Despite being a continuation of Masashi Kishimoto’s renowned Naruto series, the Boruto series has faced criticism from fans who consider it to be an unsatisfactory successor to the mangaka’s previous work. This criticism has led to numerous instances of fans scrutinizing and criticizing Boruto, a trend that continues to this day.
Despite being an early criticism from Naruto fans, the character designs in Boruto were a disappointment for many as they were seen as inferior to the designs in the previous series. However, there remains confusion among the Naruto fandom about the character designs as a recent dispute arose when one fan unjustly criticized and attacked illustrator Mikio Ikemoto on social media.
Naruto Fan Criticizes Ikemoto for Underwhelming Character Designs in Boruto
Despite being a continuation of Masashi Kishimoto’s masterpiece, the Boruto series has been met with widespread disdain from the Naruto fandom over the years. Many have deemed it as perhaps the most disappointing addition to the franchise.
Thankfully, Boruto’s fortunes have taken a turn for the better as of late, thanks to the success of the Two Blue Vortex manga. This has reignited excitement among fans and received much acclaim, even from those who were previously dissatisfied.
Despite this, there is one aspect of the series that some fans continue to struggle with: the character design. A number of fans believe that the character designs in Naruto were superior to those in Boruto. In fact, one fan recently took to social media to criticize and insult Mikio Ikemoto for his “unappealing character designs”in Boruto, claiming that they “ruined beloved characters.”
After Kishimoto’s Naruto series ended in 2014, Ikemoto, who had been the chief assistant, was chosen to continue the legacy by drawing the sequel series Boruto. Kishimoto believed Ikemoto was the perfect candidate due to his experience.
Despite the majority of the character designs in the Boruto series being created by Kishimoto, Ikemoto did make some alterations to the art style, particularly after receiving advice from Kishimoto to do so.
It is therefore misguided for fans to criticize Ikemoto’s character designs for Boruto as “ugly.”While this does not imply that Kishimoto’s character designs are inferior, it is understandable that they may not align with everyone’s personal taste.
How Fans Reacted to the Claim of Kishimoto’s Character Designs Being Ikemoto’s in Naruto Community
It can be confidently stated that the majority of the fanbase united in criticizing the individual who falsely attributed the character designs in Boruto to Ikemoto. While some directly addressed the fan’s misguided statement, others opted to support and defend Ikemoto’s contributions to the Boruto series.
“You don’t realize that it wasn’t Ikemoto who designed it, but Masashi who designed it,”wrote one fan.
“It’s gone hurt your feelings when you find out these Kishimoto designs,”another chimed in.
“Those are kishimoto’s designs y’all need to stop hating on ikemoto for designs he didn’t make,”said another.
It was a refreshing change to witness fans stepping up to defend the Boruto series and especially Mikio Ikemoto, given that the series often receives excessive and unwarranted criticism.
“”Ruined legendary characters” and all these designs were created by kishimoto,”said one fan.
“Most of these are good and make sense, what??? At most you could argue like Gaara (love him though), and maybe Naruto but it’s really just this bad in the anime,”another fan expressed.
“Some of them feel really good imo! Kiba Shikamaru and Choji are my favorite,”another fan wrote.
Leave a Reply