29 replies to this topic

[Nate River]

I wouldn't say sticking to the canon specifically, because that implies a strong connection to the current story line. But yeah that's more or less the case for me. I don't mind even significant deviations from the story line so long as the author clearly states (and explains when needed) them. I'm a fan of crack pairings, so I read stuff like that all the time.

Still, when I read Naruto fanfiction I want it to involve the current cast (i.e. no next generation stuff) and the universe in which the series exist and it's basic principles. This is true for most series, which is one of the major reasons I don't read crossovers. Even good ones.

To be blunt...bad authors are still bad authors, inexperienced ones are still inexperienced ones, and lazy ones are still lazy ones regardless of the genre. For the most part, the things that make a crossover over bad are just as plentiful in non-crossovers.

For me, what makes them worse is that the problems are compounded. In other words, in just a bad Naruto fic, you have an author messing up characterization, setting, plot etc. for one series. In a crossover over the same author who struggled with one series, now has to write for at least two (and possible more) so they are compounding basic fanfic clitches and errors of fanfiction, plus the clitches and errors for everyone universe present, plus all of those unique to crossovers.

Thus, you have to not only maintain the integrity of multiple universes and characters, you have to keep in mind how each interacts with the other, how they come together, and how each set of rules and powers compares and works each universe. Issue that were completely ignored in an alarming number of crossovers I've read.

Writing a good, believable crossover is hard. And from my experience most of the more skilled authors don't write them and stick to one series at a time. There are a few like Shrouded in Orange (though I think the author writes powerful Naruto way to often and I'm not a huge harem fan) that are well written. However, my experience has been that the people most likely to write a crossover are ones who care about only two things: (1) The want to see them all their favorite universes in the same place and (2) just ones to pair their favorite characters from their favorite series with how they get there being a secondary concern.

To be sure, these motivations don't doom it from the start or there is not really wrong with them. Maybe people, even skilled authors start from this premise (I know my NaruHanabi that I keep trying to write initially came from the desire to pair them in a believable way). It's when these motivations are very clear from the actual text and are occurring at the expense of everything else.

In other words, they tend to draw those authors who tend to pay the least attention or even care about all those things I and are more likely to make the common mistakes of fanfiction. Thus, most crossover fiction is subpar. I have a much harder time finding a good crossover than a good fic about a single series. I think some of this is explainable in terms of share volume, but I don't think that completely explains it.

This is not to say crossovers are always bad or will are inherently so, just my experience has been that they usually are.

Bleach does seem to work well as a crossover.

I think the reason is that it can be easily grafted on to a number of universes. While it is typically set in the modern world, the Soul Society isn't itself a modern world, rather it's the world of the dead. It operates on it's own set of principles, especially when related to fighting. It's based on spirtual pressure, which is related to the soul not the body of the person.

In the case of a series like Naruto, lots of people die (well theoretically speaking since they don't in the series XD), but we don't know happens when they do. In that regard Bleach could be added on to answer that with significantly fewer compatibility issues than, say, like Harry Potter. They are normally not seen are heard either. The biggest issue would be how Naruto's skills pass into the Soul Society, or even if they do, but I don't think it would be that difficult.

It's actually easier if they don't seeing as there is a potential "relativity" issue in terms of powers. That is, how do they interact? This actually can turn into a huge issue when crossed with certain series (DBZ for example).

Even is series that don't cross well, like Gundam Wing, it's not much of issue since those are similar to Naruto in that there is no answer to what happens when one dies. So it could easily feel that role and since the power in Bleach are spiritual rather than temporal. In fact it works well with series of that nature considering it's connected to the modern world itself.

It doesn't work as well in series that deal directly with what happens to the dead (DBZ for example).

[hymir]

Damn, that was a complete manifesto angainst xovers (which I happen to agree in a 99%).

But anyways, it is very hard to see a good xover fic,since blending two worlds together, and make it believeable is a Titanic labor.

I've read lots of these fics (like two hundred or so), and sincerely, I have only enjoyed about... 10 or so.

I may be because the major factor that found after a while was the next, which I have put out as a formula:

'X' Universe + 'Completely diffetent' Universe = Big bang of a nonsensical story. (this is the formula for diaster, which lots of writers tend to use)

And so:

'X' Universe + 'Beautifuly blended Not-so-different' Universe = Smooth, enjoyable Fic (the winner formula)
So, what I mean is, that you need an experienced writer (which must have the way with words) to wrrite something like a xover, a good xover.

And the best xover I've read was, not a long time ago, one of Bleach x Death Note. I didn't remember the name, but it was great, I mean it, one could actually buy the idea of the author. But as I said before, it was like a very small jewel between a thousand tons of rubble.

[Terrace]

I think the only series that works well for crossovers is Stargate (SG-1 and Atlantis), at least when it is clear that the other one is in another world. If I saw an SG-1/Naruto crossover, I would giggle with the thought of Sam trying to wrap her head around the various justus...

[psycho666]

Hmm, i don't mind crossovers if it's done right, along with many other things, i've only ever read two xover fics and they were pretty good, but nothing special, of course HPxNaruto is just plain ridiculous and annoying, but crossovers are really useful when you wan't to wright a fic with a lot of characters, and you just need to fill in the slots by adding another anime in there , but i've never really been a very big fan on them to be honest, they tend to be annoying and unnecessary, especially when people do crossovers with animes that make absolutely no sense at all

[Dormin]

I read once the lion kingx star wars crossover >_<

And then I stopped reading them, you don't know what is a bad fic till you read an x over that involves lighsabers and Hyanas...

[Wilson]

The worst i have seen is a narutoxpokemon crossover.

Now THAT is bad.......

[True]

Originally I didn't like crossovers because I kept seeing the same Bleach, Inyusha, and Harry Potter ones between Naruto all the time and I got tired of them. But recently I've liked the idea of doing a crossover, and I am currently making an outline for a Gundam Wing x Naruto crossover, where I redo the entire Gundam season (49 episodes = 49 chapters) with my own personal Naruto twist.

I've been rewatching the entire series on my zune during my lunch breaks, and I am writing an outline, where I redo the episodes with my ideas. The storyline will be generally the same, but of course with a bunch of my own ideas

[CrashLanded]

Crossovers, sometimes they suck and sometimes I enjoy reading them. A good Naruto crossover is

Legend Of Uzumaki Naruto series by General Greivous.
or
Troika Parallel (I don't know how Shivakashi pulled it off but its a very well written triple crossover.... not to mention NaruSaku).

Mind you I absolutely steer clear of HPNaruto crossovers but the above one is good (and then again it disregards the latter books in the HP series which is actually good for me - Rowling made some really bad mistakes even as she did something good).

Bad crossovers, too many to count.

[Denim88]

Originally I didn't like crossovers because I kept seeing the same Bleach, Inyusha, and Harry Potter ones between Naruto all the time and I got tired of them. But recently I've liked the idea of doing a crossover, and I am currently making an outline for a Gundam Wing x Naruto crossover, where I redo the entire Gundam season (49 episodes = 49 chapters) with my own personal Naruto twist.

I've been rewatching the entire series on my zune during my lunch breaks, and I am writing an outline, where I redo the episodes with my ideas. The storyline will be generally the same, but of course with a bunch of my own ideas

Holy crud, True, if you pull this off, let me know. I was never a Gundam fan, but from what I see, you can probably make something out of the idea.

As far as my opinion goes, I never was much of a crossover fan to begin with. I never found a good crossover, then again, I don't really even give crossovers much of a chance...shame on me. :shamefulcry0js:

[SakuNaruLover]

Meh, I'm not really a big fan of crossovers
I do read Troika Parallel though and I think its quite good, but this is probably mostly because its narusaku too XD;

I do tend to merge animes together in another way though. For example I write a naruto fic with the main naruto crew in the naruto world, but sometimes I add a character from another anime (for example shakugan no shana). I let the character have the personality which it had in the original anime, but I do change its setting and history, so that it'll fit my naruto story. Because quite frankly...if you write a long story, you need some extra characters to keep the plot moving. And why not use a character from another anime then, which has all the qualifications that I need for that extra character. =P