Who is winning the Narutop99 poll? Positions explained

With the ongoing Narutop99 Worldwide Character Popularity poll, fans would love to know how their favorite characters stand in the rankings. While they initially believed that the Jump Festa 2023 announcement was going to be about a Naruto remake, they have been quite excited about the worldwide character popularity poll as well.

With the popularity poll set to stop taking votes on January 31, 2023, the official Twitter account for the 20th-anniversary project has announced its midterm results.

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Narutop99: How do the poll rankings look right now?

As per the Midterm Report unveiled by Narutop99, Minato Namikaze is currently winning the Worldwide Character Popularity Poll. He is followed by Itachi Uchiha and Sakura Haruno in the second and third positions.

Sakura's rank is quite surprising, given that she was ranked 9th during the previous poll update, unveiled after 1 million votes. Since then, Sakura fans have managed to help the character climb up six positions, making the podium.

Sakura Haruno, as seen in Naruto Shippuden (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The reason for the same is that, according to the announcement, the top 20 characters in the popularity poll will be drawn by Mangaka Masashi Kishimoto himself. In contrast, the character ranked number 1 will be featured in a short manga.

Thus, fans have been making the extra effort to see their favorite characters receive a short manga featuring their story.

Sakumo Hatake, as seen in Naruto Shippuden (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Following the top three characters in the top 10 are Shisui Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Madara Uchiha, Sakumo Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha, and Jiraiya.

While several characters have managed to move back and forth in the rankings, one surprising addition to the top 10, compared to the previous update, is Sakumo Hatake. He replaced Obito Uchiha in the top 10 positions as fans began to vote for him, hoping to learn more about the fabled Leaf's White Fang.

Obito Uchiha, as seen in Naruto Shippuden (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The characters currently ranked between 11-20 are Obito Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, Tobimaru Senju, Hashirama Senju, Gaara, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, and Kurama.

Some of the characters who have surprisingly not made the top 20 but have made it into the top 50 include Might Guy, Nagato, Tenten, Sai, Kushina Uzumaki, and Ino Yamanaka.

Choji Akimichi, as seen in Naruto Shippuden (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Rankings for characters such as Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Chōji Akimichi, and Kankuro are currently unknown and are outside the top 50, as revealed by Narutop99 Worldwide Character Popularity Poll's midterm report.

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Final thoughts on the Narutop99 midterm report

With the Narutop99 Worldwide Character Popularity Poll midterm report out, fans might feel like the results are almost set in stone, given there are only about two weeks left for the poll to stop taking votes. However, that is a lot of time, as each user is allowed one vote every day.

Thus, if fans group together, as Sakura fans did, they can still push for their characters to make it into the top 20 characters of the series. If successful, fans can hope to see a new illustration of their chosen character, especially by Managaka Masashi Kishimoto.