Voice Actors ( Naruto )

During the casting for the Japanese version of the animated adaptations, Naruto was supposed to be voiced by a male actor but Junko Takeuchi, a female actress, was instead chosen following a large number of auditions that mainly involved male actors.[58] Before recording the first episode, Takeuchi noted several lines from the script that ended with exclamations points. This helped her define Naruto's voice. Takeuchi expressed having difficulties in voicing the character for the first after the time-skip in the series as the first episode of Naruto: Shippuden as it was recorded one week after recording the last episode from Naruto.[59] This concerned the character's growth as Naruto started acting more mature in contrast to his childish attitude.[60] She also met hardships while voicing him while Naruto was in his Nine-Tailed Demon Fox forms as well his fight against Sasuke due to the suffering the character was going through in the series.[59] Nine years after first voicing the character, while still finding it though to voice Naruto, Takeuchi's opinion regarding him changed to "a very reliable young man." She admires how he is able to take important decisions calmly despite the sacrifices he has to go through to the point it would inspire others.[61]

The producers of the English anime stated that, of all of the characters, Naruto was the most difficult character to cast for, adding that Maile Flanagan "has Naruto down, from the mischievous side, that precocious twelve year old we learn to love, to the serious side."[62] Flanagan comments that she does not listen to Junko Takeuchi's records when performing Naruto, not wanting to imitate her voice, instead wanting a more "original" voice for him.[63]