Ambiguity is for losers- The Uchiha Sasuke contemplation post
Here's a subject that I've been trolled incessantly by (and have counter-trolled, I admit) ever since the first Sasuke and Sai arc (chapters 282-310 in the manga, episodes 33-53 holy shit that's a lot in the anime) of Naruto Shippuden: why certain fans (including myself) are so unfailingly faithful to Sasuke when he clearly is a massive penis.
The short answer: Naruto does it, why can't we?
The long (slightly ranty) answer:
No matter how much hate he's getting right now, Uchiha Sasuke will be one of the Naruto franchise's best-loved characters. This has a little to do with how much of an unrepentant bishie he is, and a lot to do with his character development in Part I of Naruto. Sasuke was portrayed as a troubled yet driven shinobi, a hard-working genius who makes friends in his genin team despite himself. As the plot progresses, his perfect older brother (and former face of L'Oreal) shows up and we see just how deep Sasuke's need for vengeance runs, and why, thus making him the perfect hero for your standard RPG.
HOWEVER.
This emo-boy with a heart of gold image is deconstructed, shred to pieces and scattered into the four winds by the time Part II rolls around. We meet a teenager who reveals nothing but his perfectly-waxed chest, who draws his sword on his supposed best friend and seems to out-asshole pretty much every villain Kishi has thrown at us yet. He then proceeds to absorb his mentor like the sponge he truly is, and parades around gathering peeps for his gang and color-coding them. None of us really warmed to Taka/Hebi. What are you doing, we cried. Just kill Itachi and go home already.
Ahem.
But killing Itachi just served to push him off the deep end, and do something that was the last straw for many fans: the whole destroying Konoha business.
But hear me out, okay?
Sasuke has never claimed to identify himself with the village he grew up in. His loyalties have shifted and morphed countless times, as different people came up in the queue to manipulate him. His attitude towards his brother is like tsundere cranked up to 2000 per cent. What hasn't changed, however, are his morals.
It's explicitly stated in many instances that Sasuke goes out of his way to spare innocent lives; that he has a code of honor that has little to do with the finer feelings of friendship and love, but stresses on doing what he perceives to be the right thing; and he has the same fine sense of justice that Itachi has, but is more aggressive about it. He has, above all things, integrity, and even if he doesn't go shouting it out at random intervals or whenever anyone shows signs of recovering from the last time he said it, it's his ninja way.
What I'm trying to say is, Sasuke's no hero. No one in the shinobi world is, because what they fundamentally are are killers who can only cling to a basic set of principles and blindly hope that at the end of the day, they won't have done anything they'd regret forever because survival comes first, the only thing that comes as instinct. Sasuke's just another kid whose mom taught him to help people in need and to do what was right.
I've been called many things for the opinions I've just mentioned (a few examples include crazy, a sharingan fetishist -not true, I actually kind of despise Itachi- and having a support-the-underdog complex) but I don't really care. So bring them on: your opinions, your bashings and praise, and maybe we can form a coherent idea of the general consensus when it comes to one of anime's most controversial characters.
And for those of you who do advocate ambiguity, here's a picture of chibi Sasuke to push you over the fence:
Or:
^_^
The short answer: Naruto does it, why can't we?
The long (slightly ranty) answer:
No matter how much hate he's getting right now, Uchiha Sasuke will be one of the Naruto franchise's best-loved characters. This has a little to do with how much of an unrepentant bishie he is, and a lot to do with his character development in Part I of Naruto. Sasuke was portrayed as a troubled yet driven shinobi, a hard-working genius who makes friends in his genin team despite himself. As the plot progresses, his perfect older brother (and former face of L'Oreal) shows up and we see just how deep Sasuke's need for vengeance runs, and why, thus making him the perfect hero for your standard RPG.
HOWEVER.
This emo-boy with a heart of gold image is deconstructed, shred to pieces and scattered into the four winds by the time Part II rolls around. We meet a teenager who reveals nothing but his perfectly-waxed chest, who draws his sword on his supposed best friend and seems to out-asshole pretty much every villain Kishi has thrown at us yet. He then proceeds to absorb his mentor like the sponge he truly is, and parades around gathering peeps for his gang and color-coding them. None of us really warmed to Taka/Hebi. What are you doing, we cried. Just kill Itachi and go home already.
Ahem.
But killing Itachi just served to push him off the deep end, and do something that was the last straw for many fans: the whole destroying Konoha business.
But hear me out, okay?
Sasuke has never claimed to identify himself with the village he grew up in. His loyalties have shifted and morphed countless times, as different people came up in the queue to manipulate him. His attitude towards his brother is like tsundere cranked up to 2000 per cent. What hasn't changed, however, are his morals.
It's explicitly stated in many instances that Sasuke goes out of his way to spare innocent lives; that he has a code of honor that has little to do with the finer feelings of friendship and love, but stresses on doing what he perceives to be the right thing; and he has the same fine sense of justice that Itachi has, but is more aggressive about it. He has, above all things, integrity, and even if he doesn't go shouting it out at random intervals or whenever anyone shows signs of recovering from the last time he said it, it's his ninja way.
What I'm trying to say is, Sasuke's no hero. No one in the shinobi world is, because what they fundamentally are are killers who can only cling to a basic set of principles and blindly hope that at the end of the day, they won't have done anything they'd regret forever because survival comes first, the only thing that comes as instinct. Sasuke's just another kid whose mom taught him to help people in need and to do what was right.
I've been called many things for the opinions I've just mentioned (a few examples include crazy, a sharingan fetishist -not true, I actually kind of despise Itachi- and having a support-the-underdog complex) but I don't really care. So bring them on: your opinions, your bashings and praise, and maybe we can form a coherent idea of the general consensus when it comes to one of anime's most controversial characters.
And for those of you who do advocate ambiguity, here's a picture of chibi Sasuke to push you over the fence:
Or:
^_^