As a fictional character, Naruto is normally depicted as having fair skin in both the manga and anime. It is the most common thing you would find in many characters in Japanese animation.

Besides this, his features like blonde hair and blue eyes are initially styled choices to emphasize his uniqueness as a character rather than indicating his specific race or ethnicity.

Character Design and Ethnicity in Anime

Normally, people who create anime characters design them with physical features that do not align with any type of specific race. Rather, these features are decided based on the aesthetic and storytelling needs instead of representing it in terms of racial characteristics.

For example, let’s look at Naruto’s bright blonde hair and blue eyes. They are initially his distinctive traits allowing him to stand out from his peers and enemies. And his appearance also aligns with the storyline as someone unique and recognizable by people.

Cultural Context of the Naruto Series

In Japanese culture,  villages have different clothing to depict different cultures. Therefore, they also have different skin tones and features that make them unique.

However, as a fictional world in Naruto, we do not see those features portrayed in the anime. You get to see that the skin tone and features of the characters in reality have different cultural heritages, most specifically Asian. So, though Naruto anime is based on Japanese culture, it does not align hand in hand with the real world race.

Naruto’s Appearance and Narrative Role

Rather than creating Naruto to be aligned with the real world race, the creators have designed Naruto’s appearance to align with the storyline. His appearance matches his firm determination, positivity and hopes of getting recognized.

Also, the visual contrasts between his bright features and those of other characters in the series make him easily distinguishable as the protagonist.

Representation and Diversity in Anime

In the anime, we see a wide variety of colour designs to express the character’s personality and emotions rather than representing it according to racial accuracy.

This style actually allows creators of anime to explore themes of identity and morality based,  without having any boundaries of racial and ethnic divisions that are found in the real world. Now, many times, this approach leads to the discussion about diversity and representation in anime.

As its huge fan community from around the world would see themselves in these characters and stories so, rather than adding racial and ethnic divisions, it was a good idea to add colourful designs.

Fan Perceptions and Discussions

Discussions are always going on among Naruto’s fans, especially the international fans regarding representation. And this discussion often leads to mixed perceptions.

Some would speculate on the characters’ real-world ethnic analogues, while some would take the series to be a universal story that does not follow any specific racial or ethnic groups.

Diversity makes Naruto a global game changer as it brings people from different parts of the world together and has a common goal, which is to enhance the understanding of what is righteous and what isn’t, as well as to look at ways through which they can grow individually.

Conclusion

So, Naruto actually seems to have fair skin in the series. But, of course, his colour doesn’t follow any specific racial group. It just highlights his firm determination and other powerful qualities; his appearance is shown as bright.