Anime NYC! BIPOC Fans and Manga Artists: Justice for Usopp’s Melanin

By Caroline Cao | September 12, 2024 | Celebrity & Culture

Quite recently, the anime community raised justified ire. Namely, the beloved long-running One Piece franchise will have a remake anime series by WIT Studio. And the character designs took away one iconic character’s melanin.

Take some notes, class. Usopp in the Netflix live-action series is played by a Black actor, Jacob Romero. This casting choice is true to the stated race by the original mangaka Eiichiro Oda himself: Africa. Just Africa, not a country within Africa. Yes, it’s a rather problematic generic framing, coupled with Oda bestowing Usopp the “big lips” design.

That also doesn’t necessarily erase Usopp as a beloved icon. This discussion on the whitewashing of Usopp stirred reactive waves for the fans at the “Being BIPOC Manga Creators” panel. Moderator Renee Scott launched the panel with a shout-out to presidential candidate Kamala Harris and an affirmation that she would treat the audience like her church. The panelists were Frederick L. Jones, JR de BARD, Morganne Walker and Whyt Manga.

Jones was the one who invoked the Usopp topic, “the Usopp in the room,” if you will. He also displayed a statistic from Polygon:

We found that anime fans as a group are more diverse than the broader U.S. population. Black Americans account for 17% of the anime fan audience over 18, compared to 13% of the general population, while Asian Americans account for 10% of the anime fan audience, compared to 6% of the general population. Those numbers go up when narrowing down to Gen Z, with 23% Black American fans compared to 14% of the general population, and 13% Asian American fans compared to 7% of the general population.

Diversity is important to the panelists and Jones, who runs Saturday AM, a repository for diverse independent creators. The panelists shared their projects.

Clock Striker

Issaka Galadima and Jones’s Clock Striker achieved a notable milestone: The first Black woman starring in a manga. Clock Stricker. Cast dreams of becoming a SMITH, a league of warrior engineers. With her trusty robotic-prosthetic hand, she’s looking to solve a mystery. Jones mentions he hopes that Clock Striker will get her anime adaptation.

Underground

JR Be Bard wrote Underground. The premise is for mixed martial artists. An MMA fighter, Karim Yun, begins his journey by challenging his elder brother to a fight.

Soul Beat

Morganne Walker wrote Soul Beat. Sports lovers may also be intrigued by the tale of a 70s-obsessed retired pro-boxer, Dante Alfonse, uncovering the secrets of the afterlife. That’s right.

Apple Black

Whyt Manga (Odunze Whyte Oguguo) also contributed Apple Black. A young sorcerer, Sano, is blessed by the god of sorcery with the Arodihs arm, a powerful weapon. In secret, he’s trained as the Trinity, a Chosen One savior.