Naruto: The Real Myths & Legends Explained

naruto is one of the most popular anime of all time in fact it's more than popular it's practically ubiquitous that isn't by accident the anime directed by hayato date is very closely based on the original manga by masashi kishimoto only a few years after it was serialized in 1999 kishimoto's manga changed the world of manga and anime forever however naruto didn't completely come out of nowhere when kishimoto created the character and his world he was drawing in part from pre-existing tropes in fiction as well as pre-existing culture in this video i will do my best to break down the references in naruto to real world mythology folklore and history but because there is so much to cover i will focus on the original naruto series in this video which ran from 2002 to 2007. i will mention some things from naruto shipuden as they relate to the original series but will cover the shibudan series and the movies more completely in a separate video also there will be a few spoilers from the original series and possibly a few from shipuden as well so without further ado let's get started naruto takes place in a fantasy world that resembles feudal era japan in some aspects as well as modern japan and others not to mention all the mythical and magical elements but we'll get to that the most unavoidable element of feudal japan in naruto is the concept of the ninja everyone watching this and their dog probably has some idea of what a ninja is but in a historical context the term is actually somewhat vague and difficult to define the term ninja is the onyomi or chinese reading of two kanji characters which read in japanese are shinobi and mono shinobi literally means to hide or stealth and mono means person or practitioner in other words ninja are hidden people they were primarily espionage agents of old japan a form of commando spy that also specialized in guerrilla warfare any covert agent mercenary or soldier including samurai who was hired to perform military subterfuge or black ops by a lord may be called shinobi no mono the historical term even if they didn't wear a black mask or throw a shuriken which they probably didn't shinobi nomono describes a person using a category of tactics rather than a class of warrior however there were mercenaries who specialized in this field so let's just call them ninja rather than representing an alternative to standard warfare the ninja of naruto's world are the standard while samurai are less common historical ninja did not live in hidden villages as the ninja of naruto do the concept of the ninja village is a 20th century invention however there were areas where ninjutsu thrived the most famous of the centers are iga and koka both of these historical provinces were home to samurai clans who specialized in ninjututsu the ecoclan was not hidden but i should note that it was surrounded by a ring of mountains which could easily be fortified this feature was later embellished in fiction which portrayed ega as a village hidden in the misty mountains and that is possibly the source of the hidden village concept in naruto like the villages of naruto clans that specialized in ninjututsu sometimes fought against each other for example the iga and koka clans among others but they also made alliances to this day igoru and koko ryu are the two most prominent schools of ninjutsu techniques from both schools were recorded in the most famous ninja manual the ban senshukai which has been translated to english and called the book of ninja i've included a link below but what is ninjutsu exactly jutsu means technique or skill and as you already know nin means to hide or to endure if you want to go with a more romantic definition ninjutsu or shinobi no jutsu refers to the study of any technique or tactic used by the ninja to accomplish their goals again the definition is somewhat vague in naruto ninjutsu is one of three main branches of jutsu including taijutsu and genjutsu taijutsu literally means body skill and is a japanese blanket term for unarmed martial arts genjutsu literally means illusion skill and irl refers to illusions for the purpose of entertainment basically david blaine is a master of genjutsu historical ninja did use spells and dark magic including spells that supposedly manipulated their enemies dreams but did not create elaborate illusions in the minds of their opponents as genjutsu does in naruto the ninja of naruto used several iconic weapons associated with ninja in popular culture as part of their ninjutsu for example the shuriken and the kunai these were historical weapons or tools used in feudal japan however in the case of the shurdiken there is no evidence of a special connection between this weapon and ninja shuriken were simply one weapon among many used by samurai and those who did use them did so as a distraction rather than as a primary weapon i should note that naruto's fuuma shuriken is named after fuma kotaro a famous ninja and leader of the fuuma ninja band during the sengoku period kunai were also available to samurai however used primarily as a digging tool rather than a projectile as they are in naruto real kunai were also much bigger and more of an iron spike the ninja of naruto also use a wide variety of what you might call mystical or supernatural abilities made possible through the manipulation of life energy called chakra chakra is a sanskrit or ancient indian word used in a number of hindu and buddhist traditions for example kundalini yoga the term refers to one of six or seven energy centers in the human body in which energy converges however unlike in naruto this term does not refer to the energy itself in hindu philosophy the life energy is called prana in chinese philosophy and medicine it is called chi and in japanese ki in an interview with shonen jump kishimoto admitted that his chakra wasn't referencing indian mysticism and explained that it is similar to chi or the force in star wars my guess is kishimoto didn't want to be tied down by a concept like chi which had already been depicted extensively in other manga like dragon ball instead he chose to call his fictional life energy chakra and give it the properties he wished despite being called chakra naruto's life energy is very similar to qi especially in the way she is depicted in folklore or fantasy novels called wusha the ninja of naruto are able to use chakra to perform superhuman or magical techniques but before they do they sometimes perform what americans might misinterpret as a lot of gang signs the hand seals of naruto are based on a real world practice called kuji kuji literally means nine characters and includes the techniques of kujikiri nine cutting motions and kuji in nine hand seals or mudras similar to the hand seals in naruto these are sometimes accompanied by spoken incantations called mantras kuji is far from exclusive to ninjutsu as there are variations of it present in taoism shinto japanese folk magic called onmyodo and esoteric buddhism however it was likely adopted by schools of ninjutsu from the latter source kuji is generally used as a kind of prayer or meditation technique to focus the mind and body however it can also be used to cast protection spells among others in naruto there are 12 hand seals rather than 9 which correspond with the 12 animals of the chinese zodiac this is kishimoto's invention and differs from any real world form of kuji or mudras can be used to release various types of ninjutsu including what you might call elemental spells referred to in naruto as the release of nature transformation the nature transformation system is very similar to traditional elemental systems like chinese wuxing or the hindu and buddhist system mahabhuta these two systems are different but both were popular in old japan naruto's nature transformation is closer to mahabhuta although it swaps the ether element for lightning in hindu and buddhist traditions the five elements are also represented by the five fingers of the hand and are thought to be manipulated in the human body through mudras other nature transformations aside from the elements include yin release and yang release and yin yang release these are taken directly from the ancient chinese duelist philosophy and system of complementary energies the elemental ninjutsu of naruto is perhaps also inspired by the aforementioned onyodo practitioners of onmyodo used yin and yang and the wuxing system to cast spells some of which were used by historical ninja as part of their ninjutsu because historical ninja often did their jobs very well they were attributed supernatural abilities in folklore or legends these include the ability to walk on water to defy gravity to vanish at will invisibility and shape-shifting among others most ninja abilities found in folklore are present in naruto however naruto also gets very creative with its ninjutsu some abilities in naruto have a basis in other fiction but most are original abilities created by kishimoto however kishimoto did reference japanese folklore or mythology with a few of these for example the three most powerful dojutsu techniques of the uchiha clan in japanese mythology and the shinto religion these three deities are called the three precious children a matarasu is a goddess of the sun tsukuyomi a god of the moon and susanoo agad of the sea and storms all three were born from the god izanagi as he purified himself in a river the matarasu was birthed from his left eye tsukuyomi from his right eye and susanoo from his nose as dojutsu made possible by the mangekyo sharingan these techniques are released from the eyes similar to the way amaterasu and tsukuyomi are birthed from izanagi's eyes sasuke releases amaterasu from his left eye like the myth while his brother itachi does the opposite my only issue with the susano technique is i wish the giant avatar which resembles a tengu from japanese folklore came directly out of sasuke's nose some naruto characters are very clear references to specific legendary figures from japanese folklore perhaps the most blatant of these are the three densetsu no sonnen in fact that title literally means legendary three ninja jiraya tsunade and orochimaru are all main characters in the tale of jiraiya the gallant this folktale originated in china but found its way to japan where draya was made into a ninja and magical elements were added the story was adapted into a popular novel series kabuki play films and even the sonnen characters of naruto like most folk tales the details may differ depending on the source but i'll quickly cover the version recorded by william elliot griffis while referring to a few other versions and naruto jaraya begins the tale as a lawless bandit during one attempt at thievery he encounters an old mountain sage named sensodogen whose true form is that of a giant toad spirit much like the gamma or toads of naruto in one version of the tale draya gains the toad spirit's favor by aiding it in a fight against an evil snake spirit like naruto's draya did during his initial meeting with gamabunta in the tale the toad sage senso teaches drya the ways of toad magic which includes the ability to transform into a toad summon and command toads as well as a mastery of the elements all are abilities possessed by naruto's draya in the tale tsunare is a beautiful maiden who like jiraya encounters an old mountain sage but this sage's true form is that of a giant slug spirit the slug sage teaches tsunade the ways of slug magic which includes slug transformation and summoning naruto tsunade can summon slugs like katsuyu although i've never seen her transform into a slug in the tail jiraya has an instant crush on tsunade the first time he encounters her like in naruto but unlike a naruto the two are soon married when the tsuki kage and inukage clans go to war drya and tsunade side with tsuki kage but the evil sorcerer orochimaru the dragon coil joins the opposing side in the tale orochi maru is the son of a human man and a snake spirit or if you want to go with the kabuki version a man possessed by a demonic snake who manipulates his way to the rank of lord either way orochimaru is evil and in possession of deadly snake magic this includes the ability to transform into a snake summon snakes and the use of lethal snake venom again pretty close to naruto's orochimaru giraya tsunade and orochimaru clash in epic battles but unfortunately for jiraiya snake magic can defeat toad magic luckily for jiraiya tsunade's slug magic can defeat snake magic in fact an old japanese game called jenken used the concept of toad slug and snake in the same way as the game rock paper scissors all of this aside i know what most of you really want to know is whether or not the jaraya of folklore was pervy well there is a part of the tale where jariah sneaks into a woman's room at night to quote rob her unquote but the woman turns out to be censo dojin i should also note that naruto's duraya pays homage to his kabuki counterpart in his hairstyle and dance moves [Applause] another influence on orochi maru aside from the jiraiya tale may be a yokai named rokurokubi this yokai may elongate her neck like orochimaru's long neck attack not all of naruto's mythological references are regarding human ninja there are also more than a few creatures in the series that are inspired by real world mythology like the aforementioned toads slugs and snakes in the first episode of naruto we meet a creature that becomes a big part of naruto's character after it is sealed inside him of course i'm talking about kurama the nine-tailed beast kurama is a pretty clear reference to the nine-tailed fox spirit of chinese japanese and other east asian folklore in japanese folklore the fox spirit is called kitsune which is also just the plain old word for fox or kyubi ninetails in some sources the fox spirit gains an extra tail for each century of its life until it reaches nine tails and the height of its magical power fox spirit abilities in folklore include casting foxfire or lightning which explains naruto's appearance when he is in his ninetails chakra mode the fox spirit is also known to possess humans as kurama possesses naruto sort of kurama was sealed in there against its will other fox spirit abilities include shapeshifting and sometimes transforming their size however i've never heard of a fox the size of kurama in folklore purama is practically the size of a kaiju incidentally kurama takes its name from a mountain in north kyoto said to be home to the most powerful tengu which is like korama who is the most powerful of the nine-tailed beasts another tailed beast that appears in the original naruto series is the one-tailed beast shukaku shikaku was sealed inside gara as kurama was inside naruto making both jinshiriki shukaku somewhat resembles a tanuki or japanese raccoon dog at least in the way they are often depicted in japanese art like kitsune tanuki are real animals but are attributed supernatural power in japanese folklore in fact the tanuki's abilities are quite similar to the fox as it also has the ability to shape-shift in japanese folklore tanuki and kitsune are traditionally enemies which explains why gara's one-tail is pitted against naruto's nine-tails there are more than a few tailed beasts in naruto that resemble creatures from japanese folklore but because no others appear in the original naruto series i will cover them in a separate naruto shipuden video during the epic battle between orochi maru and the third hokage heroes and sarutobi sarutobi summons several creatures from mythology or folklore like firstly the monkey king enma enma takes his name from the japanese version of a buddhist deity king enma who presides over the occupants of hell in chinese buddhism and hinduism enma is called yama however the fact that he is a monkey king is a pretty clear reference to sun woo kong the monkey king of chinese folklore and the classic journey to the west novel enma even transforms himself into a version of wukong's size altering staff rui jingu bong this isn't enough to defeat rochimaru however so heruzen resorts to using the reaper death seal which summons a shinigami or death spirit from japanese folklore the shinigami's face resembles a hanya or jealous female demon mask from japanese no theater in addition it is surrounded by several onobi or demon flames from japanese folklore eventually hirozen succumbs to orochimaru's sword of kusunagi itself a reference to the legendary grass cutting sword of japanese folklore and the imperial regalia in folklore none other than susano discovers the sword in the body of a monstrous eight-headed serpent similar to orochimaru's eight branches snake from the shipuden series personally i would love it if there was some basis for nin ken naneko and ninten or ninja dogs cats and pigs in japanese folklore but unfortunately any links are tenuous i think kishimoto created ninja dogs cats and pigs mainly because they are really kawaii [Applause] that's all i will cover from the first naruto anime series in this video but i'm very curious to know if you noticed a reference to real world mythology folklore or history in naruto that i didn't please let me know what these are in the comments below and what i should cover in a naruto shipuden naruto movies or boruto video if you're interested in learning more about historical ninja you can check out a manual on historical ninjutsu called ninja skills written by anthony cummins who helped me write this video anthony has dedicated many years to solving the mystery of the ninja by digging into authentic historical sources i've linked the book and his youtube channel below i hope this video shed a bit more light on naruto and helped you understand it better if you enjoyed the video please give it a like subscribe to the channel and hit the notification bell to be notified of new videos that break down the mythology behind your favorite movies and shows check out my breakdown of the avatar series spirited away and princess mononoke linked on the screen until next time believe it

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Keywords: naruto, naruto shippuden, naruto explained, naruto ninjutsu, naruto full episode, naruto full, Naruto s01e01, Naurto Shippuden s01e01, ninjutsu, shippuden, naruto vs sasuke, japanese mythology, naruto fan theories, naurto fan theory, real, naurto timeline, naruto complete timeline, naruto real life, Naruto Explained, naruto opening, naruto amv, naruto reaction, naruto and hinata, naruto theory, naruto hand seals, naruto vs pain, naruto running, naruto running explained

Id: lVUxytLlJx4

Length: 18min 17sec (1097 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 18 2020