Naruto: The Illustrated Guide; Part 2
May. 28th, 2005 01:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lierdumoaA little more meta and a little less squee than Part 1. Again, not dial-up friendly.
Advent of the Love Triangle
So the entire class of ninjas is divided into groups of three. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all end up in a group together. To recap quickly from my intro post:
Naruto is in love with Sakura
Sakura is in love with Sasuke
Sasuke is in love with power and revenge
What follows is an extremely fascinating exchange between Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto decides to break into Sasuke's room towrestle fight with him.
I really do love this show
Sasuke beats and ties up Naruto, but then Naruto unexpectedly uses the shadow replication technique to attack Sasuke from above. Sasuke realizes that he underestimated Naruto. Sasuke, in fact, often underestimates Naruto throughout the series. Naruto, in addition, surprises Sasuke. Naruto's unpredictability is often what wins fights for him. This particular encounter sets a number of precedents for both characters and their future interactions with each other.
Naruto's next move is to transform into Sasuke while the real Sasuke is till tied up on the floor and speak with Sakura.
the cuteness never stops
as a side note, I love how deeply out of place Naruto's expressions look on Sasuke's face
Sakura goes on to describe Naruto as the bane of her existence, but for the sake of brevity, I won't screencap the entire conversation. She calls him annoying throughout earlier portions of the episode, to his face, and to Sasuke, and to him disguised as Sasuke.
Sakura then leans in for a kiss.
Naruto is centimeters away from her mouth when he gets an unexpected case of diarrhea (he drank some bad milk with breakfast that morning). What follows is one of the few instances in the series that we see Naruto acting maudlin. It lasts but a few seconds, so I think it's worth screencapping.
toilet-brooding -- not the most dignified kind of brooding
Is it just me, or does the Japanese word for annoying sound a lot like the Japanese word for shut up?
Meanwhile, Sasuke has long since escaped from the rope Naruto tied him up in, and is out looking for him. He passes Sakura and asks her if she's seen Naruto. She, not realizing that she wasn't talking to the real Sasuke before, is wondering why the hell Sasuke is so obsessed with Naruto all of a sudden.
She goes on a rant about how Naruto is selfish because he never had parents to teach him right from wrong.
Sasuke, who also grew up with no parents, gets pissed off, and rightfully so.
Naruto, at this point, is still in the toilet having bowel problems.
here we find Naruto vigorously scrubbing his ass -- God, I love this show
He makes plans to sabotage Sasuke's chances with Sakura (not that Sasuke cares).
he's unaware, of course, that Sasuke has essentially done this for him
Sakura, after this point, realizes that it's not cool to hate on people with no parents. I very much like her as a character after this point. She tries her best to be nice to Naruto though she doesn't particularly like him. Eventually, she learns to put aside her Sasuke fangirling and study hard to become a good ninja.
Just a Bit of Friendly Competition
Now perhaps the most interesting thing about the competitive dynamic between Naruto and Sasuke (to me, anyway) is how very much it's *not* tied up in the love triangle. In a typical love triangle, both boys would be reluctant friends fighting over the girl they both like. In this particular situation, the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke has absolutely nothing to do with Sakura.
Please note that when I referred to Sakura earlier as THIRD WHEEL, it was by no means an insult to her. I have nothing against her. It's a simple observation I had that once Naruto and Sasuke get in a debate over something, Sakura ceases to exist to either of them. If anything, Sasuke is at the apex of the triangle, and Sakura and Naruto are continually trying to reach out to him, each in their own way.
The third and fourth pictures in this post, wherein Sasuke describes his life goals, is an excerpt of a scene where Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are all asked by their group leader to describe their likes, hates, hobbies and goals. For Sakura, the typical twelve year old girl, her likes, dislikes, and goals revolve around her crush on Sasuke.
Naruto, when asked what he likes, goes off on a seemingly out of nowhere rant about his adoration of ramen.
The underlying point is that ramen is something Naruto shared with people who cared about him. Naruto grew up alone and shunned by the townspeople around him. Many were afraid of the monster he had inside of him. To Naruto (and I say this at the risk of sounding like a colorbar), ramen is love.
Naruto goes on to say that his goal is to become greater than the Hokage's (the great wise ninjas of the town) so that all the townspeople will have to acknowledge him.
At the core of Naruto's rivalry with Sasuke is Sasuke's refusal to acknowledge Naruto as a good ninja. At the beginning of the series, Naruto really isn't a very good ninja, though he has a lot of potential.
On the group's first mission together, they have to escort a bridge builder back to his home town, where he plans to build a bridge to connect the town to it's surroundings and encourage trade. The man is attacked, Sakura and Sasuke step in, and Naruto freezes up after getting hit with a poisoned dart or some such.
After Sakura, Sasuke, and their instructor (mostly their instructor) manage to ward off the attack, Sasuke turns to Naruto:
We find out later in the series that this insult is the exact one Sasuke's brother used on him after he killed off the whole clan and Sasuke begged for his own life. Which is to say, Sasuke has mad issues, and they affect how he relates to other people.
This is only the beginning of the group's first mission together. As it goes on, the rivalry escalates (and continues to escalate even after). The more Sasuke looks down on Naruto, the more Naruto fights to better himself, in the townspeoples eyes yes, but mostly in Sasuke's eyes, because for some reason or other (twu wuv, I think) Sasuke's opinion matters to Naruto more than anyone else's.
Much more on this in my next post, where we will continue to explore the Sasuke/Naruto rivalry and the theme of having Important People and strength that comes from fighting for loved ones vs. fighting for self.
Or, go back to Naruto: The Illustrated Guide; Part 1.
Advent of the Love Triangle
So the entire class of ninjas is divided into groups of three. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all end up in a group together. To recap quickly from my intro post:
Naruto is in love with Sakura
Sakura is in love with Sasuke
Sasuke is in love with power and revenge
What follows is an extremely fascinating exchange between Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto decides to break into Sasuke's room to
I really do love this show
Sasuke beats and ties up Naruto, but then Naruto unexpectedly uses the shadow replication technique to attack Sasuke from above. Sasuke realizes that he underestimated Naruto. Sasuke, in fact, often underestimates Naruto throughout the series. Naruto, in addition, surprises Sasuke. Naruto's unpredictability is often what wins fights for him. This particular encounter sets a number of precedents for both characters and their future interactions with each other.
Naruto's next move is to transform into Sasuke while the real Sasuke is till tied up on the floor and speak with Sakura.
the cuteness never stops
as a side note, I love how deeply out of place Naruto's expressions look on Sasuke's face
Sakura goes on to describe Naruto as the bane of her existence, but for the sake of brevity, I won't screencap the entire conversation. She calls him annoying throughout earlier portions of the episode, to his face, and to Sasuke, and to him disguised as Sasuke.
Sakura then leans in for a kiss.
Naruto is centimeters away from her mouth when he gets an unexpected case of diarrhea (he drank some bad milk with breakfast that morning). What follows is one of the few instances in the series that we see Naruto acting maudlin. It lasts but a few seconds, so I think it's worth screencapping.
toilet-brooding -- not the most dignified kind of brooding
Is it just me, or does the Japanese word for annoying sound a lot like the Japanese word for shut up?
Meanwhile, Sasuke has long since escaped from the rope Naruto tied him up in, and is out looking for him. He passes Sakura and asks her if she's seen Naruto. She, not realizing that she wasn't talking to the real Sasuke before, is wondering why the hell Sasuke is so obsessed with Naruto all of a sudden.
She goes on a rant about how Naruto is selfish because he never had parents to teach him right from wrong.
Sasuke, who also grew up with no parents, gets pissed off, and rightfully so.
Naruto, at this point, is still in the toilet having bowel problems.
here we find Naruto vigorously scrubbing his ass -- God, I love this show
He makes plans to sabotage Sasuke's chances with Sakura (not that Sasuke cares).
he's unaware, of course, that Sasuke has essentially done this for him
Sakura, after this point, realizes that it's not cool to hate on people with no parents. I very much like her as a character after this point. She tries her best to be nice to Naruto though she doesn't particularly like him. Eventually, she learns to put aside her Sasuke fangirling and study hard to become a good ninja.
Just a Bit of Friendly Competition
Now perhaps the most interesting thing about the competitive dynamic between Naruto and Sasuke (to me, anyway) is how very much it's *not* tied up in the love triangle. In a typical love triangle, both boys would be reluctant friends fighting over the girl they both like. In this particular situation, the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke has absolutely nothing to do with Sakura.
Please note that when I referred to Sakura earlier as THIRD WHEEL, it was by no means an insult to her. I have nothing against her. It's a simple observation I had that once Naruto and Sasuke get in a debate over something, Sakura ceases to exist to either of them. If anything, Sasuke is at the apex of the triangle, and Sakura and Naruto are continually trying to reach out to him, each in their own way.
The third and fourth pictures in this post, wherein Sasuke describes his life goals, is an excerpt of a scene where Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are all asked by their group leader to describe their likes, hates, hobbies and goals. For Sakura, the typical twelve year old girl, her likes, dislikes, and goals revolve around her crush on Sasuke.
Naruto, when asked what he likes, goes off on a seemingly out of nowhere rant about his adoration of ramen.
The underlying point is that ramen is something Naruto shared with people who cared about him. Naruto grew up alone and shunned by the townspeople around him. Many were afraid of the monster he had inside of him. To Naruto (and I say this at the risk of sounding like a colorbar), ramen is love.
Naruto goes on to say that his goal is to become greater than the Hokage's (the great wise ninjas of the town) so that all the townspeople will have to acknowledge him.
At the core of Naruto's rivalry with Sasuke is Sasuke's refusal to acknowledge Naruto as a good ninja. At the beginning of the series, Naruto really isn't a very good ninja, though he has a lot of potential.
On the group's first mission together, they have to escort a bridge builder back to his home town, where he plans to build a bridge to connect the town to it's surroundings and encourage trade. The man is attacked, Sakura and Sasuke step in, and Naruto freezes up after getting hit with a poisoned dart or some such.
After Sakura, Sasuke, and their instructor (mostly their instructor) manage to ward off the attack, Sasuke turns to Naruto:
We find out later in the series that this insult is the exact one Sasuke's brother used on him after he killed off the whole clan and Sasuke begged for his own life. Which is to say, Sasuke has mad issues, and they affect how he relates to other people.
This is only the beginning of the group's first mission together. As it goes on, the rivalry escalates (and continues to escalate even after). The more Sasuke looks down on Naruto, the more Naruto fights to better himself, in the townspeoples eyes yes, but mostly in Sasuke's eyes, because for some reason or other (twu wuv, I think) Sasuke's opinion matters to Naruto more than anyone else's.
Much more on this in my next post, where we will continue to explore the Sasuke/Naruto rivalry and the theme of having Important People and strength that comes from fighting for loved ones vs. fighting for self.
Or, go back to Naruto: The Illustrated Guide; Part 1.
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no subject
Date: 2005-05-30 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-30 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-30 03:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-31 03:11 am (UTC)Looking forward to the next installment^^
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Date: 2005-05-31 05:40 am (UTC)I should have it out sometime tomorrow.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-23 10:19 pm (UTC)I was never going to get into anime. Really. but.
Fullmetal Alchemist broke me, and then it was Naruto. And for the past month+ I've been consuming anime like it's Naruto's ramen. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME?
YAY EYEFUCKING.
*quietly turns off capslock*