Exploring Gender Inequality in Shonen Manga: A Cross-Sectional Study of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto

Abstract

The Naruto series is one of the most popular manga series in history, continuing with creator Masashi Kishimoto’s sequel story Boruto. Because it is a product of both the Shonen genre and Japanese patriarchy, the series funnels problematic sexist components in its female characterizations, all targeting a young male audience. As one of the most-read manga of all time, this issue poses a great threat of cementing obsolete sexist values in the younger generation and inspiring other literature to follow suit. Thus far, significant research on the connection between Japanese culture and gender themes in the manga is lacking. Therefore, this paper aims to address this gap in research and provide for future research in identifying and quantifying sexism through character strength and roles in stories. The paper synthesizes previous literature on Japanese culture, the Shonen genre, and Kishimoto’s influences, in addition to qualitative research comparing power rankings of female and male characters in Naruto and the identification of gender roles assigned to its female characters. The paper concludes by establishing the presence of sexism in the series and calling for a more dignified characterization of its female characters in the series Boruto.