-Anime isn't seen as something that's a black thing.
-People have this idea of what an anime fan is.
If it doesn't fit that stereotype,
then they don't want to hear it.
-They were like, "Oh, letting black people watch
anime was a mistake."
-White people are no more Japanese than I am Japanese.
But you don't see that criticism lobbied against
white cosplayers.
-Because of the lack of representation,
it makes you feel as a black person,
even more of an outsider in an outsider community.
And so we're like, "Where do we belong?"
-Prior to this, it was seen as, like, this group only.
But now it's like, "I'm proud, that I like it,
and I can be a part of this community."
♪♪
-From manga readers to anime lovers,
the otakus and the cosplayers, every black anime fan
has had a moment when they realize
that the animation style is more than a cartoon.
To be an anime fan is something special,
but to be a black anime fan is something almost magical
because the few times you do see yourself in anime
or see anime used in black culture
is a moment not many can relate to.
For a lot of black fans growing up,
acceptance was also something rare outside
and within our own communities.
And most of us often needed to hide or silence our love
for the medium. Being into anime and games,
but also being black at the same time, it was seen
as more so a white and Asian thing.
So if you were black and into those things,
you felt ostracized, and there wasn't
such a big community as there is now.
Back in the day, as a kid,
I was, like, the only girl watching "Dragon Ball Z."
Now I feel like it's more open
to, like, use anime references.
It's just cooler now to be a nerd.
-Right. -"Sailor Moon" definitely
just, like, shaped who I am, for real.
I really identify with, you know, Usagi, or Serena.
And she's just this kind of, like, quirky,
disorganized, chaotic mess.
But she's a leader at the end of the day.
And she a bad bitch. And that's, like, who I wanted to be.
-Yeah. Yeah.
-Just someone who is at first afraid,
but, like, finds the power in themselves
to just take on the world and save the world,
you know, and do her thing.
-I feel like in high school, I really felt like
I didn't really fit in, like, in a certain,
like, clique or group.
And watching "Naruto" really helped me with that
because I watched him not fit in with anyone.
Like, he was just really by himself.
-I definitely think, like, that it comes
from having certain characteristics and interests
stapled to your blackness to the point
where if you stray even in the slightest,
it's automatically invalid just because you're black.
-Cosplayers are fans who dress up as their favorite
anime characters. Representation,
freedom of expression, embodying the characters.
Sadly, throughout the years, black cosplayers have been met
with an array of racist comments from non-black fandom online
that tell them that they're not allowed to dress
as fair-skinned characters, throwing comments towards them.
However, while dealing with racist and problematic
anime fans in large,
many have decided to create safe spaces themselves.
-Years ago, like, cosplay was way more about
looking exactly like the character.
Like, if I know I'm playing a character
that's, like, super-blond or, like, super-white or something,
I would definitely be very conscious
of, like, everything that I'm doing
and make sure it's, like, top quality,
because cosplay isn't about, like, the color of the character
or how the character looks. It's literally the character,
like, the personality and how you look in the photo
and just capturing that feeling of the person.
Even to this day, there's still some characters
I'm just like, "Enh." -Right.
-Like, I don't know if I'm ready for those comments,"
because they're gonna come.
-I did Lilo and Stitch's older sister, Nani.
-Oh, that's so cute. -Yeah.
And I got a lot of flak for that.
And then after that, I got really scared
to do anybody really of any other descent.
-At one point, I contemplated deleting my Twitter
because I posted a "Kakegurui" cosplay,
and I spent literal hours, and I was so proud of it.
Like, two minutes after I posted it, "N-word this."
They were like, "Oh, letting black people
watch anime was a mistake."
They called me a cattle n----- because I had my nose pierced.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and it went on for days.
-They'll call it, like, accuracy checks essentially,
where they'll say, like, "You don't look like this character."
But it all really does just boil down to racism,
especially with the vast majority of anime characters,
who are Japanese. White people are no more Japanese than,
you know, I am Japanese,
but you don't see that criticism lobbied against,
you know, white cosplayers,
by and large. You just really don't.
-And then there's the flip side of a lot of white cosplayers
doing things like blackface and then them saying,
"Oh, well, you guys cosplay white characters,
so why can't I --" We don't lighten our skin
to cosplay these characters.
We can't lighten our skin to cosplay these characters.
-I hate when they pull that. They be like, "Oh,
but that person isn't black. Nezuko isn't black."
She isn't white either.
-Oh, when I cosplay Toga with this,
they'll be like, "Her hair isn't like that."
I'm just like, "Did I ask?"
-Specifically for black women, it's like,
"Oh, they don't know what they're talking about.
Like, I don't believe that you're interested in this."
And it became a level of, like,
trying to prove yourself, as opposed to acceptance.
Cosplay is, like -- It's an art form.
You know, they are artists, and, like, artists can reimagine
or do things any type of way.
But, also, just because I don't necessarily
look exactly like this character doesn't mean this character
couldn't exist in a different form.
-We take a character and kind of add our culture to it, too.
So it's, like, cross-cultural here.
-Right. -So you see the Afro puffs
and the Marley hair and Marley braids
infused with the Japanese culture,
and I think it just makes it even cooler.
-I try to encourage more, like, black girls
and people of color to cosplay, like, outside of their color,
if you get what I'm saying.
'Cause, like, every time I would say,
"Hey, who should I cosplay?" they always give me Garnet or...
-Yep. Or Krone. -Yes. [ Laughs ]
You understand. -Yes.
-I'm just like, "Can you give me other things?"
And they're like, "No, you should stick
with the black characters."
I'm like, "No, I won't do that."
So I try to go outside of my box
just to, like, push people and be like,
"Hey, I'm doing this. You can't stop me."
-The people who are against, like, a different race,
like, dressing in costumes
is like you're going against the characters that
have inspired us to even make this happen in the first place,
because it's like, Naruto,
he fights for equality, he fights for peace,
he fights for humanity. People with those type of beliefs
and bring that type of negativity,
those people don't understand the characters to begin with.
-There should be more representation in anime
for, you know, people of color
because it's not like we don't watch it. We're there.
We're definitely tuned in, and we're watching.
So it's like, why not add us in? We need more characters,
not side characters, Main characters.
-Specifically there's also not many
even darker-skinned characters.
Like, most of the black characters in these shows
don't pass the paper bag test.
What really, like, grinds my gears personally
is when they do give us a dark-skinned character,
and they do the absolute most.
Give her huge lips and a huge nose
and a huge butt and make her talk like this
and make her eat chicken. There's, like, no in between.
And it's like... -Sister Krone.
Sister Krone. -I didn't want to say it.
I didn't want to say it. I thought about it.
I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to say it.
-No, you can't say it. Oh, my gosh.
-These writers and directors and mangaka,
like, they know that black people watch their series.
They know that we're fans. They see the cosplay.
They see the content. Like...
So it is important to, like, want to show your reader
that, like, "Hey, I see you seeing me."
-Although there has been a lot of pushback for anime lovers,
there also have been many progressive strides.
Anime has emerged as an important reference point
for a new generation of musicians, creatives,
and even has entered the streetwear space.
-This is an actual mattress.
So this is our, like, warehouse, actual fantasy factory,
where we get all our shipping and everything done every day.
-We went behind the scenes of streetwear brand
Pipeline Worldwide with the founder Jordan Bentley
to discuss his inspiration behind the brand.
-Then we have some of our more popular stuff.
So we have, like, the "Hunter x Hunter" puffer jacket
for all our anime heads, the multicolored puffer.
You know how that goes. Then we got, like,
a "Naruto" puffer jacket and stuff kind of coming out soon.
So you can really see -- We use this area
just to kind of showcase a lot of the samples
and things that are coming out for the rest of the year.
I remember one morning, I woke up.
I was, like, sleeping at my mom's house
and how I kind of thought. I was like, "Man, it'd be so cool
if I did, like, a collaboration with, like, 'Dragon Ball Z.'"
And I told my mom, and she was immediately like,
"No, don't, like, make bootleg stuff.
Like, don't do any of this." She's like, "Let's go,
like, the legal route."
I got, like, a run of opportunity from Viz.
Viz Media owns, like, "Shonen Jump." End up meeting them.
And then they gave me "Bleach" as, like, a collaboration.
And that was our, like, first introduction
to, like, the anime space directly.
I was like, "Why not use my, like, streetwear knowledge
and experience and just, like, my love for clothes in general
and, like, bring that to the anime space and bring, like,
anime fans something nicer than the T-shirt with Naruto
just on the front?" From there, new ideas
just kind of kept popping up. We ended up making rugs,
tables, like, all these just different integrations
that kind of mix them a lot. People who liked anime
weren't necessarily, like, accepted
as, like, this "cool" thing until recently.
You know, it's cool that Lil Uzi likes anime or, like, Young Thug
wants anime stuff. For people who've been liking anime since,
you know, elementary school, it was never that same connotation.
So for me, it was like, you know, "How can I,
you know, embrace my love for anime, but not be so loud,
and the fact that I might be teased? Or how can I be, like,
confident about this and create stuff
that almost gives that 'if you know, you know'
kind of feeling?" Regardless of your race and ethnicity,
where you're from or whatever, there is,
like, unifying interest within anime
and that people can kind of connect
amongst each other based on their interests,
regardless of, like, you know, skin color,
whether you're, like, male, female, whatever.
That's my goal with, like, the clothes.
It's like, how can I connect people
and kind of create, like, some type
of dialogue or conversation?
-We add black culture into everything to make it
spicy, you know? In the anime community,
there's music videos now and hip-hop videos
that are, like, infused with anime,
opening titles and all that.
And it just makes it so much more fun.
-How has it influenced your music in general?
-It's mainly about, like, the sounds
that I go for, the production. I try to kind of go for,
like, stuff that's upbeat, high-energy, kind of sounds
like the "Sonic" video game kind of vibes. Like, I love that.
The sound of -- I don't know --
like, "Mario!" or something like that.
Like, putting that in. A sample in one of my songs.
They're just fun. Like, being at the games
and all that leaves that door open
for the weirdest kind of things to enter up in the track.
-You, Thundercat, Meg,
all you guys are, like, molding it into,
like, you know, kind of your love for this culture,
like, into -- you know what I mean --
like, your career completely. And it's, like, really dope
to see. -The aesthetic and everything.
-Yes. And, I mean, I'm grown, but, like, there's just this
small, like, little acceptance here. Just like "Ahh!"
-I just told people when -- They are always surprised
about how old I am, and I'm like,
"Anime, K-pop, and, you know -- That keeps me young."
Video games, that stuff, keeps me young.
And it's like, I never want to lose that element
because it was such a large part of me growing up.
I spent a lot of time in my room playing games.
I even got my Switch in my bag right now.
-Oh, yeah. It's a life.
-It's life.
-It's important for black people, black women, to show up
in the nerd space because I do feel
like it's very cyclical, where the more people of color
that are participating in nerd culture,
the more the creators of this nerd culture
will then include those types of characters or hire
on creatives for their shows and for their movies
so that then kids can see themselves in anime.
-Whenever I get, like, a DM from, like, a supporter,
and they're telling me about, like,
how this video has changed their life
or it meant so much to them
that, like, I created this video,
and they push me to keep creating more videos.
It's like, I never thought that, like, what I love doing
could make other people happy.
-I feel like that's the best thing you could do.
Just be yourself.
If you're that nerdy kid, you're that nerdy gamer,
be that. Put yourself out there because you don't want people
to like you for something that you're not.
-I feel like I wish I, like, heard some shit like that,
like, 20 years ago. -That's how I felt.
-It's not even taking up space.
It's taking the space we rightfully have.
Like, this space is for everybody.
So, like, here we are.
-I'm grateful for where I am right now.
I'm grateful for the people that I've met that look like me,
that have the same mentality as me with the whole thing,
with anime, cosplay, reading manga.
I thought I was only one, but I'm not, you know.
And that's probably someone somewhere else.
They think that, "Oh, I'm probably the only one."
But little do you know, it's a big old community
that is about to burst out and show out.
-The people that I followed, like, a long time ago
were all white because I didn't see any black creators.
But then I started seeing more, and I was like, "I like this.
Oh! There's more."
-I feel appreciated and welcomed.
-Yeah, you feel included. -I was like, "Wow,
this is what I need." -Like, this is home.
-They're always gonna hate us.
Don't stop anything because someone's trying to stop you.
The only person that can stop you is yourself.
And you never know what could be if you don't, like, go for it.
♪♪