Now I have more time, but I am still busy drafting a lengthy essay that sums up how I think and feel about the manga. Also I have now read the chapter from beginning to end.
I also liked the pictures with the seal of reconciliation, even though Sasuke has to use his right and Naruto has to use his left hand. I find it a bit weird that we end up with a "prodigious son"-situation, most of course because Konoha is not the home of God.
It was a difficult read at the first time, because I felt that Sasuke has been humiliated - that apparently he is made to think that he was all wrong and that everything inside him that's good is what comes from other people: hope and pain from Itachi and his parents and now also Naruto, but not his own pain and his own despair. But this is simply not true, there were a lot of good things inside him even after the massacre, e.g. when he recognized Naruto as a human being. (Well, there was this fight with Naruto even before they became genin in some backflash, and that seemed like retconning to me.) And not just "moving on" after his family's murder is not evil either. Most of the evil things happened after chapter 400. There's no excuse for attempting to deliver Killerbee to Akatsuki or for stabbing Karin or for attacking Naruto at the end of the story. On the other hand it needs to be seen in perspective, that is in relation to what happened to his family. I have reread some chapters of my long fanfic "The Blessed Realm" yesterday and realized that I tried to make sense of Sasuke's behaviour then without finding excuses. It' s not easy but within a really long story there's ways.
Also rereading my fanfic made me realize that in my own story Naruto is far more empathetic than in the canon. He always talks about understanding or even feeling Sasuke's pain, but he is not able to talk about it. I think it's around chapter 470 that he muses that Sasuke must have loved his family too, and when he meets Sasuke after Danzou's death Naruto says something along the lines of "I have heard of what happened to your family but I don't know what to make of it", which is better than what all the other characters say, but which is not really an expression of empathy and understanding. At least, scenes like this are the reason why I still liked Naruto when I had ceased to care for most of the other characters.
I also liked the pictures with the seal of reconciliation, even though Sasuke has to use his right and Naruto has to use his left hand. I find it a bit weird that we end up with a "prodigious son"-situation, most of course because Konoha is not the home of God.
It was a difficult read at the first time, because I felt that Sasuke has been humiliated - that apparently he is made to think that he was all wrong and that everything inside him that's good is what comes from other people: hope and pain from Itachi and his parents and now also Naruto, but not his own pain and his own despair. But this is simply not true, there were a lot of good things inside him even after the massacre, e.g. when he recognized Naruto as a human being. (Well, there was this fight with Naruto even before they became genin in some backflash, and that seemed like retconning to me.) And not just "moving on" after his family's murder is not evil either. Most of the evil things happened after chapter 400. There's no excuse for attempting to deliver Killerbee to Akatsuki or for stabbing Karin or for attacking Naruto at the end of the story. On the other hand it needs to be seen in perspective, that is in relation to what happened to his family. I have reread some chapters of my long fanfic "The Blessed Realm" yesterday and realized that I tried to make sense of Sasuke's behaviour then without finding excuses. It' s not easy but within a really long story there's ways.
Also rereading my fanfic made me realize that in my own story Naruto is far more empathetic than in the canon. He always talks about understanding or even feeling Sasuke's pain, but he is not able to talk about it. I think it's around chapter 470 that he muses that Sasuke must have loved his family too, and when he meets Sasuke after Danzou's death Naruto says something along the lines of "I have heard of what happened to your family but I don't know what to make of it", which is better than what all the other characters say, but which is not really an expression of empathy and understanding. At least, scenes like this are the reason why I still liked Naruto when I had ceased to care for most of the other characters.
But well, this is Kishimoto's story, not mine.
Reply
Leave a comment