@Nate RiverFirst of all, thank you for the detailed reply.
I do not believe that me calling the character objects was side-stepping at all. At the end of the day they remain drawings who's actions are all controlled by Kishimoto. As much as we like to get attached to them it's important to remember that they aren't real.
In real life nobody is deserving or entitled to anyone, that is an undisputed fact. Every individual has the right to make their own decisions and live with the consequences. The issue is that this type of mindset can't be applied to fictional characters since ultimately the author does make the decisions for them in accordance to how the story of Naruto should go in his perspective.
The argument of who is more deserving doesn't come out as poor in this situation. That's because it's simply being applied in relation of which is the most powerful form of love in accordance to the story that has been presented thus far. Everyone can have different opinions in this matter but I personally say that the way Naruto loves Sakura it's the one that leaves more impact and fits better to the story. Since to me Naruto's love is the most powerful and better fitted then I believe it's the most deserving of a happy conclusion.
I'm not saying that we wouldn't learn anything if Naruto didn't get Sakura. At the top of my head I can easily say we could learn about the importance of letting go. But as I've said before the flow in which Naruto has gone with so far doesn't seem to indicate that is building up towards that lesson. There's many fictional stories that show the hero not getting the heroine and how he needs to move on, they aren't bad stories, in fact some are really great, but the reason for it is because they are shown with the proper atmosphere. I've said many times that in my opinion Naruto has never seemed to have the sort of atmosphere you would expect if Naruto was not gonna get with Sakura by the end. That's why it would be weird if he lost her to Sasuke.
To put it all in a simple way, it's not about which character is more deserving of who, it's about which of the loves shown is more deserving to have a conclusion that goes in accordance to the story shown so far. It's about trying to understand which of the loves does Kishi himself believes is the more appropriate to show realized if he wants to show the best story and message possible.
Since Naruto is the focal point of the story, most messages will get told through him and by extension yes, her reciprocate I think it does suggest is that if you treat the one you love right that they will eventually return that love back to you. But really, is that truly the core message here? It's certaintly a consequence. I think your description feels almost limiting on what he is doing though because Naruto's goal really isn't to earn her love. He wants it, no doubt, but it isn't why he does what he does. He does it because he loves her regardless of result.
I'm trying to think of the best way to word it, but I can't think of anything right now.
Nate, I have mentioned that Naruto is definitely not doing anything that he does for Sakura just to earn her love. Remember that I described Naruto's feelings for Sakura as selfless. That means that Naruto only does what he does for the sake of making Sakura happy without any expectations of getting anything in return.
I think Kishi's message there is for people to understand the importance and value of selflessness. Naruto getting together with Sakura by the end is simply, as you said, a consequence of his selflessness. Kishi isn't telling people to be selfless so that they can get a lover, he's telling people to be selfless regardless and that true love will happen by consequence. Be selfless without any expectation and good things can happen, that's the message, at least when love enters the equation.
That's not really the complaint. It's not that he is doing for self-serving reasons, I think that flies in the face of the evidence. The complaint really is that her feelings are being treated as immaterial in the matter. That because he has done things that make him deserving of her love she is obligated to return it or worse, a b*tch for not doing so.
This all goes back to my original statement on how all the characters are objects created for the sake of the story. Kishi decides on how they feel, and if the story requires for Sakura to love Naruto unconditionally it will happen whether people like it or not. That talk about not considering Sakura's feelings just feels like an excuse people do. Just sounds like something to say to justify not wanting Sakura to fall for Naruto. People try to defend Sakura's ability to decide who she loves as if she was a real person, but in the end she's not. She a made up person who's feelings are controlled by Kishi, and those feelings are a reflection to the message that is trying to be communicated.
Additionally, I think Sakura's confession pretty much covered what happens when you confess out of obligation, it goes terribly wrong. People who still believe that she should return Naruto's feelings when she still isn't sure about what she feels didn't learn anything from that scene.
It would change it, yes. What Coffee mentioned is one possibility. I, for one, would fail to see the point of having the hero's romantic endgame be that message when it's already been demonstrated two times by that very hero and when the messages that would be shown through SS, are already being done through Naruto-Sasuke.
What was it that Coffee said? Was it about the hero letting go of his love? You say it was done two times before, what were those? Are you talking about Naruto letting go of his desire to kill Nagato?
Please let me know about those.
Edited by redragon88, 08 November 2012 - 12:56 PM.
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