Naruto Would Never Compare to One Piece Because of One Character that Could Have Been Much Better if Eiichiro Oda was In Charge

Shonen anime and manga in general get most of the things right in the eyes of fans. Story, action, animation/art style, dialogues, characters, and the hook. But where they might go wrong is the conclusion of the story and the series’ portrayal of its female characters. In the case of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto got most of his things right. But even he admitted that he isn’t very good with female characters.

Sakura and Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot

On the other hand, One Piece gets everything right, including the portrayal of its female characters. It got people like Nami, Nico Robin, Boa Hancock, Big Mom, and even minor characters like Princess Vivi backing Eiichiro Oda up. Sure, he’s accused of being sexist by objectifying women in the show and drawing them in ways that’s not entirely PG-13. But that claim isn’t limited to him now that so many modern Shonen have shown women with minimal clothing.

One Piece‘s female characters are better written than Naruto‘s

Nico Robin | Credits: Toei Animation

Naruto has a few alright ones, like Tsunade, but it pales in comparison to One Piece‘s females. For instance, Nami has a deep backstory that is explored during the early arcs of the manga itself. Her cry for help to Luffy is literally one of the biggest moments in One Piece. Not to mention Nico Robin and her suicidal tendencies for being a slave to Sir Crocodile. She thought nobody cared for her and nothing is worth living for in this world, thereby wanting to end it all.

Robin’s life was marked by trauma, and she was hunted by the World Government, who labeled her the “Demon of Ohara.” After Saul died, Robin lives a life on the run, not being able to trust even the kindest of people, in a world that believes that her existence alone is a sin. During that time, Robin admits her greatest fear: to be seen as a burden by her crewmates and cast away, because being with her means having the world as their enemy.

However, in episode 278, Sogeking, on Luffy’s order, burns the Government’s flag, declaring war against the World Government itself. After that, Luffy screams at Robin to say she wants to live, and the others in the crew encourage her. Robin recalls Saul stating that she would discover true friends who would always be with her. Breaking down in tears, she realizes the world has denied her a reason to live. Thus, she finally wails out that she wants to live and for Luffy to take her out to sea with the crew with the famous words, “I want to live!”

These moments surpasses any female character development that Naruto or Bleach ever had during their serialization. Eiichiro Oda makes sure that every character he introduces in One Piece becomes important sometime or another. Whereas Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo have female characters that didn’t shine at all. Sakura was useless and annoying for the most part, whereas Orihime did help Ichigo and contributed a lot in the series but their backstories weren’t gripping as such.

What would Naruto look like if Eiichiro Oda wrote it?

Naruto and Luffy as drawn by Oda | Credits: Shueisha

In fact, during an interview, the Naruto creator was asked whether Sakura had a background story or some kind of dark secret, similar to other characters like Naruto, Gaara, Itachi, etc. However, Kishimoto replied:

She’s a normal girl, so I haven’t given it much thought.

If this was Oda, he would have given a lot of background for Sakura, Tsunade and the others because, according to his words, he doesn’t believe women in manga should be just seen as damsels in distress.

In the manga I read as a kid, the heroines were there just to be rescued. I hated that. I decided to depict women who know how to fight for themselves and don’t need to be rescued. If they are in a bad situation, the crewmates will help them, and vice versa!

If Oda was in charge, Sakura would not only get a convincing backstory but will also be strong enough to fend for herself and not depend on Naruto or Sasuke all the time. The whole fight between Sakura and Ino would have been much better and the pink-haired character would be more useful to Naruto and Sasuke.

Oda would deep dive into Naruto‘s world building and give each character something to do. Sure, he might bring some characters back to life out of nowhere but nevertheless, they’d be interesting to have around.

Naruto and One Piece are both available to watch on Netflix.