Riverworld

Once again the tragic romantic heroine, Tomoe Gozen has also appeared in the English miniseries Riverworld (2010) based of the science-fiction series of the same name. In the movie, a number of people from many different time periods are reincarnated, but with little original memory of their old life. Tomoe first appears looking like this:

From her clothing, another person realizes she is a bhikkuni, or female Buddhist nun, and then uncovers her identity gradually. A major part of her sub-plot is her romance with Yoshinaka, who she was a consort for and is the reason she became a nun, since she could never love again and a monastery was the only place that would allow her to remain unmarried.

Of course, the details are all messed up to facilitate such a romantic connection. Tomoe assists Yoshinaka in committing seppuku after an unnamed battle by cutting off his head (in horrendously inaccurate leather armor). We also see her commit suicide herself, the final words on her lips being "I will find you".

Tomoe also takes an active leadership role and is a formidable warrior in the movie. She is the one that draws together a small fighting force and actually forges their weapons (something I wouldn't have had a clue how to do- that's work for craftsmen).

She is also portrayed as a proud, brave and skilled swords woman. Unfortunately, she fights using two katana which she wears slung across her back. First of all, this is incredibly useless for me, as it is much harder to draw weapons of that sort from behind, rather than from the belt, but also Musashi Miyamoto's two sword style would not be developed for four centuries after I had died and even then it was not for two katana. Oh well, can't win them all. This representation is meant to be a portrait of a strong, modern woman who also has some softness to her.