Posted 24 November 2010 - 12:02 AM
I can't help but notice that all of the rewrites people are suggesting are contradictory to what Kishimoto has clearly intended in the series, and I feel like I'm the only one who strongly disagrees with most of those listed. Particularly these:
1) More strategic fights
I keep saying this over and over, the fights ARE as strategic as ever; the attacks themselves have become more flashy and destructive, but none of them mean anything if they don't hit, which on their own they often do not, especially the strongest ones. Plus, each jutsu, no matter how deus ex machina they may seem nowadays, has their respective strengths and weaknesses, are appropriate only for specific situations, and often have to be supplemented by average, basic jutsus to work. If anything, it's more the antagonists' abilities that have become more DBZ-like, making the protagonists think up clever ways to defeat them, which is well in tone with Naruto's underdog theme. If the villains were all like Zabuza...skilled, threatening, but clearly not superman...the story would get boring very fast, and the good guys would get so experienced with fighting such people that after a while, there would be no sense of urgency for anyone, and would come more down to luck.
2) Age of the characters in the academy
I will agree that being 12 might be too young, but it still helped bring the shock to the younger characters about the real world as they grew up. If they were 18, however, they would be having a pretty clear idea by then, so all the elements we have in the story wouldn't matter as much, not to mention the characters probably wouldn't be as flawed as they are in canon (which I consider to be a good thing). 15 might be the happy medium, as in many ancient and past civilizations, adolescents were dragged into fighting and war at that age, and many cultures taught their kids how to fight since they were really young, as they needed everyone to fight with them in order to survive. This can be seen in the Spartans, Persians, the Samurai, even the Wild West (with firearms instead of meele weapons obviously). Some do it even today; in Thailand, their kickboxers begin training as young as 8 and by 15 are SEASONED PROS. So, as they started out?...maybe a bit young, but not entirely contradictory to how Japan treated its adolescents back then in regards to war, and the whole 'not until you're 18' thing to my knowledge did not come up until the 20th century
3) Sasuke as the main villain
While I agree Sasuke could use a LITTLE less screen time, the fact his he has been developed as Naruto's greatest rival and friend. The only other alternative I could think of is Sasuke starting out as a bad guy, getting beaten by Naruto, have him vow victory in a rematch but slowly become an ally. That's been done in almost EVERY SHONEN ANIME OUT THERE (Vegeta, Saitou, Kaiba, Hiei, Sesshomaru...). I think it's rather refreshing to see Sasuke become a villain due to personal circumstances he had no control over, and for Naruto, it's more than about simply beating him in a fight. As for how all the uchihas seemed involved in it this plot, well, coming from such a prestigious clan what did you expect? Although the Uchiha could not be as heavily involved in the plot as they are, they would still play an important part no matter what.
Points I will meet you midway on:
1) Giving character X more development
That depends. Do you mean just some random character that is there, or someone who was implied to play an important role but didn't? My prime example would be the jinchurikis. We know that the jinchurikis were at first thought of as monsters, and either became what the villages feared, or something totally different. Garaa was supposed to be a symbol of what Naruto could have become had he given into his hatred. Killer Bee is the example of what Naruto had to do to conquer not only the hatred of the villagers (which by then he kind of did), as well as his own. Do we really need to see any other jinchuriki? I don't think so; they would just be a repeat of either Garaa or KillerBee. We KNOW what challenges jinchuriki have to face to be accepted in society, seeing the other 6 would have only dragged the story, much like showing the entire Gotei 13 fight completely derailed Bleach. I could agree to giving a character more development or screentime, IF it adds to the story. Most of those present in Naruto won't, and focusing on them I feel would be a distraction. Most of the characters who exist in Naruto have fulfilled their purpose; the Rookie 9 plus Team Gai were peers that Team 7 had to compete against and bond with. If you can come up with a good case for one character to be developed, I'm all for it. But I think it's best the story focused on Team 7 (and I'll cover that soon).
2) Naruto learning more jutsu
I'm all for this...the problem I have with people bringing up this point is that most propose Naruto have thousands of jutsus that will help make him into the Super Sayajin they despise. First off, you CANNOT get rid of Kage Bushin or Rasengan. The former helps to make the fights more strategic and interesting on Naruto's part, the later establishes him as an expert in spatial composition, simply using chakra to attack as opposed to Sasuke, who uses elemental composition that drains his chakra if he doesn't use it wisely. It's like asking for Sonic the Hedgehog without speed (which many would argue we have been getting for years now) Superman without speed and flight, Wolverine without claws, Inuyasha without Tetsusaiga...you get the idea. What I particularly want to see is Naruto have more applications for his wind affinity, where each jutsu serves a different purpose and compliments his character. That being said, I don't want him to learn every other jutsu when what he does know has served him well. Many have argued it's necessary for him to learn 1000 techniques to become Hokage, but this is a misunderstanding; Hiruzen and Kakashi are FAMOUS for being able to do a thousand techniques. But it's not a requirement to be Hokage; the First could only do three elements, (Earth, Water and Wood), and I'd imagine many of them looked the same. Nothing was said about the second, Minato was an expert in seals and space-time jutsus, and Tsunade's jutsus are mostly for medical application. Being able to do hundreds of techniques flawlessly would derail everything Naruto as a character has been building himself up as, and would only make him even more overpowered than fans are claiming he is now. I like the fact that Naruto's jutsus are limited; it just means he knows how to use them well. Like Bruce Lee said: "I fear not the master who has practiced 10,000 kicks once; I fear the one who has practiced ONE kick TEN THOUSAND TIMES."
I know what I've written so far is contradictory to the topic to a degree, but it brings about a pet peeve of mine about "How would you make this series better?": Most take what happens in the series at face value, get frustrated that their own vision or bias is not realized without thinking about what the series creator intended. The execution may be flawed on that last point, but it's not the same as ruining the series if there was no incentive to go the direction you wanted. If you want a series that completely destroyed what it was supposed to be, watch Gundam Seed Destiny
Now that that's off my shoulder, here are the changes I would make:
1) Reduce red herrings
I think in moderation they're great, but in Part 2 they have been a bit excessive. While I've accepted most of them for what they were, I can understand why many people get frustrated with them. So, I would just try to make some plot elements more direct.
2) Balance Team 7 a bit more
The one major problem I have with Naruto as a whole is that even with ignoring the Rookie 9 for the most part (something I approve of), it still has trouble balancing its main characters. Almost all of the arcs have to be focused around either Naruto or Sasuke without finding a happy medium, plus Kakashi and Sakura have been getting the short end of the stick lately (although this will supposedly be addressed in upcoming chapters). If I were writing the manga, I would personally make the plot elements involve all of them so that they all have to be in the story to some degree. Even if one character isn't the focus of the particular arc, I would make it necessary for him/her to be there.
3) Give Sai and Yamato more to do
Need I say more? They're supposed to be substitutes/extensions for some members of Team 7, but they haven't done much.
4) Get rid of Team Snake/Hawk
They didn't amount to much, and I feel that for every story where Sasuke was involved, he clearly could have accomplished what he did without their help.
5) Make at least one major arc with Naruto and the other members as young adults
This might still happen, but I'm doubting it. I just figure that it would make the series more complete than a mere epilogue if we see the main characters grow up in body and mind, facing off against the ultimate evil.
6) Balance vs battles and TeamWork
This made a comeback during the Rescue Garaa arc, and was shown in the Immortals arc. After that, the theme of teamwork seemed to disappear. It looks like it's coming back, but to what degree and if it's the way I want I've yet to see.
7) If someone gets stabbed in the heart, just die
I know it's not supposed to have a sense of realism, but it's quite stupid to completely contradict human biology. On top of that, ease up on the revivals. Almost all shonen does it to some degree, so I'm used to it and don't mind it too much. I just don't want those occasions to be unusually convenient.
Those are my thoughts.
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