I get so triggered when I see narusasu being compared to nagireo when NARUsasu fits REOnagi so much more!!! Reo and Naruto both being the light to Nagi and Sasuke, who’re both the “chasers”, who’re both “world types” (borrowing bllk’s terms) focusing more on external goals and “people”, who're both the overtly possessive ones, who appear more emotionally expressive yet are surprisingly rational inside...
Vs Nagi and Sasuke who both exist as motivations for Reo and Naruto (think Reo chasing after Nagi during 2nd selection and his last line in Epinagi), who both left first, who’re both “self types” focusing on more emotionally self-centered goals, who’re both more protective (rather than possessive), who're more emotional and instinctive than rational at their core (and thus easily manipulated).
Even the slight imbalance that exists in both directions matches up too. While Reo/Naruto are the ones who chase and more overtly expressive with their possessiveness and devotion, they're actually less sentimental about it, treating Nagi/Sasuke more like an objective or part of their goals. Meanwhile Nagi/Sasuke while being the more "selfish" ones (or I prefer "pure" ones who does whatever their heart says) are actually more emotional and sentimental with their devotion towards Reo/Naruto.
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Even narratively, Nagi being the one who left first is like Sasuke leaving Konoha/Naruto, him signing a slave contract with Buratsuta to fulfill his more emotional, intrinsic needs (to feel like a god) is basically Sasuke going to Orochimaru to gain power to satisfy his revenge. Knsr was being so overt with it with the dubious subtext of Buratsuta selling his slave contract as "the devil's back door" and saying things like "the rest of your life will belong to me <3", like this is exactly the sort of sus subtext used between Orochimaru and Sasuke when Orochimaru's like "your body belongs to me <3".
Nagi's dilemma between "soccer" (playing for clubs) and "blue lock" (egoism to feel like a god) was portrayed as the dilemma between choosing a "proper" path vs a "power seeking" one, even more so when he won playing as the power hungry villain vs him losing playing as the hero in the arcade.
Or the meandering, "wishy washy", constantly fluctuating goals of Nagi and Sasuke since they're both ruled by their emotions that changes with any external circumstances, plus they're both just more easily manipulated.
Meanwhile Reo and Naruto are actually really consistent with their goals, and despite getting their minds and hearts twisted into a whirlwind when it comes to Nagi/Sasuke, they're otherwise very internally stable.
Second selection Reo was basically Shippuden Naruto constantly chasing after and successfully using Nagi as motivation to get stronger (and stronger he did get, developing his Chameleon style and independent mindset and all). Epinagi Reo especially with his last line “Even if you forget me, no matter what happens, no matter how many times, or where you go I’ll keep on finding you” is basically Naruto swearing to bring Sasuke back to Konoha no matter what and how he won’t leave Sasuke in the darkness “because I’m your friend”.
Even now during the U20, Reo's path to being the no 1 while in Blue Lock is similar to Naruto staying in Konoha to become the Hokage, with Sasuke/Nagi being the ones fighting and going against their respective "institution".
Superficially, Reo's Chameleon style and copying techniques reminds me of Naruto's Shadow Clones (you would have thought Sharingan yet Sasuke barely uses the copying side of it), even his more physical, tougher style fits Naruto top heaving fighting more, while Nagi's skull aura, athleticism and flexibility reaaaally reminds me of Sasuke's Susanoo and flexible fighting style with his kicks and all.
And most significantly, Reonagi with Reo going “I want to be your light” vs Nagi going “I want you to break me” is sooo Narusasu??? Like there’s literally no need for any other arguments with just this alone???
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Like, I can’t stand these new gen narusasu shippers thinking Reo is Sasuke just cuz they’re the more popular bottoms NOW, or like they're the deuteragonists or the "heroines" of the main characters when Sasuke and Nagi are so much more similar!
Cuz like firstly, from the very beginning, Sasunaru was waaay more popular with seme Sasuke being hated by the shippers and bastardized as some possessive rapist similar to the way Nagi’s being treated now. Both Sasuke/Nagi get shipped with Naruto/Reo even though majority of the shippers hate them and don’t give a fuck about them besides being a walking dildo to validate their favs. They're both suffering (or suffered in Sasuke's case) from the shipping fandom making their favs (Naruto and Reo) the bottom and overly pampering them, while making the half they hate the tops by forcefully mischaracterizing them and dissing them any chance they get. Even more annoying when these shippers pretend they don't do it and claim they're actually "fans" of them.
And narrative roles wise, Nagi is as much Reo's "heroine" as the other way round. I've always gotten the impression that Nagi's story is like as if Sasuke's (or shonen deuteragonists in general) becomes the protag instead. But more so than that, Nagi's story fit so much like a "shojo" rather than a "shonen", and by "shojo" I meant those with a female lead written for female audiences focusing on interpersonal relationships rather than pure romance. Think The Apothecary Diaries and how Nagi's like Maomao and Reo's like Jinshi, or Secrets of the Silent Witch with Nagi being like Monica with the "love interest" being the prince/heir of the school/kingdom too like Reo.
I’m glad Sasuke's getting a lot more love and understanding now (which correlates to why bottom Sasuke is more popular now), and I can’t wait for Nagi to get the same treatment cuz damn is my babygirl misunderstood af. I can see the same trajectory happening again once this overly young and immature fandom wakes up and realizes Nagi did nothing wrong especially during second selection and begin understanding and sympathizing with him more.
Most shippers now only cling to and project onto Reo cuz "muh hurt feelings" without objectively looking at the context of Blue Lock anyway (and how accepting Reo was the one who overreacted actually does more for his character and appreciation for his growth), then they get overly protective of him and make him the bottom while hating on Nagi. This is the exact same shit that happened with Sasuke leaving Naruto/Konoha. Guess fandoms (humans) still hasn't change and thus history will always repeat itself...
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