Line #30 Creator/MasashiKishimoto


1	[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/masashi_kishimoto_2014.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:180:You've gotta give the guy credits for sheer stubbornness.]]
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4	Masashi Kishimoto (岸本斉史, Kishimoto Masashi, born November 8, 1974) is a Japanese manga artist, well known for creating the manga series ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' which was in serialisation from 1999 to 2014. He has a twin younger brother, Seishi, who ''also'' is a [[Manga/OPartsHunter manga]] [[Manga/BlazerDrive artist]].
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6	He's mostly known to be the Mangaka creator of ''Naruto''. But he wrote some others manga before writing ''Naruto'', such as Karakuri, Michikusa (a slice-of-life manga), and an action manga named Asian Punk. He then wrote the pilot version of ''Naruto'', under the guidance of Kosuke Yahagi, his first editor, which was well received. He then received an offer for the serialisation of his manga Karakuri, but was cancelled immediately due to poor reception. He then went on writing Seinen Manga with Yakyuou and Mario (a Seinen mafia manga, he'll write later a complete one shot manga on this.) hoping to having better luck on Seinen magazines. Yahagi eventually persuades him to stay on Shounen, and he wrote Magic Mushroom, but is stopped by Yahagi when both of them agree to submit a reworked version of ''Naruto'' for serialization, and the rest is history.
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8	On November 10th 2014, Kishimoto ended the 15-year run of ''Naruto''. By the end of the publication, ''Naruto'' had spanned 72 volumes and (as of September 2014) generated global sales of more than 200 million copies. Masashi Kishimoto then took the time to take his wife on honeymoon, which he never had the time to do during ''Naruto'''s serialization.
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10	Shonen Jump began publishing his new manga ''Manga/Samurai8TheTaleOfHachimaru'', (which he's been working on since 2016) on May 2019, where he worked as the writer of the manga while being illustrated by Akira Okubo. It ended in March 2020.
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12	Works associated with him:
13	* ''Karakuri''
14	* ''Michikusa''
15	* ''Asian Punk''
16	* ''Manga/Naruto1997'' - The ''Naruto'' pilot
17	* ''Yakyuou''
18	* ''Mario''
19	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' - The work that catapulted him to fame.
20	** ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' - Sequel to ''Naruto'', acting as an editor and story supervisor, and from 2020 as a writer
21	* ''Manga/Samurai8TheTaleOfHachimaru'' - Writer of the manga.
22	----
23	!!Masashi Kishimoto and his works provide examples of:
24	* CreatorPreferredAdaptation: Kishimoto considers the best adaptation of ''Naruto'' to be... [[VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm3 the Ultimate Ninja Storm video game series]]! He often says himself that it's more exciting than the manga, as detailed in [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130307125047/http://www.saiyanisland.com/2013/03/masashi-kishimoto-comments-on-naruto-shippuden-ultimate-ninja-storm-3/ this 2013 Saiyan Island interview]].
25	* CreatorsFavorite: At approximately 25:00 of [[http://web.archive.org/web/20170124225549/http://www.viz.com:80/blog/posts/sj-podcast-kishimoto-sensei-special this 2015 Viz Shonen Jump podcast]], Kishimoto reveals that his favorite female character is Hinata, because "[[NiceGirl she's not violent at all]]."
26	* CreatorsPest: Kishimoto dislikes Sakura just as much as [[TheScrappy the majority of the fandom does]]:
27	** In [[https://web.archive.org/web/20141021073730/https://narutochapter.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/interview-masashi-kishimoto-jump-festa-2010/ this 2010 Jump Festa interview]], Kishimoto admits that Sakura [[FauxActionGirl hasn't been much of a heroine]] by that point, and that there is ''no way'' she would become Hokage before Naruto. He also confesses that he intentionally made Sakura "detestable" for giving Naruto her [[NeverLiveItDown infamous]] [[FalseConfession fake love confession]] in Chapter 469:
28	--->'''Sakura's Voice Actress:''' With the latest developments, Sakura has...\
29	'''Kishimoto:''' That chick is detestable for [[ManipulativeBitch using Naruto's good will]], but, well that's just how I'd think to write a realistic girl. You hear all the time that Sakura is a detestable person, but that's what seems to be the intention.
30	** In [[https://web.archive.org/web/20180330022613/https://imgur.com/a/4Fouv this 2014 Jump Festa interview]], Kishimoto reveals that Sakura was included in the narrative because of ExecutiveMeddling. He admits that he didn't plan on creating her because he's not good with female characters.
31	** In [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170924111946/http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:164031 this 2014 Fuji TV Kobayashi interview]], Kishimoto reveals that he thought Sakura would appeal to female fans, but he was surprised when she actually became hated. He acknowledges that a lot of people, including young girls, hate Sakura, and it's gotten to the point where he now continues on regretting her character as well. He also explains that the reason why [[CanonForeigner Sakura's parents have never appeared in any canon work]] is specifically ''because'' of her detractors--Sakura is ''that'' unpopular that even if he expanded on her character by making her parents canon, she would still be hated and both she and her parents would be on the sidelines anyways, so he saw no point in canonizing them. As time went on, it was too late for Kishimoto to drop Sakura, so he tried to increase her popularity by making her more physically beautiful [[SatelliteCharacter without changing her characterization]], but in the end it had no effect because no one noticed. Finally, he states that Sakura was "always a pain to draw."
32	** In the aforementioned 2015 Viz Shonen Jump podcast, Kishimoto states that Sakura is ''not'' his favorite female character, because she's [[HairTriggerTemper really violent]] and "[[HotBlooded kind of a hard woman]]."
33	* ForgetfulJones: Is often given this trademark by the fandom, for not using more character X or Y. The truth is, as he revealed later, he thought about using more unused characters, but never quite found the right moment to do it, as he explained with Rock Lee:
34	-->'''Interviewer:''' "Ah, right! So did you decide to include Rock Lee in the story more because he became so popular?"\
35	'''Kishimoto:''' "Not necessarily. It's just what I heard. It kind of surprised me how popular he was, but it didn't necessarily lead to more plotlines with him in it, or anything like that. That's not to say that I didn't consider writing him in more or creating more stories about him, but the timing was never right, so I never had the opportunity."
36	* GodNeverSaidThat: The ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' fandom has accused him several times of contradicting himself in interviews; however, the vast majority of times, those were actually instances of this:
37	** Kishimoto is often mentioned as having said that Sasuke is his favorite character, particularly by people who think he's a CreatorsPet with [[SpotlightStealingSquad too much screentime]]. He actually said Sasuke is his favorite character... ''to draw''.
38	** During mid-2014, persistent rumors circulated about how Kishimoto had stated that the manga would end in 2014; in truth, he did say that the manga was nearing completion and was in its final arc, but didn't put forward a concrete deadline. This is a very peculiar example in that the manga ''did'' end in 2014 after all, so anyone who believed the rumor was RightForTheWrongReasons.
39	** During the fandom meltdown surrounding the resolution of the series' {{Romance Arc}}s, several "translations" of WordOfGod were strategically circulated that were so out of touch with the original source that they ''had'' to have been deliberately engineered to cause grief, facilitate denial and mislead impressionable minds. Those consisted of a myriad in-universe and out-of-universe disheartening "true" reasons that the OfficialCouple got together - it was only because one of them felt sorry for the other and settled for her as a consolation prize; it only happened because of ExecutiveMeddling and the author [[PanderingToTheBase caving in to fan demands]]; the [[ShipToShipCombat TRUE love standing in its way]] was there and mutual, but it never got to materialize merely due to some tragic misunderstanding, or [[SenselessSacrifice ill-conceived and needless martyrdom]] on the part of the characters - the author failed to follow through on it on a vindictive whim, or because his hand was forced.\
40	Compared to all of this, the truth is ridiculously banal; the OfficialCouple got together in the usual way that fictional couples do -- because the author decided, from the early stages of the manga, that it would be great if they were to fall in love, so they did. No reservations, no cynical "yeah, but"s about it. Some of the "true" alternate explanations were just fabricated whole-cloth; others were "inspired" by actual WordOfGod that had little resemblance to them, and instead described considerations that are much less scandalous and are par-for-the-course for the occasion, e.g. "I threw in [[RedHerring some nuggets]] towards one pairing [[TrollingCreator just to throw their fans off]], but I ''never'' thought about making that pairing official, because I already decided on the OfficialCouple at an early stage."
41	** Kishimoto's involvement with the production of the [[NonSerialMovie non-canon]] movie ''Anime/NarutoTheMovieRoadToNinja'' which is heavily loaded with Naruto/Sakura ShipTeasing, made a lot of their {{shipping}} fans to claim that the author was giving an explicit endorsement of the pairing and that it was meant to be the official one; in reality, Kishimoto was only involved with the characters' designs and story draft, while the actual script of the movie was done by Yuka Miyata, who was infamous for her Naruto/Sakura-teasing [[ArmedWithCanon scene additions]] to the anime {{filler}} that didn't exist in the manga (although she stopped doing this after the manga ended and the anime continued to drag on, for [[ShipSinking obvious reasons]]).
42	** When the series was reaching its end, quite a few fans claimed that Kishimoto had confirmed that in the ending Naruto would have a son named Shinachiku, based on an interview made during the promotion of the aforementioned ''Road To Ninja'' movie; in reality during the interview Kishimoto when asked if Naruto would have a child how would he call him, he ''jokingly'' answered that ''probably'' Shinachiku. The real names for Naruto's children turned out to be [[spoiler:Boruto and Himawari]].
43	** A few of their shippers claimed that Kishimoto had confirmed in an interview that Naruto and Sakura's relationship was based upon his and his wife's; in reality during the [[https://web.archive.org/web/20151015033145/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2015-10-14/masashi-kishimoto-at-new-york-comic-con/.94186 interview]] when asked if his relationship was more similar to Naruto/Hinata than Sasuke/Sakura, he answers "it might not actually be like either", then when comparing Hinata to his wife he describes the latter as "strong", then it's ''the interviewer'' who suggests that Sakura could be more similar to Kishi's wife personality-wise (Naruto's relationship and dynamics with Sakura were not even mentioned).
44	** Some fans claimed that Kishimoto wanted to [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] the series after he finished it. In reality, according to [[https://web.archive.org/web/20180616153940/http://www.spirallingsphere.com/2016/07/masashi-kishimoto-x-ikemoto-full-interview-english/ this 2016 Jump Festa interview]], the one who actually said that was his assistant, Mikio Ikemoto. Kishimoto has consistently said that he's happy with ''Naruto'' and the way he finished it, and Ikemoto stated that he loved the idea of making a sequel rather than a reboot, so after [[ApprovalOfGod Kishimoto endorsed him to Shueisha]], he began writing the ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' manga under Kishimoto's supervision.
45	* GratuitousPrincess: In several of his works, the potential LoveInterest happens to be a princess of sorts:
46	** ''Mario'': Saori, a MafiaPrincess out for revenge.
47	** ''Naruto'': Hinata, heiress of the Hyuga clan and also the "Byakugan Princess".
48	** ''Samurai 8'': Ann, Hachimaru's "Fated Princess".
49	* NoHuggingNoKissing:
50	** While ''Manga/{{Naruto}} has'' romance in it, even as an important part of its plot (and is a ''massively'' popular subject for {{Shipping}} fics), effectively NONE of it ever takes place on-page, due to his [[https://web.archive.org/web/20141113000720/http://www.saiyanisland.com/2014/11/kishimoto-sensei-speaks-after-narutos-finale/ self-confessed inability to write romance]], which he attributes to chronic embarrassment. Even in the epilogue chapter, you barely get to see any of the married couples interact with each other and the main ones everyone wanted to see, Naruto/Hinata and Sasuke/Sakura, didn't even appear on page at the same time (although in [[spoiler:Sasuke]]'s case, at least he has the excuse that he's WalkingTheEarth).
51	** Subverted with Naruto/Hinata, considering they get TheBigDamnKiss in the climax of the {{canon}} movie ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie''. Kishimoto initially said he thought he wouldn't be able to watch the particular scene, but surprisingly enough he managed it and felt like "his kids had finally grown up and flown away from home."
52	* ShrugOfGod:
53	** Famously, during an interview, when the interviewer told him that [[FanPreferredCouple many fans were hoping that Hinata would get a chance to be with Naruto]], his answer was... [[TrollingCreator "I hope so too"]]. [[OfficialCouple And she did]], as shown in the DistantFinale and detailed in ''The Last''.
54	** He said he wasn't even sure what [[ViewerGenderConfusion gender]] [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/0/0c/7tails.jpg Fu]], the [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/6/6a/Seven-Tails_%26_Fuu.jpg Seven-Tailed Horned Beetle]] jinchūriki, is (was?) in one of the fanbooks. By the time Fu is later seen in the manga proper, he'd decided Fu was [[spoiler:a girl]].
55	** Post main series finale, he has claimed that he doesn't know who the mother of Rock Lee's son, Metal Lee, is.
56	* TrollingCreator: He's not as bad as some others, but the way he wrote the pairings raised a few eyebrows:
57	** He explains in [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170131084216/http://www.saiyanisland.com/2017/01/naruto-creator-masashi-kishimoto-2017-interview/ this 2017 Jump Festa interview]] that he already decided that Naruto/Hinata would be the main OfficialCouple since the early stages of the manga, and he inserted all the Naruto/Sakura {{Red Herring}}s ''specifically'' to troll shipping fans.
58	** He trolled the shipping fandom again (specifically the [[spoiler:Sasuke/Karin shippers who suggested that Sarada was in reality Karin's daughter]]) in the PostScriptSeason ''Manga/NarutoGaiden'', with the revelation that [[spoiler:Sarada could actually be the daughter of Sasuke with Karin instead of Sakura, he even added scene of a DNA test to confirm this]] causing the fandom to explode... [[spoiler:but then in the end it was revealed that Sakura was indeed Sarada's biological mother all along, while Karin was the midwife during Sarada's birth]]. With this, Kishimoto's status of troll is fully confirmed.
59	* WorthyOpponent: He seems to be very good friend with ''Manga/OnePiece'''s Creator/EiichiroOda, and the feeling is mutual. In fact, what cement this trope, is that Oda considered ''Naruto'' his biggest rival in Jump and felt the success of ''One Piece'' was partly because, since he had a rival, it motivated him to work ever harder. Kishimoto himself, already saw Oda as a legend when he started ''Naruto'', much to the latter's embarrassment.

Context Creator / MasashiKishimoto