21 replies to this topic

[ALESSE]

 

Well.  Where to begin?

 

I said several times that I would have no problem admitting it if I turned out to be wrong, and I don't.  Here it is:  I was wrong.  Very wrong.

 

I was wrong not just about NS being the pairing we would see at the end, but wrong about Kishimoto.  I defended him so many times within the threads of this forum, and I truly believed he would honor the commitment he made to his story -- to his hero.  But I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

 

For the record, I have not and will not read the final chapters.  Kishimoto and the hustlers at The Naruto Franchise^TM can't make me, and choosing not to read it is the only form of protest I have.  I saw the scans in the preceding days, and that is enough.  

 

However, I asked Nate River to report one result to me.  I wanted to know if Naruto finally got the chance to confess to his Sakura, and I have since been told that he did not.  That Naruto's feelings for her were never even addressed.

 

There's no point in going into the hows and whys.  You all know.  It makes no sense.  In the end, the hero was not the main character of his own story.  In the end, Naruto did not win the girl he loved or overcome all the losses and regrets of his predecessors.

 

And it's not just that this non sequitur (that's Latin for WTF) ending stresses my grey matter.  It hurts my heart, too.

 

Most of you probably don't know that I'm a chronic severe pain sufferer (due to nerve damage in my face and neck), and have been for more than ten years. It's not an easy thing to live with and still find good ways and new reasons to keep going.  Why mention this right now?

 

Because Naruto, the character, has been a bright spot for me.  From the moment I met him in the anime in 2009, his attitude and goofy charm was so much fun.  So inspirational.  Such an indomitable spirit.  He was a kid with everything against him, but he was determined.  He was so loveable.  All he ever wanted was a chance to prove himself worthy and valuable.

 

But he never got one with his Sakura-chan.  I think about his face when Sakura said she loved him that day in the snow -- how much he wanted to believe it -- but it was never true.  And that makes me sad.  I feel sad for Naruto, and I feel sad for Sakura that she never saw him for what he could have been to her.

 

And I feel... cheated.  Not just because NS didn't happen, or because I feel Kishimoto betrayed Naruto's heart.  Although it may sound weird, I also feel cheated because I didn't get to ship Naruto with Hinata.  

 

I am always a canon shipper.  Always.  I've said that multiple times on these threads.  If I had thought for one moment -- one single moment -- that there was a place in Naruto's heart for Hinata, I would have entertained the possibility of that ship.  Hinata was never written as a girl who would be a good match for Naruto, but if I had thought that's what he wanted -- if he'd shown even the slightest romantic inkling toward her -- I would have been on board for Naruto's sake.

 

But none of that was there.  Naruto and Sakura were always billed as the hero and heroine of the story, but in the end it was Sasuke and Hinata whose feelings, actions, dreams, and lives mattered most.  I simply can't get my mind around it.  

 

The hero never even gets a chance to confess to the girl he loved for the entire series, while Sasuke walks away with her free and clear.  Instead, Naruto ends up with a girl he never loved, while Sakura ends up with the guy who never loved her.  

 

And for what?  The entire manga feels empty now.  Wasted.  Unfinished.  The story's soul was Naruto's quest to make his dreams come true, and we got to see none of it.  Not winning Sakura, not becoming Hokage.  We don't even get to see him be friends with a redeemed Sasuke.

 

Sigh.

 

As corny as it sounds, Naruto was like a little brother or a surrogate kid to me and I’m going to miss him.  But I don’t want to see any more of his fictional life that, thanks to Kishimoto's incomprehensible choice, I will only ever see as a life half-lived.

 

great post. and i love your protest. you were one of the more vocal people on here. and i loved reading what you thought in your posts. It was always a pleasure. Many of them brought a smile to my face. 

I was like you too. I avidly believed that no matter what kishi did, he did it to troll the fandom and keep every one on edge, but in the end he would do what was write and what he had been building up to and writing about and developing from chapter 3. 

 

I feel cheated too. I was looking forward to reading the whole manga from the first chapter properly through. Relive the build up and just enjoy myself. I do that with everything i read. even though it isn't much. But now i have to distance my self from that manga and naruto in general. After 693 i saw it comming,but again i had hoped and hoped and defended his kitten story writing ass again and again. 

 

Its the same with me. Ill have my head cannon and some great fanfiction. And hopefully later down the line some  really good doujin alternate ending that we can shrine here by some wonderful artists like lady gt. BUT it wont be the same.

 

I laughed about it and made fun of it When it released, because quite frankly the sheer absurdity all.

 

the cyclops glasses, the kittening lapbtops, the kitten convenient crack pairings and how they all some how had kids at the same kittening time to set up the a money grubbing part 3. which i will not be going no where near. kittenKKKKK that.

 

the kitten mode everyones in. Its like everyone moved to the suburbs and said kitten it. No one seems really happy. Naruto is so out of character that it isnt even funny. are you kittening serious, he's not a good father, they didnt even show an interaction with hinata and the family in general.

 

didnt even give a kitten about giving some type of closure to the manga. leaving it to the kittening movie thats gonna be all rain bows and ponys and relegate the main cast to supporting. 

 

whatever. I need a break

I love this forum and everyone on here. and i really wish we see some of our main posters comming back and venting. the faster we vent the faster we can move on and get to talking about narusaku the way it should be. again said it befoer really hoping for a nice alternate ending Ladygt. maybe some really good fanficiton. theres alot out there. so im looking forward to that.

 

but most of all. I really wish that this forum stays open and active

 

 

this was one hell of a ride. and i will miss it.

[BakeNeko-Chan]

Excellent post, KnS. I really wanted the faith you had in Kishimoto to be justified, even though my own confidence in him was wavering big time even before the last two chapters. Your posts have always been enjoyable to read, well thought out and insightful. I still can't wrap my head around this ending -- I'm not even going to try -- and like you I haven't bothered to read the chapters. I probably never will either. You really are a fantastic writer though, one I actually admire a lot, and I hope once the betrayal of this ending starts to fade you can find the heart to continue your stories.