The One Hidden Detail Masashi Kishimoto Put in Every Naruto Character That Gives Them an Edge Over One Piece

Here is why Naruto hits differently than One Piece when it comes to characters: Masashi Kishimoto built Naruto on the idea that nobody has it all together. Not the heroes, not the side characters. Everybody gets a flaw baked in. And yes, that was on purpose.

What Kishimoto actually said

This comes from an older Japanese interview that fans scanned and shared around, with a translation posted by @OrganicDinosaur on Reddit. The short version: Kishimoto deliberately wrote every character with something in their life that just does not work out. He wanted readers to recognize themselves in that messiness.

"Everyone has elements that don't go well, and we all live with those. There aren't many people for whom everything is going well, so I thought that if I included elements that aren't going well, someone might empathize with me, and that's how I portrayed it."

- Masashi Kishimoto

He even used a clunky little phrase for it in the interview: an "unsuccessful component." Translation quirks aside, he means a persistent flaw or wound that the character carries forward. Not a one-episode lesson that gets fixed and forgotten. A thing you live with.

How that shows up in Naruto

Kishimoto aimed for characters who feel like people, not ideals. Naruto, Sasuke, and a ton of supporting players all have something fundamental that never fully resolves, and it shapes their choices. That is why the show’s big swings land: Pain’s death, Sasuke’s revenge spiral, Itachi’s lifelong burden, Nagato’s despair. They’re not just plot twists; they’re the fallout of those embedded fractures.

Why this feels different from One Piece

None of this is a knock on One Piece. Oda’s story runs on bright, stubborn optimism — that "everything will work out" current that powers Luffy and often sweeps up even the villains. It is infectious by design. But compared side by side, Naruto lives in the shadowy corners of consequence more often, and that heaviness makes its emotional beats sting.

• One Piece: Luffy barrels toward Pirate King with relentless confidence; even after brutal backstories like Nami’s and Robin’s, the crew snaps back with hope.
• Naruto: characters carry damage that does not magically vanish — Pain’s ideology curdles into tragedy, Sasuke’s revenge consumes him, Itachi’s sacrifice rots from the inside, Nagato collapses under the weight of his ideals.

Different philosophies, different flavors: One Piece lifts you up; Naruto makes you sit with it. Personally, I think Kishimoto’s "unsuccessful component" idea is the secret sauce for why Naruto still sticks to your ribs years later.

Where to watch

Both Naruto and One Piece are streaming on Crunchyroll.