Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-31278419-20170331010234/@comment-4961229-20170426154824

Thekillman wrote: CyberianGinseng wrote: (snip) Can i ask what the aspects are that you did like? because a number of things you want to change were fairly big parts of naruto. So i'm wondering what specifically drew you to Naruto. Naruto is the first manga I ever read. Initially, I grew up on American comic books. I didn't even give mangas a try, due to them mostly being printed in black and white. I was too used to color comic books. One day I happened to see Naruto on the Cartoon Network. I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't head over heals about it, until I saw one of the most fantastic episodes in the series. It was the Rock Lee episode where he drops his weights. I was like, now that's what I want to see. I still wasn't a regular watcher with school and work occupying my time, but I caught a few episodes on and off. Then I went awhile without seeing anything and happened to catch the fight at the VotE. I was like, WTF?!? I thought they were team mates?!? I went back to the beginning. What really hooked me was the end of the first episode. I was on board at that point and I binge watched the available episodes online. I wanted more when they ran out so I started reading the manga.

There are many things I like about Naruto. The world Kishi built of magical ninjas is fantastic. Many of the characters are likeable. Many of the villains at least start off delightfully menacing. The pseudo-feudal Japanese society is fascinating. The wide variety of powers an abilities, as well as, the chakra system are intriguing. The storyline early on is quite satisfying.

There is much to like in Kishi's work. However, he failed to completely deliver on its promise. He left too many questions unanswered. He introduced too many avoidable plot holes and inconsistencies. I mean what exactly is the point of having Naruto learn almost nothing with Jiraiya for 3 years and then having Fukasaku download sage mode in like a week, when he could've had Naruto start sage training with Jiraiya for 3 years and finish it with Fukasaku? It was totally unnecessary. He shat on many of his own promising characters, playing favorites to the detriment of others. He added too many clichés that have been done to death. He obsessed over Naruto and Sasuke's "friendship" as the major theme of the manga, but failed to actually put the "friendship" on panel. Then turns around and proves he was capable of doing so with Hashirama and Madara. It's maddening.

There is a time to celebrate a work of art and there is a time to be honest about it's faults. The OP asked what would we change if we could about Naruto. My list consists of things I find incredibly annoying and things I would've like to have seen. It's just my opinion; it doesn't have to be anybody else's. I'm not one of those people who goes around constantly bashing Naruto, but if you can't look honestly at something you appreciate and acknowledge its flaws then you don't really appreciate it at all.