All About Anime: Ladies Night- The Strongest Rolling Girls In The World

It's another All About Anime and today we are talking about two shows with a primarily female cast.  Both of these are recent additions to anime's illustrious line-up coming out within the last two years.  The pro wrestling anime Wanna Be The Strongest In The World debuted in 2013 in Japan, but came out only recently in English, and the coming-of-age zany action-comedy The Rolling Girls which is brand-new in 2015 in both English and Japanese.  Both feature strong women, hard work, weird jokes, and amazing animation. 

Pop idol by day, pro wrestler by night
"Not the face" has to be in Sakura's contract

Wanna Be The Strongest In The World tells the story of Sakura Hagiwara, a pop music idol who is a member of the group Sweet Diva.  She is their lead star when the group arranges a press event where the idols go to a local women's wrestling promotion Berserk to try out.  While there, one of Sakura's teammates in Sweet Diva speaks disparagingly of wrestling and irks one of the stars of Berserk, Rio.  Rio is angry and prideful, thinking it is disgusting that mere pop idols can assume they can make it in pro wrestling.  She takes the position of the long-term and established veteran who just hasn't made their own title run, but everyone has to go through in order to reach the next level... think Tyler Breeze's position in NXT with boobs and a camel clutch. Sakura steps into the ring to face Rio and it leads her into the world of pro wrestling full-time seeking a chance to be strong. Not just strong, but the Strongest in the World.

Comic Critique: Thor, The Goddess of Thunder

Marvel Comics have done much to bring a more balanced view of the world in the last several years.  We have had Carol Danvers step up to the mantle of Captain Marvel, becoming the preeminent female superhero of the Marvel Universe. We have had newcomer fangirl Kamala Khan take up her idol’s mantle in kind by becoming the new Ms. Marvel.  Spider-Man spinoff characters Silk and Spider-Gwen have sprang to life, with the latter actually outselling Spider-Man himself multiple times.  Storm, She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, Black Widow, Squirrel Girl, and others have gotten their own ongoing series.  No longer relegated to limited series or team member status, women are finally getting a spotlight in the center of the Marvel Universe.

She may seem all fun and games, but don't tickle Thor.
Seriously. Don't tickle Thor.

Floating high in space (and sometimes grounded down in the middle of Oklahoma), the shining citadel of Asgard has always represented the pinnacle of power in Marvel.  The Mighty Thor was the hero who seemed to be simply entertained by joining with his friends and their mortal adventures. After all, he is a god and they are just men.  The world of Thor is one of the few in Marvel Comics that allows for a more “pure” fantasy experience.  Where the others are often in New York and occasionally travel to other parts of the world, with the rare few exploring new worlds across the cosmos, Thor with a swing of his hammer and a call out for the Bifrost can be in a lush green forest filled with elves, or an icy mountainous landscape where he must face the Frost Giants, or a dark murky bog with all sorts of mythical beasts.  Thor’s writers are never as constrained by any of the rules that hold back other heroes.  In fact, to me, Thor’s best stories are when he’s just doing his thing in any of the Nine Realms EXCEPT Midgard (Earth to us Muggles… wait, I mean humans). With Mjolnir at his side, he was the only hero who was worthy of this power.