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Friday, January 13 saw the Narutop99 midterm report released via the franchise’s official Twitter account, which revealed the current overall rankings for the top 50 slots, as well as breaking down each voting region’s current top 20 ranks.
However, the worldwide Narutop99 rankings are the current trending topic of discussion amongst the franchise’s fanbase, and for a good reason. Fans were incredibly shocked to see where supposed fan-favorite characters Might Guy and Rock Lee are currently ranked on the poll’s worldwide list as of the midterm results.
Desire to see backstory of other less-addressed characters could explain why Guy and Lee rank so low on Narutop99
The latest news
While many fans never expected Rock Lee or Might Guy to break into the top 10, considering the whole of the series’ cast could be voted for, their ranks are still extremely shocking. In the worldwide poll, Rock Lee is ranked as 19th currently, just barely sneaking into the top 20. Might Guy, meanwhile, is just outside the top 20, at position 21.
The top 3 spots overall are currently held by Minato Namikaze, Itachi Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. The rest of the top 10 is rounded out in order by Shisui Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Madara Uchiha, Sakumo Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha, and Jiraiya.
Particularly shocking is Sakura’s ranking above both Naruto and Sasuke, as if the fanbase is apologizing for the years of unjustified hatred for her character. Also shocking is the inclusion of Itachi Uchiha at 2nd place, when looking at the top 10 in context of the one-shot manga which will be written centered around whoever the global top rank is. Were the poll to end today, that would be Minato Namikaze.
In this context, some of the top 10 rankings become somewhat questionable, and Guy and Lee’s low ranks even more questionable. The former is at least given a cursory backstory in the mainline series, explaining his origins as a shinobi and meeting Kakashi. Lee, however, is given no backstory prior to him being assigned to Guy’s team and training in taijutsu under his new master’s tutelage.
Considering this lack of backstory and the potential retelling performance in this poll represents, as well as the two being fan-favorite characters, their ranks become even more shocking. Analyzing the characters between them and the top 10 only exacerbates this feeling, with the likes of Shikamaru Nara, Hinata Hyuga, Gaara, and even Deidara all closer to the one-shot manga than they.
Be sure to keep up with all Narutop99 news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
