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Naruto fandom will always have different takes about certain aspects of the story over the years. But I like that we all seem to agree that Konan's 600 billion paper bomb attack against Tob is both, a) absolutely ridiculous and b) should've won her that fight

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About this panel:

itachi is wrong lol. i don’t mean that as “my personal interpretation is that itachi is wrong”. i mean that he is intentionally and explicitly meant to be wrong.

itachi is portrayed fairly heroically or at least tragically throughout the latter half of shippuden. ive talked about how the concept of legitimate genocide is ridiculous, how there needed to be some self reflection on his part on the sheer scale of suffering he caused, even if he was ultimately a tool and not the primary instigator (and obviously also was a child)

but the one thing itachi holds himself accountable for is his treatment of sasuke:

itachi’s insistence on seeing sasuke as a “blank canvas” with no thoughts and opinions of his own is, in his words, his failure. for a long time, he didn’t even see sasuke as capable of individual thought, to the point where he plotted to brainwash him into serving konoha - he feels he has the right to control everything in sasuke’s life, because sasuke’s own point of view is apparently non-existent or possesses no value.

here, he admits that had he approached sasuke as an independent human being from the start, the outcome of his life would be significantly less fucked

additionally: a quote i often see in conjunction with this panel sticks out to me. it’s Kishimoto saying sasuke is a “pure” person who basically “does what he wants” without thinking of right or wrong. i don’t think that’s exactly what he depicted in his actual writing, sasuke doesn’t totally disregard right or wrong - but the key here is that he at least has a fierce desire to “do what he wants” which is in contrast to itachi’s belief that he’s a blank canvas for others to project their will onto

sasuke resists orochimaru’s manipulation almost entirely. i mean, he uses him for power yeah, but then he kills him and frees all his prisoners. he retains a moral code while orochimaru’s other victims are thoroughly brainwashed (look at taka, and later chino, and the way they approach human life).

he doesn’t swallow obito’s words instaneously either, and confirms his story with danzo, itachi, and the kages later on. frequently being targeted by manipulation doesn’t mean he is somehow inviting it or especially susceptible to it. even in this panel, exhausted and emotionally drained from “killing itachi”, he’s still resistant

i just think “blank canvas” is an interesting and also really fucking creepy description that really captures itachi and sasuke’s entire relationship. the tragedy of their bond is that itachi does love sasuke, but fallaciously assumed he would remain frozen in time as an impressionable 8 year old, incapable of making his own decisions. itachi was wrong, and for once the manga doesn’t shy away from acknowledging it.

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the princess and her two bffs with fleas🌸

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Are you normal or do you have faint memories of an anime that you've never seen anyone talk about but god, when you first watched it you were so obsessed? Anyway, I'm rewatching Hikaru No Go.

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Newer and stupider kinds of pervy-ninjutsu every day. Sadly, Sasuke has never read ecchi so he doesn't get any of it.

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whatever you want to believe mate

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The world is finally healing!!!

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Someone pointed out once how this shot of Kisame looks like the fool, and it actually got me thinking. It's such a perfect parallel and Kisame embodies the fool so well, I feel like I could write a whole essay about it, but I won't do that here, just wanted to share this

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Interesting Kisame Notes:

Some of these I think are common knowledge in the fandom at this point, but in case they haven’t reached some ears yet I’ll list them anyway.

His characterization is totally different in Japanese vs English dub, partly because his English VA typically voices utter meat-heads and given that Kisame looks like he would be, I guess it fits…buuuuuut it really doesn’t lol. In English, Kisame is very blunt and sounds pretty aggressive; but in Japanese he’s almost the total opposite:

The register of Japanese that Kisame speaks is called Keigo, which is very old and integral to the dialect spoken predominantly in Kyoto. It’s extremely formal — the nearest English equivalent dialect/register I can think of would be an amalgam of 1860’s Victorian High London English. Which is about the right time period, actually, that keigo sorta “belongs” to. (Meiji Era). I could go on trying to explain it, but the gyst is that Kisame is very formal and sometimes a little rude — there is, in fact, a register in Keigo that allows you to be both simultaneously— but he’s also meek. He’s non-committal and generally soft-spoken, even though he’s got an impressive and commanding presence. He doesn’t exactly minimise himself in a physical space or manner, but he definitely comes across like he’s trying not to “be the big baddie”, contrary to his English VA. He also refers to Itachi as -san even though by all rights he ought to use -kun, given that Itachi is 11 years his junior, which is a much loftier raise in respectful position than it would seem (all the moreso because Itachi is a little shit to him at first lol).

Kisame likes to fight, BUT he likes to fight fair. I have many disagreements with the Wiki, but this is probably my biggest gripe about Kisame on there. He’s demonstrably an honorable person, when he can afford to be. Kisame does taunt his opponents occasionally, but it’s never really anything more, and it’s clearly more for fun than for goading. He never outright insults them, though, not even when they’re very clearly outmatched, and he is curiously fond of complimenting his opponents, again even when outmatched. He’s also quite patient, albeit not as much as Itachi, but that I think comes down to their fighting styles more than anything. Itachi prefers a defensive approach, aiming to disarm, whereas Kisame has a much more smash-n-grab approach, wearing his opponent down in a contest of stamina and brute force. (Truly, these two are terrifying when you consider what they’re capable of when coordinating together.) either way, Kisame reminds me of an old Samurai in some ways, in that he follows a code, although maybe it’s one only he knows, and he sticks to it.

Kisame is very probably based on a Youkai called either the Koujin or more often Samebito. Or at the very least the Hoshigaki clan is likely inspired by the myth. Samebito are shark merfolk, essentially, and look pretty terrifying, but they’re actually quite benevolent to benign towards humans. In their mythology they specialize in making textiles of a special silk that’s entirely waterproof and very tough. They’re also, being water Youkai, very sensitive and often emotional creatures, which like some other youkai, cry tears that can crystallize into precious stones. (Water is the element of emotion). There’s a particularly famous story about one, which I won’t get into here — but the ways in which the myth reflects the man are such: Samebito are incredibly loyal to people that help them, and will literally hurt themselves or even kill themselves to help a friend or ally. They also have an honor system, one which prioritizes hospitality and fairness. They may not necessarily go out of their way to help a random human, but they’ll save people from drowning and if you do right by them, they’ll be sure to return the favor.

Kisame and Jiraiya are almost the same height. (Kisame 195cm or 6’4 3/4”, usually rounded up to 6’5” in the data books, Jiraiya is 191cm, about 6’3”) . They both are some of the tallest characters in manga canon, followed by Gai at 184cm, 6’0”.

Something that frequently goes unmentioned is that being one of the 7 swordsmen is more than just a title in Kiri, it awards you a special government role. What exactly that role is, is a bit up in the air, but we know that the swordsmen commanded units, and could command ANBU if they saw fit to. It’s also implied that there’s desk work and other managerial responsibilities associated with the position, which makes sense if we’re going the military commander route. Now obviously some of them were total whack jobs, but the fact nobody except arguably Mangetsu really liked Kisame, (we don’t know about Zabuza, but Kisame’s reaction implies they minded their own business when it came to the other) it’s interesting to think about how exactly that came to be. Cause Mr. Lightning Boy (I do not remember his name) that turns up in part 1 anime is not the sort I envision doing diligent paperwork or anything like proper commanding lol. I know I’m solidly in HC territory here, but I can envision Kisame actually trying to do his job as it says on the tin and every other swordsman looking at him like he’s nuts for sticking to his principles instead of buying into the corruption lol.

In other HC territory that is sort of canon-ish but I guess got retconned for plot or something: Kisame has a PHENOMENAL sense of smell. He’s a very good tracking nin. He’s a sensing type, with added sharky benefits. (Sharks can sense electrical activity in the muscles of prey, so I imagine Kisame is Extra perceptive.) Ergo, it has not ever once made sense to me that he’d of been genuinely surprised by the Tobi/Madara reveal. Unfortunately the tone he uses in Japanese is extremely neutral, so it’s (possibly deliberately) hard to read into. Is he being sarcastic? I’d like to think so, given what canon presents us with, but this is Kishimoto we are talking about lol. In case it’s not clear, I find it Highly doubtful that Obito could have completely changed his scent AND chakra signature beyond recognition, and the fact Itachi knows he’s playing pretend sort of leans into Kisame being aware of it, because I doubt Itachi could really keep his own skepticism under that tight of lock and key. Not around Kisame.

Alrighty, it’s 5am and I need to sleep 🤣 so take this as ye will for now

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gohan y videl

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He clingy.

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i think about them a lot

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I honestly do just presume everyone in the world has watched naruto I just can't comprehend a person that hasn't witnessed rock Lee take off his training weights or seen naruto sit sadly on a swing 50 times so when I see someone say they've never seen naruto I just don't believe them they have definitely watched naruto it is a universal life step

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Various "Haku suddenly revives" scenarios

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The "Saruto" headcanon will never not be funny to me

Yeah ok one stripe on each cheek. The Renesmee-ass name, sure. Every kind of magical eye, why not. And the funniest part is this is exactly what's gonna happen.