Ok everyone going on about kishimoto villains right now. I Think I made a few posts about that:
Kishimoto had a problem that is "that no one is born evil, its society that makes someone evil." In other world almost every villain (except Gato) in the manga is evil because of the flaws in the ninja system. So almost every time a villain is defeat we must see a flashback of their tragic past so we can feel incredible sorrow for their death, and lament what good they could have done it society had help them instead of screwing them over. This is actually endemic to most shouen manga as most of manga of the genre have large number of casts are built off of former rivals and villains turned good after the main casts beats them. The thing is that different between most of other mangaka and kishi is that. The other mangaka still have people who are just genuine bastards who just need to be killed in their stories while kishi everyone is basically 'this'.
All the villains are evil because of the ninja system and it needs to have either major reforms or outright removed could be consider a major theme in Naruto for a long time. The problem is that Kishimoto got side tracked by that "cycle of hatred" crap. The thing is that the "cycle of hatred" really isn't a part of Naruto's character or his themes. The "flaws in the ninja system" and "a need to reform it?" Yes. Revenge? No. Hell, the one time he was out for revenge he stopped and instead listened to the bad guy's story of how his dog died. But the "cycle of hatred" and the "obsession with revenge can destroy your life" is apart of Sasuke's themes. So that just another part of Sasuke taking over the manga because kishi makes him evil but not too evil and then tries to justify why he is evil.
How this relates to a problem in the final battle between Naruto and Sasuke? It is he felt more need to explain and justify Sasuke's revolution plan (that we know is not going to happen) instead of explaining to Sasuke and the audience what Naruto's plan was. Since these are the last chapters and the final battle and it would be nice if Naruto can explain how he is going to fix the system that been an obvious problem since Chapter 1. So literally from a literary stand point what they are talking about in this battle is a waste of time.
Kishimoto failed to properly explain what Naruto plan was. Which obviously if we looked at how they story developed since the beginning was reform the Ninja system. The problem is Kishimoto didn't lay it out or explain it so all we are left is listening to Sasuke's plan. Naruto already had a lot of influnce as the heart of the ninja army or what ever he is. If he used that properly to influence the other villages as well as his own he could have removed a lot of problem with the system. Then the "Will of Fire" and the next generation continues enacting more reform. Which is basically what has been happening in konoha since the first hokage. Once again kishimoto didn't explain it nor care so Naruto has no plan so nothing is accomplish in the end. Then again doing nothing is at least better then Sasuke's plan
Sasuke's plan. If one were to start a revolution to set up a new system. One would need to think long and hard about all the details. Instead Sasuke plan was first to kill all the hokages and Naruto so one could oppose him. Then become the sole kage who "dwells in the shadow." Where he would exist and kill anyone who disagrees with him. And somehow this would create his peaceful world. By making everyone live in fear of him, and killing a lot of people. That's it. Really, that is it. This is not a good plan.
Granted I was talking about the final fight and that it was poorly done. Let me add to this then. The problem with kishimoto's villain isn't the fact that he wants us to empathize with them and none of his villains are just bad guys. That is not the problem. The problem is that nothing comes from it. They all have that "oh pity me I had a bad life because of the ninja system. So I am evil because of society." But what comes out of all the villains having that? Nothing, because ultimately Naruto's goal is to end the cycle of hatred so that Sasuke will no longer have a reason to be evil and return the the village. So all those moments where we were suppose to empathize with them is pointless. Since all that matters is Sasuke's villainy in the end. If Kishimoto wanted all those villains oh pity me moments to have a point. It needs to be something Us the audience and Naruto learn from and through Naruto that Kishimoto teaches us how to solve. Which is why I keep saying the moral was and should have remained "reform the ninja system to remove the corruption in it."
So if that had remained the moral message and was actually expressed during the final fight and the ending what the audience would hopefully get out of it would have been: "Like Naruto don't just accept corruption fight it and reject it as well as work with other to reform the system to make your area a better place."
Instead we have Naruto focus on Sasuke and the cycle of hatred which leads to the message of: "No matter what a person does no matter how heinous the action you are to forgive them immediately. Steal from you? Forgive them. Killed someone you love? Forgive them. Raped everyone you care about? Forgive them. Killed everyone you cared about? Forgive them. Cause a war that leads to the destruction of humanity? You forgive them on the spot. And so on." Also the final message that is given to his son that will continue on in Boruto manga the message of: "One must simply endure the problems' of the world there is no fixing it and do not try because it is impossible," as well as "maintaining the Status Quo at all cost."
Edited by Bail o' Lies, 26 October 2016 - 08:22 PM.