Manga 'Baki-Dou' Features US President-Elect Donald Trump: Artist Frustrated at US Election Results & Trump's Hair
Japan had a rough relationship with the United States in the past, but the two powerful nations have had an amicable alliance since the war. It's inevitable, therefore, that US leaders are mentioned in Japanese art.
Keisuke Itagaki , the "mangaka" or artist and author of "Baki the Grappler" or "Baki-Dou" took it a step further, however, when he not only included a Barack Obama character, but also that of Donald Trump, current US President-Elect. In one of the volumes is a character named George W. Bosh who drove Baki's father around in a limousine. There is also Barack Ozuma who obviously represents the United States' out-going president. Ozuma is relatively in good terms with Baki's father, the world's strongest fighter.
When the US 2016 Elections finished, Itagaki wasted no time writing about Donald Trump in the series. In the Nov. 24, 2016, issue of the Weekly Shōnen Companion, a character with perfectly coifed hair named "Mr. Torampu" or Mr. Trump talking to the US president about his new duties as leader of the United States.
"Baki-Dou" Chapter 135 titled "Greatness" opens with a fair-haired man asking the incumbent president, Barack Ozuma, why powerful nations have agreed to a non-aggression declaration for Yuujiro Hanma, Baki's father.
In the comics, Mr. Trump expresses disgust that such a powerful nation must bow down to the wishes of one man. Determined to "make America great again," as was the original Republican candidate's campaign slogan, Mr. Trump goes to meet Baki's father, intending to put a stop to the non-aggression declaration. Instead, he wets himself, takes out the Holy Bible and performs a Nazi salute.
According to Anime News Network, Itagaki did this "to honor the upset of the country" at the election results, which left many Democrat voters reeling, and also because Itagaki finds Trump's hairstyle interesting and frustrating (it can be noted that Trump's introduction in the comics is a panel featuring his head).
