Why Does NARUTO Have Whiskers On His Face?

Why does Naruto have whiskers?

Introduction

If there’s one type of art that tends to take creative licenses when it comes to “real life,” it’s anime.

You get outer space monsters, folklore animals from all over the world, gender-bending characters, and even guys that keep hypnotizing themselves (One Piece, anyone?).

That’s the best part about it, though.

The idea that anything at all can happen between the dialogues of a good anime is what makes them so addictive.

One of the biggest names out there when it comes to Japanese cartoon shows (what anime actually is) is Naturo and the sequel, Naruto: Shippuden.

With the appearance of the anime in 2002, we were introduced to all the characters and storylines. However, one question that kept people wondering for the first little while was why did Naruto have whiskers?

Was he a cat?

Did he get hurt?

Were they meant to give him powers?

We have the answer right here.

Naruto: The Manga

The Naruto TV show is based on manga of the same name, as most anime tend to be.

The manga (Japanese comic book) was first published in 1997 and won the author, Masashi Kishimoto, several awards and recognitions.

In the story, we follow Naruto Uzumaki in his quest to become the best ninja there ever was, and in turn, take over the coveted leader position in his village – the Hokage.

Naruto is very young, with the first part of the manga taking place during his pre-teen years and the sequel happening during his teenage years.

Naruto will spend his first few years training under his sensei to improve his combat skills.

At first, he won’t know that his body is the host to a powerful nine-tailed fox (see the section below for more info), but a rebel ninja from the village will spill the beans when he’s 12.

Lots will happen in between then and the end of the manga, but it all comes with a happy ending. (Spoiler alert!) Naruto will get married and become the seventh Hokage of his village. Just as he always dreamed of. 

The TV Show

The TV adaptation of the Naruto manga first aired in Japan in 2002, while the English version aired in 2005.

There are a few small but key differences between the manga and the anime that are worth mentioning.

The manga is aimed towards a slightly older audience, while the anime aired on Cartoon Network, which meant much younger people were watching it.

This meant that even though the battles shown followed the same rules of the anime, there was much less blood involved.

Some characters, like Gaara, are also depicted as much less violent in the anime.

The anime version is also known for including lots and lots of flashbacks, while the manga had much less of those.

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So, why does Naruto have whiskers on his face?

Why does NARUTO have whiskers on his face? Ok, so here’s the thing, Naruto doesn’t actually have whiskers. They’re basically marks left over by a nine-tailed fox that’s kind of living inside him.

In the Naruto universe, you’re able to merge your chakras (or part of your soul) with mystical animals before you’re even born.

And that’s exactly what Naturo’s mother, Kushina, did while she was pregnant with him.

With the help of a nine-tailed fox named Kurama, Naruto entered the world already one step ahead when it came to becoming a great ninja.

The issue, however, is that Kurama could very much take over Naruto’s body whenever he wanted and even kill his own allies during battle.

As you can imagine, Naruto wasn’t super cool with this idea.

So, a big chunk of the series builds up to a huge battle between both of them facing off with each other.

In the end, Naruto is able to defeat Kurama, keep the powers he gained from the fox’s chakra, and seal Kurama away for good. 

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What are the other big anime shows out there?

If all this talk about Naruto made you nostalgic for the time when you were anime obsessed, or you’re new to the genre and want recommendations for other shows, we can help. Here are 2 other hugely famous anime you might want to check out.

• Dragon Ball Z. This is a story about Goku (an outer space alien who was brought up on earth), his son Goha, and their battle buddies, the Z warriors. They spend their days trying to improve their fighting skills and then using them to battle and defeat those that try to harm planet Earth.
• One Piece. In this anime, we follow Monkey D. Luffy in his quest to find the One Piece. This epic tale of pirates and money has been published over 320,866,000 times since December 2014, making it the first anime to hold a literal Guinness World Record.

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