While I am not really a big anime fan, I do watch anime from time to time because it was (honestly) one of the first interests I had about Japan when I was a child. The one anime series I couldn’t forget was Naruto and that was the series that almost every single anime fan watches and loves.
It was the very first anime series that I watched when I was 8 years old on Cartoon Network (or Toonami but they’re still the same channel). The very first impression I had with Naruto Uzumaki, the main character in the series, was “he’s completely hard-headed”. In spite of it, I watched him grow, mature and see the background of his entire life.
Then I start to like him more and relate to him. And now he went from an outcast to a prodigy to finally being a Hokage he dreamed his entire life. It does touch my heart that he finally achieved his dream ever since the beginning episodes of the first season, however, it begs the question.
Why Naruto Uzumaki can relate to not just me but to everyone else?
5 Reasons as to why Naruto can relate to almost everyone
1. Being an Outcast
A lot of people remembered Naruto’s childhood and how he had been “born” with a demon inside of him. At that time period, he was unintentionally being an outcast for everyone else because that same demon destroyed the entire village, scarred a ton of people, and killed the Hokage (village leader in my best definition) and his wife.
Naruto was confused yet saddened because he had a rough childhood that could be a domino effect because it could turn into a rough teenage year then would turn into disastrous adulthood. Even his friends that he known since childhood were forced by their parents to not get close to him.
It can be relatable to a ton of people since we had that time of our lives that we were outcasts from our peers and treated as such. Like Naruto, we were picked on, mocked, looked down upon, underestimated,… just basically treated less than a human being and more of a monster or an alien.
It hurts deeply for everyone to be treated as an outcast and like Naruto, we would do whatever it takes to not feel like one. As a result, it would mostly backfire and make the outcast label become much bigger and almost permanent. Up to the point that it’s looked nearly impossible for him to get that label off of him.
2. Perseverance
One of Naruto’s biggest traits is his idiotic yet inspirational perseverance. He always shows that no matter how tough the situation or our opponent is, he would rather die to try than quit.
There are tons of examples as to him showing his perseverance and defeating situations with tough odds:
- Chunin Exams with the shocking upset of Neji Hyuga and Kiba,
- learning the Rasengan (even though it took him days rather than months and years),
- his quest into bringing his best friend Sasuke back into the village,
- and ultimately becoming Hokage (despite still being a genin).
We heard these stories before. We heard those people that persist through the hard times with their grit and never-give-up attitude and would achieve what they want because they kept going where almost 99% of people would just give up.
Because we remembered the hard times we had to go through in order to go for our dreams. There’s a saying, “Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.”
3. Friendship
In his childhood, it was really impossible for Naruto to make new friends because of the demon inside of him that destroyed the entire village. However, the first person that he made as a friend was Sasuke Uchiha despite being his eternal rival.
That was his first of many friendships he created in the entire series. He made friends from around the world and opened many hearts. While yes, there are tons of times Sasuke was a complete jerk to him (especially on the Naruto Shippuden series), we all had that one friend or that one special person that we cannot let go no matter what because they touched our hearts and lives and they didn’t even know it.
There are a handful of people in the world who have that same kind of kindness that Naruto has. The kindness and love that makes everyone happy around them no matter how dark their hearts are. The kindness to be on someone’s side when they are knocked down, and they need something to get themselves back up. Naruto was that person, and all the friendships he created are a prime example.
4. Empathy
Speaking of friendships, one of the biggest reasons as to why Naruto has made a lot of friends and touched a lot of people is because of his empathy. While sympathy shows that you do care about the person can’t relate to them whatsoever, empathy is more of you do care and you can relate to them at the same time.
Naruto understands what’s it like to be an outcast to society, an underdog, and how he has that special someone that drives them to do better. It’s a great feeling to have when someone can empathize what you had to go through in the past (or present) such as problems dealing with relationships, finance, family, and school.
Naruto can relate to all three topics (could be four but I don’t know about the finance part). He constantly failed at school, he can’t make any relationships because of his past, and he doesn’t have a family. Yet he became compassionate and was automatically loved by a lot of people because of his empathy.
5. Heartbreak
This is for both romantic relationships and death of a loved one…
For a lot of Naruto fans, they would know about Sakura Haruno (known as one of the most hated characters in the entire series) and how she would constantly reject Naruto for Sasuke (despite him intentionally tried to kill her…). While Naruto had tried many ways to conquer the hardships and tried whatever he can to successfully capture Sakura's heart, he eventually would be shot down up to the point that he forced himself to give up his feelings for her in order to not get hurt again.
And we were like that one time in our lives. We have that one special person that makes our heart skip beats and we would do anything we can to make them fall in love with us. And we evidently got shot down and heartbroken. But hey! At least Naruto has Hinata, and that’s a better wife than Sakura in my opinion.
Another way Naruto can relate to heartbreak is the death of a loved one. The most obvious example of that is the death of Jiraiya. Jiraiya was Naruto’s first master and he has an extremely close bond with him because of Naruto's father and former Hokage of Konoha village, Minato Uzumaki. The moment he heard of his death, he was in the 4 stages of grief: denial and isolation, anger, depression, and acceptance. When he finally went to acceptance, Naruto became stronger and more empathetic to other people. It can happen to a lot of people.
The moment we heard of someone we know and loved died for any reason, we became devastated and hurt at first but as time goes we start to learn how to accept their deaths.
Those are the five reasons as to why Naruto can relate to a lot of people. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post!
Please comment down below and tell how does Naruto relate to your life.
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