On July 17, the official Naruto website published the Q&A held at last year’s KONOHA EXPERIENCE event in France, where Naruto Creator Masashi Kishimoto and Boruto co-creator Mikio Ikemoto fielded questions from fans. Among the notable questions was a topic that has long polarized Naruto readers: the perception of Naruto being a ‘chosen one.‘
A fan asked about how the early part of Naruto emphasized hard work beating talent. With it later being revealed that Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage, the question continued, “Did you never consider giving Naruto a normal background, rather than having him be born as the ‘chosen one’?“
Kishimoto replied:
“That’s a hard-hitting question, but it does get to the heart of the matter. At first, I wrote Naruto as a character who struggles with his impoverished upbringing. It’s something that we have in common. Coming straight out of a rural town, desperately wanting to be recognized, but unable to find anyone willing to give me a shot; I took those feelings that defined my childhood and entrusted them to Naruto.
By doing that and by working on Naruto, I slowly but surely began to gain recognition and praise from people around the world. In time, that feeling of wanting to be recognized by others had already been satisfied, and I found myself having some difficulty continuing to write him.
While I was struggling with that block, I thought that maybe there could be some avenues to explore with family lineage or blood ties. I also came to realize that the pressure of living up to expectations can also take a heavy toll on a person. So I took that shift in my own mindset and applied it to Naruto. I’d like to depict my conclusions regarding that idea in a manga someday, so please wait patiently for it.“
Despite the pressure, Kishimoto told fans that he has learned to maintain his own “maintain my own equilibrium despite the current situation, and still live in a healthy manner throughout the series’ ups and downs.“
Many fans are awaiting Kishimoto’s next manga, with Samurai 8‘s (2019–2020) serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump cut short. Kishimoto also reiterated his role on Borutostating, “It [Naruto] was a completely different workflow. For Naruto, I was in charge of both the story and the main illustrations, while Ikemoto helped with things like illustrating backgrounds and drawing shadow doppelgangers. For Boruto, Ikemoto is completely in charge of the story and main illustrations. It really is Ikemoto’s manga.“
This is an evolution of their roles, rather than what was initially planned. Following the departure of Ukyo Kodachi, who adapted Kishimoto’s original ideas for the Boruto manga up until Chapter 52, the official Naruto X (formerly Twitter) account had said that the series would be serialized according to Kishimoto’s original draft.
Source: Naruto Official Website
©2002 MASASHI KISHIMOTO / 2007 SHIPPUDEN
