Why did Naruto cut his hair? Explained

Exploring potential reasons for Naruto
Exploring potential reasons for Naruto's haircut (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Naruto Uzumaki is the most important character in Masashi Kishimoto’s original series. He is the protagonist and the show revolves around his struggles and ascension to the role of Hokage. Despite everything he achieved, he is no longer as important in the sequel series, since it mainly focuses on the life of his son.

While it might be hard for fans to move on, Boruto is the new protagonist and the Seventh Hokage underwent a few changes over the course of the story. There were plenty of changes that took place in the sequel series that fans didn’t like. He has gotten considerably weaker in the animanga series and lost a sizeable portion of his chakra.

However, there were more obvious changes in the character. One such change was his appearance since his new character design in the Boruto series featured a haircut. Fans have one question in mind— why did Naruto cut his hair? While there is no reason explicitly mentioned in the manga, it could have been done to show aging.


Understanding why Naruto cut his hair?

The Seventh Hokage after his haircut (Image via Studio Pierrot)
The Seventh Hokage after his haircut (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Before we dive into this topic, it is important to note that the manga series has not given an explicit reason for the abovementioned question. However, the timing of the haircut is quite important since it gives the readers the ability to connect the cause with the event. The Seventh Hokage had a different hairstyle prior to becoming the Hokage and a father in the series.

At this point, he was much older than he was in the original series. A couple of years passed between the time he fought Kaguya Otsutsuki and when we saw him in the Boruto series. This could explain the reason for his haircut. Oftentimes when a sequel series is in the making, writers would want to have an updated character design.

Character design is crucial, and there is very little room for change since the writers would want the audience to recognize the character. Therefore, retaining all facial features and changing just the hairstyle and outfit is a tactic that is employed in such situations.

Anime, as a medium, puts a certain level of restriction on the artist. It is quite difficult to show soft wrinkle lines on a middle-aged man. Therefore, we have reason to believe that the writers and the people responsible for the character design decided to give the Seventh Hokage a new hairstyle to show aging.

Naruto's original hairstyle (Image via Studio Pierrot)
Naruto's original hairstyle (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Some fans also believe that the haircut was metaphorical. His hairstyle saw a change when he became the Hokage of the village, and fans think that cutting his hair is a metaphorical representation of Naruto letting go of his past. It marks an important transition in his life— a shift from an average shinobi to becoming the leader of the village.

As aforementioned, an explicit reason was not provided in the manga for why Naruto cut his hair. Therefore, we urge the readers to patiently await confirmation from the official sources.

Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2024 progresses.


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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay
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