it is not that i disagree, but i have seen many people saying that gai is the few in naruto that treat the main characters like actual children, what is the reasoning behind that? like what is the difference between how he treats those kids compared to some other adults?
oh man its really hard to explain without outright going back 1200+ chapters/episodes and finding examples
just off the top of my head, gai;
listens intently to his three students when they grieve about their problems, and gives advice an adult should give a preteen (encouraging, openminded, gentle)
like look at the test he gave fresh-genin graduates neji, lee, and tenten and how believable it is, its like an actual test you give to 12-year-olds and not kakashi’s ridiculous mindgame that made things wayyyy more complicated and manipulative than it needed to be
when he’s disciplining, he does it in a way that i cant easily explain but its obviously the type that works well because its firm but forgiving and it makes preteens feel like they want to do better
is super free with his physical displays of affection towards the kids (ALL kids, not just his students) even though they’re at an age where they might cringe and try to wiggle away, because we may not all like hugs but its always nice to know that someone’s gonna be there no matter what with their arms open and a warm smile
(i tried my best to find the clip but i cant im sorrrrry IT WAS FOUND FOR ME, ITS HERE) the anime has 16-year-old choji run up to gai because none of the genins have eaten dinner and choji’s hongry and gai’s reaction is to ‘scold’ as if choji’s whining about trivial stuff, but one hand immediately sneaks him a package of cookies with a sneaky thumbs up, choji isn’t even his student hes just some random kid
like look at this clip, its one of my absolute favorites because it features just how much of a dad/family this whole group is, plus its made even funnier knowing that this is happening as gaara is dead
so look at all that wholesome stuff and compare to kakashi’s depressed mid-twenties ass and how he chose to tackle the whole teaching-middle-schoolers thing. he doesn’t talk to them, he doesn’t engage their goals or their ambitions, he arrives late to lessons he put up, literally his first formal introduction to them is that he’s not gonna share anything about his interests or history with them. now, im not saying kakashi’s a complete shit or anything, just that he’s more of a dissociating babysitter than gai’s loving dadness
and its not just in comparison to kakashi, its also about the parents that we see - the hyuuga clan, gaara’s royal family, the third hokage and how he ‘raised’ naruto, jiraiya’s whole shitty self and his role as ‘mentor’, even tsunande with sakura even. gai’s one of the few who knew how to interact and nurture his students
also fun fact; what i also like about gai is how he looks like half the young adult men of my dad’s generation, seriously all of them were trying to emulate the bruce lee aesthetic back during the late 70′s/early 80′s