Naruto and “Masculinity” in America
Constant fighting, powerful monsters, and fart jokes, all the making of perfect teenage boy entertainment. But while such characteristics may appear to headline the appeal of Naruto, such characteristics are also shared by many other Shonen style anime — an anime with a heavily action-based plot focused on appeal to the young male audience — and by many popular American cartoon such as Teen Titans Go, Ben 10, and many more. So, what made Naruto in particular so popular among young boys in America? Naruto does much more than intense fights and cheap humor. In Naruto, the relationship between masculinity and emotions is examined, and young men, even if they don’t realize it at first, are pushed to examine the way they handle and express their own emotional burdens.
Winnie the Pooh or Family Guy. This was what, generally, the American cartoon entertainment market once existed as. The choice was either child-dominated shows centered around themes of good behavior or mindless, edgy, mature-oriented cartoons designed to provide adults with a quick laugh. On one side of the spectrum was a show that few adults could ever hope to find genuine enjoyment in, and on the other were shows that most parents would be insane to let young children watch. There was a massive hole in this market, a desire for a cartoon that inspired thought and emotion beyond a quick laugh and could entertain both the adult and the older-adolescent audience. Thus, anime, with its humor, action, and intriguing plotlines, lent itself naturally to this void. (Seale 19)
Naruto both adhered to and opposed the American culture to which it spread. The first anime to truly dominate in Western culture was the Dragon Ball franchise, which, like Naruto, is a Shonen style anime. And while it was rather revolutionary to have a Japanese show establish itself so firmly in the United States, I would argue that this advancement was not nearly as revolutionary as it may have seemed. Long before Dragon Ball, American entertainment became intensely focused on action and violence. From western shooters like The Wild Bunch to action thrillers such as Bullitt, violence was a long-established tradition in American entertainment. (Brown 14) Thus, Shonen style anime such as Naruto, which originally and continuously dominates in comparison to other genres of anime, naturally lent themselves to American entertainment culture. But this typical American entertainment based in violence also perpetuated the many problematic ideas about masculinity that continue to damage men in America; ideas that Naruto was not afraid to oppose. Rather than a tough, rugged loner, the heroes of Naruto are vulnerable. They fail and they break down, but yet they still conquer their goals. They still become heroes.
Real men don’t cry. As much as our society has processed away from such an obviously ignorant statement, much of the sentiment behind this statement still remains. Take, for example, these lyrics from John Mayer’s 2003 hit Daughters: “Boys, you can break, you’ll find out how much they can take, boys will be strong and boys’ soldier on…” In American society, the view of men as emotional soldiers is incredibly prominent, especially because many men in America pridefully uphold this standard. Images of courage become blurred with ideals of emotional suppression. Perhaps this is part of the reason that the suicide rate in America is significantly higher among men. In Naruto, young American boys can see strong, powerful boys but also the strong emotions they feel. Through the main character of Naruto and his relationship with his best friend, Sasuke, the importance of facing and dealing with negative emotions is demonstrated as the show analyzes the choice to either open up and be vulnerable or to be ‘tough’ and suppress one’s emotions.
At Naruto’s birth, the nine-tailed fox, a powerful monster which nearly destroyed his home village, is sealed inside of him, an event which also killed Naruto’s parents. Because the beast that nearly destroyed the Hidden Leaf Village is sealed within Naruto, he is hated and shunned by the village. With no parents or friends and hated by his village, Naruto begins his life in absolute poverty, both financially and emotionally, clinging to the hope that one day he will become the Hokage, the head of the village. By beginning his life in such a position, Naruto’s journey possesses is primed for the positional climb of the American dream and to display the emotional fortitude, intelligence, and vulnerability to grow as a man. The true key, however, to this journey is the deuteragonist, Sasuke Uchiha, of the powerful Uchiha clan. At the age of seven, Sasuke returns to the Uchiha’s section of the village to find his entire clan slaughtered and his older brother, Itachi, standing at the heart of the massacre with a bloodied sword. Then, through a sort of mind-control, Itachi then forces Sasuke to watch his parent’s murder many times over and tells Sasuke that to achieve enough power to take revenge on his older brother, he would have to kill his best friend. This begins the journey of Naruto and Sasuke, broken and alone, each with their hearts set on a single goal.
The two paths of Naruto and Sasuke begin when Sasuke decides that he will abandon their village to seek out the villain Orochimaru as a means to gain the power necessary for his revenge plan, and though Naruto desperately tries to stop his friends, he fails. But before Sasuke leaves the village, the two boys’ sensei, Kakashi, urges Sasuke to give up on his ideas of revenge, telling him, “You’ll only tear yourself apart. And even if you do succeed and get your revenge, what will you have then? Nothing. Emptiness.” Sasuke bitterly responds, “Maybe if I was to kill the most important people in your life, everyone who’s ever meant anything, maybe then Id listen to you, because maybe then you’d have some idea how I feel.” Then, in a shocking and powerful moment, Kakashi calmy replies, “That’s an interesting theory, but I’m afraid you’re a little late to put it to the test. Everyone you’re talking about has already been killed… Still were not all that bad off, at least you and I have been lucky enough to find new friends to fill up the void.” A father driven to suicide by shame, his sensei killed, one friend dying to save his life, and another friend taking her own life by Kakashi’s own unwilling hand, in a small moment, Kakashi shows both Sasuke and the viewer that our kind and cheerful sensei has experienced more than his share of pain, but that one leave behind their hatred and sadness and move forward. Moreover, Kakashi outlines the tragic journey that Sasuke’s decision to suppress his sadness and harbor his rage will lead him on.
And indeed Sasuke, after enacting his revenge, is left empty and broken. Soon after besting his older brother in battle, he discovers a great secret — that his brother had killed the village only to prevent a civil war and save the village, and that he had submitted himself to a life of disgrace and dishonor so that the village could be safe. As Sasuke overlooks the dark orange sunset, he reminisces about what is now made clear as his brother’s symbol of love, two fingers tapping Sasuke on his forehead, Itachi’s final act in his dying moments, as old words spoken by his brother long ago play in the background; “Even if it’s only as an obstacle for you to overcome, I’m always going to be there for you. Even if you do hate me. That’s what big brother’s are for.” Tears stream down Sasuke’s face as it convulses, showing the inner struggle Sasuke is facing. Sasuke’s quest for revenge has left his heart filled with rage, and only rage can the story of his loving brother inspire. His lifelong goal of revenge already passed, Sasuke can be seen physically struggling with his emotions and to find something in all his loneliness. A man who chose to hold on to all his rage and sadness, Sasuke decides to now focus on revenge against the hidden leaf, showing that the only thing Sasuke has left in life is revenge.
Naruto’s journey, on the other hand, shows the triumph that comes with the confrontation and expression of emotion and anger. Naruto too learns a harsh truth, that his master, Jiraiya, was killed at the hand of a villain called Pain, and so when Pain attacks the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto steps up to stop him. During this fight, Naruto nearly loses himself. Pain describes to Naruto that the world lives in a cycle of hatred giving way to more hatred, and when he asks Naruto for his solution, he is left frustrated and morally beaten. Furthermore, due to the anger from his master’s death and seeing the girl he loves beaten, the nine-tailed beast within Naruto begins to take over, the seal keeping it inside Naruto weakened by time. In the realm within Naruto in which the monster is sealed, Naruto approaches the beasts cage as his anger drives him to release the fox, a move which would lead to Naruto’s death. But right before Naruto can remove this seal, a mysterious man stops him. The man’s jacket reveals his identity as the fourth Hokage, and then he reveals that Naruto is his son. At first Naruto smiles, then slowly whispers, “Dad,” before lurching toward his father and punching him. Naruto then begins to sob, crying out to his father and asking why he would curse his own son with the nine-tailed fox and subject him to so much hatred. Both with the fox previously and in this scene, Naruto is quite literally fighting the anger inside himself. His father tells Naruto that it is because he is his son that he entrusted Naruto with the nine-tails, and then goes on to describe to Naruto that it is a ninja’s mission to confront and battle hatred, and that he though he doesn’t have a solution to finding peace in the world, he trusts that Naruto will. Naruto’s fight with Pain concludes not with a physical triumph but rather a moral one, as Naruto reminds Pain of the origin of his fight against the cycle of hatred, which came from Jiraiya, who was Pain’s master before Naruto. Naruto insists that he will never give up on the ideal of peace, a claim made evident as Naruto resists the urge to kill Pain to instead change his heart. Directly opposed to the journey of Sasuke, Naruto’s path shows young men that a truly strong man confronts his emotions, makes himself vulnerable, and forgives.
Through Naruto and Sasuke, boys watching the show experience two sides of the coin of masculine emotion — the choice to embrace and grow through pain or the choice to suppress such emotion. Throughout the series, Naruto is constantly crying out to the emotions of his friends and enemies alike and constantly looking to the common tragedies that they have experienced. And when it comes to shared experience, no one connects to Naruto as much as his best friend, Sasuke. Sasuke, however, is quiet and arrogant, dismissing the aid of those around him, insistent that his own prowess is all he needs. As the series progresses, we see Naruto become a stronger, kinder, and happier man, but we also see our strong protagonist as he breaks down, overcome by the pain in his heart. When Naruto meets his father for the first time, he punches him, and breaks down crying, asking why his own father would curse him with the nine tailed fox. In this state of vulnerability, Naruto is able to work towards conquering the hate in his heart, and becomes stronger, both physically and emotionally, for it. Perhaps the greatest display of love triumphing over hate comes when Naruto, through the power of a mystical waterfall, is faces the challenge of defeating the anger within himself, which comes in a form identical to Naruto. Rather than taking to violence, Naruto embraces this vessel of hate, comforts him, and thanks him for helping him grow strong. Sasuke, though also incredibly powerful, continues to grow more and more depressed and hateful, a path that eventually leaves him utterly broken as his quest for revenge, once achieved, leaves him with nothing. Through this stark contrast, young men watching are led to examine their own emotions, to look towards the paths of Naruto and Sasuke as they decide their own journey and are driven towards emotional vulnerability. As one article, which investigates the use of Naruto in conversational model therapy, describes, “Naruto was saved from his own ostracized suffering through the power of relatedness, a power which Naruto would later use to save others from their own suffering. The ability to relate to our client’s feelings and form a positive therapeutic alliance is well known to be predictive of positive therapeutic outcome (Coleman & Neimeyer, 2015), and Naruto consistently shows the application of this skill.” (Halovic 20) In Naruto, a boy can find admiration for the incredible hero that Naruto becomes, but this admiration is inseparably tied to the heartache, isolation, vulnerability, and love that defines him.
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