My Naruto Rant of the Week: Manga Chapter 437
I had been so utterly thrilled that Hinata had finally confessed at first. I did the Ultimate NaruHina dance, I sang to my cat, Prieto, and I even posted on all the spastic NaruHina blogs about how excited I had been with this new, amazing development. But then, I had to ask myself…
Is Hyuuga Hinata really dead?
I seemed to have forgotten that possibility, as I had been too busy in my NaruHina victory.
There are really so many things to consider when answering this question, and the ambiguity of how this supposed death was portrayed is not the only thing to take into consideration. At first, many of us NaruHina shippers were ecstatic to see Hinata FINALLY grow a pair and confess her love for our ever-clueless hero.
It was exhilarating to see the determination in her face, the way she stood firm between the love of her life and the evil that threatened said love.
Her lacking stutter simply awed me, for I had always assumed she would become a nervous wreck when professing her love for him, and I don’t think I was the only one.
But then, as someone who does some heavy fiction reading on a daily basis, I don’t know if I’m the only one who seems to think that a lot of the things that have been happening in this manga aren’t exactly adding up the way one would assume.
Masashi Kishimoto, in my humble opinion, seems to be jumping around his own plot too much for my liking, and while sometimes he seems to stall forever to get anywhere, there are times he just throws one surprise after the other with no real excuse or preceding reason, and then all of a sudden we’re dealing with a brand new problem while the there are many other problems that have yet to be resolved.
What is more upsetting than anything is that while he presents a whole array of themes in his story, as we reach one major climax and enter another arc, or perhaps near the end of this story, is to see how many loose ends are neglected and no one bothers to wonder what was the point all along if there was no reason for said themes to be explored.
Sure, like any writer, Kishimoto plays favorites, and this is obvious in the way his favorite characters get a lot more screen time as opposed to other supporting characters.
Now, I understand that supporting characters are created for a reason, and as such, that reason is to aid the main characters in reaching their goals and to perhaps validate the reasons certain things happen in the plot. I don’t think that writers are required to develop themes for these supporting characters, but the fact that many writers do so without hindering the story itself shows their mastery for story telling and many times adds depth to the story. However, creating themes for supporting cast is great and dandy AS LONG AS you plan on fulfilling those themes. But in the end, a supporting character’s minimum requirement is that they have a personality which goal is to promote and encourage the main character(s) to fulfill their own goals and themes.
In Kishimoto’s case, what I don’t appreciate about his writing is that he develops themes and problems for each of these supporting characters to deal with, and these characters never really seems to solve their problems or fulfill their themes. Only favorite characters fulfill their themes and are given the opportunity to show their progress and development. Meanwhile, Kishimoto's supporting characters tend to either “conveniently” die, or magically fall off the face of the earth for extended periods of time throughout the story.
To me, it seems that while Kishimoto created these supporting characters, applying whatever themes to their roles seemed a good idea at the time, but now that the story is in motion, he seems too preoccupied with other things to really give a damn about the very themes he had applied to these supporting characters in the beginning. This kind of writing is amateurish. I'm not a writer by profession, but even I know that.
And this brings me to my other point…
I wonder what Hinata had been doing for two and a half years…
This again relates to my argument of the current filler arc of the anime. Hinata displays a lot of great potential, and shows much of her strength only to get shot down by something inconceivably stupid. After watching this happen time and time again, it becomes rather disappointing when, initially, Kishimoto roused the interest and hopes of many fans only to then disillusion them.
Sure, life isn’t fair, and in real life, things don’t happen just the way we want it to, but for a reason this is called fiction. We humans enjoy fiction because it is an escape from reality, and although we don’t always get a happy ending in fiction itself, we at least expect a rewarding ending. We expect conflicts to be solved, unlike how some authors hope we as readers overlook these discrepancies.
The actual point I’m trying to make is that Kishimoto did not fulfilled Hinata Hyuuga’s role if, indeed, she is dead. Hinata Hyuuga, for that matter, is not the only one. There is still Hatake Kakashi-whose assumed death is still a mystery-and Shizune, Tsunade’s assistant. (How the hell did Shizune die, anyway? I remember reading the manga, and two seconds later, she's dead stiff and Shikamaru and company are examining her body for any clues in defeating Pain. I find it the depressing I don't even remember how Shizune died... I mean... that's how fleeting these deaths are becoming. I mean, it's Shizune, for God's sake! The Hokage's assistant and ever loyal servant! Her death wasn't even foreshadowed. She just upped and died.... lulz... was she really that expendable?)
Kishimoto had started in the right direction when it came to killing a character at the beginning of this story. He did excellent with Zabuza and Haku. He laid enough foundation, which proved the reasons he provided for any character’s death were valid. He had done this rather well up until Jiraiya and even Itachi’s death. After, it seemed as if Kishimoto started killing off other characters simply because he could, not because he had a good reason to. Many of his fans are claiming that he is a genius for doing this, for the deaths of several of these characters give depth to, not only the story, but the main characters because the effect these deaths would have on the main characters, etc., and because we just need to wait for the end of the story to see what's really gonna happen. Well, my friends... I think that by the end of the story, so much shit would have happened, we're not even going to remember who died in the first place. I mean, who gives a damn about Zabuza anymore after he kicked the bucket. I know a lot of people are obsessed with Haku, but that's because he's the epitome of yaoi-fandom.
But then, if all these deaths so far are supposedly so meaningful and pivotal, why does Naruto seem so unperturbed by at least half of these characters' deaths? Given the circumstances of those deaths, Naruto had all the right reasons to go “Kyuubi,” knowing he stood before the very man who killed his two senseis and had destroyed his village. Wasn't that enough reason to piss him off go “Kyuubi”?
He also saw Pa frog die, too, and… yeah… he was mad, but he still didn’t go didn’t go nuts!
I’m sorry, but you destroy the place I call home, and kill three of the most influential figures in my life; you bet your ass I would’ve gone “Kyuubi”!
You could argue that Naruto has grown up, and that he has a better handle on his emotions.
Of course, that is until a weird, dark and creepy Hyuuga comes along…
Why did he suddenly loose it then?
Yes… yes… she said she loved him. True, no one had ever said that to Naruto, but as of yet, we have to hear what his take on that whole confession is. Furthermore, do we really know exactly how much Hinata’s words impacted him, considering they were said in the heat of battle, and that he really hasn’t had the opportunity to sit down and analyze this new development? Well... I mean... we all know is NOT new, but it is for HIM.
Anyway, some may argue that while having your friend, or even your teacher killed can be painful, it’s a whole lot more tragic if someone who actually loves you, declares their love for you and proves it by sacrificing themselves is completely on a whole new level.
But… still… *sigh* while a love confession may be epic for Naruto, it’s from someone he rarely thought about. Sure, he kicked Neji’s ass in the Chunin exams in Hinata’s name, but as a general rule, Naruto is very gallant by nature, and would perhaps do that for anybody he sees is being treated unfairly. (Note that this is my logical side speaking, not my NaruHina side speaking, heh... because that’s a whole different story.)
I can certainly give Naruto the benefit of the doubt, considering just how unpredictable he is, and say that, indeed, he was deeply impacted by Hinata’s love confession (my NaruHina side really hopes that’s the case, anyway).
Sure, it certainly is a possibility, but I truly think killing Hinata is sheer laziness on Kishimoto’s part, and his way to stealthily and underhandedly get off the hook when it comes to fulfilling Hinata’s theme.
Furthermore, what’s up with Kishimoto suddenly retrieving characters that rarely get any screen time just so they can drop like flies?
By the looks of it, Hinata is apparently no exception to this little phenomenon.
While in pre-time skip, we, as followers of the story, were always reminded that Hinata continued to work hard and strive to overcome her weaknesses. All of a sudden, in post-time skip, we hardly see her at all.
What happened?
Where the hell did she go?
For a while, I went along with it, because there were more important things happening in the story that certainly took precedence, and figured that perhaps Hinata’s development could wait a bit longer.
When the opportunity finally presents itself and Hinata is given screen time (think Sasuke retrieval arc) to show how much she has improved, she is literally less proactive than a bench warmer.
I mean, you really begin to wonder… you get curious about that strange chick with the cataract-eyes and varicose veins on her temples.
What was her role, again?
Oh, yeah, that’s right! Become stronger!
Duh…
Oh, and as a bonus, she gets to admit to the main character that she loves him!
Yes, yes… now I remember…
All this time, she is presumed to be working hard at becoming stronger, and yet, we never see the fruits of her labor. And when she does try to show her strength, the author doesn’t really give her a chance to shine because he decides to kill her simply for the sake of a “wicked, kick-ass” twist in the plot?
Well… at least that seems to be the theory of many Kishimoto-groupies, anyway.
Seriously… what the fuck?
People will argue that Hinata watched the entire fight between Naruto and Pain, therefore jumping in to protect the source of her strength and affections fulfills her role, and therefore completes her theme.
But then again… why go through so much trouble if you’re going to die in the end?
Besides… Hinata wasn’t the only one watching the fight! A lot of people could’ve jumped in!
Yes, Hinata does claim she has no regard for her life if it means she gets to protect Naruto, the one she loves, and while that is heartbreakingly romantic, and, dare I say, brave of her, it is a weak and disappointing move by the author of this story.
Having Hinata profess her love seconds before her death is stupid and doesn’t make her death any more meaningful than a fly being hit with bug spray. Hinata’s death was rushed, prosaic, and poorly executed, no matter how much people claim it is to affect the future of the story. Quite frankly, to me it seems Kishimoto just didn’t know how to deal with Hinata’s character, because he had already dug a hole so deep, he seemed to have forgotten what had been the reason he was digging that hole in the first place.
If Hinata’s death does indeed become a reality, not only does it become cliché and predictable, but it also becomes boring, vapid and disappointing, despite how much her love confession excited me, which is something a lot of us had been waiting for more for more than 400 chapters.
If Hinata was a minor character, why did Kishimoto wait over 400 chapters to show she had finally grown enough balls to tell Naruto she loved him? If she was such a minor character, why was she-and not another main character-the one chosen to play the role out of the rookie nine and Team Gai’s generation to not only see Naruto’s potential from the very beginning and that he truly was (a good person), but the one who was ALWAYS in love with him?
Was Hinata’s death really meant to be the final straw on pushing Naruto over the edge and become everything he has been fighting NOT to become and loose control of the one thing that would lead to his demise-and everyone else’s for that matter?
If Hinata’s were such a minor character, why would her supposed death be the cause of such a pivotal point in the story?
I mean, Hinata’s death seems to be leading Naruto into the one thing he has refused to do his whole life: giving up.
Yes, I personally see-no matter how intriguing it might’ve seen at the time I saw it the first time-Naruto’s surrender to the Kyuubi’s power as a sign of weakness and giving up.
Hinata’s death would change Naruto into being the person he always avoided becoming: a dark, depressed, and hurt man. This would in turn destroy the moral of this story.
This story’s main theme is that despite all the hardships, and all the misfortunes one can ever encounter in life, one must stay strong and positive, and fulfill one’s dreams.
I can’t see that happening with a guilt-ridden and vengeful Naruto.
I can’t see that happening with a Naruto who fails to ever smile again.
That would be as bad as seeing a sensitive, kind, friendly, and happy-go-lucky Sasuke who smiles at any given opportunity, and never really had a problem with his whole clan being massacred.
Sure, I was thrilled to see Hinata Hyuuga-the least expected-be the one out of everyone who was still alive in Konoha be brave enough to confront Pain while Naruto was in such a precarious situation. She knew she didn’t stand a chance, but she still jumped in, as opposed to everyone else who pretty much kicked back with a bowl of popcorn and enjoyed the show as if it they were in a gladiator coliseum.
Yes, Pain is a mean bastard, and thus far he has not hesitated in not just hurting, but killing people, and destroying an entire village. At this very moment, I doubt that despite Hinata’s love confession he would develop a shred of humanity and spare her.
Nevertheless, the fact that her death was not openly shown as with the other deaths gives me that one tiny shred of hope she might still survive. But I have to say that shred is VERY small.
I will always think that killing Hinata is too much, even for Kishimoto. Regardless that killing the shy girl who felt unrequited love for the main character is the standard and tradition for Shonen stories, he went a bit too far. Sure, in terms of the story, I guess some would call it ingenious. However, it’s old and cliché… and old and cliché is not what Kishimoto is known for.
Yes, it’s cliché that the only girl who always believed in the hero from the very beginning puts her life on the line for him while confessing how much she loves him and our clueless hero is in a position that allows him to do ABSOLUTELY nothing about it, except resort to the one thing he has been training himself NOT to do.
What is Kishimoto’s purpose with this whole set up, really?
Is killing the weird and dark girl supposed to really scar Naruto for life, and make him perceive life through a different light? Why couldn’t Jiraiya or the destruction of the village cause such a deep reaction? I always thought those two things were something Naruto always held VERY close to his heart.
But Hinata? The girl he barely noticed? Just because she claimed she loved him?
Jeez… I’m beginning to think that Kishimoto has been reading one-too many poorly written, cliché fanfics! Ha! How ironic!
I mean… umm… where HAVEN’T we seen this happen already?
No, I’m not undervaluing Hinata, but I am trying to prove a point here based on what I’ve learned about Naruto after reading over 400 chapters!
In the end, I think chapter 437 was the worst and best chapter I’ve ever read, but it is slowly and surely tipping on the worse side of the scale the more I think about it.
Hinata was-despite this being an action/adventure story-the only genuine shred of romance in this entire story, and we all know that, no matter how much NaruSaku fans try denying it. And if we’re going to be sticking to tradition, the main character HAS to fall in love, and it would only be fair that he falls in love with the girl that truly deserves his affections.
At the rate this story is going, Naruto is slowly becoming the kind of person he had helped so many stopped from being, starting with Gaara.
Hinata’s assumed death, compared to Jiraiya’s or Asuma’s, accomplishes nothing in my opinion, especially if it was done as an excuse to reveal Naruto's sixth tail. It would even be MORE disappointing if Hinata's death was created in order to prevent depicting a scene that shows Naruto reflecting on her love confession if she were still alive. After all, this could possibly lead to him falling in love, not just crushing, as he has done with Sakura. That’s right, just like in all those terribly written fanfics out there, I too believe that, considering how much Naruto has always craved for attention, he could very easily fall in love with Hinata who would be more than willing to give him all the attention in the world for an entire lifetime.
Naruto’s crush on Sakura is easy to deal with for Kishimoto because, let’s face it, it’s really not going anywhere considering Sakura is obsessed with Sasuke. And Sakura’s feelings for Sasuke are just as easy to deal with because Sasuke is too obsessed with his past, therefore, there is no love story in Naruto, and I have a feeling that Kishimoto wants to keep it this way. I mean, hell, he even killed Asuma, knowing he and Kurenai were an item. Seriously, now... what gives? Is it really THAT hard for Kishimoto to write romance? If it is, why put yourself in a situation that requires it? Killing characters off to avoid writing romance is a pattern the people begin figuring out after a while, you know...
After all, Hinata and Naruto… well, I’ll be damned, Kishi… that MIGHT just work, which is precisely what you seem to work so hard at preventing!
So what do you do AGAIN, Kishi-darling?
You say, “Oh, damn it! I can’t write romance! I mean… Asuma and Kurenai just happened, but I never showed ANYTHING… but this… the fans are gonna WANNA see it! Fuck that! I’m better off killing her!”
Tsk, tsk… Kishi-kun…
That’s a pretty lousy way to get off the hook…
But why create a hook in the first place if you were never going to use it anyway? Or was that just your scheme to have Shojo fans watch your show, therefore making you richer?
I'm not going to continue speculating down that path... it's kind of depressing, and sick...
Anyway….
If killing key characters is Kishimoto’s only way of meaningfully furthering his plot, then all he ever had from the beginning was a group of amazing characters, and no story to tell. If it turns out that Naruto is left alone at the end-I don’t doubt it, especially at the rate Kishimoto is killing people-than Kishimoto played us all for fools and got rich in the process. It’s about the only thing that makes him a genius, so I’ll give him that much credit.
Some may argue that this story is far from over, but with all the people dropping like flies… um… I’d say it kinda is….
And also… what is it with Kishimoto and emo bastards, anyway? We already had Emo Sasuke, but now we have to deal with Emo Pain? I mean… God damn, I had more fun watching pedophile Orochimaru! At least Oruchimaru had moves, and was fucking crazy and evil, but Pain is depressing, boring, and unoriginal. And watching him Shinra Tensei everyone to Timbuktu-because that’s all he ever does-gets pretty old and boring after a while. Doesn’t he have more moves, or something, or is Kishimoto getting lazy again?
Anyway… I am PRAYING Hinata doesn’t die, so you can all rest easy. I am a NaruHina supporter to the very end, even after death!
And, as a parting thought for the night: there is no story when the main character is left alone to wallow in his misery. People do that in real life every day. People don’t want to invest their time in fiction that shows more of the same thing they have to deal with day in and day out… or well… at least some of us don't. I don’t personally have any misery that I need to wallow in, but I certainly don’t want to wallow in someone else’s misery… especially a fictional character’s!
This drawing is not mine, but I thought it was hilarious.
deviantArt Link
Is Hyuuga Hinata really dead?
I seemed to have forgotten that possibility, as I had been too busy in my NaruHina victory.
There are really so many things to consider when answering this question, and the ambiguity of how this supposed death was portrayed is not the only thing to take into consideration. At first, many of us NaruHina shippers were ecstatic to see Hinata FINALLY grow a pair and confess her love for our ever-clueless hero.
It was exhilarating to see the determination in her face, the way she stood firm between the love of her life and the evil that threatened said love.
Her lacking stutter simply awed me, for I had always assumed she would become a nervous wreck when professing her love for him, and I don’t think I was the only one.
But then, as someone who does some heavy fiction reading on a daily basis, I don’t know if I’m the only one who seems to think that a lot of the things that have been happening in this manga aren’t exactly adding up the way one would assume.
Masashi Kishimoto, in my humble opinion, seems to be jumping around his own plot too much for my liking, and while sometimes he seems to stall forever to get anywhere, there are times he just throws one surprise after the other with no real excuse or preceding reason, and then all of a sudden we’re dealing with a brand new problem while the there are many other problems that have yet to be resolved.
What is more upsetting than anything is that while he presents a whole array of themes in his story, as we reach one major climax and enter another arc, or perhaps near the end of this story, is to see how many loose ends are neglected and no one bothers to wonder what was the point all along if there was no reason for said themes to be explored.
Sure, like any writer, Kishimoto plays favorites, and this is obvious in the way his favorite characters get a lot more screen time as opposed to other supporting characters.
Now, I understand that supporting characters are created for a reason, and as such, that reason is to aid the main characters in reaching their goals and to perhaps validate the reasons certain things happen in the plot. I don’t think that writers are required to develop themes for these supporting characters, but the fact that many writers do so without hindering the story itself shows their mastery for story telling and many times adds depth to the story. However, creating themes for supporting cast is great and dandy AS LONG AS you plan on fulfilling those themes. But in the end, a supporting character’s minimum requirement is that they have a personality which goal is to promote and encourage the main character(s) to fulfill their own goals and themes.
In Kishimoto’s case, what I don’t appreciate about his writing is that he develops themes and problems for each of these supporting characters to deal with, and these characters never really seems to solve their problems or fulfill their themes. Only favorite characters fulfill their themes and are given the opportunity to show their progress and development. Meanwhile, Kishimoto's supporting characters tend to either “conveniently” die, or magically fall off the face of the earth for extended periods of time throughout the story.
To me, it seems that while Kishimoto created these supporting characters, applying whatever themes to their roles seemed a good idea at the time, but now that the story is in motion, he seems too preoccupied with other things to really give a damn about the very themes he had applied to these supporting characters in the beginning. This kind of writing is amateurish. I'm not a writer by profession, but even I know that.
And this brings me to my other point…
I wonder what Hinata had been doing for two and a half years…
This again relates to my argument of the current filler arc of the anime. Hinata displays a lot of great potential, and shows much of her strength only to get shot down by something inconceivably stupid. After watching this happen time and time again, it becomes rather disappointing when, initially, Kishimoto roused the interest and hopes of many fans only to then disillusion them.
Sure, life isn’t fair, and in real life, things don’t happen just the way we want it to, but for a reason this is called fiction. We humans enjoy fiction because it is an escape from reality, and although we don’t always get a happy ending in fiction itself, we at least expect a rewarding ending. We expect conflicts to be solved, unlike how some authors hope we as readers overlook these discrepancies.
The actual point I’m trying to make is that Kishimoto did not fulfilled Hinata Hyuuga’s role if, indeed, she is dead. Hinata Hyuuga, for that matter, is not the only one. There is still Hatake Kakashi-whose assumed death is still a mystery-and Shizune, Tsunade’s assistant. (How the hell did Shizune die, anyway? I remember reading the manga, and two seconds later, she's dead stiff and Shikamaru and company are examining her body for any clues in defeating Pain. I find it the depressing I don't even remember how Shizune died... I mean... that's how fleeting these deaths are becoming. I mean, it's Shizune, for God's sake! The Hokage's assistant and ever loyal servant! Her death wasn't even foreshadowed. She just upped and died.... lulz... was she really that expendable?)
Kishimoto had started in the right direction when it came to killing a character at the beginning of this story. He did excellent with Zabuza and Haku. He laid enough foundation, which proved the reasons he provided for any character’s death were valid. He had done this rather well up until Jiraiya and even Itachi’s death. After, it seemed as if Kishimoto started killing off other characters simply because he could, not because he had a good reason to. Many of his fans are claiming that he is a genius for doing this, for the deaths of several of these characters give depth to, not only the story, but the main characters because the effect these deaths would have on the main characters, etc., and because we just need to wait for the end of the story to see what's really gonna happen. Well, my friends... I think that by the end of the story, so much shit would have happened, we're not even going to remember who died in the first place. I mean, who gives a damn about Zabuza anymore after he kicked the bucket. I know a lot of people are obsessed with Haku, but that's because he's the epitome of yaoi-fandom.
But then, if all these deaths so far are supposedly so meaningful and pivotal, why does Naruto seem so unperturbed by at least half of these characters' deaths? Given the circumstances of those deaths, Naruto had all the right reasons to go “Kyuubi,” knowing he stood before the very man who killed his two senseis and had destroyed his village. Wasn't that enough reason to piss him off go “Kyuubi”?
He also saw Pa frog die, too, and… yeah… he was mad, but he still didn’t go didn’t go nuts!
I’m sorry, but you destroy the place I call home, and kill three of the most influential figures in my life; you bet your ass I would’ve gone “Kyuubi”!
You could argue that Naruto has grown up, and that he has a better handle on his emotions.
Of course, that is until a weird, dark and creepy Hyuuga comes along…
Why did he suddenly loose it then?
Yes… yes… she said she loved him. True, no one had ever said that to Naruto, but as of yet, we have to hear what his take on that whole confession is. Furthermore, do we really know exactly how much Hinata’s words impacted him, considering they were said in the heat of battle, and that he really hasn’t had the opportunity to sit down and analyze this new development? Well... I mean... we all know is NOT new, but it is for HIM.
Anyway, some may argue that while having your friend, or even your teacher killed can be painful, it’s a whole lot more tragic if someone who actually loves you, declares their love for you and proves it by sacrificing themselves is completely on a whole new level.
But… still… *sigh* while a love confession may be epic for Naruto, it’s from someone he rarely thought about. Sure, he kicked Neji’s ass in the Chunin exams in Hinata’s name, but as a general rule, Naruto is very gallant by nature, and would perhaps do that for anybody he sees is being treated unfairly. (Note that this is my logical side speaking, not my NaruHina side speaking, heh... because that’s a whole different story.)
I can certainly give Naruto the benefit of the doubt, considering just how unpredictable he is, and say that, indeed, he was deeply impacted by Hinata’s love confession (my NaruHina side really hopes that’s the case, anyway).
Sure, it certainly is a possibility, but I truly think killing Hinata is sheer laziness on Kishimoto’s part, and his way to stealthily and underhandedly get off the hook when it comes to fulfilling Hinata’s theme.
Furthermore, what’s up with Kishimoto suddenly retrieving characters that rarely get any screen time just so they can drop like flies?
By the looks of it, Hinata is apparently no exception to this little phenomenon.
While in pre-time skip, we, as followers of the story, were always reminded that Hinata continued to work hard and strive to overcome her weaknesses. All of a sudden, in post-time skip, we hardly see her at all.
What happened?
Where the hell did she go?
For a while, I went along with it, because there were more important things happening in the story that certainly took precedence, and figured that perhaps Hinata’s development could wait a bit longer.
When the opportunity finally presents itself and Hinata is given screen time (think Sasuke retrieval arc) to show how much she has improved, she is literally less proactive than a bench warmer.
I mean, you really begin to wonder… you get curious about that strange chick with the cataract-eyes and varicose veins on her temples.
What was her role, again?
Oh, yeah, that’s right! Become stronger!
Duh…
Oh, and as a bonus, she gets to admit to the main character that she loves him!
Yes, yes… now I remember…
All this time, she is presumed to be working hard at becoming stronger, and yet, we never see the fruits of her labor. And when she does try to show her strength, the author doesn’t really give her a chance to shine because he decides to kill her simply for the sake of a “wicked, kick-ass” twist in the plot?
Well… at least that seems to be the theory of many Kishimoto-groupies, anyway.
Seriously… what the fuck?
People will argue that Hinata watched the entire fight between Naruto and Pain, therefore jumping in to protect the source of her strength and affections fulfills her role, and therefore completes her theme.
But then again… why go through so much trouble if you’re going to die in the end?
Besides… Hinata wasn’t the only one watching the fight! A lot of people could’ve jumped in!
Yes, Hinata does claim she has no regard for her life if it means she gets to protect Naruto, the one she loves, and while that is heartbreakingly romantic, and, dare I say, brave of her, it is a weak and disappointing move by the author of this story.
Having Hinata profess her love seconds before her death is stupid and doesn’t make her death any more meaningful than a fly being hit with bug spray. Hinata’s death was rushed, prosaic, and poorly executed, no matter how much people claim it is to affect the future of the story. Quite frankly, to me it seems Kishimoto just didn’t know how to deal with Hinata’s character, because he had already dug a hole so deep, he seemed to have forgotten what had been the reason he was digging that hole in the first place.
If Hinata’s death does indeed become a reality, not only does it become cliché and predictable, but it also becomes boring, vapid and disappointing, despite how much her love confession excited me, which is something a lot of us had been waiting for more for more than 400 chapters.
If Hinata was a minor character, why did Kishimoto wait over 400 chapters to show she had finally grown enough balls to tell Naruto she loved him? If she was such a minor character, why was she-and not another main character-the one chosen to play the role out of the rookie nine and Team Gai’s generation to not only see Naruto’s potential from the very beginning and that he truly was (a good person), but the one who was ALWAYS in love with him?
Was Hinata’s death really meant to be the final straw on pushing Naruto over the edge and become everything he has been fighting NOT to become and loose control of the one thing that would lead to his demise-and everyone else’s for that matter?
If Hinata’s were such a minor character, why would her supposed death be the cause of such a pivotal point in the story?
I mean, Hinata’s death seems to be leading Naruto into the one thing he has refused to do his whole life: giving up.
Yes, I personally see-no matter how intriguing it might’ve seen at the time I saw it the first time-Naruto’s surrender to the Kyuubi’s power as a sign of weakness and giving up.
Hinata’s death would change Naruto into being the person he always avoided becoming: a dark, depressed, and hurt man. This would in turn destroy the moral of this story.
This story’s main theme is that despite all the hardships, and all the misfortunes one can ever encounter in life, one must stay strong and positive, and fulfill one’s dreams.
I can’t see that happening with a guilt-ridden and vengeful Naruto.
I can’t see that happening with a Naruto who fails to ever smile again.
That would be as bad as seeing a sensitive, kind, friendly, and happy-go-lucky Sasuke who smiles at any given opportunity, and never really had a problem with his whole clan being massacred.
Sure, I was thrilled to see Hinata Hyuuga-the least expected-be the one out of everyone who was still alive in Konoha be brave enough to confront Pain while Naruto was in such a precarious situation. She knew she didn’t stand a chance, but she still jumped in, as opposed to everyone else who pretty much kicked back with a bowl of popcorn and enjoyed the show as if it they were in a gladiator coliseum.
Yes, Pain is a mean bastard, and thus far he has not hesitated in not just hurting, but killing people, and destroying an entire village. At this very moment, I doubt that despite Hinata’s love confession he would develop a shred of humanity and spare her.
Nevertheless, the fact that her death was not openly shown as with the other deaths gives me that one tiny shred of hope she might still survive. But I have to say that shred is VERY small.
I will always think that killing Hinata is too much, even for Kishimoto. Regardless that killing the shy girl who felt unrequited love for the main character is the standard and tradition for Shonen stories, he went a bit too far. Sure, in terms of the story, I guess some would call it ingenious. However, it’s old and cliché… and old and cliché is not what Kishimoto is known for.
Yes, it’s cliché that the only girl who always believed in the hero from the very beginning puts her life on the line for him while confessing how much she loves him and our clueless hero is in a position that allows him to do ABSOLUTELY nothing about it, except resort to the one thing he has been training himself NOT to do.
What is Kishimoto’s purpose with this whole set up, really?
Is killing the weird and dark girl supposed to really scar Naruto for life, and make him perceive life through a different light? Why couldn’t Jiraiya or the destruction of the village cause such a deep reaction? I always thought those two things were something Naruto always held VERY close to his heart.
But Hinata? The girl he barely noticed? Just because she claimed she loved him?
Jeez… I’m beginning to think that Kishimoto has been reading one-too many poorly written, cliché fanfics! Ha! How ironic!
I mean… umm… where HAVEN’T we seen this happen already?
No, I’m not undervaluing Hinata, but I am trying to prove a point here based on what I’ve learned about Naruto after reading over 400 chapters!
In the end, I think chapter 437 was the worst and best chapter I’ve ever read, but it is slowly and surely tipping on the worse side of the scale the more I think about it.
Hinata was-despite this being an action/adventure story-the only genuine shred of romance in this entire story, and we all know that, no matter how much NaruSaku fans try denying it. And if we’re going to be sticking to tradition, the main character HAS to fall in love, and it would only be fair that he falls in love with the girl that truly deserves his affections.
At the rate this story is going, Naruto is slowly becoming the kind of person he had helped so many stopped from being, starting with Gaara.
Hinata’s assumed death, compared to Jiraiya’s or Asuma’s, accomplishes nothing in my opinion, especially if it was done as an excuse to reveal Naruto's sixth tail. It would even be MORE disappointing if Hinata's death was created in order to prevent depicting a scene that shows Naruto reflecting on her love confession if she were still alive. After all, this could possibly lead to him falling in love, not just crushing, as he has done with Sakura. That’s right, just like in all those terribly written fanfics out there, I too believe that, considering how much Naruto has always craved for attention, he could very easily fall in love with Hinata who would be more than willing to give him all the attention in the world for an entire lifetime.
Naruto’s crush on Sakura is easy to deal with for Kishimoto because, let’s face it, it’s really not going anywhere considering Sakura is obsessed with Sasuke. And Sakura’s feelings for Sasuke are just as easy to deal with because Sasuke is too obsessed with his past, therefore, there is no love story in Naruto, and I have a feeling that Kishimoto wants to keep it this way. I mean, hell, he even killed Asuma, knowing he and Kurenai were an item. Seriously, now... what gives? Is it really THAT hard for Kishimoto to write romance? If it is, why put yourself in a situation that requires it? Killing characters off to avoid writing romance is a pattern the people begin figuring out after a while, you know...
After all, Hinata and Naruto… well, I’ll be damned, Kishi… that MIGHT just work, which is precisely what you seem to work so hard at preventing!
So what do you do AGAIN, Kishi-darling?
You say, “Oh, damn it! I can’t write romance! I mean… Asuma and Kurenai just happened, but I never showed ANYTHING… but this… the fans are gonna WANNA see it! Fuck that! I’m better off killing her!”
Tsk, tsk… Kishi-kun…
That’s a pretty lousy way to get off the hook…
But why create a hook in the first place if you were never going to use it anyway? Or was that just your scheme to have Shojo fans watch your show, therefore making you richer?
I'm not going to continue speculating down that path... it's kind of depressing, and sick...
Anyway….
If killing key characters is Kishimoto’s only way of meaningfully furthering his plot, then all he ever had from the beginning was a group of amazing characters, and no story to tell. If it turns out that Naruto is left alone at the end-I don’t doubt it, especially at the rate Kishimoto is killing people-than Kishimoto played us all for fools and got rich in the process. It’s about the only thing that makes him a genius, so I’ll give him that much credit.
Some may argue that this story is far from over, but with all the people dropping like flies… um… I’d say it kinda is….
And also… what is it with Kishimoto and emo bastards, anyway? We already had Emo Sasuke, but now we have to deal with Emo Pain? I mean… God damn, I had more fun watching pedophile Orochimaru! At least Oruchimaru had moves, and was fucking crazy and evil, but Pain is depressing, boring, and unoriginal. And watching him Shinra Tensei everyone to Timbuktu-because that’s all he ever does-gets pretty old and boring after a while. Doesn’t he have more moves, or something, or is Kishimoto getting lazy again?
Anyway… I am PRAYING Hinata doesn’t die, so you can all rest easy. I am a NaruHina supporter to the very end, even after death!
And, as a parting thought for the night: there is no story when the main character is left alone to wallow in his misery. People do that in real life every day. People don’t want to invest their time in fiction that shows more of the same thing they have to deal with day in and day out… or well… at least some of us don't. I don’t personally have any misery that I need to wallow in, but I certainly don’t want to wallow in someone else’s misery… especially a fictional character’s!
This drawing is not mine, but I thought it was hilarious.
deviantArt Link