tatsujin76

Damn, I was gonna reply to a few people, but I lost the quotes... Anyway, someone mentioned the silver medal argument, and the way I see it, that's exactly what happened; the story established Naruto's unwavering love for Sakura, but he had to settle for Hinata because Kishi made Sakura end up with Sasuke. The reason Hinata is relegated to a silver medal/pairing fodder role is because her character and her relationship with Naruto was not built upon enough throughout the story to warrant romantic feelings between them. It seems Kishi/SP want to mitigate this mistake by devoting a film to the beginning of their romantic relationship, but there's something wrong from the get-go: it's been 2 years since the end of the war, and Naruto still hasn't even acknowledged her confession. "Her feelings have not reached him", says the synopsis of the movie. How, in the span of what I assume will be days, at most weeks, will Naruto suddenly acknowledge Hinata after years of knowing her feelings for him and what will happen with his previously established unwavering love?

I think Kishi when sitting down to write 699-700 at some point noticed he always wanted to write a shoujo, so he made that ending in order to write The Last as a shoujo anime film.

Some of you say the last chapters were character assassination; the way I see it, the whole story was assassinated, which is why I can't take Kishi seriously anymore in whatever he does from now on.

I'm glad this season is full of good anime (I'm drowning right now in over 20 this season alone), so Naruto's bad ending doesn't really affect as much as it would have months ago. I'm also glad I got Assassin's Creed: Unity and Halo: MCC today, next week comes Dragon Age: Inquisition, and I'm getting Sunset Overdrive on the Holidays. Plus I may be getting involved in a blog making game and film reviews, so I'll definitely be busy (too busy to lend any attention to Naruto) next year if all goes well.

Wow, the manga did have a conclusive ending and everything is either easily deduced or outright solved, no loose threads at all!

/s

Honestly, the ending feels rushed, more than anything. So, Naruto and Sasuke have neglected their children? WTF? Neither of the orphans got a happy family moment? What's with all the random pairings? Fat Anko? Who's Lee's wife? Was that Kiba's wife or some random girl he was talking to? Why does Sarada look exactly like Karin but with black hair and eyes? Why don't NH kids have Byakugan and yet they have whiskers? Where the kitten is Sasuke and was that his right arm? No interaction between Naruto, Hinata, or Sakura at all? What happened to the POAL? What happened to Naruto confessing? What happened with the ninja world after the war? Where's Yamato? Where's Taka? Where's Orochimaru? Why was it just implied that Shino was that "Aburame-sensei"? Why does it feel as if someone other than Kishi wrote the last two chapters?

The sad thing is that many of these questions will be answered in the movie, giving the manga readers a huge middle finger. That only makes the asspull even more evident. If he really did know the ending, why not develop it in the manga somehow? Imagine if he hadn't gotten Kaguya and Madara was the final villain? Kishi would've had more chapters to end things nicely, but nooooo, he had to go and do that exact same kitten.

I think all of this proves something: Kishimoto Masashi is not a good writer at all. He's great at crafting a deep, huge, and detailed universe, but he sucks at writing a decent story with interesting and complex characters. Honestly, the entire manga's denouement was one chapter, 699, and it was from Sasuke's POV, the deuteragonist, the anti-hero/dipping-into-villain character, not Naruto's, the protagonist, the hero and main character. Sakura was, at the end, relegated to pairing fodder and disregarded as the heroine of the story. Hinata wasn't even elevated from side character and pairing fodder status. These last two chapters seem completely disjointed from the other 698. Honestly, if it was somehow revealed that it was all part of some genjutsu alternate world, I wouldn't be surprised, at all; alas, it's not, and we're stuck with the worst manga/anime ending I've ever seen in my life. Of course, this ending is so bad it's on the league of Mass Effect 3, which was by far the worst ending a story I've followed has ever had. Naruto definitely gives it a run for its money.

At this point, I think I might as well finish the anime and watch The Last someday (right now, I don't even want to watch the anime), but I'm definitely erasing everything Naruto-related from the hard drive after that. I don't think I might even bother with following the short stories/Part 3/whatever goes after this. I'm a huge believer that the storyteller has the right to tell the story he wants to, but he also has an obligation to treat its audience to well-thought out, intelligent and logical story that makes sense in the end. Obviously, Kishi doesn't believe in that, since the ending is pure fanservice, a thing I think is seldom done well and I personally am against.

Anyway, I'm sorry for all the people who've been shipping NS for a long time. It must really feel worse, since the story clearly pointed to that. As I said earlier, I've never considered myself a hardcore shipper, and honestly the only reason I favored NS was because I liked their development and how the story portrayed it and pointed to it happening eventually. Alas, today the fandom was remembered that it is at the mercy of the story's writer.

I'm waiting until tomorrow, but I've gotta admit, this kitten is looking more and more legit by the second. I'm trying to lower expectations as much as possible without giving up on this, but I'm finding it difficult. If this is a troll, then it's the most detailed troll in the history of the internet. If all of this is true, then, wow, what a kittening disaster. This is the most retarded plot twist I've ever seen. Yes, plot twist, because everything pointed to one thing and suddenly we get the complete opposite. This is worse than the ending of Mass Effect 3 and Twilight, and I was an outsider, i.e. not a fan, on that last one, and yet it still sucked. I'll read the last chapters, but I don't think I'll be watching the movie.

Goddamnit, Kishi just crapped on everything he's written for the past 15 years. Naruto gave up, all that development from Sakura went back to 0, Sasuke just said he didn't care about Sakura romantically, and the meaning behind the POAL went straight to the trash bin. Also what's with all of these pairings? I mean, some are not surprising, like ShikaTema, SaixIno, but Chouji and Karui? Didn't he say there would only be one pairing at the end?

Part 3? WTF is up with that? The story is wrapping up and any loose threads about the Kaguya stuff seem to be wrapped up in The Last. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone right now. I mean, the only reason I shipped NS is because it makes the most sense and is the most logical, and Kishi goes the other way? I'm very upset with how the story turned out; it doesn't even feel like Naruto to me. I don't know if I'll follow Part 3 after Kishi just blatantly disregarded his whole story.

In the end, I'm happy about the leaks, because now we'll be ready for tomorrow.

I know most will probably skip over this message, but I made this account to say: after seeing all the drawings of these, I must say that at least some of them, maybe most or maybe less than half, look legit.

Don't jump ship, whatever ship you prefer, for whatever reasons. However, all of the canon material up until now points to NS, and that won't change for me until Thursday, if it changes. I'm shocked and in awe at the leaks and the speculation, and the possibility that NS won't happen, but still, I find myself with an unexpected calm. Try to be calmed, at least until after 700, then we can all freak out at the outcome, the fact that Naruto is over, and The Last looking like filler or w/e you think about it.

I've already been kittened over once by bad writing with the ending of Mass Effect 3, so I know what that means and I've already experienced the vacuum and complete and utter helplessness of getting an illogical plot twist that comes out of nowhere. It won't be nice and we certainly won't be happy, if it happens.

If it does happen and we get something other than NS at the end, then it's not Naruto's, Sakura's, or even Hinata's fault; it's Kishi's, and only his. For all intents and purposes, the characters are puppets and Kishi's the puppeteer.

Honestly, I would be surprised if NS weren't endgame. I'm not in denial, I'm not clinging to NS, I'm not even trying to justify why it'll be endgame. Right now, all the evidence points to it being so, and whoever says the contrary is just not reading the same manga that we are.

I just say, do as I do: hope for the best, expect the worst. I hope Kishi stays true to the story he has so intricately developed throughout all these years and makes NS endgame, since that's what the manga and additional material (i.e. databooks, fanbooks, etc.) has been hinting at. I'm also of the opinion that if NS doesn't happen, several of the themes and messages that I believe Kishi has been sending throughout the years will be forsaken for the sake of something other than his story; maybe it's money, appeasing to fans, appeasing to Studio Pierrot, self-outed hardcore Hinata fans, I don't know and I don't care, honestly.

All I'm saying is: I only believe in the manga, and the last two chapters come out on Thursday, so nothing that happens until then will change my views on the subject. I didn't consider myself a shipper until a few days ago and I've been lurking these forums for a few weeks now, but I intend to either sail out of the storm or go down with it. You're welcome to join me, if you're still reading!