 Aki 's appearance was received positively by critics , with praise for the finer details of the character model such as the rendering of her hair . Entertainment Weekly named Aki an " it girl " , stating that " Calling this action heroine a cartoon would be like calling a Rembrandt a doodle . " She was voted one of the sexiest women of 2001 by Maxim and its readers , ranking at No. 87 out of 100 , becoming the first fictional woman to ever make the list , additionally appearing on the issue 's cover in a purple bikini . The same image appeared in the " Babes : The Girls of Sci Fi " special issue of SFX . Ruth La Ferla from The New York Times described her as having the " sinewy efficiency " of Alien franchise character Ellen Ripley and visual appeal of Julia Roberts ' portrayal of Erin Brockovich . The book Digital Shock : Confronting the New Reality by Herve Fischer described her as a virtual actress having a " beauty that is ' really ' impressive " , comparing her to video game character Lara Croft . In contrast , Livia Monnet criticized her character as an example of the constantly kidnapped female in Japanese cinema , further " diluted " by her existence solely as a computer @-@ generated character representing " an ideal , cinematic female character that has no real referent . " Writing in the book Action and Adventure Cinema , Marc O 'Day described her as among the " least overtly eroticised " female characters in science fiction , though stated that Aki was " transformed in a variety of poses into an erotic fantasy machine " in a photo shoot that was included on the DVD 's special features . 
