Sai. Sasuke is also the protagonist of manga artist Kenji Taira's Naruto spin-off, Sasuke Uchiha's Sharingan Legend (2014), in which he and Taka search for Itachi. According to Taira, Sasuke would be characterized as an "idiot." A new novel focused on Sasuke's life as an adult alongside Sakura, Sasuke Retsuden: The Uchiha Descendants and the Heavenly Stardust (2019), was written by Jun Esaka. Sasuke is a playable character in Naruto video games, including the Clash of Ninja and Ultimate Ninja series. His Cursed Seal can be unlocked and activated in some games. Due to his absence from early Naruto: Shippuden episodes, Sasuke has not appeared in any games based on Naruto: Shippuden until the launch of Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 2 and Ultimate Ninja 5 (2007). Sasuke is also present in crossover games, such as Jump Super Stars (2005), Battle Stadium D.O.N (2006), Jump Ultimate Stars (2006), J-Stars Victory VS (2014), and Jump Force (2019). Cultural impact Popularity Sasuke has ranked among the top-five Naruto characters in every Weekly Shōnen Jump popularity poll of the series. Initially alternating between third and fourth places, he has finished first twice. A popularity poll on the Japanese website Charapedia ranked Sasuke and Naruto's rivalry as the best in anime. Similarly, Sasuke was voted as the second best rival in manga and anime in a poll by Anime Anime. At New York's 2015 Comic-Con, moderator Christopher Butcher and editor Jo Otsuki commented that Sasuke had become the series' most popular character, and Otsuki called him his favorite. Butcher wondered whether readers considered Sasuke a more-relatable character after he had embraced Naruto's positive outlook on life in the series finale. According to Otsuki, fans regarded Sasuke's character and abilities as "cooler" than those of his rival. Jacob Hope of Anime News Network (ANN) listed Sasuke and Naruto as two of the "Fiercest Frenemies" in anime due to their resemblance despite being adversaries and their need to engage in a mortal fight to become friends. In a Tokyo Otaku Mode poll, Sasuke was deemed the sixth best character women would want to have a date with. IGN also listed him as one of the ten best rivals in anime in general, while a poll from Anime! Anime! listed Naruto and him as one of the best rivals turned into allies. In poll from 2021, Sasuke was voted as the fifth best character from Boruto: Naruto Next