Naruto director Hayato Date has revealed that he deliberately ignored demands from overseas audiences while working on the anime, believing that constantly catering to international preferences could compromise what made the series feel authentically Japanese.
Date discussed his approach during a panel at Anime India Mumbai 2026, held at the NESCO Exhibition Centre in Goregaon from August 28 to 30. The event marked the director’s first official visit to India and gave fans an opportunity to hear directly from one of the key figures behind the original Naruto anime.
Hayato Date Chose Naruto’s Japanese Identity Over Overseas Demands
Date recalled that there was already pressure during Naruto’s early production to make the series appealing outside Japan. Overseas media members attended the production press conference and asked questions about how the anime could succeed internationally.
However, Date eventually concluded that focusing too heavily on foreign audiences would make it harder for the production team to determine what Naruto itself should be. Instead, he said the team first asked what needed to be done to make the series successful in Japan, and then built the anime around that foundation.
“To be honest, when we first made Naruto, even then, there was a pressure on me that we have to make this a series that will sell outside Japan as well,”
Date said. He later explained,
“You simply can’t create something if you’re constantly worrying about catering to an overseas audience,”
adding that the priority became making the series popular in Japan first.
That philosophy became even more relevant once Naruto began finding a large audience in the United States. Date recalled receiving feedback from American viewers who disliked the anime’s use of bladed weapons, but he did not believe removing those elements was an option because they were fundamental to the series.
“They started telling us things like they didn’t like bladed weapons. But, if you get rid of the kunai, then it’s just not Naruto anymore, right?”
Date said.
Rather than redesign the anime around those complaints, Date said he chose to preserve its original identity.
“While we supposedly should have considered the overseas audience’s perspective on that, I completely ignored it,”
he explained, adding that he wanted international viewers to experience Naruto as it was rather than a version altered specifically for them.
Date also connected this philosophy to his broader approach to animation. He said he wants animated works to remain enjoyable for both adults and children, rather than removing every potentially dangerous or mature element simply to make them universally accessible.
The comments are particularly interesting today as anime has become a global industry, with international audiences playing a much larger role in how Japanese productions are marketed and distributed. Date’s approach to Naruto reflects a period when the series was created primarily with its Japanese audience in mind, even as it eventually became one of the medium’s biggest worldwide franchises.
