My Living Curse

Hinata is the most generic moe character ever created. The problem is that she was so generic that the anime, and her fanatics were able to fill her with their fantasies to make her their dream girl.

Still can't forget the fapfest that was the anime rendition of the Pain Arc. They dedicated an ENTIRE episode to her "Confession" when in the manga it was merely a few slides/panels. Not to mention the animation was top notch and silky smooth whereas Naruto vs. Pain later was goofy, comical and downright horrendous.

Also if I remember right, those high quality animation episodes in Naruto cost hundreds of thousands of dollars just for around 22 minutes. But priorities are priorities right? 

New page is up. Brace your eyes and take proper precautions. Thou hast been warned.

Link: https://tokai2000.de...-p-12-748788562

It would have been a near perfect ending if Kishimoto had decided to end the series after the pain arc. Naruto becomes the beloved hero of the village and gets accepted by the girl of his dreams.

But, but!! We wouldn't get to see a once greatly beloved story take an intense nosedive straight into the dumpster. I'm also glad I got to see the idea of Chakra Nature/Elements and Sage Mode be abandoned in favor of glowy, explosive nukes and 150 ft tall paper mache samurai.

Also glad to see Naruto reach a level of maturity fighting Pain only to sit there getting ridiculed and beat to a pulp by Karui in the name of Sauceke.

Also glad to see the notion of achieving your dreams when you start with nothing in life was replaced by the "prophecy of the chosen one" and the reincarnation of the sons of the Sage.

Also glad to see an entire war arc based on fighting plants and zombies only to culminate with ninja aliens from space!

Also glad to see Naruto mourn and defend the one responsible for the death of his parents and call him "the COOLEST guy".

Oh and uh, also glad to know the manga never ends with a Hokage ceremony (aka his main driving dream for 15 years of serialization) and gets to marry his stalker who he fell in "love" in a scarf genjutsu because the author "forgot" to implement it in the manga.

/sarcasm 

Been so long. This needed to be posted again!

Don't mock the COOLEST GUY EVER!

I remembered the "Sakura's hug was sign of friendship/sibling/platonic love" argument.  Mind you, does friends even hug like that?! Never in my life had ever seen someone pull that to a friend. Not even to my own siblings either.

She was trying to be as close to him as possible. She had her entire body pressed against his and even had a hand on the back of his head. And Naruto was just in the hardest battle of his life. He would have been really sweaty and dirty. His hair and face were probably soaked but Sakura did that anyway. If she only viewed him as a friend, she would not have touched him like that. No way. She would've found it inappropriate if not disgusting to do so. But she not only did so but did so with abandon. So she loved him. It's really that simple. It doesn't matter what they did afterwards. Kishi and the sycophants at SP can never change what happened.

I agree. The hug was WAY too close and intimate to represent "friendly/platonic love". Especially the way she holds on to him. Besides it's not the first time Kishimoto has thrown in such instances. There's the part where Sakura puts her hand on his cheek, telling him to snap out of it after Itachi's genjutsu, or when she holds on to him as he collapses from overexposure to the 9tails mode fighting Orochimaru.

In the earlier chapters of part 2, she acts more tenderly towards Naruto (which honestly coming from Part 1 Naruto, I was amazed to the lengths Kishimoto went). This all goes away the same moment Kishimoto stops giving Sakura any relevancy and pretty much sits in the village. Of course, Kishimoto being the person to plan 15 years in advance; he has Minato compare Sakura to Kushina, Naruto refer to her as his girlfriend, Sakura afraid to lose Naruto and have his dreams go to waste when he's on his deathbed.

Not to mention the obviously dedicated panels for Naruto Sakura and Sasuke Karin. *cough*

Oh and the finishing touches; like less than 10 chapters before the ending Kishimoto has Sasuke stab Sakura in a genjutsu and coherently say "I have no reason to love her, nor see any reason she should love me". I swear Kishimoto is a serious master troll! 

I have been a long time lurker, since about 10 years ago. While I realised the flaws of the manga early on such as lack of characterisation and plot development, I still enjoyed watching episodes here and there and reading threads discussing the progress of the manga.  Some of the things I enjoyed was the macro development and continuity of the arcs, and of course, the development of the friendship and presumed relationship between Naruto and Sakura.

 

That being said, I have been looking for an epic manga series to read. Despite its flaws, Naruto stands out overall. I have already caught up with Hunter X Hunter, however, the long hiatuses leads me to find something else to read. Would it be a good idea to plod through Naruto, despite the horrendous ending? As long time fans of the manga, would you have read it, now knowing what happens in the end?

A teeny tiny bit late to this!   Naruto once had the potential of being one of the best stories ever. If I knew it would deteriorate into the mess of a cash cow it is today, I don't think I would have laid a finger on it. Not only was the story thrown into the gutter, but the characters strayed off their previous growth & development and power ups got ridiculous. (just downright silly and funny to look at...  )

The thing is though, the more attached you are to something after spending multiple years following & investing, the more it hurts to see it diminish into a joke. I remember being initially introduced to early manga pages of Naruto back in 2002-03 by friends, and was very interested in the story and unique designs but didn't think that much of it. It wasn't until the Anime premiered in 2005 that I fell in love with it. Again, the English VA's played a great deal in my enjoyment of the series and they fit each character perfectly!

That said, Part 1 was wonderfully great, Part 2 was rocky to start but peaked perfectly up to the Pain Arc. Up to Volume 48 is where I'd put a a finish line, because beyond that it only goes downhill, hard. I only wish Kishimoto could've kept on his original track and not have been misguided by battered fans, biased editors, and persuasions from the studio. Only thing left nowadays is to hope for a better doujin ending. Or maybe someone out there in 10-20 years will try to rewrite the story after the Pain Arc with tech and programs getting exceedingly easier to work with. Who knows, one can only dream!

So I'm kinda late to this, but I wanted to write up my own feelings on this film. I saw this with a large group of people in December and we shared similar sentiments after we left the theatre.

I was never a big Star Wars fan, but I digged The Force Awakens, it was definitely a step up from the prequel trilogy, while still holding true to a lot of elements from the original trilogy.

So given that, I was pretty excited to see The Last Jedi, and I had very high hopes for it. I always want to give my honest opinion on anything.

So. How can I say this in a nice way? It was just...disappointingly *cough* bad.

It didn't feel like a 2017 movie, it felt like it belonged with the prequel movies. Most of the animals they showcased gave me phantom menace vibes and they looked outdated. Yoda looked like a puppet and unnatural, considering the CGI tech they have nowadays (Hell even animals in Avatar 2009 looked 100x better).

Pros/Cons:

-That part where Leia seemingly dies to the explosion felt perfectly done and was very emotional, until she wakes up in space (frozen and should be dead in a vacuum devoid of oxygen), flips over and starts flying through the debris to the shuttle. Also it might be "fatigue" but I'm tired of huge, fortress-like ships/death stars being taken out by some tiny ships b/c plot reasons.

-That Casino world also felt like it was straight out of the prequels. A lot of unnecessary and cringy extras. I also didn't understand the importance that Rose had to play in this movie, and they dragged Finn with her. A lot of this felt like a politically correct film to be honest.

-I expected more from Snoke and back in TFA he felt like a threatening force with a lot of potential behind his motives. In TLA they made him kinda goofy looking and he just goes out like nothing, not at all memorable.

-And that dialogue between Kylo and Rey felt super cringe at times. Especially about the "no shirt".

TLDR: A lot of the movie felt cringy, the story was kinda clunky/weak at points and while sitting in the theatre a lot of people were whispering/snickering. Now on a bright note there were parts I enjoyed. Luke was played amazingly and everyone of his scenes was great, and I loved when he trained Rey. The fight scene in the throne room was also amazingly done. But other than that, the movie was also throwing all these clumsy, cutesy creatures in my face in an attempt to market toys (understandable but, gee, a little overboard) and a lot of this most likely has to do with Disney owning practically all franchises now.

That said this one left a bad taste for a lot of us. The Empire Strikes Back still remains the best out of all films. I thought they would take tips from it when making this film like TFA was "copy" of a New Hope. Guess I was WAY wrong though.    

It's almost over for most, but Happy New Year's all! 

What was the point of Kakashi becoming Hokage? Like, did he actually achieve anything? Dod he change anything, dod he put any new policies into play? I know he bailed Sasuke out, but was there anything else he did for the village?

It was to make Naruto the seventh hokage. I mean Kakashi didn't even have his "perfect susanoo" sharingan anymore b/c he gave gave them back to the coolest guy in ninja heaven then came back.

Kishi had an obsession with the number 7. Team 7, chapter 700, 7th hokage, etc. But at least we got an awesome ending for it right? Pfffftttt.

lol well not me man he can never do another manga for all I care and never and I mean never do manga work again and will just have to do everyday job like we all do. It's going to happen Kishi's career as a manga writer is done he kittened up so its over for him maybe he could have saved it by saying he was forced to make NH and SS but he has done to much and has to make new lies and twist the facts to suite his own needs.

 

But its too late for that his career is dead and only has himself to blame really.

Not just the pairings, but the whole last 4-5 years of his story. I don't know what the hell was going on behind the scenes but it sure wasn't "innovation".

That said I appreciate him creating the story (lots of fond memories), but unfortunately its clear he didn't respect his only manga and main character. My main gripe is that he probably DID have a vision of how he wanted Naruto to play out and end (especially with support from his original editor), but stopped around '09-'10 and gave into the demands and desires of fans/studio so it could be extended. He seemingly can't stand up for what HE wants. Because even in the last arc of the manga, there are noticeable panels and scenes where it feels like it's written by the Old Kishimoto style. Before they revert back to the craptastic storyline of course.

I would never read another manga from him. Still trying to get over the last one he made... 

Sasukarin was parallelled with Narusaku in 663 and it's undeniable. Sakura healed Naruto, but Kabuto healed Sasuke, so the only reason for Kishi to compare them is to legitimize Sasukarin as a pairing(because at that time NS was [i]the[i/] canon ship).

I completely get why people don't like this ship but after 663 it wasn't a fanon case anymore.

I still wonder. Kishi was less than 50 chapters from the ending and he just throws in scenes & panels like this. Either he gets giddy from trolling the fans or he threw in what he knew he could never get to do... 

This is very well written, and I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten much attention. I do think Sakura’s feelings for Sasuke does make her appear weak to some degree. The most disturbing thing about her feelings is how Kishimoto described them himself, like an addiction or something?

Yep. More than once actually.

Here's 2006: Shonen Jump: Which of your three students would make the best ninja instructor?

Kishimoto: I think it would be Sakura. She has flaws in her personality, like stalking Sasuke. But Sakura is the closest to being normal. Naruto is stupid, and Sasuke is not a teacher-type. He keeps to himself.

Here's the one from (2015 I believe?):

Interviewer: “Who is your favourite character in Naruto?”

>Taniguchi: “It’s Hinata.”

>Kishimoto: “Eh, you like big-breasted girls?” (laugh)

>Taniguchi: “It’s not that.” (laugh) “I like the fact that at the beginning she was a weakling, but due to Naruto’s influence she steadily became strong.”

>Kishimoto: “That’s because Hinata doesn’t stand at the main character’s side like normal heroines*… she’s the type that watches him from the shadows.”

>Interviewer: “I thought the heroine was Sakura?”

>Kishimoto: “That’s right. But Sakura is addicted to Sasuke.” (laugh) “The reason why Hinata came to like Naruto is clear, but I’ve deliberately avoided writing down the reason why Sakura came to like Sasuke.” (laugh) “That’s because somehow, I had the feeling that it would conversely end up sounding contrived.”

One good thing I will say about this series is that Naruto's struggling rampant alcoholism adds a level of nuance to the character that the original series was never really able to convey. Rather than come to terms with his failing marriage, the self-loathing that being the Hokage brings him or the fact that he allowed the woman of his dreams to fall into the arms of someone who couldn't care less about her, he turns to the sauce. The sauce. Always the sauce. Not just every once in a while. Not just at parties. Not just during the evening. No, he is chugging the stuff 24/7. Washing and scrubbing away all of his worries and failures with thoughts of the good ole days. Whenever someone knocks on the door to the Hokage's office, he sends them away tellling them he's busy with "paper work." Boruto doesn't quite understand his father's constant paper work lust, but knows he's not wrong to suspect that something strange is going on behind closed doors. Here, we see a rather eloquent theme of escapism at work. Just as the readers read these stories to escape from the struggles of everyday life so that they may place themselves in the shoes of a superpowered super ninja, Naruto uses the alcohol to escape from his terrible life and into a world full of smiles. A world full of nothing but the good ole days.

Meanwhile at Naruto's office, while doing "paperwork". 

When Naruto and Hinata interact , Hinata faint , NH fans calls it cute NH moment .... sweet!!!!

But when NS moment happen ?? , Meeeehhh it's just sister brother , it's just comedic purpose , it means nothing.

That's always the argument that's brought up when there's any interaction between Naruto and Sakura. i don't get why they call it sibling affection.

There's numerous scenes (especially in manga) with BOTH Naruto and Sakura blushing in various occasions. There's also their thoughts, dialogue and body language. It's not just camaraderie. 

Boruto is just a cheap shonen story. It's makes most stereotypes looks like Freudian philosophy. Like the pairings, the story, and series...it all looks good on the surface, but look deeper and you can see how shallow it truly is.

It's main purpose is just to bring in any extra cash. It's clear Kishimoto was drained with the Naruto series well into the 4th ninja banana arc. He mentioned he wanted to work on a sci-fi manga yet on countless accounts over the last 3 years he's been brought in to fix what Ikemoto had trouble with (aka drawing various characters, story proof reading, etc).

So yes, it's a cash grab, but what I'm curious is to see how long it can last by milking the main cast (which is primarily the main reason anyone follows it). Frankly there are better anime and manga out there. Naruto no longer has the appeal it had years ago and ANYONE with dignity and self respect can admit this. Shippuden has many flaws, but the original Naruto is a classic, and Burrito will never compare.

It's merely relying on fans that have nostalgia and years of investment and need some way to cope.