It's disappointing that Sakura's storyline is so wrapped around her 'not being a burden' and 'having them watch her back' for a change. She makes strides, does the things that resolve that issue...and then in chapters like this its completely undermined. Last chapter he said she was dead weight, and instead of telling him off she just takes it and looks miserable. This chapter, Sasuke says that saving her and Kakashi was just part of the deal with saving Naruto, and he was going to let her die again by dropping into the lava. And again, Sakura never expresses her anger, only her tender appreciation for Naruto. Blech.
Sasuke is literally saying, in the most overt ways yet in the manga, that she is a burden. He's not just going to kill her because she's a force to be reckoned with, he's going to let her die because she's beneath his notice.
It's so disappointing.
I agree. Regardless of what footing he puts her on in terms of power, I don't think its too much to ask that she stand up for herself.
It's the double whammy of damsel in distress. One from the actual death and then from Sasuke being a kitten. I, and correct me if I am wrong, would agree with you that the latter is the more disappointing of the two. As far as she has come, it's awful that she still defers to him. I know Naruto has been willing to tell Sasuke off to his face from the beginning, but I would think that after that has transpired she could do the same.
I admit that I don't get why she cannot at this stage. There is him being Team 7 and whatever she still has for him, but, that's just an excuse. There is whole trying to kill her thing, openly telling her she is a burden and telling her that he'd have let her die, and it's Naruto that calls Sasuke out,
If she weren't a more developed character, I'd say she is starting to drift in the Karin direction.
I think the stage is being set for Sasuke's redemption with this crap. Sakura has already attained her personal goal of saving them (although it was only for a little while in battle), so now all that's left is for Sasuke to fully acknowledge her.
I'd imagine so. It's a shame too. I know I keep saying it, but I do like Sasuke overall, but Kishimoto can't stick with a single presentation of his character and is so hellbent on preserving his redemption that he has characters behaving in ways that defy common sense when he does something bad.
I don't have a strong preference with whether he goes with the more-misguided, tormented, but deep down decent version or the evil/a**hole version, but he needs to stick with what he picks and have characters behave appropriately. I think he character now is in line with his motives, but his behavior is terrible. Sakura isn't calling him on it and Naruto is giving him a semi-pass. Ripping him a small one when it should be a big one. Unfortunately, this issue is not confined to Sasuke. It permeated the Uchiha likely year old moldy cheese. Even when you toss the cheese out the smell remains.
Okay, I see where all the hate is coming from, but sadly I feel people forgot that again this is not Sakura's fight. I know people want Sakura to be more and punch out Kaguya or something, but I never expected that which I feel some people do.
"We want her to be useful and not just be a whipping girl."
This isn't forgotten. This is part of the problem. What is going to be her fight, then? Naruto v. Sasuke where she far less invested in the metaphysical fight than either party?
And it's more than just punching. If Kishimoto is going to bother to keep reinforcing the whole standing with her team bit then he needs her to stand with her team and not just be background noise. Commit to this or don't, but don't keep introducing the concept and then half-assing it before calling it a day, which is what he is doing.
Tricksie explains the other problem in great detail.
Like Naruto, I understand what people mean by this, but reality is is that this was never meant to be Sakura's fight. It doesn't make her weak. That's just a product of you guys expecting something knowing full well it was going to be Naruto and Sasuke the one to finish the fight. Im sorry, but it is. I have said countless times that I never expected Sakura to fight this battle.
She is NOT the main character. This is NOT her story. It's supposed to be Naruto's story, but people are acting like Sakura should be the center of attention and fight all the battles winning them all. Whose name is on this manga? That's like reading a Superman comic and expecting Lois Lane to beat Brainiac.
You're right, she's not, but I don't see how this excuses anything.
Look at Trigun with Vash and Meryll. Meryll has her moments in the sun and she can kick ass, but when it comes to major boss battles she is not even near them or she is in trouble where Vash has to save her. Does this make her weak? I get people want Sakura to do more. I get that we wanted to really see her push the limits of her abilities, but really this is the final boss battle more or less. It's not meant to be her victory.
Kishimoto made Hinata look so pathetic to where she actually has negative development. She gets taken out by a rock. A ROCK, but I don't see many of you complaining about that. I don't see many complain about how Ino hasn't developed at all either.
I don't recall Meryl ever vowing to to stand with Vash when it came to his battle prowess. Their goals aren't the same and the problem, for me, isn't that she is objectively useless. She one of the strongest ninja, but it matters for naught. It's more like Krillin in DBZ. World's strongest human, but the villains and Saiyins are so far out of his league it's a meaningless title.
Sakura isn't vowing to simply be useful. As I said, if Kishimoto is going have her prattle on about stand with rather than behind then he needs to commit to this.
As with Meryl, Hinata and Ino's goals are not the same as Sakura and nor are they similarly situated characters for this story. That they are all female does not suddenly put all there characters on equal ground.
It's not enough that Sakura has done good things in her whole career....she has to do more. She has to punch out Cthulhu to prove her worth. I don't like Sakura because she was the best...I like Sakura because despite everything people put on her, she still manages to overcome. Yeah, she is emotional from time to time, but then again so is Sasuke and Naruto who probably are the biggest pansies in this entire manga. Should I fault them for it; every time Sasuke sulked over his brother or every time Naruto sulked over Sasuke?
As it pertain to Sasuke, I think you do fault him for it.
Kishimoto has helped to nurture these expectations with how he defines her goals. Her goal is not the less ambitous, I simply want to be useful. If he is going to define her a standing with them, then yes, I have an expectation of that. And it's more than just punching people out. It's probably too late in the game to have her really involved in the metaphysical fight, but I'd have preferred her to be more involved in that. She attempted to be the voice of reason during the confession, why not hype that role more as just one possibility?
As I said to tricksie, I think the problem she mentions is worse, but I'm not included to dumb down my expectations in an effort to excuse her lackluster portrayal as of late.
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