Michael B. Jordan Discusses How Anime Has Shaped Him

Most moviegoers now know Michael B. Jordan, thanks to his roles as Adonis Creed in the Rocky spinoff series Creed, as well as his role as Erik Killmonger in Marvel’s breakout hit film Black Panther. However, Jordan is also famous within the anime fandom for his pronounced love for anime, and during a recent interview, he fully expressed just what kind of impression anime has had on his career.

THR was speaking to Michael B. Jordan about the projects he’s backing through his production company, Outlier Society, which includes a new anime series called gen:LOCK. When it came to discussion of anime in general, Jordan had the following to say about his personal history withe anime:

” I just grew up on it. I evolved from watching Saturday morning cartoons. Next, I discovered other forms of animation, Disney and Pixar. Then, of course, once the internet really got going, I was able to find animation from Japan. My passion just grew over the years, and I found myself being an avid anime fan.”

As for what attracts Michael B. Jordan to the anime genre:

“…I think the action and the story. A lot of the stories and the character development on these anime series are incredible. They are so underrated. I really dove into a lot of the emotional beats of these characters. I remember dropping a tear or two. I’ve definitely cried little man tears over anime before.”

The interviewer infers that Michael B. Jordan shed tears over the Dragon Ball series at some point, to which the actor responded, “Not just Goku, though. I think I dropped a tear or two toward the end of the series. I can admit that.”

As stated, Michael B. Jordan has been quite outspoken about his love for anime – and even admitted where he may have dropped some of those other tears:

My favorite anime is Naruto: Shippuden. Been a fan of it for years, since I was maybe 12-13 years old. I’ve literally seen Sasuke and Naruto grow up. At the end of it, it was pretty sad. I dropped a couple tears.”

Jordan’s fandom isn’t just passive admiration: he’s actually channeled anime into some of his biggest performances! For example:

“I think there was a moment in Creed II actually during my training montage where I fall on the ground and kind of get up. It was like that legendary Goku, Gohan … get up. Like when Gohan had that dead arm when he was fighting Cell,” Jordan explained. “That was definitely motivated by anime for me.”

Michael B. Jordan isn’t the only big celeb out there stumping for anime: female stars like Kim Kardashian and Game of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams have surprised fans with their respective passions for anime – just more proof positive of how anime is crossing over into the mainstream!

You can next see Michael B. Jordan in the current season of gen:Lock.