"Great concepts, terrible executions": Naruto fan's claim on series' villains under scrutiny by other fandoms

Modified Mar 31, 2024 14:30 GMT

Madara and Pain are some of the best Naruto villains (image via Sportskeeda) — Madara and Pain are some of the best Naruto villains (Image via X/ @kayn3_)

Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto is still hailed as one of the greatest animamga series ever created, and for good reasons as well. The series is mostly known for its rich lore, memorable characters, thrilling fight sequences, and iconic villains.

The antagonists of the Naruto franchise are especially held in high regard, including the likes of Madara Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, Obito Uchiha and Pain. These four are some of the highlights of the Naruto series, as they have managed to captivate the viewers with their tragic backstories and their resolve to bring a change to the world.

That said, not every fandom seemed to agree with this take, as seen in a recent post praising the antagonists of Masashi Kishimoto's magnum opus.

Why other fandoms don't think highly of the Naruto villains

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Majority of the Naruto fandom seems to agree on one thing — their antagonists are a major highlight of the entire series. Characters like Zabuza, Madara Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, Obito Uchiha and Nagato Uzumaki/Pain are some of the most prominent antagonists who have managed to create a lasting impact on the series as well as the fanbase.

However, not every fandom agrees with this notion. A recent post on X, which claimed that the Naruto series set the bar high with their antagonists, saw a lot of fans agreeing with this take. That said, other fandoms, like Bleach and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, seemed to disagree with this take, claiming that their villains are more captivating than the Naruto villains.

Madara Uchiha is one of the most terrifying villains of Kishimoto's franchise (image via Pierrot)

There were even some fans belonging to the Boruto fandom, who claimed that their villains are better than those of their predecessor. There were also fans belonging to the Naruto fandom itself, who claimed that not all four of the aforementioned villains were great.

Disagreements both within a fandom and with other fandoms are commonplace in the animanga industry. In fact, it's nearly impossible for everyone to agree on one thing, especially since fans belonging to a single fandom are mostly divided due to a difference in opinion.

That said, downplaying other fandoms and needlessly criticizing others' opinions also seem to be a common practice within anime fandoms these days, which often leads to a heated war of words between them.

How other fandoms reacted to the Naruto fans' claim

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In the post shared on X that praised the villains of Masashi Kishimoto's magnum opus, there were different fandoms who had different opinions. According to them, the antagonists of their own respective franchises were much better than the Naruto antagonists.

There was one particular fan who claimed that while the concepts behind the antagonists of Kishimoto's franchise were great, their executions were not up to the mark, with Itachi Uchiha being the only exception to this.

Another fan pointed out that the antagonists of Kishimoto's franchise were the worst among the Big Three Shonen anime, which includes One Piece and Bleach as well.

"lol what? Naruto literally has the worst antagonists in the big 3"

Itachi Uchiha as seen in the anime (image via Pierrot)

There was another fan who claimed that while the villains of Kishimoto's franchise are beautifully written, that doesn't mean they are necessarily in a league of their own.

The fan then proceeded to share an image which showcased noteable villains from other franchises, such as Meruem and Chrollo Lucilfer from Hunter x Hunter, Griffith from Berserk, Sōsuke Aizen from Bleach, Tomura Shigaraki from My Hero Academia and Mahito from Jujutsu Kaisen.

"Naruto villains are beautifully written but I definitely don’t think they are in a league of their own."

A fan of the Boruto series went on to claim that the villains of their series were much better than the predecessor series, since none of them could stand a chance against the Ōtsutsuki.

"Boruto >>> Do any of them stand a chance against the Otsutsuki?"

Nagato Uzumaki, aka Pain as seen in the anime (Image via Pierrot)

Another fan from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fandom commented that the villains of their own franchise catch up to the villains of Kishimoto's franchise pretty easily.

"JOJO villains catch up pretty easily"

At the end of the day, disagreements within the anime industry are pretty common. Therefore, it is to be expected that the things that one fandom enjoy or hold in high regard, might not have the same value for other fandoms.