Naruto

Am I the only person who has absolutely no problems with Naruto, Sakura, or Sauske?

I don't have any problems with Naruto, Sasuke, or Sakura. Well, not exactly true, I think Sasuke is an all around jerkass, but I don't hate him for it.

I really don't either.

I only have a problem with the inordinate amount of paneltime they get (I know, they are the main characters), not with them.

I don't really have a problem with them, I'm just more interested in the rest of the cast (at least for Sasuke and Sakura).

Moving on the 'Just Bugs Me' can we please give Naruto a field promotion to at least Chuunin? It's getting a little ridiculous at this point.

edited 24th Apr '10 10:02:17 AM by Locke

http://lockescans.blogspot.com - My Air Master scanlation project

Really the main problem I have with the fandom of Naruto (which is the same problem I have with the Kingdom Hearts fandom) is that some people place nearly every main character as The Scrappy. Which gets pretty annoying really fast.

@dmysta: That statement is also based on the great amount of Trope Decay the term "The Scrappy" has gone through. It's suppose to mean "character the overwhelming majority hate", not "character who some people who are very quick to express themselves hate"

And what annoys me is how people automatically hate a storyline as soon as they find out it's not about characters they like, even if it is about a character who has some spotlight coming their way or are featured because they can actually advance the plot.

edited 24th Apr '10 10:46:09 AM by thatother1dude

@dmysta: You're not alone. Sure, they each started with a lot of flaws, some more glaring than others, but IMO I would be Fan Dumb to ignore their Character Development. Yes, some of their flaws are still persistent, but that is also true of Real Life people, which thusly makes the characters relatable.

And I don't know why none of the Sasuke-haters ever stop and think for a moment that perhaps Sasuke's mind was actually broken by Madara's revelations following Itachi's death, for one thing. There are different kinds of madness, after all.

^ That's fan immaturity for you.

edited 24th Apr '10 12:10:25 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

I don't hate the Sauce because he's evil or a dick. In fact, I rather liked pre-defection Sasuke; his fights were pretty cool and he had those little moments that showed he was actually a caring guy.

His recent insanity is also an amusing change for the better.

What I hate is that both in-universe and in terms of the actual spotlight, he's always the centre of attention, suffocating the side characters in the process. He's become drastically overpowered simply through having new powerups like the Curse Seal or Mangekyo pretty much handed to him on a platter, and his fights now tend to involve Ass Pulls or getting bailed out by other characters.

That said, apart from the Deidara fight's horrible conclusion, I actually liked the Hunt for Itachi. Sasuke had his own team of enjoyably quirky ninja, he still had morals and restraints, and the fight with Itachi had him using his actual skills instead of hax, as well as the double KO and revelation that Itachi was far from full strength removing the 'annoyingly overpowered' element.

edited 24th Apr '10 12:11:54 PM by AsTheAnointed

Because I choose to.

I don't know why I hate Sasuke, I just do. He's whiny, carries the accursed Combo Platter Eyes and his recent insanity is hilarious, but overall incredibly stupid.

I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serial

You'd notice that most of his overpowered abilities specifically carry a great cost to their excessively repetitive use (as in, as often as he uses them): eventual blindness of his Sharingan eyes, which will rob him of most of his power. And that has finally ocurred recently.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Key word: Finally.

Besides, I've noticed that he almost never seems to run out of chakra  ^*

. And when he finally did? Zetsu happened. Goddamit Zetsu!

edited 24th Apr '10 12:18:16 PM by KSPAM

I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serial

See, 'overpowered' is not a legitimate compliant against someone who gets his ass kicked almost every time he fights, and needs Deus ex Machina to bail him out the rest of the time.

Claims that he steals to spotlight aren't really legitimate, either, since he's been set up as one of the most important characters from day one, and he only played an active role in two of the six arcs in part 2.

And that was negated rather quickly. One of the many things that bother me about Sasuke is that he seems to just get powers handed to him.

Still, I've never liked Sasuke, for various reasons.

With Sakura, the only reason I don't like her every now and then is the same reason I don't like Lebron James. Sometimes, it's just fun to be a hater.

EDIT: I'm just noticing that the "Which Naruto character are you" ad at the bottom of the page sometimes has Part II Naruto, but Part I Sasuke and Sakura. Clearly, the Ad server doesn't believe in character development for those two, either.

edited 24th Apr '10 12:21:34 PM by wanderlustwarrior

The sad, REAL American dichotomy

I thought the main reason people hated James was Hype Backlash?

that was the first reason I don't like lebron. Now, it's just more fun being a hater, since he's probably going to win this year.

The sad, REAL American dichotomy

The whole 'powers having consequences' thing would be fine if he ever actually truly suffered those consequences. Cursed Seal is painful and weakens him? Fine, the Sound Four can fix that, just takes a little time. Using Orochimaru's powers means the threat of him escaping? No matter, Itachi'll one-shot him. Going blind? No probs, here's Itachi's eyes that have no use limit!

Because I choose to.

@Gilphon: Three of six. You fogot the Sasuke and Sai arc.

@Wanderlustwarrior: Almost all his powerups came at a price. He had to defect to get Stage 2 Cursed Seal, he developed insanity around the time he got MS and "ninja HIV" from overuse of MS (although he got EMS before it became full-blown "ninja AIDS"), and he was blind and in terrible pain for a week or so after getting EMS.

Currently taking a break from the site. See my user page for more information.

And they were all counteracted eventually.

I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serial

Silver: I didn't forget that arc. He only really showed up at the end of that arc, and didn't do much of anything when he did.

Anointed: Orochimaru's powers are really not a good example, since Sasuke can't use them now that Itachi did that thing he did. He can't use the cursed seal anymore, either.

Naruto and Sakura are both more than fine. There's constant character growth of some degree, and neither really get annoying (at least post-time skip)

The problem I have with Saskue is the same problem I have with Bleach (The Ultiquirra guy). He's a distraction from the interesting bits of the story. It feels like something that's there to pad out the chapter number, and not really anything that adds all that much to the story. The whole Naruto/Sasuke thing simply isn't as interesting as the rest of the stuff going on. (Although I have to say that it's much better in the recent manga chapters.)

The anime also does the consequences of his powers a lot better than the manga.

And Naruto will never get promoted. Ever. I think that's the point. That the Leaf's most powerful ninja as of now is at the bottom of their power structure isn't an oversight by the author.

Democracy is the process in which we determine the government that we deserve

I think I have figured it out. The big problem with Sasuke, unilke Naruto or Sakura, is that we very very seldom get to know what happens in his head. We never get thought bubbles. We never get insight into his mind, except for the flashbacks. He's a Shallow Revenge Interest in that his personality seems only and sufficiently defined by his lust for revenge, which explains everything he does. Sakura and Naruto, on the other hand, have complex motivations and react with a great range of emotions to everything that happens around them. Emotionally, sasuke is about as satisfying as Vicious. If only he could be Affably Evil or Evilly Affable, he'd be an entertaining, love-to-hate villain, but his character as he is now just does NOT WORK.

'''YOU SEE THIS DOG I'M PETTING? THAT WAS COURAGE WOLF.Cute, isn't he?

A bit of WMG, if you may:

Hinata will be the one to fight Kabuto for the final time.

Simply put, she's the only person we've seen Kabuto heal who wasn't evil or against Konoha in general. It'd be a nice bit of poetic justice for the one good character Kabuto kept alive be the one to finish him off.

This, of course, implies that Hinata actually takes a larger role in the plot, and that either she gets a major power boost(unlikely) or Kabuto gets weakened somehow, considering he not only has his zombie army jutsu, but was actually able to freak Madara out with one of the dead doppelgangers he has.

Kinda out there considering where we've seen the story go lately, but just something popping in my head.

Rhubarb.

I'm kind of bemused by the fact that people think Sasuke is distracting from the story. Sasuke *is* the story. Or rather, Sasuke and Naruto's rleationship, differing perspectives, contrasting personalities, etc. That's what the series is about. The rest of the stuff (Madara, Orochimaru, all the rest) is pretty much there to push our main characters (our protagonist and antagonist) into conflict. And the story is about how they are going to resolve it (by violence or some form of reconciliation)

There's other stuff too, of course, that's important as well, but if I'd have to point at a central "plot thread" to Naruto that's it: Right from the start it was about these two boys and their differences.

"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent

Raw Power: Y'know, that makes a lot of sense. The reason I find him more likeable in the anime is because we occasionally see him looking conflicted or unsure. You're absolutely right; the reason he's not likeable is because we so rarely get look inside his head.

I still think that's not really enough to justify the insane levels of hate he gets, but that's definitely a contributing factor.

Arilou: Exactly. That's exactly why Sasuke can never be considered a spotlight stealer. Technically, it's everyone else except Naruto who steal the spotlight.

edited 24th Apr '10 1:27:30 PM by Gilphon