Art resurfaced when he was announced as a judge for Shonen Jump's Sports Manga Award
Being talented in one aspect of life does not prevent you from being talented in other aspects. For example, former Mr. Seven-time Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger went on to have a successful acting career. But what about Shōhei Ohtani, the biggest name in sports today?
Well, it turns out that not only is he one of the best baseball players who loves the sport, but he also has a talent for painting.
Shōhei Ohtani receives proclamation for Shōhei Ohtani Day in Los Angeles on May 17Image via www.instagram.com
©Shōhei Otani
The topic was raised when X (formerly Twitter ) user @takadachandayo posted an image from a morning television show accompanied by an illustration of the character Hisashi Mitsui from Slam Dunk drawn by Ohtani. The drawing depicts Mitsui from one of the manga's most iconic scenes when he bursts into tears and tells Coach Anzai that he wants to play basketball.
ジャンプスポーツ漫画審査員 大谷翔平、なんと絵も上手い pic.twitter.com/DYvliHdMls
— 鷹堕(タカダ) (@takadachandayo) May 28, 2024
Shohei Otani, Jump Sports Manga judge [Giải thưởng]is also good at drawing
Ohtani apparently drew this picture on a whiteboard before leaving the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team in 2017 to join the Los Angeles Angels. In the message he wrote: “Thank you.”
This is not the first time Ohtani's artistic prowess has been mentioned. In an article by Shūkan Josei Prime on September 14, 2022, the newspaper reported and obtained a photo of the above drawing of Ohtani's Slam Dunk's Mitsui. Besides, some of Ohtani's former teammates talked about his artistic talent on variety shows. However, with Ohtani's appointment as a judge for Weekly Shonen Jump's new Jump Sports Manga Awards, his artistic talent has resurfaced.
Although Ohtani was not a talented artist, he certainly had some hidden artistic talent. Does this alone make him a good judge for the Jump Sports Manga Awards? Sure is not. But he is one of the greatest athletes of this generation. And if that doesn't qualify him then I don't know what does.
Source: Takada's X/Twitter account via Hachima Kikō, Shūkan Josei Prime, Shōhei Ohtani's Instagram account
