Warning: this is mostly an anti-sasusaku analysis.
There are 2 important things that I must to mention before starting.
I won't pretend to understand Japanese culture. I was born and raised in a Latin culture, which probably has a completely opposite view of romance (we are loud, we kind of take pride in PDA, and we wear our hearts in our sleeves). So, it's more than possible that I'm making a misinterpretation of what Kishi wanted to say. Nevertheless, Naruto reached an international public, so I won't feel bad about making an interpretation of it either.
I'm not an anti-shipper or pro-shipper, this is just an analysis, please feel free to ship whoever you want (yes, even sasusaku if that makes you happy (just note that probably this post won't make you happy)).
One of the things that really put me off are the ships stablished on chapter 700 of the manga (Naruto is not the only manga that does this and I mostly dislike it as a resource). The reason for it is that it leaves no space for the reader's imagination. I mean, do we need to know that Chouji married that woman from the Hidden Cloud that I don't even care enough to google her name?
Really...?
Is it important to the story? Thematically? Or like in a dramatic character arc way?
Romantic pairings are important, well, in romantic stories, but in shounen are more of an afterthought. And that's fine. Shounen are about other things like: bravery, self-fulfillment, friendship, growing up, dreams...
So I say let people imagine their favorite pairings, there's no need to make it canon.
But if you're going to make it canon, it should be coherent within the story, again: thematically, in-character, ideally foreshadowed, and symbolically.
Now, the relationship of Sakura and Sasuke is quite interesting. Sakura is obsessed with Sasuke.
It's definitely what she WANTS as a character. The big question is: Is this what she NEEDS? And here's where a lot of the critique on her character falls. Because character development is when they realize that what they want is not what they need, and therefore they change their path into getting what they need. If this condition is not meet, the character flops or ends up feeling like a puppet of the author.
In contrast, Sasuke wants... well, isn't that complex? If I were to oversimplify it, he wants justice. What he needs? Besides a hug, I would dare to say allies, people that support him so that he doesn't go on alone on his quest.
(Ironically, you can interpret these panels as Sasuke admitting to have feelings for Sakura, 'cause he doesn't denies it, he only states that there are no reasons for it, hence it's not something to be valued (but it's kind of a stretch))
So character A is infatuated with a character B who doesn't value their relationship because he sees bonds as an obstacle to his goals, he has lost too many people already and he doesn't want to lose more.
Is this important to the story? Does Sasuke gets stronger because of Sakura's love? And vice versa? Is Sasuke saved because of Sakura?
Nope.
It's Naruto who saves Sasuke by the power of "friendship" (as a regular shounen even though there's nothing regular in the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke).
Therefore, Sakura's love is not important to the story. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great as a character flaw, but to me it had to change at some point. Evolve. Grow. Whether to save Sasuke or to just move on, because that's, imo, the big issue with this ship: the unhealthy message.
So let's get to the message.
From Sakuras POV it's: "it's okay to be obsessed with a guy who's not-that-into you because he'll come around." This is something I would never say to another human being. Again it could be the Latin blood in me, but romance should bring fireworks. If a person doesn't SHOW that you are their sun and moon, it's not worth it.
I know it's a cornball thing, but love is passion. Obsession. Someone you can't live without. I say fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy, and who'll love you the same way back. How do you you find 'em? Well, you forget your head and you listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Because the truth is, honey, there's no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven't lived a life at all. But you have to try, because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived.
- Meet Joe Black
I love this quote and I love this movie.
But anyway, it is possible to write Sakura into that character who would not give up her love for Sasuke in a healthier way (I still believe that building your life around a person is dangerous for your mental health, but it's a bit better if it is reciprocated), just put on some of Sasuke's point of view. Let the reader see that he cares about her, that he's nice to her (and probably only to her). That there is something that connect them both on a special way. Yeah, he would give that up and become an idiot when he leaves, but it's there and you can build on that later.
Metaphors are dangerous. A single metaphor can give birth to love.
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being
On Sasuke's side, the message is more like "you should really be with this person who has chased you", "you must love back a person that loves you". Which is again bad advise. People should be free to choose who to love. Always. It shouldn't be an obligation.
Sasuke never asked Sakura for her love and dedication (at least from what's inside the manga). She gave it freely. And he rejected it freely. On various occasions. A "why did he changed his mind?" was needed. How do we go from this:
To a marriage and a kid? How does this man who is so traumatized by all that he has been through even capable of having a family?
Do I have to talk about the poke...? *Sighs* This one here is a great analysis about the poke. To sum it up, it's not a romantic gesture, it's more of a "kindly leave me alone" gesture with an emphasis on "kindly". People get caught out in the idea that its Itachi's gesture, and Sasuke loves Itachi, therefore Sasuke using this gesture with Sakura means Sasuke loves Sakura. That's a fallacy.
Is it in-character?
For Sakura the answer is kind of yes. But for Sasuke? Not really. He's a goal-driven person with deep, deep, emotional trauma. I don't believe it's even possible for him to develop a romantic relationship. And I might have bought it by flexing hard on my imagination, if Kishi would just STOP writing things like this:
Was it necessary to establish Sasuke as an absent father and husband? And yet I see this as ooc, considering that Sasuke doesn't want bonds because he's afraid to lose them. In the hypothetical case that he were to accept making bonds, he wouldn't leave, he would cherish them (because he would still be afraid to lose them). Like, he's too traumatized to stay in Konoha, but not to marry Sakura? It's just contradictory in the wrong way.
So, symbolically, this romance is all over the place as an unhealthy relationship for Sakura, for Sasuke, and for whoever reads this and thinks it's a good role model. It could be used as a critic, but, let's face it, it's not painted that way.
To sum up a bit:
Thematically this ship has nothing to do with Naruto's story (friendship, dreams, etc).
It's somehow in-character for Sakura, but not so much for Sasuke.
It is foreshadowed, but not built on. More of Sasuke's viewpoint was needed.
And symbolically (the message) is unhealthy.
My conclusion is that is a fan-service that fails to stay truth to the story and the characters, and that keeps building on the fan-service through Boruto ugh...
The Uchiha mess part 6: The military police force...
So, if you've read my previous entries on this subject, you'll note that my opinion about the discrimination towards the Uchiha clan is that it doesn't make sense. And having read more about the eta/hinin in Japan, I want to expand more on this.
Spoiler: I still think it doesn't make sense, but I'll explain.
Context:
In very few words (you should look it up if you want more details), Japan (as many other countries) had a caste system (during the Tokugawa Era (and before that, but it was different)) where the eta and the hinin were considered the worst of the worst. The eta were designated to this class because of their profession, since they were dedicated to "impure work" which meant that they dealt with either death or sex. This association came from a twisted version of buddhism mixed with shintoism (buddhism in it's original version never discriminates, but preaches unconditional love).
As a caste system their position in society was hereditary, so they were trapped there, forced to do the kind of work that society needed and it was not only unappreciated, but discriminated. They were forced to dress a certain way, to live in unlivable places, etc. The government maintained them, but it was also the reason why they needed to be maintained.
Now, this is relevant to Naruto because of two things. One is that even if the caste system was abolish in the Meiji Era, the social discrimination persist till this day (people that had a eta/hinin ancestor are marked). And two, because one of the professions listed to the eta was "jailor".
So, we reach this page of the manga:
Let's start with the first problem of the association between the eta and the Uchiha: thematic inconsistency.
Ninjas in the Naruto world are mercenaries and sometimes they are tasked to kill people. So if there is supposed to be an association between the eta, who were discriminated by their connection to death, and the Uchiha for being in charge of taking care of criminals, then what about all the other ninjas who kill people and or take care of criminals? Because that part would be considered "impure work".
And, if you want a more explicit example, take the ANBU (Assassination Tactics Special Unit). Why are they not associated with "impure work"?
The second problem is that looking at history, the eta were not immediately discriminated. At first, they even made good money. It was a process of hundreds of years mixed with political interest and the abolishing of slavery. In a way, this people where discriminated because the government needed slaves but could not have them legally.
Considering that Konoha has less than one hundred years old, it just doesn't make sense to associate the two processes.
"Oh, but it is fiction, realism doesn't matter."
It does. If a writer wants to make something that has this level of complexity, it needs some bases on reality to make it believable. Or in other words, it needs some kind of logic.
And yeah, timelines in Naruto make no sense, but most of those mistakes can be overlooked because they are not that important, like Naruto failing his graduation exam 3 times and somehow still being in the same class as Sasuke and all the others.
My point is, to create discrimination on a story it either needs a strong political element where other people are forbidden to interact with a certain segment or something like that, something punished by law. Or it needs a long lasting ideology, like the way muggles are discriminated in Harry Potter where its being done for centuries (in the story).
The other problem I have with this is that the Uchiha are well regarded during the first part of Naruto. They were one of the four noble clans of Konoha. The wielders of the Sharingan, respected by everyone outside of the village. The freaking founders of Konoha...
Yes, it's a great twist that the Uchiha with so much respect and power were also discriminated and alienated somehow. However, in my opinion, it would make much more sense if this was only a political move. Meaning, that the average citizen would think highly of the Uchiha while the government would put all kind of red tape around them, which is kind of what happens except that Tobirama and Hiruzen denied it even while dead, and except the anime and the light novels basically portrait Konoha hating the Uchiha openly (though you can say that it's not really canon, I do that).
Were they respected or not? It's a big contradiction.
And an author can make such contradiction work if it takes center stage. Diving into all the different viewpoints, having multiple unreliable narrators, etc.
It's not that the Uchiha storyline should be simpler, it's that with the level of complexity it had, well, it kind of needed its own manga to be fully developed (which is why Itachi's light novel is such a wasted opportunity).
In conclusion, I think this cultural reference needed a) to be expanded on, or b) be more coherent through the whole story for it to work. Or c) take it out and make things simpler. Most of the time, less is more.
It's an interesting reference, but I don't think it makes sense and it's not just about cultural differences.
Welcome to the plot twist in which every Uchiha became some kind of werewolf.
What...?
I'm glad you ask. Well, every supernatural monster is rooted in flaws of the human nature. For example, vampires are a representation of lies, how the suck the life out of people silently in the dark, and how they die only when they come to the light (the truth comes to light).
Werewolves are a representation of violence, of what happens when emotions are let to run wild and without rational restrain, like this ridiculous idea that "the Uchiha feel so deeply that they turn to hatred".
Yeah, I don't like it. My opinion on this under the cut.
It's fine if you want your story to have a group of people that has a specific unchangeable flaw. I mean, there are a lot of stories about vampires and werewolves... But including that in the narrative needs some bases, foreshadow if you will. And of course some kind of thematic alignment with the rest of the story. This is something that should have been set when the Uchiha clan is introduced, or at least shortly after, definitely not in chapter 619 of 700.
Is Tobirama an unreliable narrator here? Of course he is. BUT this is meant as an info dump for the readers. It's not questioned in any way, even by Sasuke.
Edit: I messed up here, the curse is actually introduced in chapter 462. Just wanted to fix that detail.
End of the edit.
In a Doylist analisys, there was a need to justify Konoha's orders for the massacre. And it's obvious that a coup d'etat wasn't enough, something like that should have been resolved through negotiations. Because why lose a powerful clan that should have been an asset for the Leaf's village? These guys sealed the Kyubi in Naruto to make him a weapon after all.
There is also the "plothole" of why Konoha pushed the Uchiha clan to think of throwing a coup in the first place. Why did they feared that the Uchihas were behind the Kyubi's attack? Why did they marginalized the clan, both from power structures as physically by moving them to the outskirts of the village? Why did they have surveillance on them?
The answer is pretty simple: Konoha's system is rotten. But the author didn't engage in that conflict, didn't want to. So he made the curse of hatred to justify all of these events.
Beside the twisted pro-system message this entails, my biggest issue is conceptual (at the end of the day it's just fiction).
The initial concept was imo very interesting:
The cycle of hate is something mentioned throughout Naruto's story. The idea that people can't get along because they hurt each other and rather seek revenge than forgiveness. They choose violence over peace and that creates more violence. They are paranoid so they train like crazy to become stronger and in the process they create emotionless monsters. Even worst, they have created a whole economy around it. How do you stop all that and reach peace?
However, the most important element in that concept is that every person is responsible for choosing either violence or peace. They are free, to a certain extend.
Except that suddenly, the Uchihas are not only unable to choose but unable to be responsible for that choice because they are cursed.
Suddenly, they are not free, they are predestined to hate.
And the worst part is that the curse of hatred justifies (narratively) all the injustice suffered by the Uchiha clan.
Also, it's framed as "tell, don't show". For all that we can read in the manga there are not Uchihas destroying Konoha, except for Obito and Madara. But even if I were to exaggerate this and say: out of 4 known Uchihas (Sasuke, Itachi, Obito, and Madara), 1 avoided the curse completely (Itachi), and 2 of them overcame it (Sasuke and Obito). So, in this small (and inconclusive and completely ridiculous) sample, 25% of the Uchihas were destined to transform with the full moon (ironic that the moon is also a symbol related to the Uchihas). I'm talking nonsense, ik, ik, yet that's kind of my point. That without "evidence" these people are judged as cursed and doomed. Which only reinforce the idea that Konoha's leaders were corrupted and just trying to manipulate the narrative with this curse BS.
Mind you, this had a lot of potential to develop. The problem is that it just don't fits in the story. Because the story is about this kid called Naruto that doesn't want to be alone and his belief is that if he becomes the Hokage he won't be alone but a respected shinobi. So becoming the Hokage should be something positive. Not associated with people who don't care about having their own citizens killed. In consequence, Kishi had to swept the Uchihas under the rug.
And I'll say it again, if Kishi intended to make Konoha the unquestionable "good guys", and the Uchiha clan not completely evil at the same time, he really went too far with the massacre (narratively speaking). At the end, all impact, all emotional build up, is lost in a non-committal resolution (if you can even call that a resolution), because what about Sasuke? He get imprisoned, his dream of changing the world abandoned, not even the truth about the massacre gets revealed. He's swept under the rug.
My theory is that Naruto failed as a protagonist (I'll get to that analysis soon, I promise). He shouldn't have sided with Konoha, he should've sided with Sasuke. It's a fantastic conflict: Naruto finally gets some recognition after defeating Pain, and he questions his misbelief about needing to become Hokage, he questions the decision of making Danzo the Hokage, he finds out the truth about the massacre, and for a moment he questions everything, finally, he grabs this forehead protector crosses it out and leaves Konoha to find Sasuke. He doesn't want to destroy Konoha, but he wants to change it and he wants to have his friend at his side to do it because he finally understands all that Sasuke has suffered. They can fight about the methods of how to achieve this, but they want the same thing.
So much potential... instead there's the curse of hatred.
I don't think anybody expects much of a Shounen protagonist. The mold is usually shallow so that the reader can pour their own personality into it. It's a common practice especially at the start of a series.
Look at Luffy from One Piece or Yuji from Jujutsu Kaisen. These kind of characters are a bit dumb, goofy, and, most importantly, brave and active.
However, the biggest difference between Naruto Uzumaki and the two above is that he doesn't struggle with anything at all ever, therefore he doesn't change (or grow) and it's a reactive protagonist.
Edit: warning, this is a very unfair analysis where I focus more on what I wanted of the story and not what the story was trying to achieve.
Long post warning!
Luffy and Yuji, they go through hardships in their battles, and as their stories progresses the emotional stakes get higher.
Luffy rarely wins easily or on his first try. Sometimes his defeats are devastating, like at Saboady or Marine Fort. This expose all his weaknesses, where he thought he was strong enough but failed. He then decides that he has to become stronger no matter what for his nakamas.
Yuji, dear, this guy doesn't get a break, I don't want to spoil too much 'cause JJK is worth reading, but let's just say that his story keeps getting darker and darker, and he starts to get more aggressive in response.
That's how Shounen works, battles move the story forward, the protagonist will win some and lose some while learning something important in the process.
However, Naruto has little trouble, both in his fights and his life in general. He literally didn't lose a fight in all the manga, even when he should have. Well, he kind of lost against Sasuke in the vote1 but even there is framed as a tie.
Naruto vs Haku? Naruto wins and Haku sacrifices himself to save Zabuza.
Naruto vs Orochimaru? Oh, my bad, that's a loss I forgot about. But hey, so did Naruto because he took nothing out of that fight.
Naruto vs Kiba? This fight is so bad... Naruto wins with a fart... come on!
Naruto vs Neji? Naruto shouldn't have won this match, it made absolute nonsense!
Naruto vs Gaara? This one is probably the best fight for Naruto in part one. This one is conceptually and thematically interesting as they are both jinchurikis that have different attitudes towards their status. But no, Naruto shouldn't have been able to win this one either 'cause Gaara was terrifying.
Naruto vs Sasuke? Tied because Sasuke didn't want to kill Naruto.
I'll make a pause here before stepping into part 2 because I want to point out that Naruto gets spontaneous boosts without making sense (And by "making sense" I mean logic inside the world building). He trains with Jiraya to access the Kyubi chakra before fighting Neji, right? But he's far from mastering that, it's more like the Kyubi is willing to help him if he's in danger of dying because that means they both die.
And in that fight with Neji, Naruto's chakra system just gets disabled it's not really a death threat. He's quite calmed while trying to harness the Kyubi's chakra.
Even Naruto is surprised...
And of course, there's no consequence of using the Kyubi chakra, it's just a ridiculous power boost. Guess who other protagonists get away with just raw power and no bad side? None. Because it's not interesting. It doesn't make a good story. Stakes are what makes storytelling interesting.
What consequences could there be? For example, let's say we follow the "inner demon" trope, Naruto goes all crazy and kills someone in the process of getting the Kyubi chakra. Or it could be just a social consequence of exposing himself as the jinchuriki of the nine tails, it could be that this provokes people in Konoha wanting Naruto to be under control after seeing that he's got control of that power, maybe Danzo could fill up that role, maybe Danzo would force Naruto to join the ANBU to impose some discipline and brainwashing. Or something less obvious, Naruto's friends are terrified of him now, costing him to lose his precious friendships. And for what? Beating Neji? Was it really that important to "keep his word"? Let's see him doubting himself, or afraid of himself, or maybe even considering rebelling towards the village with his newfound power.
And that's the other issue I have with this first set of Naruto's battles, he appropriates this phrase that is wrong in so many ways:
"I won't go back on my word."
Narratively, this makes the character rigid, resistant to change and to learn from mistakes. And it shows, especially with his relationship with Sasuke and Sakura, where Naruto doesn't see persons, he sees only his objectives regarding them: "bring Sasuke back" and "fulfill the promise made to Sakura". If he would've been a flexible character maybe he would've tried to understand and truly connect with his teammates. And I mean truly connect not trow some dialogue and make characters have an ooc change of heart.
Anyway, second part fights:
Naruto vs Itachi's body double? I mean, this one shouldn't have been that hard, it was a 4vs1 after all.
Naruto vs Deidara? So boring... is it a tie? Maybe a win 'cause Deidara ended up running away.
Naruto vs Orochimaru again? Naruto wins.
Naruto vs Kakuzu? Naruto.
Naruto vs Pain? This one is good. My favorite talk-no-jutsu for sure.
Naruto vs Nagato and Itachi in Edo Tensei form? Naruto again. Well, you could say Itachi won but he switched sides.
Naruto vs Obito? In a ridiculous long battle, but at the end Naruto wins.
Naruto vs Madara? Zetsu wins. But Naruto didn't lose.
Naruto vs Kaguya? Naruto.
Naruto vs Sasuke final fight? Naruto. No, this one is not a tie because Naruto gets what he wants, but Sasuke doesn't.
I think the point is clear: Naruto hardly struggles. He doesn't make mistakes. He's the child of prophesy. He's Ashura's incarnation. He's perfect except for being hyperactive and annoying.
Everybody loves him, even tough everybody used to hate him, and for absolutely no reason they changed their mind.
I mean, Konoha loves Naruto because he defeated Pain and Gaara, and that's fine, BUT it doesn't explain why the Konoha 12 value Naruto as a friend. Here's a gap that was never filled and never explored with a lot of potential to give this guy some kind of dramatic tension.
The problem in Naruto's life is that he was not just alone (because he is an orphan), but he was actively rejected, and not just by adults, but by kids of his age. All because of the fox-demon thing. That's why he was so connected with Sasuke, because they were islands in the middle of the sea of people who rejected them. So why suddenly Shikamaru, Kiba, etc are fine with getting along with Naruto? Why didn't they do it before? What changed?
Nothing.
Yeah, Naruto defeated Gaara, but Gaara represented everything that could go wrong with a jinchuriki. The absolute fear that made the villagers hate Naruto in the first place. It must have been a big trigger for people. So the natural response would be to double down in rejection, even if it was wrong in the first place. Hence, Naruto shouldn't have had friends until after defeating Pain.
And you know what? Naruto actually working towards people accepting him could have been interesting.
Or maybe even deciding that he doesn't care anymore, if he has 3 good friends, fuck the village. And then boom! Sasuke goes on his avenger path. And what does Naruto do now? He doesn't want to be alone again. So now he is an exceptionally well-behaved shinobi following all the rules in the book to be accepted. Then, he gets the chance to get Sasuke back, and his inner conflict is killing him because on one side Sasuke is his friend, someone who accepts the real, silly Naruto, but on the other hand, the rules say that deserters have to die. What does he do now?
There was a lot of potential.
But authors have to be brave enough to put their protagonist through hell, and then drag them even further. They have to make their inner demons the incarnation of evil, not fluffy pups like Kurama.
Just think Kurama vs Sukuna (JJK), it's the same trope, but one has real, fucked up stakes and the other one is cute. Sure, you can argue that JJK has a modern approach to storytelling where is more of an analysis of the genre itself and it won't shy away from anything. But another comparison could be Kurama vs White (Bleach), again same inner demon trope, one constantly says "don't let your guard down or you are mine, and I will kill all of your friends" and the other one is like "you want more power? Sure, here you go. Come back anytime."
Kurama being the actual force of hate that was set to be at the beginning would have raised the stakes significantly since 1) Naruto use it all the time, and 2) wouldn't it be rich that the protagonist trying to stop the cycle of hate to use hate as his more powerful weapon?
Well, it is what it is.
So the Naruto Uzumaki Calamity is that the protagonist (you know, the guy that should move the story forward and, theoretically, has the biggest dramatic change) has:
No inner conflict ("being alone" gets solved in chapter 1. And no one stands in his way).
Having no inner conflict, results in him being reactive to the plot, rather than making the plot happen by his actions and mistakes.
No growth (he has no chance to learn from defeat because for some reason he has to win EVERY time).
No flaws (freaking Ashura reincarnation...).
And to top that he doesn't even get his goal (he becomes Hokage in the epilogue, not the actual story).
Oh, wait, no, there's one change -that I dislike- he becomes a brainwashed pro-Konoha even after his supposed inner conflict was the result of Konoha weaponizing and hating him.
Framed this way is a tragedy (when the character doesn't get what they want at the end) because Naruto, after fighting Haku, decides that he was not going to be a weapon, a tool, and he becomes exactly that.
Thank you for reading! I hope this makes sense.
As always feel free to disagree, add stuff, reblog, or comment :)
This is just stupid. Narratively, contextually, practically... I'll explain. Feel free to disagree, this is just my opinion (tho it will be phrased strongly 'cause this pisses me off). Btw, manga only analysis. Also, spoilers for One Piece? You've been warned :)
Edit: This is mostly a rant, so if you want a more rational analysis I suggest you to check out the continuation of this here.
Let's start with the narrative part.
Usually authors would use genocide for a critique to the government, to make the people that lives in the world that they built feel powerless and trapped. I can think on a few examples, but to go with something similar to Naruto (in the type of media and genre) we can take a look at One Piece.
OP makes a great use of genocide to illustrate an oppressive government, it aligns with the characters (Robin (and Law ('cause there's more than 1 genocide Oda come on!))) and the overall theme of the story (Freedom). It's not just Robin's backstory but it gives her a dream (uncovering the truth that the government wants to hide), it gives her fears (that her friends get caught up in the crossfire), other characters react to it, and it interconnects with new parts of the story (like recently with Vegapunk's flashback).
Going back to Naruto. Why is the massacre necessary to the narrative? It's Sasuke's backstory, and it's the reason why he wants to kill his brother, true. But that's kind of it. You could argue that it gives him fears because Sasuke fears to love and lose new people in his live, but this is more attributed to Itachi saying "(to get the Mangekyou) You have to kill your closest friend". Other characters don't react to the massacre (unless info dumps), it's not part of the overall theme of the story (because Naruto is more about love and friendship than about oppression (it always shies back from this)), and it doesn't interconnects with anything (unless info dumps).
Well, it's also Itachi's backstory, but we'll get to that in part 3 I guess.
I say the massacre doesn't interconnects with anything because it SHOULD have had consequences. For example, why the hell is Hiruzen Sarutobi still the Hokage after the massacre? He failed hard on protecting the village (in the public eye, he let a 13-year-old slaughter a whole clan (in reality, he let a 13-year-old slaughter a whole clan)). Why is no one demanding Itachi's head on a stick? He's supposed to be a psychopath that could return any day to kill another clan, and he has a lot of intel about Konoha in that head. Why no one stopped the massacre? Like this is a village of ninjas, people who smell blood from kilometers away, people who see through walls, and yet no one notices it? (I kind of like the fan theory that the Hyugas were accomplices of the massacre). Why is people not terrified of Sasuke? He could go crazy too (twisted logic). Why the fuck is Danzo still alive? And no, I won't accept the "he was important, he couldn't just be killed" or the "how will the Hokage justify killing him without linking him to the massacre?", because that's exactly the function of the ANBU. But we got nothing of this.
Before I move on to the watsonian analysis... I hate Hiruzen for the massacre because he was either
a) A racist against the Uchihas. His duty was to protect them, and yet he failed to negotiate while contributing to their discrimination.
b) Or he's so incompetent that his good intentions doesn't matter.
He should have step down as a Hokage right after the massacre. I don't even care if you make Danzo the next Hokage (it would be fun in a sinister way), but Hiruzen should have been gone. Not acceptable!
Okay, back on why the massacre doesn't make sense in a watsonian way.
So the massacre is ordered because the Uchiha were planning a coup d'etat, right? But why were they planning this? Because they were discontented with the government. Why? Because they wanted more political power, and they were angry about being mistrusted. But why there was mistrust in the first place? Well, short answer is discrimination, but Madara's desertion had a lot to do with it. And that irony it's beautiful. Why didn't the Uchihas searched for allies? Their whole plan was treason to regain trust? I mean, I get that they were angry (with good reason), but it doesn't justify stupidity. They could have just left Konoha in a massive exile. Instead they go into this suicidal plan.
Where are the negotiations? Did the Uchiha demanded something so unacceptable for the Hokage that they couldn't reach an agreement?
If there were negotiations, it meant both sides were aware of the tension. So both would have had their defenses up. And Itachi's cover would have been blown. But fuck logic.
And then there's the need to justify Konoha's discrimination: the curse of hatred. This is just stupid.
But it gets worse. We are lead to believe that everybody hated the Uchihas, because they were in charge of the police.
Why would they even want to stay in a village that hated them?
I don't know if Kishimoto hates the police, but people usually hate the police because: a) they are corrupt b) they are incompetent c) they abuse their status d) criminals hate the police.
Did everybody really hated the Uchihas or just the government?
Finally, there's the practical part of the massacre. The logistic, if you will.
Now, this happens, and no one notices?!
These guys are fucking ninjas! If they were under attack, they would unite and defend as a group. They would call for help. The sound of screams would attract other people from the village, because Konoha is not that big, and it has people watching for outside enemies all the time. Again, you have people who smell blood from kilometers away, people who see through walls...
The only way I could believe that this would go unnoticed is if it was done in the middle of the night, while everyone is sleeping, in complete silence. Not so interesting visually, I know.
And there's also the big question, how many Uchihas were there? I'd assume at least 1000 since they were planning to overtake Konoha, right? How do you kill so many people, fast and quiet? How much time do you need? If you make the maths it's ridiculous.
It's just unbelievable. So it does not work (stories are about unbelievable things, but they have to have a logic and coherence so that readers can accept this unbelievable reality as part of the world of a story, if that doesn't happen, the story fails).
I think the main problem is that Kishi wanted every character to be "likeable". So the Hokage did "the best he could" *cough* *bullshit* *cough*. "There was no other choice". Fugaku accepts his own death, and he's proud of Itachi. The Uchihas don't get anything because they are all dead and no one cares, but they had "reasons", the weren't "evil". And they all follow the plot without complaints...
So what then? It's hard to say because Kishimoto wrote a wildfire while making it look like a candle, and what I would do is write a bonfire and keeping it alive through the whole story. But I don't think going for a genocide was necessary, you don't need that much to light up revenge. I guess maybe it could be that instead of killing every Uchiha, Itachi is ordered to take down the heads of the coup, which coincidentally are his family, and Sasuke has to deal with the dead of his parents, the betrayal of his brother, and the discrimination both from Konoha AND the Uchihas (because he's Itachi's little brother). Or maybe Sasuke is forced to become Itachi 2.0, going into the ANBU. Maybe at the end we get a reconciliation between Konoha and the Uchihas, more like in the theme of Naruto. Idk it could be interesting.
It's when we are closer to death that we appreciate life the most. It's our mortality that fuels our desire to do something meaningful with our lives, because if we would have all the time in the world, we would probably procrastinate until eternity. Some authors even write about death as a gift of humanity (like Tolkien). So it's important that some characters die to portray those feelings, that inescapable reality.
But Neji's death is so insipid. I have reasons.
Of course, I'll elaborate on them.
Feel free to disagree, I like to listen to other viewpoints.
First, emotional impact. Neji as a character was abandoned in the second part of Naruto. Most likely because Kishi knew that having him on the pages would mean elaborate on what happened with the Hyuga storyline (you know, the practically slavery thingy). Also because he gave the Hyugas a bit too much power without balance (at least the Mangekyou Sharingan ended in blindness).
Yes, most of it is never shown or it's nerfed somehow, but then why we never got a Hyuga vs Uchiha fight? This is not the point rn, so I'll leave it at that.
He kind of became a background character after the Gaara rescue mission, like he didn't got any meaningful fight (that's like exile in shounen). Then, on chapter 614 he reappears and he dies, and by chapter 618 he's forgotten. I like Neji's character, but I didn't had a strong reaction to his death, just disappointment.
You may say "Well, Naruto was emotionally impacted". Maybe. I have issues with that because they weren't that close. To me is more like Naruto gets shaken by the idea that he couldn't protect everyone, that his "word" was broken, so how could he win now? Naruto is a selfish guy...
Lee's reaction is golden. That made me feel chills.
But it's not like Jiraya's or Itachi's death. Not even like Haku's death. And I dislike Jiraya, but his death is done wonderfully.
I think that the next reason also diminish that emotional impact, which is that Kishi revived too many characters.
You see, death should be definitive. That's what makes it so scary. That's what makes grief so heartbreaking. There's no coming back. Only memories are left behind.
Sure, it's fiction, not real life. But the minute a character revives, all the emotional build up the reader felt with the character's death is betrayed. And every time it happens, the trust in the author diminishes. Finally, there's a point were you read about someone dying and think: "they will come back..."
I remember reading when Obito was going to do the massive-reviving-jutsu (I don't remember the name), and thinking "oh, Neji will be back!" *sighs* Oh, honey...
Next stop on the list is: it was conceptually contradictory.
A scene can be impactful mainly for 2 reasons (btw this is an oversimplification): is either emotionally strong (it makes you teary-eyed), or is intellectually stimulating (you keep thinking on how brilliant are the concepts inside of it). Let's just say that Neji's death is neither.
Neji's character is all about being trapped by destiny the moment you're born, he cannot change it, and that the only way to scape is death. And not just any death, but dying to protect the main family branch of the Hyuga. He wants to be free. He believes it's not possible until he fights Naruto. After that he sets the goal of changing the Hyuga clan. It's inspiring and I wanted to see that happen. But Kishi shied away from the Hyuga storyline.
The point is that dying to protect a member of the main family branch it's a tragedy (when the character fails to achieve their goal). And tragedies are most often written to accentuate how destiny is unescapable (my best example: The Children of Húrin (I've been thinking about LOTR lately lol)). Therefore reinforcing the destiny theme. I could have been fine with that...
BUT that's not the message of Neji's death. Somehow, the author wants us to think that Neji actually got what he wanted because it was his choice to protect Hinata. Not because she was main branch, but because she was family. WTF?
Even Naruto is like WTF.
So Neji didn't only died but went INSANE in that last moment.
And I imagine that Hiashi is thinking "Damn Neji! I almost got rid of Hinata! If I knew you were going to jump I would have stopped you!"
I mean, wouldn't it have been so symbolic if Hiashi would have sacrificed his life to protect the daughter that he mistreated for so long?
He could have.
He was right there.
That guy right in front of Naruto? Yes, that's Hiashi.
What? He didn't saw that Hinata was trying to protect Naruto? It's not like he have a 360 degree vision...
Which brings me to my final reason, it feels stupid.
Neji doesn't even try to use any of his numerous abilities to stop the attack.
Hiashi is right there! And does nothing!
Naruto does nothing! It's so frustrating...
Hinata must be thinking: I want to save Naruto, but Kishi nerfed me and doesn't know how to write women so I guess I'll do something stupid and somehow survive. Here we go...!
Naruto: Don't move. Don't do anything useful. Finally I will be rid of my stalker and everybody will think it was a noble sacrifice! But she'll probably survive because of Naruhina! Why? I just want to be with Sasuke T_T
Hiashi: Yesss! Hanabi can now be the official heiress of the Hyuga!
And Neji is just like:
But "it all happened too fast". Bullshit. The characters that die in Naruto usually scape from death a few times before it's definitive because they ALWAYS have an exit strategy. I mean, it's literally their job to avoid death. So it kind of feels like Kishi made Neji stupid for a few panels so he can die, it's a dirty move.
Anyway, these are my takes on Neji's death. I like his character and I think the whole story would be different if he would have had development, like taking steps towards his goal of changing the Hyuga clan. Maybe making Konoha a better place, with less corruption (who knows?).
I don’t really like Obito’s character but that’s not the point today. Just mind you that my opinion might be biased.
What does Obito wants?
It’s not to be the bad guy. It’s not to conquer the world (like Nagato). It’s not to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
It’s just to go back to the time were things were okay. When he had hopes and dreams, and friends.
Simple. Understandable.
But he can’t go back in time. If there was a way to go back in time in the Narutoverse, things would be a bigger mess…
So he adhered to Madara’s plan in hope that he can live the life that was denied to him. It’s selfish, but it’s so relatable.
What would you do to go back in time to recover something or someone you lost? To me, there was a time in which I would have done anything. In real life, this stuff just teach us to be. Not better or worse, just to be. You’re forged in your experiences. And that’s the message with Obito’s character, to embrace what happened to him instead of running away from reality. It’s interesting because it’s true.
But the issue is that is not done in a convincing way. You see, Obito had to live at the end for the message to be complete. Because, unlike Sasuke, Obito did so many “wrong” things that he needed to attone for. I mean, just being a willing participant in the Uchiha massacre is enough, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
So having a change of heart and finally embracing reality should have had a positive outcome. Unless the author was trying to say “don’t embrace reality or you’ll die”, or “sometimes is too late to change your path”. Which technically doesn’t fit within the Naruto’s story. I say technically because it’s clearly not the intention of the author, but at the same time Kishi ruined the message of the story by going out of his own way to make Konoha the "good guys" (and involving gods and aliens...).
Therefore, by killing Obito, the message is lost, because dying is not accepting responsibility, it’s just another escape from reality. And there’s another thing:
Of course Obito didn’t care about everything he did, it would be erased later in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. In other words, he was living without consequences (again, an interesting idea).
However he had no reasons to have a change of heart. What Naruto say to him shouldn’t have had that effect.
Naruto thinks that because Obito wants to go back in to the past, he can still be “good”. That’s possible, but unlikely. Obito knows what he wants, he should have said: hell yeah I think about becoming the Hokage! That’s exactly who I will be inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I’m knee-deep in blood for that goal.
It’s just logic. If Obito continued his plan, he had a chance to accomplish his dream. If he listened to Naruto, that dream is gone, replaced by the heaviness of accepting responsibility for everything he did.
My point is: if Obito lived at the end of Naruto, it would have made a very interesting take on owning your actions and taking responsibility (unlike Konoha's leaders), and it would have been an opportunity to tackle the issue of what do you do with someone that has brought so much pain to other people? Is there even a remote possibility of redemption? Would it be maybe a real redemption?
But instead he dies and it makes Obito feel ooc. I mean, let the guy die like the corruption he represents.
Here's the thing: I have a lot of mixed feelings about this character. It's not just a love/hate situation, but also I'm not 100% sure if I think it's brilliantly written or terrible with a major T. And most of my issues with this character can be summarized as "he's a plot devise!", but is he an interesting plot devise that couldn't be changed for something else or is he just a lazy plot devise?
I'll start with his death, as there's a lot to unpack there.
Before I get into it please don't expect this to be pro or anti Itachi, it's just an analysis of whether narratively it was a good or bad death. And if you want to hate or love this guy, feel free to do so, if it makes you happy it can't be that bad, right? (besides, who am I to judge? lol).
Anyway, Itachi dies in chapter 393 after fighting Sasuke. And the first issue is that the battle is not great. Don't get me wrong, there are some cool moments like the genjutsu exchange at the beginning and Sasuke casting Kirin. But it was obvious that A) Sasuke would win, or B) at the very least, he would scape to live another day. Keep in mind that, in the timeline, he just fought Deidara and got away from an absurd explosion that should have killed him. In other words, there was no way that Kishi would kill Sasuke.
Also is so disappointing that this major villain just dies. In contrast to Jiraya's death, the guy goes down full of wounds and trying his best to run away. The second is more impactful even at a visual level.
As I see it, there are two ways of reading the chapters of the battle between the two Uchihas:
In retrospective. Meaning that we take in account that Sasuke's powers grow because he killed his brother, and without killing him he wouldn't have access to the Mangekyou nor the Eternal Mangekyou (this is the plot that the author wanted).
In a chronological order. Let's face it, Sasuke is not strong enough to kill Itachi, he should have know that and train more or search for a real, darker way to achieve his objective (something more solid than Kirin) (this is the plot I imagined while reading for the first time).
I point that out because I think that this fight is not good enough to generate character grow in Sasuke (thinking on the plot). Of course, here I'm choosing to read it in a chronological order. Obito's intervention is key to provoke a change in Sasuke. It's after Sasuke learns the truth about the Uchiha massacre that he awakens the Mangekyou Sharingan and set himself into a new path of revenge. It makes me wonder if it wouldn't be more interesting to skip the battle and go straight to the big revelation? Because Sasuke would still want to destroy Konoha (after all, they kill all his family and clan), but there would be an alive Itachi who would probably want to stop that with all his questionable methods (probably making a bigger mess).
You could think that I just don't like that Itachi died, and you'd be right. Partly, it is tied to the fact that it was Sasuke's objective, and it feels strange to me that he achieves it so "easily" (he trained like crazy but it all happens off screen (and it's just training... couldn't he go darker to become stronger? (like I wanted to see him sell his soul for revenge))). Partly because Itachi is a fantastic villain, I loved to hate him and I was expecting a grand finale (that's my bad of course. Kishi had no reasons to write for me). And partly because it could potentially result in a better ending to Sasuke and the Uchiha clan.
Setting aside my complaints of what should have happened for a moment, I've had 3 different lectures of this battle throughout different points in my life that I would like to share to illustrate further complains... I mean... arguments ahead.
The "meh" point.
When I was reading Naruto weekly, I felt so lukewarm about this fight for two reasons. The first was: Itachi just dies... I can't stress this enough. It's like the author ran out of ideas of how to save Sasuke and decided to kill off his opponent. Yes, there are signs that Itachi is weakened during their encounter, but damn, he just falls to the ground without Sasuke doing anything! I'm exaggerating, but you get the point. I honestly was in denial, expecting Itachi to revive at any moment right until he showed up as an undead with the Edo Tensei thingy. And the second reason was the reveal about the truth as an epilogue for Itachi, I'll go back to this later.
The "this is brilliant!" point.
I'll admit that in my latest view of the anime (the reason why I started this blog) I thought Itachi's death at the hands of his younger brother was such a big stab in the reader's heart that was just perfect. Oh, the delicious tragedy! I was so caught up in the feelings that I ignored the things that bothered me the first time. Notice that it had that impact because I already knew how things ended.
The "I don't get this shit" point.
There's no way to understand Sasuke's character without his older brother, and once I got into that rabbithole of trying to piece out Itachi's character... hell... nothing makes sense. You see, there's no reason for Itachi to fight Sasuke, let me rephrase that, there's only a crappy reason for this to happen. On the surface, you can think that Itachi wanted to die and he thought it was poetical justice to die at the hands of his brother, the last Uchiha. But why then? Well, because he was terminally sick of course. Now here are my two cents of logic:
I'll ignore the "Itachi wanted to die" part for now (this needs its own post).
He knew that his little brother was not on his right mind anymore (Sasuke went to train with Orochimaru of all people).
He knew that all that was keeping Sasuke alive was the idea of killing him (that's why he tells him to do so).
And he had that martyr mentality of self-sacrifice.
So the logical, in-character thing to do for Itachi was to run away from Sasuke (forever) so that he lives with an objective (not great, but what are we gonna do?). But Itachi was sick! After Rock Lee recovering from getting his arm and leg literally crushed and fighting right after his surgery, I won't take any disease as incurable, sorry. So, it was a plot decision. Itachi dies for the plot in the most dissatisfying way (it could've been worst... like Neji...). And was it really necessary?
My point here is the difference between surprise and suspense. In case you don't know what that is, I'll explain with a quote for the master of suspense: Hitchcock.
"There is a distinct difference between ‘suspense’ and ‘surprise’, and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I’ll explain what I mean,” Hitchcock once said. “We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let’s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, ‘Boom!’ There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence.
"Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o’clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: ‘You shouldn’t be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"
"In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story."
Kishi loved surprises, to subvert expectations. Going back to Jiraya's death, I never thought he was going to die during his fight with Pain, and there are moments when it look like he's going to scape alive, but he dies. It's an unexpected surprise and quite heartbreaking as you're rooting for the character to get out alive.
But for Itachi's death, suspense would have been a better choice. It's in knowing what happened in his past that brings impact to his death. Because the fight isn't great, but when you know that Itachi is letting himself be killed by Sasuke to help him (in a twisted way), the feelings are there and it's brilliant.
Imagine you don't know the outcome of their battle, but you know the truth about the massacre, wouldn't you be like "Damn Sasuke! Don't kill your brother! He's an idiot, but he's still your brother"? It becomes emotionally engaging since the stakes are higher.
And in Kishi's attempt to subvert expectations, the fight is told from the point of view of Zetsu, who is a character that, I don't know about you but, I don't care about. That's why there's little to none of the thoughts of neither Sasuke nor Itachi through these chapters. Because if we would get Sasuke's thoughts we might think that this is emotionally taxing for him. And if we were to get Itachi's thoughts we might have confirmation that he's not after his brother's eyes (I've written about why Itachi been a good-guy-all-along is not a retcon here, and I'll die on that hill). Hence all the emotional side of the battle is hidden from the "public" through Zetsu's eyes.
But the worst part for me is that Itachi never gets the chance to tell his story, Obito is the one that tells Sasuke the whole thing (another post to the to-do list). And I have a lot of issues with this resource of "they were evil, but got a last minute redemption" that Kishi loves to do, it doesn't let the characters face the consequences of changing sides. It shouldn't be easy. It should be a hard decision to make. It should be easier to remain evil. Something that characters choose to do because it's right, even if it's so damn hard. And even if Itachi wasn't "evil", I still think it would have been more interesting to see him deal with all the consequences of his actions.
Therefore, Itachi's death only add a layer of tragedy to an already tragic character that had more potential alive than dead. And for all the above, I think his death is a waste of a character.
