Cognition Dissemination: Michael B. Jordan’s Anime Recommendations are Huge

There’s reportedly a lot to like about Creed III, the newest installment in the Rocky spinoff series that arrived in theaters on the Friday before last. Among its several standout aspects is how anime-inspired it is (Warning: mild spoilers) courtesy of star Michael B. Jordan, who plays the titular Adonis Creed, son of Rocky’s Apollo Creed, and took over as director for this title. The movie includes memorabilia and outfits that reference several favorite anime from Jordan, and includes scenes and fight choreography that would be at home in one. Creed III has garnered a better critical and commercial reception than its fine-but-predictable predecessor, so it worked out for the better.

This led to an expected question from members of the press with even passing interest in the medium: Precisely what are the anime Michael B. Jordan recommends for those who haven’t indulged in any? There are undoubtedly plenty who’ve seen the Creed movies and haven’t watched any anime outside those they’ve passed by on TV and streaming networks. Those he recommended are some of the most popular shōnen manga adaptations around, specifically Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Hunter x Hunter.

I won’t knock any of these shows, some of which I’ve seen. I’ve loved Dragon Ball since my high school days, one that’s been extremely popular among the black male community for several decades now. But goddamn are all these franchises long as hell. I can imagine plenty of people taking these recommendations to heart and wanting to indulge in all the content they’ll offer, and quivering in fear at just how much content they’ll have at their disposal. It would, specifically, trigger what’s known as Archive Panic.

The original Naruto anime has 220 episodes, while sequel series Shippuden has 500, for a grand total of a whopping 720 episodes. That’s not including the eleven movies and twelve Original Video Animation (OVA) episodes, and the new special episodes coming for the 20th anniversary this year in September. (I’m not getting into sequel Boruto, the first part of which is ending soon.) The Bleach anime has 366 episodes, not including the currently-airing Thousand-Year Blood War arc, and four movies, far more manageable than Naruto at least. Dragon Ball has plenty of episodes across the original Dragon Ball (153), Dragon Ball Z (291), the non-canonical Dragon Ball GT (64), and Dragon Ball Super (131), and that’s not getting into the movies. At least DBZ is more manageable with Dragon Ball Z Kai’s 167 episodes. One Piece, meanwhile, has a gigantic 1,053 episodes and 15 movies, and will remain ongoing for several years more.

All these anime have filler episodes and arcs of varying quality, ensuring that venturing through each series will feel just as long as they’ll take to watch them. They’re all entertaining at least, but Jordan is hoping everyone who undertakes these recommendations will have a free year in which to finish them.

I left out Hunter x Hunter above because it’s by far the most manageable of these, particularly through the more-complete adaptation that started in 2011. At 148 episodes and two movies, and little-to-no filler (and what’s there is solid), it won’t take long to complete. I ventured through the entire series between January and February this year, and it’s one of the best battle shōnen around. Hopefully author Yoshihiro Togashi makes a full recovery as he finishes the series.

Again, those are solid recommendations. I’m a little disappointed that Jordan didn’t throw out recommendations for Ashita no Joe and Hajime no Ippo despite both being excellent boxing series, since he’s seen both, though that’s understandable in the former’s case. Ashita no Joe itself is very old, originating from the 1970s; but the biggest issue is how the first series is unavailable legally thanks to the rights being divided between three different Japanese companies a western company would have to pay. The TMS Entertainment-owned second Joe series, however, has been available for years. Both Hajime no Ippo series are available on Crunchyroll and RetroCrush, though perhaps Jordan wasn’t sure if his intended audience is willing to watch subtitles.

But I’m floored that Megalo Box, the spiritual successor to Ashita no Joe, wasn’t among the recommendations, which Jordan has also seen. Megalo Box is a worthy successor to its progenitor, inheriting its character drama and depressingly-realistic worldview. The fights themselves lack necessary feedback thanks to merely-okay choreography and hit effects, but that’s nowhere near enough to bring down the series. It’s available for streaming on Hulu in English dub and Japanese subtitled forms, and is well worth watching.

Now that the Creed series has been established as successful, perhaps more so than the Rocky series (something you shouldn’t question while walking around certain South Philadelphia neighborhoods), Jordan intends to establish a Creed-verse with MGM/Amazon. This is one way to get an anime series green lit, to have something official that could join those anime recommendations. The topic they could tackle is up in the air, but perhaps Jordan and the others in the future production teams could watch Megalo Box if they haven’t.

I’m glad Creed III is performing well, further unquestionable proof that anime is the key to success. That’s the only takeaway here. I hope Michael B. Jordan has a great future as a director in addition to remaining an actor, and that he weaves anime influence into most of his subsequent works too.

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