Saying Sasuke's character is popular in asian side just because he was "cool" is superficial analysis. He only consistently get #1 after his character gain depths in the story and abandoned the village for his objectives. Also like i said Japonese culture valorize a lot family loyality and this the central aspect of Sasuke's character.
After his character started doing cool things like beating Orochimaru, beating an Deidara and defeating Itachi while simaltaneously getting a bunch of cool new abilities. All the while, the actual main character was constantly getting embarrassed and humiliated for a significant chunk of the first timeskip (anyone remember that time Naruto tried to sneak up on kabuto only to get knocked away with a casual backkick? lol). It go so bad that at one point, people began joking about the manga needing to change its name to "Sasuke." In terms of character depth, I just don't see it. How many times did he change his motivation for being evil again? Given Kakashi's initial placement and the lack of character exploration he got while maintaining that ranking, the "cool factor" definitely appears to be the reason.
I was just talking about their popularity and how this didn't come out of nowhere. Obvious the SS scenes/moments in part 1 or even in Shippuuden had a lot impact in their popularity. If these scenes are more or less important compared to NaruSaku depends on each fandom/person interpretation. I agree with many usual NS arguments minus the bench/forehead scenes.
Like i Said i have no interest to defend SS in a NS Forum.
Go to any SS tumblr/Twiiter/Facebook groups and you will find thousends of fangirls who will defend SS to death and ignore your NS arguments...
I agree that it did not come out of nowhere. What I disagree on is the basis under which it did develop. A lot of people read these mangas and get a sense of wish fulfillment when they do. Sasuke is the confident badass most young men wish they could be. Most people would much rather be Sasuke than a butt-monkey like Naruto. But for the sake of the argument, lets say you're right and that the popularity was a bit more nuanced and meaningful: What difference does it make? Should popularity be the basis for determining whether something is better?
And by all means, please feel free to defend SS here. I don't mind the arguments. I welcome all ideas even if I fundamentally disagree. Assuming we can be respectful with each other, I don't see the problem.
I'll let you in on a little secret though: I don't actually "ship" NaruSaku. That's right. Despite arguing for it and being somewhat active on a NaruSaku site, I don't "ship" it. No, I "ship" the story. I "ship" the natural flow the narrative originally appeared to be going towards. I would submit to you that Naruto and Sakura falling in love with each other is simply the logical conclusion of both character's story arcs. Sakura's arc in particular (at least throughout part 1) revolves around maturing past her young naive shallow self; the little girl who was obsessed with Sasuke to the point of being blind to everything else (i.e. the bench scene). At the end of part 1, we got the first glimpse of Sakura who could overcome that blindness (see the promise of a lifetime and Sakura's realization that Naruto understands her more than anyone else; this is shown in complete contrast to the bench scene). The problem with SS is that it is missing an arc (or two). Sasuke is legitimately correct when he claims that Sakura has no reason to love him. He doesn't. The author has never provided one. There is nothing to differentiate Sakura's love for Sasuke from Ino's and the little scene of Ino crying over Sasuke when the rookie 9 confirms their plan to kill him indicates as much. Not to mention Asuma's final wish towards Ino that she not lose to Sakura in her pursuit of Sasuke. It's weak. It's shallow. It's bad writing. I like good writing. It's that simple.
Having a family meal copied from that Minato/Kushina cover?I think NH have one but with Naruto in Kushina's place.
SS and NH have a lot of family meals in Boruto Fillers and even Gaiden finished with a SS family reunion in the dinner table. Maybe in the West Side the NaruSaku/NaruHina definition was good. But not to Kishimoto/Asians clearly
Family meals? No, look closer at the cover. Notice anything about Naruto and Sakura? It's consistent with both of their characters as far as what was established in the original manga. Can't say the same about the NH version of that cover.
Because Karin was the female Sasuke's partner in Part 2.
Karin already was introduced in the story being hated and unpopular because SS fans.
Not even Sasuke "cool" aspect was enough to give some popularity to this Pairing in any place even before Karin was ridicularized in War Arc.
If you admit Karin was a flat Character with no development with Sasuke and how this seriously affected SasuKarin popularity then the exact opposite occurred with Sakura/SasuSaku...
Is that all Karin is? What are her goals besides wanting Sasuke to impregnate her? What's the longest conversation her and Sasuke have ever even had besides him shouting orders? And the difference between Sakura and Karin is that Sakura is not a flat character with no development period. Rather, outside of Sasuke, she gets a great deal of development throughout part 1 and the early parts of part 2. Have Sakura and Sasuke ever even had an actual conversation that didn't involve Sakura wanting him to impregnate her during the original 700 chapters?
Also many NS like to sideshiping SasuKarin just like SS/NH tended to join together against NaruSaku in the pairings wars days
I don't know about other people, but the only appeal that has to me is the prospect of SasuKarin's offspring rivaling/romancing NaruSaku's offspring. Outside of that, Karin is a useless character with little purpose.
Edited by ThroughWithLove, 07 January 2023 - 10:23 PM.