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1. Japan’s men’s volleyball team pulled off a Haikyu!! trick
Although Japan’s men’s volleyball team might be out of the Olympics, they won the Internet when they performed a move from Haikyu!! — a hit anime about volleyball.
When they were up against Canada on 26 July, Japanese athlete Ran Takahashi ran up to the net, faked a spike, before passing the ball to his team captain Yuki Ishikawa.
The series of moves ended with Ishikawa spiking the ball into the opponent’s side, securing a point for Japan.
The technique was used by several characters in the anime.
2. Greek long jumper did a One Piece pose onstage during his introduction
When Miltiadis Tentoglou was introduced at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, he walked up to the middle of the stage and put his fist down on the ground while the rest of his body remained standing.
While others might see the pose as Tentoglou being thankful for the opportunity to compete in the Olympics, any One Piece fan would recognise it as the anime’s main character Luffy’s ‘gear second’ — an ability that increases his strength and speed.
He went on to win gold for his country. Prior to that, he confirmed with Greek press that his pose was indeed from the 22-year running anime, reported Kotaku.
3. USA shot putter screamed “SUPERRR” while he did One Piece‘s Franky’s pose
After Tentoglou pulled off Luffy’s pose, Payton Ottherdal imitated Franky from the anime, who is a cyborg in Luffy’s pirate crew.
Known for being a hard-hitter and his catchphrase ‘SUPERRR’, Ottherdal posed like Franky as he entered the final match of shot put on 5 August.
He was even heard screaming Franky’s catchphrase. After he did his stunt, One Piece‘s official Twitter account cheered Ottherdal for paying homage to the anime.
Dear USA shot putter; Payton OtterdahlWe sincerely celebrate the activities of our “NAKAMA” around the world with the utmost respect for your efforts and achievements. pic.twitter.com/wSpnifZyK4
— ONE PIECE (@Eiichiro_Staff) August 5, 2021
4. Countries were led in with dramatic manga speech bubbles during the opening ceremony
Image via Natacha Pisarenko/AP
During the Olympics opening ceremony on 23 July, placards for each country’s name featured a manga speech bubble with lines protruding outwards — a common manga art style to present dramatisation.
A photo of Iceland’s placard was captured by American non-profit news agency Associated Press (AP), and its coverage on the manga-style placard went on to make headlines around the world.
5. Gundam watched the Olympics too
Gundam watching the Olympic climbing event. pic.twitter.com/YcRLWD0gMh
— Steve Bannister (@SteveisSensible) August 4, 2021
Many people who have visited Tokyo would know that there is a giant Gundam model standing outside of DiverCity Tokyo Plaza in Odaiba.
With some of the Olympics’ events being held there, more people in the world now know about the cool fact.
Kotaku published a photo showing triathletes taking a lap around the artificial island with Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn seen in the background. The men’s climbing event was held in the vicinity too.
Yesterday, 5 July, the Gundam sighting during events gained more public attention after BBC had mistaken the Gundam model for a Transformer.
We see what’s happened here…But who would win in an Olympic battle between a Gundam v Transformer? #bbcolympics pic.twitter.com/VXGszX18VK
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 5, 2021
6. Attack On Titan‘s theme was played during the archery event
I gotcha you guys. This one is better. Listen to the end ! pic.twitter.com/N28gDxK575
— normal college student (@Ana_LovesYooh) July 24, 2021
One of the highest-rated anime of all time, Attack On Titan’s first season theme song — Guren no Yumiya, which can be translated into ‘Crimson Bow And Arrow’ — was played during an archery event on 24 July.
Comicbook.com reported that the theme song was played during a mixed team match between the United States and Indonesia.
7. Many anime theme songs were played at the Olympics too
According to HYPEBEAST, songs from Demon Slayer, Slam Dunk, Haikyu!!, and Ghost in the Shell were heard in archery, women’s basketball, and men’s volleyball matches.
Animehunch also reported that the acoustic version of Naruto Shippuden’s third opening song Blue Bird was played during a horse-riding event too.
8. Olympics TV presenter cosplayed as Jiraya from Naruto
Only in Japan the TV presenter of the Olympics dressed as Jiraiya#NARUTO #Tokyo2020 #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/LlFmUEaKUN
— DRareguy (@DRareguy) July 26, 2021
According to Animehunch, on the third day of the Olympics, a Japanese TV presenter showed up dressed as one of the characters from Naruto — Jiraya-sensei.
Although not much information is available about the TV presenter who cosplayed Naruto’s teacher in the anime series, fans worldwide were happy to see the character making an appearance at the Olympics.
Many manga and anime enthusiast portals reported about the TV presenter’s cosplay, generating great fanfare in late July.
9. Dutch and Mexican athletes paid tribute to Avatar: The Last Airbender
Team Netherlands’ windsurfer Kiran Badloe is channeling Avatar Aang in Tokyo (via @kiranbadloe) pic.twitter.com/5r4zFaGx96
— ESPN (@espn) July 24, 2021
Putting aside the argument about whether Avatar: The Last Airbender is an anime or not, Dutch windsurfer Kiran Badloe rocking arrow-shaped blue hair at the Olympics has to be included in this list as thousands of fans cheered Badloe for the fitting tribute.
As an athlete who needs to know the ins and outs of wind in the water sport, Badloe’s Aang cosplay implies that he is a ‘wind master’.
Additionally, Mexican synchronised swimming duo Nuria Diosdado and Joana Jiménez García also paid tribute to the series by donning swimsuits with elements unique to Avatar: The Last Airbender.
According to Popsugar, the outfits were designed by Mexican brand Gilling Activewear. They featured two koi fish: Tui and La, who are known respectively as the moon spirit and fish spirit in the Nickelodeon show.
The back of their outfits featured four symbols that are central in the series — water, earth, fire, and air elements.
— Adri (@Asterioll) August 3, 2021