On August 25, Ikemoto sat down with Boruto and Naruto co-creator Masashi Kishimoto for an interview with French publisher Kana, discussing the ongoing manga's creation process and sharing some interesting information about both series.
When Kishimoto was asked about Naruto's well-constructed and likable villains, he revealed: “It's true that I wanted to tell stories about people. From the beginning, I had the opportunity to introduce characters as super villains. But since One Piece did that, I wanted to do something different with Naruto. My villains also have a story. Manga is also an industry where you have to create things that don't exist yet, which pushes you to try different approaches.”
Following Kishimoto's response, Ikemoto also shared why Boruto's villains aren't treated that way. The manga author said: “I try not to repeat what I did in Naruto. That's why there are more outright evil villains in Boruto. Real villains.”
Both answers make sense for their respective stories. Naruto's villains are not portrayed as heartless villains. Instead, they are written as deeply flawed characters who are victims of their world and circumstances. This gives us some of the most iconic villains like Nagato, Obito, and Madara.
Boruto, on the other hand, takes a different approach to the bad guys. But as Ikemoto mentioned, this serves as an advantage for the manga to step out of the shadow of its famous predecessor.
Adding more to this, Ikemoto added: “In Naruto, the villains have clear goals and reasons for opposing the heroes, and Kishimoto-san has fully realized that concept. As for the battles, I can't add much more to that.
I wanted to create villains that were different from the ones in the Naruto era. I like the absurdity in the villains and wanted to show how different they were from the enemies in Naruto.”
Kishimoto joined his co-creator: “In Naruto, I focused more on the lighter side, while Ikemoto is facing much more complex challenges. Please support him as he overcomes this difficult situation…”
Ikemoto's approach to villains certainly works, as Boruto Two Blue Vortex is one of the most popular new-generation shounen manga out there. Thanks to his interview, fans can expect more evil from the current villains, the Shinju.
