DCEU works with a lot of interesting characters, some of whom have had multiple portrayals. One of them is Tatsu Yamashiro, better known as Katana, who willingly joins the Suicide Squad in order to guard Rick Flag. Comic book readers might be familiar with Katana, even though she's not as well-known as other superheroes. That's despite the fact she also appeared on the TV show Arrow where she first stood against the titular hero and then fought alongside him.
Actresses Karen Fukuhara and Rila Fukushima both created their own interpretations of the comic book heroine. Their characters vary in great detail, especially considering they faced different life circumstances. That makes it so much easier to compare which portrayal of Katana is more comic book accurate.
10 Karen Fukuhara Is Comic Accurate: She's Fluent In Japanese And English
Both Arrow and Suicide Squad make it obvious that Katana can speak both Japanese and English fluently as she does in the comics.
However, the film puts even more emphasis on it since Katana uses Japanese to talk to her sword but she can just as quickly switch to English and use it to interact with the Suicide Squad when she feels the need to do so.
9 Rila Fukushima Is Better: She Has The Same Outfit
Superhero outfits are an extremely important part of their image. If avid comic book readers feel that the outfit is wrong, they'll question how much the filmmakers know or care about the subject matter.
On Arrow, Tatsu sports a suit that will be familiar to some of the comic book readers. The reason for this is that in the Prime Earth continuity, Tatsu has the exact same suit as she does on the show. The one for Suicide Squad was a bit more unique.
8 Karen Fukuhara Is Comic Accurate: She Works In The USA
On Arrow, Katana mostly appears in episodes that take place in Japan. However, in Suicide Squad, she works in the USA. Viewers not familiar with the comics might not realize this also happened on those pages as well.
Tatsu went to America after she had completed her fighting training with a samurai Tadashi. Once in the USA, her goal was to fight for justice as a vigilante.
7 Rila Fukushima Is Better: She Fought Alongside Green Arrow
Oliver Queen's personality on Arrow is much closer to Batman than the actual Green Arrow, as the readers know him from the comics. That doesn't change the fact that Rila Fukushima's Katana has a strong connection with Green Arrow. She not only saves his life but also helps him rescue countless others.
Despite her initial reluctance to help Oliver when he first comes to Hong Kong, the two eventually become friends. In the comics, Katana has fought alongside both Green Arrow and the above-mentioned Batman when she was a member of the Justice League. So her Arrow association with the titular hero fits the comics well.
6 Karen Fukuhara Is Comic Accurate: She Has Impressive Fighting Skills
Katana isn't one of the main characters on Suicide Squad (that honor goes to Harley Quinn and Deadshot) but she still uses her considerable fighting skills to save the day more than once.
Just like in the comics, the film's Katana is well-versed at handling swords as well as hand-to-hand combat. What makes this even more comic book accurate, is that Karen Fukuhara actually possesses knowledge of martial arts and before she got the part, she was asked to demonstrate her skills.
5 Rila Fukushima Is Better: She's An Actual Hero
Suicide Squad portrayed Katana as more of an antihero (after all, a hero typically wouldn't work with the Suicide Squad in the first place) but in the comics, she's an actual hero.
In this way, Rila Fukushima's portrayal is closer to the comics as her Katana joins forces with the heroes multiple times and helps them fight evil. She's also the one who nurtures Oliver back to health after Ra's al Ghul stabs him and lets him fall to his presumed death.
4 Karen Fukuhara Is Comic Accurate: She's A Member Of An Actual Team
Joining forces with other superheroes is something a lot of superheroes try at one point or another. So did Katana, even though her association with the Suicide Squad is a bit different than what the comics told.
In the comics, Katana was also a member of a team, but not the Suicide Squad. Instead, she joined a team called The Outsiders and as its name suggests, its members were relatively unknown heroes. What's more, she even became one of the members of the Justice League.
3 Rila Fukushima Is Better: She Had A Child
Being a parent in the Arrowverse doesn't always end well, considering all the dangers and challenges the heroes face. Katana's story is a good example of that.
She once had a son named Yuki but he died tragically which led to Tatsu and her husband Maseo breaking up. Katana was also a mother in the comics, as she and Maseo had twin girls called Yuki and Reiko.
2 Karen Fukuhara Is Comic Accurate: Her Husband's Soul Is Trapped In Her Sword
The fact that Katana has her husband's soul trapped in her sword - called Soultaker - is one of the first (and only) things Suicide Squad reveals about her.
The same thing happened in the comics where Tatsu realized Maseo's soul was in the sword and that she could even communicate with him after she had taken the blade from the man who had killed Maseo.
1 Rila Fukushima Is Better: Her Family Dies
The circumstances of the death of Tatsu's family were different in the comics but that doesn't change the fact that she lost her husband and her child(ren) both in the Arrowverse and in the comics.
As mentioned, Tatsu's son Akio died during the attack. Tatsu was then the one to take Maseo's life as he went and joined the League of the Assassins which ultimately led to them fighting each other. The story went differently in the comics, as Maseo's brother Takeo challenged him to a duel and it led to both Maseo and the twins dying.
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June 18, 2021 at 12:00AM
