Fans may find it hard to believe, but Naruto turns eighteen this year. The franchise was officially created back in 1999 under the guidance of artist Masashi Kishimoto, and Naruto has become one of the world’s most popular series. However, the creator’s first drawing of Naruto is one that even diehard fans may not recognize.
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If you’ve never picked up a print edition of Naruto‘s first manga volume, then you have missed out on its protagonist’s original character design. Kishimoto included his first-ever sketch of the ninja in the manga’s first volume as a treat. You can read what Kishimoto has to say about the drawing and see the image below:
“This is the very first sketch of Naruto that I drew. It was for a one-shot story in the Japanese Weekly Shonen Jump‘s special seasonal edition, Akamaru Jump. Notice that he wears boots instead of zori (traditional Japanese sandals).
In the one-shot story, Naruto wasn’t a ninja comic at all, but just about magic and sorcery. Even though the setup was completely different from the current storyline, it was the very first character-driven manga that I ever drew, and I liked the character so I decided to keep using him. But drawing the goggling each time was a pain! That’s why I came up with the idea for the ninja hitai-ate (headband).”
Looking at the sketch, fans can see the clear resemblance between Naruto 1.0 and Naruto 2.0. The character may be wearing boots, but his overall costume and haircut are the same. The only major difference fans will see is that Naruto once wore a button on his jacket and carried a satchel around. Even the hero’s goggles look the same, but Kishimoto’s revelation about the gear is a bit surprising.
Fans aren’t so much surprised the goggles got cut as they are about the hitai-ate’s creation. One of Naruto‘s defining symbols is the headbands its characters wear, so readers are surprised to hear the accessories were born from convenience rather than inspiration. However, Naruto‘s headbands aren’t the only iconic anime symbols to be created out of such a need. Kishimoto may have taken inspiration from Akira Toriyama as the Dragon Ball creator only made Super Saiyan hair blond because he thought it was tiresome to ink it black.
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