I was excited late last year to learn about a collaboration between the Onitsuka Tiger sneaker brand and Astro Boy, a manga (Japanese comic) series. It combines two of my favourite things – shoes and manga.
Both Onitsuka Tiger and Astro Boy were born in Japan at around the same time. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Onitsuka Tiger brand this year, it collaborated with Astro Boy to create a range of Astro Boy Onitsuka Tiger sneakers.
Onitsuka Tiger is a Japanese shoe company that started in 1949. By 1956, Onitsuka shoes became the official shoe of the Japanese Olympic team. Its most famous product is the Mexico 66 sneaker, which was worn at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. The Mexico 66 sneaker is iconic for the two criss-crossing stripes on the side. In 1977, Onitsuka Tiger merged with a few other companies to become ASICS, an acronym for ‘Anima Sana in Corpore’ (a healthy soul in a healthy body). ASICS relaunched Onitsuka Tiger in 2002, and that’s the very quick history of the Onitsuka Tiger sneaker brand. In popular culture, Bruce Lee, the martial arts legend and actor, wore the Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 sneaker, including in yellow and black. In the movie ‘Kill Bill’, actress Uma Thurman also wore yellow and black Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 sneakers.
Astro Boy is a manga (Japanese comic) series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. The manga ran from 1952 – 1968, and there were 23 volumes. It tells the story of Astro Boy, a robot boy created by Dr Tenma, after the death of his son. This manga has sold over 100 million copies worldwide, and it is the best-selling manga series of all time. The manga was also made into a very popular anime (Japanese animation) series in 1963.
And this is where 2 become 1, in the collaboration between Onitsuka Tiger and Astro Boy. This was to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Onitsuka Tiger in 2024. The collection went on sale early in 2024, and includes items like shirts, jackets, hats, as well as sneakers.
shihyenshoes 