While we may find comfort and joy in the pop culture and media these celebrities are a part of, they too take to some forms of media consumption to pass their time and keep sane. For a lot of them, it’s anime. Most often, celebrities are not too vocal about their love for the genre on account of it being judged since a lot of people consider it as something that’s exclusively made for kids.
But even then thankfully, the world of anime is full of fans who are deeply attached to the characters and are passionate about the smallest details of their favorite anime films, series, and more. Some of these are our favorite artists who have also taken inspiration from the genre for their own work and do not shy away from acknowledging their love for the same.
Ariana Grande
The Thank u, Next’s artist showed her love for Spirited Away by tattooing a massive line drawing of the main character Chihiro on her forearm, which she unveiled on On August 28, 2018 singer. She also went on to explain the character to her followers on Snapchat. Michiyo Yasuda, a late artist and color designer who was a member of the Oscar-winning film crew, was also honored by the singer in 2016.
In January 2019, Ariana Grande got a second anime-related tattoo. On an Instagram story, the pop star revealed a tattoo of the Pokémon Eevee and added the caption, “i’ve wanted this for so long, thank you so much.” Furthermore, she said she enjoyed playing Pokémon: Let’s Go Eevee! a lot over her break.
Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne has now embraced the anime pirates and surely moved on from skater boys. She may have been on the low for a while, musically speaking, but she has done work for One Piece. Lavigne wrote two songs for the movie One Piece Film: Z when it debuted in North America. While she redid the tracks for One Piece, she added “Bad Reputation” and “How You Remind Me” to the soundtrack. Avril Lavigne is an avid fan of Eiichiro Oda’s manga-inspired work and also a big fan of “Make 5 Wishes,” a manga-inspired comic.
Michael B Jordan
Michael B. Jordan, the Black Panther star, has spoken frequently about his love for anime and listed his favorite anime on several occasions. For a collaboration with Coach, he even designed a collection inspired by his favorite anime – Naruto: Shippuden. “Anime is something that was a big piece of my childhood, my adult life, and my creativity,” Jordan once said.
Additionally, he has produced and starred in gen: LOCK on Rooster Teeth and even the Black Panther villain was modeled after Vegeta, the character from Dragon Ball Z.
Quentin Tarantino
Feet may not be the only thing the acclaimed film director of Pulp Fiction is so enthusiastic about. Turns out, at heart, he is an otaku. Ghost in the Shell and Blood: The Last Vampire are reportedly among Quentin Tarantino‘s favorites and his fanaticism is so great that he requested Production I.G., the animation studio behind both of the aforementioned shows, to create the animated sequences in Tarantino’s Kill Bill. He also mentioned that he was inspired by the classic series when working on the movie Kill Bill.
Kanye West
The rapper may be in a news a lot these days for his multiple breakdowns over his divorce on the internet, but what a lot of people don’t know is that he loves watching anime in his free time. Kanye West is known to be a big fan of Akira and has been vocal about the fact that it’s his all-time favorite movie in his interviews. West even took inspiration from it for his 2007 track Stronger’s music video and wasn’t too happy when Akira ranked below a few other animes in a recent ranking.
