User blog comment:Jkphantom9/Some Ruby figure fun, I presume?/@comment-186.188.68.63-20140312165401/@comment-4010415-20140313002913

Also, @186.188.68.63, aura is most likely inspired by the concept of an actual thing that people believe in, in real life, called... aura. Basically, a fuckton of anime use concepts inspired by the belief in aura, whether the anime/manga calls it aura, chakra, chi, ki, etc. The soul wavelengths in Soul Eater were also similar to aura.

So, no, I would not say that aura is inspired somehow by the concept of ki in DBZ.