The Art of Storytelling: Why Gaara vs. Rock Lee Is One of the Greatest Anime Fights of All Time

Masashi Kishimoto, the writer and illustrator of Naruto, has had his ups and downs in terms of the characters and story decisions he’s made in the manga and anime Naruto. Sometimes the way characters were used could have been better as well, but let’s talk about one of the many things he did right. Let’s talk about one of, if not the best fight in Naruto, Gaara vs. Rock Lee. This fight is on a lot of fan’s top 10’s and top 5 lists of fights in the series Naruto and it’s for good reason. Now how does a fight that’s not even half as long as most Naruto fights and also doesn’t even involve any main characters get into everyone’s top lists? Well, the answer is simple, this fight tells a story. This is the story of Gaara vs. Rock Lee. We begin our story with the first time we see both of our combatants. Rock Lee is an obvious contender for comic relief with his appearance. Dawning a green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers Rock Lee quickly took over the scenery. Let’s not forget his crush on Sakura which added to his comedic tone. His bowl haircut, his eyebrows, his cool guy pose, all of these should just put him on the long list of comedic relief characters, but it didn’t. This all served as a means for us to fall in love with him as a character, not to mention the fact that he straight up whoops Sasuke’s ass for us.

Let’s move on to the first time we see Gaara. Other than the fact that Gaara’s skills and super sneaky ninja-ness make Sasuke a little scared himself. We’re immediatel…