Does anyone still like Naruto?

mindfaQ

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I didn't watch the anime at all since it had a very bad german localization and I could not be bothered to download it in Japanese. I've read the manga though till chapter... don't know... 200 maybe? It got two repetitive and boring to continue with it though, so I left there and didn't come back to it. It never was a very stylish manga in the first place nor was I fond of any of the characters. I prefered Hunter X Hunter over it anytime (they came out in the same magazine where I live).
 

Auron225

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I'm in the 'Want to see how it ends, if it ever freaking ends' camp. I feel I'm owed an ending. How long has this "final fight" been going on for now I wonder? It started when Naruto encountered Obito and the zombie jinjurikki (sp?). I'm curious so I'm gonna look up what chapter that was.

...

http://www.mangapanda.com/naruto/563/16

It has been going on for 100 chapters. Seriously. This fight alone has lasted 2 years. I'm depressed just thinking about that. If anyone ever asks me what "milking it" means, I'm using this as exhibit A.

EDIT: For clarification, I gave up on the anime a good while ago. Useless fillers and inconsistent atmospheres (one minute a baddie is joking with the heroes, next minute he's trying to murder them? uh-huh) finally pushed me over the edge.
 

Maxtro

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I've only ever watched the anime, which has been very inconsistent. Right now the past few episodes have been very good. The story is coming full circle and explaining about how everything happened.

It's sad to see what the original purpose of Akatsuki was and how there was so much hope and goodwill behind it. And then it got twisted into the Akatsuki that we know.
 

AustinN

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Sometimes I think Naruto is the Twilight of anime. It's the best selling series that everybody hates.
 

Sniper Team 4

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Queen Michael said:
I've noticed that as the ending of Naruto is needlessly drawn out more and more, nobody seems to think it's good anymore. Some people like me just stopped reading, while others keep reading because it'd be a waste to have read 60+ books and not find out how it ends. Is there anyone at all that thinks it's a genuinely good manga anymore?
When the other characters started doing stuff and Naruto was sidelined at the start of the war, I was thrilled. When Naruto gave his chakra to other characters and they became super powerful, I was thrill again. I thought we were finally going to get to see other characters doing stuff and proving that not everything depends on this one kid. But nope, Naruto once again takes center stage, and...oh, look at that. Madara is spouting the same nonsense of making a better world for the sake of peace that EVERY OTHER VILLAIN HAS BEEN SAYING SINCE PAIN!

I used to like Naruto. I still buy every DVD box set that comes out because I think the anime team is handling it better than the actual author. But I have stopped buying the books and I only read it now to see how it will end. Not even that, really. I read it now to see if Naruto and Hinata will end up together.

Maybe if the storyline goes back to good fights (the battles against Kakazu and Pain were amazing) instead of just insane power level attacks, Madara stops pulling out a counter move for literally every possible thing, and other characters are allowed to do more than just say, "You're our only hope, Naruto," then I'll start enjoying it again, but I doubt that will happen. I did enjoy this series when it started, and kept enjoying it up until Madara became a Mary Sue villain.
 

[Kira Must Die]

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I was never a Naruto fan. I saw the first couple episodes of it when it first aired on Toonami, because a lot of my classmates were talking about it, and I never really cared for it. Although at the time I was sorta burned by Inuyasha, so for a few years I was sorta on the "anime sucks" train. It wasn't until I saw Death Note when I started getting back into anime.

From what I saw of Naruto, there wasn't really anything I hated about it, it just looked like a typical shounen action show, so I don't have a vile hatred towards it that a lot of people did. I just don't care about it. I don't watch the anime, I don't read the manga, and I'm not interested to do so. I like some shounen shows, but Naruto to me just seems something I'm too old to properly enjoy now. It's very much an anime for early to mid teens. It's just not for me. I prefer seinen, or at least darker shounen shows like Attack on Titan or Death Note. Also, no, I'm not watching a 300+ episode shounen show. Just, no. I'm not wasting weeks or even months watching a show that is not meant for me. Inuyasha made me hate anime for a while, I'm not going through that again.
 

Elvis Starburst

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Like it? Hell, I can't even START it cause it's so friggin long! Starting it now would be an extremely huge investment. It's the reason why I can't get into stuff like Naruto or Bleach or One Piece. So... many... episodes! Knowing the story isn't gonna end in any way for that long makes it impossible for me to start. Disappointing because of it, but, eh...
 

Dr. Cakey

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Mangod said:
In a similar discussion held about a month or so ago (which we both participated in, now that I think about it XD), I said this:

Mangod said:
Sooo... we had this little discussion about a month ago, about wheter or not Naruto was hated, and I answered that the reason I (and I suspect a lot of other people) dislike the series, is because it's become increasingly poorly written.

Well, guess what? Kishimoto just came out during the Shonen Jump held Jump Festa event, and admited that he had no f***ing clue how the main character is supposed to be able to defeat the main villain. He's out of ideas...

What. A. Piece. Of. Crap.

He's written himself into a corner, made his beloved Uchiha God Mode Sue too powerful, and now he's realised what every other person on the planet has: the main character can't win. This is worse than Aizen in Bleach, and will probably share that series retarded pre-timeskip conclusion as well...

Why did I ever even like this series?
Have you ever considered that maybe the problem is with you? That your dislike of the series is so intense, when the author of a story refuses tell a fan how he plans on ending his story it must mean that he doesn't know?

More on point, I haven't followed Naruto in two years or more, but I have to say it's an impeccably constructed series. It took him a little while to discover what his manga was about, but once he wrote the words "cycle of hatred" he was on track, and to the best of my knowledge he's stayed there ever since.

So, yeah, am I still watching Naruto? No. Do I still like it? Yeah, I do.

P.S. I don't care how bad Naruto gets. It couldn't possibly ever be a tenth as bad as what Bleach has become.

P.P.S. Watch Hunter x Hunter. That will be all.
 

Someone Depressing

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I don't like shounen, really.

Scrap that. Because of Naruto, I hate shounen. I can't even read the original Dragon Ball on Mangafox without completely giving up. While Dragon Ball dragged on for a bit, that's because it had a story to tell. Naruto, not so much. Hell, Dragon Ball's still got a story to tell... I just don't think the original author's got much to do with it now.
 

Mangod

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Dr. Cakey said:
Have you ever considered that maybe the problem is with you? That your dislike of the series is so intense, when the author of a story refuses tell a fan how he plans on ending his story it must mean that he doesn't know?

More on point, I haven't followed Naruto in two years or more, but I have to say it's an impeccably constructed series. It took him a little while to discover what his manga was about, but once he wrote the words "cycle of hatred" he was on track, and to the best of my knowledge he's stayed there ever since.

So, yeah, am I still watching Naruto? No. Do I still like it? Yeah, I do.

P.S. I don't care how bad Naruto gets. It couldn't possibly ever be a tenth as bad as what Bleach has become.

P.P.S. Watch Hunter x Hunter. That will be all.
Ok, a few things: yes, it is entirely possible that the problem lies with me, rather than with the series... but I doubt it. The series has just had so many inconsistencies, and violated its own message so many times, that I honestly don't think it's unfair of me to doubt Kishimoto's ability as a writer when he says "I have no idea how the heroes are gonna stop the villain". If he had said he has a plan, that he's planned this and we're seeing the culmination of years of labor, fine, but I sincerely believe this is a man who's written himself into a corner and admitted that he's only getting out of this via Deus Ex Machina.

Secondly: If you haven't watched/read it in two years, how can you be so sure about its quality? I've read it on a weekly/bi-weekly basis for the better part of the last two years, and I believe that the quality has gone into freefall. Again, this is subjective, but I don't think calling the series "impeccably constructed" is any more fair than calling it horrible. If it was impeccably constructed, then it wouldn't constantly feel like Kishi's pulling stuff out of his ass.

As for the Cycle of Hatred, yes, it is a great concept, something that can easily be used to write a magnificent story... but Kishimoto has already broken all the morals he's preached to us in the past, including (indirectly) this cycle of revenge one, since he's had characters like Shikamaru and Sasuke murder people for the sake of vengeance without consequence.

I'm sorry if this seems confrontational, but I do not believe that I'm the problem. The series is simply past its prime, and what we're reading now is the dying spams.

P.S: I don't read Bleach any more, mostly because I gave up on that series when they defeated Butterflaizen. That is the archetype of a Deus Ex Machina, and I fear that Naruto is going the same way.

P.S.S: I'll have to look up that series, lot's of people on this site have been crying it praise to the high heavens.
 

AustinN

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If Kishimoto just didn't want to reveal how the last villain is going to be defeated, wouldn't it have made more sense to say "You'll have to wait and see" rather than "I have no idea"? It doesn't inspire confidence, especially with how things have gone lately.
 

Mangod

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AustinN said:
If Kishimoto just didn't want to reveal how the last villain is going to be defeated, wouldn't it have made more sense to say "You'll have to wait and see" rather than "I have no idea"?
Yes. Yes it would have, but he didn't, hence my doubt in his ability to end this in a satisfying manner.

AustinN said:
It doesn't inspire confidence, especially with how things have gone lately.
It really doesn't. Sad, too, since the pitch for the series (young boy grows up to become leader of ninja village) sounds like it'd be a bottomless well for good stories. But alas...
 

FalloutJack

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All the honest answers will say no. All the brutally honest answers will say it was never good.
 

Ishal

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Mangod said:
So you're basically saying that it's idealism and morals can't/don't work because they run in stark contrast with the background and lore of the show? That characters behaving differently undermines the direction they previously were going?

That's an interesting take on it. It's also interesting that Naruto's father was resurrected? Wow, and he wants Obito to be spared? Huh

I view Attack On Titan as just another Naruto. It's already going the wrong direction with it's writer changing an ending to what the fans wanted.

It's like One Piece is the only Shounen series in recent memory I can think of that hasn't jumped the shark.
I don't watch the show, but it's like 600 episodes now. Hard to believe it hasn't jumped the shark. But honestly, shonen, and most anime in general, I'm starting to think "jumping the shark" is a phrase that means nothing to them anyway. With the filler, and the terrible tropes that they ALL indulge in, jumping the shark is inevitable. Couple that with the anime running in tandem with mangas, and the manga authors often under contract to make a set number of issues. The writer isn't in control anyway. I'm pretty sure that's why Kishimoto went off the rails.
 

AustinN

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Ishal said:
I don't watch the show, but it's like 600 episodes now. Hard to believe it hasn't jumped the shark. But honestly, shonen, and most anime in general, I'm starting to think "jumping the shark" is a phrase that means nothing to them anyway. With the filler, and the terrible tropes that they ALL indulge in, jumping the shark is inevitable. Couple that with the anime running in tandem with mangas, and the manga authors often under contract to make a set number of issues. The writer isn't in control anyway. I'm pretty sure that's why Kishimoto went off the rails.
I haven't been totally keeping up with One Piece for the past couple of years, but it has a pretty good record of topping itself. In my opinion, I think it usually avoids the most common problems with shonen anime. Unlike most long running series, the author has clearly planned quite a bit of it out, and plot points can be introduced hundreds of chapters before they become relevant.

I think a problem with shonen manga is that most writers aren't good at thinking outside the box, and do little to improve on their predecessors. Sometimes it seems like writers only do certain things because it's what other writers do. Bleach got so bad that nowadays it's primarily held up as an example of how NOT to do a shonen manga. For example, it's said that the main character has a lot of raw power, but he hasn't under gone the formal training people like him usually do. You expect him to get stronger by training and learning additional shinigami techniques, but instead he gets stronger through getting random power ups, that more often than not are poorly justified. It comes off as the writer thinking "Other shonen series have random power ups, so I should have random power ups too" even if it's not the most logical course of action.
 

Drizzitdude

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Naruto is odd for me, I like the fights, I like the animation, I like the premise, but god do they spend so long with talking and filler it completely ruins it for me. I try to stay away from animes with more than 100 episodes. But the naruto is sort of an exception because it doesn't spend a million episodes talking only for dbz/bleach style blitz fights where everyone is teleport punching each other, the fights are actually quite good. Like I said its odd, I love it and I hate it.
 

Mangod

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Ishal said:
Mangod said:
So you're basically saying that it's idealism and morals can't/don't work because they run in stark contrast with the background and lore of the show? That characters behaving differently undermines the direction they previously were going?

That's an interesting take on it. It's also interesting that Naruto's father was resurrected? Wow, and he wants Obito to be spared? Huh

I view Attack On Titan as just another Naruto. It's already going the wrong direction with it's writer changing an ending to what the fans wanted.
That is exactly what I'm saying. You cannot preach a morality or aesop in a story if your main characters constantly violate said morality to win, and don't suffer consequence for it.

Imagine a story about a sports team. The storys moral is that steroids are bad, and that hard work will trump taking shortcuts every time. Then, the "big game" or whatever shows up, and the main characters face a team that is simply better than them. So, they use steroids to amplify their ability on the field, and they win... and get away with it.

The moral has officially failed, because the characters have done the one thing the story was saying you should never do, and benefited from it, with no consequence. That's what Naruto has done with all its morals thus far.

Ishal said:
It's like One Piece is the only Shounen series in recent memory I can think of that hasn't jumped the shark.
I don't watch the show, but it's like 600 episodes now. Hard to believe it hasn't jumped the shark. But honestly, shonen, and most anime in general, I'm starting to think "jumping the shark" is a phrase that means nothing to them anyway. With the filler, and the terrible tropes that they ALL indulge in, jumping the shark is inevitable. Couple that with the anime running in tandem with mangas, and the manga authors often under contract to make a set number of issues. The writer isn't in control anyway. I'm pretty sure that's why Kishimoto went off the rails.
I'll admit, I'm actually impressed that One Piece hasn't jumped the shark yet, but so far it seems that Eiichiro Oda actually has a plan for how to end the series. The real question in this case is if he'll live long enough to finish it, and if not, has he left behind any notes so that someone else can finish it for him?