In every series, there are characters that really stick with you long after you have watched the show.  One of my favorite animes of all time is Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.  The series are full of adventure and drama, but I found that there were so many characters in this story that really found a way into my heart.  This anime highlight is going to focus on Gaara of the Village Hidden in the Sand.

Gaara is the same age as Naruto, and in many ways lived a parallel life as Naruto did.  He had a tailed beast sealed inside him when he was a baby, he was ostracized by the entire village because of it, and he led a very lonely life.  Gaara’s treatment as a child is more extreme than Naruto’s as Naruto had people who were always watching out for him like the Third Homage, Iruka, and even Kakashi as well as the friends he made with Sasuke and Sakura.  Even though people in the Village Hidden in the Leaves could be cruel, his childhood was not as harsh or as lonely as Gaara’s was.

Gaara’s father was the leader of the Village Hidden in the Sand, the Kazekage, and he sanctioned the act of putting the tailed beast inside his son, despite the fact that he knew how scorned and ostracized Jinjuricki (people who have tailed beast sealed inside them) are treated.  He isolated Gaara in the hopes that he could weaponize the one tail sand spirit Shukaku through his son.  Gaara’s maternal uncle (since his mother died in childbirth) looked after Gaara, and since Gaara had no one really in the world, his uncle, Yashamaru, became his world.  His father saw that this may be making his son too soft, so what does he do?  He orders Yashamaru, who was apart of Sand’s Anbu, to try and kill Gaara and lie to him, telling Gaara that Yashamaru nor Gaara’s mother ever really loved him.  Gaara, saved by a shield of sand that always pops up when he is in danger, witnesses this brutal betrayal, and the death of his uncle.

This all happens when Gaara is six years old, a very impressionable age.  Devastated by what happened, as any child would be, Gaara decided that he was only going to love and protect himself.  The red Kanji on his forehead means “love”, but at this time in his life, it took a different meaning of loving only himself. On top of that, the tailed beast inside him, Shukaku, started to mess with his head by urging him to kill, and threatening to take over when he falls asleep, which turns Gaara into an insomniac.

Shukaku the one tailed beast.

Now this is all known after we as the audience are first introduced to his character.  Gaara and his blood siblings, Temari and Kankuro, come to the Hidden Leaf to participate in the Chunin exams.

At first, I thought this character was a complete psycho.  He was cold and heartless, and he killed people without remorse.  Most of those people threatened him, but there were people he attacked, like Rock Lee, who was not a threat.  And the ease at which he did it unnerved you as a viewer.  He quickly became that crazy, psycho kid with a lot of issues.

A part of your heart begins to melt for this character when you start to see his sad childhood, and you begin to see, as does Naruto, that this could have easily have been Naruto’s childhood and his fate.  If it had not been for Iruka reaching out to Naruto when he was younger or the third Hokage checking in on him or the begrudging friendship he formed with Sasuke or Kakashi’s attention towards him, Naruto would have been like Gaara.

Naruto defeats Gaara, but doesn’t kill him, and makes Gaara realize that there is more to life than he originally thought.  Gaara decides to change his life and perspective, and try to win over people’s approval no matter how hard they don’t want to give it, just like Naruto.  He starts by helping Naruto take on the people who take Sasuke at the end of the Naruto series as he knows more than anyone how darkness can take you over.  Gaara, more than anyone, I think really can identify with Sasuke, and what Sasuke is going through, and has tried to reach out to Sasuke because of this.

In Naruto Shippuden, Gaara goes from a redeemed character to a magnificent character, and that is what I love most about Gaara.  We see him grow from the dark, lonely bloodthirsty child who only thought of himself to a young man who thinks of others first.  He starts to become the true meaning of the Kanji on his forehead.  In the first story arc of Naruto Shippuden, it has been three years and, in that time, Gaara has become Kazekage.  You learn that people are not fully accepting of him in this role as he still has Shukaku inside him.  It is at this part that a rogue group of Ninjas, Akatsuki, send two of their members to attack the Village Hidden in the Sand.  Their main goal is to capture Gaara alive in order to forcible pull the tailed beast out of him which will kill him.  They attack the village, knowing that Gaara will defend it.  Gaara sacrifices himself to save his village, and is captured doing it.

It is at this point that Village Hidden in the Sand asks the Hidden Leaf for help as they are now allies.  Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi go after the two rogue ninjas who have kidnapped Gaara.  This arc was so well done, and it really showcased a new Gaara.  It was dramatic and sad as Gaara does have Shukaku pulled out of him, which does kill him.  It is only by the sacrifice of Chiyo, the woman who sealed Shukaku in Gaara when he was a baby, that Gaara gets a second chance of life.

This part was really moving and had me in tears as we see that everything comes full circle with Chiyo recognizing that everything that has happened to Gaara was because she sealed the tailed beast inside him.  She did the only thing she could to make up for what has happened to him, and willingly traded her life so that he could live again.  It was heartbreaking, especially when Gaara comes back, and realizes what she did.

Gaara’s transformation continues as he later becomes the regimental commander of the Allied forces and the fourth company commander in the Fourth Great Ninja War where all the different nations and villages unite to defeat Akatsuki, their cloned armies, and the reanimated dead.

One of the most inspiring moments for Gaara happens right as the war is about to start.  The four companies are lined up and ready to be deployed.  Each company has a mix of all the different villages in it, and fights flare up amongst the ninjas from the different villages, as there are still deep set hatreds and grievances between the villages. It is at this point that Gaara makes a speech that makes everyone realize that they are not different as every village has been hurt by Akatsuki, and that they are fighting for a higher cause  which is to save the world. This speech had the greatest impact on the outcome of the war because it put everyone in the right mindset before the fighting ever started.  The main point he makes is that there are no Leaf, Sand, Mist, Cloud, or Stone Ninjas anymore, just Shinobi, and that point really hits home for the Allied Forces.  Check out the fan video below which showcases the speech and parts of the Fourth Great Ninja War:

Video Credit to: LadyOfTheWoodlandRealm on Youtube.

The reason why Gaara has won over so many fans, in my opinion, is because he did have such a dark past, and was a redeemed villain.  We, as the viewers, get to see his transformation like watching a beautiful butterfly break free of a confining cocoon.  And I think that his tragic past made Gaara more aware of others, and more accepting of all people.  He knows what it is like to be ostracized, but he also knows how to work on getting people to work with him.  He fights alongside his comrades, but he is also a leader that thinks of those under his command first, and that makes him an ideal leader, especially in war.

Gaara’s impact on the story line of Naruto is quite significant, and his will to fight and to protect others leaves a lasting impression on both the characters and the audience (and readers of the Manga).  He went from a psychopath who cared only for himself and killed heartlessly to someone who could overcome his own darkness, and learn how to protect and defend others.  Naruto did have a major impact on Gaara’s development, but Gaara had to choose to change, and he did for the better.  And that is why I love Gaara so much.

So if you want amazing character arcs, check out Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.  That is it for this anime highlight.  Stay tuned for more to come!