54175 replies to this topic

[TyranntX]

@Bryon_Konoha_Ninja

 

Yeah, Hence why I don't watch Boruto. As far as I'm concerned, it's just fan-fiction with a budget.

Edited by TyranntX, 28 February 2019 - 09:53 PM.

[James S Cassidy]

This going to be a really long post so prepare yourself. I wanted to talk about this for a while, but I think I finally have an understanding. I am calling this article. ( this took me 4 hours to write)

SHIPPING IS NOT DEVELOPMENT:

A look at why Naruto failed as a series and why writers need to stop using shipping as a means to storytelling.
By James S Cassidy

 

One night you come home and decide to watch one of your favorite TV series. Maybe it is an anime you have been putting off or perhaps it is an online series made by well-known creators that you enjoyed from watching their previous works. As you watch the show you begin to connect with each character; their goals, their flaws, their passions, and their mistakes. Maybe you like the way two characters interact and think that maybe they would look good if they dated. A spark between them you might enjoy seeing as they express interest in each other. The series ends, for the moment, with no definitive answer as to what these characters feel for each other. So, you look online, maybe you can find people to discuss your love for the characters and why you think they would make a great couple in the future. Pretty soon you find that there many who agree with you and they in turn express how wonderful idea would it be if they tackled their issues together using the power of love. However, a darker side appears in the fandom laden with foreboding.

Not too long you find yourself in a place where people are cursing at you for your ideas. "How can they be a thing?" They say. They come from another part of the fandom that says that they prefer if your favorite characters got with other people because in their head they fit better together. Are they sure it is right? Are you sure you are right? You try to discuss your views with them explaining that, story wise, them getting with their idea choice don't seem very compatible. "You're just salty" they scream in return and call you blind for not recognizing what they see. Congratulations. You are now part of a cancerous form of fandom known as a "pairing war." "Shipping fans" as they call them.

When did this start? Who started it? When did the concept of "CharacterXCharacter" being together meant the difference between a good story and a bad one? Honestly, not really sure. It can be argued this started all the way back in the 90s or even earlier, but one thing is for sure that this is a growing epidemic that is plaguing the writing community. Shipping has become less of a hobby of interest and more of a "way of life" aspect. Fans fighting each other over imaginary characters relationship status to gain notoriety in a community. Who wins. Who loses. Even myself became victim to it, but after a while I started to realize how cancerous this concept really is and how it might just be making everything worse. The stories you once loved falling victim to fan peer pressure to make a couple "canon" by any means necessary...even at the cost of what we know as character development and writing ethics.

WHY NARUTO WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING…

“Pairings, pairings everywhere, but not a drop to drink.”

 

While I cannot say where it all began, I can tell you where I think it started to go downhill. In the manga series Naruto there was a massive war going on during its run. These groups sprang up from the fandom like weeds and began to shift the concept of Naruto in horrible ways. These groups are known as the pairing fandoms: NaruHina, SasuSaku, NaruSaku, SasuKarin, SasuIno, and many, many, more. Some fans were polite and could easily debate their views keeping a kind demeanor while most seem to drop into an abyss of foul language, threats, belittling nature, and blind favoritism. While the series first starts on a high note in the first few years, it slowly descended into madness among fans. This is especially true from the NaruHina and SasuSaku fandom who were so adamant that their choice had to be or Naruto was dead to them. That the shy girl who frantically pined for the attention of the main character had to win because her “suffering love” needed to be rewarded.

 

Misashi Kishimoto, the creator and writer of Naruto, seemed apathetic to the plights of the fandom. He was more focused on the dynamic of bonds between the main character and his rival than the pinangs of a mere side-character whose existence in the manga was negligible. You see, Naruto was essentially the story of a boy who was seen as a reject and a monster. His trials and obstacles were overcoming the hate and creating bonds with the people he lived with. Eventually, the plot grew to something more dynamic and worldly using governmental politics to express the segregation in this world mostly notably with the Uchiha clan. Seems like a great idea to expand upon and for a good thing for the main character to overcome. Change the system that is known to be corrupt and merciless killings of innocence. Does this mean the plot was amazing? Does this mean his story efforts were good? No, but I will say I don’t think Kishimoto is at fault for resorting to pairing fodder to gain fans. I put this blame more on Studio Pierrot who runs the anime. I will say Kishimoto failed when he, what I think happened, bent the knee to the shipping wars letting the rest of team do as they please with his characters. Like I said, his apathetic nature of all of the characters except for Naruto and Sasuke is a mistake within itself. However, we are only going to focus on the pairing aspects rather than whether or not Kishimoto wrote a good story for that is another topic.

So how did the pairing wars ruin Naruto you may ask? Well, thanks to the efforts of Pierrot, the Naruhina fandom grew a loud voice when their fillers focused solely on Hinata Hyuga, a side character whose involvement in the plot is so inconsequential you can basically exchange or remove any of her scenes and the story would remain intact.

Hinata’s entire character can essentially be expressed in one word: “Naruto-kun.” It is her only defining trait that people found important enough to the story and it is all this character has as a driving force. Her presence is felt in less than 48 pages in an entire 700-chapter series with possibly 16-24 pages each chapter. That is severally a low-end presence for a character that is claimed to be the “main heroine.” When asked what makes Hinata special to her fanbase, most have the opinion that her love for the main character is the epitome of her deep personality. Yet, she remained in the shadows like a creeper stalking their obsession. Sure, she was not as perverted as expected, but her behavior is still cringy at best. She hardly ever interacts with the main character and when she does it usually ends up with her fainting on the ground at the mere sight of him in close proximity. When in the event that she finally does no longer faint at the sight of him around 600 chapters later, this is deemed “growth” by her rabid follower. Growth? It is not much of growth considering the time span the story takes place. Of course, this really wasn’t her only obstacle in her path. You see, Hinata was apart of the Hyuga clan. This clan was very powerful and in the midst of it there was a civil war between households. Neji, her cousin, was on the opposite spectrum of said civil dispute. Labeled as a reject, Neji came to despise Hinata due to her representation of the family that cursed him with a mark on the forehead. Hinata also had to compete with her younger sister, Hanabi, who was in line to succeed the clans head throne by her father who saw Hinata as being too weak to lead. You may ask, was any of this resolved? Did Hinata become stronger and lead her people showing her father that she was not weak and helping her cousin break the chains of oppression? No. All these plots were thrown out in favor of Hinata’s lustful obsession with the main character. If they even got resolved at all, it is mostly likely handled anti-climatically or just resolved off screen. Doesn’t seem very compelling for a plot about creating bonds and breaking the hatred or the issues with government corruption. In fact, it had no effect at all.

So why was she pushed so hard? Favoritism in the Pierrot group. Having openly admitted to it, Pierrot showed that they wanted Hinata to have her way no matter the cost of the plot. By the time the ending of Naruto came out, the canon pairings manifested from nowhere. Characters making a 180 or 360 heel-turn in development to suit the agenda of pairing service. Do we get an explanation? No. At least not until the movie Naruto the Last debuted…sort of. What originally was a plot about a boy who was seen as reject growing up and his trials to become well loved by his peers and community creating bonds among even some of his enemies, the story shifted heavily to a shojo-esc romantic plot of a girl trying to gain the attention of the boy she liked. Why? Two words: “Fanservice.” They tried to push the NaruHina dynamic to appease what they thought was the majority of western fanbase, but it only ended up backfiring as most of the other plots were either abandoned entirely or ended anti-climatically. The damage control for the series skyrocketed and the “explanations” for other elements in the story were below sub-par at best.

What of SasuSaku and what role did it play? Easy. It was merely to explain why the main character’s original love interest was no longer a variable. A cheap hand-wave to bypass any reason for why the main character would choose one girl over the other even though he spent most of the manga expressing his interest in the former. This is especially evident when throughout most of the story, the boy practically rejected the girl multiple times and even expressed no interest until literally the last few pages of the story. Not only was nothing supported, it was actually suggested negatively why this pairing was deemed “toxic” in nature, but this did not stop the writers from rewriting how development actually works. Even the concept of lampshades that the other characters expressed in view for “pairing A” rather than “pairing B” was easily diminished by retroactive continuity. Why? What purpose did these pairings have over the overall plot? Was it essential? Did it add to the growth of the character? No. It did not. In fact, it only made the plot more convoluted and confusing in most ways driving it back to square one and several characters ended up being throw away characters despite having a major presence in the overall plot. The main character himself seems like only a shadow of his former self. The girl(s) didn’t win by being a better choice and connecting with the main character(s). They won by means of plot convenience and forced hook up. Look no further than the efforts it took to make one seem legit and purposeful in the movie itself. The main character was pushed to be with her by other peers; the villain had to kidnap the heroine for no reason at all even though this is the first time he ever made an appearance or existed in the plot, and lastly it took a good deal of brainwashing by the villain onto the main character to convince him that she was the one. How is this bad? Consider that many would claim the story outside the movie had enough development within itself that it didn’t need this movie and yet the movie was made any way as part of the canon. If it didn’t need the movie to be canon, why waste the effort to explain it in said movie? Shouldn’t the movie focus more on unresolved plots like the civil wars, the government corruption, and estranged relationships with the other characters? So many plot points could have been used and expressed and yet were wasted to give us a two-hour movie about a plot irrelevant, side-character, female and a scarf.

I will go into more detail on why it is cancerous later down the post, I would like to bring up my next example of how shipping can and is ruining a once popular series. I want to dive more into how this is affecting stories today and what devastating causes it could have on future stories.

RWBY
“keep it dark. Keep it intense. Keep it gay.”

 

RWBY was a creation of the late Monty Oum in production with Rooster Teeth, a famous website known for their RedvsBlue series back when Halo existed in 2001. The story itself centered around teenage monster hunters using interesting weapons that function as both transforming blade and gun. Monty Oum’s style of using dynamic fighting moves and upbeat musical score seemed to give the characters life and function. Even their fighting styles gave credit to their personality such as a hot-headed blonde hair girl using explosive fits gauntlets to deal hard knocks as an example.

When Monty Oum passed away in 2015 around the time Volume 3 of RWBY was finishing. After that, many fans of the series began to detect a decline in quality in the RWBY series. While the visuals were even more stunning, the fight sequences and plot seem to just sink into obscurity. Many would say that the characters seemed to change and no longer had the spark they once had. Arguably, it is hard to replace Monty’s genius with someone else, but surly they could have kept a standard? As of now, we are up to Volume 6 of the series and possibly the beginning of where RWBY as a plot began to crumble like wet sand in the hands of a child.

While I will not go into huge amount of details of all the issues with RWBY’s plot, I do want to address one major issue that many fans seem to be split on. As you can guess it, the pairings. In the beginning, there was not many pairings to speak of. You had characters like Jaune and Weiss that went nowhere, Pyrrah and Jaune that was canon for five minutes before Pyrrah was killed off by the main baddie, and so many others that while never confirmed seem to hint at something greater in the future. The pairings even had their cut names to them such as “Arkos” referring to Jaune and Pyrrah.

This is where Volume 6 kind takes a turn for the worst or a least according to a good chunk of the fanbase. One such pairing was that of a lesbian relationship between two of the main characters: Blake and Yang. While in the beginning they did have some moments together, most assumed this was sisterly and a coming of understanding as Blake was very quiet and Yang was brash and outspoken. For a while, nothing really spawned between them until after Volume 3. Blake and Yang ran into a former lover of Blake’s named Adam, a leader of the terrorist group known as White Fang fighting for Faunus equality or even superiority. After Adam sliced off Yang’s arm, Yang seemed to fall into a depressive state. She neglected her sister RWBY and seemed to have this anger issue with Blake for some reason that personally I can’t seem to figure out. Yang’s character personality seems to shift for an openly expressive brash fun character into a dark, brooding, and almost narcissist.


Before I go forward, I want to express that I am not against lesbian or gay relationships at all. There is nothing wrong with having homosexual or even bisexual characters be in relationships, but I must express that the pairing has to make sense. I am very tired of being accused of homophobic or anti-gay because I don’t like a homosexual pairing become canon in a story. I myself am Bisexual. It is all about believability and writing substance. Monty Oum expressed in an interview that he would have LGBT characters in RWBY, but also stated that if any pairings (gay or straight) do exist that there “had to be a foundation there to begin with.” Now whether Blake and Yang were intended to get together all along is debatable. Some even claim that Monty once said that the girls in the group of RWBY were of a sisterhood which indicated that nothing really would amount to relationships between them romantically. Is this true? I am not sure.  The point is that writing pairings in stories, no matter what they are, have to be well written. You can’t throw two characters together and make them stick especially if their personalities are conflicting. One can circumvent this by lamp shading said issues and either resolving them by making the characters grow as they progress or make the pairing break as a means to show a lesson of that things don’t always work out (I prefer the break happen in the middle of the story rather than the end.)

With Blake and Yang, the biggest issue that many fans have is that they feel the story is a retcon to push this pairing together. This is evident by character’s backstories changing, especially Yang’s, Blake’s and even Adam’s, and even more so when two other characters seem to have more connection than what was originally presented. There are moments where Blake shows interest in another character by the name of Sun; a Faunus inspired by the Japanese tale of Son Wukong the Monkey King. Many fans took this as them being an item due to how much development was between Sun and Blake. This is why Blake and Yang being in a relationship came as a surprise to a good chunk of fans and why RWBY’s quality has been going under. Was this intended? Again, without Monty being here, we can never truly know how much was his idea and what was tacked on. The pairing fandoms in RWBY don’t seem to stop at the web show series either. The manga series adds even more turmoil in the mix with some making a pass at the White Rose (Ruby and Weiss pairing) fandom with the book “Red like Roses.” Are these characters actually all lesbians for each other or is there something else? Seems to be that the pairing choices are being forced in both media and not sure how this applies to overall plot of the story. One thing is for sure is that, like Naruto, many plot points are abandoned or not mentioned as much as they used to with some seeming so insignificant. Around Volume 3, they were talking something called “The four maidens” with Pyrrah was supposed to absorb the powers of one maiden before she was killed by Cinder, one of the main bad guys (girl?) Not much else is talked about this. In fact, there is little to no reason why any of the characters are on said adventure to begin with. Again, this maybe just me not understanding the overall plot, but I can’t seem to find what drives the characters forward. We have little hints of like Jaune trying to get over Pyrrah’s death and team turmoil, but those seems more sub-plots than a main issue. There also seems to be more and more characters coming out of the closet that don’t really have a reason why they should. It doesn’t support their character growth and it seems almost forced. Especially with Blake and Yang when a character from Blake’s past comes out and admits that she is in love with Blake and wanted to be with her to which Blake declines. Why was she put in there? Does she add to the plot? Again, not really. It puts more substance into the history of Blake and her involvement with White Fang, but it is superfluous overall. (It is hard to explain without having to cover the entire series and forgive me for not going into good enough detail. Please check the series out yourself and make your own view. I just want to give an idea of a certain viewpoint and why this could be an issue for writing overall.) There is no real advancement in plot for why this character is a lesbian, why she has a thing for Blake (why everyone has a thing for Blake for that matter,) and how this affects the plot overall. What’s the point of gay characters in your story if their only defining purpose and trait is “because they are gay.”

However, one can argue that this whole lesbian pairing was a means to show diversity and virtue signaling to gain clout among fans. It would not be surprising given how in 2019 many actors, actresses, and artist try to push what is known as a Social Justice culture aka “Gurl powah.” Even so, this is not the main point and it is just me remarking upon some social standard put forth today.

What really becomes an issue is the idea that the plot is driven by pairings rather than pairings driven by plot. Writers using cheap romantic pairing service that has no purpose in a plot that is not meant to be centered around romantic issues in the first place. Which brings me to my main points after this long discussion.

ROMANCE SHOULD NEVER REPLACE ACTUAL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
Unless of course you are writing a romance genre story.

The growing issue of pairing fandoms and shipping has led many stories down a dark path. Many once loved stories with great characters end up becoming shallow and pedantic. What’s even more horrifying is just how much of an increasing issue this has become. Instead of writers looking to branch out and expand lore, they choose pairings as an easy bait in replace of their lack of interest in expanding the true psychology of a character or the world they live in. This is especially true with over abused sexual tension that seem to manifest out of nowhere. Another issue that seems to occur is the lack of self-awareness in the story by writers themselves. Instead of being more flowing and possibly allowing change to occur like a character changing their mind about another or the accepting of a happy accidental connection of two characters with each other they push a force narrative of tension where they want two characters to be together no matter what, but something is always stopping them. Sometimes this can be played for laughs, but other times it becomes boring and sometimes even infuriating when the writer refuses to cross the line in fear of fan revolt. Even worse, they hold off on the pairing so long that it stops being believable and starts being more about padding the story out leading your readers like a horse and carrot. There is only so much a writer can keep pushing before it comes off too ridiculous even for its own world standards.

I don’t know how this trend of “pushing two characters together in a relationship to replace actual development” in the writing community started, but it needs to stop. Writers needs to spend less time on fan service and more time on making their characters relatable and realistic. If you must have a romantic subplot make it the third most important thing behind the main point and self-growth. If you have down time in the stories and want your already fleshed out characters to exhibit something special with each other that is perfectly fine. Done right and you can truly have something special, but if you can not do this effectively it is better to avoid it entirely. At most, drop some hints and just let the fandom decide who works and who doesn’t. Focus more on the actual goal than servicing the fans that only came for the “lurves.” I promise your characters would be more likable and people will accept them more. Characters whose only trait is being the love interest sex object is just not a well laid character. You can do it for comedy perhaps, but never take it farther than that. If you want something more serious you have to invest more into it. The characters need their own personal love and attention and in an ironic twist if you focus more on actual character in your individual characters the romance aspect seems to resolve itself. Take example if you want to have a boy and a girl fall in love in a natural way, focus more on what makes each character tick and why they hang out together. You can start out as one having a crush over the other, but you have to build on it rather than letting it stay stagnant. Maybe they have doubts. Maybe they find new reasons why they feel connected.

A writer needs to stop focusing on fan opinion and focus more on what they want to write. Don’t let the fans dictate how you should tell the story. Tell the story YOU want to tell and the rest will fall into place. People will enjoy your work if you’re honest with them and never treat them like they are stupid. If you try to please everyone, you’re going to please no one, but if you try to please yourself and be satisfied with how you wanted to tell the story…then you will have much greater success. I know the idea is to sell your story; to make money and continue to make great adventures, but you need to ignore the calling of fan service. You need to ignore your audience that tries to tell you how to write your story. Yes, some advice can be helpful, but things tend to work better if you stay focused on the main point of the story.

My best advice: If your story’s main focus is not the romance aspect, then put that idea on the back burner. If you can fit it in effectively without compromising the story in any way, then sure, but if it becomes the main focus to the point that that is all there is to a character, then you are doing something very wrong. Stay away from it if you can’t do it correctly. Try to avoid love triangles if you can because they just lead to more issues that you probably don’t want to explain or get it over done quickly. Prolonged love triangles become stagnant and boring and you are basically blue-balling your audience the longer you keep it going. People lose interest if you don’t address it or keep putting it off.

My best advice: If your story’s main focus is not the romance aspect, then put that idea on the back burner. If you can fit it in effectively without compromising the story in any way, then sure, but if it becomes the main focus to the point that that is all there is to a character, then you are doing something very wrong. Stay away from it if you can’t do it correctly. Try to avoid love triangles if you can because they just lead to more issues that you probably don’t want to explain or get it over done quickly. Prolonged love triangles become stagnant and boring and you are basically blue-balling your audience the longer you keep it going. People lose interest if you don’t address it or keep putting it off.

Another thing that I think needs to stop is pointless romance development between characters that will eventually lead to nowhere. I can understand wanting to build relationships between characters only on a friendly or sibling terms, but to have a character pining for another, have the other show some hints of reciprocation, only to turn right around and say that it was all a red herring is just a down right cheap trick and cruel. (Looking at you, Kishimoto) This makes the characters seem like they are manipulative and horrible people who are using others for their own means. In real life, yes, not everything works out as planned, but more often than not you don’t have people continue to obsess over the same person forever after they realize the other person loves someone else. If you’re not going to do it, don’t tease it. Especially if you have one character be so apathetic that the other person just barely registers. Remember that love is gradual. Stop having characters put off real relationships for years with some weak excuses. Show how characters have interest in each other. Not just talk to them one moment and then not even think about them the next. That’s not real romance. That’s not how it works in real life. If two people have interest in each other, they build up relationships. They flirt and casually talk. As they get closer to learning the true selves to each other it can go one of both ways. They either learn they are compatible or they realize that they are too conflicting and it just doesn’t work. Having no interest in the other person, no communication, or no positive reinforcement to instill an actual relationship is a clear indication that the two are just not compatible. It is logical for them to move on, especially if the other person is the exact opposite of what they are looking for in a relationship. There is no way a girl will stay with a guy that treats her like trash and vice-versa. Her friends especially, and realistically, would be totally against it and may even provide truth to her foolish vision. There is also no way that people would just ignore how badly they are being treated over the years begging for any sort of interaction. If you want to depict have some reproductions. Like mentioned, have the friends actually say something and not just go along with. Real friends would never let anyone treat you like garbage.

If romance really is the main focus, I recommend instead of prolonging a relationship until the end, try making the pairing occur somewhere in the middle of the book or early on. Show the other issues that being in a relationship can occur as they can be just as interesting as the “coming of age love story.” Spice it up instead of using the same tired tropes over and over again.

And most important of all
Please stop using shipping as a form of character development.

It’s cheap and it never really works effectively. It just makes your characters a means to an end rather than a well fleshed out character that actually lives and breathes in your world. That is what you want most in your story. You want your reader to feel as though they are part of the world you have created. Like they belong there the whole time.

Thank you for reading. ^^



 

Edited by James S Cassidy, 28 February 2019 - 11:16 PM.

[TyranntX]

@James S Cassidy

 

Yes, I 100% Agree. and it's because of that why I hate Hinata even more than I did before "Act III" started. It's also why I've been holding off an paring Naruto with Sakura from the get go in my own Fan fics until I develop some form of a relationship with them first. I've once been told on You Tube that "I could have written a better ending", but I wouldn't really go that far (yet). Is the ending of shippuden bad? Yes it is. Does that make Act 3 bad? I can't answer that, I never watched it. Could Kishimoto have done a better job with some closure? Probably

Edited by TyranntX, 28 February 2019 - 11:21 PM.

[HalfDemonInuyasha]

I would highly suggest checking out...

https://www.youtube....oD9Xptakaxbm9L-

....but in terms of how it relates specifically to Hinatatas, specifically Part 10 (really starting at 1:12), and especially with the words at the end...

"I'm just not into this clingy little girl with no personality or initiative thing. Can you imagine actually dating Kirin? And how incredibly boring she would probably turn out to be once the sex got old?"
 

[LuckyChi7]

This going to be a really long post so prepare yourself. I wanted to talk about this for a while, but I think I finally have an understanding. I am calling this article. ( this took me 4 hours to write)

SHIPPING IS NOT DEVELOPMENT:

A look at why Naruto failed as a series and why writers need to stop using shipping as a means to storytelling.
By James S Cassidy

 

One night you come home and decide to watch one of your favorite TV series. Maybe it is an anime you have been putting off or perhaps it is an online series made by well-known creators that you enjoyed from watching their previous works. As you watch the show you begin to connect with each character; their goals, their flaws, their passions, and their mistakes. Maybe you like the way two characters interact and think that maybe they would look good if they dated. A spark between them you might enjoy seeing as they express interest in each other. The series ends, for the moment, with no definitive answer as to what these characters feel for each other. So, you look online, maybe you can find people to discuss your love for the characters and why you think they would make a great couple in the future. Pretty soon you find that there many who agree with you and they in turn express how wonderful idea would it be if they tackled their issues together using the power of love. However, a darker side appears in the fandom laden with foreboding.

Not too long you find yourself in a place where people are cursing at you for your ideas. "How can they be a thing?" They say. They come from another part of the fandom that says that they prefer if your favorite characters got with other people because in their head they fit better together. Are they sure it is right? Are you sure you are right? You try to discuss your views with them explaining that, story wise, them getting with their idea choice don't seem very compatible. "You're just salty" they scream in return and call you blind for not recognizing what they see. Congratulations. You are now part of a cancerous form of fandom known as a "pairing war." "Shipping fans" as they call them.

When did this start? Who started it? When did the concept of "CharacterXCharacter" being together meant the difference between a good story and a bad one? Honestly, not really sure. It can be argued this started all the way back in the 90s or even earlier, but one thing is for sure that this is a growing epidemic that is plaguing the writing community. Shipping has become less of a hobby of interest and more of a "way of life" aspect. Fans fighting each other over imaginary characters relationship status to gain notoriety in a community. Who wins. Who loses. Even myself became victim to it, but after a while I started to realize how cancerous this concept really is and how it might just be making everything worse. The stories you once loved falling victim to fan peer pressure to make a couple "canon" by any means necessary...even at the cost of what we know as character development and writing ethics.

WHY NARUTO WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING…

“Pairings, pairings everywhere, but not a drop to drink.”

 

While I cannot say where it all began, I can tell you where I think it started to go downhill. In the manga series Naruto there was a massive war going on during its run. These groups sprang up from the fandom like weeds and began to shift the concept of Naruto in horrible ways. These groups are known as the pairing fandoms: NaruHina, SasuSaku, NaruSaku, SasuKarin, SasuIno, and many, many, more. Some fans were polite and could easily debate their views keeping a kind demeanor while most seem to drop into an abyss of foul language, threats, belittling nature, and blind favoritism. While the series first starts on a high note in the first few years, it slowly descended into madness among fans. This is especially true from the NaruHina and SasuSaku fandom who were so adamant that their choice had to be or Naruto was dead to them. That the shy girl who frantically pined for the attention of the main character had to win because her “suffering love” needed to be rewarded.

 

Misashi Kishimoto, the creator and writer of Naruto, seemed apathetic to the plights of the fandom. He was more focused on the dynamic of bonds between the main character and his rival than the pinangs of a mere side-character whose existence in the manga was negligible. You see, Naruto was essentially the story of a boy who was seen as a reject and a monster. His trials and obstacles were overcoming the hate and creating bonds with the people he lived with. Eventually, the plot grew to something more dynamic and worldly using governmental politics to express the segregation in this world mostly notably with the Uchiha clan. Seems like a great idea to expand upon and for a good thing for the main character to overcome. Change the system that is known to be corrupt and merciless killings of innocence. Does this mean the plot was amazing? Does this mean his story efforts were good? No, but I will say I don’t think Kishimoto is at fault for resorting to pairing fodder to gain fans. I put this blame more on Studio Pierrot who runs the anime. I will say Kishimoto failed when he, what I think happened, bent the knee to the shipping wars letting the rest of team do as they please with his characters. Like I said, his apathetic nature of all of the characters except for Naruto and Sasuke is a mistake within itself. However, we are only going to focus on the pairing aspects rather than whether or not Kishimoto wrote a good story for that is another topic.

So how did the pairing wars ruin Naruto you may ask? Well, thanks to the efforts of Pierrot, the Naruhina fandom grew a loud voice when their fillers focused solely on Hinata Hyuga, a side character whose involvement in the plot is so inconsequential you can basically exchange or remove any of her scenes and the story would remain intact.

Hinata’s entire character can essentially be expressed in one word: “Naruto-kun.” It is her only defining trait that people found important enough to the story and it is all this character has as a driving force. Her presence is felt in less than 48 pages in an entire 700-chapter series with possibly 16-24 pages each chapter. That is severally a low-end presence for a character that is claimed to be the “main heroine.” When asked what makes Hinata special to her fanbase, most have the opinion that her love for the main character is the epitome of her deep personality. Yet, she remained in the shadows like a creeper stalking their obsession. Sure, she was not as perverted as expected, but her behavior is still cringy at best. She hardly ever interacts with the main character and when she does it usually ends up with her fainting on the ground at the mere sight of him in close proximity. When in the event that she finally does no longer faint at the sight of him around 600 chapters later, this is deemed “growth” by her rabid follower. Growth? It is not much of growth considering the time span the story takes place. Of course, this really wasn’t her only obstacle in her path. You see, Hinata was apart of the Hyuga clan. This clan was very powerful and in the midst of it there was a civil war between households. Neji, her cousin, was on the opposite spectrum of said civil dispute. Labeled as a reject, Neji came to despise Hinata due to her representation of the family that cursed him with a mark on the forehead. Hinata also had to compete with her younger sister, Hanabi, who was in line to succeed the clans head throne by her father who saw Hinata as being too weak to lead. You may ask, was any of this resolved? Did Hinata become stronger and lead her people showing her father that she was not weak and helping her cousin break the chains of oppression? No. All these plots were thrown out in favor of Hinata’s lustful obsession with the main character. If they even got resolved at all, it is mostly likely handled anti-climatically or just resolved off screen. Doesn’t seem very compelling for a plot about creating bonds and breaking the hatred or the issues with government corruption. In fact, it had no effect at all.

So why was she pushed so hard? Favoritism in the Pierrot group. Having openly admitted to it, Pierrot showed that they wanted Hinata to have her way no matter the cost of the plot. By the time the ending of Naruto came out, the canon pairings manifested from nowhere. Characters making a 180 or 360 heel-turn in development to suit the agenda of pairing service. Do we get an explanation? No. At least not until the movie Naruto the Last debuted…sort of. What originally was a plot about a boy who was seen as reject growing up and his trials to become well loved by his peers and community creating bonds among even some of his enemies, the story shifted heavily to a shojo-esc romantic plot of a girl trying to gain the attention of the boy she liked. Why? Two words: “Fanservice.” They tried to push the NaruHina dynamic to appease what they thought was the majority of western fanbase, but it only ended up backfiring as most of the other plots were either abandoned entirely or ended anti-climatically. The damage control for the series skyrocketed and the “explanations” for other elements in the story were below sub-par at best.

What of SasuSaku and what role did it play? Easy. It was merely to explain why the main character’s original love interest was no longer a variable. A cheap hand-wave to bypass any reason for why the main character would choose one girl over the other even though he spent most of the manga expressing his interest in the former. This is especially evident when throughout most of the story, the boy practically rejected the girl multiple times and even expressed no interest until literally the last few pages of the story. Not only was nothing supported, it was actually suggested negatively why this pairing was deemed “toxic” in nature, but this did not stop the writers from rewriting how development actually works. Even the concept of lampshades that the other characters expressed in view for “pairing A” rather than “pairing B” was easily diminished by retroactive continuity. Why? What purpose did these pairings have over the overall plot? Was it essential? Did it add to the growth of the character? No. It did not. In fact, it only made the plot more convoluted and confusing in most ways driving it back to square one and several characters ended up being throw away characters despite having a major presence in the overall plot. The main character himself seems like only a shadow of his former self. The girl(s) didn’t win by being a better choice and connecting with the main character(s). They won by means of plot convenience and forced hook up. Look no further than the efforts it took to make one seem legit and purposeful in the movie itself. The main character was pushed to be with her by other peers; the villain had to kidnap the heroine for no reason at all even though this is the first time he ever made an appearance or existed in the plot, and lastly it took a good deal of brainwashing by the villain onto the main character to convince him that she was the one. How is this bad? Consider that many would claim the story outside the movie had enough development within itself that it didn’t need this movie and yet the movie was made any way as part of the canon. If it didn’t need the movie to be canon, why waste the effort to explain it in said movie? Shouldn’t the movie focus more on unresolved plots like the civil wars, the government corruption, and estranged relationships with the other characters? So many plot points could have been used and expressed and yet were wasted to give us a two-hour movie about a plot irrelevant, side-character, female and a scarf.

I will go into more detail on why it is cancerous later down the post, I would like to bring up my next example of how shipping can and is ruining a once popular series. I want to dive more into how this is affecting stories today and what devastating causes it could have on future stories.

RWBY
“keep it dark. Keep it intense. Keep it gay.”

 

RWBY was a creation of the late Monty Oum in production with Rooster Teeth, a famous website known for their RedvsBlue series back when Halo existed in 2001. The story itself centered around teenage monster hunters using interesting weapons that function as both transforming blade and gun. Monty Oum’s style of using dynamic fighting moves and upbeat musical score seemed to give the characters life and function. Even their fighting styles gave credit to their personality such as a hot-headed blonde hair girl using explosive fits gauntlets to deal hard knocks as an example.

When Monty Oum passed away in 2015 around the time Volume 3 of RWBY was finishing. After that, many fans of the series began to detect a decline in quality in the RWBY series. While the visuals were even more stunning, the fight sequences and plot seem to just sink into obscurity. Many would say that the characters seemed to change and no longer had the spark they once had. Arguably, it is hard to replace Monty’s genius with someone else, but surly they could have kept a standard? As of now, we are up to Volume 6 of the series and possibly the beginning of where RWBY as a plot began to crumble like wet sand in the hands of a child.

While I will not go into huge amount of details of all the issues with RWBY’s plot, I do want to address one major issue that many fans seem to be split on. As you can guess it, the pairings. In the beginning, there was not many pairings to speak of. You had characters like Jaune and Weiss that went nowhere, Pyrrah and Jaune that was canon for five minutes before Pyrrah was killed off by the main baddie, and so many others that while never confirmed seem to hint at something greater in the future. The pairings even had their cut names to them such as “Arkos” referring to Jaune and Pyrrah.

This is where Volume 6 kind takes a turn for the worst or a least according to a good chunk of the fanbase. One such pairing was that of a lesbian relationship between two of the main characters: Blake and Yang. While in the beginning they did have some moments together, most assumed this was sisterly and a coming of understanding as Blake was very quiet and Yang was brash and outspoken. For a while, nothing really spawned between them until after Volume 3. Blake and Yang ran into a former lover of Blake’s named Adam, a leader of the terrorist group known as White Fang fighting for Faunus equality or even superiority. After Adam sliced off Yang’s arm, Yang seemed to fall into a depressive state. She neglected her sister RWBY and seemed to have this anger issue with Blake for some reason that personally I can’t seem to figure out. Yang’s character personality seems to shift for an openly expressive brash fun character into a dark, brooding, and almost narcissist.


Before I go forward, I want to express that I am not against lesbian or gay relationships at all. There is nothing wrong with having homosexual or even bisexual characters be in relationships, but I must express that the pairing has to make sense. I am very tired of being accused of homophobic or anti-gay because I don’t like a homosexual pairing become canon in a story. I myself am Bisexual. It is all about believability and writing substance. Monty Oum expressed in an interview that he would have LGBT characters in RWBY, but also stated that if any pairings (gay or straight) do exist that there “had to be a foundation there to begin with.” Now whether Blake and Yang were intended to get together all along is debatable. Some even claim that Monty once said that the girls in the group of RWBY were of a sisterhood which indicated that nothing really would amount to relationships between them romantically. Is this true? I am not sure.  The point is that writing pairings in stories, no matter what they are, have to be well written. You can’t throw two characters together and make them stick especially if their personalities are conflicting. One can circumvent this by lamp shading said issues and either resolving them by making the characters grow as they progress or make the pairing break as a means to show a lesson of that things don’t always work out (I prefer the break happen in the middle of the story rather than the end.)

With Blake and Yang, the biggest issue that many fans have is that they feel the story is a retcon to push this pairing together. This is evident by character’s backstories changing, especially Yang’s, Blake’s and even Adam’s, and even more so when two other characters seem to have more connection than what was originally presented. There are moments where Blake shows interest in another character by the name of Sun; a Faunus inspired by the Japanese tale of Son Wukong the Monkey King. Many fans took this as them being an item due to how much development was between Sun and Blake. This is why Blake and Yang being in a relationship came as a surprise to a good chunk of fans and why RWBY’s quality has been going under. Was this intended? Again, without Monty being here, we can never truly know how much was his idea and what was tacked on. The pairing fandoms in RWBY don’t seem to stop at the web show series either. The manga series adds even more turmoil in the mix with some making a pass at the White Rose (Ruby and Weiss pairing) fandom with the book “Red like Roses.” Are these characters actually all lesbians for each other or is there something else? Seems to be that the pairing choices are being forced in both media and not sure how this applies to overall plot of the story. One thing is for sure is that, like Naruto, many plot points are abandoned or not mentioned as much as they used to with some seeming so insignificant. Around Volume 3, they were talking something called “The four maidens” with Pyrrah was supposed to absorb the powers of one maiden before she was killed by Cinder, one of the main bad guys (girl?) Not much else is talked about this. In fact, there is little to no reason why any of the characters are on said adventure to begin with. Again, this maybe just me not understanding the overall plot, but I can’t seem to find what drives the characters forward. We have little hints of like Jaune trying to get over Pyrrah’s death and team turmoil, but those seems more sub-plots than a main issue. There also seems to be more and more characters coming out of the closet that don’t really have a reason why they should. It doesn’t support their character growth and it seems almost forced. Especially with Blake and Yang when a character from Blake’s past comes out and admits that she is in love with Blake and wanted to be with her to which Blake declines. Why was she put in there? Does she add to the plot? Again, not really. It puts more substance into the history of Blake and her involvement with White Fang, but it is superfluous overall. (It is hard to explain without having to cover the entire series and forgive me for not going into good enough detail. Please check the series out yourself and make your own view. I just want to give an idea of a certain viewpoint and why this could be an issue for writing overall.) There is no real advancement in plot for why this character is a lesbian, why she has a thing for Blake (why everyone has a thing for Blake for that matter,) and how this affects the plot overall. What’s the point of gay characters in your story if their only defining purpose and trait is “because they are gay.”

However, one can argue that this whole lesbian pairing was a means to show diversity and virtue signaling to gain clout among fans. It would not be surprising given how in 2019 many actors, actresses, and artist try to push what is known as a Social Justice culture aka “Gurl powah.” Even so, this is not the main point and it is just me remarking upon some social standard put forth today.

What really becomes an issue is the idea that the plot is driven by pairings rather than pairings driven by plot. Writers using cheap romantic pairing service that has no purpose in a plot that is not meant to be centered around romantic issues in the first place. Which brings me to my main points after this long discussion.

ROMANCE SHOULD NEVER REPLACE ACTUAL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
Unless of course you are writing a romance genre story.

The growing issue of pairing fandoms and shipping has led many stories down a dark path. Many once loved stories with great characters end up becoming shallow and pedantic. What’s even more horrifying is just how much of an increasing issue this has become. Instead of writers looking to branch out and expand lore, they choose pairings as an easy bait in replace of their lack of interest in expanding the true psychology of a character or the world they live in. This is especially true with over abused sexual tension that seem to manifest out of nowhere. Another issue that seems to occur is the lack of self-awareness in the story by writers themselves. Instead of being more flowing and possibly allowing change to occur like a character changing their mind about another or the accepting of a happy accidental connection of two characters with each other they push a force narrative of tension where they want two characters to be together no matter what, but something is always stopping them. Sometimes this can be played for laughs, but other times it becomes boring and sometimes even infuriating when the writer refuses to cross the line in fear of fan revolt. Even worse, they hold off on the pairing so long that it stops being believable and starts being more about padding the story out leading your readers like a horse and carrot. There is only so much a writer can keep pushing before it comes off too ridiculous even for its own world standards.

I don’t know how this trend of “pushing two characters together in a relationship to replace actual development” in the writing community started, but it needs to stop. Writers needs to spend less time on fan service and more time on making their characters relatable and realistic. If you must have a romantic subplot make it the third most important thing behind the main point and self-growth. If you have down time in the stories and want your already fleshed out characters to exhibit something special with each other that is perfectly fine. Done right and you can truly have something special, but if you can not do this effectively it is better to avoid it entirely. At most, drop some hints and just let the fandom decide who works and who doesn’t. Focus more on the actual goal than servicing the fans that only came for the “lurves.” I promise your characters would be more likable and people will accept them more. Characters whose only trait is being the love interest sex object is just not a well laid character. You can do it for comedy perhaps, but never take it farther than that. If you want something more serious you have to invest more into it. The characters need their own personal love and attention and in an ironic twist if you focus more on actual character in your individual characters the romance aspect seems to resolve itself. Take example if you want to have a boy and a girl fall in love in a natural way, focus more on what makes each character tick and why they hang out together. You can start out as one having a crush over the other, but you have to build on it rather than letting it stay stagnant. Maybe they have doubts. Maybe they find new reasons why they feel connected.

A writer needs to stop focusing on fan opinion and focus more on what they want to write. Don’t let the fans dictate how you should tell the story. Tell the story YOU want to tell and the rest will fall into place. People will enjoy your work if you’re honest with them and never treat them like they are stupid. If you try to please everyone, you’re going to please no one, but if you try to please yourself and be satisfied with how you wanted to tell the story…then you will have much greater success. I know the idea is to sell your story; to make money and continue to make great adventures, but you need to ignore the calling of fan service. You need to ignore your audience that tries to tell you how to write your story. Yes, some advice can be helpful, but things tend to work better if you stay focused on the main point of the story.

My best advice: If your story’s main focus is not the romance aspect, then put that idea on the back burner. If you can fit it in effectively without compromising the story in any way, then sure, but if it becomes the main focus to the point that that is all there is to a character, then you are doing something very wrong. Stay away from it if you can’t do it correctly. Try to avoid love triangles if you can because they just lead to more issues that you probably don’t want to explain or get it over done quickly. Prolonged love triangles become stagnant and boring and you are basically blue-balling your audience the longer you keep it going. People lose interest if you don’t address it or keep putting it off.

My best advice: If your story’s main focus is not the romance aspect, then put that idea on the back burner. If you can fit it in effectively without compromising the story in any way, then sure, but if it becomes the main focus to the point that that is all there is to a character, then you are doing something very wrong. Stay away from it if you can’t do it correctly. Try to avoid love triangles if you can because they just lead to more issues that you probably don’t want to explain or get it over done quickly. Prolonged love triangles become stagnant and boring and you are basically blue-balling your audience the longer you keep it going. People lose interest if you don’t address it or keep putting it off.

Another thing that I think needs to stop is pointless romance development between characters that will eventually lead to nowhere. I can understand wanting to build relationships between characters only on a friendly or sibling terms, but to have a character pining for another, have the other show some hints of reciprocation, only to turn right around and say that it was all a red herring is just a down right cheap trick and cruel. (Looking at you, Kishimoto) This makes the characters seem like they are manipulative and horrible people who are using others for their own means. In real life, yes, not everything works out as planned, but more often than not you don’t have people continue to obsess over the same person forever after they realize the other person loves someone else. If you’re not going to do it, don’t tease it. Especially if you have one character be so apathetic that the other person just barely registers. Remember that love is gradual. Stop having characters put off real relationships for years with some weak excuses. Show how characters have interest in each other. Not just talk to them one moment and then not even think about them the next. That’s not real romance. That’s not how it works in real life. If two people have interest in each other, they build up relationships. They flirt and casually talk. As they get closer to learning the true selves to each other it can go one of both ways. They either learn they are compatible or they realize that they are too conflicting and it just doesn’t work. Having no interest in the other person, no communication, or no positive reinforcement to instill an actual relationship is a clear indication that the two are just not compatible. It is logical for them to move on, especially if the other person is the exact opposite of what they are looking for in a relationship. There is no way a girl will stay with a guy that treats her like trash and vice-versa. Her friends especially, and realistically, would be totally against it and may even provide truth to her foolish vision. There is also no way that people would just ignore how badly they are being treated over the years begging for any sort of interaction. If you want to depict have some reproductions. Like mentioned, have the friends actually say something and not just go along with. Real friends would never let anyone treat you like garbage.

If romance really is the main focus, I recommend instead of prolonging a relationship until the end, try making the pairing occur somewhere in the middle of the book or early on. Show the other issues that being in a relationship can occur as they can be just as interesting as the “coming of age love story.” Spice it up instead of using the same tired tropes over and over again.

And most important of all
Please stop using shipping as a form of character development.

It’s cheap and it never really works effectively. It just makes your characters a means to an end rather than a well fleshed out character that actually lives and breathes in your world. That is what you want most in your story. You want your reader to feel as though they are part of the world you have created. Like they belong there the whole time.

Thank you for reading. ^^



 

 

 

Wow man that was pretty moving,  and too be honest I could picture your voice explaining the entire thing like you did with some of your old videos from before. 

 

 

This is no surprise here, but everyone (if not most) here knows I've been writing a book for the last 4 years 2 months & 21 days (yeah I've been keeping tabs on the writing in general), and as of right now it's about 95-98% percent done at this point. Without necessarily revealing what the story is about, all I can say is that I've got an entire notebook (my blueprint) dedicated to the story in terms of the settings, events, and most importantly characters and I've got the ending planned too. 

 

Now this is not pertaining to just the book I'm currently writing No No No  when I mean I've got an ending planned I mean I've got the ending planned for the entire course of the trilogy, and it's all written down in my blueprint notes. 

 

Before anybody here asks about if the story has any romance? Yes that also pertains to pairings too (don't worry there's not gonna be any teases like on some Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games (even though I love that series) bs.  From the moment of conception of the characters I've already known what the endgame pairing is going to be, and you'll know what it's going to be.  I will say there is a love triangle in the story itself, but it's not gonna be "You got to wait till the final book to find out who will end up with who because quite frankly that's been done to death."  Long story short the romance is there to help the characters grow, but it's not like the main focus because it's in a post apocalyptic setting (No zombies!! that's getting old) 

 

Just to avoid any confusion anyone may have the love triangle is gonna be mature when it comes to the character, and it will make a lot of sense.  It'll serve as a secondary plot point for one of the 3 perspective characters the story is focused on, and there will be a substantial growth with each of them...  Just to clarify the love triangle isn't centered on the 3 focuses,  there are two of the perspectives and one... mystery for the love triangle (i'll leave it at that  )   

 

 

More than anything I should finally be finishing it up within the coming month say like Mid March to end of March at the latest, and then there is revision part with the writing style because man re-reading it again from when I started to how I'm writing it now is kind of different you know keep it consistent. 

 

 

 

 

I do believe what Kishi should've done for the romance angle is take a page from Togashi with Yu-Yu Hakushou between Yusuke and Keiko that is one of the best romances in shounen history at least to me. 

 

 

 

Ah man good times   Good old Noriyuki Abe (the only person in Studio Perriot who knows when it comes to being faithful to the source material) Yeah I know Bleach had those fillers (but that's not his fault because you know Kubo's pacing even though I love the dude). 

[NaruSaku fan in Kentucky]

I remember watching this after I saw a SoKai AMV of this song. That's when I knew I was in love with NaruSaku because I was just started to get into Naruto.

 

[Bryon_Konoha_Ninja]

I do believe what Kishi should've done for the romance angle is take a page from Togashi with Yu-Yu Hakushou between Yusuke and Keiko that is one of the best romances in shounen history at least to me. 

 

 

 

Ah man good times   Good old Noriyuki Abe (the only person in Studio Perriot who knows when it comes to being faithful to the source material) Yeah I know Bleach had those fillers (but that's not his fault because you know Kubo's pacing even though I love the dude). 

 

I hear that, Chi. I always loved that the anime added that touch of Keiko kissing Yusuke at the end of the YYH anime :) A great touch.

[LuckyChi7]

Looks like the english dub has finally reached this point: 

 

 

 

 

I stumbled upon it after seeing what they're releasing for the month, and they did a pretty good job hyping it up.  

[Bryon_Konoha_Ninja]

Looks like the english dub has finally reached this point: 

 

 

 

 

I stumbled upon it after seeing what they're releasing for the month, and they did a pretty good job hyping it up.  

 

Hoo boy, some fans are gonna be let down then.

[jak123]

 

Hoo boy, some fans are gonna be let down then.

Just imagine not knowing anything about what happens because you only watch the dub. I feel bad for those people.

[LuckyChi7]

Just imagine not knowing anything about what happens because you only watch the dub. I feel bad for those people.

 

 

There was a time when I solely relied on the dub, and then I finished the Naruto vs Sasuke fight in the dub, and most (if not all the fillers), and I stuck by that even when Shippuden started until midway through Kazekage Rescue Arc. 

 

 

That's when I decided to go through the subs just to be fully caught up until I decided to check the manga way back when. I believe the Pain Arc was at the point when Naruto made his return after Sakura called out his name. That specific chapter alone man it brings back memories. 

 

 

 

 

 

Btw guys I came across this video, and man the guy was on point: 

 

 

The title says: How to Not Write Fictional Characters: Sakura Haruno & Hinata Hyuga. 

Edited by LuckyChi7, 10 March 2019 - 10:25 PM.

[Dalton.T.R]

Kinda curious as to what's going to happen to the voice actors. Are they gonna move on to something else or are they just gonna fade out of memory? 

[LuckyChi7]

Kinda curious as to what's going to happen to the voice actors. Are they gonna move on to something else or are they just gonna fade out of memory? 

 

 

 

Well Yuri Lowenthal the voice of Sasuke is Peter Parker in the PS4 Spider-Man game so  I think he's good.  Yuri's also the voice of Ben 10 & Mercury Black from RWBY. 

 

 

Kate Higgins the voice of Sakura is currently the voice of Princess Aurora for Disney. so she'll be good too. 

 

 

Maile Flanagan the voice of Naruto  i've got no idea what she's doing outside the Naruto franchise.

 

 

 

Otherwise, they're lending their voices in the Boruto Anime for the dub. that's about it.  

[tricksie]

I never liked the American VAs. They just sounded awful. Usually I don't care. Like FMA sounded great in Japanese and in English. But Naruto was just grating. 

[Bryon_Konoha_Ninja]

I never liked the American VAs. They just sounded awful. Usually I don't care. Like FMA sounded great in Japanese and in English. But Naruto was just grating. 

 

I know many of Naruto's English VA's worked, but a lot of times, not so much. Honestly, I've often imagined for my fanfic that one of the only characters who may be getting someone new to voice them is Naruto himself. It's not because of me disliking Maile Flanagan, it's more like I'd want to consider doing what Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z's dub did with Goku and Krillin when they hit 18 and 19 respectively in the last arc of Dragon Ball and also had them with their standard English VA's Sean Schemmel and Sonny Strait in DBZ as adults.

 

Not sure if I may change anyone else of some of the key characters, that's for sure.

[Kagomaru]

Well Yuri Lowenthal the voice of Sasuke is Peter Parker in the PS4 Spider-Man game so  I think he's good.  Yuri's also the voice of Ben 10 & Mercury Black from RWBY. 
 
 
Kate Higgins the voice of Sakura is currently the voice of Princess Aurora for Disney. so she'll be good too. 
 
 
Maile Flanagan the voice of Naruto  i've got no idea what she's doing outside the Naruto franchise.
 
 
 
Otherwise, they're lending their voices in the Boruto Anime for the dub. that's about it.

Yuri and Kate have worked on a bunch of anime, cartoons and games in between their work on Naruto. They certainly won't be hurting for work when it and Boruto end. Maile Flanagan, OTOH, may be a different matter since Naruto is her most notable role as far as I know.

[James S Cassidy]

Hey guys, does anyone have the link to the interview where Kishimoto said SasuSaku is a drug addiction? You know, the one from the NYCC. I can't seem to find a clear cut interview.

Never mind. I found it.

Edited by James S Cassidy, 11 March 2019 - 05:38 PM.

[Derock]

Kinda curious as to what's going to happen to the voice actors. Are they gonna move on to something else or are they just gonna fade out of memory? 

 

Most of the VAs have other roles in not only other anime but also video games as well. Both Yuri and Kate have various roles, recently they voiced Hayate and Tina in Dead or Alive 6.

 

I know that Stephanie Sheh (horrible Hinata but decent with Orihime and is awesome as Sailor Moon) is now voicing Julia Chang in Tekken 7, despite the squeekiness and personality upgrade... Tara Pratt, Yuri's wife, voiced Anna Williams in same game as well.

 

Maile... I hadn't heard nothing from her recently, despite currently as Naruto in the trash anime.

[Bryon_Konoha_Ninja]

 

Most of the VAs have other roles in not only other anime but also video games as well. Both Yuri and Kate have various roles, recently they voiced Hayate and Tina in Dead or Alive 6.

 

I know that Stephanie Sheh (horrible Hinata but decent with Orihime and is awesome as Sailor Moon) is now voicing Julia Chang in Tekken 7, despite the squeekiness and personality upgrade... Tara Pratt, Yuri's wife voiced Anna Williams in same game as well.

 

Maile... I hadn't heard nothing from her recently, despite currently as Naruto in the trash anime.

 

Last thing I know Maile was in before Naruto was "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggly Winks" years ago on PBS. Outside of that, she only would have Boruto, since Viz has gone out of their way to dub that already. X_X

[Dalton.T.R]

I never liked the American VAs. They just sounded awful. Usually I don't care. Like FMA sounded great in Japanese and in English. But Naruto was just grating. 

Really? I always thought the voice actors, at least for the main cast, were actually pretty well done and matched the characters fairly well.

 

Sasuke's voice fits pretty well and I think Sakura's isn't a bad voice for her character, either.

 

Naruto's fits very well in my opinion, though I've never been able to get over the fact he's actually voiced by a woman. She has, like, the most masculine voice ever XD

 

Aside from a couple of side characters here and there, I thought they all fit pretty well. Rock Lee was a little strange and I couldn't stand Hinata for how softly she spoke.

 

Aside from that, I don't recall having any issues with the voices...

Edited by Dalton.T.R, 11 March 2019 - 11:42 PM.