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catotheadequate · 2 years ago

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I recently read Naruto’s Part One (up until the Save Sasuke arc) and I have lots of thoughts™️ about it. I did read the War Arc many years ago but I will not be discussing that since I haven’t read anything in Shippuden/Part Two since I was like… thirteen.

I guess bear with me because there will be OPINIONS!!! A lot of this will be my thoughts on the writing and the characterization of the characters I either enjoyed the most or have the most thoughts on, so not everyone will be included. Fair warning: I do have some not so positive thoughts on some popular characters. I’ll be discussing, in order; Naruto, Sakura, Gaara, Rock Lee, Neji, Kakashi, Zabuza/Haku, and Sasuke. If you feel like sharing your thoughts, please feel free.

Naruto, as a character, is kind of fun and cute. I like him. I wish he was less stupid and the narrative actively tries to keep him an ‘underdog,’ despite the fact he himself says he’s an incredibly hard worker and studies like crazy (at least in the Kakashi exam and Chunin exam). My issues are more Kishimoto not having a strong idea of what the story is or where he wants to go save for a few really strong moments (something that, in my opinion, permeates the entire series) but is particularly egregious with some more than others.

Sakura is… wasted. Kishimoto ALMOST does some foreshadowing with her on like… three separate occasions, such as stating she’s marvelous with Chakra control, panning to her when the meaning of the scrolls is explained and having Kakashi (I think) point out that she’s gifted with Genjutsu. She then does nothing to tangibly alter the direction of the story, nor does she provide anything thematic to justify her being there. It’s unfortunate because girls in Shounen are so often underutilized and the cast of characters in Naruto looks so diverse on the surface. In reality, the characters tend to be rather shallow, at least to my recollection, unless their names are Naruto or Kakashi.

Gaara was one of my favorites despite his arc being so expedited. He represented something really interesting during his introduction: a force of nature, the perfect Shinobi, and the polar opposite of our bright orange protagonist. And the moment the arc he heavily featured in ends he’s a good guy now. Which is… not the best writing choice, in my opinion. I don’t think that was the best way to handle “Child Murderer/Super Weapon is touched by our protagonist!” because the turn around is just so abrupt. Especially his interactions with Rock Lee.

Rock Lee is fun! But his place in the story is ruined by Kishimoto!!! Even at its onset, the ostensible reason Rock Lee exists is to motivate Naruto because he is not gifted - but then he immediately gets rekt. His first real fight and he’s crippled. Thematically, this should indicate that Hard Work gets trounced by Circumstances of your Birth. Naruto beats Neji, sure, but by this point it’s pretty obvious Naruto is something special thanks to Jiraiya’s training arc. Which sucks. It makes me sad. So glad Rock Lee got his own spin off show - My Hero Academia!

Neji is… fine. I think he sort of represents one of my main issues with the story and how it deals with antagonists. While Gaara’s arc is rushed, I think some proper time to heal (and a nice nap) is all he needed to be normal-ish, Neji goes from being the most antagonistic non-Zabuza character in Part One to Naruto’s best friend after a single fight. I do find it funny that he thematically represents fate and Naruto represents the breaking of fate’s chains, but Naruto, by being the ‘legacy of the fourth’ as Jiraiya says, is fated to be successful. Writing/theming issues aside, I like him. He’s a little jerk that realizes that being in his own head is only going to alienate him from others. I am not the biggest fan of how his beef with the Hyuga family is handled. It’s sort of hand-waved, I fear. He and Sasuke should have had more conversations, tbh. I feel like, aside from Naruto, Neji and Sasuke have the most similarities - save the reason they have issues with their family.

Kakashi is fun! I like that he’s a freak and tries to genuinely help the kids, even if his methods border on madness. He’s at his best in the Zabuza arc. He represents the peak of strength for Konoha Shinobi, he’s got a cool gimmick and title to match. Love him ❤️

Zabuza and Haku are the best antagonists in the series and represent the theme of the story the BEST out of any other antagonists in this manga. Naruto’s reaction to Haku and Zabuza dying is so real and genuine for a child to have - all he can do is grab onto Kakashi and try to understand what’s happening. I love it.

Sasuke sucks. I’m sorry, I can’t get over how poorly he’s used in this story and how frustrating his character and decisions are for me. He’s probably the single LEAST consistent aspect of the story, constantly waffling motivations, skill, abilities, and presence in the story. Kisihimoto repeatedly says in his author commentary bookending the chapters that Sasuke is his favorite character and, yeah, I can tell. Sasuke has to be the coolest and the best at all times. He has the most tragic backstory, the most cool powers, the coolest clothes, etc. it comes off as though Kishimoto is going ‘Look! See how cool he is!?’ every other chapter he’s in. Naruto is ostensibly the main character but it really doesn’t feel that way sometimes. By the Chunin exams I think Kishimoto started to realize that and afflicted Sasuke with the curse mark but even THAT gets dealt with by Sasuke just being so gosh darn cool. ‘He held it back with his will!’ Yeah okay. Whatever. His joining Orochimaru I can only understand from a mechanical point of view - Sasuke is Naruto’s greatest rival and the focal point of Naruto’s story (which has its own SLEW of issues) but… Sasuke knows Orochimaru is evil and even gave him the curse mark, so there is no goddamn reason he would join him unless the plot demanded it. I can’t judge Shippuden, as I haven’t read it, but I understand this is a flaw with Sasuke’s writing that never quite goes away. That sucks. As Naruto’s primary antagonist, let’s not pretend he’s anything else, he needs to have a strong code, principle, or goal that he’s chasing after. He doesn’t. He just feels like a character created to be cool and that’s it, he has no substance to me. While I understand his backstory is tragic, I know what happens to it later and Itachi becomes emblematic of everything I dislike in this story. For now, Sasuke is my least favorite aspect of part one. Now, I don’t mind if people like him, it holds no effect on my life and I’m glad people can find something out of his inclusion in the story that I can’t. I understand he’s an extremely popular character and very well liked, I just don’t see it. And that’s fine! I don’t need to, and no one needs to see or understand why I dislike him. I’m not going to tell anyone they shouldn’t enjoy his character, just why I don’t.

I’ve been considering reading through Part Two but I keep stopping in the Obito/Kakashi backstory stuff. I just know where it’s going and I can’t bring myself to read all of it. Maybe I’ll give it another try, but I’m not sure. Anyway, I may post some art I’ve made of Naruto and the gang, hopefully that will be less damaging to my reputation LMAO

#naruto #discussion

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