Anime as a medium of entertainment has grown to such a level where it has begun to seep into everyday pop culture. You don’t have to search too far to find examples of this. From films like Black Swan and Inception to music like Dark Tournament by Denzel Curry are just a few examples of how anime has shaped our modern world. When I was growing up, watching anime was a fringe activity reserved for the geeks and the nerds, but now one can say that anime has become somewhat cool.
Seeing how much mainstream appeal anime has garnered, it is nice to see that there are more “black” characters included in anime. In this post I will be looking at 10 notable black male anime characters that have influenced anime and the entertainment world at large.
Please take note… If you haven’t watched some of the series I talk about there may be a few spoilers. I will however try to talk about the characters without dropping any major spoilers.
10. Kilik Rung (Soul Eater)
Soul Eater is an incredible shonen anime that follows the students at Death Weapon Meister Academy on their journey to become Meisters or servants to Lord Death (who is basically the Grim Reaper). Written by Atsushi Okubo Soul Eater is an incredibly stylized anime that deals with the themes of death, the afterlife and keeping balance in the world.
Although Kilik is not part of the main cast during the latter half of the series he helps out his classmates on some of their missions to collect multiple souls in the city. Kilik is a smart, speedy and kick ass kid who performs well during his missions. Atsushi Okubo created the character Kilik because he noticed that there were very few African characters in anime and he wanted to at least try to bridge the gap. All in all I believe that Kilik has served his purpose well as he is one of the more grounded characters in the series
9. Ogun Montgomery (Fire Force)
Also written by Atsushi Okubo, Fire force is about a super powered group of firefighters whose duty it is to protect the public from supernatural fire cases, caused by spontaneous combustion. Being a Fire Soldier means that Ogun has to fight to perform his job and he is definitely no slouch in the fighting department. Ogun has the ability to create and mould fire to his will, thus allowing him to have some of the most explosive battles in the series. The one thing that I love about Ogun is the fact that he is a character with clear goals and you can see that he is willing to stop at nothing to achieve them.
Fire Force has 2 notable black characters (at the time of writing) called Charon and Ogun. The reason why I chose to go with Ogun is because I believe that his character is a lot more relatable than Charon, who is a devout fanatically guardian of the cult called the White Clad.
8. Dutch (Black Lagoon)
Dutch is a very muscular African-American man and is an ex-U.S. Navy Boat Captain. Dutch left the Navy sometime during the Vietnam War and escaped to Thailand. It was here where he founded the Lagoon Trading Company, a criminal for-hire service. Despite his imposing physique, Dutch is rather friendly and easy-going. In his capacity as leader he is forced to do a lot of the negotiating for the group. This is where he demonstrates that he is very level headed and pragmatic. At times he is called to reign in the more belligerent members of the group, like Revy, and encourage the more panicked inclined members such as Benny and Rock.
Black Lagoon is a story about familial bonds that can be created amongst some of those in the criminal underbelly. Dutch serves as the positive father figure to those in his “family” and his crew loves and respects him for doing so.
7. Simon Brezhnev (Durarara!)
With so many colourful characters Durarara! is honestly such a vibe to watch. In Tokyo's downtown district of Ikebukuro, amidst many strange rumors and warnings of gangs and dangerous occupants, one urban legend stands out above the rest - the existence of a headless "Black Rider" who is said to be seen driving a jet-black, soundless motorcycle through the city streets.
A man of few words, Simon Brezhnev is one of the two owners of the Ikebukoro based restaurant, Russian Sushi. Whilst being one of the owners in this heavily crime ridden district of Tokyo, Simon often finds himself offering advice to his many patrons and he also sometimes takes on the role of peace-keeper. Sometimes the people of Ikebukoro can be a bit stubborn, so Simon has to be a little bit forceful with his patrons. Standing at 220cm tall this is not tough ask for Simon, as he uses his large build to deal with some of the most notorious criminals in Ikebukoro.
6. Bob Makihara (Tenjou Tenge)
Bob is the teenage fighting powerhouse from South Africa that attends Toudou Academy with his best friend Souichiro Nagi. By using his capoeira inspired style of martial arts Bob makes light work of many of the students in the academy.
The thing I really love about Bob is that he is one of the first black anime characters that I watched as a child. The main reason why I believed he stuck out is because Bob is part of the main cast of the story. Which means that we actually get to watch him grow as the series continues.
5. Ussop (One Piece)
Well doing a bit of research for this post I was very shocked to discover that Ussop is half African and Japanese. Though One Piece has not revealed who Usopp’s mother is, Oda (the creator of One Piece) revealed that Usopp is African. This came as fantastic news to me as Usopp is by far one of my favourite characters in this whacky series.
Usopp is the sniper of the Straw hats pirates and was at first used in a comical manner in the beginning of the series. However as the series continued Usopp became one of the most endearing characters in the series. Usopp is one of the characters that experience the most growth over One Piece’s 900+ episodes, and watching him blossom is one of the best things about One Piece for me.
4. Satoshi Batista (Michiko to Hatchin)
Michiko to Hatchin is set in the fictitious South American country of Diamandra. A criminal by the name of Michiko Malandro, escapes from prison in order to find her former lover Hiroshi. With the help of Hiroshi's daughter, Hatchin, the pair travel across the country in order to find him all while avoiding the police.
The loyal crime lord, Satoshi Batista, starts off as an antagonist in the series but eventually agrees to help Michiko to try to find his old friend, Hiroshi. Satoshi is the type of character who always puts the people he loves ahead of himself. His journey throughout the series is very emotional and compelling. Watching him develop will definitely bring a tear to your eyes.
3. Darui (Naruto Shippuden)
Naruto Shippuden has a whole lot of black characters to add to this list. The rapping Killer B, the Fourth Raikage Ay and even lesser known characters such as Omoi, these are all examples of wonderfully written black characters in Naruto, with each of them having a clear and defined goal. However for this list I decided to go with one of the less known characters in Darui.
Darui serves as the right-hand-man to the Fourth Raikage and eventually succeeds him to become Fifth Raikage. The reason why I like Darui, besides his cool aesthetics, is the fact that he has a very chill personality, and has proven himself to be one of the smarter characters in Naruto.
2. Afro (Afro Samurai)
Afro is the main character in the Afro Samurai series and is one of the best black male anime characters. His traumatic past led him to being one of the last black people in Japan causing him to want to avenge his father.
Afro Samurai is a perfect example of east meeting west. With its amazing soundtrack, produced by RZA of the WuTang Clan, Afro Samurai blends hip-hop with dark, gritty animation to create a compelling narrative about revenge. Unlike most anime Afro Samurai had its english dub done first allowing for the creators to cast some of the best voice actors to play the various roles. With the accomplished Samuel L Jackson taking on the role of Ninja Ninja and Afro himself, it is very difficult not to get enticed by this character's coolness and attitude.
1. Kaname Tosen (Bleach)
Kaname Tosen was the captain of the 9th Division of the Gotei 13 until he betrayed Soul Society, alongside Sosuke Aizen and Gin Ichimaru. Kaname Tosen is all about justice. His brand of justice is brutal and relentless. If you have done wrong in his eyes he will stop at nothing to make sure that justice is brought to you. If that means that he needs to take down a whole system of governance, he will not hesitate to do so.
Tosen is an interesting character because even though he will stop at nothing to achieve his brand of justice, he wants to try and take the path of least resistance and bloodshed. It was because of this that he decided to betray the Soul Society, and go against his former best friend. The redeeming quality about Tosen is that he eventually realises that the path he chose will lead to many many deaths and becomes penitent towards the end of his life.
Anime is a media that is ever changing and evolving. The fact that anime has world wide appeal right now means that there is a need for more representation in anime. I created this list just to shine a light on some of the best black characters that have existed throughout the years. Hopefully we will continue to get more great characters like this in the future
Tshilli Tshedza
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