catsi563

Agreed they really did need at least an arc of essentially filler episodes that show Sasuke and Naruto growing as friends maybe even 1 or 2 flashbacks that show them becoming friends before the academy with the friendship becoming strained in the academy because of Sasuke getting all the praise and attention while naruto struggles to even be noticed acting out when he does which causes triouble

then post massacre with Sasuke basically wanting to be alone Naruto tries to reach him but is pushed away which naruto takes badly because he doesnt understand so the rivalry grows stronger espeically when Sakura enters the picture which creates the infamous triangle

I dont agree that it was last second theyd been building it up since the chunin exams Sasukes feelings of insecruity and superiority combined with his need for vengance then learning about itachi from orochimaru as well. Naruto being contrasted with him by his hard work and Jiraiya

there was plenty of foreshadowing of their conflict and build up to it all the way to the valley of the end. 

they diverged away from it with the whole indira ashura thing though i agree thats stacking mud on top of mud to make what you hope is a castle its not needed when you allready established the bricks at the bottom

I dont disagree entirely

be maybe more accurate to say that the plot became railroaded with the hunt for sasuke pushing all other things including character development aside for this one hyper obsessive goal. 

the quest to return and redeem sasuke should be a major plot point but it should have been so as part of the meta-arc which was redeem and reform the ninja system as a whole which was what had caused all the problems in the first place.

Its why i think Madara who was both emblematic of and a victim of the broken system should've been its final villain. Once he was defeated then you have Sasuke and Narutos final battle which is to decide how the future would go, Sasuke changing the world through fear of the shadows or Naruto bringing the world slowly but steadily into the light of hope

allowing Sasuke to become the Meta-arc forced the story and stunted the develpment of several characters all over this one broken kid who had some legit grievances but ended up being basically given a free pass in the end getting every powerup and the girl all in one go and all it cost him was an arm

The one common question asked by Narutos foes is "Why dont you just gtive up already?" 

thats my ninja way. is the response which leaves them shocked enough to get a boot to the face for their troubles which often rings their bell enough to wake them up from their cynicism and despair

such Inspiration can be a powerful force for good when backed up by the hope such a character brings to a situation or helps to bring back to a person who's lost it. thats what makes Naruto as a character so strong the ability to restore hope

Sadly, the ending turned that on its ear 

I just lost one my cat. She was with me for 17 years. I still find myself looking for signs of her jumping up on me or waiting to be fed

condolences for all that have lost loved ones

Mad respect for rolling on with the reviews my friend

happy narusaku day 

HAPPY BIRFDAY Chatte!!

Well before I start if any other forum members that still have contacts in Japan want to chime in and correct this feel free.

 

Now then, have you read any manga/anime published/produced before 2000 AD? I'm not trying to be rude or facetious. The farther you go back, the easier it is to understand.

 

For the longest time in shounen, heroine were docile polite traditional innocent maidens of purity who mainly just clap their hands together during a fight and say in a worried tone, "oh main character-kun." Its the reason 'love interest' and 'heroine' are synonymous in Japan because they didn't fight or get in on the action, they existed to be the main characters' girlfriends after the adventure was over.

 

This changed somewhat with DragonBall and Bulma (who despite having a good heart was greedy cowardly selfish vain spoiled girl) who inspired a change into what we now see as the common shounen heroine personality, that was very popular in the 90's; a more modern spunky girl that would argue, berate, often even hit the Hero and sometimes gets into combat as a last resort.

 

In comes Sakura who as a character starts out mainly existing to berate the main character. However, she quickly realize she was failing behind which was dragging her team down putting them all in danger and she had to get stronger. She struggled to find her way at first but eventually found a teacher and came into her own. Japanese loved that story as much as they loved her modern personality.

 

So since the 2000's shounen heroine have been getting more and more involved in actually fighting. In fact, to the point when Kishimoto did his Samurai 8 manga and the heroine was a creative take on the traditional shounen heroine where, "her prayers towards her "main character-kun," actually did impower him," was seen as archaic and sexist by the Japanese. From what I understand.

 

Also, they love the romance, since it was as close to an actual romance a shounen manga would do. Most shounen romances are pretty much done from the start. Either they are the childhood best friend that has always loved him just won't admit it or guy doesn't realize (the standard default,) the girl that he saves in the first chapter to show off which makes her fall in love with her savoir(common in sports and similar genres,) or the manic pixie dream girl that drags the boring main character on an adventure (common in harem and comedies.) Sakura had a crush on another guy at the start and Naruto had to win her heart to make her fall in love with him.

 

So, to make sure I answer your questions. They were fine with her not fighting much because before her heroines rarely, if ever, fought at all. After her, a bit different. As for Sasuke obsession, the ones who liked the dreamy bad boy liked doing that same thing they do in the west building their own story in their head. The ones who supported NS knew that it would happen at the end like most Shounen romances, so they just had to wait and enjoy the build up which was more then most shounen stories did. Then, it didn't happen.

Theres another aspect as well to add. Which is Anime studio interference and preference. Pierot is well known for hinata fanboing to the point where they exaggerated Sakuras tsundere tendencies to quite frankly ridiculous degrees. While making Hinata this objectified  princess who adiored the MC from afar for all her lonely life. they never added any depth just expanded how often she showed up

Sakura meanwhile was made out to be this mad dog firecracker who went off at the drop of a hat or if Naruto so much as farted in her general direction in a manner she found offensive which was EVERY time. And when she wasnt being that she was basically being a doormat for ""Sasuke-kun"" which meant she simped for him at every opportuinity
 

this led to the character seeming to be a split personality where one minute shes about to use Narutos skull to crack the world open and the next shes about to fall into depressed ruin because Sasuke spit on her toes

this inconsistency of characterization by the anime studio basically left a lot of sour taste in peoples mouths and left her character tarnished in many ways worse then other shonen heroines. Sakura if you follow the manga barely ever hit Naruto the comedic aspect was never pushed in the story beyond 2-3 times where it was used

since I consider yall like my family and I know she checks this site every so often. Would appreciate it if yall could help me wish my beautiful wife a Happy Birthday. I know its a little late.

HAPPY BIRFDAY!!     

Actually, girls like Hinata DO exist but Hinata as a character is ONE-DIMENSIONAL. Sakura is shown throughout the series with multiple expressions and emotions. Majority of Hinata's character is stuck being this shy flower and her moments where she is anything but are so few. However, majority of women today are like Sakura (rather they like or not)

Id only make a small correction here 

Hinatas one dimensionality as a character isnt based on her shyness. the shy contemporary with a crush on the MC is a fairly common trope and by itself doesnt usually mean much

the trick is whether the character has plot points and or development outside their main motivation

Hinatas main motivation is Naruto take away that motivation and the character has NOTHING, No plot points no story elements nothing nada

A character can have a focused goal  like get the MC to notice me and return my feelings that fine

but when that is ALL they have and no other elements exist then theyre basically a background character with nothing to add. theyre irrelevant to the main story 

thats always been hinatas issue as a character shes functionally irrelevant to the story anytime you can replace a character with generic fem character #3 or with an existing main or secondary character to the same or greater emotional effect youve crossed the irrelevancy barrier 

Buy me one then Ive said that umpteen dozen times on this forum alone

ill take milk and donuts 

Ill stand on what i posted and call those the rare exceptions to the rule. the story pretty much stands on the fact that when it came to Sasuke Sakura was consistently miserable

ok when did Sasuke make Sakura smile lmao? 699 doesnt count.

In P2, I felt Sakuras her feelings and behavior toward her teammates were played against eachother to show contrast. Makes negativity in S>S and positivity in S>N even more in your face.

And I wouldnt bother with proenders. SS may be canon, but what does that mean in a retcon? SS relation in fanfics are completely fanonbased, and in contrast to actual canon.

Never. its well established that in neither part 1 or 2 did Sakura post her introductory chapter EVER smile because of Sasuke. her expression is always some shade of sorrow or grief or frustration.  or fear usually caused by Sasukes actions

Naruto is canonically the only one to ever make her smile in any form in part 1 or in shippuden