I love criticism. It, at least, gives me a reason to continue reading. :P






Well, I've been reading Naruto since I was a secondary school boy, and the more I progress along with the story, the worst I found its story to be.

Why?

First, the story is totally unimpressive since the villains -Akatsuki- are so god-damn stupid. They're stronger than all of the protagonists in the story (as an individual), but all of them are too arrogant. This is acceptable for the first few cases, but after a few casualties (more than half of its members gone) the villains still take the ol' dumbo, 1 man show approach.

No matter how strong a person can be, he/she won't be able to take down a whole village in a logical manner, eh? Furthermore, the village has plentiful of talented ninja. In my POV, I think the author wants to show-off how strong the current villain, Pain, can be and how he's gonna die soon enough as a result of his arrogance.

Enough for villain, and the next thing I'd like to criticize would be about the training of the main characters. Ever since Part 2 has started, 30-40% of the time the manga will be showing the main character, a.k.a. Naruto goes for a training course. First, he goes for the course in order to infuse wind element into his Rasengan. That's okay, but after more than 1 volume of training, all he ends up is with a limitation usage of that new skill. Furthermore, he is prohibited from using it. So what's the purpose behind this? And here goes the second case where he trains for whatever-lame-sage-technique, where he fails to fuse himself with a FROG. For God's sake, if that's what the author wants, I'd suggest him to skip those boring parts instead of showing them.

Thus, the conclusion for this is that the main character is an useless brat.

The next point lies in the elemental reference in the story. I think that's too much for a story, as I've been criticized my own story possessed too much of stylish skill/spell that will pull down my story's overall rating; the same goes to Naruto. I think the author is an avid RPG game fans and I could never have imagined ninjutsu with elements stuff. By elements I mean, not basic stuff like Katon - XXX (Fire-Ball-Blowing Ninjutsu). I'm refering to lame stuff like earth-based ninjutsu will nullifies any thunder element oriented ability.

To make the matter worst, the author brings up summoning, which I think, is a direct rip-off from Final Fantasy Series. Say, what's the purpose of all these summoning stuff? Isn't ninja suppose to be swift and stealthy? Why the hell would they want to summon a gigantic snail, a snake, or perhaps a FROG into battlefield? Wouldn't that hinder their movements or limiting their abilities? That's totally absurd!

You know what? Naruto is famous for it ninjutsu. Duh, of course it is. But as the series progress, the manga is losing it's core competency -a term which I've learned in ACCA P3 paper. Core competency is crucial for the success of a story, like, why will this manga attracts readers? Naruto's being its unique ninjutsu, but now, let's just try to look at it from a different point of view.

A ninja turning into paper? A ninja with curse ability that will hurt his opponent by wounding himself? Ninjas with the ability to manipulate bones, playing flute, shadow-manipulation, and body possession? Worst still, a ninja with four hearts? What the hell is this man?

You might say I'm being kuno or perhaps close-minded, but I don't think it's a good idea to do these. First of all it gives me the impression of RPG elements being forced into this story, and more importantly, it doesn't make sense.

And it's more like a spell/ability casting war rather than instinct-survival ability to me. You know why? Those characters focused too much on ninjutsu already. They're relying too much on these fancy skills rather than the basic instinct for survival. Try to think about it, when does them fight properly, i.e. relying on martial art, environment, and human's "sixth sense".

Thus, the second conclusion will be that off the core competency of Naruto is going way out of its boundaries.

Oh, again, the series suffers the same fate as Heroes. Too much of characters with too little efforts of putting characterization into the wide cast of characters.

That is the reason why there's so much Sasuke fanboy/fangirl out there.

Another point that I'd like to mention here: The villains are not alone, being the stupid person in the story. Jiraya, one of the important character of the story, suffers the same stupidity. I couldn't understand why he bothers to go spy/assault the base of the oh-so-almighty Pain. It's no surprise that he got himself killed in the process, and I DO NOT feel much pain or sad from his parting from the story.

The author has also abused the golden rule of Third Usage. Inside a story, taking the same approach to tackle onto a matter for the third time is the fatal attempt - the notable case illustration will be Heroes' recycled usage of time-traveling to the dark future. I'd not go into detail in that, but as for Naruto's case, it's the author trying to create a dramatic touch in his attempt of "killing" Kakashi. Oh yeah, another absurd stuff is Kakashi saved his ass once by using "Thunder-Clone-Jutsu". To the heck with it, how could that be possible? That's pissing me off, cause the author is trying to make the scene dramatic, but doesn't know how to allow Kakashi survives in order to get his next dying scene. Thus, he just simply improvise this lame technique.

Back onto the topic, the third attempt is even more stupid as Kakashi sacrificed himself to save the fat guy. Oh, I didn't mention that Pain is getting aware that Kakashi might posed as a threat to him, but didn't make sure he did his job perfectly? He just leave Kakashi there after thinking that he was dead (for God's sake, why would the author bothers to tell us that he really wants to kill Kakashi?). Another dumb act of an villain.

Next, the plot's too shallow and too predictable. Though you might not believe me, but I've actually seen through the Itachi's plotline (his loyalties to Konoha) all of these time, ever since his first appearance.

Oh yeah, just like my favourite manga - Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, the author has a fetishism for eyes. Notable fact is that there are multiple varieties of fanciful eyes: Sharingan, Byakugan, & Rinengan. I'm not really complaining this, but too bad for Naruto, I think TRC does the job better. WAYS BETTER, perhaps. That's why I love the heterochromia of the "Clone" Syaoran's eyes. He's such a kickass!

I think that's all for this time. It's pretty long, I know, but it's fun to do these. Criticizing someone's work is always fun, and not forget to mention, a neat way to allow the others to improve.

So the overall conclusion, Naruto is an overrated manga. I don't understand why there are so many franchisees for this comic, and even an online game based on Naruto; I find it hilarious. Perhaps, people are finding a way to escape realism by thinking themselves as the fancy ninjas, and it's gonna be hilarious if those fangirls/boys out there criticize those RPG-players out there. Well, good luck to you Naruto-lovers out there.

Labels: Review