"Sakura hate only exists online" — Naruto fans feeling vindicated after new Japanese favorite character poll puts her on top

By Anupam Barua

Modified Jul 13, 2024 02:26 GMT

Sakura hate within the Naruto fandom is very forced (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Although the Naruto series ended in 2017, the fandom's hatred for Sakura hasn't. While the actual reasons behind it have changed throughout the years, many fans have repeatedly emphasized how her lack of character depth fuels the fandom's hatred for Sakura.

However, a recent poll conducted among Japanese fans had Sakura taking top spots in all categories. This started an internal conflict among the fandom, claiming that hatred for her doesn't make sense.

Disclaimer- This article contains spoilers for the Naruto series.

Naruto fan's hate for Sakura isn't real

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While hatred towards Sakura has become an integral part of the fandom, a substantial part of the anime fans have mentioned how the entire situation seems to only exist online. Many people like Sakura's character in real life outside of social media and forums.

Recently, a Japanese site called Nijimen conducted a poll to decide the top 10 most favorite female characters from Weekly Shonen Jump. Unexpectedly, Sakura secured the second spot in the men's poll and claimed the first position in the women's poll. This eventually led to an outcry from anime fans, highlighting how this hatred only exists online and is not a reflection of the majority of the fandom.

Fan's reaction to the poll

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One fan pointed out that hatred for Sakura among fans is only limited to social networking sites and other forums. The X user also stressed on how the fandom's reasons for hating Sakura due to her "poor writing" seem fabricated since Sakura is an amazing character.

Another fan took this opportunity to state how there is a big divide between the Japanese and non-Japanese parts of the fandom. The fan addressed how "Sakura haters" will never come to terms with the fact that Japanese part of the fandom likes her a lot.

"Proof hating sakura haruno will never be hot," someone wrote.

"People who hate Sakura don't accept the fact that she is loved in Japan =))," one fan said.

Sakura as shown in the anime (Image via Pierrot)

Another fan mentioned how the popularity poll, conducted by Nijimen, had a rather low vote pool as it couldn't even reach a total of 3000 votes. Thus, the poll cannot actually be of any substance.

"Poll total vote didn’t break the 3K votes like this doesn’t prove anything. AND Sakura ranked higher than Hinata in men’s votes too like #that fandom just slow I fear 😭," a fan wrote.

Another fan highlighted how Sakura being high on both lists (poll) and being loved is refreshing, especially after all the hate she gets as a character in the fandom. This further emphasizes that hatred for Sakura has been going on for too long and is very exaggerated.

"Glad to see the Sakura love for a change ❤️," one fan wrote.

Although the actual hate for Sakura within the fandom has yet to dissipate, the poll has reaffirmed that the vocal part of the online fandom cannot be used as a reference point for deciding the popularity of a character.