Heaven Kogo is a regular teenage girl — she just also happens to be a ninja. OK, so perhaps "regular" isn't the word; it would be more correct to refer to her as Samurai Girl, hence the name of the new three-part series on ABC Family that begins tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

The series is based on a young adult book series of the same name written by Carrie Asai. The character of Heaven seeks to avenge her brother's death and get out of an arranged marriage (she really gets herself into some crazy predicaments). Luckily, she's a master of the sword, and is able to take care of herself as well as some others (though the latter happens to be in a violent sort of way).

Jamie Chung plays Heaven, whose acting credits include Greek, Veronica Mars and CSI: NY. Oh yeah, and you also might remember her as herself, when she was a cast member on MTV's The Real World: San Diego. Good to see that something pleasant can come out of that kind of exhibitionism. … continue reading

ABC Family has ordered a pilot for a new drama that gives me hope for the kind of female kick-ass action we haven't seen since Alias and Buffy left the air. The show, Samurai Girl, is based on the popular young adult book series by Carrie Asai (not to be confused with the Samurai Girl manga and anime series).

The pilot is based on the first book in the series, Samurai Girl: The Book of the Sword, which tells the story of Heaven, a girl rescued from a plane crash and adopted by a wealthy family headed by not-so-upstanding businessman, Konishi Kogo. The real action starts at Heaven's wedding, an arranged marriage that will unite the Kogo family with another powerful Japanese family. During the ceremony, a ninja assassin attacks, killing Heaven's brother Ohiko as he fights to protect her. Heaven runs away and begins to train as a samurai – in L.A. – in order to exact revenge on her brother's killer. If Heaven's bloody wedding motivates her half as much as Uma Thurman's did in Kill Bill, we're in for quite a ride.

How evil is her father? What is his real business? Why does her mother turn a blind eye to her father's questionable activities? What really happened in that diner when the screen went dark? Oh, wait. … continue reading