Masashi Kishimoto Reveals The Reason Behind Naruto’s Orange Outfit

If there’s one thing anime fans know about Naruto Uzumaki, it is that the boy loves orange. The hero has become one of the world’s biggest advocators for the color, but fans continue to question why Naruto would sport the eye-sore color when his job is to be stealthy. However, according to the creator of Naruto, the ninja’s colorful wardrobe has an important origin.

A few years back, Masashi Kishimoto flew over to the U.S. to attend New York Comic Con. The artist met with fans to talk about Naruto in light of its manga’s end, and Anime News Network asked Kishimoto about Naruto’s orange ninja wear. When the creator was asked how he came up with his series’ fantastical world, Kishimoto said he wanted to give a new take on tired ninja stories.

“A realistic ninja is someone who wears all black with only the eyes visible, kind of lurks in the shadows, and they are assassins. That’s cool in its own way, but it’s not necessarily appropriate or really makes up for a shonen manga series,” Kishimoto said.

“That kind of story, it would be a different genre. So I was thinking about what would be appropriate for not only a shonen manga series, but a Jump shonen manga series. I figured I wanted to take a polar opposite approach, and portray this character who wears orange.”

When the artist was prodded specifically about the color orange, Kishimoto said there was no reason orange had to be the color chosen; He was fine with any shade so long as it went against what readers felt a ninja should wear.

“It’s an orange jumpsuit, and Naruto goes ‘Hey, I’m here!’ Which is totally opposite of how a ninja should behave! It’s a paradox. But I figured, ‘Why not make this another type of real ninja?’ Of course, I had some hardcore ninja fans who were like, ‘Dude, get lost.’ They were really upset because this is not how ninjas are supposed to be!”

Over the years, Naruto has toned down his orange fashion, but the hue hasn’t left the hero entirely. Even in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, the ninja is seen wearing orange accents even as the Hokage, but it doesn’t look like Naruto’s love for the color is genetic. After all, Boruto cannot stand his dad’s garish clothing taste.