34 replies to this topic

[ciardha]

Having most people get together with someone a "disease" No, it's called being realistic. Contrary to American superhero comics in both shonen and shoujo manga having multiple couples getting together and having families isn't uncommon.

In the manga that's what already happened with the Konoha ninja in Minato and Kushina's generation, best prepare yourself as Naruto and Sakura's generation is destined to exceed their parents.

Also this is not uncommon in both shonen and shoujo manga- the larger the cast, the higher the number of support character couples some with and some without children in story epilogues. Naruto's cast of support characters with character development is huge and with all the emphasis on future generations he's pushed...

Kishimoto has already put in what is common in manga series with large support casts, overt hints for some, subtle for others. KC notes the obvious ones, but there are other subtle ones: one a with serious subtly romantic friendship tone (Choino) a semiserious (Kibahina, serious moments and comedic or wry commentary), and a lightly silly play on the dominant thematic couples of Jiratsu, Minakush and Narusaku (OmoixKarui), plus the one with the semicanon minor character that he allowed her anime name and background into manga canon. (GaaraxMatsuri).

Asuma and Kurenai's generation is young enough that thoughts of settling down now is just starting to take a more significant role in their thoughts, plus they saw the Third Great Ninja War at a far younger age than Minato and Kushina's. Most of them basically had no childhoods, so they've given themselves a bit of that missed childhood in their twenties- the first stretch of years they had at relative peace during their lives. But Kishimoto will probably continue to skip romances for most of them and put continue most romance development in Naruto and Sakura's generation. I'm kind of doubtful of a romance for Kakashi, but there's a possibility in the manga- Kishimoto has shown he has a bit of a thing for Ayame, even calling her Ayame chan to her father Teuchi. I think Shizune might end up with a family too- likely with one of the more minor support characters of her generation that she's interacted with- Genma, Aoba, etc... Even before Kabuto captured her I was doubting Anko would get married, ditto for Yamato. Iruka might but I think it's more like he'll end up being single but godfather to Naruto and Sakura's children.

For Minato and Kushina's generation, most of them in Konoha and Suna (outside of older ones like Fugaku Uchiha) were too young to have experienced the Second Great Ninja World War as ninja. By the time they became ninja the peace treaties had been signed. Their early lives were pretty similar to Naruto and Sakura's generation's childhood. They were basically adults and already starting to form romantic partnerships when the Third Great Ninja World War happened. They decided that the war wasn't going to bar them from getting together with the person they loved or even bar them from choosing to start families. I think it's likely Kishimoto will repeat this with Naruto and Sakura's generation. But I think the only ones of their generation that will choose to get together pre-epilogue will be Naruto and Sakura.

[Codus N]

Frankly, I don't see Ayame getting together with Kakashi. There just doesn't seem to be enough development for me. And I'm not really thinking of that Kakashi omake where Ayame sees his face as semi-canon. If anything, they way Kakashi acts towards her seems to be more fanboying to me. Not only that, we don't really know much about her personality which is an important thing when it comes to pairing IMO.

[Madz]

I back all of what Ciardha said - she hits everything right on the spot.
Taking from my own experience, my group of friends all got married about the same time (+/- 2 years difference), had kids about the same time. This happens very often in real life. It's logical that the rookie 9 and team 10 will settle down / have kids roughly about the same time. It's also logical that they will get married. They are ninjas, not priests, they have not sworn to celibacy as far as I know! It's in their advanatge that all the powerful shinobis gets married and have kids to 'produce' more powerful future generations.
Whether Kishimoto will actually write/develop about it is another story. But in all social logic, they should all have a romantic interest.
As to the point where Narusaku is supposed to stand out as in the context of teammates falling love, I'm not too agreeable to this. Yes, the story focuses on them (this is a STORY), does not mean that the others of their generation should have a blank romance life or romantic feelings towards their teammates. Again - this is a very common occurance in real life. Male and female interacting as closely as the three men team of the story, getting to know each other and understanding each other = many romantic results. This is no brainer, this is how love story build up most of the times, unless you believe in "love at first sight", where you fall for a complete random stranger. But again, does not mean that Kishi will go into details in each of their story.
An example, if we want to focus on details, you can a build long list of how Chouji is attracted to/ loves Ino - the way he blushes around her, the way he cares for her and her happiness, the way he consoles her, the way he drives force from her encouragement.
If you squint hard enough, you can even see how Kiba has something for Hinata, or how Tenten has something for Neiji (though I think it was shown only in the anime, not in the manga, i have to check this out).
All to say is that it depends on how we search the tiny details, the hints are there.

[ciardha]

or how Tenten has something for Neiji (though I think it was shown only in the anime, not in the manga, i have to check this out).

In part 1 a bit, not explicitly in part 2. (Shippuden has a bit of pretty straightforward Neiten- during the Search for Gaara arc, but the straightforward moment is filler so you can't really say it counts, they've also made more straight forward than manga moments for Shikatem, Inocho and Kibahina, Gaasuri, but again filler moments

[Akashi]

Frankly, I don't see Ayame getting together with Kakashi. There just doesn't seem to be enough development for me. And I'm not really thinking of that Kakashi omake where Ayame sees his face as semi-canon. If anything, they way Kakashi acts towards her seems to be more fanboying to me. Not only that, we don't really know much about her personality which is an important thing when it comes to pairing IMO.

True.
TBH, I don't think he will end up marrying someone/finding a GF. He won't look cool then.
lol jk... I can't find a good partner for him in the series. Well, except, perhaps, Shizune or Sakura. WHAT? (●`Д´●) If Naruto dies (not gonna happen, NOT GONNA HAPPEN), Kakashi should be a great replacement. It's not likely to happen, anyway.

Edited by Meek, 26 March 2011 - 04:58 PM.

[Miss Soupy]

Well, since the question is should EVERYONE have a love interest, I'd have to say no. Realistically, not everyone will hook up with someone or get married. Not everyone gets married in real life, so why would I expect every ninja to? I expect Kishi will put together some of the rookies, but I also expect that some of them might get with characters we don't know. To say they should all match up perfectly would be strange, to me. Some will probably just remain friends, some might get together, and some might just not be the marrying type.

[6thHokage]

Well, I think that those characters that never had/lost their families in the first place would naturally like to create one: Iruka, Sai, etc. I'm not sure about Shikamaru, 'cause we know what he thinks 'bout women, so I won't be surprised if he ends up alone.

On the controrary i think Shikamaru's feelings towards women are there BECAUSE of some kind of character development that we are going to see later in the series.

[KonaKonaFan]

Well, since the question is should EVERYONE have a love interest, I'd have to say no. Realistically, not everyone will hook up with someone or get married. Not everyone gets married in real life, so why would I expect every ninja to? I expect Kishi will put together some of the rookies, but I also expect that some of them might get with characters we don't know. To say they should all match up perfectly would be strange, to me. Some will probably just remain friends, some might get together, and some might just not be the marrying type.

This is what I was thinking when I wrote my reply.

[Yoshimoya]

Just a thought, is it possible that Kishi may pull a HUGE one on us and end up with no pairings in the end?

Like maybe put a very small hint at a couple that MIGHT happen and leave the rest to our imaginations?

O.O

[Nate River]

Having most people get together with someone a "disease" No, it's called being realistic. Contrary to American superhero comics in both shonen and shoujo manga having multiple couples getting together and having families isn't uncommon.

I call it that because of the compulsion of authors to pair people for the sake of pairing them regardless of whether development within the story supports it, whether the resolution matters or, whether the pairing makes an ounce of sense, so that they can have everyone have a happy ending. Not EVERYONE has to be paired with someone for the story to reach it's proper conclusion.

If there is some development within the story, fine, that's one thing, but I don't see the point of pairing people for the sake of doing so. It's not necessary and as Soupy said, not everyone ends up in a happy relationship with kids. As she said the question was, whether EVERYONE should, not whether it should be limited to NaruSaku.

In the manga that's what already happened with the Konoha ninja in Minato and Kushina's generation, best prepare yourself as Naruto and Sakura's generation is destined to exceed their parents.

Also this is not uncommon in both shonen and shoujo manga- the larger the cast, the higher the number of support character couples some with and some without children in story epilogues. Naruto's cast of support characters with character development is huge and with all the emphasis on future generations he's pushed...

Prepare myself?

That I don't want such an ending doesn't mean I don't expect one.

Frankly, I don't see Ayame getting together with Kakashi. There just doesn't seem to be enough development for me. And I'm not really thinking of that Kakashi omake where Ayame sees his face as semi-canon. If anything, they way Kakashi acts towards her seems to be more fanboying to me. Not only that, we don't really know much about her personality which is an important thing when it comes to pairing IMO.

What is "semi-canon?:

And this is precisely the thing I mean. Ayame's love life doesn't matter and Kakashi's isn't particularly important either. Does anyone CARE if Shino shacks up with someone or even who it is outside of curiosity? What would be the point other than pairing him for pairings sake?

Just a thought, is it possible that Kishi may pull a HUGE one on us and end up with no pairings in the end?

Like maybe put a very small hint at a couple that MIGHT happen and leave the rest to our imaginations?

I'm jaded enough by pairing wars that part of me wants to see Kishimoto give a giant F-you to everyone by doing this. I don't expect it though.

[Torxe]

Just a thought, is it possible that Kishi may pull a HUGE one on us and end up with no pairings in the end?

Like maybe put a very small hint at a couple that MIGHT happen and leave the rest to our imaginations?

O.O

Well the pairing wars will never end if Kishi does this.

About the other pairings, I don't think all the characters will be in a couple. But still quite a few more than just NaruSaku

some characters I see not having a partner are:

Lee
Tenten
Neji
Kakashi
Tsunade (Jiraiya died)
Ebisu
Shino
Kankuro
Gaara
Gai
Sasuke
Taka...

well perhaps the list were shorter if I just said which character would have a partner.

[AchikaMiyu]

Considering that I don't think that EVERYONE will even survive to the end of the manga, I don't think EVERYONE should be paired. There have been several characters who never married (Jiraiya, Oro, Tsunade, Nagato, etc.) and several who were married, but a spouse/parents were never really mentioned (Kakashi's mother, Kiba's dad, Sakura's parents). So to me, I don't see the ending where everyone is paired up with someone that we know in a nice neat little package. That to me wouldn't seem realistic. There will probably be those who do end up starting a family with a "person not mentioned or seen" in the manga. It also wouldn't surprise me if there were a few people who ended up never marrying, because it's been shown that has happened.

[Broken Figurine]

First I'd say there is a difference between "getting paired off" and ending up in a relationship. I think that a pairing is two established characters getting into a relationship. So, that would mean everyone currently not in a relationship would have to pair up with each other. So Shino could choose anywhere from Tenten to the Tsuchikage's grandaugter. If he were to just say, get married sometime in the future (like in a quick epilogue) should he survive the end of the series, then it could even be some new character just dedicated to that one panel. They could fall in love with civilians, other characters, etc. It would make sense that years from now, off screen, if they wanted to have a family, that they would end up with somebody. It doesn't really mean that it would be a character that we currently know much about (or if we'd ever even know anything). There is also the possibility that some characters don't want to get married and just focus on their careers. Maybe the Mizukage will be cursed and never be able to have an engagement--who knows?

I could only see this scenario happening in an epilogue/last chapter type flash-forward. In the course of the story... No. Just look at the main paring; how many scenes were there that clearly, without dispute, had romance that was mutual and not played for comedy? All of the romance so far had that bit of tragedy. Sakura's and Hinata's confession... We see how that ended. Karin's feelings... We saw how that ended too. Tsunade lost both Dan and Jiraiya. Kurenai and Asuma same thing. Obito died before he had the chance, and Rin's character in general (what happened to her, what her feelings were) is ambiguous. We're still not even entirely sure how far Sakura's feelings run, and she's the main female character.

The way it's been going so far, romance in Naruto has been pretty... bleak. To be honest with you, minor characters and their love interests don't interest me that much. I'm more concerned with how the main characters fair. We know it is not exclusively NaruSaku, because we've already seen other people's love interests (even if they didn't end so well) so I don't think that is much of an issue...

[ciardha]

Well the pairing wars will never end if Kishi does this.

About the other pairings, I don't think all the characters will be in a couple. But still quite a few more than just NaruSaku

some characters I see not having a partner are:

Lee
Tenten
Neji
Kakashi
Tsunade (Jiraiya died)
Ebisu
Shino
Kankuro
Gaara
Gai
Sasuke
Taka...

well perhaps the list were shorter if I just said which character would have a partner.

Narrow down that list a bit:

NejixTenten (Kishimoto has probably done enough already that readers won't be going- where did that come from? )

GaaraxMatsuri (since Kishimoto accepted most of her backstory the animators created- only example of him doing this, and before that in the manga had Gaara make a comment in Kankuro's flashback about someday having someone very precious to him like Naruto does (Sakura). Kishimoto also brought Matsuri back and during the beginning of the Kage Summit arc- giving her one of the very few villager lines of dialogue. I'm fairly sure we'll see this pairing. I doubt if he'll do anything more development wise with them until the typical final chapter epilogue time skip- we'll see a panel or two of them having a family.

Shino's pairing will mostly likely be left until the epilogue- more than likely just some unnamed woman from his clan. Kishimoto tends to do any development with Shino in that sort of fashion- quickly show where he's at now with minimal explanation. Not just because he's a support character but because it fits the character- he rarely speaks, and when he does it's few words, but he's not completely unemotional: he was upset the Naruto didn't recognize him after all, and we did see he has a close bond with his father. So it's likely just to be a one panel deal with his wife and kid.