If you think about it, ninja start out as actual child soldiers.
Summary:
Ninja in Naruto are child soldiers, something that bothers fans of the series.
It’s just fiction, and the author doesn’t promote the practice in reality.
However, some of the plot points in the manga and anime are still problematic.
Despite Naruto manga and anime ending years ago, people always find something to discuss about it even now. It seems that not even the most popular and iconic anime are safe from controversy — and Naruto is not an exception. Now, some fans have raised a question: does Naruto have an inherent problem with its premise? In essence, it’s an anime about child soldiers — something that many fans probably haven’t thought about before.
Ninja are essentially child soldiers
Ninja in Naruto are trained to perform missions since early childhood. While not all of the missions are directly linked to violence, a lot are; and with children in Naruto being forced to fight, maim and often kill each other, it seems that everyone was just too easy to accept it. If Naruto came out nowadays, it would probably be criticized for this detail — but as it was released years ago, the audience just accepted it.
Naruto doesn’t promote cruel treatment of children
However, it’s important not to conflate fiction with reality. Yes, ninja in Naruto are essentially child soldiers — but it’s important to remember that Naruto is a work of fiction. Its world is gruesome and cruel, and children have to fight to survive in it. Yes, it’s tragic; however, that makes the manga and anime even more interesting. It’s important to remember that the author does not endorse the practice in the real world: it’s simply a part of the worldbuilding of the manga.
Besides that, the anime actually mildly improved on the issue, censoring some of the more egregious scenes — and while this attracted complaints from some fans, the anime couldn’t become that popular without toning down some of the extreme violence. Moreover, there’s less and less focus on actual children in the later stages of the series, with almost all of the characters being in their mid to late teens or even older.
Naruto still has some problems
Despite all of this, it doesn’t mean some of the things in Naruto should not be criticized. Kakashi and Itachi being geniuses — and cold-blooded killers — at pre-school age? Zabuza slaughtering an entire class of children? We might love Naruto, but these plot elements weren’t really necessary. They didn’t add much to the series and made many viewers uncomfortable. Sometimes we really wonder what went through Kishimoto’s mind when he wrote those — seriously, some moments of the manga and anime are just way too cruel.
If you think about it, ninja start out as actual child soldiers.
Summary:
Ninja in Naruto are child soldiers, something that bothers fans of the series.
It’s just fiction, and the author doesn’t promote the practice in reality.
However, some of the plot points in the manga and anime are still problematic.
Despite Naruto manga and anime ending years ago, people always find something to discuss about it even now. It seems that not even the most popular and iconic anime are safe from controversy — and Naruto is not an exception. Now, some fans have raised a question: does Naruto have an inherent problem with its premise? In essence, it’s an anime about child soldiers — something that many fans probably haven’t thought about before.
Ninja are essentially child soldiers
Ninja in Naruto are trained to perform missions since early childhood. While not all of the missions are directly linked to violence, a lot are; and with children in Naruto being forced to fight, maim and often kill each other, it seems that everyone was just too easy to accept it. If Naruto came out nowadays, it would probably be criticized for this detail — but as it was released years ago, the audience just accepted it.
Naruto doesn’t promote cruel treatment of children
However, it’s important not to conflate fiction with reality. Yes, ninja in Naruto are essentially child soldiers — but it’s important to remember that Naruto is a work of fiction. Its world is gruesome and cruel, and children have to fight to survive in it. Yes, it’s tragic; however, that makes the manga and anime even more interesting. It’s important to remember that the author does not endorse the practice in the real world: it’s simply a part of the worldbuilding of the manga.
Besides that, the anime actually mildly improved on the issue, censoring some of the more egregious scenes — and while this attracted complaints from some fans, the anime couldn’t become that popular without toning down some of the extreme violence. Moreover, there’s less and less focus on actual children in the later stages of the series, with almost all of the characters being in their mid to late teens or even older.
Naruto still has some problems
Despite all of this, it doesn’t mean some of the things in Naruto should not be criticized. Kakashi and Itachi being geniuses — and cold-blooded killers — at pre-school age? Zabuza slaughtering an entire class of children? We might love Naruto, but these plot elements weren’t really necessary. They didn’t add much to the series and made many viewers uncomfortable. Sometimes we really wonder what went through Kishimoto’s mind when he wrote those — seriously, some moments of the manga and anime are just way too cruel.
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