Um... ok. WHAT???? That first exposes a romantic view of how creatives interact wtih the world. It's nothing as nice as that.
In most industries, as a creative you're hired to do a specific job. If you don't do it, then you don't get paid. Once you've done that work, it belongs to the company. This is how it goes. Photographer at a newspaper? That photo belongs to the paper. Artist for a rock band? That art belongs to the record label. It is now their intellectual property, not the original creators because s/he was already compensated for it.
Kishimoto is paid by fill-in-the-blank corporation. His work belongs to them. And it has from the very first moment he won that contest in 1998. He can no longer go back and change things, or reprint it with a different ending. And yes, he most definitely is contractually obligated to support whatever direction they ask him to go with it. Or he will be violating his contract. This is the deal that he signed to make money and become internationally famous, instead of having his manga copied at the corner shop and handing it out to his friends.
Lastly, writers fight their editors all the time. Artists fight their art directors all the time. ALL THE TIME. And new writers are the frickin worst.
The franchise launched a next phase with NH. It was the best decision for a lot of reasons — which I've named in previous posts — and if i had been in the room I'd have made the same choice. But what's best for a multi-million dollar franchise isn't always what the artist wants, and that's why I said that artists — being the sneaky little control freaks that they are — will always try to slip in some item, some input, some whisper of what they really intended. Thus, the chaper entitled "The True End."
I get what your saying. But I'm thinking more along the lines of Kishimoto was 20 when he started, unmarried, young and didn't care about families, even as he wrote about them. There's a big difference between him then and now — 40s with kids and taking the long view of life. Couple that with some social mores and the fact that Hinata is very much represents a popular Japanese ideal that is scattered all over anime and manga, then I can see why Kishimoto may have just shrugged and said 'eh, either one.' I don't think he ever cared about shipping, Hinata seemed just as good as Sakura (and didn't make waves as much as Sakura did), and an NH ending is 'going out with a surprise' that then launched the new era with the kids. I think that the part where he based Sakura off his wife was nice and probably true. But in the end, NH was better for the extending of the series and more well-received by those around him and in Japan.
I just think that — with some distance from the ending — there are more reasons for him to turn to NH than I originally realized.
That's what they called "work to hire". By all means if that what Kishi's contract states that then he has "no copyright" and any ownership over the Naruto despite being the original creator/author himself. Definitely there's nothing he can do to change the ending at. However, going by the western standard in the publish industry. Every author and artist has sole ownership over his and her work until they either sale the rights and grant full copyright/owner to company of an individual. The publishing, filming and music industry will always have the leverage when comes to stipulating the agreements. For instance: the royalties and what the author/creator is restricted from doing while under contract.
It's been proven that Kishi can do doujin like the Mitsuki doujin. The question is that does he need to be granted permission by Shuiesha and the magazine to print doujin (normally this means self-publishing in Asia if you are not a fan). Another restriction to bare in mind . Is he allow to share any non profiting art gallery to the public rather if its on internet, at a convention or out on the streets.
Based on the last paragraph. I have mixed feelings and its more or less because how the way he behaved and reacted in his countless interviews, leading up to his trip to the US at the NY Comcon.
