"Fodder". Why no one cares about them?

Frankenstein

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I think Kishimoto is making a big mistake here. "Fodder" die all the way here and there everywhere. Just like ants or something. And the reader doesn't care. Almost 100.000 of them died during the series but the reader cared only when Neji, Asuma or Jiraiya died.

Of course you can't really care about someone you know nothing of, but still the war should not be taken so lightly. In my opinion he should have added some scenes to show the impact the deaths of the "fodder" ninja has too.

Also a practical question. No one cares about the "fodder", but what if all the "fodder" die? What kind of Hokage would go back to his village and say "Yeah! We won! Believe it! Me and my friends came here victorious! Ah yes a minor detail...um all your fathers and husbands died in the process but... still praise me!! Believe it!" ?

No offense , but I guess this kind of approach to the value of human life is a Japanese/Chinese thing, because in these countries they are so many that individuality is a bit lost.
 

SonictheHedgehog

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I see your point, but background characters are that. I don't want to see each episode going through a process of flashbacks for every fodder, but it would be OK to have some scenes to add onto the deaths, but if a move is a 1 hit KO with big range there's no helping fodder dying all at once. That's just the way it is. I'll rep for the concept.
 

Frankenstein

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i agree not only their death but their fights too
Exactly. They fight too. They struggle and some times they win, some times they lose.

I see your point, but background characters are that. I don't want to see each episode going through a process of flashbacks for every fodder, but it would be OK to have some scenes to add onto the deaths, but if a move is a 1 hit KO with big range there's no helping fodder dying all at once. That's just the way it is. I'll rep for the concept.
Yeah ok but they don't all die in 1 hit KO. It's not like they are going there like sheep to be slain.
It wouldn't hurt if he showed them fight (or struggle if you like) a little. All we see from them is just bodies lying on the ground. Or show their families and stuff like that to make the reader care. We were shown a random ninja saying "I miss my brother Kabuto"... we saw no mother or kid worried about their fathers, brothers husbands.
Konoha was portrayed like "Screw them we continue living like nothing happened.
 

Cloudbuster

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It is also a manga in which we get happy childhood memories, soppy music playing in the background, everyone is smiling while plump little children, less then 10 years old, are pitted against each other and forced to live the lives of the trained killers. So, yeah, I don't think compassion is a big part of it.
 
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Kikki

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I hate that word. If there is a war in rl, we would only be fodder. Picture people calling you or your family fodder. Not a nice thing to say but this is only a manga. High numbers of dead people means many fates, stories and lives destroyed. That's what is behind the word 'fodder'. Think about it.

Kishi has no time to tell everyone's life story but when I hear 'a fodder village got blown up' it affects me, even if it only is a manga. The event itself should affect your feelings a little bit because 100000 dead people is a SAD imagination.
 

TheEvilOne

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I think Kishimoto is making a big mistake here. "Fodder" die all the way here and there everywhere. Just like ants or something. And the reader doesn't care. Almost 100.000 of them died during the series but the reader cared only when Neji, Asuma or Jiraiya died.

Of course you can't really care about someone you know nothing of, but still the war should not be taken so lightly. In my opinion he should have added some scenes to show the impact the deaths of the "fodder" ninja has too.

Also a practical question. No one cares about the "fodder", but what if all the "fodder" die? What kind of Hokage would go back to his village and say "Yeah! We won! Believe it! Me and my friends came here victorious! Ah yes a minor detail...um all your fathers and husbands died in the process but... still praise me!! Believe it!" ?

No offense , but I guess this kind of approach to the value of human life is a Japanese/Chinese thing, because in these countries they are so many that individuality is a bit lost.
Now I imagined Tsunade saying this... xd
 

Frankenstein

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I hate that word. If there is a war in rl, we would only be fodder. Picture people calling you or your family fodder. Not a nice thing to say but this is only a manga. High numbers of dead people means many fates, stories and lives destroyed. That's what is behind the word 'fodder'. Think about it.

Kishi has no time to tell everyone's life story but when I hear 'a fodder village got blown up' it affects me, even if it only is a manga. The event itself should affect your feelings a little bit because 100000 dead people is a SAD imagination.
Yup, I wanted to write that too. In real life all the soldiers are "fodder".
So Kishimoto should show something that would make the reader care. It's not that difficult. Show a kid or a mother worry or mourn about some unknown ninja. Show an unknown village destroyed. He had time for Kabuto's orphanage friend but not for this?

Now I imagined Tsunade saying this... xd
A little sarcastic comment to lighten the serious character of this thread :p
 
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