Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ I might be done with Anime ❯ The first essay. ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Hobbesthebrainslug 
Why I might give up anime.
The second chapter will be my rebuttals to arguments.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.27.2009 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 572 | Status: Completed
Why I might give up anime.
The second chapter will be my rebuttals to arguments.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.27.2009 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 572 | Status: Completed
I Might Be Done With Anime
An Essay by Justin David
I don’t consider myself an anime fan, at least not most of the time. I really only watch anime if I think it’ll appeal to me. I don’t even watch an anime that I’ve heard got good reviews, or that my friends recommend to me. It all really depends on my mood, or what I see of an anime that really ‘wows’ me that determines if I’ll seek out an anime and watch it from start to end. Anime I watch must maintain my attention through some means or else I’ll lose interest.
I’m not sure if there’s any specific genre of anime I adhere to when I watch it. But right now I’d think that the trend leans toward action. Now, to be fair, action anime consists mostly of just that, action. But it takes a lot more then cool fight scenes and mind boggling power to keep me interested. It tends to help if the show has themes and rhetorical value that I can think about while not watching or reading.
But these trends of anime, which I find rather annoying, tend to show up no matter what genre I’m really watching, be it action, ecchi, comedy, romance, or mystery. These trends that irk me to no end are few, but nonetheless they are an important part of telling a story that’s often ignored. To be fair, I’m not as well read in the world of anime as some of the people reading this might be, so perhaps my judgment is skewed.
The first trend would be too many characters. This is both a boon and a curse. On the good side, you have a lot of potentially likeable characters. If the main character isn’t your cup of tea, you have lots of other characters to choose from. The bad side however, is that you get a lot of characters that are not fully developed by the end of the series. If you were one of those who liked a secondary character, and that character didn’t get properly developed, you feel gipped. So I guess the main problem here is not too many characters, but it’s that some characters aren’t given enough attention.
The second trend is that even if characters are developed, have good amounts of screen time, or are even the main characters themselves, relationships, especially romantic ones, even in my experience in ‘romance’ anime, are never that well developed either. From what I see, most of the time the series simply ends with implications that two characters got together. Or one character might die just before, or just after, confessing his love for his special one.
Other problems I have are the same of every sort of media outlet, underdeveloped plot, bland characters, no undertones or meaning, etc.
Being a lonely geek, I’m a big sucker for romance. Something about seeing some tender lovin’ between anyone, animated or not, just makes me all warm inside. Part of me is even happy for the characters engaged in the romance. That is, if there were any. Romance is one really deciding factor in whether I’ll continue watching an anime. So naturally, it really pisses me off when, after a few dozen to even a few hundred episodes, that nothing really all that romantic happens. I feel gipped, like the whole point of the anime was to tease me over and over, and then when I near the end, and expect my sweet reward of sweetness that I so deserve for my patience and devotion, they leave me hanging.
It happens over and over again, and I’m sick of it! If the writers didn’t want to develop that sort of relationship, why did they bother putting it in in the first place? I and other fans would probably be okay with it if the subject of romance was left alone altogether. But then again, I probably wouldn’t have watched it if not for that.
Let’s look at some anime I’ve watched that exhibits the above two trends.
Warning: Spoilers below, you have been warned.
Let’s start with a romance. Chobits was a cute, funny little romp that would have any sucker like me squealing with glee, And the opening theme wasn’t bad either. The thing about Chobits was that by the end, we were sure that the Hideki and Chii had a happy ending. Thing was, I wasn’t entirely sure what sort of happy ending they had. Were they in a geniune romantic relationship? Was Hideki simply supposed to take care of Chii like her creator before him? Or was Hideki supposed to remain faithful to Chii even though that they could never consummate their love? The ending, despite all it’s happiness and cheer, left me sort of feeling empty.
Another anime I saw that was like this was Girl’s Bravo. But to be fair, that anime was more about the T&A than anything else. I think Trigun ended with implications of romance between Vash and one of the women. (Meryl?)
An action anime, Bleach looked okay I guess. I’ve seen a gif of the redhead girl (Inouhe? Something like that) leaning in to kiss an unconscious Ichigo, almost like a role-reversed Sleeping Beauty scene. This would pretty much confirm that there is indeed romance in the anime. But I’ve seen a few episodes of Bleach, and to me it just seemed like a generic action anime. No real subtlety, no apparent character development. The romance would seem to just be thrown into there for no reason, and that doesn’t satisfy me.
Lots of action anime are like this. Inuyasha is pretty infamous.
These are just only a few examples, and not very obscure ones. To be fair, there’s not that many present. And most of the anime that I thought of for examples didn’t really apply. Akira, Evangelion, and Fooly Cooly, did have these problems to address, but they’re so weird I think it somewhat excuses them. I’ve seen all of those at least three times and I still don’t know what the heck is going on.
Now, for an anime that is perhaps the biggest violator of them all. But for some reason I’m still a fan of it. An anime that isn’t your typical Shoujo, and yet at the same time is very typical.
This anime is Naruto.
Naruto voilates not only one, but both of the big things that turn me off an anime. But for some reason it has entranced me. Perhaps it’s a fascination with ninja, and a geniune fascination, not just “ninja are cool!” fascination.
Naruto started off as the adventures of some goofy kid, his emo friend, and an annoying girl. But within the very first arc, the very first villan they encounter, we already have the show’s themes. And deep themes too, I might add.
The first theme is obvious. One should always follow their dreams and never give up. There is not a single person in the entire world that can disagree with this adequately. Throughout the anime, Naruto and his friends prove again and again that persistence, courage, friendship, and sometimes love, can overcome even the the most powerul foes.
The second theme, again, applies to everyone. This theme is the more subtle of the two. That no matter how hard a ninja trains himself, no matter how strong, stoic, or mind bogglingly powerful, Shinobi are people. People with dreams and desires. While it is cool to see the calm, collected ninja take down a great amount of foes and not break a sweat, but I find the emotionally conflicted, yet not entirely unstable ninja of Naruto to be far more interesting. Alongside this theme is the message that everyone matters, no matter how great or small. That everyone has potential to become great.
Don’t think these aren’t the only themes. We also have the theme of prejudice, the value of mercy and friendship, the consequences of war, and the cost of maintaining peace. Themes that touch many people across the globe. Among many other themes that I can’t think of right now. These deep themes are refreshing to see in an action anime
Deep philosophical crap aside, Naruto does have it’s downfalls. It is after all an action anime, so these messages tend to be conveyed through battle. There are few episodes or story arcs that don’t have to do with a violent conflict. I must say that for once, it might be nice to see our ninja heroes doing something that doesn’t involve being ninjas. Did you know that Naruto enjoys gardening? I certainly didn’t. It’s never really brought up in the manga or anime, we only know this because Kishimoto said so. Like I said, I’d like to see an arc where characters are simply doing normal things for once.
Enter Hinata. By far my favorite character, and a paragon of the show’s themes. If you’ve seen Naruto, you know what I’m talking about, if you haven’t, why are you still reading this?
I can very much see myself in Hinata. I’ve had secret crushes that border on obsession, and I too have had problems with my father. Hinata’s kindness and gentle nature strike something within me. So even though she is not the most powerful ninja around, she’s still awesome. She’s the embodiment of the underdog, and we can all root for the underdog.
OMG HUGE SPOILER ALERTS BELOW!
The most recent story arc in the manga (and coming soon in the anime) has had to be one the the most intense manga sequences ever. We have the prominent villian of the month, a man so emo they had no choice but to name him PAIN. Which for some reason was a better name choice than General Grievous.
PAIN attacks Naruto’s hometown, utterly annihilating the place (Ironic that in birds eye shots of the city, the wall surrounding the place is still completely intact). Many popular and prominent characters have died, and unless goku flies in out of freaking nowhere with a sack of dragon balls, they’re don’t seem to be coming back. Kishimoto has sort of exhausted his one cheap ressurrection method with Chiyo and Gaara.
Naruto returns and does battle with PAIN and PAIN has pretty much given Naruto a run for his Ryou. Naruto is pinned to the ground by a sword, when, of all characters, Hinata comes in and knocks PAIN away as he’s about to deliver the finishing blow.
What’s this? Character development? Crowning moment of awesome? We get a lot of both, as well as a mindfuck moment…When after a few hundred episodes, Hinata declares her love for Naruto.
Upon reading that panel, I shook my head and said ‘wha?’ I almost didn’t believe it. And it seemed rather sudden, almost a little too soon.
Hinata stands defiantly against pain to protect the one she loves, then charges with a look on her face that would make a spartan flinch. Then the PAIN blasts her. Hinata doesn’t get one hit in. It just happens. And if that wasn’t enough, PAIN walks up to her injured body and stabs her.
If I know Naruto, she just might be okay, the young characters seem to have a habit of coming back to life. But I don’t know. This one battle alone has killed at least 4 other popular characters.
I could understand Hinata being defeated, being seriously injured, even to the point where she can no longer do ninja stuff. Hey, going against PAIN has a price. But if Hinata died, it would negate everything Naruto has tried to prove for dozens of episodes.
Remember what I said earlier? The whole “courage and love can conquer all” thing? GONE! With Hinata’s death, Hinata can’t see her dreams come to fruition. She can’t be accepted by her father or Neji, she can’t be loved by Naruto, and she can’t grow stronger as a ninja. It renders the entire “following your dreams” theme pointless. What it bascially says is this: ‘your dreams don’t matter if you’re not strong enough’.
The second theme is also nullified with Hinata’s death. Hinata is one of the most Human characters in the show. So when someone who is essentially a walking corpse kills her, it’s basically saying that it doesn’t matter how human you are, unless you’re strong enough.
Just when it seemed Hinata’s plot was going to make real progress, she dies. She’s done. With one final anticlimactic panel, one of the most popular characters of Naruto has been snuffed. Along with that, my hope for finding an anime that satisfies me fully.
And that is why I’m done with anime. Call me picky, correct me if I’m wrong, I just feel like I wasted a shitload of my time watching this, only to be cut off in the end.
Oh yeah, I’m also pretty pissed off that my favorite character died. Kishimoto, you receive a furious milk-shaking!
An Essay by Justin David
I don’t consider myself an anime fan, at least not most of the time. I really only watch anime if I think it’ll appeal to me. I don’t even watch an anime that I’ve heard got good reviews, or that my friends recommend to me. It all really depends on my mood, or what I see of an anime that really ‘wows’ me that determines if I’ll seek out an anime and watch it from start to end. Anime I watch must maintain my attention through some means or else I’ll lose interest.
I’m not sure if there’s any specific genre of anime I adhere to when I watch it. But right now I’d think that the trend leans toward action. Now, to be fair, action anime consists mostly of just that, action. But it takes a lot more then cool fight scenes and mind boggling power to keep me interested. It tends to help if the show has themes and rhetorical value that I can think about while not watching or reading.
But these trends of anime, which I find rather annoying, tend to show up no matter what genre I’m really watching, be it action, ecchi, comedy, romance, or mystery. These trends that irk me to no end are few, but nonetheless they are an important part of telling a story that’s often ignored. To be fair, I’m not as well read in the world of anime as some of the people reading this might be, so perhaps my judgment is skewed.
The first trend would be too many characters. This is both a boon and a curse. On the good side, you have a lot of potentially likeable characters. If the main character isn’t your cup of tea, you have lots of other characters to choose from. The bad side however, is that you get a lot of characters that are not fully developed by the end of the series. If you were one of those who liked a secondary character, and that character didn’t get properly developed, you feel gipped. So I guess the main problem here is not too many characters, but it’s that some characters aren’t given enough attention.
The second trend is that even if characters are developed, have good amounts of screen time, or are even the main characters themselves, relationships, especially romantic ones, even in my experience in ‘romance’ anime, are never that well developed either. From what I see, most of the time the series simply ends with implications that two characters got together. Or one character might die just before, or just after, confessing his love for his special one.
Other problems I have are the same of every sort of media outlet, underdeveloped plot, bland characters, no undertones or meaning, etc.
Being a lonely geek, I’m a big sucker for romance. Something about seeing some tender lovin’ between anyone, animated or not, just makes me all warm inside. Part of me is even happy for the characters engaged in the romance. That is, if there were any. Romance is one really deciding factor in whether I’ll continue watching an anime. So naturally, it really pisses me off when, after a few dozen to even a few hundred episodes, that nothing really all that romantic happens. I feel gipped, like the whole point of the anime was to tease me over and over, and then when I near the end, and expect my sweet reward of sweetness that I so deserve for my patience and devotion, they leave me hanging.
It happens over and over again, and I’m sick of it! If the writers didn’t want to develop that sort of relationship, why did they bother putting it in in the first place? I and other fans would probably be okay with it if the subject of romance was left alone altogether. But then again, I probably wouldn’t have watched it if not for that.
Let’s look at some anime I’ve watched that exhibits the above two trends.
Warning: Spoilers below, you have been warned.
Let’s start with a romance. Chobits was a cute, funny little romp that would have any sucker like me squealing with glee, And the opening theme wasn’t bad either. The thing about Chobits was that by the end, we were sure that the Hideki and Chii had a happy ending. Thing was, I wasn’t entirely sure what sort of happy ending they had. Were they in a geniune romantic relationship? Was Hideki simply supposed to take care of Chii like her creator before him? Or was Hideki supposed to remain faithful to Chii even though that they could never consummate their love? The ending, despite all it’s happiness and cheer, left me sort of feeling empty.
Another anime I saw that was like this was Girl’s Bravo. But to be fair, that anime was more about the T&A than anything else. I think Trigun ended with implications of romance between Vash and one of the women. (Meryl?)
An action anime, Bleach looked okay I guess. I’ve seen a gif of the redhead girl (Inouhe? Something like that) leaning in to kiss an unconscious Ichigo, almost like a role-reversed Sleeping Beauty scene. This would pretty much confirm that there is indeed romance in the anime. But I’ve seen a few episodes of Bleach, and to me it just seemed like a generic action anime. No real subtlety, no apparent character development. The romance would seem to just be thrown into there for no reason, and that doesn’t satisfy me.
Lots of action anime are like this. Inuyasha is pretty infamous.
These are just only a few examples, and not very obscure ones. To be fair, there’s not that many present. And most of the anime that I thought of for examples didn’t really apply. Akira, Evangelion, and Fooly Cooly, did have these problems to address, but they’re so weird I think it somewhat excuses them. I’ve seen all of those at least three times and I still don’t know what the heck is going on.
Now, for an anime that is perhaps the biggest violator of them all. But for some reason I’m still a fan of it. An anime that isn’t your typical Shoujo, and yet at the same time is very typical.
This anime is Naruto.
Naruto voilates not only one, but both of the big things that turn me off an anime. But for some reason it has entranced me. Perhaps it’s a fascination with ninja, and a geniune fascination, not just “ninja are cool!” fascination.
Naruto started off as the adventures of some goofy kid, his emo friend, and an annoying girl. But within the very first arc, the very first villan they encounter, we already have the show’s themes. And deep themes too, I might add.
The first theme is obvious. One should always follow their dreams and never give up. There is not a single person in the entire world that can disagree with this adequately. Throughout the anime, Naruto and his friends prove again and again that persistence, courage, friendship, and sometimes love, can overcome even the the most powerul foes.
The second theme, again, applies to everyone. This theme is the more subtle of the two. That no matter how hard a ninja trains himself, no matter how strong, stoic, or mind bogglingly powerful, Shinobi are people. People with dreams and desires. While it is cool to see the calm, collected ninja take down a great amount of foes and not break a sweat, but I find the emotionally conflicted, yet not entirely unstable ninja of Naruto to be far more interesting. Alongside this theme is the message that everyone matters, no matter how great or small. That everyone has potential to become great.
Don’t think these aren’t the only themes. We also have the theme of prejudice, the value of mercy and friendship, the consequences of war, and the cost of maintaining peace. Themes that touch many people across the globe. Among many other themes that I can’t think of right now. These deep themes are refreshing to see in an action anime
Deep philosophical crap aside, Naruto does have it’s downfalls. It is after all an action anime, so these messages tend to be conveyed through battle. There are few episodes or story arcs that don’t have to do with a violent conflict. I must say that for once, it might be nice to see our ninja heroes doing something that doesn’t involve being ninjas. Did you know that Naruto enjoys gardening? I certainly didn’t. It’s never really brought up in the manga or anime, we only know this because Kishimoto said so. Like I said, I’d like to see an arc where characters are simply doing normal things for once.
Enter Hinata. By far my favorite character, and a paragon of the show’s themes. If you’ve seen Naruto, you know what I’m talking about, if you haven’t, why are you still reading this?
I can very much see myself in Hinata. I’ve had secret crushes that border on obsession, and I too have had problems with my father. Hinata’s kindness and gentle nature strike something within me. So even though she is not the most powerful ninja around, she’s still awesome. She’s the embodiment of the underdog, and we can all root for the underdog.
OMG HUGE SPOILER ALERTS BELOW!
The most recent story arc in the manga (and coming soon in the anime) has had to be one the the most intense manga sequences ever. We have the prominent villian of the month, a man so emo they had no choice but to name him PAIN. Which for some reason was a better name choice than General Grievous.
PAIN attacks Naruto’s hometown, utterly annihilating the place (Ironic that in birds eye shots of the city, the wall surrounding the place is still completely intact). Many popular and prominent characters have died, and unless goku flies in out of freaking nowhere with a sack of dragon balls, they’re don’t seem to be coming back. Kishimoto has sort of exhausted his one cheap ressurrection method with Chiyo and Gaara.
Naruto returns and does battle with PAIN and PAIN has pretty much given Naruto a run for his Ryou. Naruto is pinned to the ground by a sword, when, of all characters, Hinata comes in and knocks PAIN away as he’s about to deliver the finishing blow.
What’s this? Character development? Crowning moment of awesome? We get a lot of both, as well as a mindfuck moment…When after a few hundred episodes, Hinata declares her love for Naruto.
Upon reading that panel, I shook my head and said ‘wha?’ I almost didn’t believe it. And it seemed rather sudden, almost a little too soon.
Hinata stands defiantly against pain to protect the one she loves, then charges with a look on her face that would make a spartan flinch. Then the PAIN blasts her. Hinata doesn’t get one hit in. It just happens. And if that wasn’t enough, PAIN walks up to her injured body and stabs her.
If I know Naruto, she just might be okay, the young characters seem to have a habit of coming back to life. But I don’t know. This one battle alone has killed at least 4 other popular characters.
I could understand Hinata being defeated, being seriously injured, even to the point where she can no longer do ninja stuff. Hey, going against PAIN has a price. But if Hinata died, it would negate everything Naruto has tried to prove for dozens of episodes.
Remember what I said earlier? The whole “courage and love can conquer all” thing? GONE! With Hinata’s death, Hinata can’t see her dreams come to fruition. She can’t be accepted by her father or Neji, she can’t be loved by Naruto, and she can’t grow stronger as a ninja. It renders the entire “following your dreams” theme pointless. What it bascially says is this: ‘your dreams don’t matter if you’re not strong enough’.
The second theme is also nullified with Hinata’s death. Hinata is one of the most Human characters in the show. So when someone who is essentially a walking corpse kills her, it’s basically saying that it doesn’t matter how human you are, unless you’re strong enough.
Just when it seemed Hinata’s plot was going to make real progress, she dies. She’s done. With one final anticlimactic panel, one of the most popular characters of Naruto has been snuffed. Along with that, my hope for finding an anime that satisfies me fully.
And that is why I’m done with anime. Call me picky, correct me if I’m wrong, I just feel like I wasted a shitload of my time watching this, only to be cut off in the end.
Oh yeah, I’m also pretty pissed off that my favorite character died. Kishimoto, you receive a furious milk-shaking!