Naruto Anime aired for the first time in Japan 20 years ago. Since then, the Naruto fanbase has grown exponentially over the world and even continues to do so.
To celebrate this exceptional milestone of reaching the 20th Anniversary, a global character popularity poll was announced during the Jump Festa 2023.
As per NARUTOP99, which is the official website for this occasion, a worldwide vote was held to determine the Top 99 most popular Naruto Characters.
Fans had the option to choose their favorite out of an astounding 488 characters within the Naruto series.
According to the conditions set, the character that would get the maximum number of votes at the end would be featured in a short manga by the series’s mangaka, Masashi Kishimoto.
The Top 20 characters would also be drawn in an original illustration by Kishimoto.
Now that the final votes are out, we finally have the winner of this global popularity poll.
Konoha’s Yellow Flash, the fourth Hokage of the Leaf, Minato Namikaze has won this poll and I don’t think there are fans who would question this result.
Top 20 Most Popular Naruto Characters
Minato Namikaze is the most popular and most loved character in the entire Naruto series as voted in by fans all over the world.
Here is the list of the Top 20 characters Naruto Characters:
- Minato Namikaze
- Itachi Uchiha
- Sakura Haruno
- Shisui Uchiha
- Kakashi Hatake
- Naruto Uzumaki
- Sakumo Hatake
- Sasuke Uchiha
- Madara Uchiha
- Hinata Hyuga
- Obito Uchiha
- Jiraiya
- Shikamaru Nara
- Tobirama Senju
- Gaara
- Hashirama Senju
- Deidara
- Neji Hyuga
- Sasori
- Rock Lee
The poll received approximately 4.6 Million Votes from fans all over the globe. The result was announced in a YouTube live stream by JUMP COMICS CHANNEL.
All the Shinobis in the Top 20 will be drawn in an original illustration by the creator of the series, Masashi Kishimoto himself. And of course, #Minato Namikaze will get featured in a short manga of his own.
Minato Wins The Global Popularity Poll
Now that Minato has been officially announced as the winner of the Poll, Masashi Kishimoto is featuring him in a short manga.
This is the first-ever official worldwide voting poll conducted by the Naruto Franchise. Out of 488 unique and amazing characters set in Naruto Universe, fans have now chosen their favorite.
Fans had the opportunity to vote for their fav character every day starting from December 17, 2022, up until January 31, 2023.
Updates regarding the poll were provided by the official Naruto Twitter Account. Before publishing the final results, they also published a Midterm Report.
Even during the Midterm, Minato was in the number 1 position, followed by Itachi Uchiha in the second and Sakura Haruno in the third position.
The past couple of weeks have been very good for Naruto fans. On the very occasion of Naruto’s 20th anniversary, another special announcement was made. Four new episodes of the OG Naruto Anime (2002) will air starting in Sep 2023.
We still don’t have any concrete knowledge regarding what the episodes are going to be about. Regardless it is amazing to know that Uzumaki Naruto is returning to the screen once again with his story.
