Today we’ll be discussing why Sakura Haruno from Naruto is over-hated.

Let’s start with who she is. She’s one of the main characters of a very popular anime called “Naruto”. This anime consists of ninjas and an entire world of action and adventure. We have our main character Naruto, and the other two members of his team, Sakura and Sasuke. 

To sum it up in a way that will allow you to understand this presentation, Sasuke and Naruto and overpowered for absolutely no reason and their other team member, Sakura, was not as powerful as the two of them. She also has a crush on Sasuke, as children do. It’s not an uncommon thing at all, but others seem to view it as a bad thing in her character. 

Now why isn’t she as bad as people think? I mean obviously if the vast majority of the fanbase agrees that shes weak, useless, and annoying, then she must be, right? Wrong. The mass majority of those who despise her follow trends and hate on her as if they watched the show with their eyes closed. 

First of all, she didn’t really come from a special clan. Naruto and Sasuke may have been orphans, but they were both from very powerful families, not to mention the fact that they’re also the reincarnations of two literal gods. That’s a tough act to follow. Her parents were normal. They weren’t even ninja’s. Sakura wasn’t born with a chakra demon or magic eyes, so she took a backseat to her teammates and it took her a lot longer to grow stronger. And that’s so much more realistic for the viewers and also conveniently brings us to our next point. 

She worked incredibly hard to get where she is now. That’s not saying that other characters didn’t, but they definitely had a leg up on her. She learned nothing from her team seven leader, and had to seek the tutelage of one of the legendary sannin in order to get stronger. Remember, this is a girl with no special skills or powers whatsoever. She had her bones broken and healed over and over again to get so physically strong that it was acknowledged by so many others. From her teacher, she also learned to become a healer, which of course brings us to the next slide. 

Sakura is a healer second to Tsunade herself. She learned Tsunade’s healing jutsu, mastered it, and applied it in the ninja war. She healed countless ninjas and at one point she kept Naruto’s heart beating with her own hands. Beyond that physical strength and speed, she’s much smarter than most of the characters in the show. She was credited for her intelligence in the beginning of the show and her precise chakra control as well. She even mastered it before Sasuke and Naruto. All of these skills and traits are what made her so vital in the war.

So, she made mistakes. Lovely. That doesn’t make her weak and useless, that makes her relatable and human. She was never meant to be the epitome of perfection. Her failed efforts and mistakes are exactly what made her an amazing character in the long run. She has such incredible development and the difference between her 12-year old self and her older self is just magnificent. 

Now that we’ve gotten weak out of the way, let’s address useless. Now I know I said she’s strong, but obviously not stronger than Naruto and Sasuke. As I previously mentioned, she’s very much not a god. And on top of that, she’s a healer. They’re quite literally not meant to be on the front lines. So even if she wanted to fight, she couldn’t. Because of this, people see her lack of initiation as a sign of her being unable to do anything and being pointless in battle. No, she’s just trying to save people the way she swore to do as a healer.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, she was vital in the war. But even past the actual war, in the fight with Kaguya, she worked with the rest of team seven to defeat her. In no way could they have won without her help. She was the only one able to lend Obito enough chakra to help him and Sasuke, and even dealt one of the final blows of Kaguya herself. She is far beyond the skills of a regular ninja, and is one of a kind in terms of determination.

“All she did was cry.” Oh my goodness. If I had a quarter every time I heard this, even after they’ve been given an entire explanation on her character…why, I’d be a millionaire. Let me remind you, she is a teenager. She was put into horribly dangerous situations from the beginning, more so than normal people, such as the multiple attacks on the village, dealing with Naruto’s unstable chakra demon, and other such things, There is absolutely nothing wrong with her crying. She was a child, and later on she was in the midst of a war and thought her friends had died. Jeez, let a character express themselves in different ways, won’t you?

Now, let’s move onto the character comparisons, which is another thing people use as a way to bash her. “Sakura vs Hinata”. Hinata is another female character on the show, and is often brought up as a way to make Sakura seem more pathetic. Hinata and Sakura differ in many ways, mainly in terms of their personalities. Hinata grew up in a powerful clan and was mistreated quite a lot. Sakura had loving, normal parents, but the two of them share a very strong sense of determination. They were never meant to be compared, for they are two very different characters who can even parallel each other in a sense. They are friends who worked very hard throughout the series to get where they are now, and yet Sakura is constantly hated by the same people who love Hinata. They commonly use the argument that Hinata did more, but if they opened their eyes, they would see otherwise. There’s no need to argue over which character is better when they are both amazing in their own ways. 

Overall, Sakura is a part of team seven, and a vital character in the show. I cant entirely explain why she gets so much hate, but I can only assume that such opinions belong to close-minded people who know nothing about character development.