Kakashi Reads Make Out Tactics

So You Want to Read Kakashi's Make Out Tactics

Kakashi Hatake reads a series of adult romance novels called Make Out Tactics by the author Jiraiya throughout the Naruto series. It's become one of the more discussed running gags in anime culture. People want to know what's actually in the books, where to find them, and whether they exist outside the show. I've spent years tracking down legitimate sources and filtering out the noise, so here's how to navigate this. The books are fictional within the Naruto universe, but they're based on real published novels. The series is called "Icha Icha" (which roughly translates to "sensual kisses" or "making out" depending on translation). In Japanese, the full title of Kakashi's edition is "Icha Icha Tactics." The series has three books written by Masashi Kishimoto's friend Jiraiya-san (a nod to the author Jiraiya from Naruto's universe). The actual published novels do exist in Japan. There are three main Icha Icha books available: Icha Icha Tactics, Icha Icha Paradise, and Icha Icha: Love and Porn (the third book was released later under a slightly different title). They are genuinely published romance novels that were written for adults. The humor in Naruto comes from Kakashi reading them in public at all times, even during serious situations.

Where to Find Them

If you're looking to actually read them, your options depend on whether you can read Japanese or need an English translation. The situation with translations is complicated and has been a moving target for years. Japanese editions: These are straightforward. You can find them on Amazon Japan, BookWalker, or through Japanese bookstore importers. The originals are mass-market paperbacks, usually around 200-250 pages each. Prices typically run between 600 and 900 yen per volume. English translations: This is where it gets messy. No official English publisher has picked up the series for a complete release. What exists are either fan translations scattered across the internet or partial excerpts. The closest thing to an official release was a limited English edition that came out a few years ago through a smaller distributor, but it's frequently out of stock and resells for inflated prices on secondary markets.

I recommend searching for the ISBN numbers directly rather than searching by title on random sites. The Japanese ISBNs are 978-4-06-340165-7 for Tactics, 978-4-06-340166-4 for Paradise, and 978-4-06-340167-1 for the third volume. Plugging those into BookFinder or similar aggregator sites will show you current availability across sellers.

The Fan Translation Problem

Most people looking for Kakashi Reads Make Out Tactics in English are going to end up on scanlation or fan translation sites. There's a whole ecosystem of unofficial translations floating around, and they vary enormously in quality. Some are careful chapter-by-chapter projects. Most are machine-translated garbage passed off as fan work. My approach when evaluating a fan translation has always been to cross-reference at least two sources for any passage you're unsure about. The worst-case scenario with a bad translation is you misinterpret something and then spend twenty minutes trying to understand why a scene doesn't make narrative sense. I learned this the hard way with the third book's ending — one popular scanlation had the protagonist's name wrong for the entire chapter because the translator confused two character names that look similar in kanji. Reading through it backwards just to figure out who was talking to whom ate about forty minutes I'd never get back.

What You Should Actually Expect

The Icha Icha novels are, honestly, pretty bad romance novels. That's kind of the point. Kishimoto wrote them as intentionally over-the-top melodramatic pulp fiction, and they deliver exactly that. If you approach them expecting literary quality, you'll be disappointed. They're erotic romance novels written by a manga artist as an inside joke, and they function exactly as intended within the Naruto context. What makes them worth reading is the meta layer — understanding why Kakashi carries them, why Jiraiya wrote them, and how the series uses them as both comic relief and genuine character development. Kakashi's attachment to the books turns out to have real emotional weight behind it when you're further into the story. The books themselves are the vehicle for that reveal, not the destination.

Alternatives If You Can't Access Them

If the translations aren't working out or you can't get Japanese editions, there are a couple of alternatives. The Naruto manga itself covers the Make Out Tactics storyline extensively enough that reading the relevant chapters gives you most of the cultural context. There are also official art books and guidebooks that include excerpts and commentary on the novels. Another option is to read the light novel adaptations. Several Naruto light novels reference the Icha Icha series and sometimes include translated passages or commentary that gives you a sense of what the source material feels like without needing the full books. There's also a practical question about whether you should bother reading them at all if your goal is just to understand the Naruto reference. In most cases, knowing that the books exist and understanding their role in the story is sufficient. You don't need to have read all three volumes to understand the jokes or the character beats. The running gag works because of repetition and context, not because of plot details from the novels themselves.

I've seen people spend weeks hunting down rare English copies only to finish them and realize they didn't actually enjoy the books. That's a fine outcome. The Naruto references land either way. Just make sure you're hunting for the right thing before you invest time in it.