Personally, when I first read chapter 693, I was a little worried but then I thought that it was maybe the perfect moment for Sakura to forget about Sasuke and open her eyes and see who was the right guy for her...Little did I know that later, she would turn into her 12 years old self.
For me 693 was the fork in the road. When I was first reading through it and I saw Sakura get angry I was like: Oh yes Sakura, Here we go. This is where you stick up for yourself and demand respect. You just showed your power by punching a shinobi goddess, You showed that you can summon Katsuyu and you have mastered the yin seal. Now show Sasuke, show the world including all of the haters who call you a doormat that you are a person who deserves respect.
And she just groveled, cried, bowed down to that emo bastard.
Do women prostate themselves at a guy's feet bc they "Love" him and he's living to pursue his own path? NO
Do women put up with abuse that ranges from insults to murder? NO
Do women, nay do people stay in love with people who tried to murder them? HELL NO
This goes further than just sexism. Real life women do not put up with this kind of crap. Men do not put up with this kind of crap. PEOPLE do not put up with this kind of crap.
"But Shadow, these are fictional characters. They aren't realistic it's a story."-Idiots
Yes it is a fictional story with fictional characters. But the reason we follow the story and support certain characters is bc of the themes they represent.
What is Naruto? Perseverance, acceptance, hard work, forgiveness, diversity, co-existance etc.
What is Sasuke? Revenge, betrayal, loneliness, talent, pain.
What was Sakura? Love, support, Feminine assertiveness in a male dominated world, weakness, perseverance, kindness, Maturing and blossoming
Even individual chapters represent themes
698-700-Coming together, peace, to the future
693-Groveling? Acceptance? Taking responsibility for things that you never did? Not changing or learning from a "love" that even you admitted was a mistake?
And finally couples
NaruSaku-Selflessness, development, friendship, patience, mutuality, kindness, support
SasuSaku-One-sidedness, unequal, selfishness, abuse, murder, pity, patheticness, unrequitedness, submissiveness, unnecessary compassion
NaruHina-One-sidedness, patience, selfishness, jealousy, submissiveness, stalking, support, kindness, unrequitedness
693 for me killed it. It was when Naruto took the last jump off the deep end and started sending the wrong message one that I just couldn't support. I've been in relationships before and I know what it's like to really be in love with someone. I've seen friends give up what makes themselves themselves because they cared so much about someone else. And when it comes to looking up to someone or admiring someone as a "hero" I'm pretty sure anyone can figure out that Naruto is not a real hero.
I know what it means to be a hero or what a good story is, and Naruto presents the exact opposite. I refuse to support the kind of message it sends and compromise my beliefs
Edited by Shadow1275, 17 March 2015 - 09:55 PM.