Anime Trivia

This one is speculation rather than a known fact.

If you're a fan of the classic Doctor Who series, you may recall a Tom Baker story called The Armageddon Factor. The first time the Marshall appeared on screen, I knew that I recognised his uniform. Then when they started mentioning a species called Zeons, I knew there was something fishy going on.

Marshall's uniform from The Armageddon Factor (air date: 20th Jan 1979):
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Degwin Zabi's Zeon uniform from Mobile Suit Gundam (1st episode air date: 7th April 1979):
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Could it be that one of the most iconic villain uniforms in anime history is a Doctor Who reference?! It has the colour scheme, the winged emblem on the chest, and the Zeon name. Considering the quick turnaround on anime productions, and that Degwin didn't appear until a few episodes into the show, it seems entirely possible that the original Gundam series was in pre-production when The Armageddon Factor started airing. It's more a question of whether it would have aired in Japan by that point.
 
Araki predicts 9/11 in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Published in October 1990, chapter 189 (Vol. 20) of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga introduces us to the character, Boingo. He has a power to predict the future, with his precognitions displayed in the form of a weirdly drawn comic book. Near the beginning of chapter 189, a character reads some of Boingo's comic book, which we get to see too. It shows:
  • A man with "911" on his top (the only such markings on any of his clothing)
  • This man then dies horribly (in what would have been a horrific passenger vehicular accident with other members of the public)
  • A creepy laughing airplane is in the background as the character dies
  • Just before he dies, he also states the time of day; virtually the same time as the 911 attacks
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Araki was asked in an interview about why he drew these images (watch it here with a timestamp). Araki said, "I don't know why I drew such a scene."

Obviously it's particularly strange as it's not just a scene from the manga itself, but a layer deeper in that it's from an item within the story that itself predicts the future.

However, it's of course a random coincidence, as Araki agrees with later in the interview noted above. But it's still a somewhat bizarre (no pun intended!) set of coincidences nonetheless.
 
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