Dario

Kishimoto just says the most baffling kitten. lf someone compiled the most outrageous things he said these past few months and even before in older interviews and showed it to people without telling them where it came from they'd probably think it was the ramblings of internet trolls. But no, it's the actual opinions and justifications of one of the most successful writer in pop fiction history. Mind boggling.

What l always found funny with the Goku/Chichi parallels from NH fans is that they don't realize what they're comparing their precious pairing to. The basis of Goku/Chichi is this: when they were 14, Goku patted Chichi on the crotch because he couldn't tell the difference between a girl and a boy just by looking at people so he had to touch to check if she had balls. So after getting patted on the crotch a blushing Chichi decided they should get married, Goku thought she was talking about food and accepted and 5 years later they got engaged. 

That's it. That's the pairing. IT'S A BLATANT JOKE. Toriyama was originally a gag mangaka and most people don't know his first big success before Dragonball was a gag manga called Dr Slump (highly recommended if you can find it, it's hilarious) and in Dr Slump Toriyama actually has the honesty to admit he hates romance but his editor forces him to write pairings. So out of spite he just treats them like a joke. 

Yet all these NH geniuses have argued this inspired Kishi t. What does it say about NH? And of course let's not mention the irony of them calling NS comic relief...

l agree with Naruto not being the real main character of his own manga but l disagree about the timeline. l don't think the focus switched after the Pain arc, l think it happend far earlier than that. You've got to remember the Pain arc was really the first time in part 2 where Naruto regained some sort of agency and made some progress in his stated original goal of becoming Hokage. It was the first time in give or take 150 chapters Naruto was focused on by the narrative. Before that he came back from a two years training with zero significant improvements, he had no real influence in the first 4 arcs after the timeskip, playing second fiddle to Sakura, Shikamaru and Sasuke twice, he didn't even get a real fight, and of course ever since the end of part 1 his character had become defined by his desire to "save" Sasuke, with hardly a mention of his original ambitions let alone the early themes he embodied.

The moment l realized this manga was slowly dying if not already dead was during the "year of Sasuke" where it became abundantly clear Sasuke was never going to suffer any consequences for his actions despite Kakashi's warning and that on the contrary he was being REWARDED for his betrayal and murder attempt on Naruto with new devoted companions, new powers, plenty of fights and the narrative focus.

In the end, people talk smack about Sakura for being the worst heroine in shonen manga history and l don't disagree but we shouldn't forget Naruto himself is one of the worst if not the worst shonen hero of all time.

I would feel more satisfied if everything after chapter 698 never existed. I don't know about that "decent little story" since well...it hasn't been decent since Pein Arc. Sure everything I guess gives the illusion of being okay, but watch as it spirals down something that is just horrible.

Damage is still going. It is just that we are no longer the target.

l think it stopped being a decent little story at the end of part 1. l still have fond memories of the beginning though and mostly lament what could have been.

You know, I'm getting tired of this "It's canon, get over it". With all this re-writing and stuff, ANYTHING could be canon. I'm not saying NS will happen or not, just... Why should be taking Kishi's writing seriously? He made Sasuke look like a jerk now and it's canon, yet he could make him all lovey-dovey next time and it will be canon. There is not constancy. Naruto loves Sakura, that's canon... WAIT, Naruto loves Hinata now, canon... WAIT, Naruto starts to fall for Sasuke, canon again. 

 

And you don't have to apply this just to pairings. What about kage bunshin technique? Naruto learned it when he was 12, canon. WAIT, Naruto learned it when he was 5 just to save a shy girl, canon. 

Well sure, everything could happen indeed... Question is, why would you want it to happen? Would you feel satisfied if SS and NH had a divorce? Or if NS finally happend? Personally l'd just be more saddened than anything to see what was once a decent little story get mangled even more.

 The damage is done.