The most interesting kickboxer in Japan would have to be Yuichiro “Jienotsu” Nagashima, an avid anime fan and cosplayer who happens to be extremely adept at judo and full contact karate. Famous for dressing in flamboyant anime costumes as he fights, the New Japan Kickboxing Federation-affiliated fighter manages to turn every bout into a huge performance, generating plenty of attention for himself from bloggers and the media in the process. So far his cosplay events have included Miku Hatsune, Haruhi Suzumiya, Shana of the Blazing Eyes and Index from A Certain Magical Index. It’s enough to make me feel sorry for his opponents — it’s got to be one thing to take a beating in the ring, but totally different to get your butt kicked by some dressed up as the cute Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier. His goal in life is to climb to the top of the Japanese K-1 world and eventually get a studio to let him work as a voice actor. “I want to work hard to be the best anime otaku I can be.” Oh, and his favorite cookies are Country Ma’am — we agree!
Japan’s anime cosplaying kickboxer is always entertaining to watch, although a little scary.
