Soul Eater
| While looking over some stuff over on tvtropes I noticed a lot of comments claiming that Black Star was basically a Naruto parody. I found myself a little puzzled by this, not because similarities don't exist, but because these two characters trigger very different reactions from me. I've never been a fan of Naruto. That is to say, I really enjoyed the series for a while. Up to the fight with Sasuke and Itachi, in fact I'd even say up until the conclusion of the fight between Sasuke and Danzo, I very much enjoyed the series, but I've never liked Naruto himself. His mood seems inconsistent to me, like he jumps from loud idiot to emotionally damaged lonely kid to power-of-friendship spokesman very quickly. Shippuden added "look how mature I've gotten" Naruto to the list of his personalities, but he continued to jump from one to the next in the blink of an eye. Naruto's also never seemed particularly clever or skilled to me. It just felt like he fights a bit, gets knocked down, gives a speech about how he's stubborn, a random nearby character gazes longingly at him and makes a comment about how "this kid..." something something, and then Naruto does another head on attack but this one is stronger because the triumphant music has started playing. Usually fights involve someone smarter than Naruto (Kakashi, Shikamaru, even Kurama if need be) coming up with a plan, and/or someone else launching a simultaneous attack with Naruto. Even the times he seemed like he was thinking (like in the fight with Neji, or that time he did 1000 years of death on Gaara) felt like they happened more before the timeskip. I'll stop the rant there but the takeaway is that I've really never enjoyed Naruto (the character) at all. And yet... Black Star is undoubtedly my favorite anime character of all time. He's hilarious, he's loyal, he's got obvious weaknesses but he's a skilled fighter when he actually needs to be. Soul Eater isn't a bad anime, but if Black Star had never been a part of it I don't know if I would have finished that series. For me, Black Star carried the series on his back. So I honestly have to wonder, given their similarities, why it is that I would enjoy Black Star so much, in a series that otherwise didn't wow me, while disliking Naruto so much, in a series that for the bulk of it I watched weekly? Amount of screen time? Power scaling? Thickness of Naruto's plot shield? I don't quite know for sure. What do you guys think? Are they extremely similar or barely connected? Do you think Naruto is a better character? It's okay to disagree with me, I won't take it personally. Naruto is crazy popular, I'm not blind to that, and even some of my friends who like the Soul Eater series have told me how irritating they find Black Star. |
cherubasJul 14, 2015 3:19 AM
cherubas said: His mood seems inconsistent to me, like he jumps from loud idiot to emotionally damaged lonely kid to power-of-friendship spokesman very quickly. Shippuden added "look how mature I've gotten" Naruto to the list of his personalities, but he continued to jump from one to the next in the blink of an eye. That's not being inconsistent, that's having more than one character trait.. His mood is apporpiate with what he is experiencing in the situation. He wouldn't be loud, when he is in a sad situation, for example. It's not personalities, it's different side of the same one, that's being multidimensional. People in real life are not one track and have the same mood all time, that's unrealistic. It's a bit confusing why you think this bad, usually people want characters like this, and resent characters that act the same all the time. That's why the term 'character development' is preferable. Naruto's also never seemed particularly clever or skilled to me. It just felt like he fights a bit, gets knocked down, gives a speech about how he's stubborn, a random nearby character gazes longingly at him and makes a comment about how "this kid..." something something, and then Naruto does another head on attack but this one is stronger because the triumphant music has started playing. Usually fights involve someone smarter than Naruto (Kakashi, Shikamaru, even Kurama if need be) coming up with a plan, and/or someone else launching a simultaneous attack with Naruto. Even the times he seemed like he was thinking (like in the fight with Neji, or that time he did 1000 years of death on Gaara) felt like they happened more before the timeskip. I'll stop the rant there but the takeaway is that I've really never enjoyed Naruto (the character) at all. I've watched the whole series at least twice, and what you are talking about doesn't happen. You have a skewed view on him, backed up by inaccurate recollections. He doesn't give speeches during the fights. Some of his fights are personal (i.e Neji, Gaara, Sasuke, Pain) it's usually a clash of ideals as well as fists (Neji, Sasuke, Pain). He wins his fights within logical reasons. Against Neji he didn't win because he was just stubborn, he kept fighting, and had the help of the Kyuubi's chakra. And ultimately won because of a tactic against Neji, so he is clever imo. He has a lot of moments where he thinks outside of the box and is good at improvising. Shikamaru is obviously smarter, that's how his character was written, to put it in simple terms Shikamaru is intelligent smart and Naruto is street smart. But Naruto does display a sense of strategy in his fights by the shadow clones, and in his fight with Pain, he used all the intel he had on him to make a strategy to beat him. And there are many instances where he displayed tactics in his fights, there are few fights where he won simply through strength alone So he is not brawn and no brain. So I honestly have to wonder, given their similarities, why it is that I would enjoy Black Star so much, in a series that otherwise didn't wow me, while disliking Naruto so much, in a series that for the bulk of it I watched weekly? Amount of screen time? Power scaling? Thickness of Naruto's plot shield? I don't quite know for sure. Can you give examples for Naruto's plot shield? I don't think because two characters are really similar you will automatically feel the same about them. I love Naruto, but I didn't really care much for Black Star. I can see the similarities and while I like Black Star, I found him sometimes annoying and too loud, I also don't really appreciate arrogant characters, especially if they are delusional like Black Star. He certainly had the skill, but if he toned down his arrogance and became more calm and collected he would become better. I also don't remember anything more substantial to him, I liked his relationship with Tsubaki but I don't remember him having mental growth or fleshing out. I think Naruto is a better character, because I love him. I sympathize with him, I feel so connected to him that I often teared up and later cried during his pivotal emotional scenes (Meeting Kushina for the first time), it's almost like I experience those events with him. I like his development and characterization. The ideals and messages he carries, his conflicts and confrontations with the prominent characters of the story. His relationship with other characters. I've enjoyed seeing him grow and follow him on his life journey. There is barely much I dislike about him. He is the type of positivity that I like, if that's makes sense. |
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