Kagurabachi and Its Fascination With Western Culture

The world of fictional media is limitless. One can invent a whole new concept and a world we have never had the pleasure of experiencing, and in those cases, creators like to seek inspiration from different cultures or spheres of the world. Takeru Hokazono is documented as saying he loves imitating many different references and inspirations on Kagurabachi, and it seems that recent chapters truly showcased that fact.

Influences in Fictional Media

As already mentioned, fictional media truly doesn't have limits. Due to thousands and thousands of years of documented cultural symbolism and happenings, fictional media became a great source of inclusivity and creativity. There are many instances of Western philosophers who created their own rhetorics and doctrines with influences from the likes of Confucius and Buddha and the other way around. This inspiration and ingenuity of historically important philosophies can be easily seen in fictional media, which does the same thing. For example, one of the most popular Western animated shows, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, had many influences from Eastern animation, especially Japanese anime.

Although anime and manga provided so much inspiration to the Western fictional media creators, Eastern creators also love to refresh or enhance their work, looking for some guides and points that will make their work better—and Takeru Hokazono does that really well.

For more Kagurabachi, check out Manga Plus.

Kagurabachi is full of John Wick References

Some skeptics, or rather, killjoys, would say that today's creators just love to 'borrow' things from others, not doing enough to think of more creative things. However, what those same people don't realize is that trying to think of a whole new storytelling technique or trope is incredibly hard, especially by today's standards. We're living in the middle of the postmodernism movement, in which we look into already established things, divide them, analyze them, and then reconstruct them into what we feel is right. At least, that's the gist of it.

In the context of Kagurabachi, Hokazono doesn't hide the fact that he loves Western movies, especially ones that include incredible action. John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves, reached every 'pore' of the planet Earth during its biggest popularity, and it indeed reached Japan. Action and brutal scenes are a huge part of Kagurabachi, especially after learning that the 'neutral' territory for mercenaries, specifically, Kyoto Bloodshed Hotel, is essentially Hokazono's version of Continental Hotel. Chihiro, Sojo, Hishaku members, and more going on a killing spree and leaving countless dead bodies behind them is a true John Wick inspiration, of course, that includes many other famous parts of fictional media. The animation and drawing style of Hokazono reminds us of something Frank Miller would draw in his Batman comics, and storytelling does reflect some of the famous samurai or even war movies. Those parts of the Kagurabachi make this hit manga series incredibly entertaining and just simply one of the coolest titles available to read.

Conclusion: Variety of Inspiration Leads to Rich Fictional Worldbuilding

There is never harm in looking for inspiration elsewhere—there are so many cultures in the world that we don't even know of. Hokazono's style is clear; he is making a very bloody shōnen manga series, with solid protagonists and cool supporting characters, which is your usual shōnen title. However, the creator doesn't shy away from covering heavy topics and referencing one of the coolest pieces of media West has produced in the last few years, which the fans of the manga series will recognize immediately.

Mutual appreciation of these, at first glance, vastly different cultures is what makes these pieces of media so much more enjoyable and encouraging for the future—especially when they are treated right. And Kagurabachi does indeed.

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