Akeno Aurilite
Member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2012
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 7
Wall of Text. TL;DR: Go down to the last paragraph.
Look, Kishimoto is a mediocre writer at worst and decent at best. Common arguments against this involve stating the fact that it is one of the, if not most, popular manga and anime in the world but popularity doesn't mean good. Popularity means that something or someone appeals to a very large audience and that isn't hard to do if you follow specific tropes. These are commonly: A goofy hero (Naruto, Goku, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, Ash Ketchum, Luffy), his rival (Sasuke, Vegeta, Riku in a sense, Ash's rival from every arc, Ace up until he died [I haven't watched One Piece so I'm just guessing here]), and a cute heroine (Sakura, Bulma, Kairi, Ash's female companion in every arc, Nami). These aren't always the case but those are exceptions, not evidence of the contrary.
I read Naruto because it appeals to me. It's a simple and goofy manga that isn't at all hard to follow but there are many who take the writer as a God of Writing. One of the most annoying things I see on this thread is people praising Kishimoto for his "great" writing abilities. For example, I read today that Kishimoto never intended Tobi to be Obito while the negative side argued that his identity was evident throughout the entire series. No one seems to understand what retconning is.
A Retcon is a reinterpretation of past events. Example, the Nine-Tails being a tailed beast is a retcon. Kishimoto did not come up with that concept until Part 2 of the series. Gaara was simply a kid who had a similar background to Naruto, having a monster sealed inside of him and being persecuted because of that. (Btw, Kurama is a kitsune in Japanese mythology, a fox like creature with varying amounts of tails based on their magical power.)
It is entirely possible that Kishimoto comes up with things as he draws them. Tobi could have been anyone up until his reveal, the Fourth Hokage might not have been Naruto's dad until his reveal, and Orochimaru should have stayed dead but he didn't. Tobi was retconned into being Obito. Minato probably wasn't retconned into being Naruto's dad based on Part 1 portraits. Orochimaru was retconned into coming back from Anko's seal. These are all reinterpretations of what has already occurred.
It takes years to plan and edit a novel. Kishimoto might have properly planned out the first few arcs in Naruto but there is an extremely minimal chance that he is still doing so, made all the more evident by the fact that this has been going on for the past 10 years. As a man who is able to release each chapter one week at a time, Kishimoto is able to respond to his fans and must do so to continue the success of his manga. No matter what anyone says, you cannot predict years worth of trends.
In conclusion: Kishimoto is a decent writer. He writes a manga that I enjoy reading but he is not a God. He is only human and is prone to make mistakes and last minute decisions like the rest of us. If you're one of the people overly complaining about how crappy of a writer he is, give him a break (I won't tell you to try what he does because that's a piss poor argument. Criticizing something and creating it takes two very different skill sets). If you're one of the people who praise him as your savior and Naruto as your bible, calm down.
Look, Kishimoto is a mediocre writer at worst and decent at best. Common arguments against this involve stating the fact that it is one of the, if not most, popular manga and anime in the world but popularity doesn't mean good. Popularity means that something or someone appeals to a very large audience and that isn't hard to do if you follow specific tropes. These are commonly: A goofy hero (Naruto, Goku, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, Ash Ketchum, Luffy), his rival (Sasuke, Vegeta, Riku in a sense, Ash's rival from every arc, Ace up until he died [I haven't watched One Piece so I'm just guessing here]), and a cute heroine (Sakura, Bulma, Kairi, Ash's female companion in every arc, Nami). These aren't always the case but those are exceptions, not evidence of the contrary.
I read Naruto because it appeals to me. It's a simple and goofy manga that isn't at all hard to follow but there are many who take the writer as a God of Writing. One of the most annoying things I see on this thread is people praising Kishimoto for his "great" writing abilities. For example, I read today that Kishimoto never intended Tobi to be Obito while the negative side argued that his identity was evident throughout the entire series. No one seems to understand what retconning is.
A Retcon is a reinterpretation of past events. Example, the Nine-Tails being a tailed beast is a retcon. Kishimoto did not come up with that concept until Part 2 of the series. Gaara was simply a kid who had a similar background to Naruto, having a monster sealed inside of him and being persecuted because of that. (Btw, Kurama is a kitsune in Japanese mythology, a fox like creature with varying amounts of tails based on their magical power.)
It is entirely possible that Kishimoto comes up with things as he draws them. Tobi could have been anyone up until his reveal, the Fourth Hokage might not have been Naruto's dad until his reveal, and Orochimaru should have stayed dead but he didn't. Tobi was retconned into being Obito. Minato probably wasn't retconned into being Naruto's dad based on Part 1 portraits. Orochimaru was retconned into coming back from Anko's seal. These are all reinterpretations of what has already occurred.
It takes years to plan and edit a novel. Kishimoto might have properly planned out the first few arcs in Naruto but there is an extremely minimal chance that he is still doing so, made all the more evident by the fact that this has been going on for the past 10 years. As a man who is able to release each chapter one week at a time, Kishimoto is able to respond to his fans and must do so to continue the success of his manga. No matter what anyone says, you cannot predict years worth of trends.
In conclusion: Kishimoto is a decent writer. He writes a manga that I enjoy reading but he is not a God. He is only human and is prone to make mistakes and last minute decisions like the rest of us. If you're one of the people overly complaining about how crappy of a writer he is, give him a break (I won't tell you to try what he does because that's a piss poor argument. Criticizing something and creating it takes two very different skill sets). If you're one of the people who praise him as your savior and Naruto as your bible, calm down.
