Anime was ‘stupid’ — then this blockbuster shonen title turned this pro player into a weeb

Admit it, it happened to you too.

Anime has invaded esports on a scale like no other. Besidesexclusive merch collaborationsandin-game skins, Valorant esports pros themselves believe that using a picture of theirfavorite anime character in their Twitter profilebuffs them for competition

Another Riot Games title,League of Legends, offersSailor Moon-inspired skinline Star Guardianwhich is massively popular among players. More and more League of Legends pros too, are spreading and sharing their love for anime onsocial media and through official team content.

MAD Lions Carzzy at MSI 2023 with outline of Sword Art Online’s Asuna

One dedicated fan even made a fullJujutsu Kaisen ending animation sequence LOST IN PARADISE featuring LEC prosto celebrate Worlds 2021.

One of the pros featured in this sequence is none other than MAD Lions bot laner Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság who, get this, once thought anime was “really stupid to watch.” In an interview with ONE Esports, the now self-proclaimed weeb shares what changed his mind, gives us recommendations, and explains why he relates to this character in Chainsaw Man the most.

Fan-made LoL esports Jujutsu Kaisen animation featuring MAD Lions' AD carry Carzzy

When MAD Lions Carzzy was in fan-made Jujutsu Kaisen video, he hadn’t even watched the animeyet

Last we spoke toCarzzy, he didn’t know who Itadori Yuji was, the character he was modelled after in the fan-made LOST IN PARADISE short. He finally watched all of season one, including theJujutsu Kaisen 0 movie, which he thought was “a bit worse than the ongoing anime.”

While he catches lots ofother titles in the shonen genrelike Naruto, Black Clover, andTokyo Revengers, which he thinks highly of, the man of culture also likes isekai stories like Re:Zero.

Denji pulls on his cord in Chainsaw Man

He just embarked on a long and arduous journey bystarting One Pieceand just reached episode 40 — with over a thousand more to go.

And of course, like the rest of us, hewatched Chainsaw Man this season, but favors it for a different reason. “I canrelate to Denjiso I like it — because he’s kind of stupid and fun like me. And recently strong,” he told ONE Esports.

Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night movie official key visual

But if there’s one title you should definitely make a point to watch, he believes it’s Made in Abyss, a fantasy seinen anime with mature themes that currently holds a high 8.7/10 rating on MyAnimeList. “It’s so good, but it has a bit of gore. It looks like it’s for kids, but then it gets weird,” Carzzy recommends.

Even though this pro player is well-acquainted now, his personal anime arc only started five years ago — all thanks to another pro player and friend, top laner Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu.

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“When I was younger I disliked anime and thought it’s really stupid to watch it,” he shared. “But then I saw my first anime when I was 16 and after that I really got into it.”

“I lived in Spain for two months. My friend and former teammate, Odoamne, he was a big anime fan,” Carzzy continued. “He introduced me to Sword Art Online and I started watching it. It was fun. After that, I became weeb.”

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