One of Noah Lyles‘ many interests is anime. Many fictional characters serve as sources of inspiration for him. But the athlete did explain that he is drawing inspiration from anime in a recent episode of Inside Track that World Athletics posted on Instagram, explaining why he is sporting red and black nails.
In the anime universe, it’s not uncommon to see characters who share a color scheme. Lyles, on the other hand, credits Naruto’s Itachi Uchiha as being the one who pushed him to have red and black nails.
After seeing the nails of Lyles, British athlete Richard Kilty’s curiosity piqued. He asked about its inspiration, as Lyles got excited to talk about it:
“This is an anime reference. It’s from Naruto. So, there’s a character named Itachi and he has this ability that he can call upon black flames. It’s called Amaterasu and the black flames do not extinguish until they kill it’s target.”
Black flames, or Amaterasu, are a technique in the anime that the user shoots out of their eye into their target. This will cause the flames to burst out and continue to burn for a week, or until the target disappears entirely.
Lyles relates to the anime reference because he describes how he has goals to reach. Sanya Richards-Ross was also a fan of the nail paint concept. Since Lyles did not win the gold medal at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, she suggested Lyles to keep the paint.
There are plenty of events coming up for the track star. Noah Lyles also agreed on the point Richards-Ross shared:
“I mean I was already going to you know, I think that, yeah, I think they should come back for sure. Maybe they will be my ongoing national nails until the goal is accomplished.”
Noah Lyles sends out tribute to Akira Toriyama
The world was shocked when Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama passed away. Among those who mourned his passing was Noah Lyles, who devoted an entire Instagram post to paying tribute to his beloved mangaka. Among Toriyama’s creations is Goku, Lyles’ favorite, who has been a source of inspiration for him.
The track star detailed his heartfelt process of dying his hair to match Goku’s many transformations in the anime. Additionally, he said that he would mimic Goku’s “kamehameha” pose when he emerged victorious in events. As Toriyama’s death was sudden, it was a difficult time for Lyles.
