Naruto is finally over. after all these years...

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[Starbird]

Naruto ended yesterday. After getting worse and worse, Masashi Kishimoto finally gave it a mercy killing. I've been waiting for this to happen for a long time. The manga just kept making new revelations that clearly weren't planned and were pretty darn ridiculous, the final battle kept on going and going and going while trying way too hard to be supermegaepicawesome.

So yeah, I won't shed any tears about this crap manga finally ending. Good riddance to bad rubbish. It used to be if not good thena t least readable, but lately it's been just plain awful.

What are your feelings? Sad it's over? Glad it's over? If you've read the ending, how'd you like it?

I really liked Naruto but I think that it has run it's course and am happy that it ended before it pulled a Bleach.

 

[GabeZhul]

I just came to a troubling realization: This mange ended on Ch 700. Doesn't that sound a bit too specific? Kishimoto could have probably finished the series sooner. Maybe at 680, maybe even earlier... but he didn't because he wanted to end on 700.

Taken that each chapter is a week, it is not impossible that up to a year's worth of chapters with superfluous villains and dumb battles were inserted into the story just to pad it out to 700, and since it's Kishimoto we are talking about, I can totally believe that!

 

[Queen Michael]

Notice how Naruto hits his son in the epilogue? And how he tells the son "It's your duty to accept that I neglect you, because you're a ninja and I have my duties as a hokage," even though Naruto could quit the hokage job if he wanted to? Naruto's basically guilt-tripping Bolt for not approving of being neglected by his physically abusive father.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Notice how Naruto hits his son in the epilogue? And how he tells the son "It's your duty to accept that I neglect you, because you're a ninja and I have my duties as a hokage," even though Naruto could quit the hokage job if he wanted to? Naruto's basically guilt-tripping Bolt for not approving of being neglected by his physically abusive father.

Not surprised that Kishimoto didn't think that through. Whenever Kishimoto tries to do a moral lesson it just falls apart, sometimes immediately. It really shows how emotion has to be balanced with logic and reason in fiction. You have to back up the themes with consistent action.

 

[Mikejames]

I can't remember when I stopped reading this series, but my twelve-year-old self will be hyped to hear that Hinata finally got her man.

Though I did read for as long as I did waiting for Sasuke's impending demise. Alas...

Also I severely doubt Berserk is going to get a proper ending at this point. Sorry, but there isn't much reason to think so.

I'll always remember the Golden Age...

 

[TWRule]

Notice how Naruto hits his son in the epilogue? And how he tells the son "It's your duty to accept that I neglect you, because you're a ninja and I have my duties as a hokage," even though Naruto could quit the hokage job if he wanted to? Naruto's basically guilt-tripping Bolt for not approving of being neglected by his physically abusive father.

Not surprised that Kishimoto didn't think that through. Whenever Kishimoto tries to do a moral lesson it just falls apart, sometimes immediately. It really shows how emotion has to be balanced with logic and reason in fiction. You have to back up the themes with consistent action.

The idea in that scene was supposed to be: "Hey, stop doing this to get my attention - after all, the whole village is your family, not just me."

But this scene alone ruins the entire series for me.

The whole point of the early series was how Naruto tried to deal with his loneliness - they even made that quite explicit later on in shippuden. For Naruto, it was clearly *not* the case that the entire village could be thought of as family for him. His entire motivation for becoming Hokage in the first place was to be acknowledged by the village, so that he could be accepted and maybe eventually not feel alone anymore. This is also the entire basis for his relationships with Sasuke and Sakura.

But in this epilogue scene, when Naruto's son acts out in exactly the same way Naruto did as a child, implying that he feels the same loneliness and that his relationships with others in the village aren't proper substitutes for the love of his father, Naruto just coldly chastizes him and just says "you'll understand someday" - as if that was going to address the problem. Obviously, simply having a village of neighbors isn't enough to ensure that Naruto's son is going to make meaningful connections - it's not that simple. Naruto should know this better than anyone.

Honestly, the ending should have been that Naruto was elected as Hokage but turned down the position, realizing that it was only going to get in the way of cultivating the sorts of relationships with his friends and family that might help overcome the loneliness he had felt all his life.

Why does he need to be Hokage anyway? Just so there would be a reason for him to hang out with characters from other villages for a scene? Just so he could 'carry on tradition'? If war is over, why is society still organized into ninja-states that are fueled by military action? Why is there even still a Hokage position?

That brings me to another gripe; I've never understood Kishimoto's fetishism of posterity and tradition. "The next generation will fix everything our generation couldn't fix" seems to be the sentiment. Except clearly that hasn't happened with any generation touched on in the series, including Naruto's apparently. The scene with Naruto chastising his son shows exactly why this is the case. Naruto's son finds himself suffering from the same loneliness Naruto himself once did, and Naruto's duties to convention, to 'tradition', to institutions, only pull him away from his son and ensure that that loneliness remains in the world.

So basically, the entire series thematically annihilated itself in the epilogue - unless it only meant to convey a harsh message that loneliness is here to stay as long as people continue to delude themselves into thinking things like social duties and traditions are equally or more important than interpersonal relationships (in which case, it is both ingenious and at once probably the most mean-spirited piece of fiction I've ever seen). Probably though, it just became monumentally dumb by losing sight of what the original series was supposed to be about. Disappointing.

 

[Jamie Paku]

it wont end like that they'll take time fillin in the gaps to big a franchise to conclude it like that
yea there a new movie coming out too sum years after shippuden ends and a series on kakashi too

"screw this u guys suk, time to go home to smoke a fat joint and watch movies"

 

[soren7550]

There's a Simpsons clip that'd perfectly encapsulate my feelings on the ending, but I can't find it on YouTube.

Can't remember what episode it's from, and Homer (I think) asks "I don't get it, is this a good ending or a bad ending?" and Marge replies "It's an ending.".

A whole lot of it is mind boggling (Kakashi is made Hokage because reasons, characters hook up and have kids despite having little to no chemistry with one another [or being on the same page], Mei and Anko are pretty fat, Sasuke is good yet again, etc.), but then again, I can't really say that I expected much else from it.

The last hundred or so chapters have been so yanked out of an ass, the series dragging on for several hundred chapters too many that I'm sorta just glad that it's finally over.

 

[LarsInCharge]

So this is a thing. Interesting alternative end to the series.

.... Is it bad I nearly died laughing? Like, choking on my chocolate covered sunflower seeds because the art style is basically on par with how Kishimoto draws, yet the fan made joke is golden too? .. My god imagine if this is how the series ended. Holy freaken crap, everyone would lose their minds to the insanity XD

Actually not to be a perv, but the Naruto universe does raise some questions.

When you transform into the opposite sex using a jutsu, or having your clone do it... do you also gain the other gender's private parts? Because if so, a crap load of things can go horribly wrong and this is one of them.

One of the Bingo Books (little extras that explain the universe) implied that yes, you get an illusion of the opposite gender's genitals. This way, male ninjas would seduce assassination targets, and while they were naked kill the target while he is defenseless. Though the genitals are just an illusion, any kind of significant pressure would dispel the jutsu.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

The idea in that scene was supposed to be: "Hey, stop doing this to get my attention - after all, the whole village is your family, not just me."

But this scene alone ruins the entire series for me.

The whole point of the early series was how Naruto tried to deal with his loneliness - they even made that quite explicit later on in shippuden. For Naruto, it was clearly *not* the case that the entire village could be thought of as family for him. His entire motivation for becoming Hokage in the first place was to be acknowledged by the village, so that he could be accepted and maybe eventually not feel alone anymore. This is also the entire basis for his relationships with Sasuke and Sakura.

But in this epilogue scene, when Naruto's son acts out in exactly the same way Naruto did as a child, implying that he feels the same loneliness and that his relationships with others in the village aren't proper substitutes for the love of his father, Naruto just coldly chastizes him and just says "you'll understand someday" - as if that was going to address the problem. Obviously, simply having a village of neighbors isn't enough to ensure that Naruto's son is going to make meaningful connections - it's not that simple. Naruto should know this better than anyone.

Honestly, the ending should have been that Naruto was elected as Hokage but turned down the position, realizing that it was only going to get in the way of cultivating the sorts of relationships with his friends and family that might help overcome the loneliness he had felt all his life.

Why does he need to be Hokage anyway? Just so there would be a reason for him to hang out with characters from other villages for a scene? Just so he could 'carry on tradition'? If war is over, why is society still organized into ninja-states that are fueled by military action? Why is there even still a Hokage position?

That brings me to another gripe; I've never understood Kishimoto's fetishism of posterity and tradition. "The next generation will fix everything our generation couldn't fix" seems to be the sentiment. Except clearly that hasn't happened with any generation touched on in the series, including Naruto's apparently. The scene with Naruto chastising his son shows exactly why this is the case. Naruto's son finds himself suffering from the same loneliness Naruto himself once did, and Naruto's duties to convention, to 'tradition', to institutions, only pull him away from his son and ensure that that loneliness remains in the world.

So basically, the entire series thematically annihilated itself in the epilogue - unless it only meant to convey a harsh message that loneliness is here to stay as long as people continue to delude themselves into thinking things like social duties and traditions are equally or more important than interpersonal relationships (in which case, it is both ingenious and at once probably the most mean-spirited piece of fiction I've ever seen). Probably though, it just became monumentally dumb by losing sight of what the original series was supposed to be about. Disappointing.

Or that scene could have fixed with a simple change to the script. Like maybe Naruto saying "Y'know what, screw it, they can wait." or "Well...how about I get through that meeting quickly? Wouldn't want to leave your mother and Himawari anxious." Or just have the last panel of him in the series be with his family, not at the Hokage meeting. I can understand making it shown he's grown, but you'd think Naruto would remember the experiences he went through and wouldn't want his own kids to go through the same loneliness. Seriously Kishimoto, THINK

 

[Lieju]

I like how everyone hates on the state Sakura is in when in actuality it makes sense. War is gone. Sure Sasuke is still on his walk about and there are still Kages but it would appear that war between the great nations is just gone and done forever. I mean Temari and Shikamaru got married and Karui and Choji got married. Ninjas from two different villages hooking up I'm sure was unheard of before. There is nothing to fight anymore and it shows. Instead of building more advanced weapons or whatever we see they are focusing on advancing their society as a whole.

We see her cleaning a house. That's how we are introduced to her in the final chapter.
She could have been shown as focusing to actually advance the society. She is a medical ninja for Cthulhu's sake! How about show her as a doctor? A leader in the peacetime?
Leading humanitarian missions to provide medical aid? Saving people?? Getting hospitals built?

But no, let's show her as cleaning her house and imply her greatest achievement was to make a kid with the asshole she had an unhealthy crush on.

 

[Shim3d]

I feel empty inside when a 25 episode anime finishes so I can only imagine how people who have been following this since the start feel, especially with all I hear about the quality declining for years. Sounds a bit like a beloved family members suffering in pain for a long time before being euthanised.

 

[Queen Michael]

I feel empty inside when a 25 episode anime finishes so I can only imagine how people who have been following this since the start feel, especially with all I hear about the quality declining for years. Sounds a bit like a beloved family members suffering in pain for a long time before being euthanised.

Funny thing is, I'm a long-time Naruto reader as well as the grandson of a man who spent a lot of time being sick, and I can honestly tell you that it does feel that way.

Okay, we didn't euthanize him, he died naturally, but the concept's the same.

 

[Zannah]

I'm going to say... the ending was less disappointing then the Blade of the Immortal ending, if only because I gave up all hope for Naruto a long, long time ago.

The Manga had two interesting villains, did nothing with them and removed them both in ways that I can only call "trolling the fanbase". There was potential in the setting but from the word go, the actual story was pretty terrible because it got stuck with one of the worst main characters this side of eragon.

 

[Avalanche91]

I really can't wrap my head around the fact that there are no consequences for Sasuke's deeds as ninja terrorist and that somehow Sakura still hooked up on him. Thats almost like ninja's suddenly using computers and.... oh.... nevermind then.

I just felt the ending was baiting potential sequel series....

Do you want to know what happens during Sasuke's travels to discover the true meaning of christmas? Do you want to know what happened during Kakashi's years of being Hokage? Do you want to learn more about this new exciting generation of child character OC's?

No. No, I do not want to know any of those things. I am done with the series.

 

[samnoxid]

I have mixed opinions about it to be honest but I suppose it could have been worse right!?

I like that Naruto and Sasuke are buds again but I think it could have been handled A LOT better. I like Naruto becoming Hokage and having kids with Hinata. I like Shikamaru becoming the adviser and having a kid with Temari. I like that Sasuke didn't stay in the village, I think this makes a lot of sense, I can't see Sasuke settling down.

Things I Don't like:

Some of the couplings came out of nowhere and everyone has kids!? Seems very forced.
Most of the kids are carbon copies of their parents. I love you Shika, but your kid is a CLONE. He even wears the same clothes!
Sasuke doesn't get so much of a telling off for doing all the things he did!? What!?
... Sakura ends up with Sasuke!? I don't even... I'm done!

@TWRule Also I quite like your idea of Naruto turning down the position of Hokage in favour of raising his family, that would have been an infinitely better ending to be honest.

 

[springheeljack]

I'm surprised people kept reading it for so long
Of course I read almost all the Goosebumps books so what can I say
Though I was still a child when I read them

 

[ISearchForTraps]

I like how everyone hates on the state Sakura is in when in actuality it makes sense. War is gone. Sure Sasuke is still on his walk about and there are still Kages but it would appear that war between the great nations is just gone and done forever. I mean Temari and Shikamaru got married and Karui and Choji got married. Ninjas from two different villages hooking up I'm sure was unheard of before. There is nothing to fight anymore and it shows. Instead of building more advanced weapons or whatever we see they are focusing on advancing their society as a whole.

We see her cleaning a house. That's how we are introduced to her in the final chapter.
She could have been shown as focusing to actually advance the society. She is a medical ninja for Cthulhu's sake! How about show her as a doctor? A leader in the peacetime?
Leading humanitarian missions to provide medical aid? Saving people?? Getting hospitals built?

But no, let's show her as cleaning her house and imply her greatest achievement was to make a kid with the asshole she had an unhealthy crush on.

And tried to kill her, twice.