Feature

Solanke's 10 anime-inspired celebrations: What do they mean?

By Finnian Anyanwu 1 Oct 2024

Spurs and ex-Bournemouth striker is continuing to pay tributes to his favourite anime after scoring. We explain their meanings

The goals are flowing for Dominic Solanke after his summer move from AFC Bournemouth to Tottenham Hotspur, and it is giving him further opportunities to showcase his anime-inspired celebrations.

Anime is a style of animation that originated in Japan, characterised by colourful artwork and vibrant characters. Popular anime series include Dragon Ball Z, Naruto and One Piece.

After Solanke's latest strike against Manchester United on Sunday, he struck a pose inspired by the hit series Jujutsu Kaisen.

•_Jujutsu Kaisen – Satoru Gojo (vs Manchester United)

Solanke explained his reasons for the celebrations in an interview with Rising Ballers, saying, “I am a big anime fan. I was doing the usual bow and arrow [celebration] and I thought I wanted to try something different."

After a celebration featuring the One Piece character Trafalgar Law went viral, he felt confident enough to continue.

"I was watching anime every day," Solanke said. "I did the Trafalgar Law celebration first and a lot of people were loving it. It is just something I like to have fun with and it is nice to do different ones.”

When asked separately by the BBC if anime influences his playing style, Solanke added, "You could say [my] mindset. It is just so relentless - the characters not giving up. It is actually always nice to think back to those characters and what they've gone through and how hard they worked."

Here are the 10 different celebrations Solanke has done and the anime characters that inspired them.