Kishimoto Reveals His Favorite Akatsuki Member

Masashi Kishimoto, the author of the Naruto series, is quite easily one of the most talented manga writers in recent history. The Naruto series has gone on to become a phenomenon and has amassed millions of fans all over the world, reaching popularity that is unprecedented. One of the reasons why Naruto turned out to be as good as it did was because Kishimoto wasn’t just writing the story to make money. He was truly invested in these characters and loved them just as much as the fans did.

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In fact, Kishimoto has previously talked about his own set of favorite characters from Naruto, which just goes to show that even though he is the creator of the story, he is still a fan and cares deeply about these characters just as much as the readers do. From revealing his overall favorite characters all the way to talking about his favorite Akatsuki members, Kishimoto has given fans a lot of exciting information over the years.

Kishimoto’s Favorite Naruto Characters

• Kishimoto is a big fan of Sasuke Uchiha
• Naruto Uzumaki shared similarities with Kishimoto

There are quite a lot of characters that he truly admired. The Akatsuki aside, he has previously spoken of certain characters that he well and truly loves. One such character is Sasuke Uchiha. At the beginning of the series, Kishimoto paid extra attention to Sasuke, because his character design stood out a lot and, at the same time, it used to give him quite some trouble. It is because of this meticulous effort and attention to detail that Kishimoto ended up becoming a fan of the character of Sasuke.

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Even to this day, it can be said that Kishimoto is proud of the work he did on Sasuke, and the way he went about writing him is truly phenomenal, to say the least.

“This was the original design for the character of Sasuke. It’s hardly changed at all over time.

The main difference is the absence of the talisman he wore around his neck. In general, whenever I come up with a new character, my initial impulse is to use as much line and ornamentation as possible until the visual concept is in danger of becoming lost amid the busy, little details.

This is especially true of principal characters. I get so caught up in what I’m doing with them, I make things much too difficult for myself; until I finally have the sense to step back and ask myself, “Am I really going to be able to draw such a fussy, complicated character over and over, panel after panel, and issue after issue, week in and week out?”

There was far too much going on visually with Sasuke, and too many lines overall, so I simplified him into a good, basic contrast to Naruto’s visual image.

Sasuke is a particular challenge for me to draw even now, because he is a young and rather pretty boy, but if I’m not careful he loses his youthful quality and I end up drawing him like a much older boy or a grown man. I’ve never had a character like him in one of my comics before, that kind of boy on the cusp of manhood, who’s somehow mature and handsome beyond his years.

Keeping the visual consistently right makes him the character who takes the most work and energy from me. Maybe that’s why he’s become my favorite character.”

Other than Sasuke, there are many characters that Kishimoto truly admires. The protagonist of the series, Naruto Uzumaki, is one such character and it goes without saying that holds him in high regard. In fact, quite a lot of Naruto’s character seems to be based on Kishimoto himself, given that he has likened his former self to the protagonist of the story. Not just Naruto, but fans know Kurama, the nine-tailed fox from Naruto, to be one of Kishimoto’s favorites too.

Who is Kishimoto’s Favorite Akatsuki Member?

Kishimoto Especially Admires Hidan

Naruto has a phenomenal cast of characters and when it comes to brilliantly written characters, both heroes and villains, Kishimoto certainly did not drop the ball. The Akatsuki remain to be one of the most iconic groups not just in Naruto, but in the entirety of fiction as a whole, and that just goes to show how strong Kishimoto’s pen was while he was writing the Naruto series. Within the Akatsuki, each member had their own stories to tell and their own reasons for joining this organization. Even though the Akatsuki eventually fell apart, this organization well and truly serves up as the greatest villain group in the story and for a good reason. There were many likable characters In the Akatsuki. Of course, for the fans, the favorite character would likely be Itachi Uchiha, given his heroic role as a double agent and his sacrifices.

But, Kishimoto certainly thinks the other way around. His favorite Akatsuki member, by the looks of it, is none other than Hidan. Fans know Hidan to be a very unique ninja, who only cared about Lord Jashin and offering up the blood of the people as sacrifices to him. As long as he got to do that, he didn’t particularly care which group he allied himself with. In time, he came to follow the Akatsuki, and he was partnered with none other than Kakuzu. Fans saw this Immortal Duo play out an exciting role in many arcs in the Naruto series, and Hidan was responsible for delivering one of the biggest deaths in the very early parts of the second half of the story, when he killed off none other than Asuma.

The entire arc with Naruto’s training and the attack of Hidan and Kakuzu on the Land of Fire is certainly one of the very best in the story, and it is clear to see by the way Hidan carried himself that Kishimoto put a lot of effort into him, despite him being a villain. It can be inferred that Kishimoto enjoyed writing him to the fullest. Kishimoto served up a proper conclusion to his story, where he was simply buried alive since he could never die. It is down to these genius ideas that Kishimoto is considered to be as brilliant a writer as he is.

Of course, in the Akatsuki, there are other characters for Kishimoto to love as well. He most certainly enjoyed writing Pain, and Itachi remains to be a fan favorite even for the author. Orochimaru exists as a very popular villain, and just about every character in Akatsuki, including Obito, has a fair shout at being a fan favorite of someone because they’re all so well written. Naruto characters have something for everyone, and in the Akatsuki, Kishimoto created beautifully written villains. It is because of such a strong cast of both heroes and villains that Naruto is as good a story as it is.

Naruto is available to read on the MangaPlus and the Shonen Jump app. Fans can read the official release and support the author by doing so.

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Naruto

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Showrunner

Masashi Kishimoto