Sasuke is the often regarded by Naruto fans as the true MVP of the series, not just for his elite skill as the ‘Shinobi in the Shadows,’ but also for his icy swagger and cool look. However, as you can see in the sample of artwork below, Sasuke almost got a very different design for Naruto: Shippuden – one that fans may have felt very differently about:
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As you can read above (via Reddit), Naruto creator Masahi Kishimoto had a bit of a struggle when coming up with Sasuke’s look for Shippuden. As Kishimoto notes in a book of Naruto artwork and designs:
“I WANTED TO MAKE HIM LOOK COOL!
He [Sasuke] went through quite a lot of changes to achieve the coolness I wanted. I tried incorporating his connection to Orochimaru by adding a rope belt. I tried to make him look immaculate by flipping his collar. I tried military uniforms. In the end, I went with Japanese clothes and exposed his chest. (laugh)”
Kishimoto has always been open about the importance and challenge of designing Sasuke, noting that it was crucial to get the character’s look right, as Naruto’s opposite. Kishimoto tried more elaborate designs for Sasuke in both Naruto Part I and Part II (the Shippuden anime), but having to draw the character so often, he finally decided on a more stripped-down (literally) and simple design, which invoked ancient Japanese warrior culture.
Much of Naruto: Shippuden chronicled Sasuke’s battle against his brother Itachi, and his dark descent into a career as a terrorist and criminal, before ultimately being redeemed by his Team 7 companions (Naruto, Sakura) and the fight against Kaguya Otsutsuki. That ronin warrior period of Sasuke’s life is perfectly implied by his Samurai-style garb with its dark flourishes – which hasn’t stopped some fans from mocking it, to this day:
In these new days and times of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations franchise, Sasuke is all business, wearing a much more mature-looking vest and suit outfit, with the sort of collared cloak that only a shinobi as badass as Sasuke can wear. It’s another simple design, with much less of a stripper vibe – but that still hasn’t stopped fans for mocking it just as hard:
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What’s your favorite Sasuke look? Is it something we’ve seen in the Naruto series, or one of the alternate designs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations airs new episodes weekly on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
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