Listening to: t.A.T.u. - Любовь в каждом мгновении
I had heard of Naruto well before I got into it, but I watched a couple of the early episodes and thought it was boring. One fateful winter day in ’07, I got back from high school and one of the Zabuza episodes was on TV. From that day forward Naruto become one of my favorite shows. I fell in love with Naruto’s stubbornness, hard work, and determination to become Hokage. Never have I rooted so hard for a fictional character to achieve his goals. Never have I felt so much sympathy for a character’s struggles and pain. Naruto was one of those rare shows where someone starts from the very bottom and you watch them rise to the top. When the fillers became too rampant I permanently switched to the manga, occasionally watching some episodes online to see how certain battles were animated.
Unfortunately I must say that I’m disappointed with how much Naruto has changed and where this story is headed, particularly surrounding the 3 main characters. I hated Sakura, but with the Sasori battle at the start of Shippuden I thought she could be redeemed! She came back as this strong, beautiful, talented young woman that I finally thought I could admire, but ever since then she has consistently proven how weak-hearted and ignorant she truly is
And Sasuke, goodness where do I start with him? I really wish Sasuke stayed on his evil path. Sasuke now being a self-declared Hokage candidate is just making the whole situation incredibly awkward. Their final, epic fight wasn’t supposed to be a battle for leadership – it was supposed to be a battle of ideologies. One sworn to protect the village, the other bent on destroying it. They were to represent the two different paths that loss, tragedy, and loneliness could take a person. This is why I greatly admire the bond between Naruto and Gaara for example, and I expected the bond between Naruto and Sasuke to take that to another level. Sasuke would realize the error of his ways when Naruto defeats him, and Sasuke would be redeemed through his death, finally ending this cycle of hatred, this age-old divide in the Leaf Naruto would get over his obsession move on as a wiser man and become Hokage, end of story.
But now Sasuke wants to become Hokage? Since when?!! Back up Sasuke, that’s been Naruto’s dream from the start! Your dream was to kill Itachi and revive the Uchiha clan, and later on to destroy the Leaf. Stick to that! I think it’s pretty conceited of Sasuke to just waltz in there and declare that he wants to be Hokage when everyone knows and expects Naruto to become the next leader. This is something Naruto’s wanted since childhood and you’re just gonna walk in there and take something you’ve only wanted since like 10 minutes ago? What arrogance!
Recently in the manga Gaara told Naruto that once he becomes Hokage they should have a drink together (can’t tell you how much that warmed my heart). Some people say that in the end Sasuke and Naruto will share the title of Hokage. Not only will that be unbelievably anticlimactic, but again, awkward. Can you imagine Gaara, Naruto, AND Sasuke sharing the drink?!! No, no, no! *rips paper*!
And finally Naruto, our beautiful, loud, knuckleheaded ninja
… what has become of you? Are you still the same underdog who captured our hearts all those years ago, who drove enemies to their knees with words so powerfully honest, who literally tamed the beast within you? Ever since you became this “child of prophecy” it seems like unimaginable power is just handed to you now. I really wish author Masashi Kishimoto hadn’t taken this route with the story. This “savior” figure with immense potential sent unto the world to save all, it’s really getting old and boring. We got enough of that with Superman and Goku. I don’t want Naruto to be predicted to save anyone, ‘cuz one of the very things that I love so much about this character is how unpredictable he can be…
With all that said, I will see this story through to the very end. It is still a fascinating story and I’m glad it was told, but it has some major flaws. I’ve kept up with Naruto throughout high school, undergrad university, and now into grad school and adulthood. Some say that Naruto has strayed from its original essence, but I say that Naruto has at some point struck a deep chord within all of us, and that’s why we remain loyal to this story, because it’s still remarkable, in its imperfections, and in its greatness.
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Share your Naruto story below if you’d like. In the meantime, check out some of my Naruto fanart!
Ashura ~ 4thgeneration.deviantart.com/a…
Sasuke ~ 4thgeneration.deviantart.com/a…
More to come!