"Is this bait?": Naruto fan's take on Kishimoto's designs being Ikemoto's has others in disbelief

Modified Jun 04, 2024 18:00 GMT

Naruto Uzumaki as seen in the anime (image via Pierrot)

Fans of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto franchise often hold the Boruto series under fire for being an "underwhelming sequel" to the legendary mangaka's magnum opus. There have been several instances where many fans went to great lengths to point out whatever they found wrong with Boruto, a practice that many still follow to this day.

One of the earliest complaints that Naruto fans had with Boruto were the character designs themselves, which, according to them, weren't up to par and were a massive downgrade from its predecessor series. However, there still seems to be some sort of confusion regarding the Boruto character designs, as a dispute recently took place in the Naruto fandom as one fan wrongfully called out and bashed illustrator Mikio Ikemoto on social media.

Naruto fan calls out Ikemoto for disappointing character designs in Boruto

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Over the years, the Boruto series has garnered universal hatred from the Naruto fandom, as many considered the sequel series to be arguably the worst thing to happen to Masashi Kishimoto's masterpiece.

Fortunately, things seem to be going well for Boruto these days, as the Two Blue Vortex manga has revitalized fans' interest in the series, as it eventually gained a lot of praise from the previously disgruntled fanbase.

That said, there's one aspect of the series that some fans still cannot come around to, namely, the character design itself. Many think that the character designs in Naruto were much better than they turned out in Boruto. On that note, a fan recently called out and insulted Mikio Ikemoto on social media for his "ugly character designs" in Boruto, which, according to them, "ruined legendary characters."

Naruto Uzumaki as seen in the Boruto anime (image via Pierrot)

Ikemoto was originally the chief assistant for Kishimoto's Naruto series. After the manga came to an end in 2014, Ikemoto was tasked with drawing the Boruto sequel series in place of Kishimoto, as the latter deemed the former to be an ideal choice to take over his legacy due to his experience.

Although the character designs of the Boruto series were almost entirely Kishimoto's work, Ikemoto did make some changes to the art style, especially after Kishimoto himself advised him to do so.

As such, the fans' complaint about Ikemoto's Boruto character designs being "ugly" is downright misdirected. Although it's not to say that Kishimoto's character designs are bad by any means, it's understandable as to why they may not be suited to everyone's preferences.

How Naruto fans reacted to the claim of Kishimoto's character designs being Ikemoto's

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It's safe to say that almost the entire fanbase collectively came forward to bash the fan who claimed that Ikemoto was responsible for the character designs in Boruto. Although many simply called out the fan for their misinformed post, others chose to defend Ikemoto for his work on the Boruto series.

"You don't realize that it wasn't Ikemoto who designed it, but Masashi who designed it," wrote one fan.

"It’s gone hurt your feelings when you find out these Kishimoto designs," another chimed in.

"Those are kishimoto’s designs y’all need to stop hating on ikemoto for designs he didn’t make," said another.

It was certainly a nice change of pace to see fans coming forward to defend the Boruto series and Mikio Ikemoto in particular, as many often tend to go overboard with their unnecessary hatred for the series.

"“Ruined legendary characters” and all these designs were created by kishimoto," said one fan.

"Most of these are good and make sense, what??? At most you could argue like Gaara (love him though), and maybe Naruto but it's really just this bad in the anime," another fan expressed.

"Some of them feel really good imo! Kiba Shikamaru and Choji are my favorite," another fan wrote.