I enjoyed his first story arcs when the book was first launched back the very late Nineties. The first stories were told in the first person from one of the supporting characters...a skinny, cowardly white guy in over-his-head and out of his element. I forget the character's name right now. Ross something. He referred to Black Panther as "the Client" and he was assigned as a liaison between the US State Department and Black Panther. He was told basically to avoid incidents and to babysit. Before the end of it, Ross and the reader were in for the ride of our lives. I think the first arc was called "Enemy of the State". I highly recommend it. Marvel collected the entire story into a trade paperback or you should be able to find it at Marvel's digital comics.

Lastly, I'm sure all who have read my blog know I like to play Mugen. As of yet I have not been able to find a Black Panther mugen character but as soon as I do, I will post it here.

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Black Comic Characters - Spawn

I'm sure that many have seen or heard of the character Spawn. You have seen the comics, the HBO shows, and the movie. Yes, some might say that such a character that has been popular in all the media of our society that happens to be a black superhero shows how far we have come in terms of race relations, but I think that closer scrutiny is needed. I have to point out that Spawn was created by a white man, Todd McFarlane. I'm not saying that is a bad thing. For example, the character Blade was created by two white men in the 1970s and I have very little negative things to say about Blade and how he is characterized. Spawn on the other hand is so disfigured that it's hard to tell that he was black. I use the past tense that he's also dead and gets his super powers from the devil. This bring us some theological and racial problems. There are a few other characters out there who's powers are demonic but none have had the same success as Spawn. This is why I single him out. If you are familiar with the story, the devil recruits Spawn to lead his army to fight and conquer heaven. Tis is definitely an anti-biblical plot contrivance. Why would the devil give Spawn supernatural powers and then allows Spawn to use those powers against him?

I have three other problems with the back story of Spawn. One is that no where in the story is Jesus or God even remotely brought up as having to do with the story. The devil is depicted with all of the power and Heaven is on the defensive. This is also opposite to what the Bible says.

Two, in the comics Spawn's best friend that ended up marrying Spawn's wife, Wanda, after Spawn died. They had child when Spawn and Wanda never could. I admit that this added a lot of drama when Spawn shows up after 5 years to find out that his wife married to his best friend and with the child he could never give her initially not knowing that he had been in hell five years. Ouch. Thing is in the comic books and cartoon Spawn's friend is black and in the movie he is white. What were the producers of the movie trying to say about black men and black families? Let me blunt. They were saying: Look at this black man - he wasn't able to protect himself or his family so a white man had to step up and do it. Make it worse...he can't protect Wanda without power the devil gives him.

Third, the movie glamorizes hell and paints a picture that hell is fun not torment. That you have super powers if you go and can go and leave whenever you want. More religious heresy. I realize that a lot of people did not look at Spawn these ways. They look at it as entertaining fiction. But the way it expresses itself can't be ignored and points to a worldview we must be aware of. I like the character visually....he look cool in full costume and his power set is interesting, but don't forget that we must always look at truth and think about what is really being said. There is a mugen character for Spawn. Here is a demo of Spawn fighting Spider-man and with both characters being computer controlled. Spider-man owned Spawn as it should be!

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Black Comic Characters - Bishop

Bishop is an interesting character. He's one of the X-Men. And I was excited the first time I saw him show up in the comics in the early 90's. He also became amazingly popular with others. I think most of us liked him because he carried big guns, and he was from the future. The future he is from just about a generation ahead where most of the X-men are dead, betrayed by on of their own, and the future is so messed up that being a mutant means being hunted and killed. In the story, Bishop comes back in time to fix all of that by stopping the traitor. Unfortunately for those who were following the story, but dramatically Bishop named fan-favorite Gambit (more on him in a different post) as the traitor. Since that revelation writers have played with this idea, asking how far the X-men can trust Gambit and Bishop. It was fun to read and fun to watch in the animated series. The X-men refused to let Bishop execute Gambit for something he may or may not do. Bishop proved so popular that Marvel made him a regular member of the team and of yet this beginning storyline has yet to be resolved.
I like Bishop. He is written as if he really was born and raised in a future where he has no security. He is very powerful, driven, and hard. Interesting enough, someone has created a Mugen character of Bishop. Here is a fight between Bishop (controlled by computer) versus Gambit (controlled by the computer).


Here is a fight between Bishop (controlled by me) and Vega controlled by the computer.

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Black Comic Characters - Storm

Storm is one of the greatest characters – black, female, or otherwise. She is a member of the X-Men. She is a mutant – meaning she was born with her superpowers. Her powers happen to be rather incredible. She can control the weather. There is no scientific explanation that I can offer for how such a genetic mutation can give a human being the power to control the weather, but the idea is kind of interesting to me. She has a kind of personality that is quite interesting. She is very fleshed out in the comic books and in the cartoons. You get to see where she came from, why she joined the X-Men, and why she continues to fight. She was born in Africa and worshipped as a Goddess for a time. Some of what was most interesting stories explored how that had to shape her. Amazingly she doesn’t seem to be proud or haughty. She treats everyone the same and has become a great leader. Unfortunately she isn’t fleshed out the same in the live-action movies. She is important that is why she is in the movies but she doesn’t have a whole lot of lines or character development and I think that it is sad. I admit that in terms of theology, aside from the morality she represents, there is very little of God seen in the character. She is easily one of the most powerful members of the X-Men and is often called upon when they really need a "big gun". What I mean by Morality is that she has embrace the idea that all humans - mutant and normals can be a brothers and sisters and protecting others even if those she is protecting hate her. A very Christian attitude.

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Black Comics Characters - War Machine

War Machine is almost one of my favorite comic book characters of all time. Not just because he's black but although he started out as one of Iron Man's supporting characters he has become so vital to the legend of the character that you can't talk about Iron Man without talking about him in his war machine armor or sans armor. His real name is Jim Rhodes. Sometimes characters seem to take on a life of their own and seemingly grow beyond the intentions of the writer. The first writer and artist to bring Jim Rhodes into the Iron Man stories have said that Jim is that kind of character. He went from being one of the supporting characters to Iron Man's closest friend. So close that Rhodes actually filled in for Iron Man. As the years went by, Rhodes was given a suit by Iron man and began operating independently. He had his own solo series during the mid 1990's and now because of his soaring popularity, Marvel is giving his own series again. Put another way, when Iron Man was made into a movie for 2008, Jim Rhodes was put into the movie also. This post has pictures of Jim Rhodes inside and outside the armor. At one point, Rhodes wore alien armor (that is the armor that looks total different from Iron Man).

Rhodes has been depicted in almost every single media that are in use today

Television:



Comics



















Movies



Mugen

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Mugen Spider-man

Here is another mugen demo. It's me cim aontrolling The Spider-man character created by Eradicator. I love this version of the character because he is fun to fight with and really powerful. I like it better than the version of the character in Capcom's Marvel Superheroes. It's great. I found him at Eradicator's website.

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Mugen Demo - Superman

Mugen is a customizable video game engine. It allows you to create your own fighting games. You choose the characters you include, the stages, the music, and all the things that come to mind. It plays just like all 2-D fighting games I have grown up with. The difference is that the player has more control. It is completely international and user driven. The content can be developed personally. All the characters I have (over 1000) came from various creators on the internet from around the world. Some of the characters I have are very fun to play and to watch because they have been created and program so well just like professional games. People trade characters and mugen content like Baseball cards. I have much to say on this. I have been working with mugen since September 2007 when I stumbled across recorded fight in mugen games posted on YouTube. I plan to do a series of fights with different characters and post them here and in YouTube from time to time. Here is a demo of me as Superman fighting a few different characters. First I fought Jubilee and had an easy time. Then I got owned by Ryo, but eventually won. Then I fought a sword character, and then computer controlled Superman.



Here is another one me (as Superman) vs M. Bison from the Street Fighter video game series. This one has no sound.

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