So, ‘Naruto’ Wasn’t Originally About Ninjas

Unless you are a next-level ramen lover, ninjas are what come to mind when Naruto gets mentioned. The beloved series has become one of anime’s top title to date, but Masashi Kishimoto didn’t always have a thing for ninjas.

In fact, as it turns out, the creator had plans for Naruto to bypass action entirely and take a more delicious route.

In the past, Kishimoto let fans know his original plans for Naruto were far from expected. The artist sat down for an interview with Naruto Meigen Shu before, and he told the magazine Naruto began as a cooking manga.

“Naruto wasn’t supposed to be about ninjas,” the artist confessed.

“It was supposed to be about a teenager named Naruto cooking ramen. But my editor of that time told me ‘It will never gonna work.’ I had to find something else and this became a story about ninjas.”

Continuing, Kishimoto said he kept the name Naruto because he loves ramen, and he even put his favorite ramen stall from college into the manga.

“Back then I loved ramen. In front of my college, there was this place called ‘Ichiraku’ where I used to eat ramen.”

Kishimoto might not have made Naruto all about cooking, but the artist was able to lean into his original story at times. After all, it is no secret that Naruto Uzumaki is a ramen fiend, and he will eat as many bowls of it as possible. The decision to put an Ichiraku in the Leaf Village also gave Kishimoto the chance to draw up some tasty dishes, and audiences all over were introduced to ramen through his work as such.

Are you happy Naruto turned out the way it has? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations has done well in Japan. Recently it even made TV Tokyo’s list of Top 5 Anime in sales and profits, coming third in sales and fifth and profits. The anime has been such a success that the Naruto franchise as a whole stills holds a top spot in many anime profits rankings as well.