Do these count as Zako? (1 Viewer)

[DarkLight98]

Most people would describe zako as women or girls that are common enemies for a hero or protagonist. But this example is rather difficult to pin for me. With that said...

any know the movie The Bachelor?

Long story short, the premise is that a single guy needs to get married in a day to a woman or he loses a ton of money.

After some middling story, the guy(Jimmie) is at a church waiting for his girlfriend(Anne). His friend however, put his predicament in the papers, and...

Plenty of women across the city begin to head to the church for the money.

Jimmie wakes up to the hundreds of women gathered for him. The brides next to him, a biker and punk bride, began to pull at him, asking him to marry them.

After some pulling and tugging, another bride, a big haired one, dashes to Jimmie, asking him to choose her. Then other brides question his criteria, before they start chanting "criteria!".

Jimmie gets them to calm down, with them now asking him what type of woman he like based off religion, speaking ability, ect. (Really shows its age)

Then one of the brides asks about looks, which then has another bride(a rather big one) say that it's about weight. She then asks what's the weight criteria, to a rather obvious reception.

To make matters from bad to terrible, Jimmie's friend comes in dressed as a priest, saying that it was all a prank.

Yeah I'll let the images speak for themselves...

The brides attack Jimmie, swarming the church. Plot happens and Jimmie escapes, with his girlfriend on the way home, he leaves. The brides however, divided into hordes to track down Jimmie. The big haired bride's horde finding him first.

Jimmie escapes into a convenient taxi, leaving the brides in the dust. For now...
I'll post a shorter part 2 to this question tomorrow most likely. But I genuinely want to hear what everyone thinks about them. Are they zako, or something else?

 

[Hotdoghero1]

Considering how broad the term of zako really is, I personally feel like they could count as zako in a way. Afterall, they're minor/nameless characters with an active involvement as an obstacle getting in the way of the protagonist's goal of reaching his true love.

If anything, the premise of the movie (or at least this part of the movie) reminds me alot of the Gal*Gun series and how it handles its mooks. They each have their own designs, personality quirks, and dialogue; but have a similar role of trying to swarm the protagonist throughout the whole day for his hand in marriage.

 

[lifenaelika]

To me a zako means organized combatant girls/women, no need to be enemies for hero or protagonist, the keyword is "combatant". They must be organized&trained to fight, I mean fight "professionally".A zako must have certain combat capacity, better than civilians or even ordinary soldiers, just worse than the hero.

 

[DarkLight98]

Considering how broad the term of zako really is, I personally feel like they could count as zako in a way. Afterall, they're minor/nameless characters with an active involvement as an obstacle getting in the way of the protagonist's goal of reaching his true love.

If anything, the premise of the movie (or at least this part of the movie) reminds me alot of the Gal*Gun series and how it handles its mooks. They each have their own designs, personality quirks, and dialogue; but have a similar role of trying to swarm the protagonist throughout the whole day for his hand in marriage.

In the movie, it only lasts for an hour, maybe 2 at most but it does feel like Gal*Gun if it wasn't a shooter! One of the reasons I remember these ladies so much is due to them all looking distinctive from one another. Looking into the crowd shows all types of women.

 

[DarkLight98]

To me a zako means organized combatant girls/women, no need to be enemies for hero or protagonist, the keyword is "combatant". They must be organized&trained to fight, I mean fight "professionally".A zako must have certain combat capacity, better than civilians or even ordinary soldiers, just worse than the hero.

That's a good point. Since the movie's a comedy first and a love story second with no real action, the brides never truly ever fit the combatant part of zako. They do emcompise some zako elements, being a large group of women who attack using numbers.

 

[DarkLight98]

Part 2! After Jimmie escapes and reunites with Anne, things look pretty clear for our protagonist. But as expected, the brides find him once more.

The brides pursue Jimmie up from the subway into the streets once more. With Jimmie running from three streets full of brides!

Jimmie escapes up a fire exit. But the sea of brides envelope the entire street. His friend tries to get him, but is pushed out by the angry women.

The priest from earlier (and one of the few genuine good parts) drives in, asking if Jimmie has Anne with him. He doesn't, but thankfully Anne is nearby and works her way through the crowds. The brides hearing this, converge on the police car.

The brides are losing it. But after Anne says that the hundreds of women who want to kill Jimmie is apparently beautiful, she gives a speech about love and stuff and the brides calm down and celebrate Jimmie's and Anne's marriage. With a punchline of one of the brides being Jimmie's friend's wife.

So yeah, that's that. But I have a few extra things to add.
1. This movie is based off the movie Seven Chances, by Buster Keaton. Like this movie it has tons of women chase the protagonist around, but it's more slapstick.
2. In case anyone didn't notice, a few of the brides are guys in drag.
3. Lastly, there is some cut footage that made it into the trailer for the movie. With Jimmie running into a bus, only to see the entire bus is full of brides. Then he jumps from bus to bus as the street is swarming with brides.

That is everything of note for these ladies that I've been able to find. I'd love to hear your opinion on them and if they count as zako or not. Until next time

 

[DarkLight98]

Just some pics from the movie if anyone's interested.