At the end of 2022, the official team behind the popular Naruto series conducted a popularity poll on a global scale. It was conducted from December 17, 2022 to January 31, 2023 and the poll results were announced recently. And you won’t believe this, but a whopping over 4.6 million fans participated in this amazing event. Thus, making it one of the biggest polls to be conducted in the history of anime. The results are quite surprising, and we bet you wouldn’t have predicted the rankings. Apart from this, Naruto manga author Masashi Kishimoto has announced a big surprise for Naruto fans worldwide. So, read on to find out the results of the Naruto popularity poll and discover the big surprise which awaits you.
Naruto Global Popularity Poll Results Revealed (2023)
Instead of the regular top 100 format, the Naruto team went with the top 99 popularity poll, and finally, the results are out now. The official channel of JUMP COMICS released the results in a live stream earlier this week. The video includes the rankings starting from 99 to the first position featuring the manga panels of the respective characters.
We can already sense your excitement, so let us just tell who sits at the top in this popularity poll. Well, it’s none other than the legendary Minato Namikaze, father of Naruto and the Fourth Hokage with a massive 792,257 votes. Yes! This was indeed a huge surprise, not only for us but also for the author himself.
Mangaka Masashi expected Kurama to top the charts (but Kurama felt flat in the 22nd place). The top 3 spots in the poll belong to Minato, our beloved Itachi Uchiha (one of the strongest Uchiha clan members in Naruto), and Team 7’s Sakura Haruno, respectively. Itachi is one of the most loved characters of all time, and finally, it’s also nice to see Sakura getting the love she deserved from the fans.
The remaining top 10 positions were occupied by Shisui, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakumo, Sasuke, Madara, and Hinata on the global scale. To be honest, it was totally shocking for us to see the protagonist himself out of the top 5 rankings. But it is what it is, and the fans worldwide are the ones who voted in this poll.
In our opinion, the Japan ranking in the poll results has to be the best out of all others, and it shares a major resemblance to what our top 10 would look like. Most of the top positions were undoubtedly filled by the strongest Uchiha and Uzumaki members in Naruto. Some of the Akatsuki members also made their way into the top 20, so do check out the complete list.
You can visit the official site of the popularity poll (Naruto Popularity Poll Results) to witness the in-depth breakdown of the votes from Naruto fans around the globe.
Naruto Author Confirms Minato Manga Short Coming Soon!
Furthermore, the creator of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, has a message for us and also expressed his views about the results of the Naruto Popularity Poll. Just like us, he was shocked to see Minato at the top, but he was happy and proud to see Sakura in the top 3. Then, Masashi revealed the actual character he rooted for, which was Kurama.
After discussing the results, Kishimoto sensei dropped the bomb by adding that he is currently working on a one-shot manga featuring the iconic and first-place holder, Minato Namikaze. Furthermore, he stated that he wants to meet the fans’ expectations and spilled some beans regarding the upcoming manga, hinting at the secret story behind Minato’s Jutsu. We are now hyped to the greatest levels and can’t wait to read the manga once it’s out. In the end, he thanked everyone for voting in the global Naruto poll.
Now that we are getting the backstory of Minato, we will complete the full cycle of Naruto’s generations. As we all know, Naruto’s story was covered in the original series, Naruto and Naruto Shippuden in order. And his son Boruto’s story is being covered in Boruto: Naruto’s Next Generations (check out Boruto’s filler list if you are watching the series). Now, we are finally getting our hands on the old generation, which will cover Minato’s story. We are excited to see how Konoha’s Yellow Flash was feared by the Nations, his roadway to Hokage, and more.
And that’s it for the results of the latest popularity poll of Naruto characters. It was the biggest poll to be conducted to date, and it surely was a successful event worldwide. While one may argue that the rankings are not good, keep in mind that these results are compiled from votes cast by fans worldwide and everyone has a different opinion.
At the end of the day, our favorites hold high regard in our hearts, and that’s all matters. Still, this is a big achievement by the creator. He was also happy about this poll and is treating us big with a new manga on the way. We are so excited to get our hands on the manga soon. In the meantime, let us know who your favorite Naruto character is in the comments below.
