#Naruto canon | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tamelee · 1 year

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NARUTO TOPIC: (NON-)'CANON'

In regard to this ask by @isabeldc (and a lot of recent Anon asks about Canon).

(Very long post. [a lot of warnings])

Eh.. I feel like I might be the only person interested in this topic from a p.o.v. that talks about what goes on behind the story. And that is fine this is my personal view. But I think it is vital in a conversation like this because that is where it starts. I still hope this answers the Canon asks I still had though. I apologize, I have studied marketing and am studying storytelling, so this post is kinda theoretical.

Disclaimer: What is Canon is not up to you or me, but your truth will always be yours.

Yes, this post is intentionally color coded.

WHAT DOES CANON MEAN?

Canon is original (and official) source material.

So, as 'Naruto' became an entire franchise based on that original source material- this means: the Manga.

However, additionally Canon also means: material derived from the original source that matches the same narrative. Kishimoto's narrative. (His work.)

A common misconception is that narrative is the same as storytelling (skill) or plot. A plot (chronological) is part of the story. It is a sequence of events (beginning → end). The complete narrative can be more seen as the story itself, a structure and a means to help you understand the creator's perspective and their values. Aka, again: Kishimoto's narrative, his p.o.v. By definition all literature is narrative. This is a very complex topic and yet despite 'Naruto Canon' being easy to define- some people are confused. I also know it's not that serious, I'm making this because I find the topic interesting. That's all.

What made it so confusing for 'Naruto'?

When you experience a story (reading/watching/listening) you use two ways of thinking: paradigmatic and a narrative one. It means logic (facts/truth) and the narrative way of thinking which deals more with human intentions, feelings and personal experiences. They play a part in your interpretation*.

A story's structure reflects the way we, as a learning individual, give meaning to (or make sense out of) personal experiences. Also why humans benefit from learning through narrative (story) as it is more easily absorbed by our brains.

Hence, in our case, when you observe an absurd amount of mental gymnastics or out-of-context reasoning to force 'boy loves girl' despite evidence, (heteronormative thinking), what is really happening is that someone is trying to mentally connect pieces of information to an existing related thread of thoughts. This through concepts, feelings, images, sensations, metaphors etc. An element ('Naruto's story) is ‘wrapped’ and connected to existing narratives in our head. Often biased. (s)

It is not always ignorance or ill intent. Not always.

Such idiosyncratic interpretations* of Canon and other contradictions that only live in a fan's head are Headcanon.

*Note: stories play a very important role in interpretation. And while the mind is a personal thing that in itself is not an excuse to create false narratives on purpose. (Cognitive bias.) These are obvious as they lack in sufficient and accurate information. Your "interpretation" isn't source-material-truth (as in Canon) by itself.

That's why it has been easy to ignore marketing material until now because:

Whoever controls the narrative has the power to influence the reader/viewer. (Depending on target-audience. And yes, I'm talking about what you think I'm talking about.)

(Gretchen Busl did a TEDx talk about control in narratives.)

Which brings me to..

Ownership

Viz Media (terms are incredibly long) says that Kishimoto and Viz Media LLC/Shueisha co-own 'Naruto's licensing. Viz Media (led by Ken Sasaki) is also the one that oversees the financial and operational concerns, controls, buys and handles all the affiliations (which also means hiring third-party employees), licensing and broadcasting businesses as it is the parent company. And well, this is normal. Kishimoto is a Mangaka, not a business man.

What I'm emphasizing here is that Kishimoto does not have full ownership of 'Naruto' (which has its own rules) as it became more than a story. A franchise. Something that became a profitable source due to the story's success. Even as he was creating the Manga, he mentioned in interviews that he had to argue with the team about details/scenes (Naruto's sexy Harem Jutsu- guy version etc) and that he felt pressured about x, y and z.

A popular book about screenwriting ("Save the Cat!" by Blake Snyder) talks about pre-sold franchises. It is when studios produce sequels/remakes that an audience is already "sold" on. A built-in fan base. In the early '00s big companies already had trouble grabbing a viewer's attention as the average attention span was cut down to 30 seconds. These days it is down to less than 5. (Newer studies say it's more an issue of us becoming more demanding, an adaptation of sorts.) People quickly give up on new shows if it doesn't grab them immediately and it is hard to cut through all the traffic that competes for attention. I even notice myself finding it hard to get into new shows lately and needing to really sit down in order to give it a chance. 'Naruto' has everything that Hirohiko Araki (creator of JoJo) describes as 'the Royal Road of Manga', so decision-makers just don't think that you're out there always wanting to try something new. They're not willing to gamble without research. (That's not smart anyway.) And this happened a lot throughout Shippuden with the help of polls, (most popular female character for example which was a huge one) collecting data and doing thorough quantitative research to predict a future and hopefully spot a trend. Hence the existence of 'Boruto'.

So what do you think? How genuine is 'Boruto' anyway?

(Having done research doesn't mean automatic success.. as we are the built-in fanbase.)

This also is happening as I write this post. (Though the current poll seems highly busted as the cult found a way to vote multiple times a day.)

You may constantly hear people say "Boruto is only made for profit" and that in the end is true, yet there is more to it. I hope you can see why. And it is important to understand the underlying intentions in my opinion when it comes to a discussion about something being genuinely Canon. Which is why many people refuse the sequel to be Canon in the first place.

.. Storytelling and building a franchise around the original work (incl. business, marketing, adaptations) are different things.

In all definitions for something to be judged as Canon, as a general rule, official material has to be genuine. Preferably made by the original creators themselves. If it goes against the narrative (the story) or if it doesn't add anything that matches the same narrative as the original source material, then it is non-Canon.

THE ANIME

'Filler lists' for Anime are made by page contributors which you and I can register for too. Despite 'Naruto' finishing in 2017, the most popular lists get updated regularly and not too long ago.

Why you ask? Personal bias and confusion created around its messy sequel 'Boruto'. They've added 'Anime Canon' (it makes no sense) which simply means Filler (non-Canon). Episodes based on novels (every episode after 484) are now marked as 'Manga Canon' and previously were not as there is no Manga nor is it Canon.

Hence, people are bringing up the Canon-question lately. Things in 'Naruto' are being changed in discussion for the sake of its sequel. "If that in 'Boruto' is true then this for 'Naruto' wasn't right either!!" They say. Hello????? Its foundation is being reworked instead of the other way around. And I don't know about you and this has nothing to do with Naruto or Sasuke as characters only, but that's pretty damn sad. (And yes I know, what exists already can never be changed, but this is still a matter of controlling the narrative which I'll explain.)

To produce an animation a lot of people are involved. (Literally hundreds.) Don't take my word for it though, there are plenty of documentaries about the process that you can look for. I also have a few examples from ASO College group Japan. The pics are from their animation course. To understand how a change in narrative (or deliberate control) can happen, it helps to know a bit about the process.

This is just a general overview but all of these are vital for the production of animation. Everyone has their own role but first, before anything there is a planning phase. Someone who schedules and does the finances etc.

The Producer.

Aka Studio Pierrot (and Aniplex) for Naruto (Shippuden) 4 years after the Manga was published. Well, the planning started probably earlier but that’s when the Anime first aired. (2002)

Then, you need a director who will grasp the entire image of the work and control the production to make sure that everything progresses smoothly.

“The director has the right to make the final decision on many aspects of the animation project.”

The narrative of the Manga will always be kept in mind (of course) but this is true!!! Kishimoto is not the director of the Anime. It is not his job. (Although as a Mangaka, you are also a director of your story in the Manga as well.) And at the same time he was still extensively working on the Manga without rest.

For ‘Naruto’ the director was:

Hayato Date

For ‘Naruto Shippuden’ the directors were:

Hayato Date (1 - 479)

(Note: interesting choice to switch director here, no?)

Osamu Kobayashi (480 - 483)

Chiaki Kon (484 - 488)

Toshinori Watanabe (489 - 493)

Masahiko Murata (494 - 500)

‘Naruto’ has 30+ episode directors who are in charge of the individual episodes themselves. ‘Naruto’ Shippuden around 77 (!!).

Only when everything is decided planning-wise, then they start the process. They need someone to fill in all the details and spoken lines.

That’s the amazing work of a screenwriter.

“Even if the work is being adapted from an original Manga or novel,”

“Modifications are almost always needed for producing the animation.”

Of course, a scene needs to be filled as blocks of narratives are missing between panels or even rewritten in order to produce an episode. In the case of 'Naruto' entire fight scenes needed to be choreographed. Dialogue needed to be added in order to compose an entire episode out of a few panels. Entire Seasons of Filler arcs exist. Who do you think wrote all that?

These people:

This is relevant because it means that more than 30 people are involved in the process of 'storying content' based on their own judgement of the original Manga. If you ever wondered why some episodes are very much in favor of one narrative and seemingly against the same one in another- this is why as well.

"Can you kill me calmly(/softly)? Sasuke.."

Some things didn't make it into the Anime. Other things changed that modify the context a bit like having the other Shinobi help Naruto during the War by animating all those hands. Or have Naruto show regret after "dying" because he promised Jiraiya he would become Hokage. That changes a lot because in actuality he didn't mind dying with Sasuke, that was his choice. Having him show regret in front of Sasuke would make Sasuke feel guilt, (that's what some people thought) as if he was blaming him for it. That wasn't the case at all, yet, if you haven't read the Manga I can see why you'd think that as it gets brought up in conversation. They completely missed the mark in my opinion. And well, Sasuke's entire confession.. it would've explained a lot for Anime watchers. During VotE2, Sasuke's emotions were dulled compared to the Manga as well as in the panels, he was shouting while punching Naruto.

Then of course there are certain scenes that were glorified and characters which background stories are completely made up. And yet, those episodes are marked as 'Manga Canon' (when it should be 'Mixed Canon/Filler'.)

Which is fine, the point is that the Anime is created by an enormous team. Even the slightest modification changes the narrative and it is inevitable as so much script is added or at points, lost. But arguing for Canon based off of a list is completely pointless for these reasons.

Currently as I write this, 197 - 222 from Shippuden are all marked as 'Manga Canon' except for 213 (Mixed Canon/Filler) and I don't think it was that way(?), which is perfect because I want to talk about that one and 212.

The story at this point is Sakura running after Sasuke and Kiba told her where he is. She knocks out her comrades whom she asked for help, leaves them to die in the middle of a path in enemy territory so she can go after Sasuke herself and thinks she can kill him with a useless poisoned kunai even though he is immune to it. (Confirmed by Kakashi.) Now, please take note of the image that the OP called 'lovers' is painting ↩

Ah yes the love-triangle. Except, no one is paying Sakura any attention. The OP/ED’s have their own directors btw.

In this arc, both Naruto and Sakura set their own resolve in how they are handling their current situation and decide what to do in regard to Sasuke. More importantly how they feel about it. The Anime decided to split up their decision-making into two episodes in order to show you the contrast deliberately. 212 'Sakura's Resolve' (Manga Canon?) for Sakura, and 213 'Lost Bonds' (Mixed Canon/Filler'?) for Naruto.

First, Sakura deceived, hurt and manipulated (yes, she did, your meta's defending this don't make sense) the people around her so she could run off on her own. Naruto sneaked off without Yamato knowing, although he got annoyed, his little white lie saying he "slept" didn't hurt anyone. In fact, if he wasn't on time Sakura would've died. They both got 2 panels in the Manga running towards the bridge where Sasuke is.

In the Anime however majority of ep 212 shows Sakura running while we hear her thoughts about the matter. The same for Naruto in ep 213 although he is in despair while lying in bed first which is prolonged too.

They add scenes of Sakura as a child where she tells other kids, including Ino that she picked Sasuke to be her crush. For Naruto it is scenes of him picking Sasuke to be his rival.

We see a ton of "Team" 7 flashbacks while we hear their thoughts. Sakura asks herself when she fell in love with Sasuke, that being teammates didn’t change her, how she was “so hopelessly in love with the cool Sasuke..” as we see some scenes of her staring at him:

.. yada, yada..

As for Naruto, he says the reason he picked Sasuke to be his rival is because he was so different from himself (as Sasuke was so good at everything at the time and Naruto wasn’t) he wanted to become like Sasuke. (He confessed this in Canon.) Naruto explains that Sasuke was always one step ahead of him and that the reason why he trained so hard was because he wanted to catch up to him. He’s his strength. (Do you see where this is going? Do you already notice the insane contrast with the previous episode and how it feels?) Instead of Sakura's shallow thoughts and selfish love they show Sasuke acknowledging Naruto which is also Canon (Chunin Exam). Something he realized he wanted since Chapter 3.

“It was the first time Sasuke acknowledged me as an equal.” he says.

Then, in Sakura's episode she reflects upon how she never gave a thought to who Sasuke really was “behind that pensive face” and when she realized “the shadow he carried” it was too late. Thus, Sakura gives up on Sasuke. (But that is Canon.) She also goes on about Naruto knowing more than her and her trying to catch up with them but that Sasuke isn’t Sasuke anymore. Her thoughts here, although not in the Manga word for word in the same Chapter, still match Canon. She doesn't know anything about Sasuke and Kishimoto has her confess this again after the war, that all she could do was cry.

Naruto’s thoughts, confessions are actually also in the Manga and he repeats them later in the scene which is under the bridge both in the Manga and the Anime.

Naruto reflects upon what he knows and came to learn. Then Sai is shown (who’s character is used also to help readers/viewers answer questions about Kishimoto’s version of “bonds”), as he says that both Naruto and Sakura must have a reason to pursue Sasuke so desperately even though he doesn’t understand it all that clearly yet. Because he doesn't. This to emphasize the point of the episodes.

While Sakura had set her resolve to kill Sasuke by herself, Naruto is still in despair about the entire situation and previous events. He mulls over his bond with Sasuke (this extension of the pining isn’t in the Manga) while we see some more flashbacks (Retrieval Arc, Canon). He accepts that at the time he didn’t understand Sasuke as he thinks over his words during VotE1 while they show scenes that are in the Manga:

We get to see more flashbacks from characters who press Naruto about his bond with Sasuke as they all tell him to give up on him. As they tell him to focus on his goals to become Hokage which can't include Sasuke and that he's a fool that should become wiser if he wants to survive as a Ninja. As not only the whole world gives up on Sasuke and Naruto's faith in Sasuke, even Sakura who supposedly loves him so much says that he's is too far beyond their reach... Yet she comes to realize after Naruto’s speech under the bridge that it is only Naruto that is able to reach Sasuke, that only Naruto never gave up on him and that her resolve to kill Sasuke in comparison to Naruto who wants to bear Sasuke's hatred and die with him.. is not only weak- they made it pretty clear how irrelevant she is to him. As she says herself: She's the one not able to reach him, but Naruto can. And she said this before 'Sasuke's retrieval Arc' too.

Conclusion:

Naruto already said he'd rather be a fool his whole life.

So, the Anime tells it slightly differently than the Manga, neither episodes are entirely 'Manga Canon' and don't follow the original structure. However it is all based on Canon, so how would you judge this? There is a reason why I bring this up.

It would almost be impossible for an Anime to be completely 'Manga Canon' because your Anime would be really short yet what you can do is be genuine and stay true to the narrative. Which is what happened here. So why is everyone simply accepting how every episode is marked by a random person anyway? Why are some episodes marked differently when it's the same? That list is biased as hell.

For that reason I'm very selective about episodes being Canon or not. Some scenes within an episode are, some aren't.. But in the end every episode despite Fillers up until Shippuden ep 479 the message didn't change. Hinata and Sakura still were ignored in the end and dudebro's ran to the internet to complain about Naruto and Sasuke's fixation on each other. And so for me it doesn't really matter much.

And also, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I wouldn't mind a Naruto remake. If they could do it well at least and follow the Manga completely without so many flashbacks and leave out all the fillers? Make it like the bingewatch-Anime's like they make these days? It's just that I don't have a lot of faith in it. But if they could with a non-bias director? (At least one that understands the Manga well.) I'd love to see it.

MOVIES

For the same reasons I don’t consider the movies Canon. Not even if Kishimoto worked on them. So many people work on these movies even at the planning stage alone and then hundreds including the animation, voice acting, production and music... Plastering Kishimoto’s name on it and saying “he worked on it” doesn’t really say much tbf.

The only exception is ‘Boruto the Movie’ (if you count that in the first place), because Kishimoto was very vocal about it being his personal project. He did not only write the story, but also did the screenplay. (!) Which is very different from vaguely saying "..he was involved in the writing." And it shows because the ‘Boruto’ Anime, with their weird shipping-agenda, re-did the scenes to make them look less gay. Which is insulting tbh.

And no, 'the Last' is not Canon, Genjutsu my ass.

We all know why it was made and if you go back to the meaning of ‘Canon’ (“material derived from the original source that matches the same narrative”) that’s not it. Genjutsu worked on Naruto before he could control Kurama's Chakra. Explain to me why Kurama, whom had a perfect partnership built with Naruto at the end of the series, hated Naruto all of a sudden and refused to break him out of that lame guilt trip other than stupid plot-reasons and you may have a point. I'll wait.

DATABOOKS

Vague, includes subjective commentary by staff and are highly inconsistent. I guess they’re fun to use when discussing powerscaling between characters. You can quickly check a character's Chakra nature or profile which is useful. For things like that I guess they can be helpful.

For other data though.. why not use the Manga? All the data is in there already. While it is true that the books use the Manga as a source and it is nice to know their birthdays, the commentary includes words that literally don’t make sense. Temari can “blow away the Universe” (subjective) and Sakura sees Naruto as “a troublesome guy that courts her insistently but only wants the best for him and never doubted him.” (wrong) Hinata is described as a “pure white lily whose feelings of love reach towards the future in place of her resolve” (my god). There is a reason why people use these Databooks so insistently while ignoring the Manga. It is glorified and untrue.

Therefore, sure they may be fun to have (I guess) because they’re meant to show you a summarized overview of a character through spiced up vocabulary like they’re selling them to you, but that’s why Databooks can’t be Canon.

INTERVIEWS

You have years worth of story and a little interview is what should invalidate or support that entirely? Everyone has their own bias/characters after all. Characters that Kishimoto openly mocks. Kishimoto's earlier interviews seem very genuine and he goes in-depth about his story and how he’s thinking about ending it too. As early as 2006.

He leaves little stories about his life in-between Manga Chapters and they're enjoyable to read. Some interviews are also in his art-books. But around the time they started to press him about ships in the middle of Shippuden? He stumbles around words, says contradicting things, constantly mentions feeling pressured and starts hiding. I think it is clear why this happened. But that's why I try not to use them in arguments because it is easy to counter his words with his own damn words said in another interview :')!

I do use his interviews when it comes to his art-form/writing because I, as an aspiring writer, love to take inspiration from him. But no, interviews are not Canon as Kishimoto himself, has been too contradicting. Which is why I don’t use them if possible, not even in SNS’s favor.

Of course, this applies to VA's etc- too.

NOVELS

None of the novels from the Naruto franchise (though maybe Itachi Shinden? Not sure) are truly made to add something new that was in character. Truthfully I haven’t read them all but novels are non-Canon. Yes, no matter what label they give them in order to fool you into getting interested in its dumb sequel. This never used to be a question in the first place. Not like this anyway. The only fandom that is questioning this is.. *drumroll please* the Naruto/SS/Boruto-fandom. Wow, I wonder why. Are you surprised? Are you questioning this? Ok. Google something vaguely like "are novels canon?" and see what comes up. Ikr? And you didn't even mention 'Naruto'. And I know, I'm sure there are plenty of people saying the novels are Canon nowadays, hence this post. And hence the changes in the Filler-lists.

There is one I have read in its entirety though, the one that made that all happen, which author (mostly known for the Retsuden series) made sure to note it is in fact, NON-Canon.

And this is probably the only thing I'll agree on with Esaka.

These aren't Esaka’s only tweets claiming the novels to be her own. As in: singular. Or her own interpretation/story/not an extension of the original Manga. What people don’t understand is that plastering Kishimoto’s name on a novel as “by Masashi Kishimoto” is a marketing ploy because it sells well. It makes 'Boruto' and in this case a ship that has no development more legit despite still having no development.

It makes us talk about it more. Joke's on me. I'm aware thanks.

Because they know that people do care about things being Canon even if people make posts about them not caring about things being Canon or not. Wdym oxymoron. Showing off the Mangaka's name means the story (the original Manga) is by Kishimoto not the story within the novel but they don’t have to specify that on a cover. Why? Because they CO-OWN the licensing. They hired Esaka who got into 'Naruto' only a year before writing her fantasy novel. He didn’t sit next to her to write her trash garbage (anti-)fanfic. (Spoiler). Why is that so hard to understand?

Check WSJ, 27th issue if you must, “she (Esaka) returns” after having written Sasuke Shinden and Kakashi Retsuden.

These novels are simply made to create more income for the company and the quickest way to do so is by picking a target audience and satiate their needs. Kishimoto mentioned he had no clue how to get SS together as Sasuke only has rejected her and had no reason to love her (Canon) and so they hire a SS-shipper to write that story.

"So?" I hear you say. "He couldn't think of anything, so they hire someone else, what's the big deal."

Oh. glad you asked. Well for one, we already had 'Gaiden' where Kishimoto made the dynamic between the characters as adults pretty clear. Secondly, this novel was a response to 'Gaiden' and went directly against the entire narrative including the original source almost as if to debunk what was already there. Like she was saying that Kishimoto was wrong about everything and that her ship is sailing strong regardless while taking his scenes AND dialogue used between Naruto and Sasuke but then using them for SS. This, because Esaka seemed a little bitter about it. So therefore already, 'Retsuden' can't be Canon no matter what. Thirdly, she is a well-known Naruto and Hinata hater who openly likes tweets mocking them and supports the idea that Naruto is a third wheel who is not really that important to Sasuke. Engaging in such (anti-)fandom behavior as a "professional author" hired by the franchise and holding quite the influence for your sub-fandom is just disrespectful. She agrees with fans who beg for official smut novels and art from her and Kishimoto and I just don't think she should is all. (This, and don't laugh, is also marketing research, she can, if the company can profit from it, actually make it happen. Because it already did with the adaptations. But doing so with this type of behavior, doesn't mean the narrative-change is Canon.)

Also, Kishimoto drew the cover but didn't even design it himself. He got the assignment by email. That's how much he was involved. Kenji Takahashi from the design company ‘Terra Engine’ is in charge of the designs and JJ-books interviewed them about it in 2019. (S)

I might one day make a short summary of a long post I made about Retsuden because that one is a mess. I don't encourage you to read it. I do have to say, if you think Sasuke with 2 arms, or Avatar-filter screenshots are bad, from what I've seen, those adaptations are 1000000x better than the novel 😂💀 and that's saying a lot.

Anyway I talked enough. 🌷

#naruto analysis #naruto canon #canon talk #episode 212 #episode 213 #I hope I answered all the anon asks about canon in this #can't possibly have made this longer anyway 💀#should I add more disclaimers and warnings #or nah #nah #just don't read if it is a topic that bothers you much I guess #also I don't like retsuden #hope that helps

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