If you follow Creed director and star Michael B. Jordan on Instagram, you’ll know that he’s currently on a little tour of Japan – as he has made three posts in the last few days with photos of himself in Tokyo and Kyoto. Jordan is famously a massive anime series nerd, and he even brought anime influences into his directorial debut – Creed 3. And he was given an extremely cool gift at Studio Pierrot – the home of Naruto.
Studio Pierrot tweeted; “Michael B. Jordan, a passionate NARUTO fan, paid us a visit! Here is a shot of Mr. Jordan with a little gift from us – a Shikishi drawn by Tetsuya Nishio, the character designer of NARUTO!”
Jordan loves anime so much, the fight scenes in Creed 3 were influenced by Dragon Ball Z, and even his character Donnie’s boxing shorts were inspired by Akira. Jordan told Radio One which five anime series he would recommend to beginners; “One Piece, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, and Hunter x Hunter. That’s a pretty good starting five.”
Naruto originally ran from 2002-2007, and Naruto: Shippuden ran from 2007-2017. There have been so many episodes, that we have advice for you on which Naruto filler episodes you can skip. But we still have many Naruto Jutsu that we love – including Particle Style, Limbo, and Seven Gates.
Michael B. Jordan’s upcoming projects include a sequel to I Am Legend, a Thomas Crown Affair movie, and Rainbow Six (based on a Tom Clancy novel and directed by John Wick‘s Chad Stahelski). Jordan has also made a short anime to accompany the release of Creed 3 in Japan.
While we wait to find out if the Creed anime will ever be made available internationally, check out our guide to the best anime movies and the best sports movies.