User blog comment:Pacifista15/Manga Critiques: Naruto/@comment-1774413-20110317230707

Hey, nice blog. However i do have a critique of your critique. Now before i say this i want to point out that One Piece is my favourite manga, and nothing i say is in anyway meant to state that Naruto is better than One Piece.

In your criticism of Naruto you state that the plot is lame, which i entirely disagree with. You made several points to backup your statement, however im only going to focus on your first. - "Sasuke's lifelong dream was to kill Itachi, right? Well, as soon as he was dead, the author realized that the story would fall apart if sasuke had no motivation. Hence, the unsupported and random desire to destroy Konoha."

Now this statement shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the plot, but also of the character development that has been induced in Sasuke. Firstly you act like the writer never knew what to do with Sasuke after Itachi's death, however its quite clear that Itachi's death is a major part in the devlopment of Sasuke, he was always meant to die. You state that Sasukes desire to destroy Konoha is "unsupported and random", but its not. He had found out that his brother, who he thought had betrayed not only their brotherhood but also murdered his clan in cold blood, was actually being used by the elders of Konoha (namely Danzo). This could only cause severe emotional trauma, finding out the person you had once hated had actually sacrificed his life for you and for the village which had always treated him as if he was evil, Konoha's elders allowed everyone, including Sasuke, to believe Itachi was a monster. Sasukes desire for revenge is understandable, especially when manipulated as he has been by Madara Uchiha. However this is not all, you seem to misunderstand the overall theme of Naruto, it is essentially a struggle for peace and I dont mean in the simple ninja war sense, but freedom from a system which breeds hate and revenge. It was already alluded to by Jiraiya and Minato, the challenge to eliminate revenge has been passed down to Naruto.. indeed the folly of revenge was the whole purpse of the Pain Arc with Nagato finally choosing to believe in Naruto and giving up his desire for vengeance. In the end the climax of the story will not occur with Naruto vs Madara, it will be Naruto vs Sasuke (The new Ninja system of peaceful co-operation, renunciation of old hatreds vs the old system of vengeance and an eye-for-an-eye relations). One way or another Naruto will make Sasuke see that his desire for revenge has seduced and enveloped him, true victory will only come when Naruto ends that way of life.

I suppose what im trying to say is that Naruto is not simply a "lame simple battle manga" it has subtle depth, indeed its shows the folly of war and of the pain it breeds. Though the Manga certainly isnt perfect i dont think you can call it "simple-minded" as it takes on very ethereal concepts quite competently.