Modern Anime Rivalries Owe Everything To Naruto & Sasuke (2024)

It's no secret that shonen anime is all about competitive rivalries. Fans can point to plenty of wonderful examples, even from non-action series like Food Wars and Bakuman. Every anime fan will have their own favorite rivalry for their own reasons, but it's hard not to wonder: which is the best rivalry, and why? The answer is right there in the shonen "big three," with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha setting a new standard for rivalries in the Naruto anime.

It's true that the Naruto and Sasuke feud isn't the first example of a prominent rivalry in anime, but it's still the best. This classic rivalry is old enough to influence the countless shonen anime that came after it, while also being recent enough to build upon the formula that older series established. Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry has layers that many other rivalries lack.

Naruto and Sasuke Set a New Standard For Anime Rivalries

The Rivalry Became the Blueprint for Modern Anime

In many respects, the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke became the shonen rivalry that other anime series try to emulate. Their rivalry is rivalry more than a mere tool to push two characters' growth forward. This is a deeply personal, fruitful, and even life-changing rivalry that evolved over the years and affected not only them, but the people around them. For Naruto and Sasuke, trying to one-up each other and get stronger is about far more than learning new jutsu or trying to impress Academy instructors.

Naruto was determined to become the strongest and surpass the likes of Sasuke to make up for how badly the village treated him. He viewed sheer power as a good way for everyone to respect him. Naruto was desperate for validation that he couldn't easily get through friendships or love, so he sought it by dazzling everyone instead. Sasuke stood as his main obstacle to becoming #1. It's only natural Naruto developed intensely competitive feelings towards him.

Naruto & Sasuke's Feud Was Intensely Personal

The Rivalry Drove Naruto's Story Forward

Over time, the rivalry became more even as Naruto and Sasuke each upped their game time and again. It helped that each of them gained many new powers and jutsu over the course of Naruto, so they had ample chances to trade back and forth as each gained a new weapon or tool to give them the edge over the other. Examples were many, with Sasuke gaining an early lead thanks to his awakening of his Sharingan eyes, only for Naruto to pull ahead with his increasing mastery of Kurama's chakra, and then they broke even with their siganture jutsu, with Naruto learning the Rasengan from Jiraiya and Sasuke learning the Chidori from Kakashi. In Naruto Shippuden, that rapid back-and-forth reached new heights as Naruto mastered Kurama's chakra and gained Sage Mode while Sasuke gained the Mangekyo Sharingan, the Rinnegan, and even absorbed Orochimaru.

Yet another layer to this legendary shonen rivalry is the fact that the rivalry wasn't just a private affair between the two competitors -- it helped drive the entire plot of the Naruto anime, having a profound impact on the other characters and leading to entire story arcs. Not all shonen rivalries have to go that far, but it's still impressive how the Naruto/Sasuke feud scaled up so much, breaking new ground for rivalries and proving how far this concept can be taken. At first, the rivalry felt like a conventional one between friends, only for Naruto's and Sasuke's rivalry to turn unfriendly, which had explosive consequences for everyone around them. Sasuke felt terrible that his rival Naruto could keep pace with him, which Sasuke saw as a sign that he'd never defeat Itachi at this rate. So, Sasuke abandoned the Hidden Leaf Village to gain power with Orochimaru, leading to the entire Sasuke Retrieval story arc.

The rivalry continued to sour as Naruto and his team fought hard to defeat the Sound ninjas and retieve Sasuke, a battle that helped prove the Sand siblings' redemption while also ending the story on a dramatic note as Naruto narrowly lost to Sasuke. With his rival and friend fleeing, Naruto Uzumaki vowed to find Sasuke and bring him back, which drove much of Naruto's actions later in Naruto Shippuden. By that point, Naruto was even willing to raid Orochimaru's lairs and try to alter the course of the Kage summit for the sake of his broken friendship and rough rivalry with Sasuke. In the end, that rivalry was restored as Naruto and Sasuke teamed up to fight Kaguya Otsutsuki along with Sakura to reform Team 7, a fine way to conclude the epic rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke.

How the Naruto/Sasuke Rivalry Built on What Came Before

You Don't Get Naruto & Sasuke Without Dragon Ball

If the Naruto/Sasuke rivalry is upheld as the best shonen anime rivalry that helped set the standard for rivalries, then fans will no doubt ask: what about the rivalries from the Dragon Ball anime? It's true that the rivalry between Goku and Vegeta is older than Naruto vs Sasuke, and the friendly Goku/Krillin rivalry is older still, and those rivalries definitely played a historic role in establishing this trope in action manga/anime. That said, looking back in the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime series, those rivalries were entertaining but still fell a bit short, even if they served Dragon Ball's own purposes. Compared to the Naruto/Sasuke rivalry that clearly drew inspiration from Akira Toriyama's works, Goku's rivalries were too straightforward and not suspenseful enough.

Given how often and how reliably Goku powered up in the Dragon Ball universe, there wasn't much tension or suspense when Vegeta the unfriendly Saiyan showed up as Goku's newest enemy turned rival. Of course Goku soon powered up enough to overcome Vegeta's lead, and even if Goku slipped up once or twice, he generally maintained his lead ever since, much to Vegeta's frustration. Vegeta did defeat Goku at one point, and Goku failed to decively defeat Vegeta fair and square in return, but aside from that, it's too one-sided in the long run. The best rivalries are more even than that, such as Naruto and Sasuke taking turns one-upping each other time and again with their new jutsu.

The rivalries in Dragon Ball also fell short because they had a somewhat limited impact on the plot and had limited emotional impact as well. For a brutal action series like that, it was enough for Goku and Vegeta to grin with excitement and feel good as they show off their new powers to each other, but after anime fans have seen the personal depth of Naruto/Sasuke, it's not easy to go back to Goku/Vegeta or Goku/Krillin. Those Dragon Ball rivalries, in retrospect, feel a bit obligatory and even shallow at times, with Goku having few personal stakes beyond survival and defeating the likes of Frieza and Cell. Goku kept up his rivalries not to prove something profound to those rivals, but as a measuring stick for his odds of defeating the true villains. That's not a bad plot idea by any means, but it still pales in comparison to the breathtaking, wonderfully deep Naruto rivalry that eventually succeeded and eclipsed it.

Naruto

TV-PG

Action

Adventure

Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous adolescent ninja, struggles as he searches for recognition and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the village's leader and strongest ninja.

Release Date

September 10, 2002

Cast

Junko Takeuchi , Maile Flanagan , Kate Higgins

Main Genre

Anime

Seasons

1

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto

Production Company

Pierrot, Staralis Film Company

Number of Episodes

220