If there’s one thing Megan Thee Stallion refuses to do, it’s let people forget that she’s a nerd. The three-time Grammy winner frequently cosplays anime characters, incorporates anime references into her music, and has even gone so far as to describe herself as a “little weeb”. She’s unashamedly one of us — especially after admitting to a childhood crush on an anime character because same, girl, same.
Megan recently found herself living out every anime fan’s dream when she arrived in Tokyo, Japan, ahead of Crunchyroll’s 2024 Anime Awards, where she had been named as a presenter. Kotaku Australia got the chance to sit down with Megan, who was dressed for the occasion in a Satoru Gojo-inspired outfit, before the ceremony to chat all things anime.
When asked about her anime journey, Megan revealed that it all started when she discovered Inuyasha while watching TV late one night as a kid.
“I was watching Adult Swim and Inuyasha came on. I was like, “What is this?” and the moment I started watching, I became hooked on the storyline. Like, Kagome [Higurashi, one of the main characters in Inuyasha] falls down a well and meets a half-demon [Inuyasha] pinned to a tree. Then they fall in love and now he’s actually in love with her because she’s a reincarnated spirit of somebody else. It’s just drama. I was so into it.”
While many of us were hesitant to share our love of anime growing up for fear of being bullied or labelled as ‘the weird kid’, Megan revealed that she’s never felt that way — especially when it comes to being vocal about it with her fans now — because it’s such a strong part of who she is. “I’ve always felt like being an anime fan isn’t something to be ashamed about,” she told Kotaku Australia. “This is who I am. I like what I like, and I really don’t care who doesn’t like it.”
At this point in our conversation, I shared my deep connection to Haikyuu, a sports anime about high school volleyball that helped me during a rough period of my life. It continues to inspire me today and is the one I turn to whenever I need a boost of serotonin. For Megan, it’s Black Clover — which chronicles a young boy’s quest to become the Wizard King despite being born without magic in a world where it’s essential — that’s had the biggest impact on her life and career.
“Black Clover was very inspiring to me because of Asta. He’s living in a world where everyone has magic, and he doesn’t. Everybody is making fun of him and bullying him, but he’s still working out every day and training because he knows that he’s going to be the Wizard King one day.”
“To see him work hard and persevere, only to later find out that he has magic that the others don’t have or can’t touch…I thought that was super cool. I feel like that’s me in a world where people sometimes want to put me down. I feel like I always push through and it’s something about me that makes me stand out from the crowd. So when I need inspiration, I look to Asta.”
And if you’re wondering what’s currently on Meg’s anime watch list, the rapper revealed that she just finished watching the latest season of Jujutsu Kaisen, which chronicled the emotional rollercoaster that was the Shibuya arc (I’m still not over it). “The last episode sent me into a spiral, but it was great. The ride was wild and I’m happy to be here. We survived,” she said.
Image: Megan Thee Stallion on Instagram
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