Black History Month: Our Favourite Black Anime Characters

By The Josei's

October is Black History Month, and as 'The Josei's' is an anime blog created by black women, we wanted to share our favorite black anime characters that we've seen from various anime that correctly represent the black community.

Unfortunately in the past black people in anime haven't been represented correctly and are often animated in their racial stereotypes. One of the famous example of this is shown in the Dragon Ball series .

However, anime has slightly progressed over the years and more and more we are seeing black characters in anime portrayed accurately, although some are animated with Eurocentric features, its still a big step up from how we were animated years before.

A list of our favourite black anime characters who we've come across:

Yoruichi Shihōin - Bleach

By Ayomide

Yoruichi from the anime Bleach is my favorite black anime female character of all time.

Yoruichi was born into a noble family - the Shihōin clan, one of the four noble families. Later, she grew up and became a Corps Commander of the Onmitsukido, serving as the 22nd generational head of the Shihōin clan, becoming the first ever woman to do so. She eventually rose to become captain of the Soul Society's 2nd division of the 13 Divisions Imperial Guards.

Abandoning her previous positions (for good reasons, I highly recommend watching Bleach to find out why, you won't be disappointed), she resides in human world (mainly in her cat form) working with her childhood friend Kisuke Urahara (and his crew) at his shop.

When I first watched Bleach and saw Yoruichi, it was like a breath of fresh air. Most female characters in anime are big crybaby's who can't fight for themselves and need someone to save them. Yoruichi is the exact opposite of this. She's a black independent woman (excuse the cliche), who can fight her own battles. Seeing such a beautiful badass woman in an anime who was also black, was so refreshing to see. Not only is Yoruichi physically strong and can beat up anyone against her, she's fierce and quick to protect people she cares for. Additionally she is beautifully animated - her purple hair, her dark skin and golden irises is just *chefs kiss*.

Canary - Hunter x Hunter (2011)

By Shantae

Canary is one of the butler for the Zoldyck family in the anime Hunter x Hunter. She is shown to have exceptional fighting skills, and also technically a close friend to Killua (although it’s never explicitly said), as seen by her loyalty to him in the Zoldyck Family Arc and the 13th Hunter Chairman Election Arc.

Canary was the first black anime character I had seen when I first started anime. In fact, seeing her fighting against hunters who attempted to trespass the Zoldyck family mansion was what incentivised me to actually start Hunter x Hunter in the first place. In this scene, she is fought about 100 men all on her own without breaking a sweat.

Not only as a black anime fan, but a black female anime fan, it was so exciting and pleasing to see such a badass with a perfect representation in action. Honestly, if you’re not stanning Canary, then you’re doing something wrong.

Princess Hibana - Fire Force

By Jess

Hibana grew up as an orphan in the Holy Sol Temple. She was the only pyrokinetic at the temple and was seen as a smart and beautiful hero due to her unique gift - the ability to create flower-shaped flames with her hands. Hibana showed little faith in praying to the Sun God and eventually lost her faith completely when the spontaneous human combustion struck the temple killing all but herself and her little sister, Iris.

Over time Hibana became Captain of Special Fire Force Company 5 by using her research on Infernals as leverage for power and position at Haijima Industries.

I love how beautiful and badass her character is. Her creative and unique powers are something that captivated me about her character as well as the way she uses her pretty privilege to get her way and I find her domineering personality very amusing. The fact that her character sits on a throne comprised of the men under her command and has a catwalk formed of the same workers in front of her to step on as she walks from her throne shows her dominant personality which I find to be pretty awesome.

Overall her strong character traits mixed with the fact that she is a powerful and independent black woman I find to be inspiring and refreshing.

Ogun Montgomery - Fire Force

By Zarat

Ogun attended the Special Fire Force Training Academy, where he became friends with Shinra and Arthur. With his interactions with other members of the Fire Force team, it is clear that he has a pure heart.

His name is derived from Yoruba descent. In Yoruba religion ‘Ogun’ is an orisha, a spirit that is tied to the guidance of mankind in particular, on how to live and be successful.

I admire Ogun’s character as he shows how the mangaka Atsushi Okubo has made a credible effort into looking into Yoruba culture and how he can showcase that in his work in a creative and meaningful way. This is inspiring to me as it is rare to see black representation in not only anime but in other media. Even when there is a form of black representation, they rarely show signs of their African or Caribbean heritage but are instead represented with either stereotypes or with society accepted Eurocentric features.

Ogun is special to me because he accurately portrays beautiful traits of Nigerians through pats of his character design like his hair and his facial structure. Whenever I see Ogun using his techniques like Yoruba Blacksmith and his black body is illuminated with tattoos reminiscent of Yoruba tattoos, it makes me happy that young weebs will have someone to look up to that looks similar.

I think this is the case for members of the black community, as accurate and quality representation is needed to illustrate to people, that our voices do matter and that we can look amazing in not only real life but in anime too! I hope with Ogun’s character and other amazing black Fire Force characters, that this opens the realm to more amazing black anime characters being depicted in the medium as whole!

Michiko Malandro - Michiko & Hatchin

By Ester

In honour of black history month, I chose to talk about Michiko Malandro.

Michiko is the main character of the anime Michiko & Hatchin (extremely underrated anime in my opinion). She is a flashy woman with a wild spirit that often exhibits childish behaviour; being prone to throw a fit if things are not met her way. A woman who is not afraid to get in someone's face and tell them off, this is what differs her from other female characters, especially in anime.

Her unique characteristics and her personality make her stand out from other characters in the anime series. Michiko is also competitive woman, and she will do anything to reach her objectives. Despite her harsh personality she is also very caring in her own way; when she trusts or love she does it with all her heart. Her kindness is seen when she willing to steal money for children in the orphanage and getting them presents. This is why I love Michiko Malandro.

The creator did a good job at the representation of the beauty of Michiko. From head to toe, she looks perfect.

Mohammed Advol - Jojo's Bizzare Adventure

By Sinead

In Jojo’s part 3, The stardust Crusaders, Avdol is introduced as Joseph Joestars egyptians friend, who joins the group on their journey to defeat the infamous DIO. Avdol’s character is one of knowledge and wisdom and throughout the whole journey he provides the group with guidance about each different stand user, which makes him highly respected in the group. Unlike other unserious anime that I have come across before, Jojos was able to accurately identify the culture of an egyptian man and use it correctly in the anime. He wears his hair in bantu knots and wears a necklace with a medallion engraved with the egyptian ankh symbol. He also wears a tradition Egyptian garment known as a “galabeya”, presenting himself as someone who is very proud of their African heritage.

Not only this but Avdol’s ability is by far one of the strongest in the whole group. His stand “Magicians Red” is able to generate exceeding powerful yet finely controlled flames. He is versatile and can master his ability very well by giving his flames exact shapes and controlling the intensity of his fire. Avdol is once again shown as a serious character who doesn’t mess around and his stand is exactly the same. Magicians red represents beginnings, creation, and willpower. It has a constant aggressive demeanour and Avdol states that it does not forgive anyone. Avdol uses several different techniques with his stand ability including: crossfire hurricane, red bind and lie detector.

Avdol is special to me because not only is he one of the first anime characters I saw with an accurate depiction of a black man, he’s also Muslim which is double the representation for a Black Muslim like myself.

One of the main reasons I really like Avdol as a whole is his storing sense of duty and loyalty. Avdol has shown on many occasions his willingness to die for his comrades and throughout the whole of Stardust Crusaders he was highly dedicated to stopping DIO and was the only person he did not want to fight him for personal reasons. He is a strategic thinker and is experienced and this is something I enjoyed seeing a lot. Instead of being there for “comedic relief” he is the voice of reason that the rest of the group looks up to, acting as Joseph’s second in command. He’s constantly aware and calculating their next move so I'd also call him one of the smartest out of the group too. In contrast to his seriousness he will engage in childish antics and joke around with his fellow teammates and is never quick to boast about his strengths making him the perfect balance of a funny yet serious character.

This concludes the end of our post, we hope you enjoyed reading our list. We all just wanted to show you a range of anime that have portrayed black people in an accurate way and also ways we relate to them. Let us know your favorite black anime characters that you've come across either on our Instagram or Twitter account.