A cross-counter punch ties Creed III to one of anime’s greatest tropes
Anime is one of the most versatile variations on the medium of animation in the world. From a niche cultural export to a bona fide global phenomenon, Japanese animation has left an indelible mark not only on Western animation, but Western film as a whole.
In an interview with Polygon, Creed III star and director Michael B. Jordan cited anime as a principal influence on the writing and cinematography behind his directorial debut. Jordan specifically singled out an intense fight between Naruto and his rival Sasuke from Naruto: Shippuden as an inspiration for the climactic confrontation between protagonist Adonis Creed (Jordan) and his nemesis, Damian “Diamond Dame” Anderson (Jonathan Majors), in the film. The moment stands out: During Adonis and Damian’s titanic bout, the two childhood friends turned adversaries punch each other square in the face at the same time.
“That punch is Naruto and Sasuke,” Jordan told Polygon. “[T]hat punch has happened a few times in anime. [...] But for me, [the Creed III scene] was about the relationship between two brothers, so the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke was where the inspiration for that relationship kind of stemmed from.”
From the death-defying dogfight acrobatics of the “Itano circus” to the plaintive pastel-chalk aesthetic of “postcard memories,” anime — like any other stylistically distinctive take on the medium of film and animation — boasts an array of unique narrative and visual callbacks upon which its aesthetic language is founded. While Jordan specifically pointed out Naruto, and to a lesser extent Dragon Ball Z, as the inspiration behind that pivotal scene in Creed III, the trope itself dates back further than either of those series, and in fact originates from not
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