Masashi Kishimoto has always been very careful in crafting the characters in both Naruto and Boruto. That is not to say that Eiichiro Oda doesn’t pay attention to One Piece characters. Quite the contrary, seeing that both the mangaka have excellently developed some of the most loved characters in the shonen genre altogether.
Through the various characters, there have been depictions of characters that go beyond realms of black and white and into the grey area of blurring complexity. A character can be morally white or morally grey, but what makes them even better is when these two hemispheres start to collide, forming a constant struggle to understand moral standing.
Masashi Kishimoto may be better at expressing this complexity than Eiichiro Oda and the difference too is drastic.
Masashi Kishimoto Elaborated Ao’s Story Through Boruto
Ao starts off as a hero in Naruto but fans gradually see his downfall with their own eyes as he ultimately takes on the role of an antagonist in Boruto. He had always been excellent at the tasks laid before him. He was a hero, a warrior ready to fight in order to protect his people. His downfall was one that many should have seen coming.
Suffering from PTSD and survivor’s guilt, Ao had a lot to battle within himself as he saw those he cared about slowly fade away in time. Every part of him got replaced by a darker, twisted version of himself depicted through obvious machinery. Seeing the horrors of war changed him for future times to come.
Slowly he devolved into a villain, watching his moral grounds falter the more people he lost. Ultimately becoming a double agent was a twist no one saw coming. However, it was justified in every possible way. His antagonistic arc was driven by a downfall the fans saw and resonated with.
Nevermore Forevermore
Hope gets taken away right before Ao’s eyes. According to Greek mythology, Zeus created hope as the cruelest act of them all. A promise never to come yet bound by like a desperate dog. Redemption, however, is not out of pocket for Masashi Kishimoto’s work. Both Naruto and Boruto dive into the possibility of bringing the bad into the good, turning what once was into what it could become. Giving hope.
Kishimoto takes his time in developing characters through turmoil and tragedies. He knows how to bring them back up and push them down in one go. He depicts mental health and the struggles that come with it with great patience and analysis. Unfortunately, a mangaka even as great as Eiichiro Oda falls behind in that trait.
His characters fail to explore their darkness, in many ways limiting themselves from properly fleshing out. This takes away parts of them that could make the Straw Hat Pirates even better characters than they already are. As someone who may essentially be afraid of making his protagonists and the good guys stand in the darkness, a lot gets missed out. The concept of yin and yang explores goodness in the dark and vice versa. Oda is far from exploring that outlook.
