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Why I can't enjoy the ending of Naruto (big spoilers here)

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Uzumaki Goku

Junior Member
Well, it's Valentine's Day, the day of love and I'm currently playing Ninja Storm 4 which tells the ending of Naruto's story and while Naruto's final arc had many MANY things wrong with it. (Final villain was such a joke)

At the end of Naruto, there is some of the most random pairings I've ever seen..... but there's one in particular that just pisses me off... makes me so mad... makes my blood BOIL with how bad it is.

Sasuke/Sakura is a goddamn travesty of a love story.

Now... you may ask? It's a silly manga intended for children? How could it be that bad? Oh no, you'll find that Sasuke/Sakura's "love story" might very well be worse than Twilight's. (Yes, we have accomplished that)

Basically, in the early chapters, we're introduced to a basic love triangle: Naruto likes Sakura who likes Sasuke who doesn't care. Obviously, you would think the set-up here is that the main heroine will learn to like the main hero? Well.... more on that later.

Sasuke... treats Sakura very poorly. He ranges from outright apathy to trying to murder her without hesitation. In fact, he cares nothing for her. Sakura continutes to love him inspite of it and I cannot imagine why. In fact, at the end of the story Sakura begs him not to continue his path because she loves him and Sasuke knocks her out with a horrible genjutsu. At the end, Sakura acts like a whimpering little puppy and asks Sasuke to take her with him completely annihilating what character development she had left. (Way to revert her back to being 12 years old Kishimoto)

Meanwhile on the other hand, Kishimoto also continued developing Naruto/Sakura parallels most notably with the characters Jiraya/Tsunade and Minato/Kushina (Naruto's parents) thus indicating that they were supposed to be the endgame couple. Once the series was over, he infamously claimed that this was a deliberate mislead (or did he or did it not plan this, well, Kishimoto's infamous in contradicting himself as to when or if he planned the endgame pairings so believe what you want) But Good God, you may argue that Naruto/Sakura would've been cliche, poorly written, whatever, but y'know what? It would've MADE SENSE, which is something I can never say for Sasuke/Sakura. If Naruto/Sakura had happened, that would've meant that Sasuke ends up alone which is really the only end I could've seen for his character.

The thing is I'm not the only one who hates this pairing, this forum, other forums and even NarutoForums were aghast that this pairing happened. On Kishimoto's thank you page that turned into a complete mess of angry fans attacking him (some of it deserved, some not) I distinctly remember a father writing to Kishimoto and telling him that he had given his two daughters a bad message and that they were done with his work. Yeah. That serious.

What about Naruto Gaiden? The spinoff manga that came out a few months later? Oh well, what about it? You mean the manga that confirmed that Sasuke is a complete deadbeat dad who hasn't seen his daughter her whole life? I almost suspect that at some point between the final chapter and first chapter of Gaiden, Kishimoto looked at Sasuke/Sakura and went "Oh my God.... WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" I almost suspect he hates this pairing as much as I do considering he goes out of his way to make it look bad, here's what he had to say about it in one interview.

[Interviewer: “Who is your favourite character in Naruto?”

>Taniguchi: “It’s Hinata.”

>Kishimoto: “Eh, you like big-breasted girls?” (laugh)

>Taniguchi: “It’s not that.” (laugh) “I like the fact that at the beginning she was a weakling, but due to Naruto’s influence she steadily became strong.”

>Kishimoto: “That’s because Hinata doesn’t stand at the main character’s side like normal heroines*… she’s the type that watches him from the shadows.”

>Interviewer: “I thought the heroine was Sakura?”

>Kishimoto: “That’s right. But Sakura is addicted to Sasuke.” (laugh) “The reason why Hinata came to like Naruto is clear, but I’ve deliberately avoided writing down the reason why Sakura came to like Sasuke.” (laugh) “That’s because somehow, I had the feeling that it would conversely end up sounding contrived.”[\QUOTE]

Yeah... addicted to him, like a drug, holy crap Kishimoto has no respect for this or any of his ships. How can I respect his work when the author shows such little respect for it himself?

In summation, I hate this love story. LOATHE it and I didn't even think it was possible. If I ever have a daughter, I will never read her this story because of the horrible message it sends. You want a love story worse than Twilight, Sasuke/Sakura is it. Twice the abuse, none of the love. THAT BAD.
 
I mean this is true, but it's far from the only problem with how Naruto ends. I mean, there's also the series of increasingly awful "final" villains as Kishimoto keeps scrambling to create less and less compelling villains to finish the series with culminating with the dumpster turd that is Kaguya
 
Just chiming in to say that Naruto/Hinata had been endgame from the beginning according to a recent interview from Kishimoto. Been shipping NaruHina for over a decade now and will continue till I die. Also the "parallels" argument is annoying.

But yeah, Sakura was hilariously mishandled. As a kid I hated Sakura and Sasuke because of how hilariously badly they were written (and how popular they were despite this), but as I've grown up I've realized I just hate bad writing. SasukexSakura can work, just not any way close to how Kishimoto wrote it. After all the shit Sasuke did he shouldn't have gotten off with such crappy apologies, and then being a completely absent father. On top of that, Sakura was written completely pathetically in Gaiden. Kishimoto cannot make me take Sakura seriously.

I've legitimately read Naruto fanfics that do a better job with Sakura (as well as Sasuke).

I know it's a battle manga, but if less time had been spent in never ending battles and power ups, and more time spent on character interaction and development, Naruto could've been genuinely great. As it stands it's just something I have a lot of nostalgia for.
 

Jarate

Banned
I thought it was because of the horrible writing, terrible characters, shiity shonen power ups and just in general very poor storytelling. But the real issue is my characters didnt get shipped properly
 

Uzumaki Goku

Junior Member
Just chiming in to say that Naruto/Hinata had been endgame from the beginning according to a recent interview from Kishimoto. Been shipping NaruHina for over a decade now and will continue till I die. Also the "parallels" argument is annoying.

But yeah, Sakura was hilariously mishandled. As a kid I hated Sakura and Sasuke because of how hilariously badly they were written (and how popular they were despite this), but as I've grown up I've realized I just hate bad writing. SasukexSakura can work, just not any way close to how Kishimoto wrote it. After all the shit Sasuke did he shouldn't have gotten off with such crappy apologies, and then being a completely absent father. On top of that, Sakura was written completely pathetically in Gaiden. Kishimoto cannot make me take Sakura seriously.

I've legitimately read Naruto fanfics that do a better job with Sakura (as well as Sasuke).

I know it's a battle manga, but if less time had been spent in never ending battles and power ups, and more time spent on character interaction and development, Naruto could've been genuinely great. As it stands it's just something I have a lot of nostalgia for.

Oh Kishimoto changes his answer all the time onto when NH was "planned" that I don't believe anything he says
 

LotusHD

Banned
Naruto/Hinata is serviceable. I just wanted them together because Hinata was adorable in that Pain invasion arc, and because Naruto could do so much better than Sakura. I was surprised Hinata actually "won" though.

However, their relationship is barren as fuck. I dunno if the gaiden or some other spin-off thing puts more detail in it. All I know is that Naruto really only remembered she existed (despite everything) in a shitty movie that rushed the fuck out of their romance.

The real best couple is Shikamaru and Temari.
 

Ninjimbo

Member
Don't worry dude. You lost your ship but it's going to be okay.

At least be thankful you weren't on the IchiRuki ship. We had it baaaaad.
 

Ray Down

Banned
Naruto/Hinata is serviceable. I just wanted them together because Hinata was adorable in that Pain invasion arc, and because Naruto could do so much better than Sakura. I was surprised Hinata actually "won" though.

This, why do people want Naruto to be stuck with Sakura, lol.

Also have to post this to add to the pile of Sasuke a shit:

238.jpg


What is worse is Karin still a fucking terrible useless simp and in the end still cares/loves for Sasuke after everything he did to her.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I finished watching naruto fairly recently, and yeah. I've never cared too much about the whole shipping world one way or another, but the sasuke and sakura thing is just bad. Bad writing, schizophrenic character development, just total nonsense all around. It's a shame because other aspects of the series have pretty good character arcs and growth.
 
I thought the ending itself was okay, but I agree romance in general was one of the many, many things Part II dropped the ball on.

You mention fan reactions, but that's a pile of comedy gold in itself (only read if you have time to spare)
 

Ninjimbo

Member
IchiRuki was never a good ship tbh, to much stuff that can get in the way imo.

Y'all foolish for thinking that was ever gonna happen
and for reading Bleach
.
IchiRuki might not have been perfect after everything that happened, but it's tough to deny their chemistry in the first few arcs. They had some good, honest moments. It's the only ship that made sense in that messed up story. After Soul Society, I don't know what the fuck happened lol.
 

Chase17

Member
This is also why One Piece is a terrible series. Oda has failed on every level to even attempt romantic relationships between characters. Sad!
 
Between this, Harry Potter and Bleach, I really hope that creators learn that the "time skip to when everyone's grown up. married and has kids" ending is trash and to never use it, especially when a significant chunk of your fanbase is heavily invested in love triangle drama bullshit that you barely put any focus on.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I thought the ending itself was okay, but I agree romance in general was one of the many, many things Part II dropped the ball on.

You mention fan reactions, but that's a pile of comedy gold in itself (only read if you have time to spare)

This shit is great, there's also one for Bleach.

Can't wait for OP ending and Attack On Titian.

I don't know why I enjoy shipper anguish so much, but I do. Overwatch is another amazing source of it.
 

LotusHD

Banned
IchiRuki might not have been perfect after everything that happened, but it's tough to deny their chemistry in the first few arcs. They had some good, honest moments. It's the only ship that made sense in that messed up story. After Soul Society, I don't know what the fuck happened lol.

Yea, but for while now, Orihime was the clear frontrunner.

This is also why One Piece is a terrible series. Oda has failed on every level to even attempt romantic relationships between characters. Sad!

Let's not say things we don't mean. Surprisingly, I'm fine with them focusing on friendships and not much else. Dude even said it's not exactly his forte, so I rather he not try and pull that stuff concerning the main crew.
 

Ray Down

Banned
IchiRuki might not have been perfect after everything that happened, but it's tough to deny their chemistry in the first few arcs. They had some good, honest moments. It's the only ship that made sense in that messed up story. After Soul Society, I don't know what the fuck happened lol.

The chemistry is great and their relationship help build the foundation of Bleach and the SS arc,but the issue is Kubo never took a jump to make the realsionship romantic in nature on either side.

After wards is, Rukia charcter is all but wrapped up and Kubo doesn't know what to do with her, lol.

Also INB4 Psycho comes in to spin like Spicer.
 

smurfx

get some go again
Between this, Harry Potter and Bleach, I really hope that creators learn that the "time skip to when everyone's grown up. married and has kids" ending is trash and to never use it, especially when a significant chunk of your fanbase is heavily invested in love triangle drama bullshit that you barely put any focus on.
oda will probably skip some of this by killing luffy at the end of the manga.
 

theWB27

Member
They made it clear through the story sakura loves sasuke no matter what.

Sasuke, through his dickish ways, didn't hate sakura. That ounce of appreciation sasuke has was enough for her.

His only emotional attachment was to his brother and team7 and there was no way he was going to let the uchia bloodline die with him.

I'm struggling to wonder who else he'd do that with other than sakura.
 

Jarate

Banned
They made it clear through the story sakura loves sasuke no matter what.

Sasuke, through his dickish ways, didn't hate sakura. That ounce of appreciation sasuke has was enough for her.

His only emotional attachment was to his brother and team7 and there was no way he was going to let the uchia bloodline die with him.

I'm struggling to wonder who else he'd do that with other than sakura.

What are you, silly, it's clearly *my preferred shipping choice* can't you tell by the way Kishimoto writes the story!

Can we all just admit that Kishimoto is a horrendous writer and that the only thing he really does fairly well in is art?
 

Ray Down

Banned
They made it clear through the story sakura loves sasuke no matter what.

Sasuke, through his dickish ways, didn't hate sakura. That ounce of appreciation sasuke has was enough for her.

His only emotional attachment was to his brother and team7 and there was no way he was going to let the uchia bloodline die with him.

I'm struggling to wonder who else he'd do that with other than sakura.

Yes she is his only real candidate since Karin is a hot pile of burning hell garbage, but that doesn't make it all the more shit.
 
I shipped both NaruHina and IchiHime. Feels good man. Always root for the shyish girl that has crushed on the main guy for ages.

IchiRuki honestly isn't too bad, especially compared to the dumpster fire that I'd NaruSaku, considering they actually had some chemistry and the best chunk of Bleach (the beginning) was centered around them. But I enjoyed their tears almost as much as the NaruSaku tears anyway.

As shitty a dad as Sasuke is, I quite enjoy his vibe post epilogue. Finally mellowed out and all that.
 

zeemumu

Member
I cared nothing for Sakura and Sasuke was just a skill checkpoint that Naruto would eventually surpass to me.

I liked when Hinata was given a chance to show what she was capable of though.
 

Chase17

Member
Let's not say things we don't mean. Surprisingly, I'm fine with them focusing on friendships and not much else. Dude even said it's not exactly his forte, so I rather he not try and pull that stuff concerning the main crew.

I was just joking. I agree with you. I'm perfectly fine (and even glad) there is none of that between the main characters in One Piece.
 
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