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As I may have mentioned somewhere, I am a big anime fan, and I have been for some time. One of the first anime that I got hooked on was Naruto, and it holds a special place in my heart. The show Naruto follows the story of an ostracized boy named Naruto on his journey to prestige, power, and social acceptance. Naruto and his peers are all ninjas and wear forehead protectors (headbands) that have symbols of their homelands on them as a form of identification. Naruto is from "The Village Hidden in the Leaves" (or alternatively, "The Hidden Leaf Village", Konoha) in the Land of Fire. (See the map below for details.)
In Naruto, and its sequels, (Naruto Shippuden & Boruto: Next Generations) the primary occupation that a person can have is that of a ninja. Technically, all ninja are like soldiers for their home nation. So as you can imagine, there are instances in which a ninja may sever ties with their homeland (desert or defect) and go "rogue" for whatever reason. Such folks are known as "ronin". One such example is Itachi-sama, a ninja formerly from the Hidden Leaf Village. As he is depicted above, you can see him sporting his headband with the The Hidden Leaf Village symbol crossed out.
So, you could imagine how I felt when I saw that some company somewhere was making these: Real-life headbands with the symbol of my hOmElAnD--the "silhouette" of the USA flag--was crossed out on it.
NOW, Y'ALL KNOW I HAD TO GET IT!
The utility was just too much fun to pass up! With this headband, I could do the following:
1) Express my discontent with the suffocating pervasiveness of racism in the USA
2) Connect with every anime watcher who saw it, as all anime watchers know about Naruto whether they've seen it or not.
3) Have a good laugh with any Naruto fan that got the reference.
To date: I've worn it out twice. People have reacted either with blank stares or curious glances. But that's fine with me.
Here's to the 1st Amendment!
See you next time!
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Note: If you are interested in buying this item you can get it off Etsy from a company called "Legalcy Crafting". FYI: IT IS EXPENSIVE (~$40) and IT WILL TAKE FOREVER for you to get it. Source? Me. Don't say I didn't warn you!