Kasumi (Dead or Alive) - Reception

Reception

Kasumi has been received well among gaming fans and professional critics for both her sex appeal and martial arts abilities. In 1998, Computer and Video Games featured her as its Star of the Month, commenting: "She's so sexy, and so deadly (and so a-lively)," while Sega Saturn Magazine featured her on a cover along with a caption stating "Drop dead gorgeous!" in capital letters. Talking about her popularity in Japan, Itagaki claimed in 2004: "It's almost like there are too many Kasumi covers. If you look at Japanese magazines, maybe 10% of them have Kasumi on their cover." According to Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku, in Japan "Kasumi is nothing short of an icon." In 2005, Kasumi won in G4 TV show Video Game Vixens in the category "Dressed to Kill". Professional gamer Margorie "Kasumi Chan" Bartell took her pseudonym from the character.

Multiple publications often featured her as one of sex symbols of video games. Featuring her as their "Videogame Babe of the Day" in 2006, IGN's Chris Carle noted: "This sultry redhead is also a fan favorite, and it's not difficult to see why. In addition to being gifted as a fighter, she's been graced with one of the finest digital bodies ever. Also, she is a freaking ninja." In 2007, she won the G-Phoria award in the category "Best Hottest Babe" after 55% of all votes were cast for her. That same year, GamePro ranked her third in their 2007 list of "top asses in gaming". Kasumi was featured as the "Babe of the Week" by GameDaily as one of the series' "most delectable hotties" in 2007, and included in the "Babe of the Week" articles "Babes We're Thankful For" in 2008 ("this voluptuous vixen has a killer body and the moves to match"), "Girl Power" and "Asian Beauties" in 2009 ("there's no way we could ignore Kasumi"), as well as in a 2009 article about gaming's "greatest patriots", commenting that "it's hard to imagine a video game world without the lovely Kasumi." GameDaily also ranked her at number eight in their 2008's list of top "hottest game babes", adding: "We love female ninjas, especially ones with gigantic breasts, flowing hair and a knack for beach volleyball. Kasumi remains the most recognizable Dead or Alive girl, and one of the most dangerous." In 2009, Kasumi was included among the 11 "hotties in the Xbox universe" by TeamXbox and listed as one of top 25 "hottest" female video game protagonists by Manolith, for "always been overly-cute." In 2010, UGO featured her on the list of the 30 best swimsuits in all works of fiction and included her on the list of top 50 "videogame hotties", stating: "Kasumi is the flagship protagonist of the Dead or Alive series of games, and it's for good reason. Her huge breasts, flowing hair, and butt-bumpin' volleyball skills represent at least half of what the series is all about. It only helps that she's equally deadly when the fighting portion comes around." UGO also ranked her as ninth in its 2011 list of the finest female fighters in video games. That same year, Kasumi's breasts were ranked as the 14th finest by Ross Lincoln of GameFront and together with Tina's chosen as the seventh "most incredible chest" in video games by Joystick Division. In 2012, Nintendo World Report ranked Kasumi as the second top chesty heroine on Nintendo systems solely for her appearance in Dimensions for the Nintendo 3DS.

Some publications regarded her as one of top video game ninja characters. Ranking her as tenth in the list of "video game hotties" in 2007, UGO called her "freakin' hot" and "the most attractive ninja you'll ever see." That same year, Kasumi was featured by Rob Wright of Tom's Games as one of the 50 greatest female characters in video game history as well as "the video game vixens of today" for being "one of the most powerful - and sexy - ninjas in the world." In 2011, she was ranked third on the list of "top ten ninjas in all of gaming" by Machinima.com. In 2012, Gelo Gonzales of FHM included Kasumi among the nine "sexiest ninja babes in games", commenting that "she’s about as pure as ninjas go" and comparing her to Bela Padilla.

Kasumi has also been positively received for her other traits. In 2000, WomanGamers appreciated her portrayal "as a woman of action and deeds" who is "willing to risk everything in order to search for her missing brother." The website questioned her visual allure "for which the series is both famous and infamous," but nevertheless rated her 8.14/10 as "a very pleasing character." In 2004, TeamXbox ranked Kasumi as the third-top "Xbox babe", adding: "When we imagine our ideal Tecmo babe, Kasumi fits the bill perfectly. She has fought her way into the hearts and minds of millions of gamers." In 2008, PC Games Hardware listed her as one of the most important female characters in games. That same year, The Age ranked her as the 36th top Xbox character of all time, commenting: "Kasumi's appeal is no great mystery, is it? As the merciful ninja who avoids confrontation but finds herself again and again having to defeat challengers, she's just another heroine based on a well-loved archetype."

Negative reception of the game character involved accusations of sexual objectification and an underage controversy. In 2010, David Houghton of GamesRadar listed Kazumi, Lara Croft, Ivy Valentine and an unidentified "Ruby" as the female video game protagonists who are "all festering adolescent wank-fantasies." That same year, Jeff Marchiafava of Game Informer chose Kasumi as a character that Edward Cullen would like because she "is underage" (but illustrating it with a picture of Hitomi). In 2012, Kotaku listed "Kasumi, Ayane or Ivy" as examples of objectified female characters in video games. GamesRadar's Tyler Nagata also linked the fact of Kasumi being depicted as underaged and a Dimensions feature called Figure Mode "which lets players snap photos of the not-quite-legal bounciness from all angles" to Nintendo's decision to not sell the game in Sweden, allegedly due to this country's strict pornography laws. This game's cover art, featuring a high-kicking Kasumi, was also slightly censored in the United States. There were reports indicating it was done to appease the ESRB, but Tecmo Koei spokesperson said "this whole thing is getting blown way out of proportion. The truth is that there were a few parties both internal and external who thought there might be some issue with the image," adding: "You have to pick your battles, and covering up that small bit of the image seemed to be harmless."

The film adaptation version of the character gained some negative reception. The scene of her leaving the clan was named the movie's "most ridiculous" scene by Mikel Reparaz of GamesRadar, who included it in his 2009 list of the 16 "most awesomely bad videogame movie moments". "Transitioning from martial art fight scene to skydiving without blinking" was also chosen as the film Kasumi's defining moment by UGO.com, with a snicker comment how Aoki's portrayal is "keeping conservative in a world full of boob," and was ridiculed by SpoonyOne in a review for That Guy with the Glasses. Complex lamented Kasumi's appearance as "nowhere near as central to the movie as she is the game franchise, which of course we attribute to the intractable racism of the entertainment industry in this country."