#but man kishimoto did such a terrible job with her

[tae-shimura-is-my-wife]

!Giant rant + an entire Hnata salt shaker under the cut! If you're a hardcore stan of her i suggest skipping it! Read at your own risk!

I genuely liked Hnata in the beginning, i liked her shy and quiet personality, i was interested to see her overcoming her self confidence and prove herself to Hiashi, and even try to help Neji (despite the awful thing she said for him) but i was delusional man, she was introduced as Nruto lover and it didn't go any further... i belived Kishimoto (such a dumb girl). But hey Studio SP kinda tricked me too, in the Bikochu arc she was so amazing! Savinh her teamates and Nruto all alone, thinking in training to get better and stuff like that... it was filler, but i still had my hopes up. But then i watched Shippuden and i finally perceveid that she wasn't going any further than loving Nruto.

I don't mind her crushing him, neither having a giant part of her attached to a love interest (i like Orihime plz), but it was not just a giant part of Hnata, it was literally EVERYTHING! Analyzing everything she did in the entire manga 98% was for Nruto related. Kishimoto couldn't just make her a cute shy weirdo, he needed to reduce Hnata to Nruto! All her training and making her confidence better, was to confess to Nruto, comfort Nruto and fight for Nruto. Fuck proving herself to Hiashi, fuck trying to help Neji, fuck trying to get better in order to help her teamates in missions...

Kishimoto made her become so annoying with it! Everytime she appeared i knew it was gonna to be Nruto related and if it wasn't? Well it would become about him! It was unbearable at the point of making her seem extremely selfish and thinking that only she and Nruto exist in the whole world. Like she was ready to get her team eliminated from chunnin exam because a boy? In Pain arc she literally prefered to confess her love and die instead of trying to free Nruto (which was the only hope for the village)?? The scene where Neji died, instead of being of both her and Nruto suffering with their lost, was about she caring more Nruto feelings than her cousin??? KISHIMOTO WHY?

Not to mention, how everything aside of Nruto in her life seems so irrelevant, Kurenai, Hanabi, Neji, Kiba and Shino, barely had anything with her? It seems way more that they care about her than the reverse, because gosh forbid Hnata or having a life outside of Nruto right Kishimoto?

It's hard to like her that way! I tried my best, but i couldn't anymore after seeing she would be a Nruto simp forever and have nothing outside of it.

I understand why people like her, because i already did! I still like her shy and quiet personality and think she's cute, but canon Hnata behaviours annoy me way too much! Despite that i wish she was better and i try to make her justice in my fanon content of her outside of tumblr btw, i love the Hnata i created in my head and her fanon version, but it will never stop me for disliking her canon self.

Despite everything, i don't hate her, i don't want Hnata to die or be tortured, i want try to make her better as she should be! I already hated her a time, but after seeing how i was falling the trap of bittersweet shippers and people who put her down to uplift their faves, i perceveied it was just pettiness, - especially because they spent more time hating Hnata rather than Kishimoto who did all this sh!t -, and none of them wanted her to be a better character and person, which is what i wish.

[madara-fate]

If Kishimoto really wants people to believe that Sasuke loves Sakura and that they have such a good marriage then he's doing a piss poor job at it. You don't see people arguing if Minato loved Kushina or not or if Dan loved Tsunade or not. You don't. The fact that there are so many people arguing whether Sasuke loves Sakura or not, and many people believing he doesn't is just proof that Kishimoto failed somewhere or else there wouldn't be this much controversy surrounding this matter. It's either Kishimoto implying Sasuke does not love her, either Kishimoto intending to portray his idea of a good realtionship/loving husband through SS and failing miserably. Sasuke did not look happy when he saw Sakura in Gaiden first time after 10 years of absence. He couldn't even bother to send a letter to her and Sarada to let them know he was alright and thinking about them during this period. And no, please don't come at me with that bullshit excuse that he didn't keep in contact because he wanted to keep the secrecy of his mission and did not want any private information to leak and that's why he was only keeping in contact with the Hokage or whatever. No one says that if he ever bothered to write them he had to go into details about his mission. He could've just told them he's alright, that he misses them and hopes they're fine and that would've been great too and wouldn't have compromised his mission in any way. The man has space time abilities for fuck's sake. He could've easily teleported to see them and then go back to his business. In my opinion Kishimoto wrote SS in this ambiguous way to appease both the SS haters and the SS shippers. He knew SS fans were going to be happy with whatever he threw at them even if it was the absolute bottom of the barrel and he knew the antis were gonna have a good time using Gaiden to further tear the ship apart. This man is either terrible at writing romance either a huge troll who enjoys pitying his readers against each other. Or maybe both. And I assure you, I don't even hate SS, despite what I have written so far, nor do I ship something else. And Sasuke is also my favorite character. I'm indifferent to this pairing and maybe that's why I can have a more objective opinion on it than its shippers or its haters since I'm not biased due to personal feelings of either distaste or love for it. SS can be seen in both a good and a bad light, but to be honest the balance is more inclined towards the bad light.

This is just more of the stuff that I've heard plenty of times before. I'll firstly preface this by saying that I'm very highly critical of Gaiden because it included pointless drama for the sake of pointless drama. It's execution was horrendous to say the least, but I'll always still appreciate the message that Kishi was trying to relay. However, I will always take issue with those who defend the notion that Sasuke doesn't love Sakura. Hence, the following.

You don't see people arguing if Minato loved Kushina or not or if Dan loved Tsunade or not. You don't. The fact that there are so many people arguing whether Sasuke loves Sakura or not, and many people believing he doesn't is just proof that Kishimoto failed somewhere or else there wouldn't be this much controversy surrounding this matter.

Minato wasn't drowning in hatred due to a supernatural phenomenon which cause him to push away love in favour of the darkness. Dan wasn't made to undertake a preposterously long mission while intending to keep everything about it confidential. Why on earth do people think they can just compare any random relationships to SS's and go "well look at this couple! Why couldn't SS have been more like them?". Well here's your answer - Because their situations were nothing alike. But why do people constantly believe that those relationships are the only models for what a loving relationship can be? The struggles that Sasuke and Sakura faced during Gaiden were not due to issues with each other, but rather, they were shown facing hurdles which they overcame together. They were perfectly happy with each other, and not once did their dedication to one another ever falter during Sasuke's mission. Just because the couple faced hard times does not mean their bond is any weaker. On the contrary, the fact they they faced those hard times together and came out of them just as strong if not stronger than before, is a testament to the strength of the relationship.

You wanna know what I don't see? I don't see people questioning Neji and Hinata's relationship despite Neji trying to kill her during the Chuunin Exams. I don't see people questioning Hiashi's feelings towards Hinata despite essentially disowning her because he deemed her to be a failure. I don't see people questioning Gaara being the Kazekage despite him previously being feared as a killing machine who slaughtered many innocent people, by the very same villagers who now respect him as their leader. I don't see people questioning why Kabuto was trusted to become the head of the Orphanage and taking care of the future of the village, despite being a notorious war criminal. No, but of course people will question SS right? Despite them just being another example of the same theme.

It's either Kishimoto implying Sasuke does not love her, either Kishimoto intending to portray his idea of a good relationship/loving husband through SS and failing miserably.

Kishi flat out said, that the love between the Uchiha family is the real deal. He's not implying anything, and if he truly failed at depicting this, then SS wouldn't have consistently proven to be the most popular canonised pairing for years following the manga's ending.

Sasuke did not look happy when he saw Sakura in Gaiden first time after 10 years of absence.

And you think that's indicative that he doesn't love her? Are you serious? The entire time, Sasuke was very clearly shown to be aggravated because people who weren't supposed to be at his and Naruto's secret meeting place kept showing up. He didn't look happy when first meeting Naruto either, despite not seeing him for just as long. So what? You think that means he doesn't care about Naruto either? He was aggravated that Sarada was there because she was supposed to be in the village safe from all this, he was annoyed with Naruto for allowing the kids to follow him in the first place, and yeah, he didn't jump for joy when seeing Sakura because again, she was meant to be watching over Sarada in the village. One of the biggest incentives for his secrecy was to keep Sarada safe, and everything that was happening then, was the opposite of that.

He couldn't even bother to send a letter to her and Sarada to let them know he was alright and thinking about them during this period. And no, please don't come at me with that bullshit excuse that he didn't keep in contact because he wanted to keep the secrecy of his mission and did not want any private information to leak and that's why he was only keeping in contact with the Hokage or whatever. No one says that if he ever bothered to write them he had to go into details about his mission. He could've just told them he's alright, that he misses them and hopes they're fine and that would've been great too and wouldn't have compromised his mission in any way.

You can call it a "bullshit excuse" all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that this is the reason that was given. But it's like people just refuse to acknowledge the fact that Sasuke admitted that he had made a big mistake, and refused to allow Sakura to apologise because he knew that he was the one at fault:

I mean what? Do people think that Sasuke has to be perfect or something? Is he not a human who makes mistakes just like everyone else? Sasuke knew that he took his secrecy too far, he hadn't anticipated the adverse affects his absence would have on Sarada, and he apologised for his mistake. Why? Because he cares, for goodness sake it's not hard to comprehend. I seriously would have never thought that people would actually question whether or not he loves his family. Why would Kishi promote a loveless marriage in his manga aimed at young boys? It just boggles the mind. If Sasuke didn't care about them, he wouldn't have thought he did anything wrong by his lack of contact with his daughter. I emphasise with his daughter because Sakura was still somewhat in contact with Sasuke as she was kept informed of what he was doing.

In my opinion Kishimoto wrote SS in this ambiguous way to appease both the SS haters and the SS shippers.

Why would Kishi care about appeasing the same fans who harassed him so badly following the manga's conclusion, that his editior had to respond in broken English and basically tell those entitled children that the story doesn't belong to them? I'll reiterate that there's nothing "ambiguous" about their relationship, nor is Kishi implying anything. Gaiden made it crystal clear, that the love between the Uchiha family is the real deal, there's nothing ambiguous about that statement, there's nothing ambiguous about Sasuke giving Sakura the forehead poke, and there's nothing ambiguous about Sasuke flat out clarifying that his heart is connected to Sakura's.

[chattegeorgiana]

Do you think it is a social phenomenon that the majority of SS fans are women?the ship has serious problems like mistreatment and attempted murder between Sakura and Sasuke and Sakura looks obsessive about chasing after a guy who rejected her multiple times and who treats her like shit but those fans always justify those actions of him and because Sasuke was considered twice in the entire manga then the other horrible acts of him do not matter to them.Why do you think this phenomenon would be?

I think it is. I think it's comparable to the social phenomenon we saw happening with 50 shades of gray for example.

In essence, they are terrible love stories. But people are drawn to it because well... you know that all saying?

Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll sell.

But no, really... While in 50 shades of gray the reasoning for which people fell for it it's different, in SS's case it's something different. Of course, there are 2 ways to view this. I'll look at the feminine side, since this is the one we're talking about.

In the feminine angle, it's that old traditional view that has been ingrained into women over and over again for aeons: that she's the one who needs to fix him, no matter his behavior. You don't wanna see how many cases as this I've seen over the years.

Big bad guy that can be saved by the power of love, as if that's all you need in a relationship. To hell with dynamics that work together. That's thrown under the bus. Or be accountable for your own actions and understand that it's not your job to fix someone else's behavior.

It's their own job - if it's the case of fixing in the first place.

But this angle does deeper, like I said in the beginning. It has its roots in this ingrained belief that has been offered to women for years and years and they still continue to do so in the media. Gladly, the world is changing, but still.

That kind of view is dangerous.

But because it's been ingrained for such a long while into the collective feminine, it's hard for even young girls to see that this thing is not okay. Because that's what the environment they are born in, raised and live shows them - you're a woman, thus, you need to respect your man and love him and fix him no matter what shit he does.

That's so outdated.

Another issue that's prevalent here is something that I don't know how many understand. It's actually something I discovered myself while watching a Tony Robbins coaching session.

He said this: rejection breeds obsession. That's when I understood best SS's dynamics and the reason people stuck to it so much.

It was something I was under myself when I first shipped them as I got into the fandom.

I didn't even realized it until years later.

Sasuke rejected Sakura's love multiple times. That's what turned her into this obsessive character. And I know I have some people that stalk my profile and are gonna come at me with all kinds of name calling, but... I'm sorry, even Kishimoto himself called Sakura obsessed over Sasuke in an interview after The Last.

When discussing about the love between NH & NS Kishi says:

“That’s right. But Sakura is addicted to Sasuke.” (laugh) “The reason why Hinata came to like Naruto is clear, but I’ve deliberately avoided writing down the reason why Sakura came to like Sasuke.” (laugh) “That’s because somehow, I had the feeling that it would conversely end up sounding contrived.”

And that's when I understood why.

Obsession and addiction are pretty much sisters in nature. Granted, there are slight differences between them, but their core is very similar: they stem from another deep seated issue. Something you can't make peace with. Something that is lacking in you thus you become addicted to it and obsessed in order to fill that void.

And I think I know what's in the case of Sakura, but I'll refrain from talking about now cuz I'm using it as a plot for Kaika. :D

But the point still stands: Sakura had a void inside of her that she tried to fill it with her 'love' for Sasuke. Only that she got rejected by him, and thus she became obsessed with the idea of Sasuke. With her idea of him though, rather than who he truly was.

Because you know what's interesting to observe as well? This is also based on what Tony Robbins said.

The full quote is this: Rejection breeds obsession, and whatever you resist persists.

I'm going to refer to the second part here. Whatever you resist, persists.

Well, in this case, she resisted the idea of the Sasuke who wanted to go to Orochimaru. Who chose that. But for as much as she resisted the idea (which is another way to say rejecting the idea), that state of affairs continued to persist.

Sasuke still went to Orochimaru. Even her declaration of love couldn't stop him.

Of course, this quote was said in a different context, but thinking about it in depth, you can see how it can be transposed to this.

So I think, in a way, the reason it so much persisted in the fandom was because many of the female fans identified with this side of Sakura, so they fell under the same trap the character did.

So you see, it's a rather complex situation here.

It's a deep seated issue which to resolve, you'd have to come to terms with. And to do that, there's a lot of introspection necessary.

Which I always wonder WHY it lacked on Sakura whenever it came to Sasuke, but when it was in terms of Naruto, she had a lot.

Well, I think it was there to show us something else, but then we got the ending that we got so then those themes were out the window.

It's a shame though.

Being a piece of media with a high focus on bonds, we could've had such great messages and lessons, yet it ended the way it did which isn't telling the right message at all.

But oh well, it is what it is.

[arcaneranger]

Final Thoughts - My Hero Academia Season 3

In real life, I can come off like I dislike MHA, and that’s not really correct.

I don’t hate it at all, as a matter of fact I like it a lot, which is why it bothers me so much when I see it at the level of just an average shounen romp when I know how good it’s been. The second half of the last season and the first half of this one were running at a steady 7/10 and it was bumming me out when compared to the fact that it delivered one of, if not the most effective tournament arcs I’ve ever seen, and it frustrated me that MHA was getting a ludicrous amount of recognition (looking at you, Crunchyroll Awards) when compared to Food Wars, which I felt had only gotten better and better since its premiere and has consistently presented me with fresh ideas and new ways of delivering its weird brand of action.

I was very thankful, then, when the Provisional License Exam arc rolled around and we finally got a return to the excellent character writing that I know this show is capable of. The second half of this season didn’t quite meet the level of quality that the Sports Festival arc brought to the table, but the sense that the plot was finally moving again in a meaningful way did wonders for my sense of investment.

I think the other half of the problem is that I have not latched on to the League of Villains the way I know a lot of people have, and that’s mostly because now that Stain is gone I just find them deeply derivative and uninteresting compared to the students focused on in the best moments of the story. I recognize that the show needs a greater-scope villain, but I don’t care about any of them nearly as much as I care about Bakugo’s character arc, since we don’t have nearly as much insight into him as we do into Deku. I also didn’t really care for Ochaco’s subplot about developing a crush on Midoriya, since even though it isn’t exactly a drain on screentime (it gets only a few minutes, total) it doesn’t ultimately go anywhere since she just decides not to tell him, meaning we’ll be on the hook for a while here if it ever actually comes to a head.

Thankfully, All Might gets a much-needed character rerailment as the natural conclusion of his subplot, and finally realizes (in one of the more touching moments) just how irresponsible he’s been regarding his training (and surrogate parenting) of Izuku, to the point where in his freshman year of high school he’s already one injury away from permanent retirement. All Might is forced to own up to his failures to Midoriya’s mom, who is rightfully furious of his mostly-reckless endangerment of her son. Deku’s mom is one of the most under-represented in the show for how much impact she has ultimately had on her son, particularly because she is an excellent foil to Endeavour, being a mother who wishes every day that she could do more for her son, as opposed to a father who expects more and more from Todoroki. It was really relieving that we got to see her feelings acknowledged once the plot completely removes her from Izuku.

I also really liked the other schools introduced to us during the exam, because I find the competing ideologies present in the new cast to be a much more interesting source of conflict than bad guys who are evil because they are evil. I’m not the biggest fan of the author’s Kubo-esque habit of introducing new characters in large groups when the show is already aware that the audience can’t remember everyone in Class 1-A (because there are name cards in every episode), but as long as they’re still as effective as Yoarashi and Shindou (both of whom are fantastic foils), I’m down.

Ultimately my biggest fear is that My Hero Academia, by nature of its seasonal run over just constantly airing, and the amount of progress made in 63 episodes, will end with the cast either still in high school, or at graduation. That might work for Assassination Classroom (because the central theme of the story was that Koro-sensei was preparing his students to live better lives in the future), but I’m far more fascinated by what these kids will look like ten years from now. I don’t see Academia pulling a Shippuden-style time skip, so we’ll have to see how far this goes.

(Yes, I’m aware of how ridiculously successful this property is, but Naruto wasn’t exactly failing when Kishimoto decided it was time to finally call it quits.)

In the meantime, I’ll continue to examine MHA through its already-confirmed fourth season and hope that it continues this upswing, as we potentially finish freshman year.

I should at least mention the production here if only to say that Studio Bones is still doing an excellent job as per usual, and in an industry where the new season of One Punch Man was shopped to another studio so that Madhouse could produce more of Overlord (a show which, let’s face it, does not need their expertise nearly as much), it’s nice to see a studio willing to go in for the long haul on a show that could run this long. It’s made MHA a pretty good comparison to Boruto, a show I tried multiple times to get into but couldn’t because Pierrot dropped the ball right after the first episode and it looks terrible because of the year-round approach in comparison to the seasonal handling in MHA.

8/10, I’m eager to see where we go from here.