#anti ashura

[lira456]

Naruto failure of hokage in every front like his ancestors

Many things needed fair conclusions which were overlooked so what naruto did what kind of reform he enforced regarding clan laws and treatments because of uchiha tragedy, regarding reformation of child soldiers and anbu matters becuase of rin and itachi, regarding reforming continental laws and regulation if invasion of small coutries and villages happening and their rebuilding and reparation because of wrongdoings 5 NATIONS AND KAGE have caused in the past,

also how he gonna bind all shinobi villages and even countries in the mutual trust and common ground so that nothing unlawful conclusion happen like that of shikimaru shinden and who gonna maintain or correct it in future that's why you need solid effective laws that equally and equitably benefit and treat and question everyone( author only just blink of some years bring phone,computer and video games but still maintains feudal sytem does not have international laws we have under UN so that no one can easily go to war even israelis are condemned against by UN but in naruto we don't have any such organization,laws,platform for time to time problem which can connect all shinobi countries and villages on the continent, even villages can not oppose their daimyo's order meaning they have no alternative source of income so naruto did not find another way for complete econmical survival without shinobi missions on 80 percent level such as using chakra and exporting chakra tech not for warfare especially and chakra natures lol feels like he still wants to maintain system in 60 percent ground: pure bad writing to continue boruto),

also what about orphanage system for other villages especially orphan from small villages or destructive land or from remote area like that of ryogi and kabuto and kara children and ame child how did not naruto send no shadow clone or shinobi for such purpose as he always preach about how he understand everyone's pain so called messiah or any welfare like system for poor shinobi from impoverished village shinobi or even his own village especially their widows and orphans did not shown or pension like something for shinobi especially who lost their body parts such as guy or some especial payment for shinobi like kawaki's father and give him alternative employment becuase of being war hero could have saved kawaki feels like villages abandoned many remaining shinobi or why not give them alternative employment because of their past service (just simply dispose of them if they lost value so cruel, just how pain said), by checking all the shinobi they could have but becuase they don't have correct and effective database like system even without tech that's how inaffective their shinobi system is because it's only focus on deciphering stupid message that would do no good for average shinobi and their family, collect tax from people building hiring,build some stupid building, maintain shinobi academy and its doctrination and missions and ranks and secret non transparent scheme meaning they don't have any citizen or shinobi benefit only jonin and upper echelon have that luxury even nothing special fund for orphan that's why ryogi doest not send to kabuto nothing specific, only all connected to glrifying and worshipping their anscestor that's why they don't have effective database maintained because of that after the war they lost track many shinobi and who knows how their family survived not shown not even regarding the other villages saddening, also about their individual desire or dream for that can they stop being shinobi suddenly or leave the village, did not shown regarding such issues especially how they panicked when mitsuki left and send their kids to die really sad.

it seems they even don't have unique trade that could connect all in a way that not one can lie or go to war meaning kakashi did not create any trade system only how they can rebuild and maintain ninja system which was in threat because lack of manpower(losing most of the shinobi in the war) meaning focused mostly making buildings,transportation,long distant upgraded message device and sharing shinobi missions with other villages, so kakashi did not change any political,children curriculam,ideological and law related issues in the village, naruto not even focused on changing of dangerous social struture in kiri village and lack of resources problem in iwa country and village, even we did not see how sand village's lack of resouce problem and how they solved it under gaara, really half baked, so many things overlooked,

so even did not even focus on what law or regulation he would establish to maintain clan's inner environment and conflicts becuase hyuga slavery( ther are maybe no large clans left in konoha anymore because in boruto we never see any clan meeting like that of hyuga or many clan fighting together like sarutobi and akimichi only showed some yamanaka power but not said whether they are members of yamanaka or not that's likely most died in the war, ony maybe at bare minimum members around 20 to 30 and they maintain no more clan positive harmonious tradition like clan meeting and practice just stop the heritage as we are not shown, meaning some cultural genocide, naruto as hokage could have celebrated each clan's power as culture festival making it show in public like we see chinese,european cultures etc. in many carnival and festival, in this way he could have connected and create harmony and pleasure for these lost heritage clans because naruto was suppose to be a hope that connect people it seems he has forgotten his own theme in boruto cooperation through understanding and sharing pain lol he is not doing that kind of effort to maintain harmony,peace and love among village,clan and outsider instead he is busy in collecting more power and benefit from amado and eida and katasuke and even from kawaki, that's strategic why both kawaki and boruto remained in konoha and not in other village, so much for mutual trust lol.

This is why naruto as a hokage and MC is complete bulshite and loser especially kishimoto's false half baked writing surrounding lack of insight of political atmosphere felt so underserving and hypocritical because i felt so much ideological and behavioral difference between zabusa arc naruto and ending &boruto naruto, really dissapointing.

#anti naruto uzumaki #anti naruto ending #anti kakashi #anti shinobi system #anti konoha #anti five villages #anti kage #anti hokage #anti hiruzen #anti jiraiya #anti tsunade #anti hashirama #anti ashura #anti tobirama #anti naruto #pro all victims of shinobi system #naruto uzumaki the biggest preached hypocrite on morality and idealism and one's hypocritical hope

[mangasstuffcomics]

so it seems sns shippers are still spreading this misinformation no kishimoto never said that in fact three was whole interview of kishimoto stating that. Naruto and Sasuke relationship based of the one he has with his twin brother naruto himself has referred to Sasuke as his brother multiple times they have the souls of two brothers with in them not just Chakra confirmed by naruto databook 4

the reason naruto and Sasuk never ended up together is simple the so called coding you claim doesn't exist

Its simply you who has convinced yourself that your Romantic headcannon is officialy canon

Kishimoto has had naruto refer to Sasuke has his brother since naruto part 1 he had naruto tell itachi he was more of a brother to Sasuke than himself has naruto tell sarada that family isn't just blood related while flashbacking himself saving Sasuke in naruto gaiden and then proceeded to make them the reincarnates of actual brothers

Kishimoto never intended for naruto and Sasuke relationship to be interepted as romantic accept that fact

#uchiha sasuke #Haruno Sakura #Uzumaki naruto #otsutsuki indra #indra otsutsuki #ashura otsutsuki #otsutsuki ashura #Uchiha clan #Senju clan #Uzumaki clan #Naruto shippuden #Sasusaku #Naruto #anti sns #Anti sasunaru #anti sns fandom #anti naruto fandom

[uchihaclanfounder]

Sage of six paths he is but he certainly ain’t sage of wisdom. I mean, is it too much to ask? One would think he’d have gained at least some wisdom through his travels and through the years right? Like, wisdom enough to know that being prejudiced against your own child is wrong, that isolating him further when he needs guidance and counsel the most is just nonsensical, and that the key to peace is actually a mix of both his and Ashura’s methods instead of just one correct way (and ironically enough, it’s the union of the two approaches that eventually “got things done” by the end of the series lol)… 🥴🤌

#hagoromo’s a+ parenting #anti hagoromo #hagoromo otsutsuki #indra otsutsuki #ashura otsutsuki

[sassykinzonline]

Cain: *invents murder by killing his brother because God doesn't like fruit*

God: Uh....yeah you need to be out of here

Indra: *uses his lifetime scholarship of power to take care of humans in an unsustainable way after being manipulated by God's mom*

God: Lol flop era, gtfoh goofy

#indra otsutsuki #ashura otsutsuki #hagoromo otsutsuki #naruto #i feel like hagoromo shouldve known what he did was a complete overreaction #he singlehandedly created the will of hypocrisy #where everyone is important and should be part of collaboration except an arbitrarily chosen group of people #anti will of fire

[oozmium]

SMT4F Collaboration Cafe Menu PT. 1

Translator: @twilightmalachite

ENG Proof: Elegy

This is a translation of the official (advertised on the collab website + reposted to this famitsu article) and Twitter descriptions of the menu for the 4F collaboration cafe. This contains the character meals and drinks. The twitter description will be indicated using "TWT".

MEALS:

Godslayer’s Meat Platter (¥720)

The meat of the demons (?) confronted by the Godslayer protagonist. Served with a bright red spicy salsa sauce!

TWT: First, we have the Godslayer’s Meat Platter. It is the meat of the demons (?) confronted by the protagonist; chicken and duck meat. I don’t think it’s the meat of a Gryphon or Fuxi. Probably.

Asahi’s Energetic and Healthy Coriander Salad (¥800)

Become as energetic and healthy as Asahi by eating this coriander salad!

TWT: Asahi’s Energetic and Healthy Coriander Salad. This coriander salad is filled with nutrients. You can even eat the blue flowers inspired by Asahi placed on top!

Mushrooms of the Fairy Forest (¥720)

Mushrooms and vegetables that were (probably) grown within the Fairy Forest, grilled in foil.

TWT: Mushrooms of the Fairy Forest are mushrooms and vegetables that were (probably) grown within the Fairy Forest, grilled in foil. The paprika represents Nozomi’s costume.

Ashura-kai Specialty Evil Pizza (¥950)

Hallelujah too eats with his Bro every day! Pizza with naan, an Ashura-kai specialty.

TWT: Ashura-kai Specialty Evil Pizza. It’s a teriyaki-flavored pizza. The word “evil” is edible, too. It’s hearty and tastes great, so do try it with everyone!

Gaston’s Long Skewer Platter (¥780)

A platter of skewers, inspired by the long spear held by Gaston.

TWT: Gaston’s Long Skewer Platter. A platter of long skewers with a good balance of meat, shrimp, and veggies, inspired by the long spear held by Gaston. Double-dipping is not allowed.

Flynn À La Mode (¥580)

Savior Flynn, who everyone is relying on, is now everyone’s favorite dessert.

TWT: Flynn À La Mode. Flynn, the savior everyone is relying on, has become everyone’s favorite dessert (*no pun intended).¹

Father’s Fisherman’s Meal (¥950)

A laid-back seafood bowl made (?) with fish caught by Walter’s father. And the colors are splendid!

TWT: Introducing Father’s Fisherman’s Meal. A seafood bowl made (?) with fish caught by Walter’s father. This is not an insult to Walter, by any means.

Jonathan’s Grilled Beef Tongue (¥980)

Luxurious grilled beef tongue. Served with a white mayonnaise sauce and shredded shiraga negi!

TWT: Jonathan’s Grilled Beef Tongue. No pun intended,² by any means. By the way, Jonathan’s dish was inspired by the color white, to pair with the black of Walter’s dish.

Dagda’s Large Fried Rice (¥1280)

A large serving of fried rice worthy of the name of the God of Fertility. Black like Dagda, the black sesame seeds are great for anti-aging… and for returning from the underworld thrice as fast?! By the way, this serves roughly 2~3 people.

TWT: Dagda’s Large Fried Rice. A large serving (for two) as suitable for a God of Fertility. Return from the underworld thrice as fast with black sesame seeds (also inspired by the color of Dagda), great for anti-aging!

DRINKS:

Something Green (¥630)

A cocktail made of something green and translucent. A non-alcoholic version is also available.

TWT: Something Green. Please mix in something green that has sunken to the bottom. The Navarre on top will fall apart, but it’s edible, so please drink Navarre on up.

Assassin's Drink (¥630)

A cocktail inspired by the black outfit and blood red Toki is clad in. The alcohol content is a bit strong, but the chocolate syrup’s sweetness reveals Toki’s true face… Maybe?

TWT: Assassin’s Drink. Please note the alcohol is strong. However, there is a sweet chocolate syrup at the bottom (Inspired by her true face beneath the mask…?). Mix well and enjoy.

Never-Give-Up Beam (¥630)

An orange-flavored cocktail, inspired by Isabeau’s strong will to never give up. This can also be made non-alcoholic.

TWT: Never-Give-Up Beam. A cocktail inspired Isabeau’s strong will to never give up. Delicious with or without alcohol!

TL Notes:

The pun involves Flynn's Japanese name. Furin sounds like purin. Hence furin a la mode.

Mika (translator) and I debated what the pun in Jonathan's meal was. We deduced that it likely was Yonatan and Gyu tan-yaki.

#smt iv apocalypse #smtiva #smt4a #smtivf #megaten #translations

[sneezemonster15]

Hey, thank you so much for answering my previous ask. I love reading your blog and what you have to say. Also I forgot to mention the person who thinks Sasuke fucked Karin also talked about what you said on your blog with someone else, https://dushman-e-jaan.tumblr.com/post/663748673413464064/i-saw-a-post-where-anyone-who-says-that-sasuke-and I'm pretty sure that's your post bc I read it. They're basically making fun of the whole thing and again slapping the "brothers" label onto practically everything you said 😭 What are your thoughts on this?

Hello.

Woah, yeah, that is my post. I wrote it a long time ago, I had no clue that they got this triggered by it, that they went through it line by line, as a response to me, replying to every statement I made in second person and didn’t even tag me. If it weren’t for your ask, I would never have found out about it. Well, I am going to take it as a compliment, whether they like it or not. Lol. 

I don’t generally write my content to defend my takes, I give all the reasoning and cite evidence within my posts, and if someone has a problem with it, I generally reply to them in the comment box. But since this aforementioned post seems like it has gone some way into the anti SNS fandom, and because I wasn’t even aware of it, I will address some of these issues. 

Okay. Gear up, this is going to be long.

First things first. They are offended because they don’t agree with my statement :

“Well, at least you are being consistent. Because people who think Sasuke and Naruto are brothers are the same people who think Sakura and Hinata are feminist role models.”  

And they want to make it clear that there are other fans who don’t think highly of Sakura and Hinata, but still consider Sasuke and Naruto brothers. Well, I will give them that. I am aware there are additional fans who consider them brothers, CASE IN POINT. My bad. 

Honestly, there’s a lot of stuff here, that just doesn’t require my response. Like my mention of Tarkovsky. It was used as a figure of speech by which I wanted to say that decoding Sasuke and Naruto’s romance wasn’t rocket science, it’s a straight statement, I don’t know why they gotta twist it. I think the mention of Tarkovsky threw them off, because they feel that only they have the authority to talk about more brainy things. Lol. So I am going to sidestep all the fountains of their insecurities and come to the point. 

Okay so, they insist that Sasuke and Naruto are spiritual brothers, mainly because their chakras are reincarnation of Indra and Ashura’s chakras who happen to be biological brothers. And they take great offence to my statement that people who think of them as brothers are heteronormative and homophobic. I will come to that part later, I will address the reincarnation part first. 

I honestly thought we were past this non-sensical and juvenile non-argument of them being brothers for the aforementioned reason. These antis use such big words and cite academic papers and articles and then, flip right over to say something so counterintuitive and irrational, without even considering any alternative understanding, it hardly seems like an argument and more like intellectual masturbation. Which it is. 

Okay. This is their argument to support their stance. 

“However, this story includes chakra, Indra, Ashura and is very much tied to spirituality. Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism deal with that. Kishimoto took his inspiration from there.Hindu scriptures exhort spiritual people to lead exemplary lives, control their sexual desires and abstain from sex, just as they are expected to control all desires and practice renunciation and detachment with their minds absorbed in the contemplation of God or the Self.” 

And it doesn’t stop there, this rambling goes on and on and on…phew. I appreciate the amount of effort they have seemed to put in their arguments. Sadly, it's all as misguided as it can be, lol. 

While I agree that one can see the myriad influences of various philosophical schools of thought and spiritual belief systems in Kishimoto’s work, NONE of it proves their brother argument. Why? Because it’s all out of context. I see this a lot, the pitfalls and trappings of sticking to one’s projection in one’s favourite piece of art/literature and bending text and context to their will, with citations, whether it’s relevant or not. 

Such mental gymnastics, lol. I have seen this kind of response by student film theorists when they analyse Ozu's films. Oh why did he put that vase in the centre of the frame, what did he want to say by showing that vase? Did he mean to depict loneliness or does it indicate the effects of capitalism and consumerism in an insular, collectivist, traditional Japanese society of the times, or is it about the soul that is trapped in the material prison of flesh etc etc etc. Over analyzation. Which they apparently have accused me of, hahaha. 

Unfortunately, that’s not how storytelling works. And it definitely doesn’t work in Naruto’s case. They would do well to remember that writers are not out to con you. Any writer worth his salt uses a combination of narrative tools to tell his story. Sad thing is most fans in this fandom just don’t understand how stories are written, the specific tools that a writer uses and the narrative devices that guide and lend a certain flow and approach to the story. Kishi is just like any other writer, in that context. So when he wants to give a certain narrative or visual information to the audience, he will use these common tools to drive his point home. For example, foreshadowing. What is foreshadowing? 

Sourced from Wikipedia : 

“Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events. A writer may implement foreshadowing in many different ways.”

And do we see this foreshadowing in Kishi’s plot? You bet, :).

And this is Chapter 3. Lol.

If Kishi wanted to depict Naruto and Sasuke as brothers, he would not have made them kiss. Even if accidentally. This scene, right at the start of the manga, indicates the very romantic nature of their relationship. I wonder why these stans don’t find it suspicious that even though this kiss is supposed to be accidental, both Naruto and Sasuke think of this kiss as a precious memory, not as a joke, but something significant, something that contributed to develop their dynamic in the manga. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of films in my life, but I have never seen anywhere where two likely brothers were made to kiss like this, for the sake of developing their dynamic. Only in romantic relationships. 

Let me state it out in as clear words as possible. - In a macro sense, the overarching narrative of this manga includes a clear intention by the author to push the characters of Naruto and Sasuke to give an appropriate name to their relationship, continuously harping on defining and redefining their relationship with plot points strategically appointed to affect their dynamic that further propels the central narrative of the story.

Simply put, Kishi forcefully insists on weaving this story in a way that forces the protagonist to think and rethink the meaning of what he feels for Sasuke, as instigated by Sasuke himself, who every time they meet, insists Naruto answer his question as to why Narutio is so hell bent upon following him, why does he care so much so that he is ready to leave his training and the people he loves behind, just to bring Sasuke back. And everytime Naruto even breathes the word ‘friends’ or ‘brothers’, Sasuke’s either annoyed or surprised or displeased, never satisfied, never convinced. The satisfaction comes at the end of the manga, in chapter 698, when Naruto finally gives some explanation as to what he means by it. Shippuden didn’t end with the war arc, it ended with Sasuke and Naruto’s reconciliation. It didn’t end on the note of an ideological conflict and its eventual resolution, it ended on the note where Sasuke asked Naruto :  But what does being friends mean to you?

And Naruto said with a clear sense that he understands what Sasuke is asking of him and so after thinking for a very pregnant pause, says : Even if you were to ask me that, I don’t think I would have an answer. But when I see you carrying your burden, it hurts me, so much so that I just can’t take it. 

You really don’t need a PhD to see the nuanced significance of this text.

Point is, this going back and forth trying to define their relationship is not an isolated incident, it basically makes the backbone of the story. Which is why the aforementioned dialogues make sense, as they form the conclusion of this story.  If they were brothers, why would this element exist?

Everything in the story serves to contribute to the central narrative and for the sake of character development of its main players. 

That Kishi saw a need to even discuss why they were not friends, and that they were not brothers, but that Naruto feels immense hurt at seeing Sasuke hurt, is indicative enough that Kishi was definitely not trying to portray them as brothers. That these stans consider them brothers, when this art made by Kishimoto himself exists, is proof enough that they are highly indulgent of their self projections.

They are so motivated, for their own projections, to ignore the nuanced characterization of Naruto’s closeted gay self, or Sasuke’s oft pointed disinterest in women, that their understanding comes off as extremely lacking.

Ask yourself, why would Kishi even write these nuances in the way of visual imagery and strategic scenes where Naruto is made to react so strongly to even mild and unintentioned homoerotic moments? Why would Naruto be written to overcompensate to cover these moments up with something distinctly heterosexual? Why would Kishi even put so much effort in writing these characters this way if Kishi only wanted to portray them as brothers? What would even be the point of it?

Every single chapter goes through multilayered scrutiny by editors after it’s written, which means anything that is unnecessary or extraneous to the narrative is taken out. It’s supposed to be concise, and yet have the desired effect on the readers. Why keep those texts or panels that don’t serve the story? Instead, why do these elements serve to develop the characters? They obviously mean something, don't they? They are there for a reason, and anyone who has seen the portrayal of homosexuality in media will instantly recognise it. Those who haven’t can at least wonder why and venture to find out instead of giving their relationship names that are incongruent with their actual dynamic. 

No other brotherly dynamic in the manga itself is even close to Naruto and Sasuke’s. Honestly, I have seen so much Japanese media outside of manga and anime in the last year, and I didn't see two men or boys depicted as brothers who make kissy faces at each other, or stand side by side looking like they are giving each other hand jobs and orgasming, or where one man’s mouth is deliberately drawn over another man’s crotch. To say that this indicates they were depicted as brothers, is not only counterintuitive, but downright ridiculous and plain stupid. It’s some real heavy duty denial. 

If Kishimoto meant for them to be brothers because their chakras were reincarnation of Ashura and Indra, he would have made some character say it out loud in some context. Like I said, writers are not out there to con you. They will make sure that their intent is clearly shown to the audience, through text, subtext and visual language. And everything about Naruto and Sasuke, everything that contributes to their dynamic, whether it be dialogues, orchestrated situations, plot points, visual imagery, some of which exudes sexual tension, in no way indicates a platonic relationship. Those who have the presence of mind to pick it, will pick it, those who don’t would spout non-sense like our antis here. Lol.

Kishimoto knows how to use foreshadowing. Case in point.

He gives us an advance hint of what’s to come, and the narrative takes its twists and turns, being developed with this thread in mind, and then the arc ends with a conclusion of the underlying idea foreshadowed earlier with the hint. NONE of this is accidental. It’s all part of writing, it’s a literary tool, a narrative device. Hell, it isn’t a coincidence that Kishimoto keeps repeating this element over and over and over again, where Naruto goes through a whole range of situations and emotional upheavals in order to understand his feelings for Sasuke. First, he wonders if Sasuke is like a brother, or a friend, or more. Kishi can’t say it explicitly, but honestly, he doesn’t need to. These antis look for all sorts of reasoning and proof OUTSIDE the manga. If they were a little more honest with themselves, they would see that one really doesn’t need to do that, all the pertinent information that one needs to decode the nature of their relationship is inside the manga, in panels, visual imagery, dialogues, narrative development and notes.

Like I always say : First rule of deduction : Work with what you have. Facts, use what’s is available to you in the source material. 

It is absolutely valid to look for outside source if you see a solid and legitimate reason to, which is congruent with the source material, like in the case of Chikamatsu. It’s already established clearly that Kishimoto is his fan, he has put a lot of effort to pay tribute to him in his own manga, he makes sure that this element is clearly present in the context and text, and the editors have talked about it in the notes. And ALL of that makes it a legit link, for one to connect it with Shinjuu. 

The antis talk of irrelevant sources such as Jainism and Hinduism and whatnot, lol, it honestly looks like a super desperate attempt to twist and deform and bend the narrative to their interpretation where they conveniently ignore all the relevant panels where Naruto clearly says that him and Sasuke aren’t really brothers to Hagoromo, where Sasuke makes it a point to say to Sai that he only has one brother, clearly implying that he doesn’t consider Naruto a brother. All these extra interpretations that antis force upon the narrative is a result of their own projection. It's as simple as that.

If Sasuke was satisfied with the explanation that they were brothers, why would he keep asking Naruto the same question again and again? Doesn’t that indicate that he isn’t satisfied with Naruto’s understanding of it? And he is only convinced of it at the very end, when Naruto is bleeding out, about to die, when he finally, with much visible reticence, admits that he doesn’t know how to explain it?

Think about it, if they were just brothers, why would there be this hesitation? Being brothers is not a controversial thing, it’s not a taboo thing, it’s not abnormal, opposite in fact, given how much the characters of this story are shaped by their familial bonds. Instead of thinking of the most obvious things, these antis round up obscure and entirely irrelevant articles to sound smart and intellectual, as if that’s gonna make a difference. How is this extraneous intellectual regurgitation gonna help your case if your basic premise is wrong? That’s not how dialectics work. Lol. 

Then they said this.:  “(Considering Ino to be a closeted queer who only went for Sasuke to gain Sakura’s affections would be another one of these hilarious mishaps.)”

I honestly don’t know who they are referring to, because I have never said or implied anything even close to it. Maybe they are just assuming things. It’s not the only time they assume things. They also think I am some Western Man with my capitalistic and consumerist takes on Naruto. hahahaha. 

Damn, I can't help but notice that whenever someone disagrees with them, they instantly label them as Western. Well, they are wrong on both counts, because neither am I western, nor a man. In fact, my socio-cultural understanding of the world is pretty close to Japan’s. I would also like to mention that my community practises the same religion that happens to be the official religion of Japan. But of course, I have never needed to flex on that, because it’s just not needed. The information that I got from the manga itself, plus my own experience of media is enough for me to make my points. I am able to qualify my content with the evidence found INSIDE the manga, and if I see clearly delineated references to outside material in it, I point them out. Like I have done here. 

Honestly, it’s as simple as that. No need to twist your head at a 180 degrees to prove your point, if you are trying that hard, it becomes clear you have no legit leg to stand on and you are making shit up, just to validate your headcanon.

Don’t act against intuition, don’t act against text and visual language, don’t act against what is both explicitly and implicitly given in the manga because that is the opposite of examining something objectively. But well, people do worse to keep sticking to their denial.

Anyway, this foreshadowing can be seen in the first arc, where the central theme is ‘protecting one’s precious person’ and how one can unlock special hidden strengths when one is motivated to protect the person most dear to them. This element is foreshadowed in the relationship between Zabuza and Haku and through twists and turns, is finally concluded at the end of the arc, where Sasuke almost dies to protect Naruto and both unlock special powers for each other. Not rocket science. Kishi is a generous author that way, he wants this reader to know what he is saying and what he means by it, and so he will supply enough textual and visual information to make sense of the overarching story and themes. To simply ignore that for one’s head canons is a gross injustice to the story and the artist. If you have to ignore what he is saying explicitly or drawing explicitly, why even bother to engage with this manga? lol. What a waste.

It is not a complicated thing at all, in fact, it would have become a lot easier for Kishimoto to write this story if he could just have explicitly written them as brothers, a lot of effort would have been spared, no? And it would have all been believable, because it makes total sense that Naruto would want to save and protect his brother. The story would not change at all. Then why the hammer like insistence on having this whole brother or friend or comrade dialectic? Why? You know why? 

Because they are NOT brothers. 

Next, they said this : The problem with a lot of western readers is that they discard any and all relationships, familial and platonic, in favor of their romantic obsessions and delusions of “freedom” in a capitalistic society,................... ... the widespread consumption of amorous rituals constitutes the core of contemporary romantic love, reinvigorating capitalism and lovers alike.” 

And this goes on and on….I am not going to put the entire thing here, it’s basically unnecessary blathering and intellectual masturbation. 

Snickers, Delusions of freedom in a capitalistic society. Bwahaha. Where is this even coming from? Entirely irrelevant. Reminds me of my younger self when I would deliberately attach esoteric sounding citations to my papers to impress the professor and would still get a B. Lol.

I have written enough on the subject of the importance of familial bonds which shape the characters in this manga, so they are definitely wrong on that count. But well, they think they are the authority on Japanese media, what can I say? Sidestepping what’s actually in the manga and supplementing your argument with entirely disproportionate and irrelevant pointers only indicates that they are floundering. When you have no legit foundation for your argument, this happens. Lmao. I am no stranger to it, thankfully I got over it in my teens.

Then they claimed this : (Remember, Kishimoto comes from a very small village and is from a different generation altogether; so the odds of him penning anything even close to the “sexual categorizations” of the post-modern western sexual-domains are less than the second coming of Christ.)

Hahahahahaaha, I know you can’t tell, but I am literally wheezing here. 

These stans literally talk like Kishimoto is a hundred year old man. Like…the lack of reason and logic in this statement is so apparent, I am surprised that they thought it would be worthwhile to make this comment. Lol. Sexual categorizations of the post-modern western sexual-domains??? What crap!!! Hahahah. Just say you are a straight homophobic woman who wants Sasuke’s dick and go! 

So what if Kishi comes from a small village and a different generation? Does that mean he doesn’t know what homosexuality means? He doesn’t know sexual categorizations of the post-modern western sexual domains? What a bunch of hooey, lol. These stans talk of homosexuality like it’s some kind of western propaganda. Go ahead, tell me it’s not homophobic, heh. PoSt mODerN WEsteRn SexUal DomaiNs. Lololol.

Truth is, pre Meiji era, Japan was perhaps the most progressive of all cultures when it came to sexual categorizations. Here, this post is educational. Funny how these stans call SNS western and then do the same thing that most western fans do, who know absolutely nothing about history of sexuality in Japan. Here, they should maybe learn about it before sounding this ignorant, the video is pretty self-explanatory. 

Edo period Japanese culture accepted homosexuality as the purest form of love that could exist between two samurais. Young men were allowed and even encouraged to have young male lovers, and after a certain age, they were expected to get married to women. A lot of men chose not to. And even though it was frowned upon,  it wasn't a punishable offence.

Hell, one doesn’t even have to go there, check out Edo and Meiji period art, you will find lots of peculiar, very creative art with homosexuality as its subject. I would put those pictures here, but it would make this post x-rated, lol. The sexual imagery is off the charts, like Japan’s imagination is mind-boggling, like woah. They might be a small country but the scope of their imagination is huge. With the advent of Meiji era, that changed, as homosexuality became illegal, but this art was still produced underground.  

Hell, a lot of the most celebrated artists in Modern Japan have created art about homosexuality. Film makers such as Nagisa Oshima, Takashi Miike (Shinjuku Triad’s Society, Big Bang Love, Juvenile A), Toshio Matsumoto (A funeral Parade of Roses), Akira Ogata (Boy’s Choir, a film about two orphaned boys who study at the same institution, and eventually fall in love with each other), have made excellent cinema on the subject matter. And these aren’t your run of the mill commercial yaoi creators, these are serious film makers whose films have done their rounds in national and international film festivals, earning awards and accolades from critics and audience alike. 

The film, ‘Funeral Parade of Roses’ is a story about a young, gay, cross dressing boy who is in love with his father, a modern day adaptation of Oedipus Rex, only flipped. And this film was released in the 60’s. A product of the Japanese new wave cinema, it is considered to have influenced Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’. It was considered quite a controversial film for its time in the west. It took over forty years for ‘Hereditary’ fame film maker Ari Aster to make a film on the subject, ‘The strange thing about the Johnsons’ in 2011, and the audience was shocked to their core with it. Japan was doing this shit in the 60’s. Lol. Oshima belonged to a small region in the southern Okayama prefecture called Tamano, founded in the 40’s. So? Kishi also belongs from the Okayama prefecture. What, people from small villages remain ignorant throughout their lives? They can't learn? They can’t be exposed to stuff? 

Oshima was a pioneer of Japanese New Wave cinema, going forward to become one of the most celebrated film makers in the world, with a beautifully distinct voice. He made films on themes of homosexuality, and his stories were inspired by real life events in Japan. He made Gohatto, a Jidaigeki film (which basically translates to Japanese period drama, usually set in the Edo period) which is about Samurais lusting after a bishonen boy, training at the Shinsengumi, organization of Samurais. People of Japan are more than familiar with the tales of Shinsengumi, they grew up with it. He made ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’, which also features homosexual themes, starring David Bowie btw.

Kishimoto wasn’t even born or was of legal age when some of these films were released. Japan was experimenting in the fields of cinema and various subject matters, including unsimulated sex in a legit film.

They think he wouldn’t be aware of these films, Kishimoto who happens to be a film buff himself? Honestly, how insular do these stans think the Japanese are? 

These people talk like the Japanese are some dumb, ignorant group of people, who don’t know shit about what’s going on in the world. Honey, that’s you, not them. Kishi is a well read, well exposed, well rounded writer. 

Like yes, Japan was quite insular at some point of time, but after the second world war, they were forced by the allied nations to open up their borders. And the influence of western elements and themes can be seen in their art. In fact, western influence had already taken roots since Meiji era. The men even had to cut their hair for it. Even kabuki wasn't left alone. And it's not like this is some well kept secret. Kishimoto’s manga is definitely very much Japanese, but it has a cross cultural appeal as well. I don’t think one is doing their due diligence when one simply ignores that factor.

Okay. Let’s talk of Kishimoto’s influences. 

These are a few excerpts from Kishimoto’s interviews, the Western influence is pretty clear. Does this look like some dude who doesn’t know what he is talking about? Does this look like someone who is inert and insular and ignorant?

Look how inspired Kishimoto is by Akira and its mangaka, Katsuhiro Otomo.

For those who don’t know, Akira was the anime that opened up the western markets for Japanese animation and manga. The film was made for the express purpose for Japan to open the western markets for her products, show off their goods to the world, that this is what they can do, and as it turned out, it was better than anything western audiences had ever experienced in terms of animation and storytelling at that point of time.

Cartoons were earlier considered to be for kids, the common perception was that animated media was supposed to be infantile, catering to a certain target audience. Akira changed that perception. The legacy of Akira is humongous. It opened up doors for other animes and mangas such as Dragonball Z, Ghost in the shell, Naruto even. This was the time in late 80’s when Japan was experiencing an overall good economy for the first time in 20th century, their financial shares were soaring. This was the time when corporations had opened up in Japan, and anyone who was ready to become a salary man could take advantage of the financial benefits resulting in significant disposable incomes. So people had more to spend on entertainment, and so production companies were chasing talented mangakas left and right to adapt their work into anime. Japan was so committed to this great enterprise of Akira, they formed a committee to finance the very high budget that a commensurate and successful rendering of the manga’s adaptation would require. The committee consisted of Kodansha, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Bandai, Hakuhodo, Toho, LaserDisc Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation (if you can’t tell, these are big, huge corporations) who all forwarded money and promotion towards the film, and appointed the mangaka himself to direct the film, because who else would be able to tell this story better when so much was at stake?

Otomo worked his ass off, drawing hundreds of storyboards to condense the 120 chapter long manga into one film. And he did it, and what a film it is. Like wow, I was blown away. Akira, being a cyberpunk manga, also has that cross cultural appeal, even though its major themes are still very much Japanese, but if you look closely, this film tells a story the entire world can benefit from.

Kishimoto is inspired by American film makers such as Michael Bay, Quentin Tarantino. He talks of Takeshi Kitano, lovingly known in Japan as Beat Takeshi, a very popular figure in the west, who also was a regular in Oshima’s films, having played major roles in his gay films. These stans think Kishimoto, a cinephile himself, isn’t aware of these films? Bullshit. Lol. A lot of mangakas want their work to be recognized by the entire world, especially in the west. It speaks of their global success, why would they want to just keep to their native audience? 

Truth is, otaku culture evolved in a very specific way. The second world war, especially after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed, drastically affected the ethical and emotional landscape of the collective Japanese psyche. While the reverberations could be seen in their media, unfortunately, it wasn’t in the mainstream media where these effects were manifested, rather it was in alternative media, in the subcultural genres. You don’t have to take my word for it.

Takashi Murakami, a product of Otaku culture himself, talks about this, someone that Kishimoto himself has paid a significant tribute to in his manga (Deidara’s aesthetic is super flat, which is basically a socio-politico-cultural art movement pioneered by Murakami). And I saw for myself what he was talking about. Japan is a collectivist society, there isn’t much freedom for individual expression. Japanese emperor Hirohito, who is directly held to be responsible for the Japanese contribution to second Sino-Japanese war and the second world war by many historians, was considered to be a God by the Japanese, literally. Like Kim Jong Un style. No one questioned him. But after Japan’s role in the war as the predator and subsequently a victim, it broke the Japanese in a major way. Turned them humble, repentant. This collective grief and shock and widespread devastation brought the people together, they forgot their differences for the moment, to somehow pick up the pieces and go on living their lives, with gratitude for what they had. But yes, it’s not as explicit in their mainstream media as others. I mean the amount and variety of films based on the second world war that I have seen in European and American cinema, like damn. Japanese cinema on the other hand? Pretty tame in that regard.

Takahata made ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ on this subject, a heart rending and deeply disturbing story about two orphaned siblings living during the war, is considered as one of the most effective anti war films ever made in the history of cinema, as said by Roger Ebert, the man himself. Anyone who has seen the film will know it is an anti war film. But when Takahata was interviewed about it, he denied it. He said he didn’t make an anti war film, he wouldn’t even talk about it and later, stopped giving interviews about it altogether. Never underestimate the censorship of the Japanese administration. Oshima, a staunch modernist himself, a huge critic of Akira Kurosawa’s old world values and humanism, equally critical of the right wing and extreme left wing politics of Japan, made heavily political films, broke up with the studio system that launched his career, because of how left leaning, political and individualistic his voice was. His films were often banned or taken off screens, he was subjected to numerous court cases. But he persevered and even a stroke couldn’t stop him. But that’s Oshima. Oshimas are a rare breed. 

So what couldn’t be seen in the mainstream media, you saw them in alternate or subaltern media. Akira is a direct testimonial to this. Akira is a story about a bunch of orphaned kids living in a dystopian world, that has been devastated by a bomb blast, past which Tokyo, now Neo Tokyo, is submerged in corruption and civil wars. The administration uses children as weapons to protect their own borders, but is eventually destroyed by these same children, when they couldn’t handle their powers. The reverberations of the post war atrocities can be viscerally felt in the themes of this manga, prompting a myriad of ethical implications and queries, questioning one’s understanding of a nation, of responsibility towards one’s people, love, hate, revenge borne of that hate, power, megalomania, philosophical implications of technology and the destruction borne of it, conflicts between different ideologies and so on and so forth but it’s resolve is quite familiar.

The resolve is about love, redemption, atonement and peace. That wars happen because there is love and hence there is hate, it's the people that make wars happen and it’s the people that pick up the pieces and go on living. That one can be hopeful even in adversities. No one is singularly condemned, no one is singularly held to blame even though it’s not difficult to see that things could have been handled better. But it’s not as black and white as that. It’s complex. World is complex.

But what we do see is that Tetsuo, an orphan who lives on the streets, who loses himself in the quest for power, fuelled by his need to be acknowledged, finally gives up on destroying everything when his lover Kaori dies protecting him, and at the urges of his best friend Kaneda, Tetsuo finally sees light, for the sake of his love for Kaori and Kaneda, and so he repents before dying. That all his passions come to nought when he loses the one thing he held dear to him, love for his friend and girlfriend, the only people that made him feel like he mattered. 

Similar themes can be seen in another manga Kishi is influenced by. Ruruoni Kenshin, basically a romance manga in shounen, written by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Battosai, the political assassin, falls in love with Tomoe, a spy, basically two people from opposing ideologies. Tomoe sacrifices herself for Battosai, even after Battosai has discovered her true identity. The manga  is structured with themes of ideological conflicts of love, revenge, love for one’s nation and adherence to one’s philosophy/belief systems, as it's set in the time period of transition between the Edo and Meiji era, but the resolution is similar. That love trumps all, that true love is greater than all the constructs made by humans. 

Is there any wonder we see similar themes in Naruto? Kishi uses similar effects and themes for his world building in Naruto and Shippuden. A dystopian society where children are barbarically used as weapons, where gross injustices happen, but people go on living. This world imagined by Kishimoto is a reflection of the real world, richly dramatised with similar themes of love and conflicts and ideological differences and war and devastation and revenge and human ethos and peace and atonement. Similar resolve? I would say so.

And I won’t even dismiss that Sasuke’s character is definitely left leaning. Sasuke is partially based on Sasuke by Sanpei Shirato, a popularly known leftist voice in the manga industry. It’s pretty clear for anyone with half a brain to see that Sasuke is anti-establishment, and for good reasons too. The collectivist, utilitarian, highly corrupt system of the shinobi world leads to utter devastation and genocide of his entire clan overnight directly under the noses of the citizens and leaders of Konoha, and whose body parts are then commodified in the name of protection of the same nation that was built around the philosophy of ‘Will of Fire’, which was supposed to protect them but instead who slaughtered them in their sleep.

Sasuke’s interests and need for justice stands in sharp contrast with the ways of the shinobi world, and where no one could understand him, Naruto finally does. He is the only one who tries. He is the only one who is capable, who is made to be capable by the way of the narrative where Kishimoto develops his character accordingly. Naruto is naive and simple minded to start with, but he is written to learn and evolve and understand different points of view. To learn from people’s tragedies and losses and grief and motivations. He is exposed to the way of this world through anti hero archetypes such as Nagato and Obito and Zabuza, where after Naruto, through his own inherent moral and humanistic code, begins to understand a world that is founded on love turned hate, which further paves the way for revenge, but is determined to put a stop to it. By proving his love for Sasuke, and Sasuke accepts his love. Sure, had it not been for Sasuke, he would have let it continue or have simply died with Sasuke before he could witness a better world.  But my point is, similar resolve : Love trumps all, peace, redemption and atonement. 

This is not to say that I approve of the ending, I do not. I hate it. Firstly, if the theme of Naruto and Shippuden was already established and concluded as 'love trumps all else including the socio politico cultural structures and institutions made by humans ', then why the hell were they made to marry women when they are clearly gay? And secondly but equally importantly, Sasuke should have gotten his dues, he deserved it, so did Neji and Naruto. The truth of the Uchiha massacre should have been revealed, and Konoha should have taken accountability and repented, these are after all, some major themes in the manga. Kishi broke all sorts of storytelling rules at the end and I am mad as hell at him for that. But unfortunately, I didn’t write this story and couldn’t have had if I tried. Doesn’t mean I will look for things in it that aren’t there. Kishimoto is not a communist or a right winger. He is Japanese. Both extremist interpretations of manga are misguided. Tobirama was a bigot that plotted against the Uchihas, Hiruzen was a complacent failure of a leader who let things happen in his regime that by no means indicates good leadership, Uchiha clan was discriminated against. But Kishi could not have made Sasuke reach his goals, not if Naruto, the protagonist, was supposed to be of any consequence, which essentially makes Naruto hold a moderate position. I also don’t like the fact that the ending and consequently Boruto, diluted Sasuke’s belief systems and very justified goals, I wish they could have modified it to a conclusive ending where him and Naruto could have worked towards changing the status quo, but I don’t think it would have materialised, Shonen Jump is strict about these things, namely pedagogic values appropriate for a certain target group. 

The conflicting ideologies definitely serve to make this manga drama and intrigue rich, but let’s not go overboard and look for things that aren’t there, which is what these stans seem to do. There’s no use in chasing shadows. 

Then they said this : “He (Miura) actually does talk a little about the sexual tensions between Guts and Griffith! Must’ve been one of the parts I was having a hard time putting into decent English. Basically Miura says that he doesn’t really agree with how people read sexual tensions into the Guts-Griffith relation, because men can have passionate feelings about each other without it being like that……..Yet none of this is meant to be “romantic love”. There’s passion here, intensity, obsession, but it isn’t sexual. ”

Truth is whether it be western or Asian media, the concept of misinterpreting homosexuality as brotherhood is quite well explored in global media. Don’t believe me? Here. All facts, no frills. 

One doesn’t even have to go very far, just look at Clamp, and you would be lucky if you were able to find more than five heterosexual characters in their entire range of mangas, lol. And honestly, their example of Berserk actually works in my favor and not theirs? GriffGuts is a valid gay ship. But of course, if they can reject SNS, it’s likely they would reject GriffGuts. Kishimoto and Miura, no matter what they say in their interviews, why is that more important than the story itself? Not like Kishimoto sounds all that confident in his interviews either, when he talks of them being more brothers than blood brothers.

I have not looked very deeply into Berserk, so I would like to invite veteran blogger @maoam to shed some light, one of the very few bloggers that I find with one of the most balanced and informed takes on Naruto and other relevant mangas.

Going ahead, let’s see what Miura says of boys.

Really Miura? Now what is this 'tingling' feeling?

What does this remind me of?

Lol. Now this isn’t the most accurate translation. This is the accurate translation, I am not sure of the source, I got this screengrab a long time ago, but I know for a fact it is legit.

Btw, the 'kyun' sound effect used here is used in Hentai to denote sexual arousal, lol.

Tell me what kind of brothers feel these feelings for each other? I have seen numerous Japanese films whether it be family dramas, Jidaigeki films, Japanese LGBTQ+ films, and I have never seen brothers behaving with each other like this once. Not once. What spiritual brothers? Lol. Why go against reason, intuition, narrative, visual imagery and cultural context to prove something using irrelevant sources? 

Like I thought we were past this Brother argument, it’s the 21st century, there are more discussions on homosexuality, the subject of homosexuality has gained more exposure and a lot of talented and individualistic creators have explored this subject. So why is Naruto fandom this backward and narrow minded??

I find it hard to believe that despite Kishi’s subtle but not really, and repetitious ministrations on the issues surrounding a stigmatized subject such as homosexuality, is that invisible. All you need is an open minded approach, that is all. You do that and the manga will unfurl itself so you will be able to see things that you so conveniently ignored before to satisfy your headcanons. Is it that unfair of a request?

Do these fans think they know everything about everything? They couldn’t have missed something? Something as glaring and apparent as SNS? Before they claim that they are some omniscient, all-knowing being, maybe watch some LGBTQ+ media, and compare notes? Analyse tropes? Give themselves some credit, that they have done their due diligence before spouting things they obviously do not understand? Or is that too much to ask for?

Maybe they have learnt everything in the world that is to be learnt and there’s just no free space in that highly evolved noggin of theirs. 

Maybe we are all just stupid fans who don’t know what we are talking of, even if we give the most objectively valid reasoning and evidence found inside the manga. Maybe they know best, maybe that’s why they think Sasuke slept with Karin, even when he shows no interest in her apart from maybe once or twice protecting her as his teammate, something he also does with ALL his other teammates? And generally, gets really annoyed and uncomfortable with Karin’s over the top sexual proposals, and then doesn’t think twice about getting rid of her when she is used as a bait to have him captured. Hmmm, I see their logic. They must really be the all knowing omniscient being, the Arahat, the wise one, the one who finally achieved Nirvana, proper enlightenment and all huh? Damn I feel so small. (A tear rolls down my downy cheek as my bosom trembles in humiliation). LOL.

Interestingly, the way Miura talks of boys, that they give them a ‘tingling’ feeling, makes me think. Keep in mind, Miura never married, there is no evidence of him having had a girlfriend. But let’s not speculate, even if it sounds fishy. 

Understanding homosexuality in a conservative society is crucial in order to understand the SNS dynamic. There’s no doubt that Kishi wrote Naruto as a closeted homosexual and Sasuke as a homosexual boy. If one denies this, I can’t even take them seriously. 

But it reminds me of an anecdote my gay friend told me. He is a national award winning filmmaker, an intellectual in his own right, and works a lot with the trans community in my country. A conservative, ultra religious, non-western country. As a young man in his twenties, when he had just come out, he would date men who would simply not identify as gay. He would sleep with them, and do what do people sexually attracted to each other do. But sleeping willingly with a man and accepting the gay identity are two different things. Where my friend understood these nuances even then, as having come from a conservative society himself, he would not force them to come out. These men would never even acknowledge that being attracted to men and not women makes them gay, it was not even a part of their understanding. Rather, they would think of it as something that ‘certain’ men do. Doesn’t mean it’s weird or uncommon, even though they knew straight men did not do this. But they would simply not go there. They would just chalk it up to something temporary, something that they needed to do before they got married to women they didn’t feel anything for, because that’s how it’s done. It’s not like they weren’t aware of the gay dialectic, my friend would talk to them about it, but they would simply not acquiesce, the denial was so strong. Till date, these men don’t admit to it, now they are married and have children. But still look for sexual relationships with men outside of it. 

Which brings me to my next anecdote, told to me by another friend of mine. He is a stylist, absolutely flamboyant and openly, proudly gay. Very adventurous and experiment loving. He told me that in his experience, the best carnal fun he had was with Muslim men. And that most men who approached him for sex were Muslim men. (This is not an attack or criticism of the religion or community, it’s just something my friend told me). He would be approached by these men who would have the most voracious of appetites and tastes, and my friend went with it because he preferred to suck circumcised dicks, lol. Quite a lot of them were married, but my friend didn’t discriminate. He told me the same thing, these men would never identify as gay, not even during intimate moments, nope. Accepting your sexual identity is a more than a matter of sex. People in conservative societies face a lot of challenges and obstructions before even coming to certain realizations about themselves, it’s not that easy. In many ways, my country is even more conservative than Japan. Homosexuality is quite a taboo, hell, I didn’t even know the concept myself till I was well into my teens, and even then, I was only told the most stereotypical of things. I also grew up in a small town. It was later, when I went to the city to study, when I came into contact with people from all walks of life, nationalities, tastes, and sexual orientations, that was when I understood them as people, and not categories and labels. And now I have a friend who works as a dominatrix for a living and I still learn a lot. 

I refuse to judge people on the most basic and stereotypical of preconceived notions. 

The reason why I consider these fans to be homophobic…. Honestly, what gives them so much confidence to consider Sasuke and Naruto as brothers despite everything that is in the manga? Everything, from characterisation to plotting to the overarching themes to visual imagery to cultural context to text indicates their very romantic relationship, not platonic. Naruto admires the way Sasuke looks physically more than once and effectively calls him hot in Gaiden, what kind of guy thinks of his brother in those terms? 

These stans are so pressed to label them brothers without even looking at gay media, or gay narratives, without even paying attention to nuances in the manga, or Japanese historical context or their own gay media, appropriating everything for the sake of their projection, dismissing or ignoring loads and loads of text and panels and characterisation, why? Why can’t they at least entertain the idea for once and reread the manga with that approach? You can’t be so sure of your projection, c’mon, you know it’s counterintuitive, it just simply doesn’t gel with what’s in the manga. So why this extended stubborn denial? Give me proof that reincarnated chakras make two people brothers. Where does it say in the manga? Show me. I can show you everything that I claim, it’s all inside the manga. Where’s yours? So just because it satisfies your ego, it’s a valid take? Why are you this sure of your takes? Given you have gotten multiple things wrong? Like objectively wrong. 

Look, I understand denial is a strong factor, when we don’t want to see things we don’t like, our minds act like blinders. It would restrict your vision and make you see only what you want to see. And what a sad way that is to live, what a waste of time. I don’t believe in living that way, not in my media and not in my real life. But this obstinate refusal to accept SNS as romantic, is nothing but one’s desire to not accept Naruto or Sasuke as homosexual because you think it’s icky? Undesirable? Unattractive? Different from shounen norms? And because you want them to be straight so you can self insert? Whatever the reason, as long as you ignore real evidence and real proof, I will see you not only as heteronormative but also homophobic, you don’t gotta be overt, your underlying beliefs reek of prejudice and bias, especially when you haven’t done your due diligence, something that you mandatorily should have done in order to analyse this story. Doesn’t take a PhD degree to see that. 

Like Denis Diderot said - We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us. But we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter. 

My advice to them? Give yourself a break. Give yourself enough credit that you are open minded enough to entertain an alternative understanding, even if just for the moment if nothing else, and see where that takes you. Watch more media, watch gay media, talk to people, listen to their stories, try and understand their point of views, read more, compare notes, learn more. And ask if you don’t know. There’s no shame in admitting you might not know something. Because you obviously don’t. 

I am always of the mind of learning more and more, and I know I have strong opinions, but give me reason and logic and evidence, and you can bet I will listen, and even acquiesce to you, if I find it satisfactory. Because that’s how things should be, if we can’t grow and learn from what life teaches us, what’s the point? We all have a lot to learn, don’t we? 

Anyway, there’s some more shit that they claim which is essentially written in a similar vein, more or less, albeit in the same condescending tone. Lol. 

But I am done for the day, I am tired. So imma stop, this is me. 

#ask #naruto #sasuke #sns #sasunaru #narusasu #naruto analysis #naruto meta #uzumaki naruto #uchiha sasuke

[rantahead]

If you don't mind me asking, could you do a rant on MitsuSumi & KawaSumi/KawaHima.

Like why people ship them (if you know) and all that because, personally, I find all three disgusting, especially KawaHima.

gladly!

(I know this'll be more of bsu and anti-bsa, but it's an important essential of the story)

ok, so I, personally, ship msu and ksu because I find them fun and more of crack ships then actual canon ships. I see why ppl like them, but they are more of crack ships. the only one that's actually sailing is ksu, but that's basically dead since timeskip.

but before I get into those ships, let's begin with the incest KawaHima.

kh is basically bsa, an incest ship. except the only difference is kh doesn't have same blood (bsa is incest because of their dads are reincarnations of Ashura and Indra and their clans are close, almost to the point of bsa being literally cousins). but kh are ADOPTIVE siblings, either way, they're related, not by blood tho.

I don't understand why ppl like it considering they're literally siblings. it's basically like shipping Boruto and Himawari. and not to mention their age difference.

ok, so now msu & ksu! first we'll start with msu because that won't take as long as the ksu rant:

so the first actual reason ppl started shipping them (actual fans) is the anime when Nue arc took place. that's what got me hooked on them.

but bsa fans only ship them to get Sumire and Mitsuki away from Boruto and Sarada because Mitsuki has only shown to be romantic around Sarada and Boruto (he might be gay for Boruto, but if he's straight, he's only ever shown interest in Sarada). and Sumire, well, need I say more? she is the ONLY character to have confirmed feelings for another character, hence why they want them both out of the way, because, other than Kawaki, they're the biggest threats to their ship. and they say Mitsuki is the captain of their ship, yet they're suddenly gonna want to throw him away the second he has any romantic relationship with either. and he actually never called them a "good couple" in the manga a.k.a canon and only in the Academy in the anime. after graduating and being on the same team, NOT ONCE has he said they make a good couple because he KNOWS they don't. hell, he asked Sarada ONCE about her feelings in anime and in manga, but he just wanted to know, not that he thinks they will make a good couple, but he was curious, not shipping them.

and with Kawaki, they ship Sumire with him just so they'll both be out of the way of their ship. yet Eida has feelings for Kawaki so she'll most likely get him and Sumire has feelings for Boruto so she'll most likely get him. Sarada's only option is Mitsuki, but yes, Kawaki is a victim of the disgusting bsa fandom because neither parties (Boruto, Sarada, Mitsuki, Kawaki) have confirmed their feelings for each other.

and they know how cringy their supposed ship is, which is why they try and say Sumire's love is just a crush and Sarada has confirmed her feelings over blushing and she's a tsundere. they even say Sumire only lied to Sarada so she could recognize her feelings, yet that backfired because after that, the only romantic scene they got was Sarada hugging Boruto in timeskip, like, 66 chapters after Sumire supposedly "manipulated Sarada in realizing her feelings for Boruto".

ok, so I gave a basic rundown, but I'll get into detail about it, starting with Sumire's confession:

ok, so here, antis claim that Sumire only manipulated Sarada into realizing her feelings for Boruto (which didn't happen considering the only romantic thing they have in the ENTIRE manga is the hug at the end of TBV chapter 5, the rest of their moments in the manga were cons to the ship). Sumire was GENUINE about HER feelings, not helping Sarada realize hers.

(btw, for bsa to actually happen, Sarada's personality has to take a big 180 for the ship to actually be considered romantic)

because this comes back up AGAIN:

this is when they KNOW she has DEFINITE feelings for him - REAL feelings. not an act, not a manipulation tactic, REAL FEELINGS, TRUE LOVE.

even Katasuke says "though it's so very obivious". meaning her feelings are true and real.

and say she DID manipulate Sarada to realize her feelings (hell will have to freeze over before it's confirmed that she did), her look wasn't jealous, but more of shock because it came out of nowhere, and she looked concern as Team 7 left and she was looking back at Sumire, probably like "oh no, this idiot is gonna get her heartbroken!". she was worried FOR Sumire, not worried ABOUT Sumire. she didn't think of Sumire as a rival, she thought of her as a close friend (she was her first friend and only friend until Chocho showed up) and she was worried that Boruto (being the dense kid he is) will hurt her.

say, just say, that she lied to Sumire about not having feelings for Boruto (as some antis claim), she'll be an even worse friend than Sakura was to Ino when their friendship ended. at least only one was serious about Sasuke (Sakura), Ino only went after him just to piss Sakura off. whereas Sumire's feelings are real and if Sarada has real feelings, all her moments after chapter 19 will be to piss of Sumire, because remember, she NEVER mentioned Sumire's name when she told Sasuke about Omnipotence, and she hugged Boruto IN FRONT of Sumire. that'll just make her look WORSE than she already does.

but Sarada couldn't care less about romantic feelings, let alone for Boruto. as she confirmed with Eida and Mitsuki.

so they need Sumire to be like Ino and move on with a guy like Sai (Mitsuki), hell, even Kawaki!

the only problem is:

"(koi) = Love between lovers(romantic)"

THAT is the kanji written on Sumire's databook and the cover she first appears in. they're both about SUMIRE, not Sarada as ppl claim. because why would it show up in the same cover Sumire does, huh? suspicious. but her databook cover comfirms her feelings are real.

but now they know that her feelings won't go away so they need Mitsuki and Kawaki to come and take her away so any of them won't be in the way.

msu has had NO interactions in the manga, had the Academy & Nue arcs and the one seen in the Kawaki arc where Mitsuki catches her when she falls over after Kawaki kicks her (all in the anime), well, if you exclude all the random classmate talking during other arcs. but overall, those have the romantic scenes and even then, the only romantic scene is that one seen in the Kawaki arc that isn't even that romantic.

ksu however, in the manga, only has Sumire being Kawaki's caretaker and the anime added a few "romantic" ksu moments, then realized, "wait, this isn't what's happening in the manga", and suddenly, it's like they never happened and ksu never even met.

ppl think that Sumire being Kawaki's caretaker will make her fall in love with him, yet HE asked about HER feelings for BORUTO, not him, BORUTO, his brother. both Mitsuki and Kawaki haven't shown any romantic feelings in ANYONE, including Sarada and Boruto. but at least with Boruto and Sumire, there's a spark there (Boruto being a little too much overprotective of her).

Sarada, however, currently, hopping to and from Mitsuki and Kawaki, so it's kinda hard to tell who'd she'll end up with but it'll probably be Mitsuki because Kawaki ruined Boruto's life. with Boruto, there's just that "he's my teammate, gotta keep him save", "my master told me to protect her so I have to."

say msu or ksu do get a lot of attention, you really think Sumire could look at them like she looks at Boruto. Boruto, himself, debunked that she may be a good actress, yet she can't hide her feelings. she can barely hide her feelings from Boruto in front of anyone. I'm honestly surprised Sarada didn't see the confession coming when Sumire started talking about if Boruto was popular with the girls back in Konoha.

but ppl start creating crazy theories that they'll end up together and that Kishi planned it.

but yes, I'm gonna rap this up:

basically, ppl (some) ship them because they're cute, most ship them to get all three out of the way.

#anti borusara #anti bsa #anti kawahima #kawasumi #mitsusumi #pro borusumi #anti borusara fandom #naruto

[lira456]

what itachi could have done?

1.he could have personally talked to hiruzen without other elders interference, also took her father without other clan member's knowledge and secretly arrange a meeting between these two in a neutral place where no shinobi can enter as he was wise like kage and double agent

2.but if situation got dire, kill main coup planners of rebellious faction of the clan including his father and put children and others in genjustsu to make them fear of him by saying he would come back to kill them and destroy the village and also kill danz and many leaf shinobi, bear the burden of both sides hatred and genjutsued them and confessed he was behind 9 tails attacks he killed 4th hokage and he was working for enemy and he killed other uchihas for their eyes now he was align with enemy organization, With that both sides hate him danzo dies and innocent uchihas like izumi and her mother and yashiro's son saved only culprit uchihas like fugaku and yashiro and inabi would die and some random fodder konoha shinobis especially roots.

itachi could have approached these options after shisu's death bc he had 1 year to plan out (itachi shinden) but he totally gave into danzo's manipulation and fell victim to despair and extreme version of will of fire

#anti naruto ending #anti naruto uzumaki #anti konoha #anti shinobi system #anti hashirama #anti naruto #anti hokage #anti ashura #anti hiruzen #anti jiraiya #anti itachi #uchiha sasuke

[bestsonicshowdown]

Round one winners + Round 2 pairings

LEFT SIDE

Metal Sonic vs Silver the hedgehog

Spin & Dash Sonic vs Mecha MK II

IDW Sonic vs Boom Sonic

Modern Sonic vs Blaze the cat

OVA Sonic vs Excalibur Sonic

Classic Sonic vs AOSTH Sonic

RIGHT SIDE

Sonic Wachowski vs SATAM Sonic

Mecha MK 0 vs Shadow the hedgehog

X Sonic vs Super Sonic

Werehog Sonic vs Surge the tenrec

Underground Sonic vs Fleetway Super Sonic

Burning Blaze vs Mr Hedgehog

LOSERS OF ROUND ONE BELOW

Zombot Sonic

Shard the Metal

Mecha MK I

Neo Metal Sonic

Archie Sonic

Sonic.exe

Zonic the zone cop

Super Scourge

Fleetway Sonic

Fleetway(stco) Blaze

Santiago

Ultra Sonic

Disney+ Ugly Sonic

CyberCorrupted Sonic

Sonicman

Prime Sonic

Ashura the Glitch-hog

Paramount Ugly Sonic

Dark Sonic

Scourge the anti-sonic

Darkspine Sonic

Hyper Sonic

Dark Super Sonic

Nicky Parlouzer

#[the best sonic tournament] #round two

[maoam]

narusasu didn't constantly deny being brothers tho, for sasuke it was only once towards sai but then at the end of vote2 he said "now i finally understand what you meant when you wondered if this is what it's like to have a brother" and then for naruto he said they're not real brothers to the sage of the six paths but afterwards he said "this battle between brothers is gonna end here" and when he said "i'm not ashura and sasuke isn't indra either" he meant that they won't go down the same paths as them, he didn't mean they're not brothers.

Lol the moment I open my askbox the anti-sns peeps fly in, with the same repetitive arguments I've talked about more than once.

Sasuke knew what having a brother was like. That's just common sense. He actually lived and experienced having a brother. That's like someone told me I should go through an emotional journey to learn what having a sibling is like despite the fact I have a sibling I care about. Naruto didn't have a brother, so he had no frame of reference, and just suggested MAYBE the feeling is like having a brother. This is also a common trope in gay media. He told Hagoromo "we aren't siblings, but we are great friends". As for Sasuke, he meant he understood the feeling that Naruto was speaking back then, despite it wasn't what Naruto thought back then. Just like I said, he knew what having a brother was like, he didn't need to be "taught" to understand it.

"and when he said "i'm not ashura and sasuke isn't indra either" he meant that they won't go down the same paths as them, he didn't mean they're not brothers" nice headcanon, despite the fact he literally said they are not brothers, to Hagoromo, Kishimoto wrote that. For a reason.

And yes, the sibling rivalry/hate between Indra and Ashura, which wasn't between Naruto and Sasuke, who never hated each other. 💀 They were gonna end something the brothers couldn't do. Because their love for each other was so intense and passionate. Do you even understand how much you twist the story just to make your brothers nonsense work? If you understood how writing works, you'd realize Kishi over and over made Naruto say what he said to stress how they aren't brothers. Oh and Naruto felt sexually aroused towards Sasuke (their hospital fight) and also commented on his attractiveness more than once. Very interesting view Kishimoto has on brothers.

Sasuke was never satisfied when Naruto called him brother, or just friend. I have literally a long post about this too. You could read that or go read your SS fanfics or yandere!Sasuke x female reader fics or whatever you prefer instead of sending me nonsense because you can't deal with 699 chapters of homoeroticism in your favorite manga.

#anon #sns #narusasu #sasunaru

[lifeaintnice100]

Reincarnation

I genuinely can never understand how people can ship Sasunaru and Hashimada like they are literally reincarnations of Indra and Ashura who are brothers meaning that Sasuke and Naruto are brothers who don't share the same blood but are still BROTHERS and the same goes for Hashirama and Madara. People see certain moments between these characters such as checking on how the other person is doing and caring for each other and start shipping them like no offense but people can care for each other even when they have a platonic relation and due to this reason they shit on other characters especially Hinata and Sakura.

#Naruto #Naruto Uzumaki #Sasuke Uchiha #Madara Uchiha #Hashirama Senju #Anti Sasunaru #Anti Hashimada #Sakura Uchiha #Hinata Uzumaki #Its my opinion #English ain't my first language

[zerothejackal]

lets try this again, but more organized

Metallic counterparts

Metal Sonic (OVA+games+IDW)

Neo Metal (games+IDW)

Silver Sonic (games)

Mecha MK I (games)

Mecha MK II (games+IDW)

Shard the Metal Sonic (Archie)

Normal Sonic

Sonic the hedgehog (modern)

Sonic the hedgehog (classic)

Sonic the hedgehog (STC)

Sonic the hedgehog (boom)

Sonic the hedgehog (archie)

Sonic the hedgehog (AoSTH)

Sonic the hedgehog (SatAM)

Sonic the hedgehog (Underground)

Sonic the hedgehog (sonic X)

Sonic the hedgehog (OVA)

Sonic the hedgehog (Dash & Spin manga)

Sonic Wachowski (paramount)

Nicky the hedgehog (shogakukan manga)

Sonic.exe (official sonic tumblr)

Zonic the Zonecop (archie)

Scourge the anti-Sonic (archie)

Zone Cop Jail Werehog (archie)

Ugly Sonic (paramount)

Ugly Sonic (Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers)

Blaze the cat (games+IDW)

[no idea how she is in archie, pspsps fleetwood help me out you have read archie]

Blaze the cat (stco)

Sonic-Adjacent characters

Neutral/Run Chao

Sonic Man

Silver the hedgehog

Shadow the hedgehog

Surge the tenrec

Ashura the glitch

Super forms or different forms

Super Sonic (games+IDW+archie)

Super Sonic (stc)

Super Scourge (archie)

Dark Sonic (sonic x)

Dark Super Sonic (sonic x)

Zombot Sonic (IDW)

The Werehog (archie+games+IDW)

Darkspine Sonic (games)

Excalibur Sonic (games)

Ultra Sonic (archie)

Hyper Sonic (games)

Burning blaze (games+IDW)

[again, is she in archie, does she go burning, is burning blaze in stco?]

Cybercorruption Sonic [listen he counts okay?]

#[the jackal tries to make a sonic showdown] #gonna remove the other shadows cause theyd be better for an ALL shadows showdown

[beevean]

Literally everything about Surge from her looks to her personality gives me flashbacks to the early 2000's DeviantArt

Maybe because she's the reincarnation of peak edgy 2000s DeviantART OC :V

Actually, you know what? Scourge's design is dumb, except for the jacket which I kinda like, but Surge's design is on another level because they just loaded her with shit, much like an amateur artist would do to make their OC look cooler and stand out amongst the sea of other OCs

Can you honestly tell me that this character, with 4 metal earrings, a hairband with studs, cuffs with studs, metal rings, a torn t-shirt, poofy pants, and shoes with wings and studs on them, belongs in the same universe as this?

(also Scourge's shade of green is so much nicer come at me)

Fonseca took inspiration for Surge's design from the [Ashura] glitch, Japanese delinquents, Android 18 from the Dragon Ball franchise, and possibly the prototype version of Blaze the Cat.[5][2][6] Her tall, upright ponytail was inspired by Sango Morimoto's depiction of Amy in the Sonic the Hedgehog manga published by Shogakukan in the Shogaku Ninensei magazine.

Geez, you wanna add something else? (also this proves that the Dark Run/Power chao never entered their minds lol)

As for her personality... I mean, yeah. Both Surge and Scourge are the most basic thing you can do with the concept of "Evil Sonic": a violent, impulsive anarchist who's a jerk to everybody. At least if Surge treated Kit well it would have been different, but noooo she has to bully the kid who can't physically rebel from her because she's so edgy :\ like, Sonic has a bit of a selfish/anti-heroic streak, where's my Evil Sonic with a bit of a goodhearted streak? Why do they have to be 100% assholes?

I am just the teensiest more lenient on Surge because you can make the argument that Starline programmed her this way, and he sure didn't have the highest opinion of Sonic, so the supposed Sonic replacement is a giant obnoxious dickwad with no depth, it makes sense in universe. Doesn't make her particularly likeable or charming still. Sympathetic, yes, I do genuinely feel bad for her backstory, but that's the only thing going on for her. (and if I watched DBZ and knew who Android 17 and 18 were I probably would care less lol)

#sonic the hedgehog #fans don't look #i said i like her spikes #that's the one thing i will praise about her design #forever bitter that they scrapped the blueish/purple palette so early on #even the green/dark green palette was better than that

[sneezemonster15]

When people say that "Naruto and Sasuke are reincarnations of brothers it’s INCEST to ship them together" I facepalm internally. Because in the Naruto Universe, and I’ve re-read the chapters talking about it, reincarnation is just a word used to describe the fact that the chakra of a dead person is being transmitted to another living person. Not the soul, not the memories, just the chakra.

Of course anon. Your feelings about this are justified. Plus, the Indra Ashura thing came way later. Like in the second half of the last arc of this 700 chapter long manga. If Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to be brothers, that dynamic would have been established pretty early on. It's so easy for the antis to ignore that whenever brotherhood is mentioned in the manga with respect to Naruto and Sasuke, even if by Naruto himself, it's always complex and layered. It's never simple or direct. I have never ever seen any media where so much extraneous stuff was written or drawn to establish a brotherly relationship. A brotherly relationship never needs to be defined. It's always pretty direct and emphatically so, even joyously and exuberantly depicted. Not in any media the world over have I seen two men who are so much in two minds about their supposed 'brotherly' relationship. And I have seen and examined a hell lot. Never. Not once. And why would it? It would be so damn counterproductive. A brotherly relationship is never problematic in a heteronormative world. Naruto and Sasuke are gay and in love in a world that is heteronormative and homophobic to a fault. A world that doesn't even accept that homosexuality can exist or can be considered normal, how will it accept any balanced discussion around it? These antis should try holding conversations about homosexuality in a heteronormative society and see how much resistance and criticism and straight up ridicule and dismissal they face.

My sainted father, even though he was much more liberal, intelligent and educated especially as compared to his peers, struggled a lot with understanding homosexuality. He is also a product of his environment and upbringing, growing up in a heteronormative and homophobic world where the word 'gay' itself was a slang, an insult. These things are not so simple to judge. While I was growing up, I used to see depictions of popular gay culture on tv and it was mostly used as devices meant for cheap humor. And my dad would laugh. Like it was meant to affect the audience. And it would trigger me. I was a non conformist from the beginning, I am also a result of my upbringing, my dad is the one who encouraged me to think on my own and not take what people told me for granted. I was a girl from a politically and socially disadvantaged background growing up in a bigoted and patriarchal society, I had enough odds against me and my father had thankfully prepared me for it from when I was three years old. But I was also from a different generation from my father's. So things that he was still oblivious about or things that he hadn't examined critically, he had already given me the basic tools to examine and inspect. We would watch tv and films together and then sometimes, discuss what we saw. But he started to get tired of me soon lol. Because I would argue with him about everything as I started to grow up and learn more and more. I remember once he said that homosexuality was a sick and unnatural propensity and shouldn't be encouraged in a civilized society. I was 15-16. And I took him ON. I might not have even seen an actual gay person in my life till then (or have known they were gay if I had), but I was well read and had seen films about the subject and read articles in magazines etc. And thought about it as much as my inexperienced mind could manage. My take was that it was just wrong to judge people on the basis of whom they chose to love, irrespective of what their sexual orientation was. As long as it was mutually consensual, it was none of anyone's business to poke about. And I gave him the same kind of arguments he would use against those who would judge our community on the basis of where we were born and what our socio political religious status was. That it was a person's basic right to humanity to choose whom they loved, how could he deny that? And he was rendered speechless. He knew he would be deemed a hypocrite if he tried to justify his arguments. He just gave up grudgingly and jokingly told me he had created a monster. Lolol. That was the day and till this day, he hasn't said a word against homosexuality. He still might not entertain it happily but he also doesn't speak negatively about it.

But the difference was, my father is a reasonable man. He will acknowledge logic and reason when he is given it. He will not turn tail or burrow his head in the sand like some sad ignorant ostrich, even though he is from a different generation. He is proud people, but not so egotistical or willingly ignorant that he cannot see facts.

My work takes me to several obscure and underdeveloped, underprivileged communities where I am obliged to talk about issues that carry a lot of taboo. Women's health for example. It's not easy to carry on these conversations in such an environment. And it takes a hell lot of work, for years and years where you even reach a position where you can comfortably talk about these issues that people in developed societies take for granted. I have had people tell me that it's better to underfeed pregnant women for the sake of the child, complementary breastfeeding is not even something they have heard of, or the importance of iron supplements, calcium supplements for older women who perform heavy physical chores day in and day out, the culture of serving the women leftovers of the meal, never men or feeding the men first and the women last, or how the women invariably get the least meaty part of the animal and men get the most meaty parts of an animal in their meals etc etc. It's so normalised, no one questions it, it's unbearably invisibilised because it's part of their culture, it's the norm, it's so engrained in their socio cultural fabric and as a result, their language and extended notions, no one thinks it's abnormal or unusual. These narratives are just there, have been there for centuries and no one wants to find faults with it, everyone in their society is conditioned to follow the same narrative, how can you even question a narrative you don't even know can possibly be wrong? You think the world was designed to be beneficial for women or gay people? Any deviation to the norm or that threatens the existing foundation of this problematic narrative is never encouraged, only discouraged. Communities and groups with shared interests shy away from upsetting the established order, the existing equilibrium. It's quite a natural tendency for humans. Avoid chaos and uncertainty and follow the preexisting notions till the cows come home no matter how counterproductive and harmful they are.

Now replace this issue with homosexuality. How can you question the heteronormative agenda/narrative if you don't see anything wrong with it, how non-inclusive and straight-jacketed it is? How do you even begin to understand that a heteronormative society is harmful and undermines the rights of LGBTQ+ members of its community? Me and my team along with other collaborators have had to develop smart communication strategies to counter these narratives and it takes time, money and a hell lot of drive, effort and commitment. So I know from experience that it is not a simple matter of defining the whole thing in binaries, in black and white terms. It's much more complex than that. It takes a hell lot of effort to single out the underlying problems and prejudices that invariably guide these narratives and focus on them to break these narratives, one prejudiced notion at a time.

And when it comes to sexuality, I can see and feel these complexities in the story of Naruto. There is a proper overarching dialectic where the characters of Naruto and Sasuke go through the whole dilemma of defining this relationship. Sasuke keeps asking Naruto why does he keep getting in his way, being unable to find Naruto's over the top actions and words justified with the names he gives to their relationship. Sasuke gets frustrated, he is displeased, he is dissatisfied. How do the antis explain that away? It's not even an isolated incident, it's there throughfuckingout, a very crucial part of the narrative and their own characterisation. If it weren't important or significant, why would it be there? Why would Kishi so painstakingly put it there? What does this signify? What was his intent? If they were just brothers, why would it even be necessary? What brothers ask each other these questions? Where have these antis seen it? Well, they haven't. Because it doesn't exist. Like I said, it's counterproductive. No intelligent storyteller would do it, it's damn stupid and unnecessary. With all this, Kishi meant to portray that Naruto and Sasuke were NOT brothers, they were never meant to be. What would even be the point of writing Sasuke and Naruto as gay? Why would all the scenes of Naruto's sexuality be so layered? Why would Kishi show Sasuke rejecting women over and over again and not allowing them actions or gestures that he allows Naruto so naturally and willingly and even wantonly? Why would he get so annoyed at women flirting with him but then, act like some flirtatious femme fatale with an oblivious Naruto? And why would Naruto be shown as harping about Sasuke's looks again and again when he would be pointedly shown as not reacting to Sakura's looks or Hinata's looks like a straight dude? Why would both these characters deviate from the typical portrayal of straight dudes in media, very much inspired by real life people, and act as someone who is not interested in the opposite sex? Why? Why would Kishi do all this? To portray them as brothers? Lol.

No.

To portray them as gay, whether closeted or not. In a genre where he cannot depict them as such directly. But he is a damn good writer and he wanted to facilitate their tragic love story no? It all follows the logic and narrative of this story. All of it. I talk about gay coming of age films all the time and I have listed more than twenty of them already and if you watch them, you would understand what I mean, as you would see the same tropes and narrative devices, of which misunderstanding the romantic feeling for brotherhood is one of the most common one. And it again follows the logic of finding a way to talk about something 'abnormal' in a world that celebrates and glorifies normativity, with terms they already know of even if inaccurate, to try and understand their romantic feelings for each other in a world that simply doesn't allow the space or opportunity of assimilating anything outside of the norm. Naruto and Sasuke are kids, they are inexperienced, they are also the products of their upbringing. It's called characterisation given their existing worldbuilding. Is it any surprise that they also struggle talking about it in direct words? Kishi is a much more intelligent and talented writer than fans give him credit for. But what one doesn't understand or even see, how can they even begin to judge it? You need to be intelligent and sensitive to understand something intelligent and sensitive. I have talked about it in more detail here.

But the fact of the matter is, in the conclusive chapter of this manga which happened to be their resolution, Sasuke got really triggered and asked Naruto point blank what he meant by 'friends', after Naruto tried to distract him because he felt uncomfortable answering this very pregnant and significant question, again insisting that Naruto define this relationship. He MUST. It's important for Sasuke. He needs to understand the nature of Naruto's feelings for him and he wants to hear it from him. He has had enough and he needs to know. He won't be dismissed with some incommensurate term such as friends. It simply doesn't gel with the lengths Naruto goes to, to protect Sasuke, to care for him. So he insists. And what does Naruto say? He is still not able to give it a name. But he also doesn't use the same terms he had used before, hence rejecting them. What impression does it give the reader? That he knows they weren't accurate terms to define his feelings for Sasuke. He could have used the term 'brothers' again, but he didn't. We saw Naruto trying to give all sorts of definitions to his feelings for Sasuke but At The End, he didn't use any of them. He left it undefined. He isn't ready to say it, because it's not that easy, because he is closeted, also because it's shounen. But he explained the underlying feelings. There are different ways to saying I love you, not just the one. His was one of them. The zenith of loving someone. Where you feel hurt when the other does. When the pain of your beloved directly makes you pained. Where you are so connected to someone, it's like your souls are connected and you simply cannot bear the other one's pain because their pain is your own. So you care for them, you are entirely devoted to them, you protect them no matter what the sacrifice, even if it's your own life. Because that's love. It's not meant for everyone. But that's how Naruto is. And that's how Sasuke is too. That's why they were fated. And that's why they were the instrumental duo that finally changed a world that all their predecessors, the ones who imbibed Ashura's and Indra's chakras before them, couldn't do. They were different. They were them. The end of the story culminates in their coming of age. To be able to finally understand things they couldn't before. For both Naruto and Sasuke. This is what their respective journeys led them to. Emotional and sexual coming of age.

And none of this is me making up a story. This IS the narrative. This is the story. And anyone who doesn't have their heads buried in their asses can see it. I won't deny that it's not as direct as these simple minded antis would like to see. But it's not that indirect either. And if they were a little more open minded and honest with themselves, they would be able to see it too.

#ask #naruto #sasuke #sns #uzumaki naruto #uchiha sasuke #narusasu #sasunaru