#Shan's Naruto rants

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

I love how @haleigh-sloth and me keep going back and forth with our comparison between Naruto and Sasuke and Deku and Tomura, (you can check this link and this link to understand more of this).

I just sat for a second thinking about it.

Let's go first with Tomura and Sasuke. Aren't both of them victims of their hatred? A hatred that is not original in them, but that someone put in place as a part of a bigger picture. They were both little siblings trying to do their best to reach the expectations of their parents, with a very sweet mother and a very strict father. And both their families got completely murdered. Although there's a clear difference between who did it in both cases, both Tenko and Sasuke were filled with shame and rage for not being able to stop it or doing the killing. Both Tomura and Sasuke too had to remember that terrible day in more than one ocasión, and had external people pressuring them to avoid a possible healing process.

Thinking about the relationship of AFO with Tomura, it also reminds me of Orochimaru and Sasuke. The invasive power taking over their bodies, the isolation, the idea of forming a group of friends to use them, even the color palette matches: the purple and black and red and grey and white.

Both Sasuke and Tomura are the product of a society full of violence. In Sasuke's case, the battle between Konoha's form of government and the Uchihas (don't judge me too hard, it's been many years since I last saw Naruto Shippuden). For Tomura, it was the fight between AFO and OFA. They weren't exactly pieces of the game, but life and society and family forced them into it.

There are many differences, of course. There are more parallels of Sasuke in bnha, and there are completely opposites like Shouto, (he and Dabi are a negative copy of Sasuke and Itachi). But then you have, like I said, the similarities of AFO and Orochimaru.

Wanting to live forever, experimenting on dead bodies (Doc Ujiko serves as an extension of AFO), the many servants willing to die, the grooming children and using them... Orochimaru and AFO share the god complex in terms of seeing life as a group of arbitrary facts that can be altered to one's needs. They criticize society in terms of wrong or right and have a very fucked up morality because of that.

With Naruto and Deku, it's so easy to see. Cheerful, yet discriminated and lonely. Good with kids (Konohamaru, Inari, Eri, Kota), with older people, have many teachers and mentors trying to help him (and sacrificing themselves for him), a colorful group of friends his age, spring themed designs (Deku is full of green and prosperity, Naruto full of yellow like the sun, both implicating grow, light, power).

Both have a power that has been passed on from generation to generation, and they have had the help of the other users of the power in their favor. Both their powers have certain personality willing to give them a hand. Both their mentors (Jiraiya and All Might) are cheerful big dudes, very wise, who yet have fucked up before and have failed in saving or helping certain people. Their principal powers are related to air, have messy hair, bla bla bla.

What I care about the most is the fact that they started as outcast in search for a secret method of getting good to be a proper hero/ninja. They were very lonely in their childhood, but they never gave up. They are very rebellious too. They're choosing their own way, inspiring people with it. And they are very empathic, sensitive when they see injustice, it doesn't matter if they are villains or enemies.

They fight to bring back home and help and redeem their counterparts: Sasuke and Tomura. They are mirrors of each other, light and dark, death and birth, moon and sun. They all know loneliness, they all know how heavy is the weight of the social opinion. And they communicate with words no one else could hear. Their hearts are connected, they can get in each other's minds.

You know, there's this whok academic issue about the Me and the Others, and who our world is built in terms of what I recognize as the person who sees, the viewer, me, my identity, vs the other, the strange, the different, the unknown, etc.

What happens with Sasuke and Naruto and with Izuku and Tomura is that they recognize themselves in the other. There's a type of recognition you can't understand or explain, one that makes you want to protect the other because you see yourself in that person, and it's like seeing yourself getting hurt. That recognition, that knowledge, is love in terms that lack words. It's about shared experiences, about bonds built by going through the same traumas.

It summarize in Sasuke and Tomura wanting to go home more than anything, but not feeling like they are worthy.

They feel dirty, they're searching for forgiveness, they feel guilty and ashamed, like monsters, like people who can only destroy and can't get better. They think "What if I do it again? I am evil. How can I love? I am evil. I must be lying when I say I love my friends, because I am evil. I am a killer. I am a coward. Bla bla bla”.

And what do Naruto and Deku do about it? They bring them unconditional love. A light só strong that shines through every shadow, a hand always extended, an unbreakable will. Trust. "You are not evil". To face an identity crisis, they bring the view of the outsider, saying "I am seeing through the fog clouding your eyes and you're good, you're worth it, you are already getting better, you have it in you to grow and heal and change. The things in your mind are not the truth, trust me. I will never fail you. Trust me. You have not failed me”.

I think it is half a tale of how we all are very afraid of being bad and how we need people to remind us that we have a choice. We don't have to stay closed in our mind with our demons. We can communicate. We can reach for help. There are people out there, there are people out there, who believe in us even if we don't understand why. People who would go to the end of the world to save us. Because we all deserve a little saving and we all have the ability to be the person bringing that comfort, extending that hand, supporting the ones who can't stand by themselves.

Even when there are many differences between Naruto and Sasuke and Deku and Tomura, the message is very similar. I don't know why so many people hate so much the whole thing being about friendship. Aren't we all looking for someone to connect with? That understand us? Don't we all need people by our side? Isn't this all about how we need to learn to communicate with others so we can avoid tragedies? About how being selfish and proud will only isolate us and make us suffer even more?

This is an already long post and I don't want to make it longer. I would love to see more comparisons between Bnha and other Mangas, so this is my contribution.

[team7-headquarter]

My favorite thing about the original team 7 is how each represent a type of love that they lack and desperately want.

Naruto represents friendship love.

Sasuke represents biological family love.

Sakura represents romantic love.

Kakashi represents found family love.

Let me explain.

First we have Naruto:

He lost his family when he was very little and even when he was after romantic love somehow, it was not the main focus in his life. Instead, the major type of love that was always around him was the friendship type.

We can say Naruto knew a type of parental love through Iruka, someone willing to give his life for him, someone constantly caring. And we can say Naruto had classmates but not exactly deep bonds with some friends, because Shikamaru, Kiba and Shoji were more like trouble companions and didn't know him very well. He had a rival in Sasuke and a crush in Sakura, but it's not until they start going on missions together that they all learn what is like to have a real friend.

So Naruto first priority was that, finding friends. This is rooted in the way the village rejected him and it shows in his main dream: being the Hokage. He wanted to become the man with most connections in the village, the man with more friends. That's also why saving Sasuke is so vital for him: if friendship is the superior type of love for Naruto, there's nothing more important than saving his best friend.

In a world where wars and conflicts can easily erase biological families and end up complicating romantic feelings, friendship is highly valuable. Tsunade herself says it, how Naruto has this things that makes people want to bet on him. That's because he's able to stand his ground until changing others, allowing them to see things from a different point of view and reminding them that they don't have to be alone. Having a friend is a real joy, it doesn't matter if they are also your family or your romantic partner. Friendship comes firsts.

With Sasuke, we have another story:

Although everyone wanted to be his friend and be romantically in love with him, Sasuke is unable to forget what happened with his family. The trauma of losing them and the fact that it was his adored older brother who did it changed Sasuke forever. And for me that's totally normal and expected. The Uchihas had a whole issue with loyalty and pride, something that you can see in many of their decisions. They were people of strong feelings and steeled minds. So baby Sasuke, who wanted to make his family proud and who was actually pretty sweet and sensitive, of course ended up willing to do anything to complete his mission of revenge.

That's why his pride and loyalty to his family sent him on a mission to kill Itachi. He did value friendship and romance, but he couldn't see himself involved in all of that while his brother was out there alive. I don't blame him. His love for his biological family marked his hurt and his anger, which turned into hatred. Again, his main dream shows it: avenging the Uchihas. Because if he wasn't able to protect his family, how could he open up to have a new one?

See, that's why it messed him so much when Naruto saved him. Or when Naruto saved Sakura because Sasuke was unable to. Or when his enemies kept rejecting him and fighting Naruto. He was constantly reminded how he was not enough, not strong enough, not fast enough, just... A failure. He didn't think about how it was not his duty to protect an entire clan, let alone because he was just a kid. He was too busy feeling frustrated because he couldn't help and protect them.

It was Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi who taught him about the importance of other types of love, specially the found family love. Also Itachi played a role in it. They all showed him important was Konoha as a whole, and how he had a place to return to, how his life had value outside of revenge, how had other options beside staying angry and hurt, sad and lonely. And more than anything, how he was only human. Needing people is not a flaw and asking for help is totally okay. Even the strongest need some friends and team mates.

For Team 7, Sasuke always deserved to be saved. He was worth the pain and the risk, he was worth everything. They loved him even at his worst, even with a weapon against their bodies, even when Sasuke desperately tried to push them away. Because they felt for him the same loyalty Sasuke knew from his family.

And then, when it comes to Sakura:

Well, even when she represents romantic love, there are many layers to it. She's in the romantic spotlight through the whole series, but it is related to the fact that she already knew the love of a family and the love of a friend, this last thanks to Ino. Of course, Ino later became a rival and Sakura stayed a little alone. It's funny, because all the original members of Team 7 suffered from rejection and loneliness when they were little. Even when Sakura had a family, she was looked down and besides Ino, there's no other special friend to her. Not until she joined Team 7.

Sakura was a little girl messing around with the idea of having a crush, of admiring someone, of copying others behaviors to be accepted, etc. As she grew up, she stopped caring about fitting in and started understanding Sasuke and Naruto's sorrow, their pain, until she started suffering with them and for them so much she was sad all the time, even while smiling. Sakura, who was always some sort of support for the group, took two interesting decisions towards what became her major goal: in order to be able to save others and be useful for the ones she loved, she learned medical ninjutsu to save lives and trained to have the strength and technique to be able to defend them and fight by their side. She could never be as strong or fast as her teammates, but she was always there to cure them, always there to worry for them, always there to cry and smile for them. And of course, there to fight not matter what, even if she was weak or if she was not enough.

Her romantic love went from an idea to a real feeling. A love so deep others saw their loved ones in her. While both Naruto and Sasuke loved her, she also reminded Kakashi of Rin, of how him and Obito loved Rin and how she was willing to give up anything for them. Through the story, there was a quiet agreement that took many people to protect her: she wouldn't die like many others did.

Finally, with Kakashi we have the last type:

Something the three gremlins were lacking was found family love. The whole story can be wrapped in their first trial with Kakashi: how to work as a team. In that time they learned to stick with each other not matter what and to never give up on the other. Because they became their only friends, their world started spinning around the other and it kept being like that until the end.

Kakashi lost his family. He was bullied, rejected too. He knew what was like to carry a heavy burden since he was little. He also lost both his team mates in terrible ways. He lost his teacher, and kept losing people. So when he saw this three kids, he tried to push into them the idea that they should value the people around them. Specially their team mates. Because in the future, they were going to be together mission after mission, through every hard time, through every war and conflict.

Kakashi taught them all a type of love that was truly unconditional. A type of love they all killed for and almost died for. A type of love that was terrible and immense, a loyalty so deep it could shake the world. Naruto, Sakura and Sakuke then taught that to everyone around them. They became the maximum example of how far were they willing to go for his found family. More than friendship, more than romantic love, more than biological families. For the original Team 7, they always come first before anyone else.

In then Kakashi found a family too. They grew together, changed together, saved the world and destroyed many places together. And they ended up alive and well, finally able to be a family in their own way. That's why distance means nothing to them, because not matter what, they know they have each other's backs.

Sai and Yamato emphasize even more what the original Team 7 have. They are part of the family, but the bond between the main Team is something that no one else can walk into. And as I say, it is one of my favorite things in Naruto because it means in the end the whole story is somehow about love in all its forms.

[shanaraki]

Having Sakura Haruno somewhere in the aromantic spectrum would have been so funny because I can totally imagine she was told her feelings for Sasuke were "romantic love" when she was a child, so she wasted years pushing herself and Sasuke into that narrative, pushing even more whenever she felt unhappy or not right because she had no context.

Also I can imagine Naruto assuming his feelings towards Sasuke were hatred and latter friendship because he was clueless about romantic love, and of course Sakura was not reference at all.

Only after Sakura and Naruto are more grown they realize Sakura was just feeling an intense platonic love (deep friendship) towards both Naruto and Sasuke, while Naruto and Sasuke were actually feeling romantic love for each other. They feel dumb for a second after realizing it because it makes total sense and feels perfectly right.

I can imagine Jiraiya and Tsunade explaining to Naruto and Sakura the different levels of the aro-romantic spectrum and then Naruto being like: "Holy shit, so the arospect one was not Sasuke but Sakura, she's the one with intense friendship feelings and me and Sasuke are in love???"

The chaos. Naruto and Sakura trying to explain that to Sasuke. Sasuke just denying everything still but being majorly confuse. Is that an strategy of them? Like what the fuck?

Bonus if at some point Naruto and Sakura start dating as in an experiment to see if Naruto was indeed feeling romantic love towards Sakura and if Sakura was capable of feeling romantic love and Konoha is literally losing their minds. Naruto finding out how easily he falls in love and having a problem because he loves so much girls and boys and he's so sensitive, while Sakura is like "I could date anyone whenever I want but it's not like a need, you know? I mean I need to punch something every now and then but love is not a requirement".

Naruto lives panicking for love, Sakura is calm as a river and gets to choose when to be or not in love and Sasuke is like CAN I PLEASE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S HAPPENING FOR ONE MINUTE? CAN YOU ALL STOP PLAYING WITH MY MIND?

[joosbocks]

Can I get uhhhhhh some nice asks

[tastes-like-miso]

Lucas what’s your fav blogs?

Hi sweety! Sorry it took so long for me to answer but I wanted to wait til I had more time so I could go more in depth 🤨

@zabuzamomochi - is one of my Favorites! Ana is a Lovely human being who also makes her own gifs! And we STAN beautiful original content on this blog. She’s also just super likable and just amazing. I’ll simp over her any day 10/10

@kakashishan - Her blog is mostly Naruto based but some stuff is just Hella relatable or silly. Shan is also literally just lovely and I would do anything for her

@talknojutzu - SHELLIE literally,,, oh my god. She has a beautiful Naruto blog and is also funny as hell! If you’ve been in this fandom for a while I can almost guarantee you’ve seen on her Iconic posts. She is also 10/10 would die 4 her

@kronaxan - He has a Lovely blog that includes a Lot of sns and he also has an amazing sense of humor as well as impecable taste in fanart. Honestly his blog is *chef’s kiss* 10/10

@narutobrainrot - Claire makes her own memes and is literally just,,, hilarious! She’s super sweet and I just think she’s an amazing person and runs a fantastic blog! Even the colors that she chose to accent her blog is ✨immaculate✨

@sasukesun - Not a fan of Sakura or Hinata? Not a fan of ss or nh? Are you a fan of hot takes? BOY DO I HAVE A BLOG FOR YOU- As someone who is tired all the time esp, boy do I Love her passionate rants. I will literally have breakfast and read her blog like the morning newspaper. 10/10

@kyuubi-kisses - Fantastic blog and they also make their own art!!!! I only became mutuals with him recently but I’m glad I did! They’re very sweet and just lovely to follow so I highly recommend following :D

@mangekyhoes - A beautiful Naruto blog but not everything is Naruto based! HOWEVER it is fun and quite relatable! Also Maude is just naturally a fun and sweet person so you just can’t help but have a good time while on her blog or interacting with her! 10/10

@albafee - While not a Naruto blog (but does share Naruto content) I always enjoy their blog and their posts! The tags are always an interesting read and honestly I always have a fun time! Also they’re very kind and definitely worth talking to if you ever interact ^^ 10/10

And last but not least

@i-reallyshouldbeworking - Do you love animals? Love that good gay shit? Like wholesome blogs??? YOU GOT IT HERE. While Zero isn’t always active I always look forward to whenever he is! He is a bit of a shitposter when he is active so don’t be surprised if you blog is ever paraded by adorable animals while following him! He is also just a 10/10 person and I would do anything for him

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Sorry to ask, but why did Itachi kill his family? I thought that was a bad thing. I'd like to know your point of view, I didn't watch Naruto and I've always wondered. No need to answer If you don't want to of course

Anon, let's make a deal you and me.

I haven't watch Naruto in many years, so I can't give my opinion without at least rewatching it. Because that means I'd be giving you the opinion of a distorted memory, and that's unfair

So send this ask again, copy and paste. And I'll make a point of rewatching Naruto Shippuden in Christmas so I can properly answer this question.

For what I remember, it's very complex. Basically the Uchihas were like cops and wanted to fight the system because it was corrupt, and the system wanted to erase the Uchihas for being rebels and also to bury some mistakes. (My memory is terrible, so all the details are blurry and I know there's a lot more to this, but I sincerely can't recall what I'm missing).

Because Itachi was like an especial agent, they gave him the option to fight with his clan and everyone would get killed, or Itachi could kill his entire clan and they'd allow Sasuke, Itachi's little brother, to stay alive.

The moral implications are even more complicated. I remember being very little and trying to defend Itachi in the sense that his two options were equally fucked up. But then I grew and understood many other things about the ninja system, about the context surrounding the Uchiha massacre and well, I was never the type to analyze Naruto while growing up, just enjoy it.

So I'll totally re-watch it and give you a better based, better writing opinion next time. Deal?

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Naruto 🤝 Katekyo Hitman Reborn 🤝 BNHA

Being my big three fandoms in terms of anime to the point I have a sideblog for each of them.

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

The fact that Momo has so many Shikamaru traits is simply the best, I swear.

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

I'm rewatching the episodes around Naruto and Hinata's wedding and I must say, I missed watching Naruto so much.

I can't stop laughing. Every time Orochimaru appears in the background doing something random and out of logic I need to pause it, because kshensjdbdjhfnfid this is golden comedy. Also I missed the whole Naruto generation so much. They are all so dumb and absolutely badass and smart at the same time.

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

On the topic of Naruto, I feel like Iruka would have a cat or two. I don't know why, he gives off dog person vibes but I totally see him adopting a cat or something owo

Imagine him having a dog and a cat and both pets being totally adorable and demanding a lot of attention. I bet his students would love them!

And Naruto would fight all the time with the cat. That's pretty obvious sjbdjdjdkdjdjd.

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

You're so right about Orochimaru, it's very frustrating and jarring seeing him get off scot free after doing horrific experiments and war crimes. He was a good villain, but he barely got a slap on the wrist and that's narratively very frustrating.

I mean he traumatized like three generations of ninjas and then got to love his best life.

If there's a winner in Naruto, it's him.

[team7-headquarter]

Sakura told Naruto to calm down and Sai to forgive Naruto but immediately punched Sai on the face and told him she couldn't care less about him forgiving her. All because Sai was saying awful stuff about Sasuke.

She really went for "you're not able to hate my best friends but you're even invited to hate me, bitch".

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

The urge to write Naruto meta is overtaking my life, because every time I search for a Naruto related tag on Tumblr I deeply regret it.

Also I have a bunch of thoughts about it and I haven't found someone with an opinion similar to mine, so I wonder if someone would be interested in reading what I have to say about it.

And finally, it's because Naruto was one of my first animes, so every now and then I get nostalgic enough to re-read it or rewatch it and I love how my opinions change the older I get.

...

I'm going to end up making a Naruto sideblog, isn't it?

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Just realize I have some preference for characters that want to do good in the world but are easily manipulated and have a tendency to doing things the wrong way even if highly intelligent, because they also have a need for closeness in terms of feelings and people just assume because they are strong and dedicated, they don't need that type of bond where they can be vulnerable and where the other person can support them through the dark sides of their personalities.

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Naruto and Sasuke yeah yeah I get it

I'm still pissed about how Sakura could have been a GREAT character and we were robbed.

Like, she was the one person on the team without a hell of a legacy within her family and yet that she found her way to become a hell of a woman. Giving her proper treatment would have only benefit the whole team.

[team7-headquarter]

Guess it's time to start posting and using tags and see what happens kehdjdudb

Let's see how many tags I can create.