Footwear Focus: Naruto-style Sandals

This is the first of many installments featuring footwear of all shapes and sizes. What better way to start off than with a very recognized pair in the world of anime?

You got to give it up to ninjas. They tend to do a lot of things on a regular basis. They go on missions, train, and do a lot of strenuous stuff to get the job done. I guess that's why ninjas need the perfect kind of footwear to give extra support.

And while ninja footwear has a lot of variations (which will be covered in entries to come), I'd like to focus on a particular style of footwear that got my attention a long time ago.

In the ninja world of Naruto, they have a fancy in wearing a unique style of footwear that is truly unique, and you cannot even consider thinking about how a character from the series look like without even considering what kind of footwear they'll be wearing:

(Courtesy of KingsSideCastle for the image. Thanks!)

Everyone's seen them, everyone knows them. You can't talk about Naruto without talking about them. But what makes these particular pairs of sandals unique?

Well, from the looks of things, they're definitely part-sandal since they do look similar to a pair of short boots. But to compensate, the toes are surely exposed, something of a trademark for many of the series' characters.

But be in their position. They wear a pair of sandals that only allow a bit of air exposure only on the toe area. They also tend to fight a lot and perform missions. Therefore, they sweat a lot everyday. Imagine wearing these kinds of footwear everyday. Can you imagine how they'd smell like after a whole day wearing them? It shouldn't be pretty, that's for sure. Not only are ninjas lethal by their techniques and abilities, but by the looks of things, their feet can be said in the same way.

No wonder there are people who are fans of not only the characters in the series, but with their feet and footwear as well. Imagine Sakura's long sandal-boots after a long day or Hinata's slender sandals after a tough mission. Or Ino, who definitely looks pretty, but then again, looks can be deceiving as the smell may be enough to knock someone out.

And how they can use their sandals, that's a different story. I've shared my perspective on how they might use them, but what else could they do with it? Could they cover their sandals on an unfortunate victim's face as a mask, or perhaps trap someone in a room full of the kunoichis' well worn sandals? Well, there's a ton of possibilities, especially for ninjas as you might imagine. From the standard-issue sandals, they've expanded to different variations, from the already-mentioned sandals (and its evolution) of Sakura to the simple-paired sandals of Hinata and Ten-Ten after the timeskip.

But imagination's limitless. What other possibilities or possible scenarios could these ninjas do with their sandals? What do you think about the potential use of these Naruto-style sandals? Feel free to sound off what you think in the comments section.

Naruto's made quite an impression for many years, no doubt about it. Great characters, great stories. But you cannot help but congratulate them for innovating one of the most interesting pairs of footwear anywhere, and they deserve all the praise in the world for that.

(And who do you think has the smelliest feet in the Naruto universe? Feel free to vote for whoever you think has it in the poll section!)