Yes, Black People Like Anime

"Wow, I didn't know black people liked anime," is a phrase that's way to common. At least once a week you'll hear a person say that or something similar. Despite it being 2014 and people around the world enjoying anime, it's somehow surprising that black people would enjoy anime. Especially if it isn't Dragonball Z. There's a lot of reasons black people like anime and there actually are a lot of us who enjoy anime and manga. 

Believe it or not black people have loved Japanese culture for a long time. There's been a lot of links between black culture and Japanese culture. I know you expect me to say "Japanese people love basketball and black people love martial arts movies." Well I am. That was the gateway between the two cultures. When Kareem Abdul Jabbar faced off against Bruce Lee in Game of Death millions of black people were amazed by Bruce Lee and millions of Japanese were amazed by Kareem. That sparked the interest in martial arts, but what about anime? 

You should never underestimate the power of music, especially Wu-Tang. If you didn't know, "Wu-Tang is for the children." In November of 2014 Wu-Tang's album 36 Chambers will be 21 years old. he album is full of references to Japanese culture. In once instance Method Man takes the time to compare Wu-Tang to Voltron, GZA is the head in case you wanted to know. But Wu-Tang isn't the only musical act to make references to anime. Countless others have. Believe it or not there was a time when Lupe Fiasco wasn't considered to be completely crazy. If you're interested in going through his discography you should try to identify an album or mixtape with less than five anime references. I mean, he even named his upcoming album Tetsuo and Youth after Tetsuo from the movie Akira. Believe it or not, a lot of rappers aren't scary, that's a character and some of them happen to be nerds. But it goes both ways. 

Japanese people love black culture. In fact, there's an entire Japanese subculture dedicated to mimicking everything in black culture from the hairstyles to the music and clothing. You think I'm joking? Watch this video. See, it goes both ways. It's only natural that black people would love anime. I can't do this anymore.

You know what? I'm going to be blunt here. All the reasons I've given are bullshit. Sure, it's all true, but it doesn't even matter. Yep, I said it. There's no secret reason why black people like anime. I don't even get why that question is so popular. Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, 4Chan, YouTube and anywhere else you look it's there. People are for some reason shocked when they find out black people enjoy anime. Let me ask you this, why does anyone outside of Japan like anime? Why does anyone outside of America like Superman? I don't know. Maybe it's just good entertainment. It's entertainment. Race has nothing to do with entertainment. That's like asking "Why do white people listen to rap music?" I just want to enjoy anime like other people. I shouldn't have to explain my reasoning.

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