However.
Who else hasn't had much of a character arc, their arc simply being to take things more seriously/maturely (and then regressed from that)? Who else has had the exact same goals from the beginning to the end of the series?
For a long time now, Naruto's character has been bothering me, but I couldn't pin down why. He was just becoming blander and blander as time passed, his behavior tiring and repetitive (sound familiar?). Only now did it hit me that his and Hinata's character are very similar. Not in terms of personality type, but in terms of depth and treatment.
"But Naruto has a solid backstory!" So does Hinata. That whole thing with her clan and Neji? That backstory's pretty good.
"But Hinata hasn't separated from her selfish goal of dating Naruto!" True, but Naruto hasn't changed his goals/crush either, and I don't see anyone critcizing him for it.
Let's compare more explicitly/clearly here:
- Both have decent backstories
- Both have unchanging goals/crushes
- Both had a simple character arc to complete (however, while Hinata's has seemingly been completed, Naruto has regressed further from his; he's being treated worse by Kishimoto than Hinata)
- Naruto has simply had more screentime than Hinata while we saw a lack of major changes (excluding the Pein fight, which was great for his character, but then Naruto slowly and steadily regressed) in him
I now know why Naruto has been bothering me so much. He's bland like Hinata is bland. One major difference lies between them: Hinata is a side character. She isn't held to the same high standards of a main character in terms of development, so while she is bland, she has sufficient character backing to make up for it and for her to qualify as a decent side character. Naruto, on the other hand, is lacking as a main character,
Now, I still can't say I very much like Hinata. Her arc isn't very interesting, and her character is still completely centered around a crush (hell, maybe her arc isn't too interesting because of that). Still, she suffices as a side character. She's a much better character than her teammates Kiba and Shino, that's for certain at least. But at the same time, I don't like Naruto very much for similar reasons (his character is unchanged like Hinata's, only he's at a further disadvantage because he lacks an arc at this point while she completed hers).
My big concluding thought here is: isn't it just a bit inconsistent to dislike Hinata to such an extent while Naruto gets a free pass for doing almost the same exact thing Hinata does, in terms of character goals/crushes being unchanged?
Edited by zacrathedemon5, 05 June 2013 - 10:08 PM.