How I Came to Hate the Ōtsutsuki

Written by Shiggins

It's been a while since I bitched about something, hasn't it? Sure, I've made complaints in some Fairy Tail reviews recently but that's just some light griping about the current situation of a manga I truly enjoy. No, this article is not that. This is me sitting down and not being gentle, devoting an entire article to being negative. Recently, I was super-positive about Jiren. Now it's time to be super-negative about the Ōtsutsuki clan.

Warning: Spoilers for Naruto and Boruto ahead.

When Naruto was reaching it's end, the series gave us a surprise twist in the form of a new villain called Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, who was revealed to have been behind literally everything in the series despite not even being referenced in the past. At the time, I remember writing an article about Kaguya, and someone I knew said they rolled their eyes at my article because "It's too soon to judge". Well, it's been 6 years since then and guess what? I still hate that character.

Kaguya was revealed to have been an alien from eons ago, who literally created Chakra and the entire history of the Shinobi, as well as Black Zetsu who would later manipulate the entire Shinobi timeline to have Kaguya freed from her prison, even tricking Madara into believing he created him. Also, Kaguya eats from an alien tree to gain chakra and become the Ten-Tails, and... Even writing this nonsense is giving me a headache. Naruto's world never had aliens. It never needed aliens! Just like Magi never needed shellphones (and no, I'm not kidding!).

But I've talked about Kaguya before, so making this article just about her would be a waste of time. That's why this article doesn't just cover her, but her entire clan that, at the time of writing, is responsible for pretty much all the major going-ons in the Boruto stories. Back when I last wrote about the series, I said how the anime was an uninteresting but passable series that did next to nothing to justify itself as a sequel to Naruto. For the most part, that is still true.

In the Boruto manga, the Otsutsuki are currently connected to a new non-Akatsuki called the Kara, who are attempting to use the God Tree to drain all life from the planet. Yes, that does sound achingly similar to the Tree of Might, doesn't it? Don't worry however, because one of the Otsutsuki is literally sealed inside Boruto... like how Kurama was sealed inside Naruto. And the organisation are after it, just like how the Akatsuki were after Kurama...

This brings me to one of the major reasons I dislike the Otsutsuki: They're simply a combination of Kishimoto's best ideas and powers without the effort.

It became hard to not dislike how overpowered the Uchiha became throughout the Naruto series, with their Sharingan, Mangekyō Sharingan, Amaterasu, Susanoo, Rinnegan... Damn, there's a lot, but at least the series made sure to build all of that up. It got ridiculous yes but, using Madara or Sasuke as the best examples here, we saw the characters spend time throughout the chapters to become who they are with these powers. We saw Madara the kid awaken the Sharingan, Madara's brother dying so he could possess the Mangekyō, learning the Rinnegan and finally becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki to have the power of the Sage of Six Paths. While it got ridiculous at times, we were able to appreciate the time and effort that the character took to get to where he was.

The Otsutsuki just have all these powers and more. Sharingan, Rinnegan, Wood Nature Jutsu, Kimimaro's bone powers because why not, and a dimension-changing ability which I admit is very cool. And when I see a character like Madara spend so long to become all-powerful, and then some random foe appears with all that already equipped so easily, it comes across as cheap and unfair. And sorry, but one chapter of hardcore retconning by Black Zetsu isn't enough.

And that's as good a segway into my main issue with the Otsutsuki as I'll get: They don't feel like a natural inclusion into the Naruto story.

For a long time, I was very confused why Kaguya existed. Why did Kishimoto go to such lengths to include this villain and this entire history, during the second-last fight of his main series?  Especially since, as far as I can tell, his involvement in the Boruto franchise is minimal. However, the Boruto manga has made me see the light!

Kaguya existed only to prepare audiences for Boruto. This is just a theory, of course, but one I can't shake off. As stated before, Kaguya did not exist until 9 chapters before she arrived in the series, mentioned briefly by the Sage of Six Paths himself. And as everyone knows, Kishimoto loved his foreshadowing in Naruto. Obito, Madara and so much more were teased and built-up, which is why Kaguya's sudden appearance felt so jarring. It was never Kishimoto's style.

This might come across as ridiculous, but I don't even think Kishimoto was going to create Kaguya in the first place. I honestly believe that someone, most likely from Shueisha, asked or even ordered Kishimoto to find something the future of the franchise could use to keep going. With the exception of One Piece, Naruto was the biggest-selling manga at the time and no company would want to lose that amount of money. So Kishimoto gave them an alien race, and now everything, including The Last: Naruto the Movie and the Boruto franchise, is all about them. The Otsutsuki are a cow that the future can milk dry regardless of the creator's involvement, and that's what bugs me the most. That Naruto had to shove in something completely unrelated to both the characters and the world it built, almost sabotaging itself in the process, to create a sequel that was never meant to exist.

The Otsutsuki aren't without their merits, especially their design of white skin and hair, but everything about them is made almost meaningless due to what surrounds them. The way the world of Naruto had to literally change it's own rules and history for them to exist, how every character we got invested in had to be brushed aside for Kaguya, how the whole franchise now revolves around them despite the story already being over... Naruto is a fantastic series, but in my eyes, a story can only reach true greatness when it is allowed to end.

And until the Otsutsuki are stopped, I fear the franchise cannot end.

Shiggins:[Admin]
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Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/