There is nothing more delightful than watching what you love most and seeing your people on the screen. Imagine watching a very exciting anime and feeling represented; what more could you ask for as an anime enthusiast? Seeing your people, culture, back and interests being played by your beloved character.
It’s amazing, I’ll tell you. Because anime has been internationally recognised so, why not be inclusive as a genre? All the minorities feel seen and all ethnicities appreciated.
There has been a misconception about Japan trying to ignore other cultures, but guess what? Their producers and anime creators have a vision. A dream to make sure that anime shows different characters from different people. You will not believe that there are a lot of anime series that make the whole world one big family.
Viewers have shown their appreciation towards these, so why not make a list for you? From the list below there are old shows as well as the recent ones. One thing I can guarantee you is there is an anime for everyone. Enjoy and see where your people have been represented.
1. Black Lagoon
Talk about diversity and inclusivity; Black Lagoon is your right spot. The name Lagoon is a company made of a group of fortune soldiers. The lead characters represent almost every part of the world coming together in brotherhood.
Dutch was a black American war veteran, Rock was Japanese, and Revy was raised in New York, but his roots are in China. Benny was Jewish but was a Florida school graduate. The diversity!
Thailand was their common home. What brought them together was their smuggling hustle across the Southeast Asia Seas. The diversity is proof enough that nothing can stop us from being united. Each of them had different problems due to different roots. There is a lot to learn and some will relate to it also.
2. Samurai Champloo
Do you wanna know why Samurai Champloo is very enticing? It’s because it has been crystal clear that Shinichiro Watanabe is body against nationalism.
This leaves many with the question of how nationalism can be separated from an anime film related to a samurai. But this can be simply answered by saying Champloo is also part of the title, which means mixed.
The plot centres around three characters that have been happening during the Edo times. Fuu is one of them; a woman with a sunflower fragrance is looking for a samurai.
There was Jin, a wandering samurai who used to be better than this. Then lastly, Mugen, a very arrogant and scary traveller who is a strong and skilful fighter.
Of all the three of them, Mugen was the odd one out who had dark skin and looked like none of the other two. His life sent a subliminal message to those who weren’t born into a decent family but still rose above and against all odds.
It came to pass that Mugen Ryukuan’s background was discovered; he is a minority in Japan, just like his ancestors. This is not the only detail that makes this show inclusive. Many cultures are represented, and the most crucial is a mix of hip-hop and Japanese culture.
Champloo! Do you now see the mix? Even with all this, to grasp the mission to find the sunflower-scented samurai was still the priority. But all in all, Mugen, Fuu, and Jin’s journeys never fail to grasp the concept of personalities, regions and cultures.
3. Castlevania
One thing l know about Castlevania is that it shows how much anime has impacted the world. The thing is that there is more diversity in anime than most people think.
The diversity has allowed the anime produced in America to chime in into other varieties other than just the usual Japanese animation. It’s one of those anime shows developed from a game. It is filled with horror and adventure series in a gothic Medieval place that is completely out of this world.
Dracula’s Curse was mixed with some elements that games, such as Curse of Darkness and Symphony of the Night, inspired. Trevor Belmont is the main character hungry to take down Vlad Dracula Tepes, the wicked vampire. His dear wife Lisa had been murdered, and now he was looking forward to killing the rest of the human race.
4. Durarara!!
Ryogo Narita, the writer of this anime, made sure to be as inclusive as possible. We have to give him flowers for that. The story takes place in Ikebukuro but features people from different parts of the world.
They were gang members and mafia coming from Japan stretching as far as Russia. The harmonious mixture of cultures is a theme highlighted throughout the series. Be it history or crime, it represents almost all ethnicities.
There is an Irish Dullahan known as Celty, a headless creature. This scene gets its inspiration from the old Celtic tales that told us about how souls were ushered into their afterlife by Dullahan.
The show focuses deeply on each character and displays the contrast of their roots. It is a pleasure to watch everything deemed different blend smoothly.
5. Yuri!!! On Ice Takes Viewers Ice Skating Across The World
For people with a sharp eye, there is more to this than just skating. In fact, skating is given as a foundation for building different characters, a common ground for them all.
The professional skaters carried their identities on their backs, representing their places of origin. King JJ was carrying Canada’s flag while being sponsored by the typical resemblance and Canadian organizations.
Phichit Chulanont was from Thailand, and he sprinkled an idea of culture. This is shown when he dreams of doing his final performance in his traditional regalia.
The LGBTQ+ wasn’t left out, and isn’t it just a bonus? The relationship between Yuti and Victor was flourishing throughout the whole series.
6. Afro Samurai
Have you ever noticed that some cultures inspire others? That’s the beauty of cultural appreciation. The samurai films have been greatly influenced by the Old Western movies that inspired spaghetti westerns, flicks of black victimization and, of course, American martial arts movies.
Afro Samurai is a perfect mixture of the latter two concepts, spiced up with hip-hop music. He was a big fan of it and then featured Yasuke, the real Yasuke black samurai.
Initially, he solely worked on doujinshi, which captured the hearts of many in 1988. The real gold mine was hit after turning it into an anime series of five episodes from 2007.
Although the plot was straightforward, Afro’s quest for his father’s murderer, Justice, made the series an undeniable hit. The execution was smooth and polished, with a mixture of grindhouse cinema and Chanbara movies.
7. Cowboy Bebop Emphasizes Diversity By Traveling Through Space
This series highlights cultural diversity in a very unique but entertaining way. It is not only educational but something that will keep you glued to your seat.
The plots unveils when the earth was no longer good enough for humans to stay. The mortal race seeks habitation and spreads all over the universe, looking for a place to settle.
Jet Black and Spike Spiegel, our main characters, are bounty hunters who later team up with Radical Edward and Faye Valentine. The series shows places where people from different cultures have settled.
The diversity of race and background becomes the highlight of the show. Not only do they show characters of various skin tones, but the series also uses different languages. Japanese, English, Spanish, Mandarin and Russian were all spoken.
How many will you understand lol? A perfect example of this is Ed’s full name, Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV. This name represents all the Beepop’s different ethnicities.
The soundtracks were also in different languages, which just added more depth to it. You will see several genres put together to bring out one of the best storylines.
8. The Mysterious Cities of Gold
Aren’t you lucky enough to stumble upon this rare gem? This anime is a perfect blend of anime and French cartoons. The storyline centres around a boy from Spain around the 15th century.
His name was Esteban, and he had made it a point to journey across the new world to look for his father. They have been separated for years, and he was also searching for the fabled El Dorado part of the Seven Cities of Gold.
There are a variety of backgrounds that we get to meet along his journey. Most viewers believe that children’s shows are more interesting than the rest.
Contrary to the public belief, this show failed to entice viewers on the get-go. From the original show, you get to see the diverse cultures Esteban and his team met on their way.
Some of the most prominent ones were the Mayans, Olmecs and the Incas. You might not really get that here because we are more focused on the comic side and getting a good laugh. You have no reason to miss this show, dear reader.
9. Yugo: The Negotiator
If you have watched Black Lagoon, you might have noticed Revy’s tactical use of weapons, especially her handguns. Yugo is nothing like that; he has his own ways of taking down his targets.
The targets in question are criminals. He is so smart that he can manipulate them by talking and walking away with anything in every situation. He takes his time to learn about the backgrounds of his opponents.
After gathering all the information, he offers a harmonious common ground and conclusion. It seems to work for him because there is no blood, no violence just pure smartness.
In 2004, if you were not still a toddler, the original version of this manga was serialized into thirteen episodes that portrayed Yugo’s two greatest accomplishments.
He had travelled to Siberia, where he found himself caught up in an evil scheme between a very peculiar set of rings and a young lady named Nadenka.
Prior to this mission, he was in Pakistan, where he rescued a helpless woman from the hands of her wicked father. He did this with the help of a rebel ground as they moved around the area, collecting information about the place, which worked to their advantage.
10. Josee, The Tiger & The Fish
It happens that in every bunch of recommendations there is always that one that stands out to be emotional despite the genre. The story mainly touches on self-esteem and romance. Because of their bodies, Tsuneo and Josee are the lead characters with different realities.
Josee is disabled and uses the help of a wheelchair to move around. On the other hand, Tsuneo is very fond of the sea and loves sea diving. Tsuneo becomes Josee’s caregiver, but Josee doesn’t want things to stay like this forever.
As their connection grew tighter, he focused on helping her be who she wanted to be. A sea diver! With time, she discovered that she was more confident than she thought.
Life happens, and it is now that Tsuneo figures out that he will never be exactly in Josee’s. He cannot understand how it feels like to be sitting in a wheelchair your whole life.
Romance was the highlight, but we cannot ignore how beautifully they included the minority group of the disabled. It perfectly represents that happiness can be found regardless of how you look.
11. Given
What more would you ask for on an easygoing day other than music and romance in anime? Given is all about music bringing people together. Oh, and did l tell you that they did a good job featuring two men in love in a very admirable way? Our main focus is going to be on Mafuyu Sato and Ritsuka Uenoyama, who had strong feelings for each other.
The series did well to include the viewers in the development of the relationship. Their bond was not only focused on affection but also on how they helped each other in healing from their past traumas.
Mafuyu’s boyfriend, Yuki, had passed away, and now he is in a moment of grief. He is always with a guitar that formerly belonged to his late boyfriend. With time, the same guitar became the glue that stuck Ritsuka and Mafuyu together.
Other themes we see from this are grief, healing, loss and the beauty of music in connecting souls. There is no reason why you should skip this heartwarming anime series.
12. Flavors of Youth
China’s Haoliners Animation League and Japan’s CoMix Wave are proof that there is no politics when it comes to producing anime hits. We all know the political tension in Asia, especially China and Japan, but here we are.
Getting a masterpiece from both countries’ input. The series talks about three different stories, all centring around China’s idiom yu shi zhu xing. It refers to the four basics of life: transportation, food, housing and clothing.
At the same time, these can make people bond or make them rivals and scatter in different directions. The bad side is portrayed when Xiao Yu moves to the United States.
But there is also an advantage to it, like when Xiao Ming and his grandmother bonded over well-prepared noodles. There is a lot about China that you can learn from this anime. And no, I’m not going to get into details. I’m not spoiling it for you this time around.
13. Golden Kamuy
You might be one of the people who believe that Japan is uniform in everything. Most people think that people, culture and societal beliefs are just the same, but that is far from the truth.
Japanese people are not all related in some way, and they certainly do have common backgrounds. Without even talking about the people who moved in from Korea, China, Filipino and Africa there is already variety in Japan.
Their diversity goes far beyond food, street lingo and mascots. If you didn’t know about this, then this series will show you the life of the native people of Ainu living in Hokkaido. When the anime aired in the early 2000s, most of Japan tried to make the Ainu migrate deeper into the mountains.
This was before they took away their cultural identity by force. This obviously led to distorting their traditions, culture and everything they believed in.
It’s a good thing that now the Ainu have become a people of their own in Japan today. This show did well in presenting this once-forgotten culture. Golden Kamuy is a chance to learn what we thought didn’t exist.
Conclusion:
In my own opinion, I think so far, anime is doing well with making racial diversity-themed series. Many of them have just been recently released, but the old ones are just as good.
Shinichiro Watanabe and Sayo Yamamoto are some of the thriving directors working relentlessly to produce this subgenre. Both Yuto on Ice and Michiko to Hatchin are works of Sayo.
Each face that walks on this planet has been represented in anime. We thank LeSean Thomas for being a flexible anime creator. This has been a great movement, and we, as fans, hope it never dies. The inclusion of the LGBTQ community and a representation of the disabled even makes it better.
