Codus N

Shikamaru's plot role is the guy who leads Naruto to become the leader. He has to be the guy who can actually move the main character by his words, mind and experience. And as such, Shikamaru gains certain experiences before Naruto. The chuunin status, first mission failure, death of his teacher, execution of Sasuke and such. All these experiences are needed so that he can actually give Naruto the advise, or the support he needs (ex. Jiraiya's death).

 

Meh, I could have explained it better but I'm drunk and tired. Take it as you will. 

Heh, you seem lucid enough to me.

Anyways, regarding Shikamaru. I agree very much. But honestly, 615 would've been the perfect opportunity to showcase that role of Shikamaru. Even now, I still puke at how forced the chapter was. That moment should've been Shikamaru's moment. That's what your right hand man does, picking you up when you're down.

 Basically this: Naruto will not allow himself to believe Sakura loves him quite yet, but he's not dense enough to deny their friendship is not just a normal friendship anymore. He knows "something weird" happened between them, but he won't really let himself define it yet. So saying Sakura was "more or less his girlfriend" is more like Naruto saying "I don't really think she loves me, but part of me is confused."

Except that this would only apply to characters who are oblivious to love (100% completely). Naruto is the only exception that he knows he loves Sakura, but if you were to apply this to him, you would be hard-pressed to make it work. Why?? in order for the character to have doubts and not have an understanding of his feelings, you have to actually establish his naivety when it comes to things like those. We already know that he is aware of what love is, so what's the point in dragging things out??  

If he is already that aware of what love truly is, then he should've acted up by now. I know about his insecurity, but at this point it's just dragging things out and gets boring. Not only that, it only serves to make him look even more of an idiot. He's supposed to instill the sense that you can do anything if you're gutsy enough. So, the fact that he doesn't have the balls to actually ask her about what their relationship really is, really breaks the aesop as a whole. 

 

That's what I thought, but I'm trying to figure out why the other fans think like that.

 

The way I figure they must think Naruto is joking because he can't use Sakura's confession to seriously support his claim of Sakura being something like his girlfriend. And the reason he can't use the confession is because they believe Sakura completely lied about everything.

 

I suppose the counterargument would be that Naruto believes Sakura is somewhat honest with her love for him.

 

Does this mean Naruto accepts that Sakura does love him? That's the part that I wish to be sure of.

Like others said, I think he's saying that it's more like their relationship is "floating".

 

I see what your saying, and while it's problematic that Sakura seemed to have become an after-thought recently, I feel that the quality of her development with Chiyo, and the quality of her development with regards to Sasori's conversion/fall from grace was so high that it really doesn't matter that the quantity of Sakura development had been reduced.  I do agree that Kishi has a consistency problem to a large degree (on the other hand, he's also very good at "ignoring" certain points for a long time, then bringing them up again much later when relevant), and that he's seemingly wonderful at forgetting characters, but having recently re-read/skimmed through much of the manga, I've noticed that Sakura is more involved even in the War than it seemed when reading the manga on a chapter-by-chapter basis.

 

I'll check those out eventually, I got into Naruto because years and years ago on our way to HS my carpool and I were stuck in major traffic.  He had a couple of volumes of Naruto on him, and I thought it was interesting.  I'm actually interested in reading Kurohime as well.  Ecchi doesn't bother me, Jacqueline Carey's first Terre d'Ange trilogy is my favorite fictional series and as an Undergrad I used to teach undergraduate and graduate students sex ed it's really a shame how little knowledge some graduate students have...

There's no question about her involvement in the war, but however, it's not counterbalanced with quality, either. All we really have is quantity right now.

Actually, I'm also guilty for my lack of knowledge on sex ed too (and I'm a 4th year Uni student!!) . All I get is that you bang up a girl, your juices gets into her and mixes with hers, and voila!! you've got a baby on the way!!    and even then, I still don't get how the intricate details work.  

I've actually been wanting to write a smutty lemon fic for a long time, but since I don't have enough knowledge on how "it" works, I would have a problem conveying it into written form.

Although reading porn/H-mangas does help a little..... (but not to the point where I'm confident I can write it.)

@Paptala: About the list that you took from another fandom... well, I can definitely say that it is all true. Not to mention that there is one manga masterpiece that adheres to that list to the letter.

Rurouni Kenshin

But the difference is that RK had a shorter run than Naruto. So, it's easy to dangle the looming question between the hero and heroine in front of the readers. It's really a matter of psychological perspective. For a longer-running series like Naruto, the question have to be constantly referenced and hinted at, otherwise, you ruin the the reader's anticipation. It's not surprising that NH fans seemed to believe that Naruto has gotten over Sakura because of the lack of consistency. 

Mega Charizard X's form:

Oh, and it'll have dragon typing for those who's been begging for it. Design-wise, it looks better than the Y version. Wonder if the other two starters will have alternate forms too?

EDIT:

Oh yeah, and it'll appear in the The Origins anime:

LOL, I can just see the whole fandom go "Let's see if Ash can beat Red's ass now...."

 

Heh, that's not too surprising, Naruto's target audience is pretty young.

 

I see what you're saying, I'm just wondering if Naruto should be compared to anything other than itself?  I don't have the knowledge to compare it to other manga, but I think that the way this manga is set-up and the way the Team 7 tension and romantic tension are set-up, the romantic tension can't be resolved till close to the end.

 

While I do wish there was a greater exploration of her relationships, I don't think it's entirely accurate that Sakura is a flat character at all and I especially don't subscribe to the notion that she's as flat as Tenten.  We did have an arc that focused on her, on her relationship with Chiyo, on the fact that Sakura actually is the other person who has a bit of Naruto's special "conversion" gift.  I really think it depends on one's taste, and on how one reads the manga etc etc.  I adore Sakura as she is, I'd like to see more of her, I'd have liked for the character to be given more, but I think she's a wonderful character, the most dynamic character, the most interesting character --but all of that is subjective.  I find her interesting because of how slowly she changes, of how realistically her changes come about, that she's not on some easy path to "getting it," but that she often fails, takes multiple steps backwards...but even still she realizes her mistakes, is capable of self-analysis, and moves on.  I think Sakura's awesomeness is often overlooked because of how slow-paced her "growth" has been, and that's fine, but I love that about her.

Well, when I say she competes with Tenten, doesn't mean she's as flat as Tenten...... but it's definitely close enough with the way Kishi's been writing her as of lately. Her interaction with Chiyo was definitely a high point for her character. But after that, there's none to be seen for her like the one with Chiyo. I would think this is a matter of consistency, though. 

I don't really blame you for not having read enough mangas to be able to compare Naruto. Naruto must be your first series, am I right? well, then I suggest that you read both FMA and Fairy Tail. The former's been completed already, the latter is still on-going. If fanservice and ecchiness is not your cup of tea, then you might want to avoid the latter, (even though you're going to end up missing out on a great manga!) both mangas are in my top list of favorites.

This tweet of the shutdown is the best by far:

Due to the shutdown, NASA's asteroid detection team isn't working. If an asteroid hits, let's hope it lands on Congress.

— CC:Indecision (@indecision) October 1, 2013

 

That's an interesting perspective, but I can't say that I agree that the problem is that Sakura is too willing to settle as a medic-nin, rather I think the problem is in the notion that focusing as a medic-nin (and being on the path to become the best medic-nin until someone better comes along in the future) is a type of settling.  Medicine is important, medicine in battles is important, I'd argue the problem is that Kishi hasn't given medic-nins, or at least given Sakura's advancements as a medic-nin, a greater focus (though, this is probably a problem with the genre rather than with Kishi).
 

Sakura and the role of being a medic-nin could have been given a greater focus.  For instance, there easily could have been an exploration of the two jobs of a combat medic, on the one hand a combat medic's role is to survive and save the lives of comrades, on the other a combat medic (in this world) needs to be able to take the offensive and kill the enemy --that's an interesting/intricate/difficult position to be in, and given Sakura's personality (her level of emotional-ness, her empathy) this exploration would have been fitting for her character and it could have brought in another exploration of the short-comings of the Shinobi world as it currently is.

Kishi could have focused a bit more on what it is that medics do, the type of special training they have to go through, who they save, what the cost to themselves is or could be, how they research to come up with new techniques, what sort of ethics they have so that they don't turn into researchers like Orochimaru and Kabuto, what the rules/guidelines are for medics when they come across injured enemy combatants (who aren't highly ranked and who'd be unable to provide much information), what the guidelines are when medics come across injured civilians while in the middle of battle (do they move on without healing the civilian, do they heal the civilian?), what the guidelines in terms of reserving chakra vs healing an injured comrade is (what injuries should be healed?  how great a risk should a combat medic take when healing an injured comrade?) etc etc.
 

For me the problem isn't that Sakura has focused on her role as a medic, that she has focused on advancing her abilities as a medic (after all, she doesn't have secret clan techniques like Ino, a Kekke Genkai like Neji or Sasuke, extreme amounts of chakra reserves like Naruto), but that for whatever reason her role as a medic is for whatever reason (Kishi's writing style, the genre style, the fans' under-appreciation of medicine) over-looked/underestimated.  Medicine is important, just to use real life examples, imagine how different our world would be without the small pox vaccine, without anti-biotics, without the discovery of germs and the importance of hygiene, without blood-typing (for blood transfusions), without the discovery of Vitamin C's role in preventing scurvy, without the discovery of the role of Iodine in preventing goiters, without the ability to provide prosthetic limbs.  The problem isn't that Sakura's focused on her medical career/role as a medic, but with the notion that a medic-nin is in the background, and with the notion that lifesaving/defensive aspects of her role aren't as important as the offensive aspects of the role of others.  Think about it, at 17 Sakura is one of the top two medics in their entire world --that's not settling, that's awesome, that's badass.

As to your point about her not talking about herself, are you talking about the romance aspect?  Because obviously she can't clarify her feelings (to herself, to others, to the audience) until later in the series.  If she figures that out, than the greatest romantic tension of the story will be done with.  And I don't understand why she needs to talk about her feelings, or herself, why is there such a burden on her?  She's been busy preparing for a war, participating in a war, healing an entire army so her self reflection, her romantic focus should take a back seat (a major gripe I have with Hinata is that just a few moments after her cousin's death she was once again focused on her crush/romance).

This post is why you're starting to climb the ladder in my list of people's posts I adore and love. I was honestly (almost) expecting some of the people here (the "immature" ones) to start bashing me. But I'm glad a sensible person like you is still around to see my post for what it is.

That, and you have a sort of (?) medical background helps to see my post in the same perspective as I do (and even better at that). I applaud you. 

Yes, the whole post above I agree entirely with. Kishi has been overlooking the medics' role in battle ever since Part II (post-Gaara arc). He set up the whole concept well back in part I, so I don't understand how he could not bother to expand it more. Any good author can do something like this if he's wiling to. The only mangaka I see using the role of a medic effectively is Mashima.

As for the last part about Sakura's feelings, sorry about that. I sort of went off a tangent there. But my basic point is, if she's confused or doesn't understand her feelings, then why not talk to somebody about it? I understand the whole romantic tension thing, but lots of other mangas like Naruto has resolved that kind of issue far earlier (FMA, anyone?).  I think Kishi severely underestimated its' impact on the fandom. (And I'd bet you my ass Mashima saw this whole phenomenon with Naruto and is the very reason why he's setting up the pairings clearly, like I said in one of my previous posts.)

I really wanna know now whether Kishi gave Mashima advice on the shippings, or if Kishi read FT, and kicked himself in the ass over and over for his apparent Junior's genius.......

@Sushi: that's kind of the whole point of my post, actually. She's not contributing to the plot anymore. Ino herself is moving the plot more than she is.

 

Biologically speaking, in most mammal species males are built for quick bursts of brute strength, while females are built for endurance.  Hyenas are an exception though, the females are built for brute strength and endurance, while the males are just super-submissive.  It's why when working out, in general men tend to gain bulky muscle, while women tend to gain long/lean muscles.

 

 

 

Yeah, I think it's this tendency that often leads to "token" characters --be it token female, token racial/sexual orientaiton minority-- etc etc.  I'm not one to demand that all fiction has a representative balance of genders, orientations (the whole scale of genders and orientations), racial makeup etc etc, but I think it's important that regardless of these details, characters are written as whole human beings.
 

 

 

Well, I agree, though like you I might be biased (but like I said, I like to think that I don't see things regarding Sakura because I want to see them, but rather because I see these things --and because as the story progresses and I've re-read and re-analyzed the story-- these aspects are the reason I like  her).

Bolded: Interestingly, there is one female manga character I know that follows your example to a T (although I'm sure there are others).

Erza Scarlet.  Her basic strategy revolves around herself tanking hits from her opponent until she figures out their abilities and pulls out the perfect weapon to counter them. And her physical strength is definitely very, very high (not to the point of super-strength, though). She can almost rival Gajeel in terms of tanking hits, and the latter is literally made of iron, to boot.

As for your second point, at this point, the way I see it, Sakura is nothing but a token character. Hell, even the hero himself is starting to be reduced into one. The manga should literally be renamed Sasuke at this point. Unless Kishi does something about this, my opinion's not gonna change. And I'm not talking about fights, either. I'm talking about how each character should be contributing to the plot in their own ways. Hell, even Ino is moving and contributing more to the plot than Sakura.

Don't get me wrong. I do like how Sakura's humanity is shown, but Kishi forgets that the story is set in a fantasical setting, In fact, I think Kishi has a serious misconception about her character. Kishi is too enamored with the beauty of humans' shortcomings. It's not wrong to use that as an aspect of a character, but it's getting to the point that it is stalling her development. Y'know how some people get stuck in the same job/position at a company for years?? some of the reasons include them being too comfortable in their position, simply because they don't want the responsibility, when they actually can do more.

The reasoning for Sakura to me, is similar. She's too comfortable being a medic-nin and staying at the back, when in fact she could do more. Not saying this makes her lazy, of course. Just.... why hasn't she thought of trying something else aside from the medical ninjutsu taught her? Please tell me she knows Katsuyu came from a place where you could learn Senjutsu (maybe). Because if she did, I just have to facepalm and resist the urge to call her a dumb broad. If not that, I would also question Tsunade herself. She could have at least mentioned SM in passing to her student. Knowing Sakura, she would naturally be curious. Even if Tsunade told her it would be impossible, wouldn't this have pushed her to try prove her master wrong??

If she did know, well congrats Kishi, you not only dumbed down your hero, but you also dumbed down your heroine. We all know Sakura can do more, it's just that Kishi is lazy to do something about it, which in turn, makes her look lazy.

Also, regarding the stalled development I was talking about, my point about her being too comfortable with her current self still stands. She's too comfortable with herself right now that she hasn't gotten up the gumption to talk about herself to people she cares about (her team, Tsunade, Shizune, etc.) Hell, I would dare to call her an emotionally reclusive person. Remember Yamato's advice? I get the feeling she hasn't even realized it in full. And all this because either she refuses to talk about it or something else. That's a big question mark for her character but Kishi hasn't even bothered to bring it up at all. And it feels too late in the game too, if it's brought up. Kishi had many opportunities to do it, but he didn't.    

If he brings it up, I feel like it's going to end up looking more like an afterthought of her character that Kishi brought up for the sake of tying loose ends instead of actually developing her character. 

I really, really do want him to get his own happy ending. If he does give the final strike to Obito, I don't know if he'll ever be able to handle it. He's already somewhat come to terms with it, but I don't think he'll ever come out of this war the same ever again. The guilt of killing Obito is probably something he's already prepared for, so he should be able to get over it (even if it will be impossibly difficult). But it's the guilt of the bloodbath that Obito caused is the problem, no matter how you see it, in a way, Kakashi is responsible for everything. 

The question is, can he handle the deaths of the thousands of shinobi and civilians alike laid bare at his feet?? the deaths of people he was (indirectly) responsible for??

We all know Kakashi's whole story has been nothing but a sad one. In fact, if a psychiatrist were to read Kakashi's story, one would be amazed that he hasn't gone off the deep end. With everything the guy's been through, he really does deserve a happy ending even more than Naruto.      

Doubt it. If there's a new "Naruto" in the future, expect once again a pairing war. I guess that's one thing that LoK did right even though it was a mess.

Funny enough, FT had potential to spark a pairing war on Naruto's scale, but Mashima chickened out. I wouldn't be so surprised if Kishi gave him advice:

Mashima: Kishimoto-sensei, what are you doing, calling this late?

Kishi: Hiro-kun, for the love of god, do not try to make a LOVE TRIANGLE!!!

Mashima:  What are you talking about, sensei?

Kishi: I'm talking about NaLi vs NaLu!! I just read your newest chapter (198), and I hope to god you're not going to make the same mistake I did!!!

Mashima: What's wrong with that?

Kishi: What's wrong?? What's wrong??!! What's wrong is how you're severely underestimating fandoms!!!

Mashima: Seriously??

Kishi: Go and check the wretched hive that is called the interwebz and call me the next morning. Type in Narusaku and Naruhina and show me what you get.

*next morning*

Mashima: Ok, sensei you were right. I'm seriously regretting it now.

Kishi: Good, now you have to figure out a way outta this mess.

Mashima: Well, trolling always works...

Kishi: You've been to Kubo's haven't you?

So, I'm just gonna drop this here in case anybody wants it.

Jump Live is putting the bikini poster up for wallpaper download (android only, dunno about iOS). There's also the others individually if you want, such as Orihime. 

You can have a look at them here: http://mangahelpers....l=1#post3523867

Sorry, I think I should've been clearer. What I mean is, by releasing the seal, wouldn't it allow her to gather and absorb Natural Energy as she has fulfilled the necessary chakra capacity through the releasing of the seal? As I said before, the seal acts more like an extra chakra battery for her, so wouldn't it expand her chakra capacity? allowing her to gather Natural Energy needed for SM and Senjutsu.

Obito doesn't need to know he's targeting Naruto's girl. If only he had heard the girlfriend comment.

 

Sakura is the head medic, that's enough reason to target her. If Obito wants to taunt Naruto, there couldn't be a better way =)

 

I don't think Minato or Kakashi will tell him the story on the battlefield. It would make more sense for Kakashi to tell him the details after the war, in a medic tent or something.

That's not what I was getting at. I was talking about the issue of why, of all people, he brought up Rin in front of Naruto, who has no personal connection to him at all. 

He already did taunt him with Neji. Didn't work. Taunting him about his parents makes more sense.

BTW, you do realize that Obito was in the Kamui the entire time while the Hokages arrived.

He was bashing more on Minato and now Naruto connected himself to the situation since it is his birthday. That said again, it can happen at any rate. It depends on how it can bring it up. Obito is more focus about a man who did get his wish yet failing at keeping it up (lost his students, Kushina, etc.). Rin will be brought up when Obito probably close to his end. It will happen.

I have no doubt the Rin parallel will come up somehow. I just hope Kishi writes it in a way that doesn't seem rushed and awkward. Although, with his current track record.... yeah, like that'll happen. With the way he's been writing the arc for the past few 10 chapters, I'm not putting much stock in that.

That said, I'm still not overly fond of the Hokages resurrected and all. But I would make an exception for Minato since Naruto's birthday is coming up, this means that Naruto would be able to celebrate his birthday with his father for the first time ever. I can definitely see when it's all said and done, Minato is the last one to fade. But not before seeing him sing his son the birthday song for the first time.