Great letter, Fated_bliss! But before I go on I must be honest with you. I'm not a fan of Sakura. I didn't like her in Part 1 mainly due how she treated Naruto in the beginning and the fact that she did nothing much except whine and cry at how useless she was. But I started to slowly grow to like her in Part 2 because she was strong and that Sasori fight was her shining moment. Showing me how strong physically she became.
Yes, this chapter pretty much destroyed her character and the progress she made since part 2 started. I felt so sorry for her. Kishimoto has seriously ruined her character. I have tried my utmost best not to bash her because seriously I do feel sorry for her. I also blame Kishi for making her this way.
I'm actually hoping for #1 to happen. Kishi is doing this on purpose. He deliberately had Sakura make the biggest mistake in her life by lying to herself and making a fake confession in the process hurting Naruto at the same time. Kishi is making her go through the lowest point in her life. I mean she's already in the most vulnerable state after what had happened to the village, Tsunade, and finding out that Sasuke joined the Akatsuki. She is so, so confused right now that she thought confessing to Naruto and getting him to release that promise will somehow make things a bit better. And then once she realizes that what she is doing is wrong and she had made a mistake, she will learn from this and become a better person. She'll, as you said, will blossom into a more awesome and better character. I'm HOPING that this is Kishi's intention! He wants to give Sakura some real harsh experience by destroying her character and then slowly start rebuilding her into a better character.
As for the Naruto the series, it does sometimes annoy me that most of the females characters are such weaklings and they always ended up as damsel in distress role. It sometimes pisses me off actually! And yet...it boggles my mind why I still am so much in love and obsessed with this series. I have been reading a lot of comments on forums and such that fans are giving up on reading Naruto because of the story has went downhill since part 2 started and especially what had happened in this chapter. Seriously, it pains me to read that. So I'm glad that you haven't given up on this series yet. And I admire you for that!! XD
Oh as for recommendations for anime/manga, you must have heard of Full metal Alchemist right? I bet you probably read it. That series have some ass kicking female characters! Just too bad it only comes out once a month. =( I have also been watching/reading Gintama. Story might not be as riveting but it's freakin' hilarious!! Some of the episodes seriously made me laugh!
I'm only here for the FMA comments. Fullmetal Alchemist is an excellent example of what a shounen manga should be with their female characters. THe author that treats the females characters well both physically and emotionally and allows them to develop even if they aren't the main characters. They have their moment to shine. Winry, Riza, Lan Fan, and of course motherfucking Izumi and Olivier.
Winry certainly isn't the powerful fighter, but the manga-ka managed to handle her emotional development well when it came to Scar and the death of her parents. The moment she had to confront it was extremely heart-wrenching and very human. Such a situation could have been executed very poorly too.
Then Izumi is one kickass and badass female, but she has serious emotional baggage over the loss of her baby and her mistake at doing human transmutation. For years, she would live with the consequences of her actions.
All those female characters had their problems and not one of them were really relate to love [of the romantic kind] for the most part (though if anything, it was loyalty).
But the manga-ka is female (although there are a lot of shoujo manga-kas that treat their female characters just as shitty as kishimoto does if not worse). But yeah, Kishimoto needs to take some tips from Arakawa.
Hello lone_child! Agrees with your comment 120%! I love all of the females characters! But there is one that I particularly like and you forgot to mention her....it's Mei chan (Mei chang?) She's my most fave character in FMA! She can heal and kick ass too! And that cute little panda Xiao mei is just so cute!! Olivia, Lan Fan and Hawkeye would be my next faves! I do love Hawkeye for her loyalty to Mustang! And Lan Fan loyalty to Ling! I totally agree that Kishi should take some tips from Arakawa! XD
You did mention Risa and Lan Fan's loyalty to their men. This is one point I'm fairly nit-picky about. If you think about it, both women only exist in the story to support Roy and Ling in their quests, which is quite unsettling... HOWEVER, though this complaint is definitely valid, I still love Hawkeye and Lan Fan. No matter how you look at it, they're really strong women themselves. At least they aren't voiceless/passive (Lan Fan does get a bit of development), and they know what they want. And their love simply wins my respect. (:
I also ship Roy/Riza and Ling/Lan Fan like nobody's business. XDDD
yes, I agree with you, Hawkeye's and Lan fan's purpose in the story are to support Mustang and Ling quests. But the difference with FMA and Naruto is that these women can also kick ass at the same time!! They are not weak women who become damsel in distress and just stand around to wait for the hero to come save them! That is what I pisses me off about Naruto. Konan became a damsel in distress, Sakura screamed out Naruto's name when the village was destroyed by Pain are just some examples. XD
Plus, I also think of Hawkeye and Lan Fan as being there to guide these guys to their quest. One wrong step/move and they are there to bring them back to reality. A good example is what happened recently with Mustang wanted to kill Envy with his own hands and Hawkeye was there to stop him from going into darkness on his path to revenge.
I also ship Roy/Riza and Ling/Lan Fan! I also think Mei Chan/Al would make a nice pairing! XD
I agree. I hope that's Kishi's intention too (#1), but I'm seriously too disillusioned with him for now.
Haha! I'm exactly the same as you. I STILL love this series, despite the fact that the sexism pisses me off without fail week after week. I still like Naruto way more than I'll ever like Bleach, or most other titles, for that matter. (Which is a little frustrating.) I guess not giving up on the series has to do with the fact that I've already been following it for 6 years. That's quite a lot of time to be investing in a relatively active fandom. And I STILL want to see the kunoichi get their day. (((:
I LOVE FMA. Every single character is endearing. It has its faults, though (I suppose it's a little too optimistic/idealistic at times, but hey. It's still a beautiful story). And Gintama! I definitely want to try that when I have the time. (((:
Yes, this chapter pretty much destroyed her character and the progress she made since part 2 started. I felt so sorry for her. Kishimoto has seriously ruined her character. I have tried my utmost best not to bash her because seriously I do feel sorry for her. I also blame Kishi for making her this way.
I'm actually hoping for #1 to happen. Kishi is doing this on purpose. He deliberately had Sakura make the biggest mistake in her life by lying to herself and making a fake confession in the process hurting Naruto at the same time. Kishi is making her go through the lowest point in her life. I mean she's already in the most vulnerable state after what had happened to the village, Tsunade, and finding out that Sasuke joined the Akatsuki. She is so, so confused right now that she thought confessing to Naruto and getting him to release that promise will somehow make things a bit better. And then once she realizes that what she is doing is wrong and she had made a mistake, she will learn from this and become a better person. She'll, as you said, will blossom into a more awesome and better character. I'm HOPING that this is Kishi's intention! He wants to give Sakura some real harsh experience by destroying her character and then slowly start rebuilding her into a better character.
As for the Naruto the series, it does sometimes annoy me that most of the females characters are such weaklings and they always ended up as damsel in distress role. It sometimes pisses me off actually! And yet...it boggles my mind why I still am so much in love and obsessed with this series. I have been reading a lot of comments on forums and such that fans are giving up on reading Naruto because of the story has went downhill since part 2 started and especially what had happened in this chapter. Seriously, it pains me to read that. So I'm glad that you haven't given up on this series yet. And I admire you for that!! XD
Oh as for recommendations for anime/manga, you must have heard of Full metal Alchemist right? I bet you probably read it. That series have some ass kicking female characters! Just too bad it only comes out once a month. =( I have also been watching/reading Gintama. Story might not be as riveting but it's freakin' hilarious!! Some of the episodes seriously made me laugh!
Reply
Winry certainly isn't the powerful fighter, but the manga-ka managed to handle her emotional development well when it came to Scar and the death of her parents. The moment she had to confront it was extremely heart-wrenching and very human. Such a situation could have been executed very poorly too.
Then Izumi is one kickass and badass female, but she has serious emotional baggage over the loss of her baby and her mistake at doing human transmutation. For years, she would live with the consequences of her actions.
All those female characters had their problems and not one of them were really relate to love [of the romantic kind] for the most part (though if anything, it was loyalty).
But the manga-ka is female (although there are a lot of shoujo manga-kas that treat their female characters just as shitty as kishimoto does if not worse). But yeah, Kishimoto needs to take some tips from Arakawa.
Reply
Reply
You did mention Risa and Lan Fan's loyalty to their men. This is one point I'm fairly nit-picky about. If you think about it, both women only exist in the story to support Roy and Ling in their quests, which is quite unsettling... HOWEVER, though this complaint is definitely valid, I still love Hawkeye and Lan Fan. No matter how you look at it, they're really strong women themselves. At least they aren't voiceless/passive (Lan Fan does get a bit of development), and they know what they want. And their love simply wins my respect. (:
I also ship Roy/Riza and Ling/Lan Fan like nobody's business. XDDD
Reply
Plus, I also think of Hawkeye and Lan Fan as being there to guide these guys to their quest. One wrong step/move and they are there to bring them back to reality. A good example is what happened recently with Mustang wanted to kill Envy with his own hands and Hawkeye was there to stop him from going into darkness on his path to revenge.
I also ship Roy/Riza and Ling/Lan Fan! I also think Mei Chan/Al would make a nice pairing! XD
Reply
Reply
Yes Greed!ling/Lan Fan would be all sorts of angsty wonder. I'm still holding out for something. Arakawa, don't play safe all the time~
Reply
Reply
Haha! I'm exactly the same as you. I STILL love this series, despite the fact that the sexism pisses me off without fail week after week. I still like Naruto way more than I'll ever like Bleach, or most other titles, for that matter. (Which is a little frustrating.) I guess not giving up on the series has to do with the fact that I've already been following it for 6 years. That's quite a lot of time to be investing in a relatively active fandom. And I STILL want to see the kunoichi get their day. (((:
I LOVE FMA. Every single character is endearing. It has its faults, though (I suppose it's a little too optimistic/idealistic at times, but hey. It's still a beautiful story). And Gintama! I definitely want to try that when I have the time. (((:
Reply
Leave a comment