#theleaf

Tolkien's Leaf

The Naruto/Sasuke final figth does start with Sasuke's last minute revolutionary brain fart (if he wanted to go that route he should have started half way through the show but he suffered from "not getting it" syndrome way more severe than Big Boss's so he has to go through these ideological changes at the speed of a snail) BUT REGARDLESS it is insanely touching. I saw the man finaly accepting that empathy and it was beautiful. And it should have ended there because that wrap up finale was spineless. After all the things we've been through and all that theme hammering, it ends pretty much maintaining the same status quo. Besides people getting married and promising to do better, I didn't notice any intentions to change something. You could say that there is no conflict anymore since the evil is defeated (also the village has gathered all the nukes basically and I don't think anyone will threaten them in a long time). I guess I had that issue with Naruto throughout the show. For all the talks about war and peace there are very few times a material tangible conflict is shown. Most of the perpetuation of violence is the result of personal vendettas and from that lens it's rather easy to say "pls stop fighting". They depicted war as the soyjak and peace as the gigachad kinda. I think they were attempts in the beginning of Shippuden to explore the world and explain what exactly are the nation relations but it was abandoned in favor of focusing on interpersonal connections. It's not a necessarily bad thing to focus on (it is a show about bonds) and the thematically it still stands but it harms the endgame imo. The "shinobi wars" never felt like "wars" in that sense. I suppose you could say "oh it's just some sengoku period type shit so don't think too much about it. War is always the same." but it is not the most satisfying especially for a series of this runtime. About Naruto. I understand that he is a very positive character. I understand that he is supposed to be the person who will never give up no matter what. But also, if this is a show adressed to young kids, maybe besides the message of not giving up on your dreams it is important to point out that your dreams are not static and will change with your experiences. I think a show with a bit more complex emotional maturity would have never made Naruto the Hokage after all the things he went through. There was a lack of development through introspection in the finale, for many characters, and specifically for Naruto. It's like there was no real psychological toll and everyone went to therapy and became an upstanding citizen. If I were to write the show I would have made Naruto leave the village with Sasuke and leave it open ended about how exactly the reformations of the ninja world will work out (cause I do think Kishimoto wrote himself into a dead end on that and I'm glad I'm not in his shoes). I would have never turn Naruto into a benevolent leader of an idyllic village. Also probably a personal thing (cause I've been the village orphan and I will always have a kinship with these types of characters lmao) if as a kid someone made me watch a story about an orphan who is desperate to receive the recognition of his small community so he tried really really hard and became the chief of the village that everybody loved, I would give them the fluoride stare. But it's fine! I get it's supposed to be a happy ending and positive and I shouldn't expect more bold decision from a battle shonen. Anyway... favourite characters: Rock Lee, Shikamaru, Gaara, Deidara....and Danzo... Naruto plot: The main villain is a powerful shinobi whose complex homoerotic relationship to his childhood friend was thematically rich and set in motion all the event in the series. Me: My favourite villain was the head of the Ninja CIA geezer who tried to stage a half assed coup.

(should I elaborate about Danzo?) I think the show peaked at the Itachi/Sasuke final fight (the Snake Eater of Naruto) but there are plenty of great moments afterwards too. I don't regret watching this show and I would recommend it to someone who is willing to suffer a bit to get to the good parts. I had a good time and I shouldn't let the ending ruin that tbw. I will remain salty about it but not for long. And now that my battle shonen mood is still active I will rewatch parts of Bleach to remind myself how ass it is (and maybe eleborate on the differences between the two shows in the future).

Kishimoto when he has to kill the series because he's bored

I was arguing with my bf about the reincarnation plot point. He was trying to defend it and I absolutely considery it redundant at best and theme erasing at worst. (when the audience is completely fine with the narrative tool of character parallels and history repeating itself but Kishimoto has to tell you that actually it was predestined and it was the same characters all along) And then we reach the black goo point and I understand my bf. Why be mad at the reincarnation when Kishimoto decided to strip characters off their agency in an even worse way? Kishimoto really said: I can do worse I will try to remember Naruto for what it was. Really struggling cause