As one of the premier anime franchises of the past two decades, Naruto has been hugely successful and influential. Of course, it was also inspired by several other stories and franchises, with historical ninja lore being the most obvious. Something that some fans might not expect, however, is the mecha series that inspired one character.
Kakuzu was one member of the villainous Akatsuki, with his powers granting him a very morbid immortality. He also had attacks heavily inspired by the Mobile Suit Gundam series, namely the original classic anime. This goes to show how popular Gundam was and still is, with Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto drawing upon his fandom for it when conceiving Kakuzu. Here’s how the undead assassin brought the spirit of giant robots to the world of shinobi.
Naruto’s Kakuzu Achieved Immortality Through the Most Disgusting Means
Kakuzu debuted in Chapter #312 of the Naruto manga, with the anime adaptation of these chapters — Naruto Shippuden — bringing him in at Episode #71. A denizen of the Village Hidden by the Waterfall, Kakuzu was once tasked with assassinating the first Hokage. This ended in failure, however, leading to his being disgraced among his village. In revenge, Kakuzu killed the leaders of his village and consumed their hearts, unlocking a method of becoming immortal through the life-forces of others. From there, he would join the organization known as the Akatsuki, though his allies would many times become his enemies.
Greedy and somewhat quick to anger, Kakuzu’s lack of compassion or patience would see him kill several of his Akatsuki partners over the years. As a joke, he was finally paired with Hidan, who had a similar form of immortality. Thus, Kakuzu’s violent outbursts would never result in Hidan’s death, much to his easily-annoyed chagrin. Nevertheless, he was an incredibly resourceful ninja, even taking on the powerful Kakashi and possessing speed that made him almost impossible to follow. Something else hard to notice about the character would be his inspirations, which have nothing to do with ninjas and everything to do with the premier Real Robot mecha anime series.
The Greatest Mecha Anime Series Inspired Naruto’s Kakuzu
Many of Kakuzu’s attacks seen in Naruto are named in some way after Mobile Suits from the Gundam franchise, namely the original entry in the Universal Century continuity. For instance, the Earth Grude Fear (Jiongu) attack — which turns the user’s body into a conduit for large black tentacles — is named after the Zeong unit. In a way, it also matches that mech’s ability to detach its arms in an offensive manner. The Earth Release: Earth Spear attack is also called Domu, in reference to the Mobile Suit Dom. Even the Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work attack (Zukoku) was named after the clawed Z’Gok.
This all makes sense given how much of a fan Kishimoto was of the classic Real Robot series in his youth. According to the mangaka, he would draw his favorite Mobile Suits all the time when he was younger, with this early fan art honing his skills and allowing him to go on and develop Naruto as an adult. Of course, these elements are easy to miss in the finished work, especially if viewers aren’t in-tune with the names in the Gundam franchise.
