In terms of anime with flawed endings, Naruto: Shippuden and its original manga come up fairly frequently. Despite its virtuous hero fighting to break the cycle of hatred, Naruto left behind a broken shinobi world and numerous characters who faced inadequate consequences for their actions. But Crunchyroll’s Gachiakuta takes a different approach.
Adapted by Bones Film from the pages of Weekly Shonen Magazine, Gachiakuta sends its own troubled, traumatized protagonist, Rudo Surebrec, deep into its broken world and out of the relative safety of the Sphere above. While the anime is new, with the manga ongoing, Gachiakuta’s premise indicates a stronger shot at healing its world; or at least, gaining greater understanding.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Gachiakuta and Naruto’s Anime!
Crunchyroll’s New Shonen Anime Dives Deep Into Society’s Problems
With prominent themes of childhood abuse and a protagonist obsessed with restoring trash, healing and restoration are quick themes one can pick up from Gachiakuta. These aren’t even necessarily novel to anime and manga, and others like Naruto have handled it too, particularly with how Naruto brought Sasuke back home in Shippuden’s finale. But Gachiakuta’s approach feels rather special.
Perhaps it’s the heavy-handed delivery of the anime itself, but the idea of Rudo, a boy already plagued with social issues and a traumatic past, being framed for murder and cast away like literal garbage, is poignant for its shonen audience. As Rudo finds kinship with the surface-dwellers beneath the sphere, he is gradually humanized as he seeks his purpose.
In a world where its people are treated like trash and under constant threat from sentient Trash Beasts, the aptly-named Cleaners serve an overt purpose, protecting their fellow citizens from refuse that threatens their existence. The people who cast Rudo to the Pit, meanwhile, had humble ancestry before ascending to the Sphere and carelessly polluting the Ground.
It doesn’t take much to understand the central vibe of Gachiakuta, although with the anime only a little over a cour in, and the manga 152 chapters in, fans have yet to see just how it sticks the landing. However, by plunging its cast directly into the most vulnerable parts of society, there’s a greater impetus to enact lasting change.
Naruto Left Many Problems Behind for the Shinobi World
It’s easy to love Naruto Uzumaki, and he fought to change the shinobi world for the better, but that does not negate the problematic results in his wake. The shinobi world is still prone to violence, the Otsutsuki threat has even mutated into a Divine Tree threat directly influenced by shinobi interference, and more conflict feels inevitable.
One clear case lies in Amegakure, the Village Hidden in the Rain, where unending ninja conflicts resulted from being seated between the lands of Fire, Stone, and Sand. Despite this cycle of conflict birthing the Akatsuki, and Naruto hearing out Nagato’s story, Amegakure’s woes persist in Boruto. The cycle is not yet broken in Naruto’s world.
This is without even getting into the fact that children are primed for these life-or-death situations and become Genin, effectively junior ninjas, at roughly 12 years of age. The battle shonen aspect of this and a suspension of disbelief makes it less surprising, but the shinobi world’s persistent existence effectively means training child soldiers.
While it’s easily a controversial stance to take by defending the Boruto series, Kawaki’s famous line at the beginning of Naruto Next Generations, is a reasonable stance to take. Maybe the age of shinobi should truly end. This is especially true in light of some of their post-war actions.
Naruto and Gachiakuta Handle Consequences Very Differently
With the anime recently airing episode #13, Gachiakuta showed the harrowing depths of depravity some characters like Amo Empool might face, sold to a predatory man by her mother. His actions are disturbingly rendered by the anime, and his intents are laid bare with devastating consequences both on himself and on Amo. It’s a hard sequence to watch, truthfully.
The man’s brutal death is utterly deserved, but his twisted influence on Amo is felt even afterward, with his Vital Instruments, perceived as a gift to Amo, being what she uses to kill him when he attempts to seize them. Naruto has hardly seen such consequences for far greater monsters.
One such Naruto villain typically comes to mind, with Orochimaru getting off scot-free, closely watched by Konoha. Considering Orochimaru’s brutal experiments had a massive death toll, being still able to experiment and move about freely, albeit under constant surveillance, doesn’t convey a sense of paying a penance. If anything, it’s a slap on the wrist.
Forgiveness is great, but it’s a bit odd for such a prominently brutal character like Kabuto to then be able to run Konoha’s orphanage, no matter how noble the intent in doing so.
Kabuto Yakushi is another puzzling example, unsurprisingly tied to Orochimaru, and similarly pardoned after the war. Forgiveness is great, but it’s a bit odd for such a prominently brutal character like Kabuto to then be able to run Konoha’s orphanage, no matter how noble the intent in doing so. Naruto’s most vile villains seem to get off rather easy.
Gachiakuta has hardly the length of Naruto’s run under the belt yet, but its early stories show promise, especially for anime-only fans just discovering it. Its world makes sense in its wholesome moments alongside its most chilling. But Gachiakuta’s anime has one more potentially obvious benefit.
Gachiakuta Has a Modern Anime Advantage Over Naruto
Pierrot could easily handle a modern remake of Naruto excellently, but until even those four promised episodes, Gachiakuta has another draw for indecisive new viewers. Gachiakuta benefits from Bones Film’s quality and the industry’s general shift toward seasonal episodes. This means virtually no filler, and importantly, it means far less likely pacing issues faced by the likes of One Piece.
This means that Gachiakuta has the opportunity to avoid Naruto’s botched ending on another front, by not overstaying its welcome with hundreds of episodes of mixed canon. It’s a simple benefit, but one worth mentioning, as it means the series has the opportunity to adapt precisely what the creators intended, for better or for worse.
It’s easily hasty and absurdly reductive to say that a more concise run will automatically make Gachiakuta better than Naruto. However, it’s fair to say it won’t be held back by the issues associated with Naruto’s bloated run. With Gachiakuta frequently battling with Dandadan for the top Crunchyroll spot, the anime is enjoying the time in the sun it deserves.
