Well, it's business as usual with Kishimoto's latest interview. He has definitely lost all credibility now.
It's been almost a year since the ending, and Kishimoto is trying to say that he's "unaware" about the controversy with the ending pairings? Ever since the ending came out, he's been having to answer questions about how they happened!
He still can't lie consistently:
- NaruHina was planned "a few months before the end". NaruSaku was originally planned, but then he "felt sorry for Hinata".
- NaruHina was planned "since the beginning", and NaruSaku was always a "red herring".
- Now NaruHina was planned "since the middle of the manga."
Like Sparda3g said, if Kishimoto had planned for Naruto and Hinata, why did he not write their development into the story? I would have actually accepted the ending, if the story and character development had been laid for it in the first place. Then it would have made sense, at least.
But Kishimoto did not even bother to do that. Instead, he just butchered the story and the characters. That is why so many fans are so angry and disappointed with him.
Even some NaruHina and SasuSaku fans are disappointed with him. The other day, I came across a well-written blog post by a NaruHina fan: http://358memories.t...-nh-perspective
There are perfectly legitimate concerns with the story and character development, and how the ending seems to completely discard everything from the previous 14 years of the manga story.
I believe that Masashi Kishimoto and Studio Pierrot do know that they have screwed up very badly with the ending and the New Era Project. It's been nearly a year, and many fans are still angry.
After all, the anime went to fillers JUST before Sakura was due to give Naruto the kiss of life. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the fillers are still going, and they have not resumed the main story yet?
Now, if everything was going fine and Naruto was still popular, why would they need to keep inserting new filler stories? Why not just go straight to a Boruto spin-off anime series, which I believe was their original plan?
I think that they are trying to play for time and appease fans as much as they can. But that tactic is clearly not working, as there is still fresh anger. Kishimoto keeps stoking that anger every time he has an interview, because he cannot stop lying and contradicting himself.
The way things are headed, I think there is a real chance that Naruto will end permanently in 2016. Sales have been falling, and the anime and movie ratings have plunged.
It would be a sad way for Naruto to go, but I think that it would be for the best. It's very unlikely that Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, and Studio Pierrot will do a U turn and try to fix what went wrong.
This way, the fans who like the ending will still have their "canon" ending, and everyone else can have closure and move on.