Hollywood’s Biggest New Live-Action Anime Movie Will Only Succeed If It Rewrites 1 Of The Main 3 Characters

April 24, 20245 Mins Read

Summary

Live-action anime adaptations are evolving after the successes of shows like Netflix’s
One Piece
and
Avatar: The Last Airbender
.
Hollywood faces challenges bringing long-form anime stories to the big screen, and one will need to rewrite a main character.
The upcoming
Naruto
movie must rework Sakura’s character to give her more agency and strength for a successful adaptation.

Hollywood’s biggest upcoming live-action anime movie has the chance to change the narrative around such adaptations, but it will need to rewrite one of its three main characters to succeed. Anime adaptations have evolved significantly in recent years, with Netflix’s One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender proving animated shows can successfully make the leap to a live-action format. Modern technology helps quite a bit, and Hollywood seems emboldened by its recent successes. Multiple live-action anime adaptations have been announced recently, including a few that will debut on the big screen.

Live-action anime movies have yet to pass the test that television adaptations have, as it’s difficult to bring a long-form story to life using a film’s short runtime. There’s a lot of pressure on upcoming projects like One Punch Man to make this work. And one upcoming adaptation will even need to change the source material in order to appeal to more modern audiences.

An image of Naruto looking shocked next to a group shot of Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Iruka

8 Challenges The Live-Action Naruto Movie Faces Adapting The Anime

A live-action Naruto appears to be happening, but it will face some significant challenges to adapting the manga and anime for the big screen.

The Live-Action Naruto Movie Needs To Totally Rework Sakura

Sakura’s Character Arc Won’t Work For A Modern Audience

Among Hollywood’s upcoming anime adaptations is a live-action Naruto movie, and there are many questions about how this project will work. One thing is certain: the Naruto movie needs to rework Sakura’s character if it has any hope of appealing to modern audiences. Sakura’s characterization is infamous among Naruto‘s fan base and the wider anime movie. Of Naruto‘s three leads, she’s the weakest written character — and it’s not a great look considering she’s the only girl.

Of
Naruto
‘s three leads, Sakura is the weakest written character — and it’s not a great look considering she’s the only girl.

While Sakura has a few winning moments throughout Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, much of her storyline is watered down to her feelings for Sasuke. Nearly everything she does in the earliest moments of the anime and manga is to get the attention of a boy. And even as she grows into her own, there’s a clear line between how powerful she’s allowed to become versus how strong Sasuke and Naruto grow to be. She’s clearly overshadowed by the other main characters, and a live-action Naruto movie should make the gap between them less notable.

What The Naruto Movie Must Do To Fix Sakura’s Character

The Live-Action Adaptation Should Give Her More Agency

Team 7 From Naruto, featuring Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

There are a couple of things the live-action Naruto movie can do to make Sakura a better character. The first is giving her more agency, especially at the beginning of the story. Since it’s unclear if the Naruto film will get sequels, it will have to sell its characters right away — not over a longer story arc. Giving Sakura her own goals would improve her character drastically, pushing her away from a narrative that centers Sasuke rather than herself. The movie doesn’t need to do away with her feelings for him completely, but impressing him shouldn’t be her primary motivation.

Since it’s unclear if the
Naruto
film will get sequels, it will have to sell its characters right away — not over a longer story arc.

Sasuke shouldn’t be the only reason for Sakura’s rivalry with Ino, either. The girls should be able to compete in their own right, much like Naruto and Sasuke. Additionally, Sakura shouldn’t just be the brains of the main team. The Naruto anime’s women are often overshadowed by their male counterparts’ physical strengths. While there are good reasons that Naruto and Sasuke are physically stronger — Naruto’s Jinchūriki and Sasuke’s curse mark, for example — the movie can still give Sakura enough power to fight beside them as more of an equal.

Sakura Is The Biggest Manga Change Naruto’s Movie Should Make

It’s 1 Of The Few Things From The Original Story That Hasn’t Aged Well

Making too many changes to the source material could hurt the live-action Naruto movie, so Sakura’s character arc is the biggest manga change the adaptation should make. Masashi Kishimoto’s manga has held up fairly well in the 10 years since it ended, and it’s lauded as one of the “Big Three” classic manga and anime alongside One Piece and Bleach. Sakura is one of the few parts of the original story that hasn’t aged well — and in all fairness, her storyline wasn’t particularly well received when the series was coming out. Sakura’s poor characterization is even a running joke among fans.

Fixing Sakura’s character could be the key to winning over modern audiences with Naruto‘s upcoming adaptation, and it could even justify its existence. A question that often arises about anime adaptations is whether they really add anything to the original story. Improving Naruto‘s manga and anime gives its live-action movie an advantage over other adaptations in that regard. A better-written Sakura is surely a good reason to tackle Naruto in live-action. Hopefully, the movie capitalizes on the opportunity to rewrite her narrative.