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Imagine a story.
This story is about a friendless individual with the power to make friends with anybody. It ’s a story about a perceived underdog who is destined for saintly feats. They are, after all, the child of light, pure in intention and thought to the point they can talk anybody down, including the children of darkness, bringing them into the light. Towards the end, everybody is stuck depending on them instead of themselves because they are simply that dependable, that amazing.
That story—
That story is the story of Naruto in a nutshell, minus all the descriptors regarding shinobi and such.
To which some disgruntled Naruto fans will gripe that what I ’m describing is a Gary Stu, that I’m obviously missing the point, and off base, as Naruto does in fact have his flaws.
To which—
Start by erasing from your mind the idea that this type of character is flawless, that they are perfect in nature. Not only is that a misconception, but it is also one of the most annoying defenses against a character being labeled a Gary Stu. Erase as well the idea that calling a Gary Stu out for being such is some kind of insult, some kind of a bad thing.
Yes, the term is used, when used correctly, to denote an issue with the writing.
Of course, there are Naruto fans who are convinced the story doesn ’t have any significant problems worth discussing, that those of us who criticize the work are lacking in reading comprehension, and/or that we ’re not getting the point, which are both ad hominem attacks that refuse to address the points made.
To which—
While I ’m fine with healthy debate regarding my interpretations of the canon material, healthy discussion doesn’t include fallacies of logic, which does, in fact, include arguing authorial intentionalism when one of the series' criticisms is the failure of the author’s intent to be properly conveyed; this doesn’t mean, of course, that those of us who critique the series are unable to see what.
More importantly, authorial intent is more than what the writer wishes to convey; it is also whether they properly convey it. For example, Naruto being friendless in the village is directly contradicted by his extraordinary power to make friends with everybody. One could argue he simply has the same power as Killer B, yet at the end of the day, Naruto lacked Killer B ’s charisma, and Killer B’s annoying rapping is a different kind of annoyance from what Naruto’s problematic behavior brings on.
What Are Some of the Major Problems With the Series?
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Naruto — Naruto’s character is full of contradictions, such as being friendless and having the power to make friends with anybody.
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Talk-no-Jutsu—Naruto is known for waxing philosophical, which in itself isn’t a problem; it becomes a problem when the wisdom he waxes is somehow flawed. He’s not the only character with the Talk-no-Jutsu problem; Danzo is the example that comes to mind. The only difference is that while Naruto sways people to the good side of things, Danzo sways them to the bad side of things.
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Naruto’s can be summarized as, “I fart. You fart. We all fart so we should all get along,” and then everybody does.
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Danzo’s can be summarized in comparison as, “I refuse to stoop to farting, but they farted on us, so we’ll go ahead and do something far, far worse than farting because I say so,” and then everybody does.
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Timeline — It’s pretty bad when everyone struggles to make a concrete timeline for the series. Still, it got to the point I just ended up making my fannish attempt at a Naruto Timeline so that I could continue my Naruto projects with ease. I tried making the timeline fluid in nature. Still, I didn’t rely on the databooks like others have because there are contradictions, such as the fourth databook claiming Naruto’s seventeenth birthday occurred during the Fourth Shinobi War when it was his sixteenth — Kushina says as much. To be exact, the timeline started going off the rails in the Manga around the Sasuke retrieval arc.
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Child of Destiny — Typically, people bring up Neji. This undermines Naruto’s Talk-no-Jutsu, as Neji ultimately proved to be right all along. However, I think a better explanation for the problem is that this is how the so-called prophecies work. In the series, Naruto is summoned to Gamamaru to receive a prophecy. He tells Naruto and Gerotora that he foresees Gerotora entering Naruto and Gerotora’s like, “If you say so,” so it ends up happening, not to mention Jiraiya said it would likely occur.
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Adding Sci-Fi to Fantasy — Kishimoto decided to add sci-fi elements to his fantasy series, which in of itself isn’t a problem. It’s the execution. For example, according to Tsunade, healing is limited by the frequency at which cells can replicate, which in turn shortens one’s lifespan. In contrast, other characters aren’t limited by this, ripping out their own spine as a weapon. Why did I bring these up? The latter is scientifically impossible, but the limit Tsunade talks about is based on cell coding that limits the number of times a cell can replicate, a coding mechanism known to be capable of being turned off.
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Misunderstanding Mythological Concepts — For example, Naruto and Sasuke at the end of the series are effectively presented as the yin and yang of each other, with Naruto surrounded by light (i.e., goodness) and Sasuke surrounded by darkness (i.e., evil). However, while it can represent light/dark, such as in light and shadows, it is a misconception that means good and evil. One I might add is a common misconception.
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Naruto and Sasuke’s Rivalry — This involves the contradictions in Naruto’s character as well as a misunderstanding of yin and yang, but one issue that comes to mind is this. Naruto is allowed to power up quickly by saying he’s using two hundred clones because he’s doing it for the right reasons, but Sasuke’s character is shamed for wanting to power up quickly because it is for the wrong reasons.
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Evil is Easily Forgiven—Characters like Orichimaru and Kabuto, who killed many for the sake of their experiments, are allowed to get away with it, with Konoha not punishing them for their crimes. Contrary to popular belief, this issue does not include Sasuke. While he did defect, he maintained a largely pacifist stance, showing mercy to those he fought. He did come close to crossing the line, but never truly did.
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Uchiha Massacure — A prime example of Danzo’s Talk-no-Jutsu, Itachi’s actions don’t make sense.
Those are most of the significant issues, though there may be more.
What does it not include?
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Anime Filler — I know some complain about how much filler there is, but I also have to wonder how many who complain about this have actually read the manga. One of the issues with the timeline is pacing, where the amount of time passing is difficult to gauge in the manga after Tsunade gets back, though it did start going downhill in her retrieval arc. I’ve also seen people attempt to discredit people’s arguments by claiming something as Anime filler when it wasn’t — it was very clearly in the Manga. I have also wondered how many Naruto fans know that Naruto’s behavior in the first episode is heavily censored.
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End Game Ships — Oddly enough, for all of Kishimoto’s faults, he did present adequate moments that lean towards Naruto ending up with Hinata and Sasuke ending up with Sakura. This isn’t to say there aren’t shipping moments for other ships in the canon material, but to say that these ships came out of nowhere would be disingenuous. Meaning? A lot of the discourse regarding endgame shipping has to do with shipping preference, not whether the endgame ships make sense or not. Though I do agree. Neji shouldn’t have died just so Naruto and Hinata could end up with each other, but given his uncle likely planned on marrying him to one of his cousins, Neji living and letting Hinata have her happiness would be the proper way of going against the clan than what Kishimoto did.
Why is everything summarized?
Because I ’ve got a lot to say, which means a lot of meta to write. Though, in saying this, timeline-specific meta is going to be added as chapters to the Naruto Timeline I created.
Yet, I plan on having some fun with this, such as the explanation for Talk-no-Jutsu I gave and prompt ideas for those who want them. Which—
Prompt 0.01 — Naruto ’s Talk-no-Jutsu can be summarized as, “I fart. You fart. We all fart so we should all get along,” and then everybody does. Danzo’s can be summarized in comparison as, “I refuse to stoop to farting, but they farted on us, so we’ll go ahead and do something far, far worse than farting because I say so,” and then everybody does. Use this as inspiration for a fanfic. It can be as serious or as crack as one wants.
Anything Else of Note
I use the Japanese school system to figure out the timeline and the characters ’ ages. Yes, I’m aware that the fourth databook says the ages should be calculated from January to December, but this is also the databook that claims Naruto turned seventeen during the war, despite Kushina clearly saying only sixteen years have passed when she talked to Naruto. I assume the Japanese school system is being used because this is a series made in Japan and based on Japanese culture, just as I would assume the USA school system is being used in a series produced in the USA and based on USA culture.
Also, I ’ve a theory that Kishimoto is neurodiverse in some manner, and this is the reason behind the issues in the series, which in turn only makes me more interested in the series, particularly since I feel Kishimoto unintentionally created quite a few characters who fall into the neurodiverse category such as Gaara being on the autism spectrum potentially.