so, if Naruto didnt understand love then, how did he all of a sudden understand love when it came to Hinata?
In canon? When Sakura explained it to him in the Last. Was it believable? I don’t think so, but that’s because earlier writing established that he, at least intuitively, understood that. Having it explained to him in that way and then understanding it isn’t, by itself, terrible. It flops in the Last because of what came before it in the manga. It ignores established character development. I do not know if he if the Goku/Chich marriage scene was being referenced (or what inspired it), but given Kishi’s affinity for DB it wouldn’t shock me if that were the case.
But the tone of DB is different as is the tone of the Goku/ChiChi. In addition, as I said in my last post, there was development, particularly in Part 1, that indicated he does understand romantic love. The chapters that demonstrate this are the other reason why the scene is such an issue because if he doesn’t what exactly is he doing and what is driving them in early chapters? The rivalry comment by Sakura answers that question, but does so in a way that Naruto look pretty crappy. Honestly, no clean resolution between the Last and Part 1 exists. Naruto is a different character than Goku with a different story and those differences are why such a thing worked for one couple and not the other.
This is the one point where I feel a little sympathy for writers (IIRC Kishimoto didn’t; write but oversaw it). They had 90-120 minutes to deal with any lingering feelings for Sakura, established that he liked Hinata romantically, end with a wedding, and deal with the plot involving the villain. That is not a lot of time to do that, let alone do it well.
Kishimoto not doing the doing the first two things before the end really puts the writer in the Last behind the 8-ball. At least with SS, it left off an interaction that hinted Sasuke was starting to return those feelings.NH did not do that. If nothing else, its clear the writers didn’t think the manga effectively did any of that for NH because the scarf retcon and the this scene are not needed if it had. The movie format has its positives as a medium, but it can be extremely constraining in terms of story telling unless you do something like what Marvel did with the Inifinity Saga. Force all those plots threads into a two hours movie and you get something closer to Joss Wheadon’s Justice League.
And yet we saw that Goku grew to understand love, flaws and all, in spite of trying to make him seem like he doesn't in Super now and then. And the fact The Last was so petty to do that to Naruto, to say he doesn't understand love when his loneliness always made him sympathetic to others...
I dunno, Super absolutely dips into this well at least once to make a joke at Goku’s expense. It was unfortunate too, as that joke was mildly funny and could have been made without completely clubbing him with the idiot ball.
He didn’t, hence the genjutsu. Again should even Hinata fans be satisfied with that movie? That movie shows anything BUT Naruto loving Hinata as a person, he only felt obligated to return her feelings if he did not actually feel anything until that genjutsu. That is not romance. It was a cheap cop out to ATTEMPT to be romantic. I’m saying this objectively, that movie insults any romantic love Naruto was supposed to have with Hinata. I stand by my word, I am a fan of the story before I am a shipping fan and any agruments I make for Sakura applies to Hinata too, no exceptions. If Naruto and Hinata were actually in love, Hinata would show moments of genuine love like supporting Naruto in his goal of rescuing Sasuke or showing support of his dream to be Hokage, and Naruto would show appreciation for her kindness. Nothing of the sort happened. Hinata being shy is not an excuse, I’ve seen many shy characters in manga and anime do romantic gestures or support their love interests however small it may be. Hinata did nothing. I’ll be be perfectly honest if Hinata fans are so insistent Naruto is not a romance manga to denounce Naruto and Sakura’s relationship, here they are. Naruto is a narcissist that doesn’t know what love is so he was never in love with Hinata either. He was GUILT TRIPPED into marrying her. I hope they are happy with this, because I’m not
I don’t know that I see Naruto as a narcissist. I see him as a broken character whose writings is inconsistent. I think many of the negative connotations that the ending of the manga and Last give are not intentional, but the result of either not thinking certain things through or not caring about internal consistency. Ending Naruto is supposed to look like an idealist who is able to implement those ideas through the force of well, not a shallow and naive dipkitten who appears to gloss over mass murder because Naruto has to redeem everyone even the irredeemable.
He ends up looking like the latter because of the great lengths that the story goes through to protect him. He looks like a stupid and insensitive kitten because the story wants Hinata to be his first love. Realistically, that ship sailed in Part 1. I don’t think that any of that is intended. Other characters sure don’t act like they think those things.
This is why, now, I view him as broken. He’s not supposed to look like crappy person, and in official canon he is not. But poor writing leaves way to many “what the hell” moments that sure leave that impression.
