The figure of Michael Jackson is known as the ‘King of Pop’ and a legendary singer, but thanks to his popularity there are several anime characters inspired by the singer. In the world of anime or manga, a character is always the concern of the fans. The reason is that not infrequently these characters have an attractive, unique and very striking appearance.
We can see these unique characters in various animes for example One Piece which is known to have epic characters. And not infrequently also, the reason why these anime characters can be very interesting and unique is because they are inspired by real figures, for example, Michael Jackson. Here are some examples.
jango
This is probably one of the most popular examples of anime characters inspired by Michael Jackson. The character Jango was introduced at the beginning of One Piece’s story, in the Syrupp Village arc to be precise. Jango is one of Captain Kuro’s colleagues where he wants to commit a crime by blackmailing Kaya. He has a unique weapon that can hypnotize people.
At a glance, we can see that Jango’s character design is very similar to Michael Jackson’s. This is shown in terms of face and appearance. In fact, the behavior or characteristics are considered the same. Jango also has a shoe design similar to Michael Jackson. However, what is also interesting is that Jango has the nickname “Jacko” in the German dub, which is Michael Jackson’s nickname in real life.
Muzan Kibutsuji
An example of another popular Michael Jackson-inspired anime character is Muzan Kibutsuji. Muzan is a “demon king” who turns people into these terrible creatures. He is the main villain in the Demon Slayer story. Muzan targets Nezuko to fulfill her dream of immortality. However, Muzan’s wish must be thwarted by the Demon Slayers.
Many anime fans already know that the Muzan character has a similar design to the Michael Jackson figure. This can be seen in the suit he is wearing, the hairstyle and even a hat that is very similar to the style of the king of pop. Unlike Jango, it is unknown if Koyoharu Gotoge was actually inspired by Michael Jackson or was a form of homage by introducing the Muzan character.
michael jackson
In fact, this is not an anime character inspired by Michael Jackson, but this is an anime character that is actually presented based on the figure of Michael Jackson himself. His character appears in an anime series called Idol Tenshi Youkoso Youko episode 28. The episode shows how two idol singers, Saki Yamamori and Tanaka Youko, sing on stage.
While singing, the Michael Jackson character appeared backstage and asked who was singing. And the manager then tried to explain to Michael Jackson that Saki and Youko were two new golden-voiced singers. And Michael himself congratulated both for their very good performance.
Yukel Hakushon
Yukel Hakushon is an antagonistic character appearing in the anime series Nerima Daikon Brothers. The story itself tells of three people named Ichiro, Hideki and Mako who dream of becoming great singers and concerts in a stadium. They are daily Japanese daikon or radish farmers in the Nerima region. In the story, the three characters have to deal with a lot, including Yukel Hakushon.
Yukel Hakushon has the face of Michael Jackson after plastic surgery. He also often yells at the end of his sentences, as Michael Jackson did in many of his songs. However, Yukel does not wear a Michael Jackson-like costume like Muzan or Jango. Yukel was actually wearing a costume from the Peter Pan story. Yukel himself attempts to displace the turnip farms of the three characters and turn them into “Nerima-Land”.
The popularity of Michael Jackson in the world, where one of them is Japan, finally inspired the creators of anime stories to create characters based on the figure of Michael Jackson. In addition to presenting characters similar to Michael Jackson, there are not a few stories that present references to Michael Jackson.
