I definitely agree with you that the Narutards (not to be confused with Naruto fans) are the crux of the issue. Naruto is not such an amazing anime series that it deserves the fanatical following it has. That’s purely objective, though.
As for fillers, you know, maybe some people like them. I can name plenty of animes that could be considered nothing but filler, even to the extent where they lack a coherent storyline at all. But people love them. I myself, love some of them. So, Naruto is definitely not alone.
When I stepped back, I could not find a reason for my insatiable dislike towards Naruto aside from its followers. (Which, in itself, is hardly a valid reason.) It’s just like any other anime that’s so-so. If you don’t like it, just don’t watch it. There’s no problems unless someone insists on forcing it down your throat.
Like you said, Narutards are not a clear representation of the anime community. Even remotely. Yet, they account for such a large percentage, that it infuriates the rest of us.

Right, headache. Tylenol + Sleep time.

I agree that at its core, Naruto does deal with many issues that many can identify with. But in all seriousness, they’re secondary elements of the show. Maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but I have never seen any Naruto discussions along the lines of “Sasuke’s abandonment of Konoha and the resulting blow to the psychological framework of Naruto and Sakura” or “Gaara, the perception of jinchuuriki and whether or not he has been accepted by the Village of Sand’s general populous” Rather, most Naruto discussions I see are more along the lines of “Which Akatsuki member is the strongest” or “Tobi is Obito, shanhax, etc etc”.

The target audience for Naruto, is late childhood/early adolescent kids. They’re not going to be racking their brains over the philophical and ethical issues brought up by the series. They’re watching for the ninjas and what they think is an immersive and interesting plot.

>> I mean why do I want to watch some 15 year old acting ackward around girls for the umpteen time? or why would I be interested in 15 year old girls with oversized guns and powersuits acting like assassins? or excessive lame panty shot fan service that has zero purpose.

Very true, but I watch them anyways for the lulz XD

>> What is important in Naruto is the journey not the destination.

The problem I have with this statement is that Naruto doesn’t even have a destination. There is no obvious overlying goal in Naruto. You could argue it’s some sort of slice of life about a ninja and his adventures, but it’s shounen, not slice of life.

The result is arc after arc, fight after fight of the same crap. During the first training arc when everyone was still training, when Kakashi got hit by a bunch of kunai and it ended up being a bunshin, I was like “OSHI- I thought they had him” But now, whenever someone gets hit with something that could potentially harm them, I’m sitting there thinking “Fuck, it’s probably a clone”

Kishimoto has no idea what he’s writing anymore, no person can plan storylines 8 years in advance. At this point he’s just pulling things out of thin air and it’s getting tiring.

Yes the Narutard phenomenon will go on, I don’t doubt that. But my original point and Hinano’s original request still stand, Naruto is well past its prime and the majority of its fans, despite being dedicated, can’t see that.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to love something with a passion, but you have to realize when that something is just not worth it anymore. It’s like insisting on learning Visual Basic when literally every other programming language out there is superior. Or if you want to make an example out of love, it’s like staying with an abusive husband because you still harbor feelings for him.

All that having been said, thanks for the response, you have some great opinions. And don’t worry about grammar/spelling mistakes, it was easy to understand and that’s all that matters.

And on a closing note:

>> I was reading the Suzuka and a bunch of others and I almost threw up in my mouth.

NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE may argue with this. Suzuka is made of infinite fail and I only read it so I can troll it on 4chan lol.

one note I wanted to add is that people are interested in other things liek romance and love triangles but because of the way the characters ususally behave on these shows, the locations, and the differences in the school systems as well as honorifics, and behaivors its is much more difficult to market such a show to the general public.

Only shows set in fantasy universes or historical past are usually more appealing as they are easier to translate and be universally accepted…and universally translated usually means profits for whoever brings them over.

I do not believe that the narutard phenamenon will die down anytime soon and given the new show I say it will garner even more followers, and I *dare* to say that the show is very good at its core elements and that is why it has such appeal. Just like DBZ it focuses on classical themes of good vs evil, gaining somethign through training and hard work vs taking short cuts or other means, redemption, loss, learning and fatherhood. Themes thave existed throughout the ages and are always good lessons to portray in any story.

Naruto much like DBZ underneath the bs deals with some serious issues such as rejection, loss, death, betrayel, revenge, responsibility, and friendship. In today’s ADD pop culture there isn’t much for the youth to turn to. It is through the long story arcs and the frienships and obstacles that the characters grow and people who watch the show grow with that. That is their universal appeal and what makes them good.

I have completely the opposite opinion as many here. I have watched almost every fansub of anime released in the last 6+ years everything from Love Hina, and Bleach to Kimi no Guzo Ein and Lost exile and 90% of them are garbage with the exception of maybe the ones I listed).

Most relay on the same simplistic japanese cookie cutter stereotypes be it the magical girl or the harem thing or the giant robot thing or the I can see ghosts thing.

I mean why do I want to watch some 15 year old acting ackward around girls for the umpteen time? or why would I be interested in 15 year old girls with oversized guns and powersuits acting like assassins? or excessive lame panty shot fan service that has zero purpose.

Most of the rest of anime gets bugged down in over metaphysical borderline and philosophical delusions and discussions by the main characters that regular people can’t relate to. Other times its overflowing with metrosexual or endrogenous charactes that are borderline gay or has stories acting in ways that no american can relate to.

With the excpetion of such shows as School Days where by episode 5 we have characters actually sleeping with each other most of the other stuff is watching people act ackwardly toward each other where it today’s society you go “WTF is their problem? Are they retarded?” I was reading the Suzuka and a bunch of others and I almost threw up in my mouth. I mean how simplistic and lame are the stories?

Naruto at least comes of as wholey unique in its atmosphere, style, longetivity, and emotional spectrum throughout which the characters go through. It does not fall into the lame cliches lsited above. Everyone who watches that show finds something to like about it or something that remainds them of themselves. More improtantly everyone can relate to it in some way as it has UNIVERSAL appeal jsut liek DBZ did. Bleach in many ways is the same. Its one’s mans quest to prove himself.

you guys do not understand the appeal of Naruto and DBZ and dismiss it as crap because of fillers and simlistic stories, yet its simplicity is what draws such huge followers. Just like Star Wars DBZ was a story about redemption, and just like star wars the themes were simple yet in your face. Why do you think Star Wars has such a huge following or why so many people flocked to the new movies? Everyone know how it was going to end but everyone wanted to see how it would play out. Same with the fighting in DBZ. Everyone knows how they will turn out its how they get there that is interesting.

What is important in Naruto is the journey not the destination.

I do agree that the filler episodes almost ruined Naruto but the new series is much better and by episode 21 the overall mood and quality of the naimation ahs greately improved. Its actually interesting to watch.

A week ago I was at a videogame store and this high school kid walks in dressed up as Suske to pick up the lastest Naruto Fighting game that was recently released on the PS2. He was so excited, and went on to explain all the characters and how he got his head protector to the store clerk. I initially chuckled at his getup and though “what a retard, its not halloween”, but within a minute realized that I have no right to criticize that guy.

“He” is into something that he “loves” and that is something to be admired. Its not often that a movie, a book, or a game makes believe or gives them soemthign to follow. Everyone is looking for something. For you it might be a girl for someone else its some sort of purpose in life. For others like the narutards its the very thing that the main character embodies whether its his determination to keep going despite being rejected in battle, love and life or his inestinguishable will to protect the ones he loves. Not everyone today has the courage to act so they are draws to things and people which embody the characteristics they most desire.

Sorry to burst your collective bubbles but 90% of the rest of the anime world falls short in this regard, of being able to make anyone relate to the characters.

Narutardom will grow and when it finally goes a new one will take its place because people are looking for heroes and something to believe in and that is what the show provides.

Nice read ^^

Note on series too long: I’d be thrilled if writers could perfect the art of writing wherein the story has many closure points, can be ended cleanly at various lengths without any further material, and still come out decent no matter what length is experienced. I suppose that is the use of arcs, but I’m thinking of a more defined stopping point.

Good day!

I guess I must admit that almost all your arguments are true. (don’t know about the NA-market, but the situation here isn’t much better)

Naruto was about the 15th anime I started watching and the initial plot is indeed very strong. I don’t know why I actually bothered to watch the filler (going through 85 filler episodes in two weeks feels like hell) but I also felt some dissapointment with the launch of the new season.

I guess they shounen-virus is getting in the way of a serious new start. I never noticed the recap-shots as much untill now, Gaara having his Ichibi sucked out feels like a very disturbing doomsday icon…

Lately, I’ve been hesitant over every series marked shonen, and it looks like in most cases my doubts are true. I should really stick to a bit more serious seinen material.

Anyways, again, a very nice rant. ^_^

It’s still a fairly decent shonen program, ignoring the massive filler, but not as good as it was back during the Chunin Exam.