Forum - View topicAfrican-American Characters in Anime
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duduman05
Posts: 4 |
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how do you think african americans are portrayed in anime, past and present?
[changed the title to be more descriptive -Nagi] |
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Eruanna
 Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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Well, I honestly cant remember ever seeing an anime that portrayed african-american characters at all, but the title that instantly pops to mind is Boondocks, which is an anmerican animation show made to look like anime, and its supposed to be very good. (I haven't seen it myself)
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16974 |
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Are you trying to ask if we think they're portrayed good or bad? Are you trying to ask us if we think they're portrayed negatively or stereotypically? Are you trying to ask why there aren't many black people in anime? You might wanna be a bit more specific and expand on your question. |
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.::Lain::.
 Posts: 47 Location: playing games on my (+.[____]·:·) |
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The only African-American character I could remember being the main protagonist of an anime is Afro Samurai. I'm not even sure if he's an African-American but physical feature shows having that cool afro hair and I was really surprise, it's my first time seeing an African-American samurai but I think it's cool...
Also Ninja ninja speaks stereotypical African American Vernacular English. |
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Zewerr
 Posts: 539 Location: Tacoma, WA |
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I can only think of three anime's that portrayed African-Americans, or in some cases, African-Japanese? I'll start with Jason Ozma from Fighting Spirit. If I remember correctly, he was a man in the U.S. military boxing in Japan. I honestly don't think the color of his skin was ever even remotely a factor in his development. Whether he was black or white, he still was a strong and loyal character, easily being a great character in the series.
The second one that comes to mind is Gorobei Katayama from Samurai 7. But I don't think he was American anything. So I guess he'd be an African-Japanese being a black man with a Japanese family name. And once again, I don't think the color of his skin effected his development at all. Also strong and very loyal, and somewhat nutty in a way, he was also a very good character in the series. The last anime that comes to mind is Afro Samurai. As an anime made for U.S. television, it seemed to celebrate the modern day African-American culture, and also seemed to focus alot on how many of Samuel L. Jackson's characters are portrayed on his live-action films, a badass. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar Posts: 16974 |
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No one else thought of Dutch from Black Lagoon? While not the lead character he is the head of the Lagoon company and does play a major role. His character is smart and tough and is voiced rather well too.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18571 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Aside from the aforementioned, series like Blood+ and Brain-Powered have African-American characters in significant roles, as does the movie Blood: The Last Vampire. I have seen a handful of other cases, but these are the ones that immediately spring to mind.
As for how they're portrayed? Often the character designs are heavily and stereotypically caricatured (Blood+ and Brain-Powered are rare exceptions), but otherwise they aren't treated notably different than any other character. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7995 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Well, if it's diversity of cast and characters you're interested in look no further than Black Lagoon (well if you can still find it somewhere now that Geneon is in Production limbo). There's Dutch who's Black, Revy who's Chinese/american, Rock who's Japanese, and Benny who's American and Jewish. There's also lots of Russians, Chinese and other asians, Itallians, and Hispanics.
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duduman05
Posts: 4 |
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i like all of your answers, but to be more specific, how has there appearance grown within the anime world, we are just now getting cool anime such as afro samurai, but it cracks me up on how a lot of black characters in anime usually turn out to be boxers sometimes in the martial arts anime's im not mad at that at all refrence to balrog- streetfighter, jason ozuma- fighting spirit, the boxer from grappler baki, one point im trying to make is that there portrayal or should i say appearance has grown in recent years, along with the hip-hop influences that is sweeping japan a good example would be TOKYO TRIBES by SANTA INOUE i suggest u anime enthusiast check it, thanks keep posting
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riccardo
 Posts: 136 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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I remember one of the pilots in RahXephon was black, but can't remember his name.
And Bob from Tenhjo Tenge as well. |
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freezespell
Posts: 127 |
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In Bleach, there's a captain that's a black guy who also has a Japanese family name, Kaname Tosen, but I'm sure everyone knows about him already. I think that Yoruichi may also be black or she could be of Indian descent.
One of the main characters in Tenjho Tenge is a black guy named Bob Makihara. I'm guessing he's an exchange student, but I haven't kept up with the series as of late. Of course, Dragon Ball has a black guy being the assistant to Commander Red, spoiler[although he later kills him and takes over the Red Ribbon Army for himself for a short time before Goku kills him.] |
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Futagi
Posts: 22 |
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Since Dutch from Black Lagoon has already been mentioned, I'll add Panther from Eyeshield 21 to the list. He's from the American team the protagonists play against, and although in light of the entire series he's a fairly minor character, the series actually goes into how he's treated by his racist coach.
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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Claudia LaSalle, from Macross was a memorable character. It always seemed like she had something funny to say, and offered an otherwise cheerful outlook on things. She also brought many of the characters back to reality, and was never afraid to speak the hard truth. 
Bear Walken from Gungrave. Is fiercely loyal, and deadly serious. But finds himself in a situation were he must go against the things he believes in to protect the ones he loves. |
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Hon'ya-chan
 Posts: 973 |
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[Edit: Don't try to drag this off-topic. This is not about what is and isn't anime. - Keonyn]
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I will agree that he was more a "foreigner" and his ethnic background was less of importance. He is my favorite (except maybe the Russian "wolf") boxer in the series. Is Afro Samurai an American? If you are just looking for black characters does Nadia count? It has been some time since I've seen the series, but I think she was raised in Africa after she was orphaned, and before she went to France. spoiler[I suppose technically she is an Atlantian, although she is fairly dark skinned.] I've also seen it suggested that Jet Black (which I will agree with) from Bebop is African American but don't know if this is confirmed. It was not until I read the Kawamori art book that I realized that Faye was Chinese. |
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