The one allegation that Naruto’s creator Masashi Kishimoto has not been able to ward even after so long is the mistreatment of the female characters in the series. Be it Sakura or Tsunade, fans have always criticized Kishimoto for not giving enough importance to the female characters who could have potentially made the series even better than it already is.
One of the main female characters who is believed to be on the list of worst-written female characters is Hinata, the former heiress of the Hyuga clan. The background of Hinata made her look like an extremely powerful character who could have made a lot of difference in the series. And while she did have an impact on the narrative of Naruto, it still wasn’t justified according to her character development.
However, there was one other female character who had even more influence and power than Hinata and was treated even worse. This character is none other than Mei Terumi, the Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure. When Mei was first introduced, fans had a lot of hope for her, but all of that was butchered because of the narrative turn in Naruto.
Masashi Kishimoto’s Alleged Mistreatment of the Female Characters in Naruto
Ever since Naruto began in 1999, the one thing that has remained constant is the allegations from fans that claim that Kishimoto has not given enough importance to the female characters of the series. When compared to the male characters, the female characters do not even have enough involvement in the central narrative.
In fact, there is an entire list of female characters, ranging from main characters like Sakura and Hinata to supporting characters like Kurenai and Tenten who have a lot of potential. They could have added more substance to the central narrative, but Kishimoto has been quite vocal about how he is not good with female characters, and that was clearly reflected in Naruto.
Nonetheless, he was still criticized for it by the fanbase. And even though the series ended a long time ago, fans still express their disappointment with Naruto and Kishimoto.
Another Naruto Female Character Added To The List
The list of wasted female characters in Naruto who had a lot of potential keeps on growing. The new name on the list is that of Mei Terumi, who became the Fifth Mizukage quite early in life. However, according to her background mentioned in the Naruto data book, Mei had quite an interesting life.
She had to face the brutality of the previous Mizukage through their academy. After experiencing the torture of training, she went on to become one of the strongest kunoichi in the Naruto world.
Comment
byu/No_Contest1647 from discussion
inNaruto
Not only that, she also reformed Kirigakure, which was suffering because of the negative deeds of the former Mizukage. She was quite a character, but her development was highly undermined.
While her introduction within the Naruto universe was quite decent, Masashi Kishimoto limited her character to a desperate woman who wants to get married. She didn’t even get a decent battle to showcase her highly dangerous techniques. Thus, she might rank higher than Hinata on the wasted female characters list.
Naruto is available to watch on Hulu.
