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For the past 25 years, the Naruto manga has been one of the most popular comics on the planet, chronicling the story of an outcast boy who grows up to be the hero of the Hidden Leaf Village. But as the story shifted into Naruto Shippuden, it became as much about reckoning with the sins of the past as it did about the main character’s journey. As we celebrate a quarter-century of Naruto, its message has only become more relevant in the years since it launched. This week on Popverse Jump, we take a look at how Naruto was far ahead of its time.

The plot of Naruto starts off fairly straightforward – the title character is on a quest to become stronger so he can gain the acknowledgment of his peers. However, it quickly delves into the murky history of the Hidden Leaf Village. It is a history that is filled with war, betrayal, and difficult decisions made in the name of the “greater good.” Like most nations in the real world, Konohagakure has inflicted pain and suffering on both its neighbors and its own citizens over the years in an effort to maintain peace.

Nations, like people, are not perfect and war brings out the worst in them, so this isn’t a hit piece damning Konohagakure for its actions. They are very much framed as the good guys of the Naruto world, seeking stability and peace in a turbulent time. However, their greatest mistake, at every turn, is refusing to deal with their mistakes, either by ignoring them or actively hiding them, allowing them to fester and grow until it is the next generation that has to deal with them.

To prevent a potential rebellion, the Uchiha Clan is wiped out, which sends Sasuke on a path of vengeance that nearly destroys the village because he doesn’t know the reason for his brother’s actions. Naruto has one of the Tailed Beasts sealed within him but is never told, preventing him from learning how to use its power until it is nearly too late. The Third Hokage outlawed anyone from mentioning the Tailed Beast to protect Naruto from being an outcast, but it just meant that none of his classmates knew why they didn’t trust him. They just picked up on the vibes from their parents. It is a mistake done with the best of intentions that still had lasting, unintended, and potentially disastrous consequences.

Going back even to the founding of Konohagakure, the unease that the other clans had with the Uchiha is never resolved – it is allowed to simmer beneath the surface as multiple generations of Hokage fail to deal with the resentment until, eventually, the founder of the Uchiha clan shows up and tries to brainwash everyone with the moon. No one in a leadership position in the Hidden Leaf Village takes a step back and acknowledges the mistakes they had made. Instead, they avoid them, which compounds their impact when future generations have to clean up their mess.

Unfortunately, the years since Naruto was first published have only highlighted how relevant that message is in our world. Climate change, which was being addressed in American schools as far back as the early 90s, has gone from a potential inconvenience to a global emergency because multiple generations failed to address it. Gun violence has spiraled to the point where leaders of major political parties claim school shootings are a “fact of life” when they wouldn’t be if actions had been taken after they first began. Like a child trying to hide their broccoli under a heap of mashed potato, the things we don’t like won't go away just because we refuse to look at them.

Masashi Kishimoto might not have intended to create such a grim reflection of our world’s politics when he wrote Naruto, but 25 years of hindsight make it difficult to see it any other way. Perhaps that is why the series remains so popular today; a whole new generation of young people are seeing the mistakes we have made, that our parents and grandparents made, become the catastrophe that they will have to deal with in their lifetime. Naruto provides an escape to a world where the sins of the past can be overcome quickly, something that can be comforting in a world where that feels increasingly unlikely.

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