By: Max Morant (’23), Staff Writer
For as long as I can remember, anime has been my go-to form of entertainment. When I was young, too young to remember my age, I peeked around the corner of my living room entrance from the hallway to see my older brother watching Naruto and Sakura navigate a maze in search of Sasuke. That moment, which I now know was my first time seeing the series premiere of Naruto Shippuden, is one of my earliest memories of anime.
Since being exposed to it, I have had a vested interest in the genre that flourished to manga (Japanese comics) and manhwa (Korean comics). After finishing the first season of an anime adaptation of the super-popular manga, Demon Slayer, I realized that there was a grand total of zero Black people in the show. This realization made me reflect on the way different anime studios and manga artists choose to represent people of color in their works.
Dragon Ball Z, arguably the most influential anime in the United States, came to American television in 1996. Since then, children from all backgrounds have imagined themselves on a battlefield focusing their inner “ki” between their hands to form a Kamehameha wave.
Unfortunately, Black children have had to work a little harder to imagine themselves in their favorite anime characters’ shoes. Characters of African descent that could be identified with were few and far between. When there were Black characters, they were cast into the background with minor roles and drawn with exaggerated, stereotypical features.
In contrast to the previous example, more recent anime exist that portray its Black characters in empowering roles. Naruto Shippuden, for instance, introduced a predominantly Black village called Kumogakure, or “Village Hidden in Clouds” in 2007. This village is one of the five great ninja villages and home to several of the most powerful characters in the series. Depictions of Black characters like those in Naruto are a significant reason for the Black community’s increasing affinity for anime and also a reason for Japanese animation’s burst into the American mainstream.
Recently, Black content creators have made meaningful contributions to anime culture. Among these creators are Arthell and Darnell Isom who helped establish D’ART Shtajio, Japan’s first predominantly Black-owned anime studio. D’ART Shtajio has strived toward the goal of telling diverse stories around the world through animation since 2016. The studio serves as a lighthouse and avenue for Black creators to showcase their immense talents that have often been over-shadowed and over-looked in the past.
While establishing the first predominantly Black studio is a significant milestone for the Black anime community, independent Black artists have also received much-deserved attention for their work recently. One such artist is called Silrance, a Black comic artist and storyteller, who created the manga-inspired comic Love Sucks for These Losers, widely known as L.S.F.T.L. The comic is set in a fictitious high school called Orenji Creek S. High School where a few of the students who attend the school possess mutated energy cells (E-Cells) that allow them to bend the laws of nature. The protagonist is Jay Parker, a student who happens to have E-Cells. L.S.T.F.L. has a predominantly Black cast with clear urban cultural influences. The narratives and art created by Black artists and storytellers resolves the lack of Black representation in anime made evident in Dragon Ball Z and Demon Slayer by centering the Black experience throughout the entire series.
As anime has been accepted into the American mainstream, artists and influencers like Silrance and the Isoms are making waves within the Black community, specifically with their captivating forms of art and entertainment that allow minorities to enjoy and relate to anime in a more meaningful way. Black anime fans can identify with characters like never before because we are finally being met halfway through the impact of these creators and storytellers who look like us.
