LuffyxNami interactions part 4

So last time Nami was leaving Luffy and Zoro to fight and going to steal the treasure

31) We see her peeking trough the corner of the wall. She came back afterall. Her oppinion of Luffy changes bit by bit

32) Too excited, hehehe

33) Luffy worries that Nami will get chased again. He tells her to hide

34) Luffy agrees with Nami’s strange logic, lol

35) I wonder if Nami thinks Luffy looks really cool here. I know I do.

36) Luffy gives Nami a compliment. That’s the first one, but definitely not the last one. She helps him beat Buggy.

37) The first post-battle talk. You’ll notice later that Luffy and Nami have quite a lot of these post-battle private talks.

38) This dialogue… I just found it funny

39) Luffy talks about the villagers and gets Nami thinking.

40) Leaving the island. Nami seems to enjoy herself, but doesn’t want to admit it.

So in this arc the beginning of a beautiful and deep friendship was set up. I think Nami got a bit attached to Luffy here, without noticing.

LuffyxNami interactions part 3

21) Nami is not sure anymore what she Is. Luffy helps her. She doesn’t really seem all that angry anymore.

22) Nami’s hate for pirates runs deep enough. Look at that pained expression.

23) Her anger explodes

24) But then she sees something suprising.

25) Her reaction is that of happiness and … Relief? 

26) She apologizes for shouting at him and seems  really grateful he’s not asking questions.

27) Finally accepting the offer

28) Explaining his power to Nami,allmost in a bragging way. Nami seems quite shocked. Understandable.

29) Nami decides to leave them alone and informs Luffy of this.

30) Luffy seems to be calm about it. He already trusts Her.

See there’s this thing about Kishimoto that I don’t really understand. He kept saying he didn’t know how to write female characters…

…but they’re literally just people??

He also says he doesn’t know how to write romance, but it is literally just a deep and unique bond. It doesn’t necessarily require on-stage kissing and confessing. 

Kishimoto is a shounen author, he knows how to write bonds ffs.

Could a NaruSaku fan enlighten me?

A lot of you say that Kishimoto threw character development out the window with the ending to Naruto, but because I don’t ship NaruSaku, I don’t see development being thrown away. I mean, they all reached their goals…Naruto became Hokage, Team 7 reunited, Sasuke is rebuilding the Uchiha, Sakura and Hinata got the men of their dreams…

I would like to get a better understanding of why you think Kishimoto threw away development, with examples if possible?

Please and thank you.

I’ll try to answer as short as possible. First of all, achieving superficial goals that characters stated at some point of their childhood is not necessarily a satisfying conclusion. The whole point of following the story is to see characters change and deepen their views, develop more intricate goals and aspirations.

Do you think that Sasuke fulfilled his role in the story when he killed Itachi - after all it was his original goal? No, killing Itachi was just a huge step in forming Sasuke’s political beliefs and worldview. Just like that Naruto in the later parts of the manga never stated that becoming Hokage was his ultimate goal, the word “Hokage” transformed into a label that described so much more - the power to protect and keep his friends together, the power to bring change into the system that led to so much hatred and tragedy, the power to fulfill his promise to villains whom he transformed, the power to bring Sasuke back and give him a home where he could live, etc. Some of these things were stated loudly in the manga, some required looking deeper than surface into Naruto’s character development.

So 1. Naruto. Naruto became Hokage without really achieving it. Originally Naruto was an underdog who had to fight against odds by being stubborn and working hard. It was later revealed that Naruto was a son of previous Hokage, a boy of prophecy, a reincarnation of the strongest ancestors, he had an unlimited power source in his belly, he learned from the strongest teachers from the start and had connections to each ruler of Konoha. His road to Hokage’s seat was paved with yellow stones. Yet, it could still be ok. It could  be ok if Kishimoto showed us Naruto working hard to develop a new system of shinobi, working his ass off and struggling to find an answer that would lead the world into a new era. He could show Naruto searching for a compromise in cooperation with Sasuke that developed a darker ideology of equal importance. Instead Naruto just got the seat. He had no competition and no answers. He just continued to rule the same system his predecessors created. Just showing us that the world is somehow magically in peace under the same circumstances is not enough to make this kind of resolution viable. Also, the world is not changed if there is another Uchiha villain that wants to kill everyone just like the former villains did. Also we don’t see Hokage Naruto do any admirable work - why should we celebrate the main hero becoming a nominee ruler in the world that doesn’t even need ninjas anymore most of the time? We don’t see him protecting his friends due to being Hokage, we see him drinking and eating instant ramen. He couldn’t even create a world where Sasuke would feel comfortable living in Konoha. Development my ass.

2. Sasuke. Sasuke represented change. He represented the need to change, the driving force of change. He was the force that could not be stopped and driven into submission, because Sasuke directly saw the darker side of Konoha and thus he was restless to see ninja world change and he could never live in the world that destroyed everything he loved. Sasuke’s goal after Itachi’s death was to see change, not have a happy family, rebuild his clan or work for the system that mutilated him. Instead he was castrated, beaten into submission, brainwashed and sent to a redemption journey that apparently had to fill the void in his soul after his essence was ripped out. Sasuke became a broken shell of a man - satisfied?

3. Team 7 reunited is bullshit. Unless people’s equivalent of being reunited is being once in a scene together without trying to kill each other. That is what we’ve got - Sasuke stating that Team 7 meant something to him, him having little interaction with Naruto and Sakura and abruptly leaving to almost never return. Apparently that was the moment when Naruto and Sakura lost all connection as well. After all the hype about Team 7 it almost looked like a confession that Team 7′s bond was a hoax. In my head reunited Team 7 would mean them working together again, becoming close friends and family. The only way I could see that was them going on a journey together to figure out answers. Sasuke could never live in the old Konoha and both Naruto and Sakura would not only want to be with him, they would want to broaden their world view as well to become future leaders. What we have now doesn’t bring any kind of emotional satisfaction since there is no exceptional bond, there is hardly any bond at all.

4. Sakura. It was easy to see that the better version of Sakura really wanted to become stronger as a kunoichi and as a person. When Sasuke was not in the picture her aspirations actually broadened. Almost everyone hated Sakura’s original characterisation as a shallow bitchy weak girl and we wanted her stronger Part 2 self to fight on par with Naruto and Sasuke. (I had a feeling that Sakura hated her weak self even more than we did.) We wanted her to help Naruto save Sasuke from the darkness as she promised. In the end all Sakura did for Sasuke is cry and beg which had 0 results, and we have every reason to believe that she gave up on her kunoichi aspirations the moment Sasuke returned. The last image of her in original manga was in apron dusting shelves. She never reached Tsunade’s level, she never became a leader, she never even got the status of Legend for defeating Kaguya. I won’t even go into Gaiden where it was stated that SS broke her as a woman. You could say that being useful in the war and having Sasuke back was enough. But even if she got Sasuke, what about her view of herself? How is it satisfying for the readers who were led to believe that Sakura will eventually be equal to Naruto and Sasuke and surprass Tsunade? All those loud words were for nothing.

5. Hinata. While Part 2 Hinata definitely got what she wanted, Part 2 Hinata was a shell of the character a lot of us loved in Part 1. Yet, since she had a very tiny amount of panels, it was never really obvious that she aspired no more. We only saw her lusting for Naruto, but a lot of us assumed that her earlier ambitions were still there. We interpreted some of her words as her wanting to move on and stand on her own. As I said, goals tend to change, but usually in stories they develop into something deeper, not regress into a shallow obsession. We were in for a surprise. Still, I repeat, we could be happy for Part 2 Hinata getting all she wanted in life - Naruto’s D. But the way she did this was atrocious. She never managed to reach Naruto’s heart herself - she gave up over and over and over again. She was denied development even in her love life as she never managed to get over her insecurities to tell Naruto how she felt face to face. In the end deus ex machina did all the work for her. At the same time Naruto’s character was mortally damaged by retcons that made him into an emotional impotent and a scumbag. If I have to be happy for Hinata sitting on Naruto’s D, I am happy. But I think I was supposed to be happy for Hinata who reached Naruto and won his heart by overcoming her fears and growing as a person. In the end she is just a stagnating housewife. Bravo. Oh, also she did nothing about her clan and all her power-ups came from the thin air.

6. Final part - the ninja world and the rest of the cast. Are we supposed to be happy seeing that the peace that somehow magically fell on earth also destroyed all aspirations and life-purposes of our favorite characters? They all just wander around trying to lead normal non-ninja lives in the world that doesn’t need them anymore. Brilliant. We see them grouch as their children refuse to learn their old techniques. We see our favorite aspiring strong ninjas reduced to being unhappy parents. Was Choji’s, Ino’s, Sai’s, Lee’s, Temari’s ultimate goal to settle with children? Was Shino’s ultimate goal to teach in the academy as a low-class chunin? I won’t continue. Everything these people ever stated about themselves went into the window.

I won’t even bother, though I’ve said like 10% of what I could say.

Naruto’s ending destroyed all development, all major themes of the story and all purpose of Naruto’s journey.

THIS.

Any REAL naruto (as a series) fan would only agree to this.

Luffy x Nami interactions part 2

Continuing on my quest to find all of the LuNa moments and whatnot. :D

13) Interaction from the cage. Luffy asks Nami for food

14) And she brings him some. ^^

15) Luffy noticed her hands are shaking and inspired courage in her

16) Which resulted in Nami attacking a guy

17) Even though she went all “tsundere” later

18) Revealing her reason for hating pirates in Luffy’s presence

19) And burning her hands to save the same Pirate

20) Refusing to run away, because she doesn’t really want the said pirate to die

And so Nami seems to slowly warm up to Luffy without knowing it herself. Maybe it’s a subconscious thing, or maybe Luffy’s secret charm who knows. 

Also, people who are saying Nami is Not brave, you should reread the manga. 

Luffy and Nami interactions

I’m gathering all of the Luffy and Nami interactions trough out the manga to try and see how their relationship changed and…well…. because i Love them both hahaha. This is part 1

1) First meeting. Luffy falls out of the sky and Nami immediately takes a chance to pretend she Knows him.

2) Nami is impressed by his strenght

3) Introduction time. Luffy refuses to join her, but she doesn’t want to let him go that easy.

4) Nami wonders what’s in his hat that’s so precious (looks like she is the girl who only values jewels and money.)

5) Luffy gets on her nerves, lol

6) But she still reveals him her goal

6) After she finds out he’s a pirate…

7) She gets visibly upset and disappointed

8) Then Luffy tells her about his hat. Nami seems to understand, but can’t get past the fact that he’s a pirate, for obvious reasons.

9) She shouts out her preferences to him. lmao. 

10) Then she decides to use him.

11) She ties him up and presents him to Buggy. Luffy is not amused.

12) He decides to Not let her be part of his crew.

So basically, their relationship did Not start on very good terms. Let’s see where it goes from here. :)

This is awesome :)

Trust and faith should be earned. It is not normal for people to just put blind faith in a person they barely know. Especially when that person is a failure and a brat (common trope for MCs). There is just no way anyone would simply see greatness in such a guy. Only watching that person for some time and witnessing his better qualities could lead to support and faith. 

I find it atrocious that some people diminish feelings that were earned while praising feelings that simply happened out of the blue. For some reason they think that “immediate faith” indicates some magical connection - no, it is simply cheap and unrealistic. When MC earns other people’s trust and support through hard work, by making them see his true self, it highlights his strength as a person. And it doesn’t diminish those people’s feelings, only makes them realistic.

People praise Hinata for believing in Naruto from the start, but that isn’t even true. Hinata didn’t believe in Naruto from the start. She started watching Naruto because he was a failure like her, she saw her sorry self in him. There is no faith at this point. Only after stalking him for a while and witnessing his effort to overcome his circumstances she started admiring him. It is not hard to associate perseverance with future success. And it is a great temptation to transfer your own struggle upon another person: “he is just like me, so if he succeeds, it is just as if I’ve succeeded myself”. 

Now look at Sakura. Unlike Hinata, she didn’t see herself in Naruto, her circumstances were different, so she didn’t pay attention to him at first. She only knew him as an annoying brat - and boy was he an annoying brat in Part 1! But just as Hinata once she started watching him and witnessed his better qualities, she gave him full support - it happened all the way back in Part 1. And once she witnessed his strength, she became inspired and aimed to be like him, grow for his, Sasuke’s and her own sake.

Thus the only difference between Sakura and Hinata is that Sakura noticed Naruto later due to not transferring her insecurities upon him. (And also gave him ACTUAL support once she did notice him. And made a bigger effort at growing stronger.)

Should Hinata be glorified for noticing Naruto early? (Sasuke arguably did it even earlier than her). I personally think that “seeing yourself in someone” is a cheap tool to connect two people to each other. Kishimoto has overused the “similarity” trope to the point of it becoming absurd (it was a common basis for ”talk-no-jutsu”). Naruto could see himself in every person and every person in need for redemption could see himself in Naruto. How is Hinata oh so special? How is “seeing yourself in someone” special? In reality people don’t have to have similar backgrounds to form deep and meaningful bonds. And in NH case Hinata’s lack of accomplishments and personal growth made her association to Naruto look like a transfer of personal insecurities, “living through another person”. 

One of the reasons why I prefer Sakura for Naruto is that they didn’t need a similar background to connect. Or at least it wasn’t too “in your face”.  

“Genjutsu made Naruto realize his love for Hinata”

So, you are in love with a girl but don’t realize it. 

How it works in real life: you don’t notice it, but you are drawn to that person, think about her often, search her company. Whenever something interesting happens to you, you immediately feel the need to tell her about it or invite her to experience it with you. You feel so good when she is around that you invent reasons to interact with her more while persuading yourself that it is nothing special. You are deeply interested in her life and want to know more about her - even little things. You can’t help but mention her when talking to other people. Your friends tease you about your bias towards her. Even if you don’t realize it, her words and opinion about you matter a great deal to you.

_____________________________________ At some point smth makes you realize how much time you spend with her and how much you long for her and how happy she makes you feel. “Wow, I’m in love.” - you think. _____________________________________

How it works according to NH: for years you are perfectly fine with just being acquainted with this girl, you don’t seek to become close friends. You are fine with knowing just basic things about her and her worldview, you aren’t interested in her daily life and struggles. You lead your separate life and feel lonely sometimes, but she never comes to mind. When you plan to go out, you call your other girl-friends. When opportunity arises to spend more time with her (like walk her home), you wonder why would you and decline. Your friends have to push you into noticing her and interacting with her. One time she said she loves you, but you don’t overthink it, actually you don’t care enough to even talk to her about it, you basically forgot about it until your friend brought it up. You easily dismiss her feelings as insignificant.

______________________________________

At some point smth makes you see how much this girl longed for you and watched you from behind trees and wanted to be by your side. “Wow, I’m in love.” - you think. ______________________________________ Solid.

As long as Sasuke’s HAPPY

Listen up, you little shits,

THIS

does not, in any way, prove that Sakura makes Sasuke happy or that he’s happy whatsoever, after where the original manga left off.

This is a line that Karin says, in Gaiden and I constantly see SS shippers use. 

Please show me where the fuck Sasuke seems happy to be married to Sakura. The fact that he called her his wife does not count, that’s not a term of endearment and he’s never even there to be a husband.

Won’t kiss her, hug her, say he loves her, or bless her with that oh-so-romantic forehead poke. He looks dead inside, when he’s with her. I’m not seeing the fondness of even close friends, nothing. 

His reaction to her being sucked into another dimension by the enemy is weak and yet, he still freaks out over Naruto getting hurt.

He doesn’t look happy during what are supposed to be loving moments.

He literally looked happier on his fucking deathbed.

Sasuke’s “relationship” with Sakura does not make him happy. Please, pull your head out of your ass and see what’s so blatantly obvious. 

SS people are trying so hard to read between canon lines that they create a whole new AU with different characters and events. I guess if you stick your head far enough up your own ass, you will eventually reach Narnia.