Tenten (Naruto)
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| Tenten | |
|---|---|
| (テンテン) | |
 Tenten by Masashi Kishimoto |
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| Debut | Manga Chapter 36 Anime Episode 21 |
| Seiyū | Yukari Tamura |
| Voice actor(s) | Danielle Judovits |
| Profile | |
| Age | 13-14 in Part I 16 in Part II |
| Date of birth | March 9 |
| Height | 155.6 cm |
| Weight | 43.1 kg |
| Information | |
| Current rank | Chunin |
| Current affiliation | Konohagakure |
| Current team | Team Guy (Might Guy, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, Tenten) |
| Signature jutsu/Kekkei genkai | |
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Tenten (テンテン?) (romanized as Ten Ten in the English anime) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto. In some foreign subtitles, Tenten has been referred to as Ama, from the term "Ama kudari", which means "descending from heaven". This has caused some fans to mistakenly conclude that "Ama" is her last name.
The name "Tenten" has no particular meaning, but repeating the same syllable twice is a popular naming scheme for pandas; her odango hairstyle also resembles panda ears. "Tenten" can also refer to the small double marks that appear on Japanese hiragana and katakana to change the pronunciation of certain characters (for example, "ta" [た] becomes "da" [だ] with the addition of "tenten").
In an interview in the Second Official Databook, Kishimoto stated that, out of the four central Konoha kunoichi, Tenten would be his type "because [he likes] her design."
Contents |
[edit] Background
Originally a Genin level ninja who graduated the academy a year before Naruto did, Tenten is a student of Might Guy together with Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga. Not much is known about her techniques, other than that they involve the mastery of weaponry – Tenten is an expert in the use of melee and throwing armaments (such as the three-sectional staff in the anime) and summons special melee weapons from scrolls when needed, sometimes in vast quantities. She also uses strings to control and guide the direction of her weapons. However, this technique is useless against opponents who use wind attacks, as seen in her short and arguably pointless battle against Temari. Tenten has also proven herself very capable of throwing many weapons at her opponent and using them for ranged attacks. Might Guy stated that she never misses with her weapons. In fact, in a senbon needle-throwing practice exercise, she hit the bull's-eye 100 out of 100 times.
Tenten feels very strongly about both her teammates, especially idolizing Neji, and could be seen staring with pride at Lee during his training with Guy at one occasion. She is often seen sparring with Neji, training with her weapons while Neji deflects them with his Eight Trigram Palms Heavenly Spin.
One of the implications of Guy's team is that they are the archetype of the "Chinese rivals," a common staple in Japanese anime and manga. Lee bears a strong resemblance to Bruce Lee, several of Neji's techniques have Chinese aesthetics to them, and Tenten is the most overtly Chinese with her outfit, hairstyle, name, hobbies, favorite foods, and high-pitched voice (a stereotype of young Chinese girls).
Her goal as a kunoichi is to be as great as Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, and she trains hard to achieve her dream. She is considered one of the best female ninja in the village. Tenten also strongly believes that female ninja are just as good as male ninja.
Tenten's hobby is astrology (fortune-telling and horoscopes). Her favorite food is Chinese food and sesame dumplings (sesame dango). She dislikes umeboshi (pickled ume fruit).
[edit] Part I
[edit] Chunin Exam arc
Tenten played a very small role in the Chunin exam arc. She didn't show off her abilities until the preliminaries aside from using mirrors to cheat on the first test. She was matched against Temari in the preliminaries, one of the worst opponents she could have gotten (similar to Lee and his battle with Gaara). She was defeated easily and was later shown assisting Neji with his training.
During the fight between Neji and Naruto, she is convinced that Naruto can't win, but comes to respect his abilities as he forces Neji to take the fight seriously.
[edit] Filler arcs
Tenten is seen in the Raiga, Bird Country, and Bear Country arcs. In the Raiga arcs, she demonstrates her weapons mastery, as well as some more sisterly aspects of her personality. In the Bird Country arc, she has a temporary crush on the supposed "Sagi-sama", who is actually Sagi's twin sister, Toki, in disguise. She also showed her concern for Naruto after he was arrested. In the end, she shows much admiration for Toki's determination and is proud to see her become daimyo. In the Bear Country arc, she shows a more "ditzy" side when she performs her creative shadowing technique, which consists of a barrel with an eyehole. In the Konoha 11 filler arc, Tenten is shown to be a very keen observer. She picks up on facts that Shino, Kiba, and Lee overlooked and her observations contributed a great deal to discovering Gennou's plot.
[edit] Part II
Two and a half years later, Team Guy makes their debut in Chapter 253. Tenten and her teammates are sent as backup as Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi go on a mission to rescue Gaara from the criminal organization Akatsuki. Tenten is now a Chunin, has changed her outfit, and now carries one large scroll. Her skills in weapons have also improved, as seen when she uses giant spiked bombs against Kisame during Team Guy's mission to provide back-up to Team Kakashi.
