526 replies to this topic

[redrose3443]

She needs a spin-off.

I think the women in general need a spin-off for them.( Sakura being the star of course.)

[Gojira]

The sad part is the story will end before NS gets interesting (in that I'm referring to after it becomes canon) but we'll like get a timeskip at the end with a short NS family scene

[BakeNeko-Chan]

I used to think Naruto was a pretty good character, but now he's become kind of dull. It's not necessarily that I don't want to root for him or see him succeed anymore -- because I do -- but I don't find him near as interesting as I used to. His character has just gone... stagnant. It's a shame. Sasuke has always been all over the place and he's far too sheltered by Kishimoto so his redemption won't be made too difficult. His motivations are poorly defined and wishy-washy at best; I just can't find it in me to care about him at all. Then there's the fact that Naruto and Sasuke are so godlike in their abilities now that watching them fight about puts me to sleep.

 

Sakura at least has depth of character and a human aspect that the male leads are severely lacking at this stage. She still interests me even as my overall investment in the manga and story plummets.

 

She needs a spin-off.

 

Lol, definitely. Sakura Shippuuden, anyone?

[Phantom_999]

I don't think his Character has dulled as much as he focuses too much on Sasuke for the majority of part II. It is his borderline obssession with Sasuke that is reducing his appeal, not in general. And what I find ironic too is that because Japanese culture is about dignity and not being so emotional about someone, I wonder why Naruto is still so popular as a character. It is a curious thing overall. 

[MistFlower]

My problem with this all is that the manga has become focused on Naruto and Sasuke, despite the name of the series being Naruto.  Sasuke has always been an important piece, but Naruto used to always take center stage, mainly in part one.  It was the story of the underdog, knucklehead ninja that we could all relate to.  And while I liked Naruto's maturing in part two, the story became a lot more focused on Sasuke's affairs.  Not to mention that I kind of feel like Naruto is having hardly any character development in this overly drawn out, slow paced arc.  I don't know, it's just like the series has derailed from it's original roots and become a "Naruske overpowered sage fest" in complete disregard for the other characters.  I still like the series, but that just annoys me.

[六道仙人]

Sakura is popular here for obvious reasons however. But if you get outside of here, you'll notice that no one cares about her, except her fans and SS fans

[FireFox]

Sakura is popular here for obvious reasons however. But if you get outside of here, you'll notice that no one cares about her, except her fans and SS fans

This is true in all the big sites she's very much hated like NB,OMF,MH,NF etc  but I somewhat disagree with the SS part there are very little in the SS fandom who actually cares about her character most of them put her relevance as a character and development whether or not she ends up with Sasuke but the moment she shows her feelings for Naruto she gets slut shamed immediately this is what i have seen from them from the most part .

[Gojira]

Isn't Sakura supposed to also be loved in Japan or something? That's nice atleast from what I know its mostly western audiences that hate her.

[BakeNeko-Chan]

I don't think his Character has dulled as much as he focuses too much on Sasuke for the majority of part II. It is his borderline obssession with Sasuke that is reducing his appeal, not in general. And what I find ironic too is that because Japanese culture is about dignity and not being so emotional about someone, I wonder why Naruto is still so popular as a character. It is a curious thing overall. 

 

I agree in part. Naruto is far too focused on Sasuke and oftentimes it causes his relationships with other characters to get sidelined in favor of his preoccupation with Sasuke. But Sasuke aside, I still say Naruto's character has grown dull, and there are a few reasons for that.

 

I loved Naruto when he was the underdog, succeeding through grit and determination. He was endearing and likable, but that aspect is gone and in its place is the 'destined child', ultra powerful demi-god. I just can't get behind it because it feels like it contradicts the kind of character Naruto always was before. 

 

He had some really good development from part one and up through the Pein arc and was becoming more mature, but then Kishi had to pull the Renne Tensei out of his hat and everything was fixed good as new. That way, Naruto wouldn't have to face the consequences of choosing not to kill Nagato because Nagato instead sacrificed himself to resurrect everyone who died. Naruto never has to deal with the fallout of his decisions because of these kind of plot conveniences, nor has he had his ideals truly tested. It's a similar character shield Kishimoto uses with Sasuke and keeps things from becoming too complicated. It's a shortcut and a copout.

 

Then there's the way Kishi seems to go out of his way to make Naruto look like an immature idiot, and then shifts back to having him act serious with no middle ground. I find it very inconsistent; one moment he might be serious, but it never lasts long before he's back to being a total goof. And that basically sums him up nowadays. It's like a yo-yo, up, down, up, down. Yes, Naruto's always had a tendency to go between extremes -- having a lighthearted and playful side, and being able to take on a more serious and mature side when the situation called for it. But throughout the war arc, it feels like overcompensating with one extreme and then the other. Overcompensating for what I don't know.

 

Okay, end rant. I know a lot of people here hate this kind of "complaining", but you're free to ignore this post if you like. It won't hurt my feelings or anything.

[TouKen4Life3g]

I can't help but laugh the buildup to the whole "mother is scary" leads to this. Otherwise, if we build up "father is scary", we probably would have Kaguyo. See what I did there.

Edited by NaruSaku4Life3g, 23 June 2014 - 07:36 PM.

[xxRomanceGirlxx]

Naruto's always been my favorite character and he still is, no matter his flaws, but I can definitely understand why fans are becoming bored by him.

 

What I always liked about Naruto was how many conflicts and issues he had to work out through, but even with all that, he still acted cheerful and good. But what made him better is that you still see he had pain and issues he still needed to go through and that's what made him interesting. Things like getting hunted down by the Akatsuki, his pain with Sasuke (though that that was a little over-exaggerated), still not entirely over his messed up childhood, and even his conflict with Kurama's power taking over him. He had a lot of things to resolve.

 

However, the problem with Naruto is that he already resolved all of these. He doesn't have any major conflicts anymore besides saving Sasuke and becoming Hokage. The saving Sasuke one is a little interesting I guess and I do like how Naruto has been focusing on more than just Sasuke this war, but the Hokage one is practically a given. Everyone loves him.

 

Naruto's always been meant to get closure and resolve all his trauma/pain, but the problem with Kishimoto is that he did it too early. If you resolve arcs of a main character too prematurely, then you lose the interest of fans. Naruto's at peace with almost everything right now. He's over his Sasuke manpain and just being happy, he's friends with Kurama and forgives him without any resolution to what he did to his parents, Sakura or Jiraiya, everything in his childhood and the hate he got is a-okay, no one particularly hates him that matters (except for Sasuke, but like I said he's made peace with it). If a character's perfectly fine with everything, then there's not as much to engage you. I kinda miss Naruto's justifiably unresolved issues lately.

 

Sakura's more realistic at this point and still has issues to resolve for her character while Naruto's CD's is practically done. It's not that I like her more than Naruto (I love her don't get me wrong). She just has more conflicts now. And to be honest, the reason I care more about when Sakura shows up is not just because she has those conflicts, but I'm more hypersensitive to her CD. I don't want Kishimoto to do something to screw her up which he, in some way or another, did to most of the characters at least a little.

Edited by xxRomanceGirlxx, 23 June 2014 - 09:43 PM.

[Inferno180]

People are upset to different degrees about the stuff with kagyua and what black zetsu said, me I've seen similar stuff in other stories but I the real only problem I have with the series is how will kishi bring it all in to the end, I mean if this is the final major villian arc than there should not be much else, I mean overall I would give the story a B rating, at the highest, B+ but its still been mostly following the other stuff that black zetsu mentioned, even though he did influence it, its still been in action for the reasons that still have come to impact the other characters it has. I'm a bit ticked at the sudden whos the mastermind and who planned this stuff, but also some of it makes sense when you see it as, well if you are the true leader, never appear as the leader, be seen as a less important guy. Again I have seen the super power or long lost diety demon person or thing take over or overwhelm the guy responsible for the action of nearly breaking the world many times in other series and games. Many similar events. But yeah I suspect the sudden turns to be over now at least, if any new powers come well, thats just shouen for you, DBZ did this all the time with unlocking new powers in the middle of combat, same with bleach and one piece. Otherwise I'd really only be ticked at the sasuke free passes stuff. I mean I hope NS comes like the rest here, but first and foremost I just want to see what is done with the main story, how will kishi wrap up the team 7 stuff, in the current situation beyond just naruto and sasuke facing kagyua, what will he do with kakashi, sakura, and obito? Thats the stuff i am interested in, same with the edo hokage. I kinda feel this time with only 8 heroes left, is the deal to give them their time, aside from for obvious reasons, this is why obito, sakura, and kakashi are still around, for some purpose not battle related. I mean as I see it, the story is still about a B grade to me, I mean despite all the jumble and asspulls here and there in the story, its still mostly good and intact.

[BakeNeko-Chan]

 

Naruto's always been meant to get closure and resolve all his trauma/pain, but the problem with Kishimoto is that he did it too early. If you resolve arcs of a main character too prematurely, then you lose the interest of fans. Naruto's at peace with almost everything right now. He's over his Sasuke manpain and just being happy, he's friends with Kurama and forgives him without any resolution to what they did to his parents, Sakura, or Jiraiya, everything in his childhood and the hate he got is a-okay, no one particularly hates him that matters (except for Sasuke, but like I said he's made peace with it). If a character's perfectly fine with everything, then there's not as much to engage you. I kinda miss Naruto's justifiably unresolved issues lately.

 

 

 

This is a good way of putting things. It's not that I dislike Naruto, not at all, but he doesn't engage me the way he used to. His last two goals -- becoming Hokage and saving Sasuke -- are presented in a way that leaves no real question or suspense about whether they will happen or not. The latter's just more of a question of how exactly it'll happen, but it will happen.

[rocci]

She needs a spin-off.

Shoujo version of naruto from sakura POV. It tell the story of what happen in Two half year time skip. And show the chunin exam of sakura and the rest.

[Don-kun]

This is a good way of putting things. It's not that I dislike Naruto, not at all, but he doesn't engage me the way he used to. His last two goals -- becoming Hokage and saving Sasuke -- are presented in a way that leaves no real question or suspense about whether they will happen or not. The latter's just more of a question of how exactly it'll happen, but it will happen.

When you know for fact wall will happing it kills that antisipation is like the world cup or even the NBA when a team is winning by far it kills your desire to keep watching the game.

[Otaru]

I don't think Naruto became dull at all.

I can understand some of you are disappointed about this prophecy thing, but Naruto is still that adorable baka that never gives up.

Edited by Otaru, 23 June 2014 - 10:42 PM.

[TheFirstEvil100]

Ah well, you know--its the small things for me. I liked seeing everyone's dream worlds, I liked Sakura's slug summoning, the 5 kage fight was good...but like I said the instances are rare.

The real reason I refuse to stop reading is because I've wasted about...fourteen years of my life already...might as well see it through. 
 

 

I just dated it at the Itachi VS Sasuke fight because directly afterward is where we really start approaching this "no real Villains" trope. I have a love hate relationship with Itachi actually being a good guy. Its also where we THINK Orochimaru's finally gone, and that we know who Tobi actually is only to be trolled over ( and over yet again.) Although having Nagato revive everyone was also a pretty big downswing. 

 

Oh true but most shows never have a bad guys for the sake of being evil true we have a few in Naruto like Hidan and a few others, plus people who say the hero should just out right kill the bad guys should remember that Villains always get themselves killed in the end it might be that for Sasuke and Obito, but that me guessing here as I could be dead wrong.

 

But Kishi is bad at doing it at times, I mean you look at Hideo Kojima when he did Sniper Wolf and her death same with The Boss someone we thought was nothing more than a traitor but died for her homeland, true her death is what made the whole thing happen but we can blame the CIA wanting her dead. and the List goes on. some are A** hols like Volgin.

 

That is how Kishi should have done it at least in my eyes 

 

 

...

 

I seriously HOPE that person is joking... or he/she is very young and has barely read/watched other manga/anime series.

 

I can think of many Naruto characters have suffered more than Sasuke. I can easily think of several DOZENS of manga/anime characters have suffered more than Sasuke.

 

Jeez, you only need check seinen mangas to find plenty examples. Itto Ogami from Lone Wolf and Cub. Guts from Berserk. Makie from Blade of Inmortal. The main characters of Sanctuary were children living in Cambodia when Khmer Rouge seized power and they had to survive the work camps for crying loud!

 

It does not help that fan's position that Sasuke's most sufferings have been self-inflicted. After his clan's slaughter he had plenty chances to lead a happy life among people that loved him, and he turned every one down.

Yeah I think they were not as that is what they think.

[TouKen4Life3g]

Not to be messiah (again), but tomorrow I'll be taking a serious test for my career. That said the grade will be given immediately after I press "submit." That said if I fail, we are DOOMED. If I pass, well, you get the idea. I am nervous beyond anything.

[Gojira]

I can't help but laugh the buildup to the whole "mother is scary" leads to this. Otherwise, if we build up "father is scary", we probably would have Kaguyo. See what I did there.

Kaguya isn't the gonna be the last, we still have 2 more scary moms to go which as of right now we know is going to be Sakura and possibly Temari, depending on whether or not Shikamaru finds the spare enthusiasm to be a father, a husband and basically running the whole village because Naruto sure as hell doesn't have the political knowledge for it.

[Luna]

@Narusaku4life speaks in riddles. You would be a good Dumbledore. LOOOOL