In the Naruto franchise, the title character wasn’t the only shinobi with serious skills. His generation was full of ninja who came into their own while he trained and tried to get Sasuke Uchiha to return home. Choji Akimichi was one of those shinobi.
A member of Team 10, Choji studied alongside Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara for most of his formative years. The trio learned the skills of the trade - and how to control their family’s specialty jutsu - under their sensei Asuma Sarutobi. They went from not playing well with anyone outside of their group to being some of the best support ninjas in the franchise. Decades later, Choji and his friends each had children of their own in the Boruto series. Choji, in particular, became the head of his clan, and the father of shinobi Chocho Akimichi.
When Did Choji Become A Chunin
During Naruto’s story, a time skip occurs between volumes. For the anime, that skip happened between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. It was during that time skip that Naruto trained with Jiraiya while traveling. His friends and former classmates, back home in Konohagakure, also continued training.
Choji and Ino decided to take their Chunin Exams again. Their teammate Shikamaru had been the only genin of their generation to pass the first time around. Because they were short a teammate, and Sakura had no team with Naruto and Sasuke out of the village, they decided to team up with her. Sakura helped Choji and Ino get pretty far in the exam process, but a sandstorm had the proctors putting a hold on the exams anyway. They were all promoted to chunin status even with the exams incomplete.
Is His Family Considered A Noble Clan
Clans in the Naruto canon were families with long bloodlines. Most of them had jutsu specific to their families. While there were many clans that were important to the formation of villages, Konohagakure had four “noble clans.” They were considered the most powerful and well respected of the clans.
Konohagakure’s noble clans included the Aburame (known for their affinity for insects), the Uchiha (known for their Sharingan), the Hyuga (known for their Byakugan) and the Akimichi (known for their size changing abilities). The Akimichi were Choji’s family. They had a long standing agreement with the Nara and Yamanaka clans to protect one another.
What Does His Name Mean
Like many of the characters in the Naruto franchise, Choji Akimichi’s name has a special meaning that gives a hint at his character.
The kanji that create his first name are the same kanji that translate to “butterfly” and “second.” While “second” doesn’t reference his character, unless fans want to link that to him being next in line to be the head of his clan, “butterfly” does. One of his family’s specialty jutsu involves forming wings out of chakra. The wings are shaped like those of a butterfly and are linked to a transformation sequence.
How Many Naruto Movies Feature Him
For most of Choji’s movie appearances, he doesn’t play a large role. Instead, he typically had a cameo with other members of Naruto’s generation. His teammate Shikamaru was more often involved in the events of the movies.
Choji appeared in six of the ten movies focused on Naruto’s generation. Of those, like most of the Konoha 11, he had a larger role in Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Will Of Fire. His other appearances occurred in Naruto Shippuden The Movie, Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Bonds, Naruto The Movie: Blood Prison, Road To Ninja: Naruto The Movie, and The Last: Naruto The Movie.
What Does Choji’s Blood Type Say About Him
In Japanese culture, there is a belief that personality can be affected by different blood types. That’s who so many manga writers include blood types in the statistics for their characters. In Choji’s case, he has Type B blood.
Individuals with Type B blood are believed to be more friendly and outgoing. They’re passionate about their interests, seek out things to entertain them, and generally aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Choji shares his blood type with Ino, Kiba, Naruto, and Tenten in his generation.
How Did He And Shikamaru Become Friends
Members of three man teams tend to become very close in the Naruto franchise. In the case of Choji, his team was predestined. The Akimichi, Yamanaka, and Nara clans have formed teams for many generations. Before they officially became teammates, however, Choji and Shikamaru became friends.
According to filler episodes of the anime, Shikamaru was the only classmate of Choji’s to stand up for him when they played games. While other boys in class made fun of Choji and didn’t believe he was good at anything, Shikamaru always picked Choji to be on his side in games. When the two discovered they could have a good time just lounging around and watching the clouds go by, they quickly formed a devoted friendship.
What Did He See In The Infinite Tsukuyomi
When Madara Uchiha attempted to control the world, he did it with a powerful jutsu. He effectively hypnotized everyone to believe they were experiencing their dream world. Most character’s worlds that fans were privy to involved family and relationships. Choji’s dream world involved acceptance.
He dreamed of a world where he could eat whatever he wanted and the people who cared about him didn’t judge him. That tracked well with his past since the one thing that made Choji the angriest (other than his friends getting hurt) was when people insulted his eating habits or his weight.
Just How Strong Is Choji
Throughout the Naruto series, fans gradually came to realize that Choji’s strength was something to marvel at. Characters like Sakura learned to focus their chakra for one super strong punch. On the other hand, Choji didn’t appear to have to use his chakra to do it.
Manipulating his chakra certainly could increase his strength - just like when he used it to change the size of his fists or his whole body in a fight. By the time the Boruto series rolled around, however, Choji was termed to be the strongest man in Konohagakure without taking focused chakra into account. There are likely plenty of fans who wonder how the adult Choji would stack up against the adult Sakura in a fight.
How Did Karui Fall For Him
The Naruto series epilogue revealed a surprise to long time fans. Choji married Karui and had a daughter. The only reason that particular reveal was such a surprise was that Choji and Karui never interacted in the series.
In fact, the only time before Chocho’s birth that fans see the two together is in The Last: Naruto The Movie in a cameo appearance. The two characters appear walking around Konoha together. Fans never get to find out just how they ended up together, though Karui did reveal in an episode of Boruto that it was Choji’s kindness that attracted her to him.
What Makes Choji’s Databook Statistics Unique
If a character was popular during Naruto’s heyday, that character had statistics in a databook. The Naruto databooks served to give fans concrete rankings for just who was good at what skills. Choji is unique amongst the characters. Why? He’s the only character who actually got worse at a skill over time.
Most of the characters saw half point, or even full point, jumps in skill level as databooks were released. Between books two and three, something must have happened to make Choji less likely to use hand signs in a match. His skill level dropped by half a point. The most likely explanation, of course, is that Choji stopped using the standard hand signs and jutsu that everyone knew because he started to stick with the Akimichi family’s signature moves.
