Kishimoto Reveals How One Piece Affected The Way He Wrote Naruto

This article contains spoilers for the Naruto Shippuden series.

Key Takeaways

• Kishimoto altered Naruto’s dark tone compared to One Piece for uniqueness.
• Kishimoto’s writing style paid off, creating a lasting impact on fans.
• Oda and Kishimoto influenced each other, with both series becoming masterpieces.

Naruto began its serialization shortly after One Piece, and ever since then, these two series have continued to dominate Shonen Jump, consistently being two of the most popular manga of all time. It is no surprise to know that Oda and Kishimoto have great respect for each other, and have, at times, commented on each other’s series.

Kishimoto has spoken about One Piece on many occasions, and, curiously enough, he has also gone on to reveal long ago that One Piece affected his storytelling quite a bit because of how Oda handled his writing, and made him craft his story in a slightly different way to add a unique twist and make Naruto more popular.

How Oda Influenced Kishimoto’s Way Of Writing

• Oda doesn’t like to kill off his characters
• Kishimoto wanted to make Naruto darker than One Piece

It is no surprise to know that Oda and Kishimoto maintained a friendly rivalry in Jump for many years. These two stories ran in Shonen Jump for almost two decades together, and during this time, both of them were trying to one-up the other. Of course, in the end, One Piece maintained its domination over Jump for many years to come, while Naruto became more popular overseas. Still, Kishimoto admits that the ceiling of One Piece was too high for him to reach, and that certainly is him showing respect to the work that Oda has done. Meanwhile, Oda has also stated in the past that there is no other work like Naruto, and that it is unique in its own way. Clearly, both of them have used each other for motivation at times, and Kishimoto has even revealed that he kept in mind how Oda tackles his story and decided to do the exact opposite, just to be more unique. Here’s what Kishimoto had to say back in 2013:

One Piece is basically a light-hearted story, so I always think of Naruto as going the opposite way. I try to make Naruto a more serious battle by killing characters, since Oda said he doesn’t kill many characters. Otherwise, Naruto wouldn’t be popular enough. – Kishimoto (2013)

Clearly, Kishimoto has been heavily influenced by how Oda used to write One Piece. According to Kishimoto, One Piece is a light-hearted story, which might be a rather oversimplified definition of this series. One Piece is far from being a light-hearted story. But, many fans might interpret it as such because Oda doesn’t like to kill off characters. In the past, Oda clearly stated that killing off characters makes it difficult for him to hold huge banquets, and the fact that he wants to end One Piece with a big party certainly plays into how he writes certain character deaths. If Kishimoto did things like Oda, then, fans would simply accuse him of copying him, or, in other words, saying that his manga has nothing unique going about it. Kishimoto decided to kill his characters more often than Oda and, at the same time, made his story darker.

This has clearly been observed in the Naruto Shippuden series, where the story continued taking a darker path. Of course, there are certain instances in which this darker path works and others in which it simply doesn’t.

Did Kishimoto’s Way Of Writing Pay Off?

Kishimoto Came Up With A Phenomenal Story

Knowing that Kishimoto did change his writing style, even if it was just a bit, based on how Oda wrote his story, fans naturally come to wonder whether this change paid off. It can be said that it did pay off in a way. Fans often draw comparisons between One Piece and Naruto, and one of the main points that fans have going for Naruto is that it is a darker story. Of course, on the surface level, Naruto can seem like a darker story, but it certainly isn’t. One Piece is much darker in its own way, and the complexities that Oda shows in his story run deep. That said, Naruto is a very dark and gritty story as well, which, at times, has readers lose faith in the justice system of the world.

Obito’s rage after Rin’s death and the destruction of Konoha, along with many other instances throughout the story, highlights that. It is safe to say that Kishimoto’s way of writing paid off because Naruto certainly created its own identity based on this writing style.

That said, Kishimoto’s decision of bringing back characters from the dead, and, at the same time, making Kaguya the ultimate antagonist of the series did not sit well with the fans. This is something that Oda fundamentally disagrees with. Oda has previously stated that he does not like the idea of bringing back characters that have been officially killed off. And, that is one more point that these two authors differ on.

Despite how Naruto ended, it is safe to say that the story is a masterpiece and something that will be remembered for generations to come. Even over a decade after its conclusion, fans still talk about Naruto every day, and its popularity has stood the test of time. Naruto, even without its sequel series, Boruto, will continue to stay relevant, such is its popularity, and it is the biggest proof that anyone could need in regards to whether Kishimoto’s writing style was a failure or success.

The truth is that Kishimoto does certain things better than Oda, while Oda does most things better than him. While One Piece is, in general, considered to be the better story, even Oda himself has taken a few pages from Kishimoto’s book, such as when he clearly based the illustration of Shiryu’s invisibility technique on the shinobi from Iwagakure, from the Kakashi Chronicles.

One Piece And Naruto Are Both Masterpieces In Their Own Ways

Both One Piece And Naruto Defined An Era

One Piece and Naruto are two of the most popular pieces of fiction to exist at the same time, and as stories running in the same magazine, comparisons are inevitable. Fans will always keep on arguing about which story is superior, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Naruto fans know that One Piece is a magnificent story and it is certainly something that they should give a chance to.

Similarly, One Piece fans should recognize Naruto for what it is and give Kishimoto his flowers as well. Both of these mangaka are geniuses in their own right, and have influenced Shonen Jump in many ways. They have inspired people from all over the world, including young and aspiring Jump artists, some of whom have even had their manga serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump, such as Gege Akutami, Kohei Horikoshi, and Yuki Tabata, among others. Just as the authors foster a great relationship with each other and have immense respect for the other’s work, fans should remember that and maintain a respectful approach towards the other story, all the while keeping their own opinions at heart. At the end of the day, these stories are meant for fans to enjoy, and for people to be brought closer together while having fun.