Enchanting Underutilized Characters: Part 1

Pop quiz: How many of the seven characters in the image below can you immediately identify?

Popular anime, manga, and video game characters are often instantly recognizable due to one or more unique defining traits involving hair color/design, eye color/shape, body proportions, facial features, attire/accessories, and voice acting. With the multitude of characters already in existence nowadays, I suspect character designers have to put a lot of effort into creating new lead characters that are both appealing and memorable. On occasion, very minor, sometimes insignificant, characters will also receive the same detailed treatment. A good non-anime example is Star Wars' Boba Fett... Although he had only four lines of dialogue in the original trilogy, his unique costume and enigmatic presence made him one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe.

I am simultaneously infuriated and fascinated when shows take this "minor character" aspect to an extreme. When new stunning character designs are introduced and then suddenly killed off mere moments later, part of me feels cheated by their brief existence. (One must wonder if the original artists who invested so much time in these characters' elaborate designs feel the same way). With that being said, though, such insignificant characters are often more captivating and intriguing than lead characters due to the overwhelming and powerful sense of pity evoked when they meet such abruptly tragic ends. In addition, the lack of any knowledge about their past, personalities, and motivations sparks the imagination to fill in the gaps.

This will be the first of a series of posts in which I will explore specific characters in anime, hentai, and manga who do not get the screen time they so considerably deserve. SPOILER ALERT: I will be discussing very minor character deaths... so minor that they have no significant bearing on the plot and could hardly be considered spoilers. There are to be NO discussions regarding spoilers for major or significant minor characters. Please adhere to this if you leave any comments... Thank you!

Unnamed Black World Red-Dressed Seductress
The erotic thriller Wicked City was my very first foray into the world of Japanese animation, and I vividly recall its shocking imagery when I saw it many years ago. This movie dares to treat eroticism with stylized dignity, and the sex scenes, unlike most hentai titles, do not overshadow or detract from the plot but instead complement it. Each of the three female antagonists are portrayed as very strong individuals and have wonderfully conceived demonic powers themed around their genitalia or breasts: The spider-lady flaunts a tooth-lined vagina that can quite literally dismember those who are unfortunate enough to be lured inside. The massage parlor woman's large breasts dissolve to ensnare fondling hands as well as covertly expel parasites through their nipples. The highlight, though, is the third female antagonist whose character designer was especially imaginative...

Just over halfway into the movie, a woman in a scarlet-red form-fitting sleeveless sheath dress makes an appearance. Her similarly red-shaded lips, fingernails, and heels complement her long dark wavy hair that completely obscures the right side of her face. A beauty mark below her lips, a very narrow purple left eye, an elaborately designed earring, and a gold headband complete her beautiful visual design. With the camera clearly focused on her firm buttocks, she walks silently towards her victim (main character Taki) save for the echoing clicks of her heels. Her brief pause with her hand at her hip serves to accentuate her curvaceous body. However, viewers do not get an opportunity to admire her fully attired status for long as she proceeds to slowly push aside the upper straps of her dress. Click on the image to the right to revel in the beauty of her undeniably graceful animated disrobing... Note the detail in how the dress briefly catches on her left nipple as it starts to fall as well as the manner in which she slowly uncrosses her arms to let the weight of the dress do all the work as it gently slides itself down off her body. The subsequent revelation that she wears no undergarments is a delightful surprise, and a close-up of her coy smile and slow narrowing of her eyes concludes her majestic poise. Seriously: This woman gives the phrase "knowing how to make an entrance" a whole new meaning.

Having clearly established that she is proficient in utilizing her body in conventional seduction techniques, she further augments her seduction by employing hypnosis via an earring that produces a mesmerizing ringing sound as it spins. Now perhaps I am looking too far into it, but the earring's heart-within-a-heart design seems so very appropriate for her. The heart shape has often been considered an abstraction of a female's spread vulva. (In this case, is it just a coincidence that the small sphere at the outer heart's upper cusp is in the same position as the clitoris would be?) The lack of such a sphere on the inner heart would imply that it represents a different person altogether. Now why would her earring symbolize someone completely surrounded by a spread vulva? I wonder... ^_^

With her nude body on prominent display, the woman suddenly unveils her unique and shocking Black World ability. Click on the image to the left to see how she quickly opens a large fissure on her stomach, extending all the way from between her breasts down to her pubic area. With each pulse of this throbbing vaginal-shaped orifice, streams of fluid squirt outwards, clearly intending to represent a state of feminine sexual arousal. It is at this point she finally reveals her calm soothing voice while, in one very slow yet enticing motion, she curls the fingers on her extended left hand, retracts the hand towards her body, and invitingly inserts its fingernails inside her large vagina while moaning sensually. O_O

With Taki appearing to be completely bewitched, he slowly approaches her and actually "enters" her body while she lets out an orgasmic yet controlled outcry. Unfortunately, the scene has resorted to a series of close-ups that sadly leaves the actual entering of his body into hers to the viewer's imagination. With the inside of her vagina represented by fluids slowly dripping down the screen, she then reveals that interrogation is her true motive behind this elaborate seduction.

However, the pleasure-filled atmosphere comes to a jarring halt as Taki reveals that he has been playing her the entire time. Without saying a word, he takes advantage of her completely vulnerable state and promptly shoots his powerful gun directly into the center of her large vagina... Unfortunately for her, I am not speaking metaphorically. Amidst this unsettling mood shift, the fact that none of the characters show concern over or even simply acknowledge her misfortune is downright inconsiderate of her incredible character design. Even the movie itself completely disregards her death with the camera panning away as she falls away into the darkness, never to be seen again.

Unlike the former two female antagonists, she never showed any intent to inflict harm upon Taki or any of the characters. For all we know, she could have simply been a source of raw, unbelievable pleasure used as a unique interrogation tool by the Black World. By falling victim to Taki's feigned seduction, she is yet another example of the classic "tricked and made vulnerable" demise so unfortunately common amongst female antagonists.

The passing of this mysterious enchantress sparks the imagination to no end. Did she physically take Taki's body into hers? Was that large opening actually a portal to an alternate "vaginal dimension"? Given her obvious experience in this technique, what did she do with her previous victims once she successfully seduced and interrogated them? Did she ever seduce a female in this manner? What is her name?! I demand a prequel... Wicked City: The Red Dress Chronicles. ^_^