Japanese sports equipment and sportswear company Mizuno's newly released shoes use a shock-resistant padding they call "MIZUNO ENERZY" that provides resilient lightweight footwear for athletes. However, some have noticed that the specially designed shoes have a striking resemblance to a certain transformation sequence in iconic anime AKIRA.

The bubbly and resistant pink guards that envelope the shoe as padding have a bit of a fleshy aesthetic, one similar to the famous metamorphosis scene in AKIRA, which has inspired the nickanme "AKIRA Shoes" online. You can compare it to the bottom left figure in the image below as a reference.

Source: Value Press

The similarity isn't intentional, by the way. The resemblance is coincidental and due to the color and texture of the material Mizuno uses, as explained in the below video.

Until the day we see official Akira sports shoes, these may be the perfect footwear for athletic Akira fans.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.