Although they may not seem to have anything in common on paper, Hip-Hop and anime regularly intersect. Prominent rappers like Megan Thee Stallion have professed their love for their favorite animes, and Big Sean recently fulfilled a childhood dream after meeting the Goku voice actor in person. It has even been heavily documented that Kanye West is also a fan of the genre, with 1988’s Akira being his anime of choice.
Back in 2018, the controversial artist — who has still yet to release DONDA— went on a Twitter spree and praised the Katsuhiro Otomo-directed anime, calling it the “greatest animation achievement in history” and revealing that it has inspired “every stage show [he’s] ever worked on.” Now, it appears that Akira may have once again influenced Mr. West, as many fans are pointing out the similarity between his outfit at Thursday night’s DONDA listening event in Atlanta to Akira‘s main character Shotaro Kaneda.
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The character from Akira famously sports a multi-tone all-red outfit, and it definitely favors what Yeezy recently wore to the listening event. Beyond the outfit, it appears that even the stage design (or lack thereof) was also inspired by a scene in Akira in which Shotaro Kaneda stood on a sparse, chalky landscape.
Check out the side-by-side comparisons below. Do you think Ye was pulling outfit inspiration from Akira? Or do you think the similarity is just a coincidence and Kanye was actually going for something else entirely?