163 replies to this topic

[AzureWaters]

I still don't get it. Is Sai saying that Sakura is a pitiful woman?

I think he's making fun of her because Sasuke's not positioned beside her.

[Fenris]

I agree with what you stated in later posts as well -- this definitely smacks of red herring to me; like Kishimoto is giving the fan service that he won't be giving in the manga; tossing the other pairings a bone becaus he's not going to make them canon in the actual canon storyline. I could be totally wrong and Kishi may be giving away the end game already, but I doubt it.

This makes sense now that i think about it... It just worries me that he'll end it with NH or SS now, giving it's needed development to be realistically canon - especially after what we've seen.

[Sakamaki Izayoi]

....i have no idea why you feel that way.....turning the tables from a movie is a little lazy IMO.

besides naruto and sakura are the only ones in the genjutsu.

they have to learn that this is not reality.

i don't see how this favors NH and SS at all

they will have like a few fan service for themselves and the rest will be sakura and naruto understanding that the real home is better :3 which probably means NS

....honestly....not that I'm pointing this at you...but i wish people weren't so scared or upset about possibly NH or SS moments....i wish people were more positive for NS.......

cause its brining me down.....

Yes but sakura doesnt look like she realizes that this sasuke is a genjutsu

Edited by dovahkiin, 18 July 2012 - 08:32 PM.

[AzureWaters]

Yes but sakura doesnt look like she realizes that this sasuke is a genjutsu

Eh, they both know their in a genjutsu from the start. In a summary awhile back, it mentioned that Naruto knew it was a trick, but he liked being around his parents too much.

On the issue of the cover, I would say it would be slightly anti NH, but on the real side, Hinata's still beside Naruto (while looking at him in an adoring way.)

[TerrorKing]

Yes but sakura doesnt look like she realizes that this sasuke is a genjutsu

No, but she probably will in due time.

[FullmetalNinja25]

This was better than most of the recent Chapters, it was funny, heartfelt and even a little sad and ominous.

[redragon88]

Anyways, here's the flipped version of the upper side portion of the color page:

What is that weird thing besides Naruto's arm?

Eh, they both know their in a genjutsu from the start. In a summary awhile back, it mentioned that Naruto knew it was a trick, but he liked being around his parents too much.

On the issue of the cover, I would say it would be slightly anti NH, but on the real side, Hinata's still beside Naruto (while looking at him in an adoring way.)

So the usual

[Fenris]

Eh, they both know their in a genjutsu from the start. In a summary awhile back, it mentioned that Naruto knew it was a trick, but he liked being around his parents too much.

On the issue of the cover, I would say it would be slightly anti NH, but on the real side, Hinata's still beside Naruto (while looking at him in an adoring way.)

Call it a whim here, but on both covers Naruto and Sakura are besides each other, being prodded on one, and on the other, are neutral. I think this symbolizes although they are both busy with their 'others', this brings Sakura and Naruto closer together and realizing what were 'next to them' all along.

It sounded better in my head But, I tried to explain it as best i could.

Not to mention the pink swirls from Narutomaki are in the background of panel 2.

Edited by Fenris, 18 July 2012 - 08:46 PM.

[AzureWaters]

Call it a whim here, but on both covers Naruto and Sakura are besides each other, being prodded on one, and on the other, are neutral. I think this symbolizes although they are both busy with their 'others', this brings Sakura and Naruto closer together and realizing what were 'next to them' all along.

It sounded better in my head But, I tried to explain it as best i could.

Not to mention the pink swirls from Narutomaki are in the background of panel 2.

I can't agree. Sakura and Naruto both are still not interacting with each other on that side, which is what would have convinced me of NaruSaku being present.

[ultranx]

....i have no idea why you feel that way.....turning the tables from a movie is a little lazy IMO.

besides naruto and sakura are the only ones in the genjutsu.

they have to learn that this is not reality.

i don't see how this favors NH and SS at all

they will have like a few fan service for themselves and the rest will be sakura and naruto understanding that the real home is better :3 which probably means NS

....honestly....not that I'm pointing this at you...but i wish people weren't so scared or upset about possibly NH or SS moments....i wish people were more positive for NS.......

cause its brining me down.....

I may be one of the only people not upset that can't wait to see the comic moments in the movie. I have complete faith in NS and am not worried at all.

Edited by ultranx, 18 July 2012 - 08:54 PM.

[chouzu_tao]

Ugh, why do I feel like that this is just Kishi's way of turning the whole thing around from NS to NH and SS. Like urging his fans that this is how it's gonna be

We'll see. I'm not entirely a believer that Kishi wants NaruSaku. I want it to the max but I'm not convinced he's for it. I'm gonna hold out hope that my couple pulls through but I can only wait until the end of the manga to see. Even though he could leave things unresolved and simply ask that we be at peace with the main plot points with Sasuke being resolved.

As far as this manga's covers, there are different ways to interpret it. I've never believed that Sakura is fully over Sasuke. And probably won't believe it until Naruto and Sakura get together. Mostly because of how Ino balled her eyes out when Konoha made it official and decided to kill Sasuke and how Karin still seems to have mixed feelings on him post being abandoned and left for dead/ post murder attempt of her. Not to mention how Sakura starts balling when Karui confronts her about what Sasuke is to her (many people thought/were hoping that Sakura was already over Sasuke by this point// clearly we were wrong// so don't be surprised if she still "loves" Sasuke). Sometimes a spoon is just a spoon and sometimes the most obvious choices are what we get. In Kishimoto or the Jump producers' minds Sakura being heroic may be via her holding on to Sasuke. Yes it sounds illogical but they might not see this "love/infatuation" as being akin to the love/blindness someone feels in returning to an abusive relationship, but more so a strong love where the person who is cared for does terrible things but the one who cares for them stays strong and powers on through and no matter how many times they fall or make the wrong decisions the person who cares for them weathers it with them (you know kind of like how Itachi did it?). It might not be how everyone sees it (namely anti-SasuSaku fans) but that might be how Kishi or jump producers see it. As for Hinata, maybe Kishi believes in underdogs and wants her to get hers. Or maybe Jump producers like Hinata and made him give her a somewhat bigger role in the manga/movie. Either Kishi has Sasuke on a pedestal like Naruto used to (he likens Naruto to himself when he was younger) or the producers at Jump like Sasuke continuing to be the bad boy heart throb. And this is another thing many of us fail to consider as an option when we poo-poo on Kishi for any NaruHina/SasuSaku moments in the manga. It may very well be the Jump people wanting NH and SS to exist. It's not entirely plot related but you never know how much influence Jump producers have.

You can go the Kishi trolling those couples route because they're acting so unlike the real versions or you can go the route of Sakura clearly still likes Sasuke and Naruto not liking this version of Hinata but preferring the one in the real world. Optimism or pessimism. Denail or acceptance. There are other reasons too but again, even if the movie is pro-SasuSaku and NaruHina, nothing is settled until it's settled. We may very well debate this well after Naruto's ended it's run. There's a very real chance NaruHina and SasuSaku happens. We'll just have to wait and see. It's not over until it's over. Don't panic. Yet.

Edited by chouzu_tao, 18 July 2012 - 09:20 PM.

[Transformers03]

The double color spread does look to make a parallel to how weird Naruto and Sakura feel around their respective AU love interests, but with Sakura it really is very ambiguous as to how much uncomfortable she might be. The way she's holding her hands make her look nervous at the very least. Her face looks like a mix of nervousness and flattery, I guess that would be reasonable for Sakura even if she didn't want AU Sasuke to keep flirting with her.

But it doesn't help that in the cover page (the one with Minata, Kushina, etc.) Sakura actually looks happy while she's looking at Sasuke. Sorry if I sound negative, but I just want to state the way I'm seeing it.

I think that scene with Sakura being jealous of how "ample" Hinata is might be foreshadowing for the movie. Judging by the fact that AU Hinata will get jealous about Sakura and that there will be a bath scene in the movie as well, it could be that AU Hinata might make some indirect comment of how come Naruto likes the small chested Sakura when he already has a big chested girl like her. That might send Sakura off the deep end.

Since this chapter focused on how Naruto sometimes felt lonely eating alone in his house, wouldn't it be heartwarming if when the movie nearly ends as Naruto and get back to the real world Naruto bids goodbye to Sakura as he goes to his home alone but at the last minute Sakura stops him and tell him to join her for dinner with her family. It would show how Sakura now understands Naruto better and how she wishes for him to be happy. It's a very nice contrast to how this special chapter ended with Sakura slapping Naruto and saying she doesn't trust him. I personally think that would be the perfect end for the movie.

I'll be honest, as many people, I also didn't like the lack of Sakura in the chapter but I hope that Road to Sakura will compensate for that. Let's hope that it's thanks to Naruto's efforts that she regains her memories and the trigger for it better not be some memory of Sasuke, I'll be angry if that happens.

P.S. Does nobody know what Sai wrote in that paper in the double spread that made Sakura so mad? I'd really like to know.

Why is a lot of people so worried about Sakura falling for this Sasuke? I don't like how a lot of you guys are over analyzing that image, and claim she isn't happy, or comfortable. What most of you guys see when first see the image, you start worrying because it shows Sasusake. When I saw it, I thought it was funny.

If that was Part 1 Sakura, I would have been annoyed. But that isn't Part 1 Sakura, that's Part 2 Sakura. Compare how she is in the real world to how she acts when she's in the fake world with Sasuke. In the real world she seems angry (possibly implying she has a short temper), and is ready to beat someone up (probably Sai). Yet in the genjustu world, she is all blushing and smiling to be around Sasuke. Like I said, if this was Part 1 Sakura, this wouldn't be surprising. But this is Part 2 Sakura, and that to me that is hilarious. Because the opposite of Part 2 Sakura is Part 1 Sakura.

That's probably why Kishi didn't make a genjustu version of Sakura, and had her go to the genjustu world with Naruto. Sakura's opposite already existed, and that was her in Part 2. Why would create a different version of her, when he could just make her act like the way she did Part 1 (minus certain things).

[ciardha]

If that's true, then I guess Naruto & Sakura will see him as a shining light of hope in the movie from all the madness .

Paptala, I think Sakura does look nervous. At first, I thought she was actually smiling at the prospect of this new Sasuke, but I took a double-take at her hands. It looks like she's wringing her hands nervously, so yeah I think she might be just as uncomfortable with AU!Sasuke as Naruto is to AU!Hinata.

Yep, the hands make it obvious- like she is trying to guard her body from Sasuke, and note again the sharp upward angle of her eyebrows- showing how tense she is feeling inside. Kishimoto is probably playing it more subtle with the anti sasusaku because Sakura tends to be a bit more in control with her emotions than Naruto, plus Sakura does have remnants of the memories of her feelings, Naruto never had any attraction whatsoever to Hinata. Plus I bet some of what the shipper fan letters tone was did have a slight influence on how Kishimoto choses to enlighten the nh and ss shippers that the pairing has always been narusaku. The Japanese sasusaku fans don't go around constantly trashing Sakura and don't trash Naruto either. So Kishimoto let Sasuke be just a smooth playboy type, where Hinata is a yandere.

[Fenris]

Yep, the hands make it obvious- like she is trying to guard her body from Sasuke, and note again the sharp upward angle of her eyebrows- showing how tense she is feeling inside. Kishimoto is probably playing it more subtle with the anti sasusaku because Sakura tends to be a bit more in control with her emotions than Naruto, plus Sakura does have remnants of the memories of her feelings, Naruto never had any attraction whatsoever to Hinata. Plus I bet some of what the shipper fan letters tone was did have a slight influence on how Kishimoto choses to enlighten the nh and ss shippers that the pairing has always been narusaku. The Japanese sasusaku fans don't go around constantly trashing Sakura and don't trash Naruto either. So Kishimoto let Sasuke be just a smooth playboy type, where Hinata is a yandere.

I took a second look at the picture - you're right. Sakura does look like her hands are guarding her body from Sasuke, his hand is pretty low down her arm; knowing Sakura's character and how she acts towards Naruto, that'd be too close for comfort. The hands, to be honest, were what threw me off from the beginning. But this Sasuke is not real and never will be real, so that's the bright side. Another bright side?: Naruto's hand also, he looks like he's trying to 'push' Hinata away without actually touching her, judging from his hands position like a 'stop' sign.

[AzureWaters]

Sakura's not guarding her body. She's playing with her hands, which symbolizes bashfulness or being nervous. Combined with her expression, she looks like a girl whose being flirted with. xD

[Fenris]

Sakura's not guarding her body. She's playing with her hands, which symbolizes bashfulness or being nervous. Combined with her expression, she looks like a girl whose being flirted with. xD

That could be true, too.

otpslowlyfallsdownhillandcrashesintoabigmountainofsunkengoo.

[CloudMountainJuror]

Honestly, to me Sakura looks thrilled. Naruto's the only one I find looking nervous or uncomfortable.

[Fenris]

Honestly, to me Sakura looks thrilled. Naruto's the only one I find looking nervous or uncomfortable.

A troubling thought: If Naruto is uncomfortable with this-world Hinata, would he be comfortable with real-world Hinata?

[Sakamaki Izayoi]

Sakura's not guarding her body. She's playing with her hands, which symbolizes bashfulness or being nervous. Combined with her expression, she looks like a girl whose being flirted with. xD

this is enforced with this

[CloudMountainJuror]

A troubling thought: If Naruto is uncomfortable with this-world Hinata, would he be comfortable with real-world Hinata?

Probably. Naruto does seem comfortable with Hinata's behavior. But I'm not sure about...romantically.