The entire anime community and their mothers know how hated Sakura Haruno from Naruto is. Some genuinely hate her, while some just hop on the hate train. However, after years of unnecessary backlash, fans are noticing it might not be Sakura’s character to blame nor entirely Kishimoto’s writing.
Studio Pierrot houses many iconic Shonen titles, like Naruto, Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Black Clover. While fans have complained about the animation quality, the studio has committed an even bigger offense.
Several scenes of Sakura Haruno were changed, deliberately making her look bad. The notion that her character adds nothing to Naruto, especially as a Team 7 member, was Studio Pierrot’s fault. It’s vastly different from her real character arc in the manga where she’s much kinder and selfless.
Sakura saves Naruto a lot in the manga, whereas the anime doesn’t show this side of her
The main reason Naruto fans hate Sakura is how brash she can be with the protagonist. She is often seen punching him over nothing, mostly he’s being too rowdy or loud. She also laughs when he panics during the first Chunin Exam. However, none of this is included in the manga.
In the manga, she shows genuine concern for Naruto when he panics rather than laughing at it. She also rarely hits him or uses violence against him. The opposite is true, in fact.
Fans are noticing how much Studio Pierrot has changed the original manga panels to deliberately make her look useless. In a panel where she pushes the protagonist out of danger, the anime shows Naruto doing it himself. Why did they modify this scene if not to sabotage her character arc?
Keeping the original, which displays how much she cares for him, would’ve kept Sakura in the fans’ good books. She looks out for him like an older sister. She wasn’t the strongest but she was the brains of Team 7. She kept them in check in the manga, unlike her anime counterpart.
Studio Pierrot seems to get a kick out of making her look bad. She sometimes even comes off as unintelligent, despite being one of the wisest medical ninjas. There’s no denying Masashi Kishimoto didn’t exactly give her a lot of substance, but the way they modified her is proof of sabotage.
Studio Pierrot ruined her character beyond salvation
While Sakura’s manga counterpart wasn’t exactly a well-written character, she had her moments of usefulness and bravery. She puts herself in danger to save others.
Her relationship with Sasuke was also much better in the manga. There are many subtly romantic moments between them, with the Uchiha blushing in her presence. It’s a better slow-burn, for all those who believed they were underdeveloped. The anime removed any of these subtle hints.
Overall, Sakura’s character was effectively assassinated because of these modifications. We don’t know what Studio Pierrot was thinking when changing her scenes, but she isn’t the only female character who was cursed this way. Keeping the original panels would have made her a likable person.
Naruto: Shippuden is available on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
