Maybe showing some realism as someone else posted. Not every relationship starts from childhood and ends in marriage and kids. That’s fiction. Look at Legend of Kora. Kora and Maco didn’t last. They broke up and never got back together. That’s realism.
Naruto could have used some of that. Having girls swoon over a dude as a child all throughout their lives without once even thinking, ”Maybe they aren’t into me.” And moving on might have been good.
But that's the thing- Naruto in the manga did just that- Naruto's first crush didn't work out but he found someone who cared for him as he was. He too liked her so it's not strange that he came to respond back to Hinata with all things. You can say in his case Hinata won him over but just because she was the one to take first step, it doesn't make it unrealistic. Not every relationship but some do work out this way and actually do quite well.
And Hinata still fairs much better than say Agnes Wickfield ( David Copperfield).
Things like Sasuke/ Sakura too happen. Guy being cute - that was Sasuke for Ino. For Sakura it started that way but being in the same team made her see him from other perspectives too and sets up a different dynamic than just being cute.She saw too many of his not so cute to outright crazy side too. She didn't know about the details of Itachi deal but had enough sense to understand the psychological effect and Sasuke's reactions- she figured out he was going to leave despite Kakashi believing that he took care of things and Sasuke would be ok.
I do get that many people don't approve of their marriage but hey they seem to be mostly ok with the little compromises they made. And yep that marriage works because both came to terms with whatever happen in between and decide to live how it suits them. And no, no matter what haters say it's not abusive relationship either.
It's the realism of it that's hard for people to grasp since they wanted it to be more ideal realtionship.
The problem with Naruto relationships is if a girl thinks a guy is cute, that’s enough foreshadowing to pair them up and get married in the end even if the dude doesn’t shows any attraction or interest in her back.
Most konoha girls thought Sasuke was cute. Not all of them ended up with him. Some simply found someone else. In so many series Hero does get the girl he had his eyes on. Why is it a big deal that a couple of girls got the guy they liked? More so when both these girls made comprised and extended their hand despite the slights they received earlier.
But here we have think realism is lacking because two girls ended up with the guy they liked ... say what? It's realism even if it's not the kind of romance we wanted.
Took a movie after the fact to make Naruto and Hinata fit. And don’t get me started on Sakura and Sasuke’s dynamic. That one is so broken on so many levels. But at least they touched on some semi real life issues(baby momma drama).
It's not done so well done as I wish but dynamics between them is not broken. Sasuke is shaped by his traumatized past and it's ghost haunted him for a long time. No matter how little of it was focused on, Sakura still is the only emotional support besides Naruto whom Sasuke responded to. Gaiden kind of covers that around the last pages. She empathizes with him and he does respond to it according to his capacity in the moment.
Some actual development would have been great. If Kishi wanted us to believe Naruto fell for Hinata, she should have been on more missions with him from the moment she stood her ground for him against Pain. Give Naruto some intimate screentime to really learn about Hinata’s dreams, desires, passions. Something he can get behind and fall in love with.
He did acknowledge her during war arc- and clearly they gave themselves the time after - before getting married. People see the time gap between her confession in pain arc and lack of response on Naruto's. But when did Naruto had time to get cozy with Hinata to talk it out? Tsunade was in coma, village in shambles. Darui and party arrive. Danzou took over and declared Sasuke a rogue nin- Kage summit, declaration of war and Naruto got sent to remote island and returned during war.
This is in regard to main cast member mind you. In regards to those like Shikamaru or Choji I’m fine with as there was a 10+ year timeskip so I’m fine with them though the sheer number of them is a bit much.[/spoiler]
It's off paneled for everyone. I have skipped most movies including that one so my analysis is based on manga alone. But from what I have heard, I feel movie took out of Hinata/Naruto pairing in attempt to turn in to childhood love story for teens and Kishimoto had kept it more real.
A lot of things could have done to make it better bor both main pairings but we also miss out a lot because of cross culture and language barrier.
