It is a big day for the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. The two teams will compete against one another at Super Bowl LII in just a couple hours, but some of the Patriots have other important things on their mind.
Videos by ComicBook.com
You know, like Dragon Ball.
Ahead of the game, Mass Live attended a press conference where members of the Patriots opened up about the big game. Alan Branch and Lawrence Guy spoke together as the linemen answered questions about their Super Bowl strategies. However, the pair couldn’t help but plug their love for anime during the outing.
“You’ve got to get into Dragon Ball Super,” Guy told Branch in an aside before the press. “It starts out slow, then it gets good, then it gets bad. You have to – it’s so good, bad, good, bad — I’m like are you serious? Then the tournament comes.”
During the interview, Branch said there are at least five big anime fans on the Patriots. “I don’t know if people are closet anime fans, so I don’t know if I want to put it out there,” he said.
If you’ve kept up with the team, you will know a few of those players. Adam Butler and Deatrich Wise were given the nicknames Goku and Vegeta from kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Branch says Butler is the head honcho when it comes to anime knowledge, and the latter has shown he knows a thing or twelve about Naruto.
“I don’t read the manga anymore because the Shippuden series is over,” Butler told press before mentioning the show Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. “Now we’re into Naruto’s son, so what I do is I don’t watch it for multiple weeks and let them build up so I can binge watch later.”
The team’s full anime talk can be found here, but it seems the Patriots has its full share of otakus. According to Branch, he’s having trouble deciding if his favorite anime is One Punch Man or Hunter x Hunter. Others are still catching up with Dragon Ball Super and bemoaning One Piece’s length. There’s a lot of love for anime housed on the team, so who knows? If the Patriots take home another Super Bowl win, maybe these guys will forego Disney and head to Tokyo instead.
Are you rooting for the Patriots and its team of otakus? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!
