Naruto

I think we would've had a very different manga if the editors never pushed a tournament arc on him. Potentialy a better one. (I also would've liked the story to breathe better on the beginning with a variety of mission. )

The rest of the arcs after the the Chunin Exams happens as a result of the tournament arc. Sand Invasion, Naruto looking for Tsunade to replace the Third, the Sasuke Retrieval Arc happens because of Orochimaru who was introduced by Kishi in the tournament arc at the behest of his editors etc.

Tsunade was also supposed to have a solo fight with Pain before Naruto returned from frog land but the editors wanted him to bring Naruto back faster.

Argghh, that's annoying

I know Kishimoto has been open about his editors' influence before, but the Chunin Exam arc and Orochimaru are both absolutely huge changes.

Land of Waves arc is one of my favourites. I'm sad things didn't continue in that direction, if just for a little longer.

It definitely would have been interesting. I would have liked to see the Villages being traveled too instead of just the Kage's coming over.

Also that's why Naruto started using the Talk no Jutsu a lot. Damn & here I thought shonen uses violence to solve its problems, not speech.

Sometimes editors can help a manga.

Like I think Android 17 and 18 were better than Android 19 and 20.

But I think I would've preferred some of these original ideas that Kishi put out.

That interview answered some long standing questions of mine. Thanks for sharing.

Also this explains why Naruto's living situation doesnt make sense since he wasn't planned to be the Fourth's son at the beginning.

A lot of the ideas shot down were better that what we got in the current day. I mean the guys going on missions would have cemented their bond, instead of it being a take our word for it thing. I really thought that the so-called bond that Team 7 had didn't really strengthened as much as it was told. If they went on more missions, then it would be justified why they grew as a team.

When even the creator notes how your character is pretty much hated, you know you went wrong with her. I really do pity Sakura, and how in the end she was a failed attempt at a heroine. The even more sad thing is that a lot of Sakura and Sasusaku fans still try to justify her character, when it's obvious by now that not even Kishimoto thinks that much of her.

It's definitely very interesting. I wonder what other missions Kishimoto would have come up with if he had gone in that direction.

How popular did he expect Kimimaro to be I wonder?

I mean he was a one-off antagonist though he did have a couple flashback appearances afterwards. There wasn't much to him.

He wasn't well liked though? I liked him enough, especially since he had a pretty cool power.

I wonder what other characters aside from Kimi & Sai did Kishi intend to be popular?

edited 21st Sep '17 7:14:57 PM by slimcoder

I do think that if they swapped out Sakura for Hinata for the main heroine from the beginning I think it probably would have been for the better. Like I think the story would have been stronger, if Hinata was the female member of Team 7 while Sakura was on Team 8 it would probably done wonders for their characters. Sakura would have been a fan girl, but I think she would have grown to let go of her crush on Sasuke more as time went on.

You know one thing that maybe should have been a special ability of hers is that her inner Sakura could have turned to be a rare trait that could be utilized to defeat possessions and illusions. Heck, they could have expanded on the fact that she had strong potential for gengjustus, so she could become less of a clone of her mentor's powerset.

Also Team 8 should have gotten more focus, especially after their leader, Kurenai , was sidelined throughout the story after she got pregnant. Heck, she was more seen with Shikamaru than her own team.

Some more scattered stuff:

Kishi's wife was upset that Sakura didn't end up with Naruto as were many of the female staff in Studio Pierrot.

I love how almost self-aware Kishi's answer is here.

Also apparently he was made aware how much his series reminded fans of Harry Potter:

Speaking of editor's influence:

Gaara's name was meant to be Kotarou Fuuma. His editor hated it though so they argued about it for weeks. Eventually, Kishi gave up and this happened:

I knew that they killed Neji to make Naruhina happen. I'm interested to see what this Neji stuff they do in Boruto.

The Sakura stuff is some of the funniest Naruto related info I've read.

Also I thought Studio Pierrot were huge Hinata fans?

I think Neji being killed to cement a ship is really stupid, and a waste of his character. He wanted to defy his destiny, instead of gets killed to be a bridge for a relationship. That's stupid.

Well....it's Neji choosing to follow his role like his father rather than being forced into like he didn't want before.

But yeah, it's still dumb.

As I said before, Part Two should have continued the story of Naruto subverting the notion of destiny. Neji should have been an example of that in addition to nixing Narurto being a child of prophecy.

Also they should have made the tailed beasts actual yokai, instead of Energy Beings who used to be one big Yokai.

I actually don't mind the tailed beast lore, aside from the clumsy adition of Kaguya

It screwed with a number of fanfics when we found out that Tailed Beasts A) couldn't die, B) were all part of a god-tree, and C) weren't anywhere near as bad as everyone thought. Except Shukaku.

Well, even Kurama got retconned. He started out as this devil on Naruto's shoulder saying, "Yeeeeesss, yeeeesss, use my power, boy, give in to your anger... take your father's place on the Dark Side, young Skywalker..." but by the War Arc, was just vaguely grumpy until Naruto becomes friends with him.

Well to be fair, he had just gotten his ass kicked by said child, so he was probably just moody from that.

I'll admit, I like grumpy Kurama quite a bit, especially whenever he's forced to play the Straight Man to Naruto.

Heh, yeah. Imagine how weird that'd be, finding out the demon inside you that everyone's scared of is just some dude trying to make himself seem cool.

edited 22nd Sep '17 10:48:51 AM by RedM

I mean, he is a thousand years old...wouldn't be surprised if he was just a grumpy old man when he isn't being hatred incarnate to everyone around him.

The second half really does a number of retcons that really don't add up as well. You know one thing that could have made the Tobi is Obito plot work is if Madara possessed Obito's body, which would have saved his character and not derail him into a Unintentionally Unsympathetic mass murder.

Or even if they'd just had Madara actually die of old age and stay dead, with Obito putting on the mask and for all intents and purposes assuming the legacy/identity of Madara.