T5W#319-Top 5 Celebrities Who Love Anime

If you’ve been keeping up with Marvel’s What if series, then maybe in last weeks episode you noticed a certain Anime reference made by a certain character played by an actor who makes no apologies about his love for my favorite medium.  And BOOM, this weeks Top 5 Wednesday was born.  Do enough of a deep dive and you might be surprised you find to be an Otaku just like you and even more surprised how much Anime influences their craft.  Actors, Filmakers, Pop Stars, Anime continues to impact every corner of the entertainment market and today we highlight the Top 5 Celebrities Who Love Anime.  Even I was surprised by one of two of these choices.

#5-Robin Williams

The world lost one of its brightest stars when Robin Williams passed away several years ago.  Robin Williams taught us the power of laughter and being a genuinely kind human being.  I always knew he was a bit of a nerd and was a particular fan of the Legend of Zelda series (his daughter, Zelda, voices Kuvira on The Legend of Korra).  But I recently came across a list of Anime titles Williams held in high regard and wow, man had good taste in Anime as well as jokes.  Akira, Evangelion, Blood: The Last Vampire.  I would’ve loved to have met the man, learned this, and done nothing but talk about these and more and see if i could get a legendary joke out of one of the funniest men of all time.
 

#4-Ariana Grande

Color me surprised when I discovered one of the biggest pop stars of our age has a soft spot for Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.  Ariana Grande has a deep love and adoration for the character of Chihiro and the journey she undertakes in the mystical Anime film.  She loves Chihiro’s evolution from constantly scared of everything to standing up to the face of terrifying demons with maturity and a strong heart.  Ariana even went so far as to get a Chihiro tattoo on her body.  I also learned she’s a big Pokemon fan, prone to playing the games during tour breaks and she has an Eevee tattoo as well…go figure.
 

#3-James Cameron

James Cameron has given us some of the biggest game changing movies of all time from Aliens to Terminator 2: Judgement Day to Titanic and Avatar.  Mans got a gift for scope and going as big as humanly possible and no genre does that quite like Anime.  As a visual groundbreaker, it’s only natural Anime would catch the directors eye and he’s frequently sighted titles like Ghost in the Shell, Metropolis and Battle Angel Alita as some of his favorite inspirations.  For a while, Cameron talked about doing a live action Alita movie…but then Avatar came out and he’s been obsessed with spending the rest of his life doing Avatar sequels that he handed directorial duties off to Robert Rodriguez while he Executive Produced the flick…so it came to be in some way.
 

#2-Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves might be the most lovable person on the planet.  From his charming personality to his zen like dedication to his acting and action scenes, the man is a pop culture icon for the ages.  Guess it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Keanu is also a big Anime fan at heart.  In the past he was known to be frequenting Anime shops around where he lived and chatting about his favorite titles for hours.  For even longer, it seems like everyone, including Keanu himself, was pressing for him to land the role of Spike Spiegel in a Cowboy Bebop movie that would eventually become the upcoming Netflix series.  Regardless, Keanu’s clearly brought some of his Anime love to his Anime inspired action flicks like The Matrix and John Wick and man…he could be a live action Anime character himself if we really think about it.
 

#1-Michael B. Jordan

Last week during Marvel’s What If, Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger showed Tony Stark a mecha design he drew up in college and casually said, “What? I like Anime.”  Tony even noted it looked like the most expensive Gundam model ever built.  This isn’t just the MCU getting in an Anime AND a Gundam reference that made me SQUEEE, no this is an actor who’s been a lifelong Anime fan bringing his fandom into his works.  Michael B. Jordan frequently references Anime as one of his major life inspirations.  He’s worked on Anime inspired series like Rooster Teeth’s Gen: Lock and Killmonger’s armor in Black Panther even has similar design strokes to Saiyan Armor from Dragon Ball Z.  Would you pay to see Michael B. Jordan shout “KAKAROTTTTT!!!” at the top of his lungs and go toe to toe with Goku?  Honestly, if it’s the right title, please put Michael B. Jordan on a Live Action Anime project…hell for me, just put him in the Gundam movie already.