character and title: Color refined rendition of Minako Nagahama/Lovely Saber from "Lovely Saber"

Minako Nagahama is a Tokyo private high school student who lives a normal life like any other girl. Until a mysterious tall stranger approached her and told her that she is the reincarnation of a legendary powerful female warrior named Lovely Saber. Minako laughed at this remark thinking it was some sort of sick joke, until the stranger “reawakened” her “spirit”. Regaining consciousness, she woke up dressed in nothing aside from a purple and gray leotard, became the sword-wielding heroine. Confused and frustrated, Minako had some trouble being a superheroine. But with the help of her friends at school: Jun, a science-savvy freshman and Ken, an American comic book otaku, and later a talking cat, a young hotshot CIA operative and a skeptical veteran Interpol detective, Minako learns all the hopes of being a hero as she faces against a mysterious terrorist organization called Silver Phantom, which hold the key to Minako’s past lives as Lovely Saber.

Minako is a serious, coolheaded young girl, especially towards handsome young students and upperclassmen, but sometimes has a fun-loving side when she’s alone with Jun and Ken in their comic book club at school. Minako is naïve when it comes to defending the world from evil. She is more like a fish-out-of-water when it comes to being a hero. However, she can always trust in her friends to help her learn the basics and to help her master her powers. Minako likes to live like an ordinary girl, but she is now obligated to have a responsibility to protect the people of Earth from the coming threat of Silver Phantom, and their plans to dominate the world. Her favorite hobbies are reading comic books, fencing, and track and field. Her favorite food is fried shrimp. She hates over-confident and cocky boys, and bullies who pick on other students.

Minako is given a watch/wrist apparatus fitted in her left hand to transform into Lovely Saber. She holds up her left arm and shouts “Saber… Transmute!” then her clothes explodes, leaving her naked; her hair turned long and orange in color (Minako has short purple hair with long bangs) and her battle costume regenerates. While Minako is an ordinary normal human being, with the exceptions of a telepathic “emergency radar”, where she can sense distress calls, and powered vision, enabling her to see in distances far beyond her normal sight (similar to Thundercats’ Lion-O’s “Sight beyond sight” ); as Lovely Saber, she possesses superhuman powers like super-speed, enhanced agility, ability to shoot power beams from her hands, self-healing capabilities and lightning-fast reflexes. Minako is a champion-caliber fencer with extensive training on other sword fighting techniques, including handling of oriental-based swords and martial arts impalements. She is also a black belt in karate, judo, kung fu, wrestling, and American-style boxing. She is a professional-level gymnast and track and field athlete. As Lovely Saber, Minako can generate a fencing sword as her sole weapon, which she used in various combat and tactical situations (including a superhuman ability to fend of bullets and automatic weapons fire). Her sword can also transform into other melee weapons such as a katana, a Bo staff, a baton, and a double or single-bladed spear. Saber is arguably the fastest woman alive, if not the fastest human, on Earth: and can run up to speeds up to 5,000 miles per hour, and can use that ability for super-spinning, generating human-made tornadoes, and other speed-related powers. She is somewhat vulnerable to physical attacks, but has ultra-fast self-healing properties that can heal wounds can scars in battle. Minako is currently studying diplomacy, politics and international relations, as well as archeology and ancient civilizations.

Influences/inspirations:
- Cutie Honey (Cutie Honey)
- Aika Sumeragi (Aika R-16: Virgin Mission)
- Madoka (*ken1171’s excellent 3d model character)
- Zorro
- Snow White (Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) (costume aspects)
- The Flash (DC Comics) (super-speed aspects)
- Cheetarah (Thundercats) (super-speed aspects)
- Lion-O (Thundercats) (powered vision aspect)

NOTE: Lovely Saber's transformation is a combination of the change sequence from Gatchaman and the transformation sequence of Cutie Honey.