54216 replies to this topic

[xxRomanceGirlxx]

Also, while I understand why many don't want to start a Sakura vs Hinata debate (and I do agree with that to a large extent), I can't help but notice that in some ways Hinata is set up as a foil to Sakura.  Sakura is the normal girl with an irrelevant clan/family while Hinata is from a major clan, Sakura has neither a Kekkei Genkai nor any known secret clan techniques, Hinata has a Kekkei Genkai and the secret clan techniques and abilities that come with it (and the clan is so secretive and protective of their techniques that they place a seal on less important clan members), Sakura is the hero's love interest, the hero is Hinata's love interest, Sakura is at first oblivious to Naruto's pain but becomes the person who seems to understand him the most (yes, even more than Sasuke who has an instinctive understand of Naruto to some degree, but doesn't understand him yet --it's why he asks why back during the Team 7 reunion), Hinata's the first of the R9/K11 to notice Naruto's suffering but has a complete misunderstanding of what the actual source of his suffering was/is, Sakura is the person inspired by Naruto to actively work to find her inner strength (demonstrated in the most unsubtle manner during her battle with Ino), while Hinata is the person most inspired by Naruto's nindo but who is still unable to use it to play to her strengths and thus more often than not tends to fall short, and of course most recently Sakura's goal has been to get everyone (not just herself) to be of some use to Naruto, while Hinata has been focused on reaching Naruto (and yes helping...I'm not trying to pain Hinata as the evil of all evils, she certainly not evil at all, in any way) Naruto so that she can gain some recognition from him (get something from him).  Maybe I'm reading into it too much, maybe I'm giving Kishi too much credit, but it does seem particularly methodical to me.  I don't quite understand what Kishi's purpose is, I think at some point he'll let her realize that she has her own inner strength and that she'll be inspired to focus on her clan etc etc, but I do think his writing lends itself to the comparison between Sakura and Hinata, and that Hinata isn't underdeveloped, but a character who has some sort of self-inflicted co-dependency with a dose of development-limiting tunnel vision (when it comes to Naruto, but mainly in terms of her own self-assessment).

 

 

I agree with this part so much. I've often thought Sakura and Hinata were a foil to each other, and maybe that's why we end up comparing the two so much (even unconsciously). Sakura started out similarly to Hinata. She was a shy, unconfident girl who often felt victimized and needed inspiration from another to change (Ino was everything Sakura wanted to be, while Naruto was everything Hinata wanted to be). The reason why Sakura turned out so different than Hinata was because her source of inspiration sought her out, while Hinata never had things that easy. And despite their drastic personality differences by now, Sakura and Hinata do have three things in common. They go through spells of self-doubt and sense of uselessness, always wanted to be someone important and acknowledged, and of course, the core of their characters is driven by their different bonds with Naruto.

 

However, that is where the similarities end. Sakura outgrew her shyness and became someone bold, active, and confident (mostly). She is almost everything Hinata is not, and that even reflects in their shared love for Naruto.

 

Yet, I disagree Kishi was intending to make Hinata look bad. I don't think he was trying to make her look great either, but definitely not horrible. I just think he is failing to do anything right with her character now, but not by lack of trying.

Edited by xxRomanceGirlxx, 09 October 2013 - 07:28 AM.

[TouKen4Life3g]

I believe that people gain the hype level from the Hinata fandom, which led them to believe it is true. When they see it themselves, they either feel disappointed or fall in as they probably like her in general, rather than just look outside of the box. Look, I am not telling them to change their minds and forget Hinata, rather understand the truth of her character. Because of that, I don't think that highly of her. Instead, I see her as a character with one trait, nothing more, nothing less. If this was a heroine, this could be a bad thing, but since she's a side character, the low factor is lowered.

 

So anyway, enough of the versus or whatever we were in, let's talk about the fact Naruto's birthday is almost here as well as Japan getting another NS event. We can't talk about the latter since none of us are near in Japan or the location of where it's being held. Bummer. So, clearly they have been developed a lot. So, for both of them, what is your favorite Naru->Saku moment and Saku->Naru moment?

[morgaine4]

Yet, I disagree Kishi was intending to make Hinata look bad. I don't think he was trying to make her look great either, but definitely not horrible. I just think he is failing to do anything right with her character now, but not by lack of trying.

 

I actually agree with this, I don't think Kishi's intending to make Hinata look bad, but I do think he intends for her co-dependency on Naruto, Naruto's nindo, and her attempt to use Naruto's application of his nindo look bad.  She needs to find her own strength, trust in herself, figure out how to apply Naruto's nindo in a such a way that caters to her strength.  I felt the reason her speech in 615 was successful, because though it was about Naruto, she was still relaying her expertise, explaining what people saw in him which was based on her (at one point) unique/special ability because she's his first devotee.  It was for Naruto, and though it was about everyone, it was essentially about herself.  It's OK if Hinata is inspired by someone else, but at some point she needs to find her own strength too.  I think at this point though, her development is stalled even more so than the manga as a whole because I think further development will be offscreen and might relate to her role as the Hyuuga heir etc.  It's just a shame, because by stalling her development, I feel Hinata comes off as a bit petulant.  *sigh*  It is what it is.

[Paptala]

Excellent posts you guys, and great points being made all around.

 

I don’t necessarily think its bad to compare Sakura and Hinata, I just didn’t think that the particular issue on which they were being compared recently had much point to it for the reasons that I laid out in my earlier post. 

 

I think both characters can be fairly criticized for their early behavior, just as Naruto can be fairly criticized for his early behavior.  Context should be kept in mind though, as others have said here, as well as being sure to not to hand waive away issues for one and not being willing to do so for another (note that I’m speaking in general here, I’m not saying that anyone here are done so).

 

Comparing characters, especially in discussions of whether they are foils or not, can be very interesting, and I agree that Kishi’s writing lends itself to comparing Hinata and Sakura.  The fact that these girls are the hero’s options for romance increases the comparisons between them more than anything, imo, from most of the fandom.

 

While Hinata seems to come off as more sympathetic to the average reader, I think Sakura is the better character.  She’s grown a tremendous amount, both as a kunoichi and in terms of character, and has come from essentially nothing.  She is layered and complex, and is more than just her romance subplot (though admittedly, it does play a large role in her character nonetheless).  I think that Kishimoto thinks along the same lines somewhat, since he was surprised that Hinata was so popular and didn’t agree with the criticism of Sakura’s character at the summit.  On the other hand, I agree that he didn’t necessarily mean to portray Hinata negatively.

 

While I’m not fond of Hinata by any means, my ideal ending scenario for her would be as follows:

• Hinata recognizes and maturely accepts that Naruto does not return her romantic feelings, and is simply happy that he is happy
• Hinata is proud of what she has accomplished thus far in being able to tell Naruto how she felt (no regrets), being able to help him, and getting Naruto’s sincere gratitude and acknowledgment
• Hinata pulling an anime Vash (“Rem . . . I will continue to believe in you.  But from now on, I will look to my own words for guidance.”) and becomes determined to find her own beliefs in life to follow rather than blindly following Naruto’s
• Hinata resolves to and eventually becomes clan leader and institutes reforms in her clan, honoring Neji and his father’s sacrifices

 

Though given Kishi’s recent writing, I’m not incredibly confident that he will take this route with her.  I think he’s created too many characters for him to properly handle the ones he already has, much less the minor ones.  Hopefully, Kishimoto will at least do justice to Sakura’s character in finally resolving her.

 

On a different note, I wanted to touch on the issue of Naruto being a Gary-Stu.  I don’t think he is one, though admittedly he has some elements of one.  Yes, he’s definitely overpowered (though at least he’s not the most powerful), and practically everyone loves him/is amazed by him. 

 

However, he has flaws that are pointed out as such in the story (stupid, childish, idealistic, impulsive, always trying to do everything on his own/thinking only he can do certain things - which Itachi most recently called him out on, as did Sakura to an extent-, short tempered, almost giving up in the fight with Obito, etc.), and while he’s been indirectly stated as being somewhat handsome in the manga, its never been portrayed to Gary-stu levels where everyone is lusting over his amazing looks (this is more Sasuke’s area).  Nor does he have a harem after him – just Hinata, and most likely Sakura (and she’s not fan-girling over him – she is very much cognizant of his flaws and will call him out on them).  So while he has Gary-Stu aspects to him for sure, I think it could be a lot worse/blatant.

 

@ NS4L3G:  In regards to what Obito's TnJ will consist of, if it doesn't have anything to do with Naruto's love for Sakura, then I think he'll answer the issues Obito brought up in this past chapter - yes, the village treated him horribly when he was younger, but they love and acknowledge him now because he never gave up.  Yes Sasuke betrayed him, but he's helping them now and Naruto is almost certain to get through to Sasuke eventually.  Yes, loosing Jiraiya caused him to feel hatred, but he was stronger than it and spared Nagato's life, which not only brought him more inner peace than just killing him outright, it also resulted in many lives being restored.  Where there's hatred and despair, there's also eventual joy and happiness if you allow yourself to be open to it.  Or something along those lines, lol.  

Edited by Paptala, 09 October 2013 - 04:48 PM.

[TouKen4Life3g]

^Well said. I do believe only the side characters would fall to the victim of not getting so much development to get a closure and let the epilogue does the work for him. However, I believe the main characters will get their closure before the epilogue because it's clear that Kishi shows more passion when dealing with the main characters as well as those who relates to him, such as Minato or Jiraiya. It's just priority and wanting to tell a story. I don't have doubt that he will leave them hanging because right now, Kakashi is receiving the ultimate closure, starting with his best friend, Obito. The rest of Team 7 are built up for the next and last phase with the hype of Naruto vs. Sasuke, Sakura's dilemma with both (one shows too much care, the other shows distrust), and so on. I can only wait how this arc concludes to give you the idea of what's going to be the ending for all. It's a secret clue, much like Sakura hugging Naruto after Pain, so something similar were to happen, in any form, then you most likely understand the path.

[Question22]

 Naruto happy > Narutards happy lol

[Derock]

On a different note, I wanted to touch on the issue of Naruto being a Gary-Stu.  I don’t think he is one, though admittedly he has some elements of one.  Yes, he’s definitely overpowered (though at least he’s not the most powerful), and practically everyone loves him/is amazed by him. 

 

However, he has flaws that are pointed out as such in the story (stupid, childish, idealistic, impulsive, always trying to do everything on his own/thinking only he can do certain things - which Itachi most recently called him out on, as did Sakura to an extent-, short tempered, almost giving up in the fight with Obito, etc.), and while he’s been indirectly stated as being somewhat handsome in the manga, its never been portrayed to Gary-stu levels where everyone is lusting over his amazing looks (this is more Sasuke’s area).  Nor does he have a harem after him – just Hinata, and most likely Sakura (and she’s not fan-girling over him – she is very much cognizant of his flaws and will call him out on them).  So while he has Gary-Stu aspects to him for sure, I think it could be a lot worse/blatant.

 

@ NS4L3G:  In regards to what Obito's TnJ will consist of, if it doesn't have anything to do with Naruto's love for Sakura, then I think he'll answer the issues Obito brought up in this past chapter - yes, the village treated him horribly when he was younger, but they love and acknowledge him now because he never gave up.  Yes Sasuke betrayed him, but he's helping them now and Naruto is almost certain to get through to Sasuke eventually.  Yes, loosing Jiraiya caused him to feel hatred, but he was stronger than it and spared Nagato's life, which not only brought him more inner peace than just killing him outright, it also resulted in many lives being restored.  Where there's hatred and despair, there's also eventual joy and happiness if you allow yourself to be open to it.  Or something along those lines, lol.  

 

Whomever said Naruto is a Gary-Stu needs to close their mouths immediately, because he isn't even one. Sasuke, on the other hand is in that territory.

[BakeNeko-Chan]

 

I actually agree with this, I don't think Kishi's intending to make Hinata look bad, but I do think he intends for her co-dependency on Naruto, Naruto's nindo, and her attempt to use Naruto's application of his nindo look bad.  She needs to find her own strength, trust in herself, figure out how to apply Naruto's nindo in a such a way that caters to her strength.  I felt the reason her speech in 615 was successful, because though it was about Naruto, she was still relaying her expertise, explaining what people saw in him which was based on her (at one point) unique/special ability because she's his first devotee.  It was for Naruto, and though it was about everyone, it was essentially about herself.  It's OK if Hinata is inspired by someone else, but at some point she needs to find her own strength too.  I think at this point though, her development is stalled even more so than the manga as a whole because I think further development will be offscreen and might relate to her role as the Hyuuga heir etc.  It's just a shame, because by stalling her development, I feel Hinata comes off as a bit petulant.  *sigh*  It is what it is.

 

The bolded: So much, is that not what Naruto even told her, "You're strong, you don't need me," or something along those lines? I tried to find the panel but I could remember the exact chapter and it was taking too long. 

[TouKen4Life3g]

@ NS4L3G:  In regards to what Obito's TnJ will consist of, if it doesn't have anything to do with Naruto's love for Sakura, then I think he'll answer the issues Obito brought up in this past chapter - yes, the village treated him horribly when he was younger, but they love and acknowledge him now because he never gave up.  Yes Sasuke betrayed him, but he's helping them now and Naruto is almost certain to get through to Sasuke eventually.  Yes, loosing Jiraiya caused him to feel hatred, but he was stronger than it and spared Nagato's life, which not only brought him more inner peace than just killing him outright, it also resulted in many lives being restored.  Where there's hatred and despair, there's also eventual joy and happiness if you allow yourself to be open to it.  Or something along those lines, lol.  

The funny thing that you mentioned is that the fact no matter what, Sakura/Rin will be covered because it's part of Obito's life. When you mentioned about never gave up, the only problem that is left is how to deal with the love of your life if it's too late to go back. Naruto doesn't know that from Obito. I remember Yamato said that if he were to save Sasuke and protect Sakura (note: not mentioning anyone else), then he will do it with his own hands. The reason why I brought it up is because Obito wanted to protect Rin, but failed because of his "death", so he trusted Kakashi to do so. That failed too. So it is linked with trust and protect. That said if you bring one of the team member, whether it's Sasuke or Sakura or Kakashi, it will be linked.

 

This is the current problem with Obito that he don't feel like he got the answer, rather keep getting told or schooled. Naruto is just answering him from himself, but never connects the dot. At some point, it will be either Kakashi (highly likely) or Obito to tell Naruto why he is like this today. Heart to heart conversation must happen to win Obito in TnJ battle. That's why Naruto lost to Sasuke back in VotE because he had less connections and well, Sasuke just win in strength, but in terms of converting him, it stung him but it didn't work. Now, Obito and Naruto can't be anymore similar. If Obito wants a answer that he wants to hear, they must connect now.

[xxRomanceGirlxx]

I still expect an ObiRin/NaruSaku parallel confirmation as well, since I really can't see Obito listening in any other way. Naruto needs to know his story in order to redeem him. It's just a matter of time. It doesn't have to mean Sakura will die to really prove it, but she should be involved.

[TouKen4Life3g]

I still expect an ObiRin/NaruSaku parallel confirmation as well, since I really can't see Obito listening in any other way. Naruto needs to know his story in order to redeem him. It's just a matter of time. It doesn't have to mean Sakura will die to really prove it, but she should be involved.

Exactly. It's only matter of time. In fact, here, read this to understand why, at least from me.

 

http://sparda3g.tumb...s-it-inevitable

[redragon88]

Do any of you think Kishi really cares for pairing wars? I think that's a believe that has come from the imagination of fans who care too much about the pairings instead of the story itself.

 

From what I recall in Japan they don't really care about pairing wars. In Japan SS is popular because the girls like the fan arts, practically nobody cares about NH, and pretty much everyone saw that NS is the obvious conclusion that would go along with the story.

 

I think we should look towards the japanese audience in how to really view pairings.

 

I still remember how the excuse used for 631 was that Kishi likes to play around with the pairing so that's why that chapter didn't matter much. I couldn't believe that people really deluded themselves to such a point. As if Kishi would modify the structure of his story because he likes to stir some supposed pairing war that was invented by the fans. That thinking is beyond pathetic.

 

People have even said that Kishi keeps up the pairing wars because of the sales... what freaking sales? The only ones who become obsessed with pairing wars are probably the ones who don't even care to buy the volumes and just read the scans, and they have the nerve to claim Kishimoto is taking their stupid opinion in mind. Get real.

 

That's all I have to say. From what I see pairing wars are the result of the fans imagination, and don't have anything to do with the intentions of Kishimoto. What do you guys think?

[TouKen4Life3g]

Do any of you think Kishi really cares for pairing wars? I think that's a believe that has come from the imagination of fans who care too much about the pairings instead of the story itself.
 
From what I recall in Japan they don't really care about pairing wars. In Japan SS is popular because the girls like the fan arts, practically nobody cares about NH, and pretty much everyone saw that NS is the obvious conclusion that would go along with the story.
 
I think we should look towards the japanese audience in how to really view pairings.
 
I still remember how the excuse used for 631 was that Kishi likes to play around with the pairing so that's why that chapter didn't matter much. I couldn't believe that people really deluded themselves to such a point. As if Kishi would modify the structure of his story because he likes to stir some supposed pairing war that was invented by the fans. That thinking is beyond pathetic.
 
People have even said that Kishi keeps up the pairing wars because of the sales... what freaking sales? The only ones who become obsessed with pairing wars are probably the ones who don't even care to buy the volumes and just read the scans, and they have the nerve to claim Kishimoto is taking their stupid opinion in mind. Get real.
 
That's all I have to say. From what I see pairing wars are the result of the fans imagination, and don't have anything to do with the intentions of Kishimoto. What do you guys think?

That's crazy! Absurd! No way!

You're right. After a while, I believe Kishi don't really care at all. The close you can get is the advertisement but that's just it, an advertisement. If you can't really present the actual content in the original work, then there's nothing to write home about, which in this case, it's pairings. By ads, I mean like non-Kishi work, but even those are more like random people interpretation that's most likely not intended.

Edited by NaruSaku4Life3g, 10 October 2013 - 04:09 PM.

[Derock]

Do any of you think Kishi really cares for pairing wars? I think that's a believe that has come from the imagination of fans who care too much about the pairings instead of the story itself.

 

From what I recall in Japan they don't really care about pairing wars. In Japan SS is popular because the girls like the fan arts, practically nobody cares about NH, and pretty much everyone saw that NS is the obvious conclusion that would go along with the story.

 

I think we should look towards the japanese audience in how to really view pairings.

 

I still remember how the excuse used for 631 was that Kishi likes to play around with the pairing so that's why that chapter didn't matter much. I couldn't believe that people really deluded themselves to such a point. As if Kishi would modify the structure of his story because he likes to stir some supposed pairing war that was invented by the fans. That thinking is beyond pathetic.

 

People have even said that Kishi keeps up the pairing wars because of the sales... what freaking sales? The only ones who become obsessed with pairing wars are probably the ones who don't even care to buy the volumes and just read the scans, and they have the nerve to claim Kishimoto is taking their stupid opinion in mind. Get real.

 

That's all I have to say. From what I see pairing wars are the result of the fans imagination, and don't have anything to do with the intentions of Kishimoto. What do you guys think?

 

I have to agree. You are definitely right that the Japanese doesn't view pairings hardcore like we do. I think that all of this mentality thinking and so-called facts are from the West, especially here in the USA, where we have the most vocal fans. And we put bias and favoritism to the max (love for a certain minor female character who hasn't contribute much to the plot and add in fandom ideas to canon which doesn't even apply, all-time hate for the main female despite the character development throughout the entire series, not even paying attention to the main source, and the most important, "its DBZ with Ninjas" mentality).

 

Pairing wars = Sales? Pfft! Hell no! Wrong answer. Sales come in when the action and the battles come from Kishimoto. Look at the sales for manga volumes, they get the money for the action (which it is primary genre target), not the romance (not even part of the main section of its targets because it is secondary).

[Sakamaki Izayoi]

 

I have to agree. You are definitely right that the Japanese doesn't view pairings hardcore like we do. I think that all of this mentality thinking and so-called facts are from the West, especially here in the USA, where we have the most vocal fans. And we put bias and favoritism to the max (love for a certain minor female character who hasn't contribute much to the plot and add in fandom ideas to canon which doesn't even apply, all-time hate for the main female despite the character development throughout the entire series, not even paying attention to the main source, and the most important, "its DBZ with Ninjas" mentality).

 

Pairing wars = Sales? Pfft! Hell no! Wrong answer. Sales come in when the action and the battles come from Kishimoto. Look at the sales for manga volumes, they get the money for the action (which it is primary genre target), not the romance (not even part of the main section of its targets because it is secondary).

I remember that link was posted here, had some quots from NH and SS.
There was a guy who said "Sai is ruining the manga" just because he said that Naruto loves Sakura.

Edited by Dαrkrєrsŧ, 10 October 2013 - 04:19 PM.

[TouKen4Life3g]

I remember that link was posted here, had some quots from NH and SS.
There was a guy who said "Sai is ruining the manga" just because he said that Naruto loves Sakura.

I remember the translator wrote slaps to Sai once Said tells Sakura about Naruto.

[redragon88]

That's crazy! Absurd! No way!

You're right. After a while, I believe Kishi don't really care at all. The close you can get is the advertisement but that's just it, an advertisement. If you can't really present the actual content in the original work, then there's nothing to write home about, which in this case, it's pairings. By ads, I mean like non-Kishi work, but even those are more like random people interpretation that's most likely not intended.

 

Do you refer to the cover of the Road to Ninja prequel one-shot? Not even that was intended to be about pairings, it was meant to show the main personality traits of the AU! Konoha 12. AU! Sasuke's trait was being a playboy so that's why he's all over Sakura there, and AU! Hinata's trait was her aggressive possessiveness so that's why she grabbing Naruto while flipping the bird to the readers.

 

People thinking that cover had to do with pairings is the result of that imaginary idea about Kishi caring for pairing wars. They make themselves believe Kishi is saying with that cover "Look how Naruto and Sakura have to deal with their respective true love interests" when in reality is more along the lines of "Look at how the characters have changed in this AU!, pretty interesting".

[T XD]

Do any of you think Kishi really cares for pairing wars? I think that's a believe that has come from the imagination of fans who care too much about the pairings instead of the story itself.

 

From what I recall in Japan they don't really care about pairing wars. In Japan SS is popular because the girls like the fan arts, practically nobody cares about NH, and pretty much everyone saw that NS is the obvious conclusion that would go along with the story.

 

I think we should look towards the japanese audience in how to really view pairings.

 

I still remember how the excuse used for 631 was that Kishi likes to play around with the pairing so that's why that chapter didn't matter much. I couldn't believe that people really deluded themselves to such a point. As if Kishi would modify the structure of his story because he likes to stir some supposed pairing war that was invented by the fans. That thinking is beyond pathetic.

 

People have even said that Kishi keeps up the pairing wars because of the sales... what freaking sales? The only ones who become obsessed with pairing wars are probably the ones who don't even care to buy the volumes and just read the scans, and they have the nerve to claim Kishimoto is taking their stupid opinion in mind. Get real.

 

That's all I have to say. From what I see pairing wars are the result of the fans imagination, and don't have anything to do with the intentions of Kishimoto. What do you guys think?

Yup, pairing wars are just from the fans who are really clinging into pairings and disturbed by other pairings in the Western. In Japan, no one is taking a pairing war into consideration, not even debating about this pairing and that pairing. Well, they bring up the subject, but just opinions. We don't see people making arguments here and there for which pairing is going to be. They just read the manga and know NS is the pairing that is going to happen from the beginning. It's not that hard to know that, actually. He's aware of pairing wars, but doesn't give them credit.

 

Also, there's something I noticed. From what I see in the manga and think about it, Kishi makes fan services for characters who are popular especially side characters. Hinata, Shikamaru and Gaara are the ones who get more action or panel time than other side characters. I know Hinata isn't that popular in Japan, but she has some base of popularity, though not as much as the main characters and other side characters. Maybe I'm wrong and Kishi putted those side characters in the top three of the side characters for more screen time and stuff in his head from the beginning. But, still, some chapters in the manga have them much focused at some points.

Edited by T XD, 10 October 2013 - 04:50 PM.

[BakeNeko-Chan]

Do any of you think Kishi really cares for pairing wars? I think that's a believe that has come from the imagination of fans who care too much about the pairings instead of the story itself.

 

From what I recall in Japan they don't really care about pairing wars. In Japan SS is popular because the girls like the fan arts, practically nobody cares about NH, and pretty much everyone saw that NS is the obvious conclusion that would go along with the story.

 

I think we should look towards the japanese audience in how to really view pairings.

 

I still remember how the excuse used for 631 was that Kishi likes to play around with the pairing so that's why that chapter didn't matter much. I couldn't believe that people really deluded themselves to such a point. As if Kishi would modify the structure of his story because he likes to stir some supposed pairing war that was invented by the fans. That thinking is beyond pathetic.

 

People have even said that Kishi keeps up the pairing wars because of the sales... what freaking sales? The only ones who become obsessed with pairing wars are probably the ones who don't even care to buy the volumes and just read the scans, and they have the nerve to claim Kishimoto is taking their stupid opinion in mind. Get real.

 

That's all I have to say. From what I see pairing wars are the result of the fans imagination, and don't have anything to do with the intentions of Kishimoto. What do you guys think?

 

I don't see why he should care, I know I wouldn't. The pairings and pairing wars are not what drives the story, it's fans that make it out to be way more important than it is, it's a subplot, not at the center of everything like people tend to convince themselves. And as for pairings affecting sales, I doubt it, I don't see making one pairing canon over the others either increasing or decreasing sales, so long as it makes logical sense for what the story has presented so far. I don't believe Kishi intentionally incites the pairing wars, but fans that mistakenly interpret it that way. He teases yes, as a way to keep tension in the romance subplot, but he is far from the only writer to make use of such a tactic, it's a very common tool in storytelling, and one people just seem to fall for time and again.

[TouKen4Life3g]

 
Do you refer to the cover of the Road to Ninja prequel one-shot? Not even that was intended to be about pairings, it was meant to show the main personality traits of the AU! Konoha 12. AU! Sasuke's trait was being a playboy so that's why he's all over Sakura there, and AU! Hinata's trait was her aggressive possessiveness so that's why she grabbing Naruto while flipping the bird to the readers.
 
People thinking that cover had to do with pairings is the result of that imaginary idea about Kishi caring for pairing wars. They make themselves believe Kishi is saying with that cover "Look how Naruto and Sakura have to deal with their respective true love interests" when in reality is more along the lines of "Look at how the characters have changed in this AU!, pretty interesting".

My point exactly. That's why I said it's people interpretation on the ads. Like I said if you believe the ads is the way you think, the actual content must result to that, but it didn't. Therefore, it's our fault for getting the wrong idea.