Obito Uchiha - Reception

Reception

The characters of Naruto have received both praise and criticism from publications dedicated to anime, manga, and other media. Active Anime lauded the characters for not being "simple cardboard cut-out characters" due to their "fleshed out personalities" and "underlying dramatic motivations", and praised the "deeply moving emotional trials" they undergo over the course of the series. Adam Cook of Anime Boredom agreed with this assessment, extolling the characters as "well rounded" and "imaginative", and celebrated how the characters allowed the series to successfully incorporate comedy, action, and drama together in a believable manner. Christina Ross of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews disagreed, dismissing the characters as echoes of stereotypical shōnen characters, and noted that several of the characters were not likable. A second review from Derrick Tucker, also of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews offered a more positive view, commenting that Naruto Uzumaki combined the finer values of his shōnen predecessors, but lamented the characters' personalities tended to fall between Naruto's "charisma and coolness" and Sasuke's "blandness", making it difficult to think about the characters on "any deep or meaningful level". Justin Rich of the entertainment website Mania asserted that the series lacked the "tremendous depth in it’s characters" or "the most flushed out backgrounds" seen in other shōnen series, and believed the primary focus of the series was on the fighting. The anime and manga magazine Neo described Naruto's character as "irksome", but attributed the series' "almost sickening addictiveness" to its level of characterization.

The visual appearances of the characters in the anime and manga have also received notice from reviewers. Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network praised the characters' "distinctive clothing, hair, faces and personalities" that made them easily identifiable, as well as Kishimoto's "clear eye for geography, movement and the human form" and "impeccable visual timing". Tucker described Kishimoto as "an average artist at best" and derided the poor transition of his artistic style into animation. Despite this, he admitted that when the animators were at their best, they produced "artistic renderings that leave little to be desired on the part of fans of the manga", but ultimately concluded the animation was "a mixed bag".

Although a large number of antagonists appear in the series, Rich has called Orochimaru the "first real villain", noting that he had no redeeming qualities, versus Zabuza Momochi, the villain of the previous arc. Several of the antagonists have been very popular within Naruto reader base. Itachi Uchiha, since his debut in the manga, has continually ranked high in the official Weekly Shōnen Jump popularity poll of the series, reaching as high as 5th position. while Deidara ranked 6th in the latest poll.