Photo by Tough Girls on Eight Wheels
KAIJU KIRA
#0813
I'm KAIJU. Hear me RAWR.
I noticed I needed a physical outlet for the increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and depression I was feeling from my job. Having tried (and failed) at roller derby before, I googled leagues near my apartment, saw there was a First Date in two weeks with SFV, and signed up! All the skaters with their support & encouragement on and off the track gave me the strength to quit my job and focus full time on drawing comics.
My number came before I even chose a derby name. I wanted a number that was important to me and also kind of nerdy, and in August of 2013, I was the first in my family to graduate from college. Now for the nerdy part which goes with the name: August 2013 is also when the Kaiju attacked San Francisco in Guillermo Del Toro's movie Pacific Rim. I took it as a sign and went with the name KAIJU (pronounced kai-jū) , which is the Japanese word for "strange beast." Kaiju are hostile, fearless, giant monsters meant to destroy all mankind, and that's what I want to be every time I hit the track.
I hope she doesn't think I'm weird for saying this, but Sleaze is my biggest derby inspiration. She's a beast of a skater and has really helped me the most during Fresh Meat and my first scrimmage practices.
Off the track, I'm just your friendly neighborhood comic shop babe at Earth-2 Comics, but you can also find me in my studio writing and drawing my own comics, getting ready to pitch them next year. And yes, one of them is totally about rad derby girls based off SFV!