My problem with the anime Naruto
We need to admit it: Naruto has aged poorly, and Kishimoto's script is an "Innocent Chaos" of wasted potential.
I know I'll attract a lot of hate, but after years of reflecting on and reviewing the work, it's impossible to ignore the truth: Naruto is an anime with a problematic, inconsistent, and, in many aspects, bad script.
I don't hate the work, but I admit that it's the biggest example of "potential thrown in the trash" in the history of Shonen. Kishimoto created an incredible world, on the level of Harry Potter or Avatar, but proved that he didn't know what to do with it. Here are the points that nobody wants to accept:
1. The Lie of "Effort vs. Talent":
The anime begins with Naruto's fight against Neji, preaching that destiny doesn't exist and that a failure can beat a genius. Lie. In Shippuden, we discover that Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage, heir to infinite chakra (Uzumaki), has the strongest fox, and is the reincarnation of a god. Where is the effort? Rock Lee, who was the true symbol of this message, was thrown in the trash to make way for divine "power-ups."
2. The Toxicity of Team 7:
Team 7 is not a "family," it's a cycle of abuse. Sasuke tries to kill Naruto and Sakura several times, joins terrorists, and in the end, is forgiven with a pat on the back. Sakura, who started Shippuden with enormous potential, was reduced to a character who lives for a man who despised her her entire life. It's terrible female writing. And Kakashi? A negligent sensei who only paid attention to Sasuke while Naruto ate expired ramen.
3. The Alien Mistake (Otsutsuki):
Kishimoto made the mistake that Akira Toriyama avoided. In Dragon Ball, aliens make sense. In Naruto, which was about ninjas, strategy, and folklore, shoving Kaguya in at the end was the laziest decision in history. He destroyed Madara (a legendary and well-developed villain) to introduce an uncharismatic alien just to pave the way for Boruto.
4. The Hypocrisy of the Leaf Village:
Naruto's message of "overcoming" is actually Stockholm syndrome. The village that mistreated him, isolated him, and let him starve (where was the Third Hokage at times like these?) only began to respect him when he became a useful weapon of war. Naruto didn't change the system; he became the greatest defender of the system that oppressed him.
5. The "Zuko Effect" that Sasuke never had:
Comparing Sasuke to Zuko from Avatar shows how weak Kishimoto's script is. Zuko had redemption because he suffered, sacrificed, and changed. Sasuke changes his mind after a beating in the Valley of the End, and everyone forgets he was an international criminal. It's artificial.
6. The Extermination of the Uchiha Clan: The "Whitewashing" of Itachi
This is one of the biggest plot holes. In the Classic series, Itachi was a terrifying and complex villain. In Shippuden, Kishimoto tried to transform him into a "saint" who sacrificed everything for the village.
The Problem: To make Itachi seem good, the script turned the Third Hokage and the Leaf Village leadership into accomplices in the genocide of children and innocents.
The Inconsistency: Naruto, who should be the hero of justice, treats Itachi as a hero. Accepting that "killing one's own family on the orders of the government" is a noble act is an extremely sick and poorly written message.
7. Neji's Death: A Useless Sacrifice
Neji's death in the Ninja War is considered by many to be the lowest point of the script.
Why? Neji died to protect "NaruHina" (the couple Naruto and Hinata). He, who fought against the fate of being a "shield" for the main family, ended up dying exactly like a shield.
The Waste: Such a rich character, who symbolized freedom, was used only as a plot device to bring the main couple closer. It was a total disrespect to the character's arc in the Classic series.
8. The Waste of Other Villages and Nations
Kishimoto created a map with Five Great Ninja Nations, but:
Centralism: 99% of the story takes place in the Leaf Village. The other villages (Sand, Mist, Cloud, Stone) only appear to be saved by Naruto or to serve as a setting for fights.
World Potential: He had a world as rich as that of One Piece or Hunter x Hunter, but preferred to focus only on the family tree of the Uchiha and Senju clans. The world seems "empty" outside of Konoha.
9. The Banalization of Death (Edo Tensei)
The Fourth Shinobi World War lost all its emotional weight because almost no one important on the "good guys" side died, and all the villains from the past were resurrected by Edo Tensei.
The Effect: When you turn death into a revolving door, the viewer stops feeling fear for the characters. Seeing Asuma or Zabuza return only to "talk" and fight a little took away the impact of their original deaths.
10. The "Talk no Jutsu" (Talk no Jutsu)
Although the idea of "breaking the cycle of hatred through dialogue" is beautiful on paper, Kishimoto's execution was lazy.
Example: Villains who killed thousands of people, like Nagato (Pain) or Obito, change their convictions in 5 minutes of conversation with Naruto.
The Criticism: This makes the villains seem to lack real convictions. It seems Naruto has a "hypnotic power" that compels people to agree with him, instead of it being a real ideological debate.
11. The "Luxury Filler" of the Other Clans
Where are the Aburame, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Nara and the Akimichi?
In Shippuden, if you don't have a Sharingan or a Rinnegan, you don't exist. The importance of the clans was reduced to zero to make way for Kishimoto's obsession with the Uchiha. This turned the anime into "Uchiha Shippuden".
12. The Inconsistent Technology
In the beginning, we had radios and monitors, but they lived like in feudal Japan. In Boruto, out of nowhere, they have video games, skyscrapers, and robotic arms. The technological evolution doesn't make sense temporally with the age of the characters. It's a forced aesthetic change to try to look "modern".
My conclusion:
The Naruto fandom is one of the most toxic because it refuses to see these plot holes. Kishimoto is a brilliant illustrator and a creator of awesome concepts, but as a screenwriter, he got lost in his own greed to stretch the story. Nowadays, I much prefer reading AUs (alternate universes) made by fans that truly value secondary characters than the original material.
The final "villain" of Naruto wasn't Kaguya, it was Kishimoto's pen.
What do you think? Did he really get lost, or am I being "too harsh"?
