I’ve recently been getting into a live-action TV series called “American Horror Story”, surprise, surprise, and while I was watching the first season, I noticed that a character called Violet was reading a manga, Nana to be specific. While gaining a newfound respect for the character for her good taste in manga, I also enjoyed the fact that it was subtle. I only recognised that it was Nana due to my familiarity with the series and, save for a brief shot which clearly shows off manga artwork, most people would probably mistake it for a prose novel. Soon after, I began to think about other anime and manga references in Western media.
Western animated series and films in particular contain many references to anime and manga. This makes sense to me as many modern animators are fans of the mediums of anime and manga. Easily one of the most famous examples of this is the appearance of a Totoro plushie in Toy Story 3. John Lasseter stated in an interview “we thought it was a very appropriate homage to let Studio Ghibli know how much they mean to us“.
Another reference that I can recall being quite surprised by was during an episode of Cartoon Network series Samurai Jack. In the episode “Jack Remembers the Past”, we see a surprising homage to the manga classic “Lone Wolf and Cub” when a young Jack witnesses a ronin pushing a baby-cart that contains his son. The ronin ends up fighting some assailants, possibly Ura-Yagyū, and this combat inspires the young Jack to become a samurai. When I saw this scene, I couldn’t help but think about how few viewers would get the reference but I also thought about how Jack being inspired by this ronin could possibly be the creator’s way of expressing that Lone Wolf and Cub inspired them to make Samurai Jack.
Of course, it isn’t just animators who are fans of the mediums of anime and manga. Many Western comic creators have also confessed their admiration for anime and manga and cited them as an influence in their work. In X-Man Annual Vol 1 1998, the Hulk gets some golden armour that many noted was quite similar to Dio’s Stand from “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”. Another interesting reference occurs in the Deadpool series when, in Deadpool Team Up #886 released in 2010, he states “I will be Hokage!“, a reference to the popular manga and anime series Naruto.
Returning to the realms of live-action, I’m sure many of you are well aware of how much of a fan of the Gundam franchise I am and so it was fascinating to me and many others to see a Gunpla kit appear in episode two of season two of True Detective. Similarly, there’s a scene from the film “One Hour Photo” when Dylan Smith’s character wants to buy an Evangelion figure from Robin Williams’ character. Interestingly, people assumed that Robin Williams had pushed for the figurine to appear in the film but, as it turns out, the director, Mark Romanek, was the one who chose to include the Evangelion figure.
Finally, there is a surprising amount of references to both anime and manga in the world of Western music. Famous music celebrity Kanye West is well known for his adoration of the 1988 anime film “Akira” and he went so far as to create a music video, “Stronger”, heavily inspired by the look and designs from Akira and even being filmed in Tokyo. Another interesting example occurred during Madonna’s Drowned World Tour 2001 where, during her song “What It Feels Like For A Girl”, footage from both Perfect Blue and Urotsukidōji played in the background.
I remain fascinated by the impact that both anime and manga have had on Western pop culture from live-action and animated TV shows and films to comic series and music videos. To then see these creators openly reference various anime and manga series feels an interesting way to give back to their inspirations. Let me know your thoughts on anime and manga references in Western media, what references you have come across yourself, whether you agree or disagree with my thought that these references are good and interesting and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!