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Jan 7, 2009 3:13 PM
#1
| Where do you actually start with Naruto? Honestly, there are so many flaws I can point out and stupidities to loathe, that I have to write this right now in a Word-document to more easily organize my thoughts. As a small introduction to this large project of compiling all the puddles of goo and puke into one, I will start by saying that we will keep the Naruto manga OUT of this (except for a few general remarks I will soon make). If popular demand requests that the manga is discussed too, then there’ll be a separate thread for that. My reasoning for taking this decision is to keep this post at least acceptably small (come on, that statement is relative though)… Arguably, the manga is better than the anime, at least it wins some points for not having an animation which you turn sick by watching (The orange colors are glaringly painful!). Moreover, the manga doesn’t have a bland soundtrack and even less the annoying seiyuus. Wow, yes indeed, those are the good points. Now for the compiled list of Naruto-shittiness seen in the anime, I will keep this list updated as we go. (Note: please try and keep the remarks to general Naruto-shittiness, expressing your dislike for his use of the word “X123X” in one episode at a particular moment does not count to this) The initial set-up at episode 1 was fine at first; we could see that Naruto’s personality was very childish. But why continue to feed us with such blatantly unfunny scenes at the end of an “inspirational fight”. You know what I mean – after Naruto had performed his “kage no bunshin”, there were sound-effects reminding of those found in schoolchildren’s cartoons. Oh, were we not supposed to take the anime harshly? Did they want to make sure we didn’t falsely think there were going to be violent scenes in the anime? Right, you do that after you hit Iruka-sensei with a shuriken as large as he is – IN HIS BACK. Seriously, the conclusion is obvious: the sound-effects were painstakingly misplaced and only detracted quality from the show in the very first episode it aired. It was not unavoidable and it was not a “small mistake” either; it was a blatant incongruence that clearly showed the directives’ in charge underestimation of the public. As to further emphasize this, the next couple of episodes had a similar “touch” to them. Their intent was obvious: they weren’t going to take the series seriously. What does starting off a series with the main lead having to take a shit from bad milk actually tell you? Yeah, case closed. No basic grasp of the story. Kishimoto seemed to have little to no idea what he was going to do with the plot. Sasuke? Who-za? You’re supposed to know what you’re doing before you begin it. Otherwise it’s just a fluke if you succeed with it. Indeed, Kishimoto had no intention of Sasuke to begin with, but as we all know by manga chapter 430 there sure heck is a lot of talk about him. To quote Wikipedia: “When developing the original Naruto manga, Masashi Kishimoto had not initially intended to create Sasuke. After speaking with his editor about the future of the series, he was advised to create a rival character for the series' protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, resulting in Sasuke's creation. (…)With Sasuke's character being that of a ‘cool genius,’ Kishimoto feels he has created the ideal rivalry.” Even if you’re a fan of the show, one has to agree that there’s a lot of insincerity in the making here - that to a sickening degree. Yes, it is easy to conclude that Kishimoto had no basic grasp of the story, and when he finally did he made it on a loose goal to “make a cool character”. Ideal rival? I feel repulsed by how in-diligently he forced that issue. If you’re going to make a creation you should at least try and put some effort into it. Instead, he haphazardly spouted puke on the floor hoping to see a gold-coin come up. Besides from the story there is the problem with the characters. Naruto’s been bullied, I get it. Sasuke watched as his clan got killed, I get it. Neji had to see the problem in his clan with blahblahblah, not to mention Hinata who’s a social withdrawn, Shikamaru who’s a lazy genius boy, Chouji who’s fat and takes offense if someone tell him that, and Ino and Sakura who have a love-complex with a guy that will never love them, don’t forget Lee who has his super-amazing rival of WIN, with Shino who is quiet and mysterious yet SERIOUS, and the lil’ puppy dog and his master who just look too cute together, and oh-!? Did I mention Tenten who can fight with WEAPONS??... Just like how I am spewing shit, so too did our author’s thought process seem to do. Bloody brilliant, that is amazingly creative wouldn’t you say? I’m astonished by the people who can call the show “unique” and “distinct”. It’s like every character in the show has to have just ONE quirk – yes, that’s enough – that sets them apart from the rest and they’re vividly “unique” and just one individual in a massive world. (By the way Mr. Author, how come all children are born in cycles of three years? Is it so that your teams could fit together more nicely? Yeah, I love how you’ve thought it out so well) I’m upset how you can give one attribute to a character and then claim that they’re full of personality. You don’t have to watch closely to see just how vibrantly dull these characters are. Seriously, the characters deserve their own separate paragraph but I’m afraid of even starting on that. Feel free to fill me in though. Oh, also, there is little character development in some characters, but unbelievable development in others. Just how did Sakura become cool after three years? Seriously, it was never explained to an extent. “Oh, she gathered more chakra or something like that…” Wha-? How do you even do that? Did Tsunade cut open her stomach of chakra and make it bigger? (Hmm, might be true since she had gotten chubbier in Shippuuden) It was interesting that Kishimoto even gave up on the characters he had created (Hinata, Tenten, Chouji, Neji, etc.) – they have little to no (sometimes no) screen-time in Shippuuden, instead he throw in more bad guys and why not Sai – I mean, why not make the crowd of nonsense bigger? True, some of them show up later as we can see ahead of time in the manga but you basically have to wait for 40 episodes to see some decent screen-time with the first pair, and then another 40 episodes to see some others. I mean, okay if I don’t care since I obviously hate the show – but it’s really a disgrace and ‘spit-in-the-face’ to his own creation. The world… Besides from some VERY questionable choices of technology, there is the overall world in itself to consider after that. But let us begin with the first issue; this section warrants some Wikipedia: “Without a specific time period, Kishimoto included modern elements in the series such as convenience stores, but specifically excluded projectile weapons and vehicles from the storyline.(…) Regarding technology Kishimoto said that Naruto would not have any firearms. He said he may include automobiles, aircraft, and ‘low-processing’ computers; Kishimoto specified the computers would ‘maybe’ be eight-bit and that they would ‘definitely not’ be sixteen-bit.” Again, the series lack from some actual thought and concern. I’m fine whether the setting would have been futuristic or not, but you cannot mix two so utterly contradictory ages of technology and just expect it to “slide”. If any of you have seen the world of Naruto you must have noticed how their houses, rooms, apartments, look very much alike the quality of today’s livings. But the matter is that there has been no implies of this being possible – ever. There are no factories, industries, work-forces, economy, resources, or else for that matter – to even slightly suggest that such a standard of living could be kept upright. Yes, especially economy, which is supposedly held active by the hiring and lending of “ninjas”. Amazing, beautiful, brilliant - even more so when these ninjas are KIDS! Right, child labor, I hope you’re happy about your creation Kishimoto. It’s really noble to be honest, you make kids go out there and kill other kids for money, gotta love his enthusiasm. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with that… after all, it’s a “faaantaasyy wooorld”, right? Over there life is harsh and if you don’t kill you’ll get killed, right? (Uh, wait, wasn’t this show made for kids? Otherwise, what with the cartoony sounds and the blunt avoidance of direct or brutal kills?) Forget it. With fantasy seemingly anything can slide. Back at hand, the issue of technology is disturbing – actually, its execution is disgusting. There’s been no thought put into it and that clearly shows. (Hey, the Sand country is being attacked – quickly, print a text-document and send it along with one of the SUPAH-hawks. Forget about the supposedly “soon to come” cars, there are no roads yet.) Yeah, I think the point gets across. Besides the trusty and friendly to everyone Fire Country there is also the Lightning Country, Earth Country, Wind Country (all good names), not to forget the Tea Country, Marsh Country, Bird Country, Fang Country, Claw Country – and the oh so popular Red Bean Jam Country. All made up on the spot to appeal to the episode or manga being released. It makes a stomach turn… Oh, yeah, of which, I heard there’s a Stomach Turning Country coming soon, any confirmations on this rumor? Disgusting. More… Well, the bad guys really are laughable. A snake man..? A snake man?! That’s what you could come up with? A snake man? Yeah, you gotta love the Big Bad Evil Guy. And he’s got ambitions… dark, mischievous ambitions of doom. And just when you finally thought he had done his part in the show… he reincarnates inside his minion who’s twisted, lovely. Yeah yeah, I’m just acting mean right now you might say – but this is not the only instance. Think about Akatsuki, the most evil organization (or maybe not, forget it… you never know) that walks around on Narutoworld right now – and it’s only until Shippuuden that there’s a proper introduction of them? That’s real convenient. More to add later! |
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