Her eyes point off to one side. Her mouth curls downward as if being tugged by a fishhook. She tilts her head back and bellows. Himeka stands out before she even starts reaching her into bag of facial tricks as we saw the instant that she signed with STARDOM last summer. Her shoulders are broader. The current co-holder alongside Maika of the Goddess of Stardom Championship is impressively strong. She flings opponents around. When the Donna Del Mondo crew pose in the ring together, leader Giulia usually stands in front hauling in much of the attention.
Himeka is poised in the back, stoic with a touch of a smirk, her tough-guy intensity softened by her undeniable likability. She looks all at once amused, delighted, mischievous. Look at her when she is on the attack, ready to clock Utami with a forearm. Her eyes widen.
A scream rips from her lungs. Aggression, intensity — a palpable wildness color her face. See Himeka slide from fury to fun as she picks up stablemate Natsupoi. Suddenly, the enraged predator is a charming goofball.
This version of her has lovable sidekick energy. This is the Himeka you half expect to burst into a song about friendship. But that Himeka variant is temporary. As they all are. She goes from thrilled to terrified, snarling to snickering with the deftness of a rabbit zigzagging from its prey. To fully appreciate her matches and her personality, try to blink as little as possible.
If you look away for a second, you might miss her prowling in the background as her fellow DDM member Syuri goes for a pin, Himeka howling in pure glee, a tear laugh emoji come to life.
