Naruto Popularity Poll Is Won By Naruto’s Dad, Will Receive One-Shot Manga

The results of the Naruto Official Worldwide Popularity Poll are finally out. The poll, which ran from December 17, 2022, to January 31, 2023, generated a whopping 4.6 million votes from fans worldwide, making it one of the largest polls in the anime world.

The live broadcast on the Jump Comics YouTube channel revealed the Top 100 most popular characters in the Naruto universe, with the number one spot being awarded to Minato Namikaze.

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The Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village received 792,257 votes, making him the most popular character in the series. As the winner of the poll, he will receive a one-shot manga drawn by the original Naruto creator, Masashi Kishimoto.

Coming in second place was Itachi Uchiha, with 505,014 votes, followed closely by Sakura Haruno, with 489,619 votes. Rounding out the top five were Shisui Uchiha with 279,062 votes and Kakashi Hatake with 212,403 votes. Naruto Uzumaki, the series’ main character, came in sixth with 182,911 votes.

However, it is worth noting that when sorting through regional rankings, Itachi Uchiha placed first in Japan and Sakura Haruno placed first in Central and South America. You can check out the rest of the rankings here.

In addition to the one-shot manga drawn by Masashi Kishimoto for the top-ranked character, the top ten characters will get an official poster drawn by the mangaka. The rest of the top 100 characters will also be featured on a poster.

Kishimoto thanked the Naruto fanbase for their votes and said it was fun to see how the results varied from region to region. “I was shocked to see Minato at the top for all regions, and the fact that Sakura is so beloved by many people around the world made me proud as a writer. To tell you the truth, I was actually rooting for Kurama. I was planning on drawing only the top 20 characters, but I really wanted to add Kurama, who was close at 22nd… So I ended up including him and Guy, who was in 21st place!”

Who is Minato Namikaze

Minato Namikaze, the newly crowned king of Naruto characters, is known for his incredible speed and power. He was the father of Naruto Uzumaki and the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. As such, he had a good social standing among his peers, and was named as one of the strongest shinobi at the time. He was also known for his signature technique which he created himself, the Rasengan.

Kishimoto also revealed that he is currently working on the one-shot manga based on Minato. “While trying to make a story that would match the expectations of his fans, I ended up with more pages than I had originally anticipated. Please look forward to the secret story behind Minato’s jutsu!” he said.