Inspirations

Lately i've been thinking a lot about diversity and inclusion. I've become a bit more self aware of the things that i love. Anime is definitely one of those things.

The reason i love Anime is because i grew up on the shows that i would see on tv as a youngster. The shows like pokemon and dragon ball z. They still inspire me to this day.

Moreso the character, traits, personalities and the character designs. Also supreme story-telling which i think that the japanese and koreans do extremely well in comparison to the states.

It hit me that there isn't much African or Black american inspiration/representation to draw from, besides from a few cartoon shows like: Static Shock or the Boondocks which is still going strong. Black characters are usually support and not the norm. It is understandable, as Japanese draw from what they see on their islands and countries. They really go hard fro their culture and their people.

I have made the decision to draw from my inspirations from the Japanese anime and how they
incorporate their several themes and cultural nodes such as: Ninja, samurai, devil power, and magic
and display and even exxagerate them so well to the point that its so engaging and interesting; And
do that with the African characters that i create.

Its very important that for the future generations, we get our stories out there, stories of empowerment, folk-lore and our true history, to inspire, build up and empower our youth. We have a lot of powerful themes and stories ourselves, and powerful tropes and personality. We shouldn't get too obssessed with other cultures and blatanly neglect our own. I love diversity, but i will create solely African characters, designs and animations to start. Tell our stories and then later make a big project that draws from popular culture and the diversity from what i see everyday in America. It will be a mission that will require a lot of support and exposure. But this is one of the things that i want to do.