The great popularity of Japanese animation leaves its mark wherever possible, Dota has not remained aside. The developers themselves rarely make references compared to the community, whose skins are often added to treasures.
Perhaps these skins are not references to specific anime at all, but just a random coincidence. This is known only to the creators of the skin, and we, in turn, will note the similarity of the skins with Japanese works.
Caustic Steel
At first glance, this skin does not have any references to the alchemist, but upon closer inspection you can find three features that refer to the fullmetal alchemist:
Razil's hairstyle (the little alchemist's companion who sits on his back) has been modified and is very similar to the one worn by the main character.
Razil's right arm resembles the steel prosthesis that Edward Elric uses.
On some parts of the armor there are patterns that are similar to those in which the soul of the main character's brother is imprisoned.
The name of the Dota 2 hero is similar to the title of the work, so such a reference sooner or later it had to appear.
Indomitable Legacy
In the case of this Sven skin, we don’t have to guess whether it’s a reference or a coincidence. The author himself said that this skin is a tribute to the deceased Kentaro Miura, creator of the manga Berserk.
Sven's armor is similar to the armor of the main character, and the shoulders are made exactly like the face of the beast of darkness from the anime. The final similarity is the modified crossbow on Sven's left hand, which Guts used. The creator of the berserker greatly influenced world pop culture, so the Dota community supported the decision of the creator of the skin and voted to add this reference to the game.
Magus Apex
This skin kills two birds with one stone, referencing not only the anime, but also the meme. The Invoker's fiery hairstyle is similar to the Super Saiyan's hairstyle from Dragonball, and the skin description: “The solar zenith spell, forgotten for over nine thousand years, gives its owner the chance to touch the sun, be showered with its radiant glory and curb its burning wrath. Only the chosen one can be so brave.” refers to the “It’s over 9000” meme, which is associated with the fandom of this anime.
Feast of Abscession
Puja Arcana was released on April 3, 2018, exactly the same day when the 3rd season of the anime was released Tokyo ghoul. Ever since the bearded days, the nascent subculture in Dota of Deadsides associated itself with the main character Kaneki Ken
In addition to one day of release, there is another similarity, namely the tentacle-chains behind Pudge, they very much resemble the kagune that ghouls use to eat their victims, exactly like Pudge.
Bonus
References to anime are found in Dota 2 not only in skins, but also in animations, descriptions of items and abilities, even in icons and graffiti.
Graffiti Jo-jo
The 2021 Battle Pass called Hostility has references to the Dota anime in the form of personalities on the heroes, but in addition to such an obvious reference, there are others. For example, graffiti referencing Jo-Jo's Bizarre Adventure.
The meeting of the protagonist and antagonist grew into a meme, which was adapted for heroes of different universes. For level 135 of the battlepass, the player is given an obvious reference in which Doom goes to meet Zeus in the same way as Jotaro went to meet Dio.
Aghanim on Dark Seer
Another reference to the classics of the genre can be seen after purchasing the scepter of Aghanim on Darkseer. The first thing that catches your eye is the ability icon in the form of a fist.
When using the aganism ability, during the animation you can clearly see a fist in a red glove and pop-up hieroglyphs, this is undoubtedly a reference to the anime One Punch Man.
The developers weren’t satisfied with such a bold reference and they added a mockery of the same darksir, during which he jumps rope in red gloves. This is a reference to Saitama's training.
