Parents' Guide to Naruto Shippuden

Diverse Representations

Nearly all characters across hundreds of episodes are light-skinned; the main exception is Killer Bee, who's tanned, has blond cornrows, and draws from stereotypes about Black people (he raps all his dialogue and quotes Muhammad Ali, and his spoken Japanese has an exaggerated "American" accent). Women shinobi have important roles and can fight, but they're vastly outnumbered by male shinobi and are never as strong. Sexist clichés strongly apply: Women cry, heal others, are defined by pregnancy, and say things like "Hair is the most important thing to women." A male shinobi, considered Naruto's mentor, peeps at women in hot springs and talks extensively about a colleague's breasts. Disabled-villain clichés include a manipulative man who uses a cane and has bandages on his face; a visibly ill man, shown coughing blood in bed, obsessed with finding a new body to take over; a villain who's losing his vision killing family members to use their eyeballs, etc. Fatphobic character of Choji improves slightly from the original series, given a bit more to do, but he's still depicted as always snacking and is the punchline of jokes about overeating. (A dying mentor's last words to Choji are that he needs to diet). A toad named Mr. Gamariki is stereotypically gay: He wears red lipstick, has long lashes, speaks effeminately, and flirts with Jiraiya (played for humor).