Movies - TV
Masashi Kishimoto Doesn't Feel Like He 'Created' Naruto
By CHRISTIAN GAINEY
Masashi Kishimoto’s “Naruto” is one of the most popular manga series in the world and has been adapted into two equally popular anime, “Naruto” and “Naruto Shippuden.” Like many other stories, “Naruto” follows an underdog hero who overcomes immeasurable challenges and achieves a seemingly impossible dream — it’s a tale based on its creator’s own childhood insecurities.
Kishimoto said, “When Naruto was born, it was more like he somehow came out, rather than my creating him from some inspiration.” Both were bad students, but unlike his creation, Kishimoto was prone to give up, so the artist changed the character: “I wanted Naruto to be different. He was created based on my self-image of my own childhood, but different from how I really was.”
While Kishimoto may have based Naruto on himself, the artist admitted that the character wasn’t perfect, adding, “Naruto is a reflection of myself, and I don’t think of myself as special.” Naruto’s flaws made him easier to relate to. However, Kishimoto did reveal that the character’s one remarkable quality is that he doesn’t get “bogged down with all sorts of issues or difficulties or hardships.”