oodearest

[oodearest]

So I rewatched KHR back in the pandemic, fully thinking it wouldn’t hold up to my childhood enjoyment. I was pleasantly surprised that I still liked it. The early episodes are a bit rough to get through, but the actual story line is pretty solid. The future arc remains so fun and interesting!

I was the most shocked to see that I actually enjoyed KHR more when rewatching? I always loved Tsuna as a character but on my rewatch it hit me how young he actually is when all this stuff gets dumped on him.

On top of that Tsuna is pretty consistent in refusing the Vongola lifestyle throughout the whole series. However he will always step up to be a leader if it’s for the sake of his loved ones.

I simply adore him. He’s so sweet and patient. You really get to see what a wonderful person he is during that whole 10 years future arc. He’s only 14, he’s scared and feels responsible for getting his friends into this situation. Plus he’s expected to be their leader? Even for the adult guardians, it’s wild. He still does it though and he manages not to have a full breakdown too.

I love that Tsuna’s main super powers are hyper intuition and sheer grit. I also love seeing how his kindness gains him allows even without his knowledge.

I would love a KHR reboot where they animate those last two arcs in the manga and also fix any plot holes as they go. It’s been over a decade and I still hold hope that one day we’ll get to see more of it.

[oodearest]

Shameless plug but I ended up writing this idea for fun. Updates will be sporadic but check it out if you’re interested!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65458186/chapters/168475465

I do have drafted content in works though, here’s a snippet from the next chapter:

Chapter 2 excerpt - The Chuunin Exams

Neji in retaliation says, “raise your hand if your mentor killed two Hokages during the invasion.”

There’s a beat of silence where everyone in the room is pointedly not meeting a mismatched gaze.

Sasuke scowls and raises his hand. “I wouldn’t call him a mentor.”

“Yeah, he was a freak!” Naruto interjects, “remember how he tried to steal Sasuke’s body for immortality?”

“And we let that guy roam free?” Kiba wonders aloud.

Still in my Naruto brain rot era so here’s another AU I desperately need to see.

A podcast run by Naruto where his co-hosts are team 7 and other famous connections.

This is post war. It’s just them talking about their past and goofing off, but given how unhinged their lives were it’s just a series of crazy reveals

For example:

Yeah I kissed my girlfriend for the first time on the moon

Random stories of how Kakashi, their current Hokage, is lame. Sometimes he crashes those episodes too

A running joke about how many times Sasuke tried to kill them

The Konoha 12 talking about Gaara’s homocidal era and Lee joking that he gets an apology gift each year after Gaara almost ended his career

One episode where the Hyuuga cousins who look like they get along, let it slip that Neji tried to kill Hinata once. And Naruto regales everyone the tale of avenging Hinata’s honour during the Chuunin exams.

A whole episode dedicated to Sakura listing the stupid ways Sasuke and Naruto got injured.

Team 7, after popular request talking about what it’s like to train with the Sannin but it’s just them complaining about what a hot mess each one was. “Pervy Sage would leave me alone with the toads for weeks.” “Orochimaru was actually an alright teacher, when he wasn’t committing crimes against humanity.” “When Tsunade wasn’t on a bender, she’d train me by breaking my bones in a spar then making me heal them.”

An episode where Team 7 just for the chaos go an interview the main shop owners that used to bully Naruto

Naruto dropping casual lore like oh yeah I met my Dad the Fourth Hokage etc

Sasuke mentioning what he got up to with Team Taka and dropping lore on his fugitive days. “Yeah we were bounty hunter for a week to make money. Jyuugo’s good at knitting, we sold scarves in the market to make extra cash. Suigetsu grave robbed Zabuza’s sword. The Great Naruto bridge looks good tho.”

One episode they bring on everyone that was involved in the Sasuke retrieval mission and they recount it to an ashamed and guilty Sasuke. Shino mediates the episode and is sullen for not being included. He keeps muttering under his breath “If I was there you would’ve gotten him.”

Sakura brings Sai and Yamato on an episode and has them explain how traumatising their brief time with team 7 was.

The possibilities are endless and there’s so much lore between all the characters the amount of reveals they could drop!

[oodearest]

Currently on the last book of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy and when I tell you it’s a burning need to get another POV besides Fitz. Bee’s great but she can only give us so much context.

I need to know what Dutiful and Nettle think about Fitz or even some random side character.

Fitz is such an unrealiable narrator fr, like why did it take until the Assassin’s Quest for us to realise he’s conventionally attractive and also incredibly beloved by the people in Buck Keep castle?

Was he as subtle as he thinks he was about his Witted status? Do people hate him as much as he thinks or is that his trauma and paranoia? Tbh what does Hap think of Fitz? Like he basically raised this kid in a rundown shack and told him nothing about his personal lore.

I’m also so deeply amused by how much Fitz is not a main character in their world. He’s there for every major milestone and actively contributes to its fruition but he’s never there for the big reveal and celebration. He’s not there to ride the dragons to end the Red Ship Raiders War, he doesn’t go back with Dutiful and Narsheska to present Icefyre etc. His catalyst lifestyle is legitimately depressing. He never catches a break.

[oodearest]

Still in my Naruto brain rot era so here’s another AU I desperately need to see.

A podcast run by Naruto where his co-hosts are team 7 and other famous connections.

This is post war. It’s just them talking about their past and goofing off, but given how unhinged their lives were it’s just a series of crazy reveals

For example:

Yeah I kissed my girlfriend for the first time on the moon

Random stories of how Kakashi, their current Hokage, is lame. Sometimes he crashes those episodes too

A running joke about how many times Sasuke tried to kill them

The Konoha 12 talking about Gaara’s homocidal era and Lee joking that he gets an apology gift each year after Gaara almost ended his career

One episode where the Hyuuga cousins who look like they get along, let it slip that Neji tried to kill Hinata once. And Naruto regales everyone the tale of avenging Hinata’s honour during the Chuunin exams.

A whole episode dedicated to Sakura listing the stupid ways Sasuke and Naruto got injured.

Team 7, after popular request talking about what it’s like to train with the Sannin but it’s just them complaining about what a hot mess each one was. “Pervy Sage would leave me alone with the toads for weeks.” “Orochimaru was actually an alright teacher, when he wasn’t committing crimes against humanity.” “When Tsunade wasn’t on a bender, she’d train me by breaking my bones in a spar then making me heal them.”

An episode where Team 7 just for the chaos go an interview the main shop owners that used to bully Naruto

Naruto dropping casual lore like oh yeah I met my Dad the Fourth Hokage etc

Sasuke mentioning what he got up to with Team Taka and dropping lore on his fugitive days. “Yeah we were bounty hunter for a week to make money. Jyuugo’s good at knitting, we sold scarves in the market to make extra cash. Suigetsu grave robbed Zabuza’s sword. The Great Naruto bridge looks good tho.”

One episode they bring on everyone that was involved in the Sasuke retrieval mission and they recount it to an ashamed and guilty Sasuke. Shino mediates the episode and is sullen for not being included. He keeps muttering under his breath “If I was there you would’ve gotten him.”

Sakura brings Sai and Yamato on an episode and has them explain how traumatising their brief time with team 7 was.

The possibilities are endless and there’s so much lore between all the characters the amount of reveals they could drop!

[oodearest]

Kakashi’s lame, sloppy and unreliable persona in adulthood is so special to me. It’s really the most radical thing he does to reject the expectations on him and to make up for his past.

This guy is inherently such a serious person. He’s sharp, incredibly intelligent and with years of experience under his belt. He’s a venerated legend and known to basically every ninja in the world. He’s a war vet. The list goes on.

Yet he chooses to present himself as non-threatening. He slouches, is chronically late, lets other people bully him into situations, reads Icha Icha in public and doesn’t fight too hard when his genin team drag him into antics.

After he drops the whole tough guy act with Team 7 early on in the series, he’s surprisingly patient and gentle with them. He answers their questions, calmly corrects them and rarely ever gets mad.

He’s a thousand percent a shambolic mess when he’s first introduced and yet he tries to get it together enough to support team 7. He tries to be there for them.

Without the context of his backstory, Kakashi is still a really compelling character. But when you put it all together, it really does feel quite miraculous that he can be such a loser adult. He didn’t let himself get hardened when it would’ve been so easy to do so. He remains gentle. And I really standby the fact that he is gentle and kind. Those are traits that really shine through to me.

I find myself wondering how he would’ve shown up for team 7 if the Chuunin exams didn’t happen so early in the series. He didn’t really get that much time with them without one major crisis after another. In a way, all the other Jounin senseis got to ease into their role, some even had years but I don’t think Kakashi ever got that.

[oodearest]

Okay here’s my pitch to any Naruto fic writers.

While I like Sai and Yamato as characters, their introduction in Shippuden reads like when major characters in a tv series are hastily replaced due to their actors leaving.

Instead I think it would be funny to have a fic where Sakura and Naruto are joined by two long-suffering guest stars per mission. Bonus points if during one mission, their Jounin leader is Neji. Because the narrative conveniently forgets that he is a Jounin and thus can basically fill the role of the other senseis.

Extra extra points if it becomes a running gag that no one wants to work with Team 7 because they are basically cursed with the most randomly dangerous and unhinged missions.

The poor shinobi forced into their missions lost when drawing straws. They have a support group for those personally victimised by Team 7 and their never ending pursuit of Sasuke. Kakashi could rejoin earlier as their Jounin instructor but Tsunade is too amused by how haggard the latest victims are to reinstate him. She gets a good cackle when they report to her and their appointed Jounin leader looks ready to retire.

It gets so bad that people try getting Sakura promoted to Jounin early so she can deal with her team herself.

[oodearest]

Thinking about how Gohan choosing to live a semi normal life is objectively hilarious. Because to his fellow uni students or work colleagues he’s just an unnecessarily buff but overall nerdy and sweet guy. Then you zoom out, look at his family and treasured acquaintances and OH NO, WHAT? Are those aliens? Why can they fly? OH NO.

Plus he’s married to an heiress essentially? I just know he has people scratching their heads trying to figure him out.

Also I know some DBZ/DBS fans give him grief for losing his edge. But hello? This guy basically saved the world thrice and majority of that was before he was even 12. He didn’t even get to stumble across peril while going on a fun adventure, it literally hit him in the face every single time. Gohan entering martial arts retirement after clocking crazy stats in his youth is also HILARIOUS and I support suburban dad Gohan.

[oodearest]

I’ve found myself back into Naruto after being somewhat indifferent to the end of Shippuden. Was not a huge fan of that final arc.

Anyways I remember initially being annoyed and/or disappointed with some of Sasuke’s actions towards the end of the series. Don’t get me started on him immediately trying to fight Naruto after they ended an entire WAR. Grrr!!

But I’m able to articulate better why I found the whole ‘let’s get Sasuke back’ rhetoric in Shippuden so frustrating. This might get long so bear with me, might as well format this as a zany essay while I’m at it.

Mission get Sasuke back — The terrible, no good experience of having your trauma ignored

It’s been a while so I could be wrong, but I feel like team 7 never address how absolutely valid Sasuke’s desire to leave is? Kakashi touches on it when he tries to reason with Sasuke pre-defection but I don’t think it ever got through.

In Sakura and Naruto’s case, they want him back, they say they want to be a team again, but none of them ever considers his perspective?

The inherent racism against the Uchiha

Their approach is pretty tone deaf honestly. Sasuke’s a victim of violence. His people were massacred. At the start of the series it’s only been like 5 years since it happened. Sasuke has no one. He also can’t trust anyone. Prior to the massacre the village ostracised them and feared them. In Sasuke’s lifetime, the village has never been welcoming to his identity as an Uchiha.

To top it all off this hatred was incited YEARS earlier by non other than the village’s own second Hokage. It’s pretty vile how much passive and oftentimes—straight up overt—racism is directed towards the Uchiha and no one ever calls it out?

Honestly after Sasuke learns the truth from Itachi, why would he ever feel at peace in the village again? How could he ever return there knowing what they allowed? Does he even fit in there? Did he belong in the first place?

The loneliness of processing his people’s oppresion

These are some complex issues. Sasuke starts tackling them at 12 when he first leaves and only really process it by the end of the war. He spends his adolescence seeking revenge, when he gets it he spends the remainder of the series grieving. He’s mourning, he’s searching for the truth, he’s trying to grasp anything tangible in this awful world he’s inhabiting.

I cannot stress how MAD I get when Sakura and Naruto are like come back, we miss you, what about our bond 🥺 Like guys priorities?? Sasuke is single-handedly tackling systematic corruption and discrimination, give him a minute.

All things considered, he handles those issues in lik four years. He’s pretty efficient.

Overall I don’t think Sasuke’s problem was ever about losing his morals or succumbing to rage. That played a role of course. But the crux of his issue was him fighting for himself, his people and getting justice for something that was largely brushed aside.

I think it’s disappointing that we don’t see more support from team 7 or the village. No rage on Sasuke’s behalf? Not even a brief acknowledgment that the previous leadership was cooked and unfortunately dropped the ball on protecting his people.

Does forgiveness even apply here?

Naruto is a series about forgiveness and redemption. Which can be so beautiful. However I get the sense they want Sasuke to move on from anger and that’s so not possible given what he experienced. There’s a reason reparations is a big part of reconciliation. Konoha was never going to do that under its current leadership.

Konoha is a system. If Sasuke opposes that system then it’s simply him paving a better way for himself. I don’t get why that concept is hard for them to understand. This village is so cooked that the Sannin peaced out of there as soon as they could. Didn’t even come back post Kyuubi attack.

Naruto is a forgiving character, but as someone who also got done dirty by the village it’s sad that he didn’t understand why Sasuke couldn’t drop all of his grief and plans, to simply return to being one of Konoha’s soldiers.

Anyways there’s a lot of nuance missing here that I didn’t go into detail about. Sasuke objectively did some horrible things. Shippuden is him processing trauma realtime, it’s not a surprise that he’s messy, raw and self-destructive. I switch between being so frustrated with him then feeling so sad about his circumstances.

They could never make me form a one-dimensional opinion on you Sasuke! You’re worth thousands of think pieces.

[oodearest]

I also find it such a weird shift from World Trigger being a series that focuses on school. To never mentioning school again? I mean Yuma and Osamu literally meet there for the first time.

It’s a minor thing but I braced myself for one of those double life shows where they’ve got to juggle their normal life and Border responsibilities. But they just straight up stop including school in the narrative aside from passing comments. I think it threw me off in the beginning because I was expecting something slice of life esque, kinda like Sailor Moon where they still do regular stuff. At a certain point you never see them outside the context of Border. It’s so strange because part of the show’s early gimmick was getting Yuma integrated into society. We went from ‘look at this silly alien trying to fit in’ to ‘everyday is a battle, prepare to fight.’

It kinda kills me inside a little bit that World Trigger is such a difficult to recommend story. The character writing is great, the power system is very well thought out, and the fight scenes are brilliantly written. However, that all means that it's a very information dense story. And that's before it starts introducing over a hundred named characters. They aren't one-off characters either, where you can just forget them and never have to worry about them showing up again, no. You better be keeping track of who's who and their affiliations, because they will be having a continued presence in the story. This makes it especially hard for people who are only really invested in the main characters in stories and don't care about side characters, because a lot of screen time and development is devoted to the supporting characters.

It gets even worse if a person would rather watch anime over manga, because the first season of the anime is Like That. How do you recommend an anime to someone, when the best way to experience it is to read XYZ number of chapters, and then watch seasons 2 and 3!??

[oodearest]

I think the Boruto series has finally grown on me. Not that I’ve watched it outside of seeing glimpses of it online throughout the years. But having been there when the series was first announced, yikes! That poor little kid was hated his show did not stand a chance.

While I still mourn the haircuts of some of our beloved Shippuden characters (Gaara’s hair still hurts me). I think the next gen characters are great! Honestly they have a much healthier vibe than the dysfunctional mix of trauma and love triangles going on with the rookie nine.

I still question some of the choices and don’t even get me started on how annoyed I am that they let Orochimaru run loose and live his best life. Mistuki is adorable though!

Boruto is a series that hit its stride and became its own thing. My only hesitation to fully invest, is that I know the characters are going to struggle. That’s what a narrative does and shows like the Naruto series are all about giving these guys the WORST time. And that legitimately hurts me because I cannot handle the fact that the Konoha 12 spent their youth fighting off scary threats and eventually participating in a full scale war. Then after ushering in peace and actively building a better world for themselves and now their children, their kids are going to suffer things similar to if not worse than they did?

MY HEART. I physically can’t handle that Naruto yearned for family his whole life and finally built this beautiful loving dynamic with his wife and rambunctious yet precious children, and it’s going to get disrupted. Him and Hinata are going to live with the guilt of their children hurting and getting traumatised.

The kids are going to get traumatised AGAIN 😭

This is not even touching on all the other side characters that are getting hurt, nerfed power wise and or possibly killed? I’m still holding out hope the latter is not true, jury’s out though :(

So yeah it’s rough out here. The next gen really did grow on me once they fleshed them out into individual characters rather than copies of their parents.

[oodearest]

It’s been years since I’ve watched/read Naruto, but that series despite its ups and downs will always be a classic to me.

That being said I can’t help but always sob, “MY SHAYLA” every time I think of the potential we could’ve explored in sooo many characters. Or even the dynamics we could’ve explored. Don’t even get me started on plot points or world building.

For example I LOVE Team 8, they are adorable little weirdos with incredibly complimentary skillsets and a deep care for each other. I wish we could’ve gotten joint team 10 and 8 scenes since Kurenai and Asuma were literally together. Also why weren’t team 8 involved in the whole Hidan and Kakuzu situation?? They’re all so ride or die for Kurenai. Even if they couldn’t have I feel like the impact this had on their team was never addressed.

Also the girls from the Konoha 11 barely interact and with how male dominated their world is there’s no way those girls don’t put aside their differences and have a standing support group to vent about them.

Hinata?? I’m in tears again. Her default setting as love interest never went away, it makes me so sad! The internal politics of the Hyuuga clan were so interesting and I wish we could’ve seen how she chose to confront it. Also someone like Hinata who doesn’t like violence or fighting would’ve been the perfect candidate to introduce Hyuuga technique in medicine or even the Anbu? The possibilities!

In general the found family dynamic of the Konoha 11 is so weak. They barely interact and I think that’s why it’s so hard to believe some of their relationships. If we had regular joint training or a single space dedicated to Genin where they could practice and hangout then those organic moments would be so much easier to build or reference.

It’s been a while so my memory is hazy and I may have gotten some details wrong. There’s so much potential that I would love to see explored and this is why we have fanfiction! If anyone has any recs for fics that fill the void please share!

[oodearest]

Slight Natsume’s Book of Friends season 7 spoilers.

Loving that this season especially you can feel how confident and established Natsume is in his environment. He’s always viewed himself as someone who takes from those around him. Therefore It’s so heartwarming to see him constantly giving back in this season. Whether it’s building a flowerbed, helping Natori with a job or quietly saving his friends from supernatural nonsense. It shows that he’s stable and has built a relationship with those around him where they give and they take because that’s how you care for each other. He’s also able to take up space. That moment in the first episode where he just lets that yokai take Toko’s teacup? Season 1 Natsume would be packing his bags in fear if that ever happened to him.

I also adore the little moments in the beginning of the season where Natsume is complaining to Tanuma about the latest yokai trouble he’s dealing with. It’s just so sweet and it shows how far Natsume has come. He has people who accept him completely. He has a safe space to rant about the weirdness he experiences. He’s even in a position where he can leverage his abilities for good. For example that episode with Taki’s brother.

TL;DR Natsume is growing in the most gradual way and it really shines this season

[oodearest]

Absolutely obsessed with the notion that KnB is simply one long friendship breakup and makeup arc.

It always throws me that the MiraGen were actually friends. Before their collective descent into madness they had lunch together and hung out after school :(

Anyways KnB gets way funnier when you realise that basketball is the backdrop to them working out their issues.

I just know that Kuroko never lets them live it down post canon. For example “Remember the time Aomine had his diva era?”

Also as a side note, I have to say that Kise is the most normal MiraGen. He’s definitely arrogant but honestly I’m surprised he’s not more arrogant given that he’s a teenager who’s effortlessly good at everything and is rewarded for it.

[oodearest]

Probably very late to the party but it finally clicked why something felt so familiar about the whole vibe of Egghead Island. It was this constant Deja Vu the whole time.

It’s Astro Boy inspired! Plus Doctor Vega Punk is equal parts a mash of Einstein and Newton, but also Doctor Tenma from Astro Boy — who is likely based on Einstein.

[oodearest]

this new illustration is…… uni student kuroo dropping by to check on nekoma 3rd year student kenma and karasuno’s 2nd years…….. haikyuu you will always be my everything

[oodearest]

For a Shounen jump series I feel like World Trigger has flown completely under the radar of my focus for years.

I didn’t even realise it was a shounen jump series until I tried reading it after binging the show.

But it’s so good?? The plot makes sense. Osamu is probably one of the more normal shounen protagonists. Everyone is friends. Yet there is no power of friendship. There is no magic training arc to cure all their problems. It’s also kinda dark if you dwell on the threat of the neighbours. However the children are safe and not forced to live this lifestyle?? Honestly that’s the most shocking part to me. Lots of action series tend to overlook the toll fighting on the frontlines takes on the youth.

The world building is amazing! It’s so detailed and immersive. The concept of triggers and Trion is really cool.

Also I find it fascinating how the border agents are all so interconnected and chill with each other. It’s especially evident the higher the rank. I mean there are some abrasive personalities but no one is outright a bully.

The squads are also so interesting. I love their dynamics. You can tell these squads are formed organically and WANT to work with each other. Plus people come and go frequently. Some agents quit their team and form a new one and there’s no bad blood.

The rank wars are also so good! Especially in season 2 and 3.

[oodearest]

Natsume’s Book of Friends always starts each new season as if it wasn’t gone for like 4 years. We get a quick two second voice over to remind us of the general premise then it’s back to regular programming. Which is Natsume stumbling across the most insane situation and getting deeply inconvenienced by spirits.

It’s like coming home really. Didn’t even realise how much I missed this show.