The Tragic Downfall of Anko in Naruto

[@Digidudee]

How cool would it have been if they gave Anko at least 1 fight where she busts out Curse Mark Stage 1 or even 2 and whoops ass. Missed opportunity.

[@AtomicFlounder42]

She wasn't steadily sidelined, she was instantly sidelined as soon as the forest of death arc ended

[@lordbauer5983]

She was literally introduced just to hype up Orochimaru.

[@AtomicFlounder42]

@@lordbauer5983 and then gets sidelined right away. Then gets like a 4 minute flash back one time later on, and that's it

[@lapplandkun9273]

@@lordbauer5983 She was introduced and then never explored. We don't even get to see her interact with kabuto or Sasuke either. All of them were orochimaru's apprentices. She never interacts with Kabuto or Sasuke, even despite the latter successfully killing him before his revival

[@IIIISai]

@@lapplandkun9273 yea

[@trorisk]

They could have made her an entry into the cruelty of shinobi (and not just bad ones). In the chuunin exam arc there are a lot of child deaths and cruelty (evocation of torture). But after the time skip the ninja world becomes kinder and kinder. It struck me when Karine is interrogated by Konoha. It's the good cop/good cop method...

[@josiahcmiller]

Alternate title: “the endlessly squandered potential of Kishimoto’s characters”

[@JoseSerrato0420]

Especially the women.

[@takatotakasui8307]

​@@JoseSerrato0420 Especially the women.

[@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece]

My theory: Kisame did not commit shark sudoku to avoid interrogation. He did it to get out of the story on a high note! Anko actually tried in the forest but failed.

[@batsman27]

@@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece you either die a kisame or live long enough to be anko

[@catninja909]

If you thought the female characters in Naruto were bad, just wait for Boruto!

[@nabbster94]

All Anko wanted was to see orochimaru die permanently. But he ended up getting a presidential pardon for winning the war. So now she sees orochimaru walk around konoha. And copes with it by over eating.

[@babygurleatsshickennuggits4201]

I didn't think of it that way, and honestly, that would a totally reasonable reaction.

[@MKP2W]

I can't tell if you said this as a joke but I laughed.

[@huntergrant6520]

That's... Kinda funny.

[@PrettyGothBoi6085]

Honestly if they made this part of a new arc for her i wouldn't complain.

[@beeno3487]

Too real man

[@DarkAuraLord]

Don't let this distract you from the fact that Orichimaru LITERALLY GOT AWAY WITH EVERYTHING. The mad lad just can't stop winning.

[@langadube9611]

Basically every villain got away with it. Kabuto, Orochimaru, Sasuke when he was a villain, Obito wasn't punished went out on his own terms, I guess Madara lost.

[@cherryblossom7120]

That's true, he should had been the ultimate villain. Instead they made him a joke. He used to be spine-chillingly evil beyond all reason.

[@SGT_23]

in the narutoverse most of the villians such as Pain, Obito, Madara etc. had justifiable reasons for doing what they did and ending up they way they were.... Then there's Orchimaru who was just plain selfish and hungry for power... He was the REAL villian imo

[@Zakaker]

​@@SGT_23Every other major villain in Naruto: _"This is the only way to achieve world peace, and the sacrifices I need to make pale in comparison to the suffering caused by the inherently violent nature of humankind"_ Orochimaru: _"Yo wouldn't it be sick to be immortal"_

[@0816M3RC]

@@SGT_23 Wanting to be immortal isn't inherently bad. Wanting to put all of humanity under a eternal genjutsu on the other hand..

[@jruler93]

Sadly, Anko's story is all too common in Naruto. She seemed so cool and interesting when she was introduced, but she got sidelined in Shippuden so the story could focus on Naruto, Sasuke, the Jinchuuriki and the Akatsuki. There are dozens of characters just like her.

[@zemox2534]

Sad bit true

[@marthashepherd935]

So sad Kishimoto's writing😔

[@ytmcztmc9096]

I mean hell man not even the Jinchuuriki did much of anybody save for like Killer Bee. I hear there’s some stuff in the anime but only for like a couple episodes do the other actually do much of anything.

[@langadube9611]

​@@ytmcztmc9096They gave Ukataka and Fu something everyone else got squat unless you count Killer Bee's dream.

[@IamHattman]

I've always felt that there was a point where the direction of the plot changed. The series started as a low magic squad based action series and turned into a more typical high magic duel based action series over time, losing a lot of its potential in the process. Anko would have been great in that first setup, but lacks the ability to keep up in the second. Also, her main tie-in was Orochimaru. He became irrelevant very quickly post time skip, making Anko also kind of pointless from a plot perspective.

[@nahte123456]

Anko and Shizune always felt a bit missing in the plot. Like if we use the whole Sannin thing then it's Orochimaru-Jiraiya-Tsunade, their first students Anko-Minato-Shizune, and their last students being or Sasuke-Naruto-Sakura, with Kabuto and Pain kinda in the middle of all that. But of all those names, only Shizune and Anko are just not important. Shizune is arguably even more curious since in the Tsunade retrieval arc she seemed to bond a bit with Naruto.

[@Spoogebro]

The fact that that’s the only time we saw shizune fight. They even comment about how she’s probably on par with kabuto. They did her so dirty I woulda like for her to be a mad surgeon type ninja with medical tools and poisons.

[@nahte123456]

@@Spoogebro It's funny because in games Shizune is mostly given poison attacks, almost more like Sasori. Which would be a super interesting comparison to Sakura who, fight wise, took a pure power approach.

[@Spoogebro]

@@nahte123456 exactly shes clearly meant to represent tsunades teachings to a t. since she doesnt have the crazy strength sakura and tsunade have she has to avoid direct combat and fight smart. she completely got the drop on kabuto and probably wpu;dve killed him has tsunade not stopped her. also a ninja with medical equipment is fun just look at skullgirls.

[@catninja909]

Anko definitely should have had more to do, especially ESPECIALLY when Sasuke revived Orochimaru during the War Arc.

[@Seth_rs]

Funny story the reason why they’re still alive is because they’re irrelevant to the plot

[@diegoaristizabal6594]

Anko is just another one in the list of "characters who are interesting, have potential yet commit the crime of not being an Uchiha or Naruto" And she also is a woman in a Kishimoto manga, so that is another strike against her.

[@stoneharvey1017]

What potential does she have, narratively speaking? Her role was to hype up Orochimaru, she did that. Mission accomplished, there's nothing interesting Kishi really could have done with her. Her abilities are just, "Orochimaru but shitty".

[@mevan883]

Agree Kishimoto does not write female characters well but does great with their looks.

[@stoneharvey1017]

@@archduke0000 No. Nothing that wouldn't just drag the story.

[@beverlypotter3236]

@@mevan883 agreed anko was hot

[@almalone3282]

​@@mevan883 I read somewhere the reason for that was he never talked to women until he was writing shipudden

[@willtheboredguy3556]

I've always been under the opinion that Anko should have been a mentor to Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. I feel like both Naruto and Sakura would have a massive interest in everything she knows after Sasuke leaves, and Sasuke would want to seek her out to learn more about Orochimaru before leaving. She has lots of intel, and lots of interesting jutsu. She would also be great training for battling Orochimaru. Having her fill a role similar to Yamato would have been amazing.

[@terra4822]

Actually, there is fanfic on wattpad about that. It's called "The next god of shinobi" but Naruto team-mates aren't Sasuke and Sakura. But it's great. It's epic story Sorry for my garbage English.

[@willtheboredguy3556]

@@terra4822 very cool. Also, your english is fine

[@notawallflowerx]

Agreed! Kakashi barely trained them before Sasuke left and then afterwards Jiraiya barely trained Naruto and Kakashi let Sakura fall to the wayside and luckily she was able to train under Tsunade

[@wortis683]

She should have been the team 7 substitute sensei instead of yamato.

[@stoneharvey1017]

@@wortis683 That would be dumb. She's really weak and on top of it Yamato served as a great way to make wood style more represented in the story, and considering how important the senju and woodstyle are to the plot, that was a very important.

[@jinchuriki7022]

She was my first "naruto crush" its sad too see her character being completely ruined. I really dont like her chubby design, even though she likes sweets. Orochimaru and kabuto are in the village in Boruto, so this could go further. Not to mention a potential relationship with Mitsuki.

[@gentletal5101]

Same Saw her in Boruto and was like Wtf they do to you?!

[@ognjenradanovic1256]

@@gentletal5101 well to be real sometimes when people get much older they get fat

[@festral7509]

if you truly had a crush, you wouldn't care too much about what she looked like.

[@StrafeMoney]

That part😂😂

[@internetjerk2839]

@ognjenradanovic1256 yeah but their Ninjas being fit is kind of a necessity unless she suddenly became an Akemichi

[@buddylee5712]

Anko got done so dirty

[@JarvisBaileyVA]

Kishimoto's inability to actually flesh out characters not named Uchiha never fails to disappoint me.

[@firewolf9493]

Thanks for this video! Good to see people making these thoughtful videos on these awesome shows and specifically about Anko, a character that i liked back when i watched Naruto for the first time but never ended up having the development she deserved...

[@M.W.2]

Characters like her and shizune feel like forgotten characters that could have at least played a role against edo tensei or sacrifice themselves in other way but even that was too much to acknowledge their existence

[@JamesThomas-fy5mw]

I’m mad she never made it into storm games

[@KazeRyuTrey09]

I love Anko and I agree, I thought for sure she was going to be something more in the series. I would had love the idea of Sasuke going to her and asking questions about Orochimaru and her helping him deal with it. She wouldn't have been able to stop him from leaving but it would had been cool to have him connect with another student of Orochimaru. I love her and Naruto's fast connection with each other, at the time in the series he didnt really have a strong connection with any of the lady characters, it would had been cool to see him attach to her. I always felt that she kept her talents in locked down because of the curse mark, like she didn't want to be controlled by the curse mark if she either got stronger or went all out. Im one of the ones that actually likes Boruto Anko, as much as I wanted her to do sooo much more, she needed a break. And I always chalked up to something really bad happened off screen with her, so letting her relax and maybe gain few pounds is ok with me. I wish someone would make a fix it fic with her and relationship with Orochimaru and Kabuto, it would be so angsty and messy.

[@yuh-tx2qo]

I agree. I really wish we had seen more of her :/ If you find any fix-it fic, could you please let me know?

[@R0-83-RT]

Honestly real big fan of the Devil Island filler Arc in general. Within the top 3 fillers for Naruto in my opinion.

[@rajaryan4424]

Just another day for a female character by Kishimoto

[@animeheadshot1016]

While I love Kishimoto's work, it would be disingenuous to say that it doesn't have flaws. I think Naruto is a great example of what not to do with side characters. If you're going to introduce a character, have them be relevant for more than one or two arcs, because then you'll be stuck with a character you didn't plan ahead for and have no idea what to do with them. So they just fade into the background and become more of a hindrance than an asset to your story.

[@stoneharvey1017]

Anko's job was to hype up Orochimaru, which she did very successfully. I actually agree with your larger point, but in the case of Anko, I'd say she was handled well.

[@nikitawebp]

​@@stoneharvey1017 a well handled character should have more than one job

[@dwelfking8050]

@@stoneharvey1017 Anko's job was done better by Orochimaru immediately after she did it.

[@willdiesel8431]

​@@dwelfking8050 that's because Orochimaru is a windbag. If that isn't apparent by the time Danzo and his relationship is revealed i don't know what else will make it clear.

[@willdiesel8431]

​@@nikitawebp not necessarily true.

[@spongex1294]

The fact that I forgot bout this character till u mentioned her again kinda goes to show how much you're right. I remember loving the idea of her story, but she really just was cast aside by both Orochimaru and Kishimoto quick af. Sad case😪😪

[@mosesmm5473]

I suspect that Kishimota sidelined her, despite stating how she was his favourite female character, because he too many characters and she was too useful. Because she was Orochimaru;s first student, she would have been a great foil for Sasuke and would have tried to get him to resist the temptation to seek out her old master for power, maybe even offering to be his mentor instead as she studied under the snake Sannin for years, and maybe could help with the whole Curse Mark thing since she has one. The issue here would be...she might be successful and if Sasuke doesn't leave the village, well the series kinda ends there. Her being too similar to Kabuto doesn't really work considering that Orochimaru would take on Sasuke as a student, and the other two Sannin each have 2 students, though they got cop-outs as Shizune has basically learned all Tsunade could teach her when she's introduced with the exception of the 100 healings, making her more of an teacher's assistant. Meanwhile with Jiraiya, his other student, Minato is dead before the series even starts. There could have been a kind of dynamic between the two snake disciplines as the oldest of them regrets their master and works to not become him, the middle child does all he can to imitate their master and the youngest goes along with it for his own gains as he was never loyal.

[@achimsinn6189]

IMO it would have been interesting to see Anko interacting with Sasuke in that way. While she might be successfull, I could also see her failing as she really has no connection with Sasuke and at that point his goal was to gain as much power as possible and with all Anko could teach, it is not the same thing as being taught by Orochimaru, the master himself. She also still has the curse mark which means she obviously does not know how to get rid of it entirely, so there is only so much she could have done about that. But still I could totally see her taking Kagashi's spot and performing that sealing jutsu to stop the curse mark and also telling her story (as she knew it at that point) to him to prevent him from leaving the village. Maybe then Orochimaru could have revealed the true story to everybody and that's what would have convinced Sasuke to leave the village and then from that point on Anko would be taking over from Kagashi to lead team 7 in their quest to make Sasuke return to the village. If Kishimoto would have done it like that she could just step back and return team 7 to Kakashi once Orochimaru isn't part of the objective of Team 7 anymore. It would make sense for her to then step back as a teamleader and fade into the background.

[@lapplandkun9273]

The fact that she also never interacted with Kabuto is criminal as well.

[@ImTitan16]

I dont think she could. First of all sasuke didnt know anko and if she tried to it might not help much. Sasuke knew kakashi and had trained under him, and kakashi had a similar backstory to sasuke, but even he couldn't save sasuke. And sasuke probably wouldn't have trained his curse mark in the chunin exams because he might not have trusted it.

[@anvos658]

Sasuke leaving the village at the End of Part 1 does absolutely jack shit for the story. If he stays with the village his arc would still be 90% the same, and it would have saved story time to use on fleshing out the other Jinchuriki. They'd still want to find Orochimaru and kill him so he can't try and take Sasuke's body. Likewise learning about Itachi would still make him go rouge, but by it taking until then both Naruto and Sakura liking him and thinking he can be saved isn't so groan worthy. Hell he could still even recruit Hebi/Taka, just after Itachi.

[@SnackMuay]

I’ve always thought she should’ve taken the place of Yamato. Why couldn’t she be the one he experimented on with Hashirama’s cells? I always felt like Yamato (the character) didn’t need to exist. We already had enough characters being neglected, didn’t need to create another just to eventually forget about him too.

[@FlyingMonet]

That’s honestly a great point. I don’t mean to knock Yamato’s wood (get it? 😏) but I always say, instead of introducing 100000 new characters these manga creators NEED TO JUST WORK WITH WHAT THEY HAVE! It’s like they don’t realize even the smallest side characters have huge fan bases. Especially towards the end of the series when you should be wrapping everything up, why would you STILL keep introducing new characters instead of focusing on the world you’ve built? That is what Oda from One Piece is really struggling with at the moment also imo

[@AntonConstanti]

yes she could of been in the role of Yamato

[@trorisk]

Or that she experimented on herself, since she was Orochi student. We could see her being with the good guys but doing borderline stuff. And thus develop the Mokuton.

[@ZzigZaG00NIN]

Kishimotos favorite female character sounds crazy I would have never thought that with the way she ends up 😭

[@ken7007]

Lmao same i was like "Huh" when i heard that😂

[@troperhghar9898]

I read a really interesting story where anko was the instructor of team 7 instead of kakashi due to a mix up and she ended up being the mentor all three desperately needed

[@annointedbytalos5673]

Her gaining weight is related to the curse mark i believe. She has always had a sweet tooth and ate a lot. But the curse mark is also called the "body activation Jutsu" so it probably held her metabolism on a high level as well. I think my theory has validity but I don't feel like doing any further research, so I'll just post it here.

[@ayayayay5204]

That actually makes a lot of sense

[@justinreschke3642]

Seems more like a blessing mark to me

[@MadRaptorGaming]

Or, she was super active for most of her life, which offset her poor eating habits. This was combined with the fact she was a young woman. Then she became a school teacher. She kept eating a lot, she stopped being nearly as active, and she is a woman who was 28 at the start of Shippuden... so... she was 30 by the last... and in her 40s by the time Boruto was in school. Anko was a 40 year old woman with a slowing metabolism, who has extremely poor eating habits, who stopped getting nearly as much excersize.

[@crono276]

@@MadRaptorGaming Why not both?

[@kenstorm707]

The Curse Mark isn't a metabolism booster. In actuality, it's a seal that absorbs Nature Energy. In other words, it forces you to undergo a psuedo-Sage Mode. Jugo's clan naturally has this ability, but they can't control it and go insane. The Curse Marks were Orochimaru's attempt at finding a body that could handle his true senjutsu powers, since his own body no longer could. Eventually he gave up on that and simply gave the power to his "son", Mitsuki.

[@AceSolomon94]

Once I saw the title, I automatically liked. This needed to be talked about, way to shine light on it.👌🏾💯

[@topsecret5110]

A similar thing happened with Kurenai. She was set to be one of the sickest characters in the series. But Ninjutsu and Taijutsu being spotlighted over Genjutsu caused Kurenai to be immediately sidelined. Rather than exploring what story could be behind a Genjutsu specialist, she had basically 0 impact in the story - her only notable role was losing a Genjutsu skirmish to Itachi like some scrub. They could have even vindicated her by retconning it afterwards and saying that she was dramatically weakened due to being pregnant. It would only make sense that she was better at using Genjutsu than Itachi just like Guy was better at Taijutsu than everyone else. Guy and Kakashi were basically vindicated: Kakashi - depression debuff; Guy: Itachi avoided him because _fuck that_ . In the end Kurenai was left with, "She got her ass whooped by Itachi, got pregnant, and disappeared". What a waste...

[@xblade11230]

Nah genjutsu was stupid and boring Genjutsu either worked and it was a one hit ko or it failed and the genjutsu user becomes useless especially if they can't do anything else

[@0WeirdoSociety0]

But like i cant agree with het being better than itachi in genjutsu. Have you forgotten that my man itachi uses mangekyo? Like to a uchiha, genjutsu is almost usless im pretty sure once they unloc sharnigans full potential. Nit even talking about mangekyo sharingan here. But i could be wrong. It feels wrong tho to have itachi lose to a genjutsu.

[@stoneharvey1017]

She was not set to be anything interesting or special. She was only even made to be a teacher to side characters. A side character to side characters. It would have been stupid and bad writing to feature her more prominently. Also, having her get owned by Itachi was good writing. She served to help hype Itachi, something that was important to do.

[@topsecret5110]

@@stoneharvey1017 Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of Itachi's dick in your mouth

[@stoneharvey1017]

@@topsecret5110 Sorry I want the story to be good and not shitty. For the main characters to to get the spotlight and not uninteresting side characters.

[@SasukeUchiha-qg4nn]

I love Anko, Ten-Ten and Shizune. Great topic!

[@ptbunz2501]

Yea, She had so much more to give. I watch Boruto for the lore and universe, but they failed her.

[@gemini.saga3]

Ngl we literally haven't gotten any canon view from like 80% of og casts yet including anko and kakashi but we hope tbv gives all of them a chance

[@achimsinn6189]

IMO a big reason for this is because Orochimaru himself became much less importent once Akatsuki became the main villains of the story. Anko was interesting because she was tied to him being the main villain, but once he wasn't the main villain anymore but rather just another villain who turned out to be less powerfull and important than the main one. So Anko was also now the character who has ties to that secondary villain that is not that important anymore which sounds way less interesting.

[@buddylee5712]

Found this video in my recommended and subscribed

[@SorceressRose]

Anko is the case of getting older and not having a good metabolism anymore after like 30, she liked sweets too much and obviously her being fat was going to happen. I find the reactions people have towards her to be funny, but it was foreshadowing, considering we saw her dango in a lot of scenes with her. lol

[@gemini.saga3]

Ngl still like her currently but let's be honest she was literally never gonna play any role tbh

[@MrFoxALot]

You should do the Downfall of Shino, he really had lots of potential and a match of gaara's sand (through his insects since they function the similar way as protecting him without him doing anything or commanding them) and during the war arc, he had 1 punch taijutsu where the insects will devour the Zetsu clones from inside out almost instantaneously. Then in Boruto he gets rekted by genins, he became a fucking joke. He was supposed to be the badass during his first introduction in naruto, especially during chunin exams and vs Kankuro.

[@gemini.saga3]

''then in boruto'' ?? Idk how that's his downfall when he literally didn't appear in the manga, there's literally no war and no way Naruto would let him wear those creepy clothes or scare kids away.. another way is boutta come soon and kishimoto directly said he keeps a lot of characters to play a future role and gave kakashi as an example

[@SeeIn2D]

Have similar feelings to a lot of people in the comments. Anko is a super cool character and was one of the earlier "good guys" that had like a shady/sketchy past that was really in focus due to Orochimaru being the main antagonist for pretty much the entire time up until Shippuden. Wish she had been used more either narratively or for more action. Real shame but with so many characters some are unfortunately bound to not get as much development and time. Could have just as easily gotten a ton of time with Anko but missed out on another character that did get a lot of presence and attention.

[@SpammytheHedgehog]

Anko Mitarashi: The Nikocado Avocado of Naruto.

[@gjtrue]

She's not THAT bad. 🤢

[@timothyfrasier8218]

Anko and Kabuto should have been two sides of the same coin one going down the path of Darkness while the other goes down the path of light having the same ability to same skills the same Talent but one embracing Darkness for the other in bright the light

[@darthchingaso3613]

Nothing she just started enjoying life...

[@MediumDSpeaks]

Bro I have been watching some of your videos for what feels like half a decade. I thought you had WAY MORE subs, at least 200k, but I look and see you guys are doing all this work for what absolutely MUST be not enough ad Rev and petreon income for 1 person to live on, let alone a team of 2 plus maybe editors? Which means this must truly be a passion project that has never made enough to pay for itself but you both have never given up! I quit bc editing was so much work for bo pay off whatsoever. After a year I couldn't do it anymore. I always try to start again but it's just so much work to even get past the scripting stage for video essays. So I must say, massive respect for such a years long work ethic, I thought you guys were WAY WAY WAY bigger and full time, but if I still understand youtube. You guys are either living on less than min wage for pure passion and love, or have to both have other jobs but STILL somehow have found the will effort and drive to keep making all these videos for years and not run out of ideas nor passion. So much respect, I wish I could learn from your drive, i wish i could have a partner who pushes me like you have one another. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

[@layzboi2250]

Considering how many students of Jiriya are in the show more sanin protégé s could have worked

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

You know, Anko is also, like, a happy woman with a fulfilling job and supportive friends and coworkers. That is pretty good.

[@heathbaker1138]

Happy people tend to get fat.

[@rudranshu65sengupta14]

Well if she’s not to careful, her eating habits will clog up her arteries.

[@Hobobatman1000]

Anko is such a bad bitch dude. They did her so dirty in Boruto

[@chalbramwell5353]

U mean naruto

[@thedarkdojo5115]

@@chalbramwell5353 Nope he means Bore-ruto... You fanboy...

[@gemini.saga3]

​@@thedarkdojo5115yes she got dirty in Naruto Shippuden

[@soren7550]

One of my favorite things about Anko was while everyone else was absolutely shitting their pants at the thought of Orochimaru, she was all “whelp, time for me to go kill him”.

[@generalrendar7290]

I was so excited to see where Anko's story was going to go. It was set up to be amazing, yet all the paths it could have taken were shut down awkwardly. She went from a hot and noble warrior to a fat sidelined character who never accomplished anything. We didn't even get to see her fight the mutant beasts in her filler arc!

[@copdatchoppa]

Good content. You've earned yourself another sub

[@bubblegum8959]

I feel bad for Anko

[@k.k.a]

She ate one too many burgers that's what happened to her

[@SuperMarioT]

Deadass bro

[@orbboom6119]

Inflation fetish

[@asandax6]

She didn't gain any weight when she was downing dumplings like a black hole in Naruto part one so what changed?

[@JAYDOG1337A]

I thought she would've been a great Mentor to Naruto, and him and her could work together to take down Orochimaru and Sasuke, maybe use the curse mark as a reason for Naruto to delve deep into the sealing arts to free her from the curse seal, actually giving Naruto a more serious connection to the Uzumaki than "he has lots of chakra", they seriously wasted Naruto's Uzumaki potential, I mean he'd have lots of chakra anyway since he's a jinchuriki, it's just a waste of his connection to his mother's side of the family, the side he's actually named after.

[@suburbohemian]

She went on from having such tragic and complicated backstory etc etc to become an affable middle-aged woman living a more quiet life...which is a very likely thing to happen for a person in real life....not everyone who has potential lives up to it, for whatever reasons....she is alive, happy, seems well-adjusted, and is positively contributing to the village....for how life plays out for a lot of the talented ninja we've met in Naruto, her ending isn't a bad one...

[@suburbohemian]

the one I feel more for is Shino...

[@beverlypotter3236]

@@suburbohemian agreed but I wish anko was still hot

[@RTU130]

Hmm

[@_Dee2nd]

You’re right, her ending is awful. All the bull you’re typing got nothing to do with nothing. Most of the females in the series get shitted on. Simple

[@allaccordingtoplan5560]

It’s a poorly written one

[@kobet7341]

She didn't watch her diet for one thing, that's for sure.

[@quentinjones6877]

I would've liked to see her get a second state of her curse mark

[@Catonzo]

They sidelined every single interesting character in the show. There are many who could have been quite fun to watch in action. Pretty much every parent of the main cast of Genin were all specialized in their art that took near 20 years of Manga/Anime for the kids to reach. They had different dynamics with their respective significant others that fit a more mature audience. They could have been killed off in ways that were honorable or even downright cool and heartbreaking at the same time. The same goes for the likes of Anko. Or specialized Jonin like Ibiki or Ebisu. All of which surely had their own unique stories to tell to show how they landed where they are in the story. I know they wanted a Shonen, so naturally it would be focused on the children and their growth, but for something so long lasting it would make sense to show more of the parents as well. Their relationships with the kids in a world where a parent nearly should expect their child to die due to the missions they get sent on at times. Why are they so close despite the brutality of the world they live in? What made this change and how was their own upbringing? Were they the generation that decided that "Enough is enough, my child will be loved"? Why does their particular village have a sense of normalcy while the rest are dystopian, hostile environments? There are so many questions that could have been answered if they looked more into the current generation of parents and given them much more spotlight. Both as Ninja, but also as parents. They were Jonin in many cases after all. Technically the elite of the elite. They should all have been Aces for their village, capable of taking multiple Chuunins by the dozens at times thanks to their techniques. But they never did. Only few of them actually got shown battling. Anko in particular was shown as a person with tremendous skill and a crazy blood lust like mentality, otherwise hidden by a cutesy, yet still uncaring, mentality (she didn't even flinch when she thought some Genin had already died). She is just one of many who were forgotten. Such might be the case when you are not Tolkien and are unable to keep full track of all your characters and give them just enough spotlight to feel out where they are in the world. I am certain these characters were simply forgotten rather than ignored.

[@anoni2189]

She's the reason why my puberty wasnt safe from fishnets.

[@silentwolfkills3924]

In manga there’s a bit shown her eating habits she had a sweet tooth and eat too much, what we see her eat in Boruto is her favourite in Naruto but she never gained weight due to being an active shinobi but due to 4th war after it there was peace between all 5 great nations so she hardly was staying fit and we know at some point she became a teacher at academy so from not doing active shinobi work she use to do to lose the weight she was eating she just kept eating and eating while no longer losing the weight from shinobi work which made her gain a lot of weight.

[@NastheVictorious]

Anko's one of my favorite Characters from the series. And I do wish She Had a much more Impactful Place in the franchise, making her one of the Most Respected Ninjas of the Hidden leaf Village. 💜

[@Samuelx123x]

Making her fat in Boruto was the ultimate insult to injury. 😆

[@clydefrosch]

Dude she was a low tier ninja with one piece of backstory, despite that being given powers by experimentation. Some people gain weight and it's not exactly a problem in the ninja world.

[@clydefrosch]

God knows, she mightve just fallen for a good baker.

[@TerrorofDeathDGX]

Anko was my first waifu

[@michaeltuitt2847]

I actually quite liked that Kaima Demon filler. Imagine an underwater ninja village.

[@lks19]

one of the best looking characters received the worst nerf in boruto :(

[@thetoondevil]

When I watch videos like this, it kinda gives me some insight on how a story tellers mind works. While Ive seen people who are able to juggle multiple character story arcs, sometimes you just have too many characters to manage. Naruto seems to have the same issue dragonball did in trying to keep older characters relevant. A character either becomes sidelined or forgotten all together.

[@treysavage4570]

Finally sumbody did a vid on my fav female from part 1 anko got dne dirty by kishimoto

[@gergoszalanczi179]

my memories of Anko: Forest of death, then that 1 split second when Naruto is fighting Pain and Yamato senses that Naruto's seal is leaking, then Boruto Anko

[@Spoogebro]

I truly believe this charter had a bigger role planned but when the editors saw how popular gaara was he had to shift gears. I wonder how many plot points in naruto exist solely to appease editors?

[@langadube9611]

But Gaara still didn't get that much. It's Chunin exam, Sasuke retrieval arc, Kazekage rescue arc then he's gone until basically the war.

[@Jallu555]

​@@langadube9611Thats 120 episodes of content lol I would say its more than enough

[@langadube9611]

@@Jallu555 Let's minus the Kazekage rescue arc episodes seeing how Gaara wasn't really doing anything there.

[@BlzNetwork556]

Great video

[@brianwilliams6355]

The real sin was making her fat. Like why she had to be fat tho?

[@AutumnOnFire]

One critical point you missed was that SHE WAS ONE OF THE BADDEST BITCHES AT THE TIME WITH THE FULL MESH SHIRT.

[@afrikasmith1049]

Anko: I didn't do anything special even though I was a student of one of the Sanin...... And I also gained weight. TenTen: Damn! And I thought I had it bad.

[@DurvalLacerda]

She was my first crush in Naruto. This is sad.

[@IANGEL101I]

It would've been interesting to see both Anko and Kakashi train Sasuke together. Kakashi could help with the Sharingan aspect while Anko helped with the Curse Mark.

[@FlyingMonet]

So true! I would’ve loved this! ❤

[@obiedonald3652]

You sir gain a subscriber great vid

[@revearain7692]

Anko use to be the coolest. And sexy as hell. So sad.

[@AgentTex13]

I actually forgot about her until I saw your video pop up

[@savonbush325]

Yea I don’t except wat they did to her in boruto

[@lt.dashkov1079]

I think I love these series the wayw e look deeper into these side characters makes the world of any anime amazing and worth investing our time into

[@jmantime]

In Shounen manga / anime female characters either end up in “ The Kitchen “ ( house wife ) or are forgotten about ( like Launch from Dragon Ball ), Anko is just another casualty of the Shounen curse.

[@langadube9611]

One Piece keeps it's female characters relevant. Nami got the power up with Zeus on Whole Cake Island and Robin got an epic fight on Wano. Not to mention the other female characters Bonnie and Vivi just came back into the story on Egghead not to mention Stussy.

[@langadube9611]

And Bulma from Dragonball has remained relevant as she could possibly be in Dragon ball.

[@LowResLeafa]

Well nah duh it's a shounen. That's like watching a shoujo anime and getting upset that the male characters are only there to act as love interests to the FMC.

[@jmantime]

@@langadube9611 bulma is the female mascot of dragon ball but she is not a fighter.

[@jmantime]

@@langadube9611 Bulma isn't a fighter, she is the female mascot of dragon ball.

[@Solqueen86]

All Anko has now is 2000's Hentai and a pipe dream

[@taynahibanez9952]

And narrativelly, her being overweight in Boruto was a way to diminish her chatacter a lot, almost a mockery with punishment, since being overweight for a ninja doesn't even make sense unless this is part of their powers, like Chouji's clan. A ninja that surelly exercises daily is so weird to be as overweight as she was, meaning of how "irrelevant" she became even as a ninja. Being overweight is not bad hy itself since I am and mostly is because PCOS so losing weight is difficult for me and I kind of had to accept it. But leaving that aside, it clearly shows a culture of diminishing of such character over her being supposedly "accomodated"

[@blacksage3429]

i used to love this character so much... there are just so many thing like this that we have in naruto which i would rather see than boruto, interesting characters with their untold stories... would've been much better than the story we've had till now in boruto

[@Mr.Lubbox-Lobsterlegz1]

Anko to Naruto is what Launch is to Dragonball. Kishimoto probably forgot about her until the end 😂

[@langadube9611]

Yeah Kishimoto might actually have a worse track record than Toriyama when it comes to under developing characters but you'd really have to dissect both shows for that.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

@@langadube9611 At least Dragonball has the excuse of being primarily a comedy with some martial arts themed drama up until King Piccolo onwards. Naruto just out the gate was taking itself relatively much more seriously but as a result the failings kinda hit harder.

[@CutthroatDe]

im glad someone said it. i really liked anko when i saw the tiny bit of backstory she had, and always expected more. boruto definitely shut that expectation down though.

[@ElviAlivE]

It feels like that for all the female characters in Naruto. With the exception of Sakura, but even she is just on the sidelines compared to everything else

[@jasonone8726]

Nearly everyone, besides Naruto and Sasuke, were all sidelined.

[@sca4380]

Anko wasn't prepared for the ultimate jutsu of the hidden leaf village. McDonald's style: Big Mac Meal Jutsu. Followed by the other one. Forbidden Diabetic Tea Jutsu.

[@Sin606]

As much as it sucks, it kinda reflects reality where some with great potential never realize it for one reason or another. At least...is she happy in Boruto?

[@chalbramwell5353]

Dont know we dont really see her in the manga

[@Linkdarkside]

Anko curse mark must have kelp her calories intake on check, after she lost it her love of sweets took over.

[@YujiItadori62]

Anko was literally adorable and cute in Naruto but just a fatty ball in Boruto

[@spadesofpaintstudios1719]

Anko is like launch from dragon ball very under untilizued and forgotten

[@Typhanos]

She defs was 10/10 design :)

[@DoubleDrastik]

Man i cried when i saw anko turned to a fat old aunt. Anko was my first anime wifu

[@ShadowKillerX]

I still like Anko 🥺❤️ But why did they do that to her in boruto

[@BobaT0]

she's a middle aged woman who has a desk job and eats a lot. tends to happen. and also she stress eats so yeh

[@DemolitionboyXX]

Hit-the-wall jutsu!

[@ValirianDefiance]

did we really need a another reminder that Kishimoto is terrible at writing women. not helped by the fact that many of his contemporaries did so much better, bleach, one peace and even dragon ball hade far more well written women.

[@billyboleson2830]

Honestly for the time db came out it’s hilarious how much better they are handled in comparison

[@ValirianDefiance]

@@billyboleson2830 pretty much.

[@BlackStar-hy1iy]

Agreed

[@Thomas20Smith]

“Look how they massacred my girl” was my thoughts when I saw her in Boruto 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@BlackSun6393]

Bad writing. Period.

[@mechajay3358]

She's just one of many characters who's role is never fully explored.

[@ladyaceina]

the real issue is kishimotos sexism

[@DecimaarZ]

He isn’t sexiest mam.

[@ladyaceina]

@@DecimaarZ the way he treats his female characters says otherwise

[@DecimaarZ]

@@ladyaceina He treats them like Shinobi or Human.

[@ladyaceina]

@@DecimaarZ uh no every femael character is treated as weak and useless in a fight and dont really have goals beyond get a husband

[@runescapedreamer450]

@@ladyaceina the story is mainly about sasuke and naruto very much consistently and only sakura and karin had that annoying boy crazy nature other female chars had goals other than that and was either out classed in a fight or was surprise attacked that in no way should have kishimoto called sexist for writing fictional characters

[@Kaiidox]

I love Naruto, but soooo many characters with a lot of potential just got thrown into a trash bin

[@roxasdeviluke317]

Now that I think about it, there aren't many fat ninjas outside of chojis clan

[@xaviershaw6005]

I’m not even gonna lie though we’re gonna get the sasuke vs Lee and Neji fight😢 I enjoyed it though keep it up

[@Daveyjonesvi]

Kishimoto just can’t write female characters. And before anyone says something dumb, name one well written female character in this show that had more impact than their male counterparts?

[@AntivenomOW]

Lady Chiyo 🤡

[@Daveyjonesvi]

@@AntivenomOW if a character that’s in two episodes is the only woman then I don’t think your point stands

[@AntivenomOW]

@@Daveyjonesvi Two episodes? 🤥 That’s just one example people always forget 🤡

[@MrSubWright]

Kishimoto just has a flaw in his thinking that female characters somehow have to be written differently from male ones. Take any of the more in depth male characters and genderbend them, it really shouldn't change much in the story at all. All Kishimoto really had to do was write a good character (like he can with male ones) and just make them female.

[@AntivenomOW]

@@MrSubWright yeah, cause men and women are the same 🤡

[@gusdavid7798]

They did her dirty in the whole series. She had potential and was just left sidelined and then became an overweight shinobi? That's just overkill.