Meet The Nunchuck Princess: A Real-life Video Game Girl
The Nunchuck Princess is truly a badass video game character come to life. She has been amassing devoted fans worldwide with her crazy nunchuck skills and is inspiring a new tribe of women and non-binary creatives and athletes of mixed-Asian heritage through her collective Bugeisha Club. sabukaru were lucky enough to catch up with her on her recent trip to Tokyo.
Mana Kimura-Anderson - that’s her civilian, off-duty name - is a London-based art director of mixed-Japanese descent who has worked with the likes of Burberry and Loewe. On a mission to master everything from archery to kickboxing to bouldering, she’s getting ready to survive the apocalypse - and looks so cool whilst doing it.
The nunchucks - or nunchaku - are a traditional Japanese martial arts weapon from Okinawa. They were popularised by actor and martial artist Bruce Lee in the 1972 Hong Kong film Fist of Fury - who dons the iconic head-to-toe yellow and black fit which inspired Uma Thurman’s get-up in Kill Bill. Such is a testament to the potent visual iconography which surrounds martial arts men and women throughout pop culture.
The Nunchuck Princess is a contemporary heiress to such iconography. Down to her striking yellow Onitsuka Tigers that punctuate every highkick she does, Mana plays with this imagery - and constructs herself as a character in real-life.
Importantly, this is a character written by a woman, for women. From Chun Li to Beatrix Kiddo, female fighters in the media usually perpetuate a narrow visual code - one which is glossy, hyperbolic, and highly sexualised or appearance-oriented. But martial arts are not merely a source of visual pleasure. They are a source of strength and a useful skill. By pulling the legacy of these women out of the 2D and into reality, The Nunchuck Princess transforms them from things to be looked at into an active and complex - and most importantly, human - persona.
By founding Bugeisha Club, hosting various workshops, and co-ordinating a nunchuck army via Discord, The Nunchuck Princess is connective and impactful. Instead of being an agent of on-screen conflict, she brings people together; creating and empowering a real community of women and non-binary people around her.
On a rainy afternoon at an old Tokyo kissaten, sabukaru met with Mana to discuss everything from female samurai to the power of sisterhood over milk tea and melon sodas. We then took to the streets of Akihabara to run around in badass, vigilante-style for a photoshoot - manifesting Electric Town as our very own video-game cityscape for the night.
Can you start by introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about what you do?
My name is Mana, also known as The Nunchuck Princess, and I'm born and raised in London. I’m half-Japanese. Now I am preparing for the apocalypse as well as running a girl gang called Bugeisha Club and moonlighting as an art director.
You are the one and only Nunchuck Princess. What inspired this persona, and where did your love for nunchucks begin?
I think from the start it wasn't ever really about the nunchucks - it was more about creating this character. I've always had a love for video game characters or movie characters - I think I was always trying to find these women whose world I could live in but couldn't ever really find them.
A friend had very briefly introduced me to nunchucks when we were working at Burberry; she whipped them out at the office one morning. This was years ago, but it must have left an impression. What I'd gathered then was that how you learnt felt quite similar to practising an instrument; it was very skill-based and you'd do it over and over again. I thought it could sort of fill a gap that I was trying to fill. So I thought okay, you know what? It's nunchucks.
At the time I was freelancing, and I think there's a certain anxiety that looms over your head every day, like “Why am I not working?”. My mum's a piano teacher and I grew up doing a lot of classical music. I learned violin and viola, and I was gonna try to be an opera singer, but it meant that, during my childhood, every day was centred around practising an instrument and the ritual of doing something over and over again. I think after not having touched an instrument or practised for so many years, I felt like I was missing that kind of thing in my life now.
Around the same time, I thought I would try and teach myself how to character design, like 3D modelling. I downloaded Blender and there's a YouTube tutorial where you make a doughnut - I think I got as far as maybe the shape. I was like this is taking way too long and I don't have the patience for this so I thought it would be quicker just to become the character myself.
I’d never imagined that it would end up taking on a life of its own. It’s even ended up fulfilling and healing so much of my inner child along the way.
I'm now very aware that, even when I started, The Nunchuck Princess is very much a persona. And I think for me, as Mana, my default is being quite shy, so it's liberating for me to be on the internet as a completely different person: a person that fits into that world that I was trying to find these characters in. So, day-to-day I might not be The Nunchuck Princess, but instead The Nunchuck Princess is who I was trying to find as a kid.
Where did the name ‘The Nunchuck Princess’ come from?
I think it probably started from my very first Instagram handle ‘Princess Kimura’. And then I ended up designing my ‘Princess’ necklace with the help of a couple of friends when I was living in LA. I mean, that’s the problem with trying to find a ‘Princess’ necklace - you know, you Google it and they’re all in cursive, pretty fonts. But I wanted it in capitals; a style that you usually wouldn’t associate with the word. So the whole ‘Nunchuck Princess’ name and persona is kind of playing into that sort of contrast.
Why did you decide to video-document your nunchuck journey?
Videoing myself, in the beginning, was only ever for me. I wanted to start a new hobby which I would, for once, try and stick to for more than a couple of weeks. So recording myself and posting was essentially a diary to be able to look back on whilst also being able to keep myself accountable. And I find it funny - the evolution of those videos and The Nunchuk Princess as a character. Because it's me and it's not really me, especially when I'm being serious. So if I laugh at the end of a video that's breaking character.
You are a founder of Bugeisha Club. Can you explain to us what it is, and the mission behind it?
It initially started as an agency where I was managing female talent. So it was really about protecting my friends first and foremost, but also their incredible talent in what often can be quite hostile industries. And then off the back of that, it morphed into what is now a collective and essentially a group of friends who are all mixed Asian heritage and live across this world of sports as well as doing something creative. So, you know, someone could be a dancer, but also, a videographer or a musician and a martial artist. I'm very aware of how niche it can be, but for me, it was never really about the numbers. It was more just about finding a family and finding this space for us.
I think as well, being mixed and an only child, I have been on a journey of trying to find my sisters. I think the older I've gotten, the more I've deeply respected the power of the female community.
Can you explain what the word ‘Bugeisha’ means?
So a Bugeisha is from feudal Japan. Otherwise known as Onna-musha, which is a female samurai. They were often called upon when the men couldn't do their jobs well enough and these women would protect the women and children of the villages and act as reinforcement.
Women, of course, have this strength, and I loved that way back when, from that era and culture where women often aren't seen as being able to have these roles in society, that they did. Even just the imagery as well. If you Google it, it's all really beautiful. So I was always very fascinated by that world.
Why do you feel that women and non-binary people in the creative industries and sports need spaces like this?
I think It can be very isolating, especially from my personal experience. I'm so aware of how lucky even I was to be in London, but even then, in one of the most multicultural cities in the world, I still was a minority. You know - in some circumstances, you might not belong there. So I think with these spaces It's about showing and proving that there is a space for us. I remember the first shoot I ever did where it was all it was an all-female set and it was incredible. It was so fun - even today, there's just a different energy. I think especially as minorities we are often conditioned to believe that there's only space for one of us, whereas, if there's one of you, it just means that you have the opportunity to open that door up for everyone else as well. So I think within these communities and friends and spaces it's about showing that there's really room for all of us and that only strengthens us as well.
Photography by João Barreiros
On your website, it says that Bugeisha Club exists between parallels, including creative and athletic, fierce and kind… what's the idea behind that?
It's really off the back of media and popular culture that often women are sort of shoeboxed into very two-dimensional characters. But humans are very complex creatures and I think it's just about showing that we aren’t only ever one thing or another and showing the beautiful complexity of human nature and feminity.
Having a mixed Japanese background, you must’ve been exposed to Japanese culture at a young age. How did this influence you growing up?
Ghibli was my childhood and I think especially growing up in a Western country, where you're fed all of Disney, I didn't have anyone else in popular culture that looked like me or had the same background as me. Whereas suddenly I was watching these Ghibli films where there are these young girls who exist, in a sense, in another universe. I think when you're mixed you exist in this shared version of reality because you don’t fit into the boxes that society tries to put you in.. A friend introduced me to the term ‘Third Culture Kid’ the other day and thinking about it now I feel like Ghibli exists in that third culture universe too. And the subjects that the films explore; it's not about a prince coming to save you, it's about nature and it's about more than just good versus evil. It's about all the grey areas in between, with these very - I hate the term strong female characters, but that's what they are in the best sense of the phrase. They have all the complexities and the range exactly like humans have.
How has your Japanese heritage informed your notion of female empowerment?
Of course, Japan's got a stereotype for still being very conservative and having very consigned gender roles, which I always really struggled with. I think especially because I was raised by my mom, and her family from Japan is actually very matriarchal. My grandparents took my grandma's name, which I’m pretty sure is very rare. And she was a real force of a woman. So I think in terms of my Kimura blood I'm very grateful that I had that example and saw what could exist in Japan.
But they were still very traditional. I was still told to cross my legs when I sat on the train or that I wasn't lady-like enough, or even had comments made about my weight or how dark my skin was in the summer. When I wore a kimono I think the concept was suddenly made so physical - where you're really bound and you can't breathe. You can’t run. It's to the point where your walking is literally shuffling and I remember my aunt saying to me, “You have to stop walking with wide strides,” which I got defensive about and she explained it’s because I'll unravel the dress. But even in that sense, you have to conform to a certain way of being.
What was it like being mixed and growing up in London?
I feel like there are a lot of struggles, but there are a lot of bright sides. Like finding kinship with your fellow mixed kids; there's a bond that I've not really been able to find as much with other people. Because it's this third culture universe that you can't explain and can only be sort of understood through experience. So I think the kinship is definitely the bright side, and being able to see the world through a different perspective.
My mom used to make me bento, which was a bit of a struggle. I think that even in London as a kid, people point at your seaweed like “What's that like black thing?” And at that age I buckled; I went home and asked my mum if she could make me sandwiches instead.
The struggles I'd say for me were also always visiting Japan and, having grown up in London where I was fortunate enough to not have to think twice about how I look, suddenly being made to feel aware of how other I was, especially when I used to visit my family in Shizuoka where I used to go to school for two weeks every year and at the time I loved it for sure. But I think it's only really been this year that it was a very conscious effort to come back and experience my own version of Japan, not through the eyes of my family, and it's been incredible.
Photography by João Barreiros
Your image is inspired by female video game characters. A lot of badass women in video games can centre on objectifying depictions. Do you think we can still be empowered by those characters?
I think It's really about being able to choose what you decide to be or what you want to be inspired or empowered by. And I think for me it was the fact that you had the option to play these female characters and still win against male characters who in most cases were double the size and wearing double the armour. I think it's the idea that you can be the most powerful whilst playing a female character.
Personally, outside of gaming, I still lean towards films now where there's not so much of a male gaze. The Woman King was incredible and about halfway through I was like I bet this is directed by a woman - and it was. And I think that's the perfect example for me of women and their stories being told by a woman. And I think In the gaming world, that's why I love the option of being able to personalize the characters. So like in Elder Scrolls, for example, the customization is crazy. Especially versus something like Zelda where obviously like you'll be playing this white, blonde, elf boy.
We love video games at sabukaru. Are there any video games that hold a special place in your heart?
Growing up the standouts for me were SSX Tricky, Tekken 2, Spyro, Ratchet and Clank, and Star Wars Battlefront. Sims. But now it's Fortnite quite religiously. I tried to get into Call of Duty, but the abuse you get is so overwhelming that it just wasn't worth it. I got heavily into Minecraft. Over lockdown, there were like four or five of us every night that would play together going through phases of different games and that really got me through the whole ordeal.
What are your favourite hobbies? We know you have a lot.
Gaming. Bouldering is great cause I can take my shoes whenever I travel. And archery. I got into it because I watched a past life meditation on TikTok. It came up and I was like, “Sure, yeah, I got a couple of minutes” and thought nothing of it. So I was listening, meditating, and then, shit, you know, I had this image of me on a horse on an empty battlefield with a quiver on my back. So literally then and there I found an archery taster course and I was pretty good at it. And then I signed up for a five-week course afterwards and I've been obsessed with it ever since.
The nunchucks have evolved past being a hobby now. I'm not going to call it a job, but it's somewhere in between a hobby and a job. I think because it's not mine anymore - it's the Nunchuck Princess’ - especially when I'm filming myself, that's not necessarily me.
What’s next for you?
I'm planning on going to Thailand to do a self-defence camp for a month, which I'm really excited about. So I'm going to be training in Krav Magar, Muay Thai, boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Obviously, I have on paper a genuine interest in martial arts, but other than teaching myself the nunchucks, I don't really have anything to prove for it. I want that month to really set a foundation for me to learn something. Even when I started going to the gym, when my PT asked me what my goals were, I was like, ‘I want to be strong enough to be able to beat up a man.’I think especially as I develop The Nunchuck Princess, it's about adding those skill sets with it, alongside nunchucks and archery and horseriding. It's now the combat side.
I’m also starting to get curious about motorsports though - or at least get my motorbike licence. I don’t wanna jinx it but I’ll have to see which one I’d be least likely to die doing. And maybe I’ll move to Tokyo next year!
What are your proudest accomplishments so far, as The Nunchuck Princess, and as Mana?
I think as The Nunchuck Princess the most unexpected thing off the back of it is other people, in particular women, being inspired by what I’ve been doing, whether it's starting nunchucks or any sport and the community I’ve been blessed with. I have an internet friend who, when I first started, messaged me saying thanks so much for introducing it to her, because she's now closer with her dad. Turns out he had always really liked nunchucks, and they're now bonding over it despite him living on the other side of the country. So it's like these crazy stories that essentially strangers will tell me. I'm quite proud of myself - not that I had anything to do with those specific experiences - but for the fact that I've been at least some part of those very beautiful moments in other people's lives.
For me, as Mana, I'm proud of where I'm at in terms of my mental health because it's something that I've struggled with for the majority of my life, and - shout out to my therapist - I've essentially graduated therapy now. I think it's ongoing for the rest of all of our lives, but knowing where I came from, way back when or even just as a kid, I'm so deeply proud of myself for being where I am now.
What advice would The Nunchuck Princess give to your younger self?
I would tell her that it gets better and to just like stick with it. Just worry about being kind and worry less about what other people think of you. And believe in yourself.
What advice would you give to women and non-binary people who feel discouraged from pursuing careers and hobbies in men-dominated athletic and creative spaces?
In terms of advice, don't feel as if you have to stick to the status quo. If you have these ideas then do it. I think the beauty of the internet nowadays is the kind of endless opportunities that you can essentially make for yourself - and which I think actually sabukaru does incredibly well for a lot of young creatives.
Also that there's a space for us. I like to always say that if I can help, I will, and I hope that in doing so it creates a chain for everyone else. I actually often feel that when I'm driving my car - like if you are at a stressful intersection or something and someone lets you in it's amazing, and so then I want to do the same for someone else on that journey. And I think it can be the same in terms of our careers. I think I'm very proud of our generation, where if we were treated badly as interns, for example, it means that we're not going to do the same when we're in those positions of power.
And find your people I would say. And cherish them deeply, because I think if you only care about yourself it's going to get very lonely very quickly. But also be just as prepared to let people go. I think when you find your people and you come up in the world together, that's what makes it worth it.
