Around the bustling halls of New York Comic Con, fans gathered to celebrate two decades of ninja adventures, fierce rivalries, and emotional storytelling in the world of NARUTO. Not only is the iconic franchise getting a crossover with one of author Masashi Kishimoto’s biggest inspirations in the early 1990s manga series Ninku, but Kishimoto is also returning to the manga for the first time since it ended in 2014 for Naruto: Shadow Rising. In conversation with Newsweek, the original Japanese voice actors of protagonists Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, Junko Takeuchi and Noriaki Sugiyama, alongside creative leaders from Bandai, reflected on their enduring legacy while sharing fresh perspectives regarding their iconic roles.
For Junko Takeuchi, portraying Naruto Uzumaki required building an emotional foundation from scratch during the early years of the franchise. Because full character backstories were kept secret during early production, Takeuchi spent hours deciphering the root of her character's motivations. "At the beginning, we didn't really know what he had experienced until much later, so I had to create where anger came from and how he thinks," Takeuchi reflected through her translator.
Although childhood loneliness initially dominated Naruto's worldview, an overwhelming desire for protection eventually became his driving force in adulthood. Though the characters of Naruto and Sasuke have similarly isolated upbringings, the characters found themselves at odds throughout most of the series. Over the series’ run, the central dynamic between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha reached its emotional apex during pivotal combat scenes where vocal synergy proved critical.
Sasuke’s voice actor, Noriaki Sugiyama, highlighted the confrontation at the Valley of the End as a moment of genuine artistic breakthrough for his character. "We've always seen Sasuke express his feelings through single words or insults like 'Usuratonkachi [meaning ‘thin hammer,' a useless object], but in the Valley of the End, for the first time, we actually see him speak his truth," Sugiyama explained. Because that high-stakes dialogue required seamless energy exchange between actors, studio sessions were conducted in person, and mutual trust enabled the performers to deliver natural scenes despite working with unfinished animation.
"In regular anime recordings, overlapping voices are recorded separately, but at the Valley of the End scene, dialogue going back and forth allowed us to feed off each other's raw energy," Sugiyama said. Takeuchi emphasized the deep professional trust required during intense recording sessions, explaining how shared mistakes only strengthened their unified performance. With a new collaborative series with fellow ninja anime Ninku set to debut next year, stepping back into the younger versions of their legendary roles after working as more mature versions in Boruto feels entirely natural for both veteran performers.
Sugiyama compared returning to Sasuke's voice to an instinctual physical memory. "Having performed as Sasuke for over 20 years, I understand how he reacts in certain situations; Sasuke is really in my bones," Sugiyama said. Takeuchi echoed the sentiment, observing how performing Naruto after time away mirrors riding a bicycle.
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