Decades after its initial release, Naruto continues to be among the most popular anime shows, especially on Netflix. Of course, being popular hasn’t spared it from being criticized for various reasons, and one prominent criticism revolves around Sakura and her character design. Sakura receives a lot of hate from fans, and there are plenty of complaints that she’s a useless character. If you take a look at the series overall, quite a few female characters end up with lackluster roles, often there to be a support or as a comparison to show how much stronger other characters are, and it feels like their roles weren’t as well planned out as characters like Naruto and Sasuke.
However, it actually makes sense that Sakura isn’t a powerhouse. At least, not in the beginning of the series. When you consider her background and circumstances, Sakura actually beat the odds to become the best medical nin. This takes her out of the running in terms of typical battle shonen powerscaling races, but in another sense, it gives her character a different, more fulfilling purpose.
Sakura Is From a Humble Civilian Family
Unlike most of the other graduates in her year, Sakura doesn’t have a family with a robust shinobi background or a clan that she belongs to. Some filler episodes in the anime have her parents as former shinobi who never really rose through the ranks, but you can basically say that they fit better in the category of civilian. As a result, Sakura wouldn’t have been raised with a future as a shinobi in mind.
Not only does this mean that she likely didn’t receive any additional preparation for the academy while she was young, since it wasn’t an expected path for her to take, but she doesn’t have the same resources that shinobi families would have available for their kids before and during their academy years. On top of that, she certainly doesn’t have the benefit of a bloodline limit or unique properties from her heritage, such as Naruto inheriting his mother’s unique chakra (and the Nine-Tailed Fox).
Looking back at it, Sakura probably had the most peaceful childhood among the kids she went to the academy with, many of whom experienced tragic moments before they even earned their forehead protectors and were assigned to a team. The greatest hardship she experienced as a kid was her lack of friends and typical childhood bullying. While this meant that her overall mental well-being was good, she didn’t have the chance to use those tragedies as a source of strength, unlike Sasuke, who used his clan’s massacre as a reason to keep growing stronger.
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Sakura Beat the Odds by Putting in the Work
For the majority of the standard series, Sakura doesn’t show anywhere near as much growth as her teammates. It’s not until she decides to be Tsunade’s apprentice that she starts to evolve into a force capable of facing a member of the Akatsuki with one person acting as her backup. This is famously the case for her battle against Sasori, notably the first major victory against the Akatsuki scored by anybody from Team 7, and the first overall in the series. It’s a triumph showcasing the series’ values of diligence, dedication, and believing in oneself.
You could say that Sakura started weak in Naruto because she never had the opportunities or the right teacher to guide her before Tsunade. Her chakra control, ability to absorb new information quickly, and determination to improve after she realized how far behind she was in terms of strength made her the perfect student for Tsunade. In a way, it’s similar to real life and how finding a teacher who’s the right fit for you can make a big difference when it comes to your future path.
Sakura’s Character Arc Was Decently Done
Yes, it could’ve been done better, but the series makes it obvious that the main focus is on Sasuke and Naruto, so a lot of interesting characters end up on the sidelines more often, even if their inclusion would’ve made sense. Despite that, Sakura received a full arc during the series. She started her journey with confidence in her knowledge, even if her practical skills weren’t on par with other kids. Then, she realized chakra control was her strength—she just didn’t know how to capitalize on it. Next, she started to understand how weak she was when compared to her peers and that she isn’t able to use her strengths to their fullest. Finally, she finds the right teacher in Tsunade, who turns her into one of the best medical ninjas alive.
Whether you like Sakura or hate her, her role in the series has a sense of completion to it. Naruto has high moments and flaws, but it does a decent job of giving development to its side characters, even if they don’t receive as much screentime or have their development shown, sometimes opting to show their progress when they appear again. In Sakura’s case, her development is amazing. She starts with no benefits and without a background to help her on the path of a shinobi. Despite this, she’s still able to overcome these hurdles and go from one of the weakest characters to one of the strongest by the end of the series, able to stand by her closest friends in their darkest hour, garnering recognition from her peers and even past Hokage for her power.
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