Honestly its about time, Naruto has been a bit of a drag for a few years now.
The goddamn author shouldve picked a goddamn main villain and just stuck with them. Look big bad is Madara, oh wait no its Obito, actually no it really is Madara, oh wait no its actually a character that I pulled completely out of my ass. Naruto's best villain in the series IMO was Zabuza, the guy was cool, had a big sword, had a character arc that made sense and we could sympathise with, and then redeemed himself in a perfect manner.
That said, despite my feelings about the series (im not a massive fan of it these days if you hadnt picked it up by now). I still do have to give the series credit for getting me into anime and manga in general. DBZ got me started technically, but Naruto was the first thing I seriously followed after I watched DBZ as child. And after I started Naruto I got into another manga that was really big, Bleach (also big boo), but it led me to Berserk (Favourite Manga), Gurren Lagann (Favourite anime), Shaman King, and my favourite Shonen manga of all time, One Piece.
Seriously if you follow Naruto and havent read One Piece, go read One Piece. Its a rare piece of fiction where its quality actually just keeps increasing (in general, im sure some people will favour some arcs over others)
So I guess what Im trying to say is, thanks Naruto, even though you may suck now, I wouldnt have some of my favourite things without you
Are you me? Because everything you have said is the exact mirror of how my experience with anime and manga has gone by. It's a more interesting arc of life than Naruto has been lately.
But yeah, what is a true shame is that Kishi showed that he had great moments, that he knows how to write characters when he really wants to. Zabuza is still quoted as a great villain. Obito's motivation to his actions is also referenced as an intriguing deconstruction of one of the main characters. But then he's also able to colossally fuck everything up. Unlike Bleach where I don't recall a single really high moment in the writing.
Glad you're gone Naruto. It's time people start noticing Toriko.
Good. I was done with Naruto once it hit issue 500 with zero signs of stopping, it was a fair few issues after the Pain arc where everybody in the village died (lol jk) and there was this new arc building into a full blown war that I had no interest in.
I looked a few weeks ago and it was on 700/750+ issues and I have no idea how you could possibly keep something good for that long.
I estimate most fans just keep reading it out of obligation to see how it ends but it just wouldn't end already so the soul crushing sadness about this one will be sparse.
Naruto has... issues. The real shame is that it started off so well.
Im glad it's going to end before the story gets even worse. I still think that the first season was pretty good but I lost interest during Shippuden, especially when Naruto became friends with the nine tails therefore eliminating the scene I was hoping for since the start where he loses control of it and someone actually gets hurt.
It will be interesting to see what replaces Naruto once it finally ends.wes
I basically gave up on Naruto being good WAAAAAY back at the forest of death, but even plenty of people who were fans will tell you that the series has been in steep decline since the Pein arc.
So no, I don't think it's a shame that a bad but overlong series finally concludes.
Ok, let me just vent out all my frustration towards the series here:
Honestly I might've never seen a story suffer such a slow, gruesome, agonizing death.
I still hold the belief that the pre-timeskip Naruto was a good, quality shonen story. It had problems with being overly melodramatic and with the characterization of Sasuke, but aside from that it had A LOT going for it. It had an interesting world, a wide cast of colorful characters with their own personalities, motivations and backstories, varying fighting styles (jutsus) which were not only iconic, but also made the fights extremely entertaining to watch. Most importantly though, it had a focus: It was about Naruto going from an bsolute loser to a competent, respected ninja, all through his own hard work (well, aside from the Kyubi).
But after the timeskip... What the heck happened?! The first arch was really, really good and they even managed to make Sakura actually competent! But after that... I can't even remember. All I know is that the series lost it's focus. Having Naruto "rescue" Sasuke was simply a stupid idea and made no sense whatsoever. For me he was one of the most hated characters in the manga, so I REALLY didn't buy this thing about Naruto "bringing him back" from the dark side or whatever. After that the story just became about the "main villain" being defeated with somekind of a crazy powerup over and over and over again. And all the while I'm asking what's the point of this?
There was just NO focus towards the end of the story, just ridiculous fights over and over again. I think the story was supposed the be about "war" and "hatred", but when Naruto's means of dealing with these things were either A) Beat the crap out of someone or B) Talk to them until they were changed by the power of LOVE, it's clear Kishimoto was not a good enough writer to tackle these issues.
And while this was happening, the series lost most of what made it great. All of the colorful characters? Never given any spotlight unless they're new or part of the core group. And for some reason Kishimoto expected us to still care when he killed them off, despite us not even seeing them for months.
The jutsus? Useless, only giant explosions matter here. Not like the pre-timeskip where strategy was a key part of the fights and even a well times slice from a knife could be deadly, which kept the suspense going all the way through. So far One Piece is the only series I've seen that hasn't fallen victim to the Powercreep.
And just to top it all of, can we all agree that Sakura has some sort of a mental condition and should get some treatment? NO sane person still "loves" what was essentially their teenage crush after he has mercilessly tried to kill/killed so many people and has NEVER shown any affection or good intentions toward you whatsoever. Get.Help.
Ok, I'm done... Sorry about that, just had to get it out of my system.
Haha - I feel your pain. Sasuke got so pathetic so quickly and so unwaveringly I just couldn't sympathise anymore - not with him, not with Naruto for wanting to bring him back, and certainly not Sakura who I completely agree apparently has a mental illness that won't let her see what an asshole her crush is. She's difinitely that girl in real life that would refuse to just leave - and probably endlessly forgive and make excuses for - her abuser. And her friends aren't any kind of reliable sorce of advice or support on that subject that I've seen either. Really, ever since the last quarter of the first part of the story -- before the time skip -- Naruto's been on the same mission all these years: 1) "Save" (from himself) a worthless, impossibly emo, self-absorbed, sociopathic prick of a deserter - 2) Fulfill his dream of becoming Hokage.
But at least Naruto did have goals, and that's already more than Bleach has going for it.
And Naruto became a character with two personalities. On the one hand he grows emotionally, and becomes wise, and more mature. And on the other - he's a hopeless idiot, fooled by the most transparent of subterfuge, completely blind to the mechanations taking place around him - to a degree that it just seems impossible. I mean, I may be inaccurate in my impressions because I have indeed stopped following both the manga and anime; but the trends I described are why I stopped following in the first place.
Really these series stay around for far too long. Their length is probably partly to blame for the loss of focus, rehashing, and other various writing flaws. The innitial arcs are great - exciting and concise with clear objectives for the main characters. And then something happens when it becomes apparent that the title is going to be a "thing" and it all completely falls apart. The one shounen manga (that I am aware of) that somehow manages to go on and keep it all together while staying new. and keeping the cast of heros, and villains unique and not losing focus, is One Piece. It takes a lot of crap for being on the lighter side and a little cartoony but to me it's a lot more fun than the main chracters fighting an endless series of megalomaniacal, clinically-depressives.
I kind of anticipate a lot of people are going to be taking this opportunity to vent some frustration.
Y'know, I wish I waited on One Piece to end before starting it up. I watched the whole thing in three months and I'm not used to waiting a week between episodes. And given the manga is still on the Dressrosa arc too, I'll be waiting a good lot of years until it finally ends.
Naruto I've never been a fan of. I keep meaning to watch a bit of it, but everyone I've talked to says it's all filler or the story imploded on itself, so I just put it off and watch something good instead.
Jesus, it's actually happening, time for me to catch up so I can be part of the mourning/celebrating.
As long as Sasuke doesn't just get a free pass for the crap he's done I'll be a happy bunny.
TravelerSF said:
Ok, let me just vent out all my frustration towards the series here:
Honestly I might've never seen a story suffer such a slow, gruesome, agonizing death.
I still hold the belief that the pre-timeskip Naruto was a good, quality shonen story. It had problems with being overly melodramatic and with the characterization of Sasuke, but aside from that it had A LOT going for it. It had an interesting world, a wide cast of colorful characters with their own personalities, motivations and backstories, varying fighting styles (jutsus) which were not only iconic, but also made the fights extremely entertaining to watch. Most importantly though, it had a focus: It was about Naruto going from an bsolute loser to a competent, respected ninja, all through his own hard work (well, aside from the Kyubi).
But after the timeskip... What the heck happened?! The first arch was really, really good and they even managed to make Sakura actually competent! But after that... I can't even remember. All I know is that the series lost it's focus. Having Naruto "rescue" Sasuke was simply a stupid idea and made no sense whatsoever. For me he was one of the most hated characters in the manga, so I REALLY didn't buy this thing about Naruto "bringing him back" from the dark side or whatever. After that the story just became about the "main villain" being defeated with somekind of a crazy powerup over and over and over again. And all the while I'm asking what's the point of this?
There was just NO focus towards the end of the story, just ridiculous fights over and over again. I think the story was supposed the be about "war" and "hatred", but when Naruto's means of dealing with these things were either A) Beat the crap out of someone or B) Talk to them until they were changed by the power of LOVE, it's clear Kishimoto was not a good enough writer to tackle these issues.
And while this was happening, the series lost most of what made it great. All of the colorful characters? Never given any spotlight unless they're new or part of the core group. And for some reason Kishimoto expected us to still care when he killed them off, despite us not even seeing them for months.
The jutsus? Useless, only giant explosions matter here. Not like the pre-timeskip where strategy was a key part of the fights and even a well times slice from a knife could be deadly, which kept the suspense going all the way through. So far One Piece is the only series I've seen that hasn't fallen victim to the Powercreep.
And just to top it all of, can we all agree that Sakura has some sort of a mental condition and should get some treatment? NO sane person still "loves" what was essentially their teenage crush after he has mercilessly tried to kill/killed so many people and has NEVER shown any affection or good intentions toward you whatsoever. Get.Help.
Ok, I'm done... Sorry about that, just had to get it out of my system.
Power-creep is a general problem in Shounen but in Naruto where the point was for characters to strategize and us what few jutsu/tools they had on them in interesting combinations it made things ten times worse. The whole destiny/son of the Hockage thing really took a notch out of the whole 'work your way to the top' message the series had going for it not to mention shining a light on why the hell people would treat Naruto as an outcast to begin with. Then there's Sakura... who for a brief second looked like she'd put her teen drama behind her and had generally become a bad ass Kunoichi... and then complete 360... *sigh*
The series has had a huge effect on me and Gai and Lee are still my all time favorite characters in fiction but the series just kind of lost me around the introduction of Pein. I remember seeing Kakuzu using 'Cranium Carver' and thinking 'THAT WAS BADASS, but I hope the explosions don't get any bigger...'
I've been reading it for 10 years now... damn. Kishimoto said that the war would be the final arc, and it it ends this month that mean the last fight isn't going to go on forever.
The fight with Madara just kept going, and everyone got DBZ proportioned powerups through the course of the battle.
At this point I'm just reading Naruto to see how it ends. Power creep hit that series like a bullet train. The villains became an annoyance instead of a threat, with one showing up completely out of nowhere, and Naruto himself basically became Ninja Jesus, which went against one of the big points of the series: hard work can overcome natural talent. At least they're ending it with a fight against Sasuke. Might as well get one thing right.
Now I'll just go back to waiting for the next chapter of One Piece.
Finally! Maybe I'll actually start catching up with the manga now that I know the end is in sight. I pretty much jumped ship after the Pain arc.
Although I think we all know how the story is going to end. Naruto and Sasuke meet up with each other, Naruto confesses his love for Sasuke, Sasuke's heart grows three sizes, and the two of them skip off through the grass smiling, hand in hand, while Sakura cries in the background. The end.
I've been reading it for 10 years now... damn. Kishimoto said that the war would be the final arc, and it it ends this month that mean the last fight isn't going to go on forever.
The fight with Madara just kept going, and everyone got DBZ proportioned powerups through the course of the battle.
An early birthday present. I've been reading the scans for a while and all I can say is good riddance. I used to be a fan but when the main bad guy keeps changing up seemingly every other chapter (Tobi/Obito, Madara, back to Obito, back to Madara again, MOON ***** KAGUYA, and now fucking creator's pet Sasuke) in this god damn war arc I've had all I can stands. Now I'm gonna have a party.
I estimate most fans just keep reading it out of obligation to see how it ends but it just wouldn't end already so the soul crushing sadness about this one will be sparse.
Naruto has... issues. The real shame is that it started off so well.
Nailed it for me. I've been following it since it first popped up as an anime on Toonami all those years ago. But as the series went on, it began to change from what I enjoyed so much. The supporting cast got less and less screen/panel time. Naruto became obsessed with Sasuke, so everything else began to be pushed into the background. All the fights, which used to be real all-out brawls to see who could win, became nothing but Naruto shouting at the enemy about how wrong they are and how right he is until the enemy gave up and switched sides (I think Kakazu was the only enemy that Naruto fought that was an exception). When the war started, I had hopes because it gave the series the perfect excuse to finally show what everyone else can do, but after seeing the Ino-Shika-Cho (the three support characters who seem to get the most screen time) and that Cloud Ninja's battle, it switched to "Naruto saves the day" mode hardcore.
How do I want the series to end? With Naruto waking up, realizing that Sasuke needs to be put down like the mad dog he is, and putting him in the ground. Being a leader means making sacrifices for the greater good.
How I expect it to end: Naruto yells at Sasuke until Sasuke realizes he's been wrong (despite the fact that Naruto has been yelling at him for a long time now) and becomes a good guy again.
Oh, and Naruto better end up with Hinata, because I did not waste all this time, and get my hopes raised so high during the Pain and War scenes, only to have him choose Sakura.
meanwhile ....
MIURA Kentaro is still too busy with his Idol_FuckBitches_Master to even try and advance with berserk .....
also ....
yeah, it's about time ....
the series lost almost all of its charm after the battles turned from being KINDA grounded and more _ say _ tactical into a competition of who would fart the biggest atomic explosion to tare through the fabric of time and space ....
Good god, it's about time! I mean, it's got the worse case of Inuyasha's Disease ever! Nothing happens and it NEVER ENDS! Until now. You're suppose to end things gracefully at some point, not drag it out like DBZ.
50 chapters as of right now with 5 more till it ends and the anime covers 2-3 chapters an episode so probably late March, early April next year for the anime ends just in time for the DVD release of the last film.
I haven't been all that interested in Naruto since about 50 eps into Shippuden, and I can't put my finger on why exactly that is.
Maybe it's because it seemed to lose the all-important (imo) sense of adventure and whimsy that makes Shonen fun to watch?
Maybe it's because around that point I discovered One Piece - a series that has adventure and whimsy in spades?
Whatever the reason, there is a definite positive to Naruto coming to a close - it's much easier to analyse a story once it's an actual complete work. One of Dragonball Z's best qualities (though I'm a much more fond of the original Dragonball) is that it has an ending.
No it's because the first 60 episodes of Naruto Shippuden were very poorly paced as they didn't want to get to filler again after just having 75 episodes of it at the end of Naruto. They changed there mind after complaints and arcs based of the manga from episode 72 onwards became much better at the cost of inbetween filler arcs that were terrible.
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