Naruto is my favorite of the big three, due to combat and setting. Aiming at the shounen demographic, it has the expected proclivities, but does okay for a gateway series. Reading much manga and seeing a lack of tournament spectating was so refreshing. Stealth becomes an afterthought, but Kishimoto remembers fighting dirty is another core ninja trait and Naruto provides. The shinobi are well organized and disciplined enough to defer to a competent character when things are in disarray, and going off on one's own is not recommended unless they have the experience or work better by themselves.
Things get tricky, however, when it comes to anyone fighting above jounin level; specifically with combatants waiting to unveil their best tricks. Fine, but done too much it can come off like the characters develop new abilities on the fly instead of being prudent by not revealing all their abilities. Kishimoto struggled balancing this aspect. While I too have my cutoff points, for most of the run I was always eager to see how far each character could refine their craft. Blended together, it made the shinobi nations convincing as military mights.
But what makes Naruto ultimately frustrating for me? Kishimoto had to do a generational epic HIS way. Generational epics aren't bad, as my favorite shounen Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is just that, but Kishimoto simply doesn't have Araki's skill in that area. Whereas Araki gives each generation it's proper development whilst leaving things for the next to improve upon in its own direction, Kishimoto instead builds parallel after parallel.
How many times do we see this or that person referred to as the Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura of that generation? Then there's the rivalry/feud between Naruto and Sasuke that repeats in Kakashi and Obito, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, Hashirama and Madara, the sons of the S-(record breaks). If the ensemble cast was aware of these repetitions, plot mandated they be ineffectual to change little if anything. I started wondering why Kishimoto bothered putting them in the story at all since even if anyone received good development, it more often than not was done only so it could be tied back to the Senju/Uchiha rift in some way. World building started to fall victim to this as well. Bijuu, anyone?
In the end, Neji wasn't the only one with an inescapable fate...
Frustrating
Naruto is my favorite of the big three, due to combat and setting. Aiming at the shounen demographic, it has the expected proclivities, but does okay for a gateway series. Reading much manga and seeing a lack of tournament spectating was so refreshing. Stealth becomes an afterthought, but Kishimoto remembers fighting dirty is another core ninja trait and Naruto provides. The shinobi are well organized and disciplined enough to defer to a competent character when things are in disarray, and going off on one's own is not recommended unless they have the experience or work better by themselves.
Things get tricky, however, when it comes to anyone fighting above jounin level; specifically with combatants waiting to unveil their best tricks. Fine, but done too much it can come off like the characters develop new abilities on the fly instead of being prudent by not revealing all their abilities. Kishimoto struggled balancing this aspect. While I too have my cutoff points, for most of the run I was always eager to see how far each character could refine their craft. Blended together, it made the shinobi nations convincing as military mights.
But what makes Naruto ultimately frustrating for me? Kishimoto had to do a generational epic HIS way. Generational epics aren't bad, as my favorite shounen Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is just that, but Kishimoto simply doesn't have Araki's skill in that area. Whereas Araki gives each generation it's proper development whilst leaving things for the next to improve upon in its own direction, Kishimoto instead builds parallel after parallel.
How many times do we see this or that person referred to as the Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura of that generation? Then there's the rivalry/feud between Naruto and Sasuke that repeats in Kakashi and Obito, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, Hashirama and Madara, the sons of the S-(record breaks). If the ensemble cast was aware of these repetitions, plot mandated they be ineffectual to change little if anything. I started wondering why Kishimoto bothered putting them in the story at all since even if anyone received good development, it more often than not was done only so it could be tied back to the Senju/Uchiha rift in some way. World building started to fall victim to this as well. Bijuu, anyone?
In the end, Neji wasn't the only one with an inescapable fate...