129 replies to this topic

[FoolishYoungling]

You really hate Hinata huh? Like zac and greed said, even as a background character, she is lacking in development.

She has more screen time than any other background character in K11.. and you tell me she needs development? All she needs is to accept she can never get Naruto, because Naruto only likes Sakura in a romantic manner.. everyone else he likes as a friend, her included. Saying "I'll hold his hand" is her not accepting reality. Development is not what she needs, she needs to sit and watch NaruSaku become canon. By this I mean, she has always had a crush on Naruto, and she finally told him how she felt, but even after that, Naruto has been shown to still only feel love towards Sakura. Hinata sees this, yet she won't give up. If she saw Naruto and Sakura get together (end of series so Kishi can make more money from NaruHina fans), then she would just go with Neji, Kiba, Ao, Shino.. or Sasuke... Sasuke... Sasuke.

Like Derock said, she is there for plot device. Oh, and if you say she needs to become stronger, I would have to disagree, because Naruto already acknowledged her strength (even if it's one of the worst strengths in all of K11.. and no that's not being biased.. just stating the facts). I'll repeat it again, all that is left for Kishi to do with Hinata, is let her watch Naruto get with Sakura. Hinata already smiled when Sakura hugged Naruto. She's one step away. All that she has left to do is watch.

[Broken Figurine]

http://www.narusaku....showtopic=11157

This is the thread I made analyzing her character. It was closed because the topic + points were exhausted, but that first post is my thoughts on her. To summarize, because I know it is a long read

--> What we know about Hinata is largely from the fandom, actual evidence of her being anything beyond Naruto-loving, competent fighting, are null or just so far-fetched that at that point, we're making stuff up out of thin air.
--->She has a lack of bonds with other people, particularly her family, and only recently do we see Neji and Hinata on fair grounds, but as far as her concern for her clan, or her relationship with her sister, there is nothing. She has expressed no opinion on the bird seal or trying to help the injustices in her family.
-----> Out of all the girls, she shows the least compassion for anything outside her own issues or Naruto. Even Tenten, who we feel is basically just a token female, had at one point berated Kiba on Ino's behalf--and Ino isn't even on her team. Ino and Sakura are shown to be more of the kind and considerate ones, and more "motherly", but this kind, sweet personality is often attributed to Hinata for reasons that seems shallow. Just because she isn't shown being mean, or having flaws beyond being shy, it's assumed she's the nicer of the girls, when evidence suggests otherwise.
--------> Her fandom, therefore, is ultimately biased in her favour, giving her the lion's share of good qualities, though there is no evidence to back it up, while the rest of the Naruto fandom is quick to dismiss these good qualities in other characters.


Even in an "I don't care" sort of way, when you really analyze Hinata, she's startlingly lacking. Yet her fandom is such a mystery in their worship. There have been many theories, mostly that she's pitiful, or that she's written just so that you have a frame of a character and can fill in the blanks, which makes me say comfortably that most people like a "fanon" Hinata, not canon. You can't look at her outside of her fans, because they are just so predominant in the Naruto fandom that for fans who don't see her appeal, it makes you look at her again. The worst that could come from such a hero worship is that this character who is lacking so much starts to get undue screen-time and importance (like it has already in the anime) that translates into the manga as the fandom reaches the editor's or Kishimoto's ears, making it worrisome.

When I consider all of this, I can say I don't like her. She hasn't shown me enough, even with her small amounts of panel-time. Tenten doesn't have this big fandom, or Temari, or Ino, who are I think more deserving of it. Tenten is treated as a background character, but Hinata is not, because of her shy personality and love for Naruto. It seems really unfair, when you think of it that way, especially considering the lengths people go to defend criticism of her. On the other end, Sakura and Ino, who are more likely to be bashed, are expected "norms" to be hated, despite evidence of good qualities and development, and just the sheer amount of dislike toward them make defending a very tricky battle, because it is usually down to ad-hoc "she's so annoying, kitteny, shallow" when there is enough evidence to support that with the amount self-absorbed and Naruto-absorbed qualities Hinata has, she's the most selfish of characters, probably next to Sasuke but he has far more development and evidence in instances where he was "human", and he isn't given the same pass from the fandom.

We all have these characters that we like, "just because", and I'm not saying that liking her is a crime or that she should be all around unlikeable, but I think that most people like her concept and what THEY can do with the character, rather than what's actually shown. It's just the sheer scope of her popularity makes the group that likes her for reasonable things a diminished thanks to the anime and her huge, defensive fanbase.

[Deej]

She has more screen time than any other background character in K11..

Her screentime is actually minuscule compared to Shikamaru. Who also is a far more developed character, and who unlike Hinata, has relationships with different people in the manga. It just seems likes she gets screentime when she really doesn't. Perhaps because every time she appears, the fandom goes crazy and the pairing wars renew?

My main problem with Hinata is similar to Ino in Part 1. Ino was defined by her love for Sasuke and rivalry with Sakura over him. Neither of those things allowed the character to really grow. When Ino interacted and built relationships with her teammates in Shippuden, she was a far better character. I'd dare say Ino was the best female character during the war. The Ino of Team 10 is a good character. The Ino who was Sasuke pairing fodder and Sakura's rival was not.

Unfortunately. Kishimoto hasn't allowed this growth with Hinata. She doesn't have any bonds with her teammates or any other Naruto character. She could have strengthened her bond with Neji. Maybe this could have occurred if Kishi showed Hinata and Neji fighting Hizashi. But he didn't. And instead she keeps going on about Naruto. Kishi has sacrificed any development for her by making her Naruto's super fan.

[TerrorKing]

I don't really have anything against Hinata, I just don't find her particularly interesting. The way I see it, there are two major aspects of her character, which both tie into her wanting to become a stronger and better person. Her infatuation with Naruto and her "daddy issues" pertaining to her being the heiress of the Hyuga clan. The former has recieved a lot of attention throughout the entire series, while the latter recieved a lot of attention during the chunin exam but then afterwards it gradually shifted from being about both her and Neji to just being about Neji. As such, her side of the story was gradually forgotten and that's just a damn shame. Don't get me wrong, her infatuation with Naruto is kinda cute, but I would like to have Kishi expand on her "heiress storyline" a little more, so that she could win her father's approval and prove that she is indeed worthy of being a clan heiress.

Edited by TerrorKing, 14 April 2012 - 07:59 PM.

[catsi563]

She has more screen time than any other background character in K11.. and you tell me she needs development?

Actually thats not true as of march last year she had 526 panels in the manga

thats 200+ behind Ino and Choji, and nearly 300+ behind Kiba amd almost 400+ behind Sai who had 946 panels.

Neji and Lee both had more then double her panel time with 1000+ panels each, and Shikamaru more then trippled her with 1778 as of the same time frame.

And to further illustrate the point thats among the K-11

Karin a so called useless side character has more panel time at 550 panels

Hinata as a character has not changed from virtualy the first page she showed up in the manga. As Broken so eloquently and correctly put it. As a character she almost literaly has not changed. Only her Fandom has endowed her with any true development and that is not canon by any stretch of the imagination.

Edited by catsi563, 14 April 2012 - 08:03 PM.

[CloudMountainJuror]

Actually thats not true as of march last year she had 526 panels in the manga

thats 200+ behind Ino and Choki, and nearly 300+ behind Kiba amd almost 400+ behind Sai who had 946 panels.

Neji and Lee both had more then double her panel time with 1000+ panels each, and Shikamaru more then trippled her with 1778 as of the same time frame.

And to further illustrate the point thats among the K-11

Karin a so called useless side character has more panel time at 550 panels

Hinata as a character has not changed from virtualy the first page she showed up in the manga. As Broken so eloquently and correctly put it. As a character she almost literaly has not changed. Only her Fandom has endowed her with any true development and that is not canon by any stretch of the imagination.

Thank you for sparing me the effort.
And also, screen/panel time does not equal development.

Edited by zacrathedemon5, 14 April 2012 - 08:04 PM.

[KnS]

If I look at Hinata objectively, then my answer is somewhere between "she's okay but can be annoying sometimes" and "I don't care." I would probably never think twice about her if Kishimoto wasn't forcing her into the shipping dynamic.

Hinata is a nice girl and she means well, but there's just nothing about her I can relate to personally. At this point in her development she strikes me as weak, inept, nervous, shy, insecure, and out of her element in most situations. This is not my definition of a successful ninja.

I understand she struggles with a serious lack of faith in herself, her abilities, and in the people around her, but that only makes me pity her -- not consider her a fine example of all that is great and good. Just...no. Her sad kitten persona doesn't interest or inspire me, and as I've said before I can't imagine any girl less suited to Naruto.

Still, to be fair, I don't believe selfish is the right word to describe Hinata; self-involved is more accurate. Hinata appears to spend most of her time navel-gazing, fretting, and wringing her hands about her feelings, her abilities, and her place in the world. She's constantly focused inward, more so than other (non-evil) characters have been shown to be. (To some degree it's understandable, considering the way she was raised.) That's self-involved.

Selfishness means to act or think of one's own needs / pleasure / desires without regard for others. In terms of Hinata's actions during Pein's attack, she herself called them selfish because she was being honest about her true motive: to act purely on her own personal feelings. She interfered and was ready to throw her life away just for the chance to tell Naruto how she feels.

Hinata disregarded the Ninja Code, her responsibility to her family and clan, the concern of others, and common sense to indulge her feelings at an inappropriate time. She certainly didn't do it for Naruto; she was warned she would make it worse for him but went anyway, knowing she was out of her league and couldn't possibly help him. It was all about her. That's selfish.

For the record, I get that it would impossible to stand by and watch a brave and selfless friend be threatened with death and not do something about it -- and doubly true if you secretly loved that friend. It's not that Hinata interfered that bothers me, it's WHY she interfered.

If Hinata had confronted Pein actually believing she could help Naruto in some way... with some kind of plan or strategy... if she had even simply gone in there thinking of herself as a kunoichi instead of a lovestruck girl -- ANYTHING -- I would have felt different about her actions and confession. But as it stands, she made me both angry and a little sick to my stomach. I certainly don't think of her as brave, or that her love for Naruto is worthy just because she feels it so strongly.

Also for the record, I don't consider her thoughts in #573 to be quite as selfish. They're just thoughts in her head, and basically a rehash of what she said to Naruto in front of Pein in #437. Not overtly selfish, maybe, but still self-indulgent and inappropriately timed. Self-involved.

[FoolishYoungling]

Actually thats not true as of march last year she had 526 panels in the manga

thats 200+ behind Ino and Choji, and nearly 300+ behind Kiba amd almost 400+ behind Sai who had 946 panels.

Neji and Lee both had more then double her panel time with 1000+ panels each, and Shikamaru more then trippled her with 1778 as of the same time frame.

And to further illustrate the point thats among the K-11

Karin a so called useless side character has more panel time at 550 panels

Hinata as a character has not changed from virtualy the first page she showed up in the manga. As Broken so eloquently and correctly put it. As a character she almost literaly has not changed. Only her Fandom has endowed her with any true development and that is not canon by any stretch of the imagination.

Show me where u got this from, because I highly doubt Karin has had 550 panels.

And also, screen/panel time does not equal development.

Hinata's development is over.

[HenryFlitzroy]

I think it is unfortunate that Hinata is being used as nothing but pairing fodder, it makes her character a lot less appealing then it could be.
There was potential in some kind of ''Hyuuga Arc'' for Hinata's character to grow in a way that makes sense.
If I was a Hinata fan I would probably be dissapointed in the way Kishi handles her.

Edited by HenryFlitzroy, 14 April 2012 - 08:39 PM.

[FoolishYoungling]

.
If I was a Hinata fan I would probably be dissapointed in the way Kishi handles her.

Right, she has so much more that Kishi could of made her character into...

[Dragunov]

I stand by KnS. He speaks the truth.

[CloudMountainJuror]

Hinata's development is over.

There was barely any in the first place.

[dokueki(venom)]

I like Hinata. Her character like many say could be better. Neji seems intrested in somehow trying to make her heiress. I think they should do an arc where Neji kinda forces the issue on her. Maybe not force but somehow make the issue known that is where she belongs. If not Kishi, Please Parret do some episodes on it. She is your favorite character for god sake! stop subjecting her to this pairing crap. Make her mean something more! Sorry! Like I said I like her. Actually I don't think I hate any Naruto characters.

[ciardha]

I basically agree with Broken and catsi's examination of Hinata. Seriously, Broken that's a spot on analysis in your shortened form in this thread.

The point is Hinata was never meant to be more than a minor support character in the manga. It's the obsessive fanboying of Studio Pierrot (from episode 1) of Hinata that started this mess. Kishimoto doesn't get why there is such an obsession for a very minor character.

I don't actively dislike Hinata, but I've always found her completely uninteresting for much the reason Broken doesn't care for the character. What I do dislike is Studio Pierrot turning Hinata into a Mary-Sue character. That's not what Kishimoto has her character being. Had Pierrot followed canon with Hinata and left her as the minor support character she is in manga canon then the character would have almost certainly maxed out at having about as many fans as Tenten. (who Pierrot has outright forgotten at times- note all the endings featuring the attractive young kunoichi and think of how many Tenten got left out of those, where Hinata even got a (rather badly drawn) solo one, and even gets inserted into Team 7 centered endings... Where's Temari in those pretty young kunoichi endings for that matter? I'd also include Karin in those endings as well.

[xxRomanceGirlxx]

My opinion on Hinata is "I don't care about her". Her personality is boring and her Part 1 shyness +Part 2 shyness, though cute at times, got to the point where it was annoying.
It was only reinforced when I saw just how popular she really was. I remember clearly how confused and shocked I was because I saw nothing that great about her. The only reason I could see was how nice she was but that's really about it. I actually kind of liked Hinata during the Chunin Exams because she wanted to be a good ninja and change to suit the role of the
Clan's heiress. It wa more than just her love for Naruto. However, as Part 2 progressed, it seems her other goals just disapeared. Now it's only " I must have Naruto-kun! That's all that matters!"
Where did her other objectives go? There all but forgotten. It seems unlike all other characterss, her development only got worse and worse instead of improving by leaps and bounds, like Sakura for example, Shikamaru, and Naruto. All characters beside her have good character development and are shown to have grown up more over time. Hinata has just been spiraling downward more and more, to the point where it almost seems unsalvagable.

It's like Hinata feels she can't complete her former goals unless she has Naruto, similar to how Naruto feels he can't become Hokage if he can't save Sasuke. Hinata has always used him as her crutch, and now it's only worse. I would like Hinata if she wanted better goals other than wanting Naruto. Her personality right now reminds me of Part 1 Sakura. The only thing she cared about was getting Sasuke, making her be selfish. The difference is Sakura actually changed and Hinata did not, if only getting worse through time. Her confession was one of the most selfish I've seen her be until she smiled at Sakura hugging Naruto, showing no signs of pain, anger, or jealousy; just acceptance. I liked Hinata at that point because I thought she didn't want a relationship from Naruto urgently and only wanted to get her feelings off her chest so she can move on and focus on her duties. Then the war came around, and I was incredibly dismayed and disappointed in both Hinata and Kishimoto . My theory was the complete opposite. She didn't think about anything other than Naruto, showing no great change and the aspect of hers always annoyed me. Many Sakura haters and other Naruto fans are quick to say Sakura is the most selfish besides Sasuke and though she was in Part 1 and still retains slight selfishness in Part 2, Hinata is more selfish then her. That is not a good thing . I don't care what NaruHina fans have to say over this. If they read the manga, hell even the anime, it's a canon fact. 573 confirmed it. Though she has great confidence in winning over Naruto(Again, where did that confidence come from ?), she still has confidence issues in the sense that she can't be her own person without a man, like KnS said in his post. The fact that Hinata cares for only Naruto goes to show how underdeveloped, shallow, self-involved, and selfish she really is. I guess it seems Kishi cares so little over her character than any other, which is very sad to me. Yes she is a minor character but shouldn't she get some good development? When you think over the reasons I put over Hinata, her character is surprisingly easy to hate if you go in depth.

Though Hinata's speech was touching to an extent, it was coated with a layer of selfishness. I don't get why some Hinata/NaruHina fans see this as a good thing. If you were a true Hinata fan, than you should be very disapointed in how Kishi is painting Hinata, angry even, not encouraging such blindy bad thought process. I will only like Hinata if she gives me a reason to respect her and like her. I have never had huge amounts of respect for Hinata nor have I ever truly liked her but I have a medium degree of respect towards her after her confession, even liking her a little but before 573. All respect towards her that I've ever had vanished in blink of an eye the day that chapter was released and unless Kishi does something to do her character justice, that respect and mild liking of Hinata will NEVER come back. I just can't like her right now and if Hinata died at any time, I honestly wouldn't be affected by her death. Maybe be sad though by the other's reaction of her death, but I wouldn't miss her. It's the sad truth. Why would I miss a character that is just pairing fodder? Now if Neji were to die, I would be greatly affected by his death. He is more deserving than Hinata to take Hiashi's place and I actually love Neji's character.

I'm seriously at a loss at why Hinata is so popular. She really isn't that great . I watched the anime before reading the manga and yet I still thought the same thing, despite Pierrot's promotion of her. I could rant all day on Hinata and her many annoying faults that some people don't recognize but I'll leave this long-winded post at that .

Edited by xxRomanceGirlxx, 15 April 2012 - 01:21 AM.

[Phantom_999]

We did had a thread about her back in the day but I believed it was closed or lost in the move.

But here's my two cents about Hinata:

I don't care for her. She bores me to death. Her personality is very bland: a very shy person who is a heir to a powerful clan and in loves with the main character. The former part should have more focus than the latter part so it can make her more interesting but for the sake of pairings, her "love" for Naruto must be on top priority. Here's one thing about that: her love for him is so "great" that she never gave faith in his abilities. It always seems like she always thinks that Naruto isn't that strong and be always be the failure, (see Chuunin Exams in Part 1 even the chapter before the finals, Team Kakashi and Team 8 vs Tobi chapters and recent chapter).

As I said before in the other Hinata thread, she's a background character, not to mention a plot device (see Hinata's confession). She's basically a toned down version of Neji, and he's much more better character: personality and skills-wise. Not only that, she isn't that beautiful like Sakura and Ino, which many of her fans like to praise this. Oh whoopie do, she has big boobs... who cares, IMO she's ugly!

It was closed due to character bashing and among other things Kage Derock.

I feel sorry for her character. It's so...shallow and under-developed. I think that she's alright myself, but she's annoying at times bcause of her extremely shallow character.

The Way PIERROT PORTRAYS her is SHALLOW.

My thoughts. Okay character. Nice girl. But is not suited for Naruto and definitely is over hyped in the anime. So much that I have half a mind to buy kinky Hinata figurines and then ram them down the staff of Pierrot's throats; the members the put her on a pedestal anyway Cause it just annoys me how much they are putting her in openings/ endings that have nothing to do with her, or make her seem like SUCH a PERFECT wife, girlfriend, plus a Morale goddess in fillers. And all the while, abusing the tsundere trait with Sakura and degrading her character in multiple areas, such as domestic skills; for instance cooking (how the hell do you even know she's a bad cook!?), earning her much more hate than she really deserves. Hinata's an alright character in my book and I am rather fond of her But what I hate is how Pierrot treat her and Sakura's Characters in the anime, which is distorted and WRONG. It is this UNROFESSIONAL,IMMATURE, REPETITIVE, UNREALISTIC BIAS Pierrot is showing to this otherwise minor chaacter that I absolutely despise, not Hinata herself.

Edited by Phantom_999, 09 May 2012 - 09:02 PM.

[sardns]

I honestly have no problems with Hinata. In fact, I like her. She's nice, she tries hard, she wants what's best for Naruto. I just REALLY don't like the idea of them as a couple for numerous reasons: Opposites don't attract... at least they don't stay attracted. Psychology teaches you that opposites may initially be infatuated with each other, but they almost never go into long-lasting relationships because people prefer partners who are similar to them. Naruto and Hinata are opposites in many ways such as their innate personalities, and opposite couples have never appealed to me.

Hinata is also the heir to the Hyuga clan. Since cousin marriages are legal and not frowned upon in Japan, it would make sense her clan expects her to have an arranged marriage with someone in her clan to keep the bloodline pure. I highly doubt her clan would be okay with her marrying Naruto (unless the clan decides to appoint someone else as the head in favor of her hooking up with Naruto).

Most importantly, if Naruto were to fall for Hinata at this point, it would come right the kitten outta nowhere. They simply haven't had enough time to believably grow together unlike Naruto and Sakura. If Kishimoto showed hints in part 1 of Naruto thinking Hinata is cute and have them spend more time together, then I wouldn't mind it, but that's not the case. The ONLY way I see NaruHina becoming canon at this point would be if Sasuke lived and was willing to reciprocate Sakura's feelings (which, let's be honest, she still has feelings for the guy); Naruto would want his friends to be happy and stay out of the way, then Hinata would make her move, confess her feelings again, and Naruto would think to himself "I never noticed how cute she was" and then they kiss.

This reminds me of another manga I read a while back called Ceres: Celestial Legend. In that story, A girl named Aya and a guy named Toya have met several times which amounts to only, like, a couple minutes. Then, when she's walking all by herself at night, he picks her up in his car, takes her back to his apartment, makes a move on her, and then she says that she loves him. Where the kitten did that come from? If NaruHina ever became canon, it would be like this except it took a hell of a lot longer to get there. And that, my friends, would just be poorly written romance.

[Deej]

For the folks that dislike or are indifferent to Hinata - is she a salvageable character, or is there nothing that will change your opinion of her?

[Anguyen92]

For the folks that dislike or are indifferent to Hinata - is she a salvageable character, or is there nothing that will change your opinion of her?

Oh, of course, there's are plenty of ways to make me change my opinion of her. I guess Kishi would have to try to find some way for me to take her seriously, but that takes a good amount of panel time, which takes a lot of manpower, which he does not have, and that we're almost approaching the end of the series. So essentially, I think its almost too late. If Kishi did something to her character in the beginning of part two, then maybe I would take her seriously, but that is not the case here.

Edited by Anguyen92, 15 April 2012 - 04:52 AM.

[Kyuzo Hatake]

Why do we needed to analyze it? Lul I think it's pretty simple.

I think Hinata's purpose is just to serve as an example of one of the characters that has been deeply touched by Naruto's never-give-up and all that jazz sorta thing. It's made her stronger and it's made her fond of him (: She looks up to him and she wants to show him how strong that's made her. I think it's cute :3

Personally I think when they're older,in part 2,it's just tiresome and annoying.I mean,she's completely obsessed with him.

Kyuzo Hatake