Bail o' Lies

Yet they had no problems when the last did this to Naruto for Sakura. 

In Japan, that pretty much destroyed Naruto's reputation and made him a scumbag in their eyes. To the point, I do think that it did eventually went from being completely canon to semi-canon.

In the West, as long as Naruto only loves Hinata they do not care how bad it makes him look, because the worst is apparently not loving only Hinata and him caring about anything else.

At one point they will because Naruto became a brand. It transcended beyond just being a manga. It's a brand and they will use that.

The question now is when? And also will they learn their lesson? There would be no point in making something new if they just do the same thing.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Whenever Boruto is over/Ikemoto's contract is up/when they need a IP that can make them money.

Again, SJ isn't lacking in IP at the moment that are making them money. Likely why Part one was ended, was that Boruto's peers were all ending at the point and it was making them look at it. To realize Ikemoto was wasting time and his story was in a rut that could have part one last for 15 years on its own. Which would be nice if it was profitable, which everyone knows wasn't that case. So if we wait for the current batch to end, as Ikemoto is failling back into bad habits, they will look at part two again see waste and order it to finish. Which can be about 5 years. Granted shounen manga aren't going on for as long as during Naruto's time. Kill Blue that just ended finished before the first episode of its anime aired.

I think Ikemoto is in a 60 chapter contract as they around the time Kodaichi was let go as his contract is up. 120 of Boruto chapters is 40 of part two which is 15 chapters/months from now. If they changed it to 60 chapters for part two 35 Chapters/Months from now.

Boruto is pretty much designed to go on forever due to its abysmal pace. From the start of part two Bolt has had three goals: defeat Punk, defeat the Tree people, Defeat Nail to release his parents. Now those could all be resolved in a single fight or he can make it go on forever.

As for will they change it? If they do continue it, they have no choice. Boruto is seen as such a black mark even by Pro-ending fans that keeping it canon only hurts the IP. Kishimoto was always a reluctant supporter of nH/SS, he only had them because he was told they would be profitable...which they clearly haven't.

One can tell most people are done with discussion when no has bother yet with this... low hanging fruit of a post. I'm not using the quote button because their are tabs and I'm not going to bother editing to try to make it look nice. 

And what's that point of him becoming Hokage? What did he accomplish? Why was it important to the story and its world Naruto became Hokage other marking off a box under character goals? Also, you are quite happy that Sakura's only goal was to get into Sasuke's pants and pop out babies. The Double Standards.

"A couple doesn't change anything about the manga. When Kishimoto wants to make a retcon or a bad decision, no editor can stop him. The thing is, all the NaruSaku arguments, especially the one blaming editors and popularity, don't make sense to begin with.

...You were really hung up on Kaguya while typing this post. Why is that? Are you internally questioning why she exist or not and trying to convince yourself of something? Here, let me help you along. Madara was Sasuke if Naruto gave up on him. Obito was Naruto if Sasuke killed Sakura. Kaguya was the Hyuuga clan's evil ancestor. There was no villain in the final arc tied to Sakura because she was removed as the heroine...also Kishimoto has always had issue keeping her involved in the plot.

There would be more to fix than just the pairing. Though compare and contrast those 15 years to the last 11, it will help. Yes, when NS was the intended pairing they made merch for it and when it stopped being the pairing they stopped making merch. We are getting close to "fire is hot" territory. Unless you have figures of during and post Naruto for merchandise sales it is just speculating. 

I still bet they'll revisit the series again. For nostalgia-sake and some extra $$$.

 

If they did a really good mini series for an anniversary, old school fans would love it! I'm still betting that they'll cash in on the nostalgia at some point. 

Its surprising they haven't already. Though that could be because Boruto still ongoing and don't want to interfere till that's done, the movie is in production hell, and there was the mini series that was suppose to come out that could test the waters that still hasn't been released; which implies issues.

Its like I said years ago. The reason they wanted Boruto is because Naruto was a huge international money maker they didn't feel they could easily replace. Only for the new generation of shounen to do so before Ikemoto's lazy ass could bother to start the sequel, and make more money internationally due to the rise of streaming. Now granted, almost all the manga that surpassed it have ended and there was a drought. Not that Boruto could take advantage of it due to the fact it anime was put on hiatus by that point. Akane Banashi was very close to becoming one of the top three of Shounen Jump. Till Kagurabachi and Ichi the Witch stormed their way into those spots. Which again will delay any need to address the Naruto-Boruto issue as a money maker and how to make it one again...like till after Ikemoto's contract runs out.

I mean from the interviews it does seem he regrets it. That's why many fans in Japan think he sold out or was pressured to do what he did (because he acted like people told him they liked hinata and he changed the pairing due to that pressure). There's also the disagreement from his wife about it too. Seishi and him have pairings similar to ns in most of their manga. I really do believe that him stepping back from boruto is partly because of that. The minato one shot is just more evidence that he's not a fan of the ending. Masashi provided the story for road to ninja and even now he keeps saying hell write more about sakura its not really a stretch to see that a lot of the story just nose dived in a pretty odd way. I don't believe it would've happened this way regardless of the pairing since other manga don't go the way Naruto did

Samurai 8 though short live is another proof he didn't not like the ending. If you made the best romance evar in the story that only geniuses could truly understand or what ever nH/SS say about it now a days. You wouldn't spend 10 chapters of your next story going, "I not changing the love interest," over and over again.

The wording/puns is common in Shounen manga, like when the straw hats do a combo. I think the Japanese can easily understand it.

Lighting Katana. Raikiri is just 'lighting blade.' Rai-Katana 

Cheery Blossom Shell Smash. Sakura's name with Shell Smash. Sakura Sheru Sumasshu

Sharingan Staff. Is probably the worst/generic/least creative name out of them. Seriously, what did the sharingan have do with a kick? Sharingan Bo 

U-Zu-Mikey-Angelo Barrage. Somewhat creative changing Uzumaki to Uzu-Mikey. Naruto-Mikey Rendan.

The Sakura and Naruto combo names were at least somewhat creative. Kakashi was basic/too simple. Sasuke didn't make sense use the chidori or his fire jutsu instead of just naming it after his eyes if he not even going to really use their abilites.

The foot mutants weren't that interesting. They were just generic monsters. It would have been better if they were at least some animal hybrids for consistency. The fox girl is probably going to turn good due to a speech in the last issue.

Sakura was always popular in Japan save for certain lulls because she wasn't doing anything. Western/US fans hated her and were convinced everyone one else must hate her. I think the big example they like to use was one of the last character polls while the manga was running and Sakura was #11 with Sai which they convinced themselves that means Sakura isn't even popular in Japan. When it was more, 'she was liked, they just liked another character more than her, often Naruto/Sasuke/Kakashi, but she was never hated.' While comparison Hinata fans often love her the most or love only her, so they always voted for her, she had a small but dedicated fanbase in Japan. Which is often why Hinata would rank high in polls while certain conditions are required for Sakura to though when those happens, she beats Hinata easily. This poll which is female characters so no Naruto/Sasuke/Kakashi, or that poll two years ago for 'which character would you like a one shot of' she got third behind Minato and Itachi. There were others over the years but I've forgotten the details of those.

Sakura in Japan. An interesting take on her archetype for the time. A tsundere that wasn't in love with the main character from the start and he had to win her affection; making the romance more interesting and worth investing into compared to most shounen romances. A heroine that had to join in the fight and be involved in combat during a time when shounen really didn't have their female characters fight. Even when that changed, she was still unique because she had a lot of uncertainty and doubt but still had the resolved to improve herself to help out the people she cared about. Something resonated with female readers and is hard to replicate even for modern shounen heroine.

Sakura in US. Filthy useless ugly slutty abusive friend-zoning whore who should die a thousand death!!! 

Hinata in Japan. One of the most generic examples of her archetype ever made. Generally forgettable and uninvolved in the story till the very end and doesn't have much character. Though is great for fantasizing your perfect dream girl because you can make her anything because there aren't that many details that will contradict your fantasies.

Hinata in the US. Most perfect woman to have ever existed. The story should-no, is about her. It about her getting everything she wants. She deserves it. She is entitled to it. For being so perfect despite being the most abused and oppressed character to have ever been written. No one have ever suffered more than her and she never deserved it.

With those lines of thoughts in mind. Is it a surprise there is confusion between the Japan/Kishimoto and the American fanbase?

Sakura lowest point of her popularity was the ending because she backtracked to square zero of her character arc. It improved since because of the fact they refuse to use her in the sequel means she isn't tainted by the issues it has, because she is not involved, and her daughter is well behaved and well received compared to Hinata's spoiled brats.

https://www.reddit.c..._a_poll_on_the/
Not sure if this was shared before but seems there's a gender divide for hinata and orihime

 

Men's Choice:

 

#1. Jolyne Cujoh (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

 

#2. Sakura Haruno (Naruto)

 

#3. Maki Zenin (Jujutsu Kaisen)

 

#4. Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach)

 

#5. Orihime Inoue (Bleach)

 

#6. Nami (One Piece)

 

#7. Kagura (Gintama)

 

#8. Hinata Hyuga (Naruto)

 

#9. Misa Amane (Death Note)

 

#10. Nico Robin (One Piece)

 

Women's Choice:

 

#1. Sakura Haruno (Naruto)

 

#2. Maki Zenin (Jujutsu Kaisen)

 

#3. Kagura (Gintama)

 

#4. Nico Robin (One Piece)

 

#5. Shinobu Kocho (Demon Slayer)

 

#6. Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach)

 

#7. Jolyne Cujoh (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

 

#8. Nami (One Piece)

 

#9. Misa Amane (Death Note)

 

#10. Nobara Kugisaki (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Well the comments are surprised, "that Sakura is actually popular in Japan," is true.

Right, I'm going to use Star Wars and MHA to go into why its generally a bad idea to subvert an ending.

Spielberg was once interviewed and ask about Kathleen Kennedy working under him. His answer was, she was terrible at her job and would interrupt discussions of the brainstorming a movie's story with her own ideas when she was suppose to be taking notes. The one he really remembers was, "What if he didn't get the girl, but instead got the dog?" Which would clearly subvert the ending of the movie. Now why that stood out, why that is a bad idea, and why he never did a movie with that ending are all the same answer. Because while it would seem clever, it would not lead to a satisfying ending to the movie. Story have a flow to them and the audience has expectation of what will happen at the end. Fulfill them and they will enjoy that story and might read it again to experience that enjoyment again. Subverting the story while one could make an interesting story; it could also leave the audience dissatisfied therefor would not watch it again.

Now, here is Disney Star Wars for examples.

Original Trilogy:

And what if Luke didn't restore the Jedi order, but instead ended up as an loser on a island given up on everything.

And what if Han didn't remain a general and reform the military, but instead went back to becoming a smuggler.

And what if Leia didn't become Supreme Chancellor to restore democracy to the galaxy, but instead remained a general in a galactic government that disbanded their armed forces.

And what if Leia and Han didn't remain together but instead divorce with Han going back to smuggling with Chewbacca.

And what if Lando didn't become a wealthy philanthropist, but instead became a hobo on a desert planet.

Sequel Trilogy.

And what if Rey and Ben didn't get together but instead she got his uncle's farm. 

And what if Finn never confessed his feelings for Rey but instead remain her eternal simpering lackey.

Their Tv Shows:

And what if The Mandalorian didn't become the Mandalore, but instead ended on a farm with Baby Yoda.

And what if Baby Yoda didn't become a Jedi but instead just ended up on a farm with The Mandalorian.

And what if Sabine and Erza didn't get together but instead Sabine became a lesbian set up to get together with Ahsoka.

MHA the story start off with the implication that Midoriya is telling the story of how he became the number 1 hero to his successor, who he will pass OFA to. Instead, he lost the quirk, ended up as a teacher for a decade was then given a tech suit, and ended the story with we are all the number one hero. This left fans dissatisfied. 

The story of Naruto was he would become Hokage, earn the villagers' respect, become friends with Sasuke while also surpassing him, reform the ninja system, and end up with Sakura. Even if he looked like he succeed with some of that at the end, it still feels like he failed in the spirit. Leaving most readers dissatisfied with the ending. nH and SS fans said they didn't not care about the story and only cared about their pairings happening. Well, once their pairings happened they then complained about how their pairings aren't how they wanted it. The thing is the story wasn't built for their parings and so making them the pairings would always be unsatisfying as either they are unrealistically perfect or realistically imperfect but ultimately shallow because they weren't developed in story but in the fantasies of the supporters.

Its better for a story to stick to a simple one and tell it well then make a complex story full of subversion that falls flat.

Oh by that way. Apparently, there was an interview with Kishimoto and Ikemoto for a French magazine. It apparently confirmed what I already thought. The story and art are all Ikemoto and Kishimoto "supervises." Which I suspect is gives advice if Ikemoto ask but beyond that leave him to his own devices.

Got some hearsay about that Naruto 4 episodes mini series. Apparently, the CEO of TVTokyo said in a financial report that it will come out in this fiscal years. So, it has to come out by March 31 of 2025 for that to be true.

I thought Berserk updates were the worse, especially, the current cliffhanger of that manga. What makes this doujin or fan content so forgettable is how long this Hinata Byakugan Princess arc has been dragged out like for eternity *sigh*. I don't like the feeling that this doujin is on the chopping board ready to be axed.

Berserk issues is the fact the original creator you know died and a friend is trying to finish it to the best of their ability in honor of the original mangaka. If they don't then their reputation will be torn apart.

The problem with this fan project is it trying to turn a project that was about glorifying Hinata and justifying her becoming the love interest...no that she is the true main character and the most perfect woman to ever been created and deserves the man she is entitled to; into a NS story with without changing that much. So there is a lot of the plot is about Hinata in this story, which this artist might not be that interested in or maybe they are getting tried of the idea of this rewrite. Like I said years ago they should have just made their own ending if they were this passionate instead of trying to change The Last.

Ah another on the 19th instead of the 20th. Well Merry Christmas everyone. Jump Festa should be happening within the next week...oh wait it was the 20-22.

Summary Time: Chapter 17. Wild Beast Cubs...sounds like a pop band.       

Cover Page is the two Neo-Sand Siblings besides the one that got eaten by a tree. Both of them have hoodies and black pants...for ninja that live in a desert and the problem of style over function for Ikemoto's designs shows once again. One is a blonde girl (Yodo, oh what a name) that looks like she about to release a rap album so Blondie for now (Wait! I got it! Blond-D, it still generic while keeping the wannabe gangster rapper vibe,) oh she is wearing uggs, as well as having a g string, remember she is underage, and a boy (Araya) with a goatee, a sword, and a blindfold so Blindfold...Mix Master Fold.

It begins with Salad remembering Clone's whining from last chapter. Cups notices her head is not in the game. Tree-Moegi and Tree-Shiki talk they are looking for Bolt, the trees informed them that Bolt had placed his toad where they stood, and the world tree's roots have spread everywhere even in the desert...sorry, just that I can see nearly ever curve on Tree-Moegi's body through her leather suit and it gave her bangs on her head. Blondie has good ears and over hears everything they are saying...she also knows Tree-Moegi's name, I just going to assume she introduce herself when she fought Gaara. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry. Konohamaru ask everyone if they are ready which Salad is not... and we get to see a front portrait of her which I haven't seen in a while God her design is just bad especially that hair.

...How do they know Tree-Shiki's name? Did Clone Jiraiya tell them that? Blond-D ask if they defeat them can they revive her brother. Oh we get informed of their names...I think they are silly. Mix Master Fold is concerned about Blond-D so she gets pissy.

I get a forward profile of Konohamaru...his design is also bad. Instead of attacking from stealth they decided to be a group of unassuming travelers that have just stumbled upon strangers while looking for Bolt...right these are Kishimoto characters so they have to act stupid. Tree-Moegi reacts to seeing her target...I doubt they informed Konohamaru of that. Huh? I was wrong. She is horny seeing him and is too embarrassed to talk to him...this is Ikemoto's type again young girls with long legs that dresses like some hipster pop deva (kindest way to describe them, less kind HOES) while shyer than Hinata at the nudist convention when talking to the boy they like.

Flashback of Shikamaru giving Konohamaru an info dump. Oh he did tell him, he is a target. He says they are like newborn animals innocent that don't know right from wrong. So they should befriend them, then betray them to get their bulbs...so many ways this can go wrong.

Neo-Team 7 talk while the Sand Siblings hide. So they act like they are just looking for Bolt and ask to team up...and Cups like a moron finds a piece of metal Bolt uses for his teleports and says this out loud informing the Tree people of info of Bolt's capabilities they did not know. Even if this is to sell the disguise this is beyond stupid. They decide to use their act to split up the two tree people Tree-Shiki goes along with it due to the info, while Tree-Moegi is too shy to do anything but just stare at Konohamaru.

More flashback Shikamaru informs Konohamaru that he is Tree-Moegi's target because she has romantic feelings for him and to use this to gain an edge over her. He decides to sit down on some rocks and talk to her...remember her goal is to eat him. Once she gets over this swell of emotions that what she should do and the best way to have her get over this is to stab her in the back.

Clone Jiraiya has a toad with both Shikamaru and Hime. He ask for Hime to look at the current events while she is worried about Tree-Bug seeing her. He says not to worry as he should be at their base. He informs Bolt and informs him he is not allowed to get involved in this fight because if he does Tree-Jenga will sense him get involved and kill them. The only chance of this plan working is if he stays here...so obviously he won't. Or, is this going to be the way they are going to make him sit out of fights so there is any suspense to fights he is not involved in? "Oh no! Clone Jiraiya says that he can't get involved in this fight due to it affecting their planned future too much. Its up to Salad to win this fight on her own! You know what have been better than this? NOT kittening WITH THE POWERSCALING SO MUCH YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR MAIN CHARACTER FIGHT ALONG SIDE ANYONE ELSE BECAUSE THE POWER GAP IS TOO BIG!!!!!

We see Tree-Jenga at the bookshop getting more books...he even pays see he gets that from Jenga of the nice manners. Who I hope you will all remember was nice enough to smack Sasuke in the face with his growing big black rod.

Chapter ends with Nail threating Madoc to get his upgrade. 

Since Derock is invested in it. I will leave summaries and updates on this topic entirely up to him. This is just thoughts on the issue.

So this is set in filler time before Sasuke leaves the village. Oh good it just team 7 so hopefully no Hinata.

They been trying to change April to African American for a few years now. Like that do with any character that is ginger.

Sakura might be smart but she is also the one with anger issues and a temper. So it does make sense to pair her with short-fuse Raphael. They also give her super strength she didn't get till part two so she can fight. Sasuke with Leonardo as they are blue and the leader of their groups. Kakashi with Splinter as they are both the group's mentors. And, Naruto with the goofy Michelangelo and Donatello. They also gave the turtles ANBU masks.

Oh they have Kurama talking to Naruto. Again, him barely doing anything in Naruto compared to with Kushina or his daughter has to do with Kishimoto not knowing what to do with the demon within plot element. Now a days its common enough for a random writer to have a better idea to handle it, than he did back in the day. Lets be honest, Kurama would never talk to Naruto for something as random as a fox monster in the manga. Unless it was about the Uchiha/Ten-Tails or Naruto was seeking his power, he was mostly silent.

They overall seem to have Team 7's characters down, it just them trying to justify this story that is awkward. This seems to be a story entirely set in the ninja world with a New York City-like Village. It is besides the Minato one-shot the best written story out of the Naruto IP in over ten years. So, it is better than I was expecting.

Pretty sure one piece is more of the IP closer to dragon ball rather than naruto

A decade ago. A decade ago. A decade ago, Naruto was the King of International Sales and was some years even second to Dragon Ball. Maybe even better than Dragon Ball since it was largely dormant during Naruto's prime years. That hasn't been the case since the ending. Due to streaming and the Live action adaptation One Piece has finally taken off internationally like it should have 25 years ago, but before that it was largely considered popular only in Japan. Even Oda admitted he thought that in interviews around the time of ending of Naruto.

https://en.wikipedia...t-selling_manga

Now a days its number 6 at 250mil in terms of volume sales. Dragon Ball is 5 with 260mil, Detective Conan 4 with 270mil, Doremon 3 with 300mil, Golgo13 at 2 with 300mil, and One Piece is number 1 with 517mil. Oh Slam Dunk is number 7 with 185mil

https://www.cbr.com/...ime-franchises/

It is the 13th biggest anime franchise with estimated worth of $10 Billion. With One Piece at 7 and Dragon ball at 5. Number One is Naruto's old time slot partner Pokémon. 

Even with those numbers the executives know. Naruto-Boruto is not making the money it should be making.

It just goes to show how the pro ending head cases will try to sell you anything to say what they got was successful when the evidence of Borutos failure as well as how its hurt the Naruto franchise as a whole is obvious.

I'm in a better mood today so to be fair. Boruto is likely an above average selling manga that might bring in some money. But the problem is, that's not what the companies wanted. They wanted Naruto numbers which is still one of the biggest manga in the world. So, its a failure, it is at best a disappointment.

The two bits that stood out to me were the digital sales, and we shouldn't compare Naruto-Boruto to Dragon Ball.

So, the guy tried to say that the sales were fine because they really all went to digital and those numbers are good. But didn't show these new numbers just leaving people with the impression they must be good. Just trust the Youtuber, Bro. When it wouldn't be at hard to show them. 30% is physical? Ok that is X. 3X+1/3X=the total*. Which the average being 100,000 is 333,334 or 330,000 to what I rounded it up. Now that's a decent number for a manga, but nowhere near Naruto's numbers in its prime. Also, digital sales percentage has not been 70% throughout Boruto's entire run. As digital sales had reached that level either this or last year. He doesn't go through and try to show how digital rise matches Boruto physical number's decline. Which it doesn't. Boruto just declined till it hit around 100,000 and was around that level for years. If he was right, that wouldn't be the case.

* 30% is the known 70% is missing and we are looking for the total. 70 is 2 30% and then a 10% left over. 10% would be a third of 30%. So 30%+30%+1/3X30%=70 then for total 30%+30%+30%+1/3X30%=100%. Of 3x+1/3X=Y.

10 years ago, Naruto was the closest IP Dragon Ball had to a peer in terms of sales. If someone were to say, 'that in certain years Naruto had even beat Dragon Ball in sales,' most people would find that believable. Now a days, that is consider completely absurd, apparently. What happened in the past ten years that caused such a shift? Well, for Dragon Ball, Toriyama got so embarrassed by Dragon Ball Evolution that he got himself involved in the IP again and revitalized it. For Naruto, a bad ending and a worse sequel. "But, no no no Naruto-Boruto is completely fine apparently." While all its contemporaries' sales have completely eclipse it, when it was once the King of International Sales.

Edit: Also, again overall notion of "its a sequel don't hold it up to the same standard of the original." The companies knew that sequel tend to perform worse than the original. That why when they were selling Boruto to the audience they were making it was to be seen as a continuation of Naruto; its Part Three. Also, they tried to make sure it was seen as continuous by doing such things as keeping the Naruto anime going till they were ready to switch over to Boruto. Having a movie to promote it. Finally releasing the manga about a year after the original ended.