#who has so little issue with naruto as a narrative | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wispforever · 7 months

Text

Some thoughts on Itachi

So, I've seen a lot of comments circulating about my tags on this post, and I'm intrigued at the interest. I didn't expect it, as I see much more pigeonholing of Itachi's character than honest to god analysis. No hate- I'm no stranger to Kishimoto's writing. Some of his characters were unfortunately butchered or never given the chance to be developed properly, and Itachi is most certainly no exception. That said, I like to grant him a bit more nuance than I see on most blogs. I think people get a little wrapped up in the supposed "moral implications" of exploring how Itachi was also a victim of the system, as well as someone who victimized many people. But it's silly to equate character analysis and context consideration with condoning genocide.

I have a good laugh every once and a while at the metaphorical gymnastics people do in order to stay in the good graces of a bunch of internet trolls who are just Waiting for any opportunity to tell you you love murder and think it's delicious just because you made a post exploring a character's background. Media is grey; it's layered and wonderfully complex. There are many wrongs and rights in every story, and many wrongs and rights within those wrongs and rights. That's what I love about Naruto. Often times it's really too much like real life. Instead of people being black and white, right or wrong, bad or good- they're usually in a tough situation, trying their best and falling short, don't have all of the information, acting with good intentions or acting on what they believe will bring about a lesser evil, and then end up hurting others.

But it is much easier to assign blame and move on. A so-called bad person will always be the perfect scapegoat for issues bigger than them. In Itachi's case, the fascist government in the Leaf. It's easier to say Itachi could have just refused and decided not to be involved, than to recognize that like almost every other character in the narrative, he was under extreme duress, living in a military state. He was a child whose existence, along with all the other children and adults in the Leaf, was only valuable as long as he could serve as a tool for the war machine in the shinobi world's fucked up political system. And saying this is not the same as saying he was not capable of better decisions or that everything that he did thereafter or in general should not be read critically or subject to hypothetical consequences. It is the same as a saying his actions cannot be fully understood without complete context, and the themes of Naruto will never come through if every villain is just "evil" with no further nuance. And it would be boring too LOL

That said, I love to think about Itachi's situation back then. The ages in Naruto are a bit muddled, a little inconsistent, subject to change and interpretation, but Itachi was a child when he murdered everyone in the Uchiha compound. Most sources say he was 13. It should go without saying that someone so young isn't capable of the same decision-making or critical thinking as say, a 30-year-old, someone whose brain is finished developing and has much more experience on Earth.

Itachi's experience at this point in his life is informed by his age, and it's obviously informed by his childhood, as he has no other place from which to draw conclusions. Itachi grew up in a warring state. He saw people die and was subject to extreme violence in his formative years. To make matters worse, he was taught that war was inevitable and the only thing he could do to guard against it was kill others before they got the chance to kill him (threaten the village). Thusly, Itachi internalized at a very young age that what was in his power was to minimize damage (to himself, to his village, and to the world). What was not in his power was to stop this violence entirely (by adopting a critical mindset and going against fascist powers).

A part of this I think people often forget is that Itachi has absolutely nowhere to adopt this mindset FROM, as even though his father and the other members of the Uchiha clan seek equity in the Leaf, if they were to overthrow the Hokage and create a new system, it would still presumably center around the same ideals (minus, of course, the oppression of the Uchiha as a group). Fugaku is the head of the Uchiha clan at this time. As someone who imposed near impossible performance-related expectations on both of his sons, and withheld love and affection whenever they came up short (so often that it was at the cost of having any considerable emotional bond with either of them), there is absolutely no good reason to believe that Fugaku would reform the Leaf using a non-fascist ideology. And if he did, there is no good reason to believe that he would be some kind of visionary LMAO

This is important to remember because when it comes down to Itachi's decision to either kill everyone in the Uchiha compound and his family, or be part of the coup that would overthrow the Leaf, some people treat it as though it's a choice between fascism and non-fascism, which it most certainly is not. And if it was, Itachi, as a child who had grown up immersed in this ideology, would not be able to appreciate the difference. This context allows us to understand further what Itachi was really weighing in that moment. Accounting for his young age and limited worldview, the only valuable difference in this moment to Itachi was the amount of bloodshed that he would "allow" to happen. Essentially, he sees the options as follows:

Either give in to Danzo and kill everyone in the Uchiha compound, or facilitate a coup where the current government is (hopefully) overthrown and risk starting another war.

Here, Itachi pauses. He has known war. He knows how it affects children, adults, families, and whole nations. The peace he's living in currently is bought with blood, but it's the only peace he's ever known. The alternative is horrifying. And a war in this context, Itachi likely thinks, would be his fault, as he has now been put in the position to "prevent" it. Danzo and the whole shinobi system have groomed him into thinking so. Itachi, at age 13, cannot understand that there would be no war; it exists only as leverage for Danzo's argument at this point. His sensitivities are being played on.

Fugaku, though he is not the same as Danzo, offers about as much help as he does (that being none). Fugaku has no interest in avoiding war; if a war breaks out, it's justified because it will still mean his clan will no longer be living in oppression. This idea is valid, as fascist systems and discrimination can only cease to exist when we rise up against them; unfortunately, this most often calls for righteous violence, as the oppressive powers will not be moved with peaceful shows (not to mention they are willing to go to extreme lengths to avoid losing their hold on the people they have crushing power over, i.e. the Uchiha massacre). But Fugaku has no words to explain this to Itachi, who fears the worst and further fears being responsible for the worst. All he does is act as if it's a moral failing that his 13-year-old son is unwilling to stage a coup, which he believes could mark the abrupt end of a peace that's only just begun.

That said, let it be known that Itachi does appreciate this situation with SOME nuance, though it isn't of the kind that might have enabled him to see he was being manipulated. He at the very least understands that Danzo is a warmonger and oppresses those he fears (the Uchiha). He understands that the rights of his clan have been sorely disrespected, and that the issue needs correction. He understands the anger of his friends and family. This is why it takes him much deliberation before he can even come close to making a decision. He plays both sides right up until the end, listening to Danzo, as well as Fugaku and Shisui, paying attention to the current atmosphere in the Leaf as he tries to decide.

It is something he doesn't want to do. Here's where I get to the part I put in the tags of my drawing.

In this situation, it's almost worthless to write an analysis about Itachi's feelings at this time, his understanding of what was actually going on, his loyalty to his clan or his loyalty to the Leaf, because really, he could not grasp it. He was never prepared for this. He never knew he would be asked to make a decision he could only understand as "your family or the world?"

Itachi was put in a position that had no happy ending. There was no decision he could make that would not hurt. That could not result in a cataclysm that split him right down the middle. There was no version of this story that a 13-year-old could carry out thinking "I have done the right thing."

And that's the important part. Both sides asked him to make this decision, and so both sides are guilty of placing an immeasurable pressure on a child who should never have been put in such a position. Regardless of ideology, regardless of price, regardless of oppression or loyalty or devotion or any other thing- someone else should have made this decision for Itachi. Someone else should have been responsible. An adult, at the very least. Someone who COULD understand the implications of both options. Someone who COULD go forward and appreciate the evil of fascism and know that a coup was necessary. Itachi was never capable of such a thing. If he made the "wrong" decision, than every child who can't explain to you what a fascist government in a military state looks like and explain what the difference is between a hate crime and resisting a hateful power, is also wrong. Here is the nuance. These are things a 13-year-old in this universe cannot be expected to understand unless they are taught. And Itachi had no teacher. Quite the opposite. There were only forces pressing him from both sides, saying "choose."

Had his father done this for him, had Shisui been in this position, had any other adult Uchiha acting as a spy been put to this task, it would be a much different narrative. But of course, it had to be Itachi, who Danzo knew he could manipulate. It had to be a child, someone skilled enough to do the job, but inexperienced enough, afraid enough, to be willing to sacrifice everything they had to see the mission through. Someone you could whisper "greater good" to and have them hand over their well being on a plate. Someone who didn't understand they had the power and strength to destroy the system threatening them.

On a narrative level, Itachi exists to illustrate this point. How young people are systematically indoctrinated to serve a greater purpose, be it under a specific government, religion, or otherwise. We see it in real life fascism, in real life cults. There's no mistake. It isn't an accident that Itachi's story begins like this.

Which brings me to the rest of his life. The reason I drew the picture in the post referenced at the top. Itachi's character is a bit of a mystery the rest of the anime. Be that because of bad writing or an intentional omission, his motives, thoughts, and opinions are largely left ambiguous. However, there are still a few moments that interest me as far as the implications of his development.

When Itachi first comes back to the Leaf village, he faces Kakashi. On the one hand, this could simply be a narrative tool- the big bad meets the big good. He takes Kakashi out of commission! The first rogue shinobi we see who is able to defeat the pillar of the Leaf, the Copy Ninja, and without even breaking a sweat!

On the other hand, I find the brutality of Itachi's attack very intriguing. Again, it could be the tough guy act, but he's able to keep three jonin busy easily using standard genjutsu (with the help of Kisame). It wouldn't be a stretch to say that using the tsukuyomi is overkill, and at a considerable price, we learn later.

Why then would Itachi, who has been shown to have excellent battle intelligence, who is strategic to a fault, be willing to jeopardize his health among other things just to... scare the Leaf? Make sure Kakashi wouldn't be a nuisance in the future? Sure, the last one would make collecting Naruto less complicated, but they dispatched Kakashi easily enough, and surely Jiraiya, who Naruto was with at the time, would pose a bigger problem than Kakashi.

It doesn't make strategic sense, which makes me wonder if Itachi has a special animosity toward Kakashi. Being his superior in the ANBU before the Uchiha massacre, someone who was willing to conduct surveillance of the Uchiha compound without question, Kakashi could have become a symbol of the indifference of the Leaf for Itachi. He could very well have been a reminder of the inoperable position Itachi was put in when he was still a child, and Kakashi, of course, was an adult. Another adult who did nothing. Noticed nothing. Did not help Itachi.

And while I'm certain that Kakashi would have taken severe issue with the goings on in the Leaf at that time, judging by his reaction when he finds out the truth in Shippuden, Itachi knows him only by what he did then. Facilitated surveillance of the Uchiha compound, was a supportive superior, but nothing greater. A bystander whose compassion, while well meaning, was entirely unhelpful.

I don't think it's far fetched that Itachi fucking crucified Kakashi because he was so angry at what being in the Leaf did to him. At some point, as he got older, he realized how terrible it was. He realized there were people like him. Children who were "born killers". Pawns in the game of the shinobi powers.

After leaving the village, Itachi joins the Akatsuki, who are also seeking peace through war (another story). He is supposed to spy for them, but doesn't follow through in any enthusiastic way (that we're shown). He works alone for quite some time, or else with a group (briefly he was shown with Conan and Kakuzu). He is partners with Orochimaru before he's expelled from the Akatsuki. He is partners with one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He grows up and meets many people, sees lots of stories unfold. He learns that he isn't in a minority. Many shinobi are just like him.

And then, as an adult, he is partnered with Kisame, who he finds excellent camaraderie with because of their similar backgrounds. We see in this relationship that he understands what happened to him and what he did enough to acknowledge that, while neither of them are monsters, as many people say, they are human. And humans make mistakes. Humans are complicated. Wrong and right and wrong and right. They understand each other, and Itachi understands more clearly what the world puts these children up to. What it forces shinobi to become. That it isn't all his fault, but he still did it. And so he is responsible. He appears to be able to live with that.

But when he returns to the Leaf, those feelings bubble up. He hates the Leaf. He hates that system. He hates what he did. Maybe he even hates being a shinobi, how his excellence was weaponized, how being an Uchiha doomed him and his clan. And for what?

Itachi is played as a character who is only sensible, only logical, only interested in practical things, has nothing to express. But the way he behaves toward Kakashi in that moment bares all his grief and anger. I just like to think about it. We have so few moments where we get to see Itachi genuinely. The fight with Kakashi, the Sasuke/Deidara fight, his thoughtful moments with Kisame. Just makes me wonder what could've been if Itachi's story had gone a little differently.

Anyway, if anyone would like me to expand on any points or has additional thoughts, feel free to hop in my ask box or leave a comment. Thanks for the interest, I love to talk.

#this is wisp #itachi uchiha #analysis

153 notes · View notes

theheirofthesharingan · 5 days

Note

Hello,

As someone who’s recently delved into the anime community, I’ve noticed a profound connection many fans have with characters like Itachi and Sasuke. Their stories are undeniably tragic, and it’s clear they hold a special place in the hearts of many.

I’m curious about the depth of affection and empathy for these characters, considering they are fictional. What is it about their journeys that resonates so deeply with you? Is it not challenging to experience heartache over their struggles and sacrifices on a daily basis?

From my perspective, anime is a source of enjoyment and escapism. While I understand the impact of these characters, I wonder if focusing on their sorrow might overshadow the joy and adventure that new anime series can bring.

Itachi’s tale has concluded, and Sasuke’s safety is assured within the narrative. Wouldn’t exploring new stories potentially enrich our lives with diverse experiences and emotions?

I hope this question comes across as sincere and not dismissive of your feelings. I’m genuinely interested in understanding the emotional bonds fans create with these characters.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Any piece of media that explores emotions and emotional bonds between characters is likely to click with a lot of people and leave profound impact on them. I'm not into anime or TV in general either, so I haven't seen many shows except for a handful few I can count on the fingers of my one hand.

To me, personally, while both Itachi and Sasuke are special because they're well written, there's also a kind of relatablity factor.

Sasuke grew up being compared to Itachi, no matter how hard he tried he didn't get the acknowledgement he deserved, because his brother was considered better than him. Maybe Itachi was better than him in skills and knowledge, but Sasuke was a different person with a different personality who shouldn't have been compared with Itachi at all. I've been through the same. Being compared with my classmates, friends repeatedly no matter how hard I worked. It just wasn't enough for some reason. It poisons you from inside and leaves you feeling insecure with a lot of sell-esteem issues. We know Sasuke went through them.

It's the same with Itachi. Kids experience different versions of parents. Older kids meet more immature and flawed versions of their moms and dads. The mistakes parents made with them aren't repeated with the second and third-borns. That doesn't mean it doesn't damage the older children who didn't ask to be born and bear the brunt of their parents' traumas. They're older so no they're expected to take the burdens and the responsibility. They kind of become mother and father to their younger siblings but more tender ones.

That's how Itachi and Sasuke's relationship before the massacre was as well as Itachi's relationship with his parents. I find this very relatable. The way he's not allowed to voice his opinions yet he cares about his brother. His ideals aren't really considered relevant, and his feelings don't matter to any adult in his life. That is so, so, so relatable to me. I learned a lot about my relationship with my parents when I watched and analyzed Itachi's with his parents. I learned to forgive my own parents after that. This is getting a little personal, but yeah, it happened. I don't feel as angry and bitter with them as I did before I watched Naruto last year.

Other than that, there are people who watched Naruto and also other anime, and they love these two along with the characters from other anime. I'm just not all that interested in it even though, yes, more stories would mean more entertainment. But I'm not someone who moves on easily from things and people.

Plus, I like the 'flavour' of angst some characters provide. It's hard to explain in the words, but it's like seeing colours. And it doesn't happen with every character I read about or watch. With Itachi, I 'see' red colour, and yes, it's the colour of his susano'o as well, but I'd had this feeling about him before it was introduced. It's like his aura that has some kind of purity to it. It doesn't have anything to do with his morals or how I perceive them, but something else. With Sasuke, it was bluish-purple. Again similar to his susano'o, but I'd had this 'vision' about his aura from the beginning. A character from a show in my country made me think of transparent snowflakes - pure and unblemished, and when his character was ruined, I started to see the 'muddied static' and I lost the connect with him. It never happened with Itachi or Sasuke. I love them both so much.

And I don't think I'm missing out on anything by not watching other anime. They might have other well-written characters that I might fall in love with too, but I love what Sasuke and Itachi make me feel. They're my comfort characters and they're therapeutic to me too, and they both feel very personal to me. Their pain made me feel less lonely. I don't really have friends irl (not the ones I can talk to when I feel alone), okay, this is getting even more personal but yeah so I spend my time either reading or writing. And it's also probably because if you've been depressed for too long, this kind of pain becomes addictive. So I need something to latch on to because I don't want to go to therapy.

This whole answer probably hasn't made any sense, because I don't know.. I tried my best, I swear.

#itachi #sasuke #uchiha brothers #ask #anon #again i tried to make some sense of this answer so i hope it makes some sense

14 notes · View notes

leportraitducadavre · 7 months

Note

okay, I’m not a gatekeeper. I swear I’m not. But I genuinely cannot help but be irked when I see a hinata fan latch themselves onto characters like Neji or Sasuke. Pretending like they ~totally~ understand their characters while also horribly misrepresenting them and characterizing them like they’re from a fanfiction. Talking about how noo sasuke would love hinata if he really got to know her! He’s just so cold and unfeeling that a character like hinata could really bring out a nice side to him!1!1!1 Neji is a victim of this too but in a slightly lesser degree as most hinata fans don’t bother to ship them openly as they’re related. But that won’t stop them from characterizing Neji as someone completely and utterly obsessed with hinata to the point he grovels at her feet and is possessive of her like a “big brother.” Because if hinata called him her big brother when he died then that totally makes them siblings! Who cares if neji considers himself that! Hinata said so1!11!1!

god I dunno. Maybe I’m just being selfish in the idea I just want hinata Stans to stay tf away from Neji and Sasuke because if you like hinata and her character, there is absolutely zero chance you will be able to understand Neji or Sasuke.

Well, I don't see an issue with liking a character by itself and proclaiming yourself a fan of the rest (I'm a big fan of Ino Yamanaka and Sasuke Uchiha, two characters that stand in opposite corners thematically), yet this can be sustained as long as we respect their canonical characterizations and understand that not everything about a character is "good" or has to be justified. As for the core of your complaint, I agree, as many of these arguments are sustained on the premise of giving Hinata more relevance (romantically or politically); something that she canonically does not possess and that neither of the two previously mentioned male characters are interested in giving her.

Hinata's sole purpose as a character was based on being Neji's polar opposite during his arc (the Chünin exams are relevant to Neji, not Hinata, who is a supporting character to him) and being Naruto's admirer on certain occasions. That's it, at no point was she even mentioned or observed by Sasuke, and any narrative weight she might have carried disappeared when Neji himself was no longer necessary for Naruto's growth.

Neji's problem isn't just with Hinata (I'm surprised to have to clarify something specifically mentioned in the manga and anime), but with the entire main Hyüga family; which is why his arc doesn't close until Hiashi (not Hinata), apologizes.

As for Sasuke, I wouldn't spend any more time thinking about it since the sole reason for his involvement lies in a desire for romantic reciprocity from the most attractive and powerful character in the manga (at the thought of an offspring with both Byakugan and Sharingan, despite the fact that the Sharingan is infinitely superior to the Byakugan). If with Neji's arc, Hinata possessed almost zero thematic relevance, with Sasuke - with whom she not only never interacts but in his eyes, she's part of the caste he seeks to eradicate, then her incidence is extremely nil.

I've never written a post about SasuHina/HinaSasu, and in part, I refuse because their canonical possibility really is nil, so there's nothing more to analyze than headcanons and fanfictions that have their own rules, which have little to do with Kishimoto's material.

Perhaps in the future, I'll dedicate a post to that pairing discussing some of its more famous theories; like how Hinata, being a character considered by the fandom as "sensitive", could understand and help Sasuke despite the fact that she was never seen comforting or trying to understand any character other than Naruto; going as far as to dismiss her cousin's emotions in order to put herself as a victim of the system on the same level as her cousin, whom her father enslaved.

Hinata being shy is not the same as her being "good" or "sensitive", Sakura used to be shy during her childhood and was bullied for it, yet Hinata stans don't usually consider Sakura to be a good person...

Here are some posts about Hinata and Neji's relationship:

Hinata endorses slavery. A quick explanation of why.

NejiHina or the possibilities of the pairing.

The Hyuga clan. And the Caged Bird Seal. Plus:

Sorry, no, Hinata never hit Pain.

#anti hinata #anti hinata hyuga #anti hinata hyuuga #anti nejihina #anti sasuhina #pro neji hyuga #pro neji hyuuga #pro sasuke #pro sasuke uchiha

41 notes · View notes

internal-ethics · 7 months

Text

Theory : Madara was not the only reincarnation of Otsutsuki Indra. Indra's soul/chakra split in two.

while asura's soul remains full and reincarnated alone into hashirama.

the other half of indra's soul was in Senju Tobirama.

how it split can be played with, could be a blip, a flaw over time on zetsu's part or whatever.

the main conflict and question of the founders' era and in all of naruto was the difference between worldview of two brothers : doing everything alone, priotizing personal talent and genius (indra) or leaning to cooperation and companions (ashura) and their father Sage of 6 paths supported ashura, thus putting friendship and cooperation as the favorable view.

we know madara shares the same view with indra and hashirama ashura's, and indra and madara were treated as antagonistic for their extremist views.

so a couple of questions and observation ;

1/ashura was the 'dunce' one that has to seek help from others and that formed his view of putting love and friendship above all. and due to being superior and genius indra believe independence trumps all. so why was hashirama, the weak one, the friendship one, so abnormally monsterously strong that even without help from 'companions' , madara can never match up even if he got a bijuu and part of hashiramas power while hashirama was nerfed as an edo. not that equal in strength there, and not much for 'friendship' either because for his personality, hashirama always fights madara alone. theory ; madara is not FULL indra while hashirama is FULL ashura.

2/ why did the narrative gloss over another character who at the same time with these two, seems so much into the view of indra, just maybe in a healthier way - bc his duty as stated is to balance madara and hashirama. but balance and learn from them to what extent and effective is arguable. seems that he just focused on himself. he's like an entity on his own.

past databooks described him like this

he's a respectable man who inspires and taught people. but isnt that last part a little extreme and reminding of indra himself and certain members of a certain clan that were indra's descendents.

his ideals about the world are entirely his own as well with seemingly no sounding board, no "friend' like hashirama had. in a time when his brother was thinking of compassion and cooperation and friendship to maintain order and to stop wars, and madara thinks about being honest with people., he was the only one who says "order will maintain order" and "pushed forward to that objective until the end" since childhood and for all his time governing the village , also seemingly alone in his views. sure most agreed with him while some agree with hashirama's views, and he HAD friends and comrades to share that, but it could just be the warring times, the history, the situation that agreed with him and not the friends, the people themselves. Hashirama himself only agreed with tobirama because he had to when tobirama was objectively right, and never once acted as tbrms support or sounding board, going as far as to mock and question him in front of others. Tobirama seems to be lonely and isolated, not for any social and relationship issue but because he's too genius and different - and especially cold-hearted - in views and intellect. He never felt self conscious or guilty even when nobody seems to like his decisions.

he was also the only hokage who has no co-hokage in his time as hokage, someone equal to share the work and the world with him. he functioned as his own shadow hokage. even the third who was not that explored has danzo. minato has his wife, tsunade has jiraiya and kakashi shikamaru . if the narrative calls out indra's independence and lonesomeness as opposed to ashura's bonds, i think tobirama's mindset could be brought into the equation too.

Important to note that indra holds his beliefs firmly even at the beginning before his father disregards him, sasuke had that natural attitude to be lonesome and vulnerable as well, while Madara was never that into doing everything alone until he was manipulated out of all friendship and cooperation.

3/ indra was superior genius, the founder of ninjutsu thanks to his godly eyes powers and that's his greatest 'good" legacy to the ninja world. tobirama, while lacking in pure power compared to his reincarnation of god brother and his friend, is a leader of countries who copied his systems, as well as inventor of a number of jutsus that everyone could use but with caution lest they could wage wars. the sage talked about indra's ninjutsu negatively : "ninjutsu is to wage wars'. he had a point because tobirama invented jutsus that :

fooled both sharingan and byakugan and trolled the mother of shinobi herself - kage bunshin

beats mangekyo sharingan - flying thunder god

creates infinitely regen corpses , even after the caster died, corpses that also remain unaffected by the strongest eye genjutsu weve seen aka tsukuyomi

s exactly as enormous and powerful as hashirama's most enormous sage jutsu

4/hashirama's efforts to connect with and balance both these brothers of his, which are only almost successful. he seems to stumble between them and has to choose between them, and neither choice is pretty for them and himself in the long terms. When he chose one he failed the other, and nearly failed both completely when he tried suicide. He tried to protect and understand both, but he never truely connected with madaras true vision and goal of family, and was shown as not as good and close to tobirama as a brother: he mocked and questioned tobirama in front of others who were maliciously mocking and questioning tobirama!! Plus threatening him with violence multiple times when words fail him. Regardless of who of the brothers you agree with, there was a clear disconnection and disagreement between them even in death, their vision, the way they do things. Its like ashura reincarnated ALONE into hashirama and thats why hashirama was monstrously strong on his own but also need companions. But both madara and tobirama are LONE warriors thats not as strong but just as formidable, and he needs to connect with BOTH to find true peace and brotherhood. especially when they are both very lonesome and yet devoted to him in different ways.

5/ his care and dare i say connection to sasuke, who i believe - for the sake of this theory - is a full Indra in temperament and skills (in relations to the FULL ashura like naruto] tobirama saw both madara's unhealthy potential and himself, a brother of someone great that everyone revered, who really deep inside, need guidance and companions, in sasuke and that's why he helped him with all he had towards the end of the 4th war.

#naruto #naruto reread #senju tobirama #senju hashirama #uchiha madara #uchiha sasuke #theory #meta

26 notes · View notes

akatsukitrash · 3 months

Note

1 - 19. all the numbers >:^)

most overrated character?

Doing this again because there are so many of those : Shikamaru and Hinata. Before someone kills me I do like Hinata, I just hate her fans. Like in what way did she surpass Neji when she can't be arsed to run without falling. Bffr Neji's the strongest Hyuuga. And Shikamaru isn't smart when his entire victory hinges on dumbing down and nerfing both Hidan and Kakuzu.

2. was sasuke right?

Answered

3. were naruto's intentions with sasuke selfish?

Answered

4. are the romantic undertones between naruto and sasuke intentional or accidental?

Accidental. Kishimoto's misogyny made him fly too close to the sun of yaoi.

5. can kishi write romance?

When he wants to? Yes. It's not the wildest romance, but he showed he can write a decent one with Tsunade and Dan (and arguable Minato and Kushina although I hate that couple for other reasons). Even ShikaTema aren't too bad. He's just clearly not interested in writing romance

6. what makes the Naruto ending bad?

Everything leading up to it. The way the antagonists (especially Madara) were treated both by the narrative and characters, the way Kaguya came out of nowhere, the way Naruto and Sasuke kept getting unearned power ups. Hell on earth. Then all this culminates into a VOTE2 fight I never wanted to see with a Sasuke who's blabbering nonsense, and then suddenly, skyscrapers and ugly ass kids of ships that got little to no development. None of the questions brought up by the story got resolved

7. should Naruto have become hokage ?

Answered

8. show a screenshot of your latest draft with no context

9. which Naruto fandom words are you allergic to?

"deserve" (always used in ship wars), "who has the saddest backstory", "babygirl", "yandere", "actually kishi didn't intend-" (amazing under theory posts /s) and such

10. is sakura a shitty character or shitty-ly written?

Shittily written. That girl did not catch a break from the moment she got introduced, and she's not the only one, pretty much every female character is shittily written. They're just one of two misogynistic stereotypes, with no fulfilling arc, no space to throw hands like the male characters etc etc. Yeah yeah Tsunade isn't too bad but she still suffers from misogynistic writing

11. is Itachi a martyr, a victim, or a perpetrator?

Perpetrator. There could've been an argument for him being a victim, but adult Itachi does say he regrets nothing so clearly he's fine with the massacre and would've made the same decision as an adult aka he's nothing but a shameless genocidal murderer. I'm not very interested in waxing poetry about how hard it was for him to kill his own parents when he had like, so many choices to make, and I think such discussions are stupid when Sasuke (and the Uchiha clan) are the biggest victims of both Itachi and Konoha and yet don't get a fraction of the sympathy that Itachi gets

12. who should've died in war arc?

Gai first of all. Why the hell did he survive 8 gates? What was the point? It cheapened his sacrifice, and made it obvious that the stakes, no matter how high, are never that serious. Frankly I didn't even want him to be the one to open the 8 gates, it should've been Lee's moment (and yes, death) but well. At least one of the Gokage (preferably Onoki and/or Gaara) should've also died. And Hinata or Hiashi should've died to protect Neji, it would've been THE perfect symbolic end to the Hyuuga issue. Oh Shikamaru should've also died, he was useless and it would've made more impact. Probs another death in Konoha 12 would be great (like Kiba maybe?) but Lee's and Shikamaru's deaths (with potentially Hinata also dying) would've been great for tension and emotional impact. Oh also neither Obito nor Madara should've died

13. was kakashi trying his best? / was he a "good" sensei?

He was a good sensei bc he made good child soldiers. He was also a good sensei bc he did try his best to keep them safe. I don't know why people argue he's the worst. Gai, Asuma, and Jiraiya are fucked up, and Kurenai got 0 screentime teaching. Kakashi also trained Sakura, and recommended her to Tsunade. The idea that he completly neglected her is fanon

14. openings or endings?

Openings, most of them are so iconic

15. Is naruto white coded for having blonde hair blue eyes?

No??? his name is literally Uzumaki Naruto, and he has monolids. He's Japanese.

16. Is tobirama racist against uchihas?

Tobirama is Japanese. The Uchiha are Japanese. No he was not racist, and he didn't do half the shit people claim he did (he didn't disrespect Madara's body or Uchiha's funeral practices, he didn't segregate them, he didn't force them to be in the Police Force, he didn't focus solely on the Uchiha and no other threats, he didn't call them slurs (cant believe i even need to say that), he didnt hunt them specifically, he didn't kill Izuna for shits and giggles, he didnt seek out Kagami to use him as the "black friend", he didnt spread rumors, he didnt spy on them, he didnt blame them for Madara's actions etc etc etc. He was prejudiced, as was Madara (who even went as far as to cut Tsunade in half just bc she's Senju. That's way more violent than Tobirama calling Sasuke an evil brat). I think it's perfectly understable why he was so cautious about them, and I wish he was given half the understanding the Uchiha get for their own backstories and actions, considering he too was a traumatized child soldiers who watched his siblings die and was abused by his father. He's a product of his times, and even he acknowledges that. That's why he has faith in the younger generations, and why he died for them twice.

17. Is Sakura useless?

Not at all. Naruto would've died in the Waves arc without her, and that's just the first arc. People just hate female characters, and belittle healers.

18. ship wars or power scaling debates?

I prefer ship wars bc I'm not rlly a shipper so I don't get annoyed and can make fun of people who get mad at me for my opinions. Power scaling tho....I'm a great power scalers and when ppl just make shit up (like saying Hinata is stronger than Neji or Itachi than Obito) I get pissed.

19. pettiest fandom opinion you've blocked someone for?

not an opinion but i've blocked people for misspelling kakuzu's name

#naruto #anti itachi #anti hinata #im not anti hinata i just dont want her fans calling me slurs in my inbox #tobirama senju

13 notes · View notes

narutocharacterpolls · 10 months

Text

ROUND FOUR

UCHIHA ITACHI vs JIRAIYA

Reasons for submission under the cut

Itachi

intentionally traumatized Sasuke (put him in a genjutsu multiple times to watch the murder of his entire clan, family, and parents over and over again for days straight)

no remorse years after about the Uchiha genocide even as an adult

planned to mind control Sasuke

repeatedly tortured Sasuke in a variety of ways

fanbase glorifies his decisions

a 14 year old deciding a genocide and traumatizing his little sibling for practically no reason is NOT a genius moment

his fandom's "young age" excuse only goes so far, since he never changes his mind or altered his plan

bootlicker, gaslighter, manipuative, liar, unreliable

sad boy martyr complex

sucked Konoha’s balls

nonsensical on a narrative level

fan base overlooks his issues because he’s hot

people ship him with Deidara

bad brother, bad vibes

Jiraiya

ignored Naruto, even after becoming his mentor, unless Naruto shapeshifted into a naked woman

fantasize about, write, and publish stories based off of spying on naked women and girls

analyzes boobs in public

set an example of being a sleazy pervert to a kid who’s very attached to him

became a regular customer of a brothel when he was supposed to be teaching his godson

be a selfish, mean person in general

reminds two submitters of their uncle

had a CHILD proofread his porn novels

let Naruto be abused by the village for years

probably has lice

would make deez nutz jokes constantly

incel

horrible friend

irredeemable waste of cool character design

gives a submitter the heebie-jeebies, and synonyms

made ‘weird’ comments about Konan while under his care

could have been honest with Naruto about knowing his parents

was friends with Orochimaru and didn’t care about his murderous tendencies

deadbeat godfather

coerced a child into turning into a naked woman

stole his (young orphan) pupils money

blew off naruto and made him learn on his own, didn’t teach him anything

perverted, sex offender, and harasses women

deathly ugly

not funny in any way despite supposedly being a comedic relief

#if these don’t post correctly at 12 sorry #my scheduling almostt never works correctly and i can’t be here at 12 to post it myself #worstnrtcharapoll #naruto #polls #uchiha itachi #itachi uchiha #akatsuki #jiraiya #id in alt text #scheduled

21 notes · View notes

rpedia · 3 months

Note

Hello, I have a question about combat roleplaying. Is there anyway to counter someone trying to wipe your character from existence? I have a character whos high 1-A, just wondering.

I cannot tell you how wild of an ask this is because of how much of it must be entirely contextual to your current situation. A-1 means nothing to me, this isn't a universal term in RP, but after some looking around it seems to be a categorization used in the vsBattle fandom to allow people to rank character power stats against each other like classes of heavyweight versus lightweight. And it seems to have been very thought out by a bunch of people who are very very serious about it, so it's a well-thought out thing. So, I'm assuming if this is the right power ranking to go off, your character is an "High Outerverse level" character similar to God/Death in some series.

Whew, back in my day we just had Marvel Mutants being Omega class, or Naruto Ninjas being S-Rank... Looks like you're in somewhere with a lot more math and intensity than I'm used to considering I just had to read "structures with a number of dimensions equal to the cardinal aleph-2" with my own two delicate innocent baby boy eyes. This means whatever advice I am about to give you is unlikely to be useful, but fuck it, I'm game.

So, you're getting wiped out of existence...

Your character is, as far as I can tell, able to manipulate all of existence, including every multiverse, hyperverse, and whatever-the-fuck-have-you because they can fuck with but infinity times infinity, except they're a step below the ultimate Boundless, and one step above the guy who can mess with infinity times three. Really getting back to the playground "infinity plus one" argument. You must be going up against someone who is going a little faster than you or doing better than you to have them cockblock your entire existence. I think I have the scenario broken down for more feeble minds like me can figure out what the hell this means.

Logically, the answer is you can't do shit. Guy is faster/better/more tactically sound, so he wins. He's managed to outdo you on every level, and made your existence just stop, you can no longer be who you are, you're a never-was similar to Cul from the Thor comics. Absolutely buckshit wild stuff here. This suggests to survive, someone has to remember you, which may be a way through if there's space where you still exist while you don't exist. How does time work in your universe? What's the standards here for how to change existence? Is there a ripple effect, or is it impossible to change the timeline? Are you forced into an alternate universe where you DID exist, and how is the other guy handling the obvious issue that if you never existed, he would never have gone back to erase you, and shit— we've got either a figure eight loop forcing us to repeat these two states of 0 and 1 endlessly, or a paradox.

So go for the throat, make them explain the paradox. Make them fix the paradox, which can paradoxically never be fixed because that's what them boyes do. You might have to live one step ahead of them in only alternating universes for the rest of existence and be satisfied with that. Or, I suppose, find someone bigger and stronger than old Jokey-poo here who is putting you in the un-birth grave, and have them de-powered or something to end the rigamarole. Maybe you have a good trap for them set-up where the state of your birth is a fixed point, and them entering it makes time stop entirely so they can never reach the point at which they actually delete you.

But this is all just Watsonian fuckery, stuff from within the perspective of the story. If you go Doyalist, we can ask the question "What kills a vampire?" and come up with the answer "Whatever satisfies the narrative." because those blood thirsty bitches be fictional. This is all fictional. You are imagining a story. The only truth of a story is the satisfaction of those who write/read it.

Therefore, if you are happy with the end of your character, and you feel like it's been given weight and meaning, and you like the outcome. You win, you finished the story, they are gone.

If you are unhappy, you can make up whatever bullshit you want because it's all in your head anyways, and suddenly your character survived going over the falls due to some vague handwaved plot point far in the misty difference that is really an in-universe cover to 'they made me write Sherlock after the Reichenbach Falls was supposed to be the end of the damn serial'. It all comes down to what you're happy with as a player and a writer.

You think any Shonen writer had the good sense to end their series after the bad guy seemed all-powerful? Absolutely not, these other guys had trickery and even more power beyond the power that is infinite power to call on, and they sure did win because they said so. Same thing here. As long as no one is upset, you can do whatever you want. "Blue fairy said I could come back." "Some Boundless Character found me beyond the universes and pulled me back into this world." Seriously, make shit up, it's all you've been doing anyways.

I recognize at this point it's more of a thought experiment, kind of a highbrow push against the mundane realities of our existence. It's where philosophy meets story. Making something that really sticks to the bones of your story, and gives you something to work off can be a huge ask when it gets to these extremes. You're working with a framework outside our actual existence, a thing we can comprehend only because we've pushed so hard against the limitations of this world we've given concepts like infinity not only a limit, but a word for when that limit is breached and repeated.

Being able to truly understand what you're asking, and whether there's any rules to it is more than a simple roleplay help blog can give you. You're bending rules that aren't even confirmed to exist, that have been developed to create a framework by which people can enjoy fighting tiers to simplify things that are wildly imaginative and unusual. Certainly you are at the moment asking me if I can conceive of a situation in which literally Death themself, if they were a character, could be erased from existence by something just as powerful or even more powerful than themselves, and then get around that somehow. It's mythical. It's entirely a toy that you, yourself, are defining the rules for play with. I can simply say "this Roleplaying Blog is actually a Boundless level character and has rebuffed that attack" and it would be equally true because the canon of this blog now says so.

So you can do whatever works for you.

Just make sure it's satisfying, so you can do it again next week and relish it all over. The point of RP is to be fun. Keep having fun. You do you, in whatever style makes you happy. Even if it's a lot of math and now I know there's a term for approaching the infinity after Real numbers run out of integers because someone made their character so powerful they ran out of numbers for them and somehow this is the same power level as Those Who Sit Above In Shadow, which means Loki's punked their ass plenty of times in-comics by saying he's the Storyteller who tells them into existence anyways. God damn Beyonder ass...

But you're the Storyteller now, so write something true to your heart, and see how far you can take it. See if your character can manage to break reality one more time, and level up to becoming Boundless themselves. You have the power, because that power is imagination. The true Boundless power.

#rpedia #ask rpedia #roleplaying #rph #fight rp #vsbattle power levels #seriously just have fun #but also this is wild #my man I have trouble deciding if my lil guy should win against a big dog #because I want the narrative to have weight #and be fun #and I don't wanna be overpowered #fighting a dog #that wants to eat me #this stuff is beyond my pay grade #and I play Loki #the fuck #exactlypleasantsuit

7 notes · View notes

bougiebutchbitch · 2 years

Text

okay you all need to go out and buy Retsuden immediately.

The characterisation is PERFECT.

Kakashi is impeccably written - far better than in Hiden, I would say, though this is obviously a matter of personal preference. I was thinking ‘...omg yes, this is literally the Kakashi I have in my head’, all the way through!

He acts so cool and controlled and confident, and everyone who meets him thinks he’s kinda awesome... but he’s a soggy bundle of self-doubt and trauma, and under the surface, the legs are kicking so damn hard.

On top of that, the writing is genuinely good! The story is adorable - Kakashi helps a spoilt, sheltered young prince gain confidence in himself and his ability to lead, and you bet that little prince works the exact same magic on Kakashi! And the central OC, Nanara, is genuinely likeable and cute!

This is a novel that left me with the same warm fuzzy feeling as my favourite Naruto film - Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom. Which, yeah, I know, isn’t a conventional choice for a favourite film. But it’s a self-contained, cosy narrative with a sweet, feel-good storyline that tackles some very real and believable issues, and has a lovely growth arc for both the main character and the OCs!

This is a book that I would always be happy to curl up in a corner with on a rainy day. It’s like a warm, woolly blanket you can wrap around your shoulders, which smells of happiness and home. I’ve only just finished it and I’m already nostalgic!

9/10 - will be rereading many, many times.

#retsuden liveblog #kakashi #hatake kakashi #naruto #kakashi retsuden #book review

117 notes · View notes

everyneji · 1 year

Text

Bouncing off this post here, I want to talk a little about Neji and romantic relationships beyond just my shipping preferences. Though I wouldn't call this very exact meta either, as there's nothing to really go off of.

The truth is, Neji died before his love life was relevant. I know a lot of people think that he and Tenten would have ended up together but I'm not so sure. I believe he would have stayed uncoupled like his teammates in canon. Team Gai are Team Comic Relief and have genuinely had the most wholly platonic team-centric content of any of the Konoha 12 and the only crush we see from any of them is Lee's on Sakura, which was never gonna happen. I doubt Kishimoto would leave only Lee uncoupled of the team. At most, I think Neji would end the series with an implied off-screen Hyūga wife and a kid.

To add to this, as far as spin-off/AU/filler content goes, we only see 'Neji is a perv' 'Neji has a sister complex' 'Hinata considers Neji a romantic rival' 'Neji is unaffected by Sexy no Jutsu', none of which are a serious attempt to answer the question of 'What does Neji want?'

I also wonder if Neji could even marry out of the Hyūga clan, not just because of his caste status, but because he's a nobleman. He's not likely to be taking someone else's name. Historically speaking, men tend to be the only ones who can start a new branch clan, but in canon the equivalent of this is Hizashi being sealed. Hyūga seem to keep to themselves; Himawari and Boruto imply that the white eyes are a recessive trait. Hinata marrying out is an exception because she was already effectively disowned and she's marrying the Ninja Saviour.

(Of course, if Kishimoto wanted it to happen it would, the Hyūga entering the modern world and changing, but I'm working within the understanding of what we have.)

Narratively speaking, Neji is also far more intertwined with the destiny of the Hyūga clan than Hinata, whose story has centered her feelings for Naruto from the jump. I have a hard time seeing him leaving his family behind for love. Though he's had some very valid issues with his family, he's also fully embraced their techniques and their name; he just wants the respect and equal treatment he's owed within that.

With no canon evidence of romantic interest to go on, I personally focus on how Neji is like Gaara, that is, such a Naruto fanboy that it becomes its own beast of the headiest affectionate feelings we see displayed from them. Neji smiling so genuinely at what could be his final moments because he's thinking of how Naruto saved him is pretty intense.

'Hope is a thing with feathers, that perches in the soul ...'

I've touched on it in another post, but I also think it's sincerely amusing that when Hinata sacrifices herself in the Pain Invasion Neji goes "Why'd she do that?" His own dad sacrificed himself for love! And he has to know of her feelings for Naruto. He even asks if she wants to see Naruto off at the end of part one and hears of how the mere sight of Naruto gives Hinata the vapours. Yet he just doesn't get it ... until you fast forward a bit and put him on that battlefield with Naruto and Hinata in danger, and suddenly Neji's taking the bullet. As he dies in Naruto's arms, he says, "Naruto, Hinata-sama is willing to die for you. So remember you hold more than one life in your hands. And it seems that my life too may have been one of them." He directly parallels himself to Hinata (who sacrificed herself for love of Naruto) and says Naruto holds his life too. I mean, alright!

I'm not saying Kishimoto deliberately wrote Neji in love with Naruto but I think so long as Neji and Hinata are foils to each other who are both moved by the same man, you can derive interesting interpretations from that.

To return to 'what would Neji want' my personal answer is 'Someone able to offer perspectives he had not considered.' It's not just about being challenged -- the person needs to have a real point to make that they can back up. This suggests the person in question would need a certain strength of character, intuition, and likely the power to influence the world around them. This is generally what I go with when writing, but of course, it remains all headcanon.

I hope people forgive me for this very speculative post, I just ... got carried away writing it so hey. Here ya go! 👋

#not everyneji #neji hyuga #long post #cw incest #.'hinata princess of WHAT' still makes me cackle #.i think of it everytime i see someone call her a princess

26 notes · View notes

rejectedfables · 5 months

Note

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

Character: Draco Malfoy (HP) Why I love them: I don't. I love the version of him I frankensteined together from fics I read/wrote as an undiagnosed autistic preteen who wished I knew how to be meaner, and was hopelessly demisexually gay for a brunette with glasses.

Character: Uzumaki Naruto (Naruto) Why I love them: Emotionally neglected ADHD powerhouse who thinks "what do 600 hot girls look like? Me with titties and pigtails 600 times obviously" followed by "what do 600 hot boys look like? All my male friends with bedroom eyes OBVIOUSLY" and somehow hasn't figured out he's into dudes and is probably genderfluid. The Haku and Zabuza arc came SO close to "child soldier figures out that making children into soldiers is bad, actually, and resolves to create a better society where fewer people needlessly suffer" but then I think the author got old and forgot his own trajectory in favor of endless spectacle creep and, idk, something about the moon crushing Konoha or whatever. I lost interest in the story, but not the BOY. Also his relentless fixation with that dark haired cool guy he kissed one time makes every other character feel awkward, and I relate to that.

Character: Urameshi Yusuke (Yu Yu Hakusho) Why I love them: LOVE me a guy who even HEAVEN writes off as an irredeemable asshole surprising everyone with an act of selflessness. Love me an asshole who dedicates his life to love and friendship. Yusuke's narrative is basically "Obviously all yokai are evil. Wait, some aren't (some of my best friends are yokai)? Wait, most aren't (I actually really enjoy the yokai world/community)? Wait, I'M a yokai? (THAT'S why I am the way I am, and actually that's not evil it's just different)??? So there's evil humans AND evil yokai but neither are inherently bad, MOST are just regular people on both sides, and both are worth protecting" and anyway this is a neurodivergent and queer allegory to me, which slaps severely.

Character: Shi Qingxuan (Heaven Official's Blessing) Why I love them: Gender

Character: Luke Fon Fabre (Tales of the Abyss) Why I love them: Nobody's doing character growth like this little shit. An icon. It takes like 30 hours of gameplay for him to become likable and when he does it's somehow genuinely worth it.

Character: Changheng (Love Between Fairy and Devil) Why I love them: (I'm picking only one character per story, which is the only reason Xiao Lanhua and Dongfang Qingcang aren't also on this list.) You're telling me the God of War's narrative is a "tragic princess, betrothed since childhood, can't escape her family's expectations, constantly has to put everyone else above herself, until finally she snaps" story blended with "man who has been forced to live in war, falls for the first person who acknowledges that he, too, needs protection, ultimately rejects the violence he's been forced to endure and enact in favor of pursuing peace" and I'm what? NOT supposed to go insane? Also his nose freckle gives me heart palpitations.

Character: Logan Echolls (Veronica Mars, specifically season 1) Why I love them: What an excellent example of a badly coping shithead jerk fuckup boy who would be SO soft in any context where he's not under constant threat. Something about his mouth-breathing under duress compels me.

Character: Kyo (Fruits Basket) Why I love them: Badly coping under duress, the entire system is stacked against him, anger management issues and the snatched waist of a 90's manga twink. What can I say, a feral cat finding stability and love gets me every time.

Character: Xue Yang (MDZS) Why I love them: Irredeemable asshole feral cat ass man, coping badly at all times with all things but holding it together with a winning personality (gratuitous violence and bad jokes). Falls SO hard for the first person to show him love and kindness, becomes SO soft when not under threat for the first time ever, and then fucks up SO badly he ruins his whole fucking life. Spends more time trying to get back what he lost than he actually HAD what he lost. He's irredeemable. He's irredeemable. He makes apple rabbits for A Qing because she's sad. He's irredeemable. He doesn't pull a weapon on Xingchen even when Xingchen has already stabbed him and he's renowned for violence and revenge. He's irredeemable. I starting writing a post in his defense and hit the character limit halfway through my 'notes to flesh out later' bullet pointed list. He's irredeemable?? Xiao Xingchen could, though, is all I'm saying. The deeper you look into his actions the more humanity there is to find. I'm rotating every single thing about him in my mind like a rotisserie chicken.

Character: Chu Wanning (ERHA) Why I love them: He's hopelessly demisexually gay for literally just one guy. His story is gratuitously tragic but with a happy ending. Autistic Yearning incarnate. He's a burnt out husk of a blushing virgin, and the horniest person alive. Would readily die for his convictions, but won't ask for help. Prettiest wife anyone could ever wish for, with a strong masculine jaw. Total knockout gorgeous with body dysmorphia. Hyper competent with zero emotional intelligence. Widely respected and beloved with intense self loathing. He's never not masking. He's an atticked wife, he's a bossy husband, he's a piece of wood. He's 45. He's 6. He's 20. He's 32. He is catnip for me.

#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #xue yang #asks #anon #2ha #erha #erha he ta de bai mao shizun #lbfad #love between fairy and devil #naruto #yyh #yu yu hakusho #i'm not gonna tag all these #anyway I love asks like this it just always takes me a while so [blesses you with patience] or whatever

7 notes · View notes

avelera · 5 months

Text

Impressions on Jujutsu Kaisen S1-S2

(In no particular order)

(Because I felt like it)

So I got up to date on the anime Jujutsu Kaisen, mostly for lack of something to watch, and found it interesting. Partially because of its popularity (#1 on Crunchyroll in Dec. 2023). S2 is just about complete at this time and as others have remarked, there's a pretty big tone shift between S1 and S2.

As someone who spent their teen and college years enjoying Shounen series like Naruto and Bleach, who used to be much deeper into anime from about 2000-2010, it's interesting to see the way the Shounen genre has "evolved" from what I knew when I was more a part of the teen/early 20s target audience.

(Cut for spoilers beyond this point.)

First of all, it might even be a misnomer to call JJK purely shounen. The tone shift in S2 takes it to some pretty violent places. Places that seem in excess of, say, Naruto's peak violence. That said, I'm not entirely sure JJK deserves the genre of "seinin" exactly, because its plot structure is still pretty grounded in Shounen action/adventure.

Thing is, for all of the increase in violence, I'm not sure the issues the show actually deals with earn it the "seinin" or more "adult" designation just yet. JJK, so far at least, to me seems to struggle with being "about" something more than its premise. For example, the magical powers gained by the girls in Puella Magi Madoka Magica are at least a little bit about the struggles of being a young woman, about growing up, about grief and loss and love. A magical girl "becoming" a witch plays into a larger theme of loss of innocence.

At least as of the end of S2, JJK doesn't exactly have a thing that being a jujutsu sorcerer is actually "about". It's not really a coming of age parallel. It's not really about coming to terms with death (though a lot of death happens). It's still very much about the big fights that are happening. Absorbing Sukuna for Yuji Itadori isn't a metaphor or even lending to a metaphor for anything else except absorbing Sukuna.

This is totally fine by the way! Not everything needs to be "about" something bigger. But, for me at least, the "not being about something bigger" is what's keeping JJK at an A- instead of an A+.

JJK is also strangely lacking in worldbuilding. And I say strangely because it almost feels like it skips the worldbuilding because it's derivatively leaning on the worldbuilding done by other shounen anime. Like, "We don't need to explain how people can randomly jump from tree to tree or hover in the air while fighting, because Naruto already did that. You don't really want us to stop the narrative to explain how Yuji leveled up all these basic magical fighting abilities, right? So don't worry about how he can suddenly do all this stuff."

Literally, Yuji will gain an ability like Black Flash within the course of a single battle. In Bleach or Inuyasha, gaining that sort of ability would take an entire arc and lots of trial and error. So I have mixed feelings about JJK kind of just skipping him struggling to learn Black Flash for any length of time because yeah, that beat can get kind of tiresome in anime. We know they're going to learn the ability, so it's just dragging the process out to make it an entire arc.

But on the other hand, making the gaining of a new ability into an arc lends a certain gravity to the story. A sense of stakes and achievement. Yuji never really struggles to learn any new ability. He picks them up in the course of any given battle (or Sukuna drops in and bails him out).

So in a way, JJK is innovating on the Shounen genre by just skipping a lot of the base level fighting ability arcs and challenges, in order to cut straight through the biggest, most epic battles. There is no little kid level ninja school, our Naruto is fighting Orochimaru-level threats in the middle of S1.

Now, the way the story also innovates on throwing endgame level threats at the hero right away, instead of a bunch of trash to slowly build them up, is by having the bad guys not die in the fight. Bad guys often escape the battle to fight another day. Yes, trash battles happen, but endgame level villains are taking part with surprising regularity for the genre. Aizen from Bleach wasn't showing up for every side character battle that Ichigo fought against him in the lead up to their confrontations. And characters who were defeated didn't really show up again as antagonists, at least not in the Soul Society or Hueco Mondo arcs. They either became allies or they died. So JJK is different in this regard, in a way that's rather refreshing actually.

Now, to go back to worldbuilding, JJK was interesting to me because it started out very authoritative about its genre. It was very paint by numbers standard shounen but so confidently executed that it didn't feel boring. We had lots of shounen genre cliches, like the plucky protagonist with tons of power potential, his dark haired team member who is brooding, the secretly powerful goofy teacher, etc.

But how the JJK universe fits into our world is strangely lacking. Part of it feels purposeful. It's very laser focused on moving the story along. It doesn't really care to answer questions like, "How are these people getting paid?" and "Why is a school tasked with saving the world?" Like, it's basically X-Men rules, so it's fine.

But by contrast, Naruto's ninja villages were an entire ecosystem, we knew how ninjas fit into society and why everyone was doing what they did. We know how Bleach's Soul Society fits into the fabric of the universe. We know how My Hero Academia's world views heroes, a ton of My Hero time is poured into explaining how this world works. JJK... doesn't really bother to say how the world works outside of how it impacts the characters in this moment. It's the thing I find most curiously lacking of all it, and I'm just not quite sure what to make of it.

A few other random thoughts: JJK is fairly refreshing in that it's not totally reductive anime nonsense with regards to women, like having tons of panty shots or whatever. Men still tend to be the most powerful, and it's still a pretty shounen-standard ratio of 2 plot-relevant guys for every 1 woman. But it does view women as people for the most part, so I appreciate that.

But JJK does have some anime nonsense in the sense of people just randomly going "over 9000" with their ability or pulling abilities that no one knew about before that moment out of their ass. I think the show is at its best when it plants its foreshadowing a liiittle further in advance, like when Mahito accidently "touched" Sukuna in that first fight. Everything we needed to know to realize what was going to happen was seeded in advance, and it was a crowning moment of awesome as a result. But besides moments like that, there's a LOT of "Well that didn't work, because I have this secret ability that I'm going to reveal and explain right now!" It's a bit like watching little kids play with action figures in that respect of just randomly having the right tool at the right time.

That said, that sort of "little did you know, I had this secret weapon that easily defeats you that I'm just revealing now!" seems in general more accepted in Japanese storytelling, whereas in Western storytelling the "rule" is more that you need to seed Checkov's gun a lot sooner before you can use it. You can't pull the gun off the mantlepiece to use at the same time you reveal it, it feels cheap. But, since there is a cultural divide between me and the writer, I'm just going to note it as something that pinged me, rather than saying it's good or bad as such. I like foreshadowing that's done further in advance, but that could be a culturally-based preference on my part.

I'm curious where JJK will go next. The violence escalation makes me think either it's going to continue to escalate, or there will be an endgame option to undo all the damage by some magical means at a later date. I'm more than 70/30 thinking it's just going to continue to escalate, but we'll see!

#jjk #jjk meta #jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen

7 notes · View notes

dykekakashi · 3 months

Note

Naruto - for the character ask

favorite thing about them

guy who refuses to give up on the people he loves? hello??????? he's this mr robot quote that has lived deeply in my psyche for probs like 5yrs now

But then there are some people out there … and it doesn’t happen a lot. It’s rare. But they refuse to let you hate them. In fact, they care about you in spite of it. And the really special ones, they’re relentless at it. Doesn’t matter what you do to them. They take it and care about you anyway. They don’t abandon you, no matter how many reasons you give them. No matter how much you’re practically begging them to leave.

least favorite thing about them

i have said this to u before but it does bug me a little that narratively he's never allowed to grapple with "bad" emotions ... difficult emotions. pain, anger, rage, etc. i love when he yells at nagato that he wants to kill him so badly he can't stop shaking. i wish we'd had more of that and the resolution to it ...

favorite line

it's between "can you kill me calmly, sasuke?" and "i'll bear the burden of your hatred and i'll die with you" 🤡

brOTP

sakura & naruto my beloveds!! their annoying siblings energy is so off the charts. but also they love support and respect each other<33 it's so good

OTP

does it even need to be stated ...... that man has eyes for sasuke only ...

nOTP

does it .... need to be stated .... n*ruhina sorry ...

random headcanon

i believe wholeheartedly that used to eat glue as a kid. in class. mainly because he was bored and curious and then iruka scolded him once and it just made him want to do it more

unpopular opinion

he would not. be a good dad. i know this one hits a lot of people the wrong way and tbh i don't mean i agree w boruto. the issue isn't that he doesn't have time it's that he doesn't have the skillset for it and frankly after all the hashtag trauma and the way he handles his own emotions ... learning that is just not his #1 priority. adopting a bunch of random older orphans as found family is the way to go abt it for me

song i associate with them

favorite picture of them

this one has been the easiest to do.

#naruto uzumaki #blindsighted #THANK YOU FOR SENNDING HIM<3333

5 notes · View notes

sakrah · 2 years

Text

i think that kishimoto is certainly capable of writing women (and to pretend otherwise feels like i'm giving him a get out of jail free card or something), but the issue is that he gives them so little narrative attention that it feels like he doesn't? like sakura, hinata and tsunade in particular are probably who i'd pinpoint as "the best written" female naruto characters in terms of having a clear character arc, but so much of their development - particularly sakura, but this is definitely applicable to the other two - occurs throughout the background of the story that it doesn't feel like it's happening, or is given the attention it deserves.

like, all three of them have certain moments that definitely trigger their growth to occur - sakura in the forest of death, hinata's fight with neji, and the search for tsunade arc in general for tsunade - and they all have significant moments that showcase this growth - sakura's fights with ino and sasori, hinata's attempt to fight pain knowing that she'll lose, and the closing of the search for tsunade arc where she overcomes her fear and decides to become hokage. but because either the context required for these moments to hit as hard as they do or the smaller showcases of their character development - or both - are so subtly placed throughout the background of the story that you kind of have to search for them. to give more examples yet again, it requires the audience to realise that sakura and ino's rivalry was never really just over sasuke, and to acknowledge her insecurities and desperate need to fit in with the others in order to understand her motivations and why her decisions in the forest of death are important. if she was a male character, we would have had gratuitous flashbacks placed in every goddamn chapter reminding the audience of these motivations which would really hammer it in, but because she isn't, it the context behind her decisions and growth is left to fade into the background.

this post has just been me rambling so i hope that it makes some semblance of sense but i don't know how else to word this lmao

#naruto #naruto meta #masashi kishimoto #sakura haruno #sakura haruno meta #tsunade senju #tsunade senju meta #hinata hyuga #hinata hyuga meta #naruto women

163 notes · View notes

tired-reader-writer · 4 months

Note

3, 6, 8, 12, 14 + Kushina!

Thank you for this, my friend! For the others who might be interested, here's the original post of this ask game.

With that out of the way, let's talk about Kushina!

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

HOO BOI DO I HAVE MANY THINGS I HATE. Not Kushina herself, no, but rather the way the narrative handled her?

Where do I even start, the fact that her background as a genocide survivor is never elaborated upon? The way she has so little space in Naruto's entire deal, him not being allowed to be her son more than he is Minato's?

I think this next one takes the cake, though, the fact that, to my memory, she did not resent Minato for what he did to their son, and the fact that she never got to resent Konoha itself. She was there, she saw what happened to Naruto, she was against it, and ????? she just never???? She's suddenly fine with it??? Also the fact that she's not allowed to be bitter towards Konoha, this place that used and trapped her, and then turned around to do the same to her only child???

Yeah, not a fan of that. Not a fan of that at all. Let her be angry, dammit. In ways that actually matter.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

Not gonna lie, my brain bluescreened at this question because I feel like I don't really know myself all that much. I guess it'd be the way we both feel/are isolated/alienated from the people around us, the fact that, for some fucking reason, we seem to be bully magnets? Only Kushina had the balls to fight back though. And our self-esteem issues.

...damn.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I've been fairly divorced from the Naruto fandom outside of precious few mutuals I trust and their beautiful works, so I'm afraid I don't have an accurate grasp of what horrors are going on outside of my immediate bubble. I almost fear what I might find out there. I guess I would hate the stuff that unironically regurgitate her canon problems without bothering to examine them deeply.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

For some reason, I imagine her really liking persimmons. And salty food. It's just the vibes I get. Oh and that she's really good at like, braiding bracelets and charms and stuff? It was a big thing back in Uzushio, and this keeps her grounded when she feels like she's losing her footing and overwhelmed, or just understimulated and bored, and reminds her of home.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

I can see her in clothes of all genders, honestly! I think she'd rock a suit, waistcoat and all. She'd look good in black I think— y'know those like Japanese girl gangs? All-black or monochrome, long skirts/pants with long coats, baseball bat or bamboo sword...

You see my vision?

Also things like these that make her look gallant:

#ask game #uzumaki kushina

3 notes · View notes

teamsasukes · 1 year

Note

Hi there! Could you answer 9, 17, 21?

answered 9 here

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

i would love to see more revolutionary team 7 fics (as a group, or just for any of the characters apart from sasuke). i've run into quite a few naruto ones, except most of them feature no changes from canon and naruto ends up becoming a revolutionary anyway, so it feels ooc. the same goes for kakashi, though i've seen far fewer for him. it would be really interesting if more fics acknowledged that they are pretty shamelessly pro-state to start, and worked gradually to dismantle those views. and i've noticed that sakura-centric fics by and large follow the opposite trend, where sakura becomes a Badass who revels in violence for konoha... probably since she gets to do so little fighting in canon. but it would be neat to see more revolutionary sakura content, especially since, relative to kakashi and naruto, i think you would have to do very little to compromise sakura's loyalty to the state (frankly, i think she's always been more loyal to the people in konoha than konoha itself).

don't get me wrong, though, i'm a huge believer in writing whatever you want when it comes to fanfic. there's nothing wrong with fics that go a separate way when approaching this issue, and i've read and enjoyed many myself :)

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

i mentioned that i dislike the war arc, but i feel like that's a pretty popular opinion on tumblr. so i'll say i don't love the team 7 reunion at the land of iron, even though though it was very close to being brilliant. to start, i was already supremely bummed that the sasuke and sakura scene lasted like 5 seconds and they didn't even get to fight. don't get me wrong, i think sakura being unable to kill sasuke checks out completely for her, but a sasuke and sakura fight taking place before she has to make that critical choice would have heightened the tension dramatically, been a great way to develop their dynamic (sorely needed in part 2!), put sakura's skills on display, and had two characters who've always favoured a tactical approach face off against one another. it's a bonus that sasuke is quite weakened at that point, so it could have been a pretty even-handed fight. instead we get kakashi rescuing her, then naruto rescuing her, then sakura getting angry at sasuke on behalf of everyone but herself.

this scene is also the basis for sasuke being unable to sever his bonds with naruto for the rest of part 2, so accordingly it gets a lot of love, but i do really dislike some of the things naruto said here. i can't believe naruto in this scene is so frequently hailed as the epitome of a Good and Compassionate Friend, so it's overhyped to me in that sense. and i've discussed it before but the fact that everyone and their mothers get to react to the reveal except sakura is going to haunt me for the rest of my days. often naruto being sasuke's one-and-only friend comes at the expense of sasuke's other relationships (namely with sakura, karin, suigetsu, and juugo) being unfairly sidelined by the narrative, and i think this scene is The Moment where that happens for sakura and sasuke.

#thank you for the ask <3 #asks #naruto

7 notes · View notes