Live Blogs Let's Re-read/spork/critique S'TarKan's Team 8

ScorpioRat2013-07-25 19:57:50

How should I start this off...I'm Scorpio Rat, and I've decided to liveblog myself re-reading the Naruto fanfiction Team 8, after discussing it got me reinterested. This was partially inspired by I Am Not Creative Enough working on a joint review of Naruto:Chaos Mage, but I don't think it'll go exactly that way in terms of criticism, considering that Team 8 is definitely of a higher quality. XD Salfishfin has also agreed to do this along with me, so there will be a second opinion as well. I'll be glad if anyone else wants to join in with their own reviews and read along with me! I'll be reading about a chapter each session, and I'll try to update at least once every other day. If I don't finish in one go, I'll edit the update and finish it later.

This is literally my first liveblogging of anything on this site, so please bear with me here.

So yeah, this particular fanfiction is really popular, and came out around early 2006, the first of January to be exact. It has over 11,000 reviews (I wish my own crappy fanfictions got that much attention...), and after skimming a few pages of them, they're mostly positive. I might drop a few reviews myself if I feel compelled to.

I've read Team 8 about twice before this, and those were pretty spaced out, so I only really remember basic plot points. Don't worry about spoiling me in the comments though. There are 21 chapters, and a new one may be coming soon, so this may take a while. I'm reading this on my Kindle as I type, if anyone cares about that.

I guess I'll comment on the summary before I move onto chapter one.

Quote: "What if Naruto had been selected for a different team? What if he'd had a different mentor? Who would guess the consequences would be so large?"

I hate the what if questions, first of all. That tends to throw me off immediately, but the nail itself sems to be solid. We'll see if the changes the nail makes are sensical, I guess. I'll also be on the lookout for OOC moments, pairings, grammar, and any ideas that may have spawned later cliches in the fanfics that followed.

Next update will cover Chapter 1, which I hope to get up sometime tomorrow, or I may start it up later tonight and finish tomorrow.

Comments

Saiga Since: Dec, 1969

Jul 27th 2013 at 6:44:59 PM

I agree with all of those complaints. I also really hate how already Kurenai is apparently worth more than Iruka and Hiruzen, and how in later chapters she chews them both out because of course she's right about everything.

ScorpioRat Since: Dec, 1969

Jul 27th 2013 at 6:54:54 PM

Kurenai is...ugh. And now that I'm starting to read chapter 2, her attitude is getting worse. Joy.

theweirdKiddokun Since: Dec, 1969

Jul 30th 2013 at 2:13:52 PM

Honestly I can't even remember this fan-fic, but all the cliches are really showing.

Valiona Since: Dec, 1969

Oct 3rd 2013 at 2:06:07 PM

Hinata, at her lowest points, is significantly more confident than she is in this fic. Even if her lack of self confidence hampers her, she trains hard, in the hopes of becoming useful to her teammates.

While I'm personally glad that Naruto gave up on pursuing Sakura, especially considering that in the training exercise, she was willing to get a bell for herself and Sasuke, thereby sending Naruto back to the academy, it seems somewhat unreasonable that he would give up on her so quickly here.

I do have to wonder- at what point are soldiers unworthy of having their names on memorials after dying in the service of their country/village? Even if they failed their missions, they still gave their all, and ultimately their lives, for their cause. Still, that comment comes off as remarkably callous for Kurenai, especially since it's later shown in canon that her father went up against the Nine-Tailed Fox on the night of Naruto's birth, and most likely got killed.

The author is somewhat inconsistent in the use of honorifics; Character X might call Character Y "san" in one scene and "chan" in another. It's somewhat annoying to see the inconsistency.

Kurenai seesm to be the author's mouthpiece to bash characters and parts of the setting that he doesn't like. I also have to wonder why there's suddenly a tradition of sexism in the Leaf Village, when nothing of that sort was ever indicated in canon.

The only Gratuitous Japanese I use in my fanfics are Japanese Honorifics and Japanese Sibling Terminology, since the choice of them can often say something about the speaker.

I enjoy reading this liveblog and hope you'll keep it up.