can't shut myself up!
Jun. 13th, 2006 12:41 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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chuunin_archiveA little mini-rant by a befuddled fan. Spoilers up until uh, now, manga-wise! So 309, or something.
Before I go, a few remarks: I love Gaara, I love Sasuke, I love Naruto, I love Sakura, I love them all. I think they should all have a great big orgy, and hurray. And I do understand why Sasuke is a dislikeable character. But a few recent trends have made me boggle a bit. Dislike whomever you like, these are just my opinions!
basically, when people compare gaara and sasuke, i get confused. so, first, we review a lot of crap. :D
A little rehashing of what we already know about the Angst Pot
We all know Sasuke's good at his angst. And why not? His entire family, beyond immediate, his entire CLAN, was wiped out in one evening. By the man he had admired the most, had aspired most to be recognized by, had obsessed over as a younger brother forever in his shadow. He tends to get criticized - or teased, lovingly - for being the biggest angstpot this side of the stars, but, I think its fairly reasonable. His whole life has revolved around his brother - first in a semi-healthy, brotherly competition way, then the twisted morphing into a boundless revenge.
The kid began at twelve years old. Sometimes I think people forget that these kids are TWELVE, and while ninja are supposed to be ninja, the series is pretty clear that they can't help being human. That's the point of frickin' Sakura early on, which is why it's sad when she's so hated on. She's the most human in that darn group of kids.
Then he turns his back on his friends, trying to sever his connections, nearly gets Chouji and Neji killed, punches a hole into his best friend. (As far as Neji and Chouji go, and even Naruto, Sasuke chose to leave, he never wanted anyone to RESCUE him. Yes, he was emotionally troubled, and no, it's silly to criticize them for wanting to "save" him. It's a mess of choices everyone would have made had they been in that circumstance.)
In the manga, we meet him as a pirate and he tells us he only didn't kill Naruto on a whim, bla bla am so badass, let Orochimaru take me. Well, for people shrieking bastard -- A) Duh, he's the main rival and B) .. We KNOW it wasn't a whim. We SAW HIM standing over Naruto. He looked a little more than motivated than a whim. In fact, we get into his head for the last time, and he resolved that he will NOT do it Itachi's way -- i.e. killing his buddy.
Which, hah, was pretty lucky for Itachi after all, since Akatsuki kind of needs Naruto from which to take their demon.
Gaara- more rehashing
Once upon a time the kazekage turned to his wife, said, hey baby, you're pregnant, lets stick something effed up in your belly and see what happens. She said, huh? And died. Little Gaara was feared by all the children and people, and his one seemingly genuine familial love, his uncle, shattered his happy little bubble of trying to reform by telling him he hated him after all, while trying to kill him. Then Gaara decided to take his mother's wish to heart, and lived to hate, to destroy everything, in order to make his existence have a point. Lots of people tried to kill him, but he introduced them to the sand castle in the sky instead.
Given that Gaara lived for hate, to become stronger and test himself, and Sasuke attempted to on Itachi's words, his comment to Sasuke -- that their eyes are similar -- was not unfounded.
Naruto rocks his world, Gaara reforms, tries to protect the people who loathed and feared him for years, gets killed for it, but lucky plot no jutsu, he came back. Woo! And he likes his people a lot. Really.
OK, the Point, Finally
I've noticed, here and there, that there are some comparisons of Sasuke's past and Gaara's past, in the sense of saying... Look, Gaara had it much worse, and he's better, he LISTENED to Naruto, what's Sasuke's stupid horrible deal?
First, I think it's pretty awful to compare their pasts. As horrible as both had it, they're quite different. I hope I don't really need to get more into it-- there are similarities, yes. But they are different.
Sasuke as a character can be very frustrating. He becomes increasingly cruel, he devastates the heroes. But this is what he was designed to do, to provide the conflict-- and, despite everything, it's understandable to me. Whatever Naruto can do, Sasuke had LOST all his precious people, and has become probably a little deranged in this Itachi thing. He can't just say, "Oh, right, you're my new brother, so I guess I can just let bygones be bygones, my bad." Everyone died. He's always been obsessed with his brother. These things don't change.
Gaara had nothing, but because of his similarity to Naruto, what Naruto did was able to get through to him. He was RIPE for the changing, because he was miserable, and there was nothing to make him stay that way.
And it's also very interesting, to me, to read that Gaara's such a better person than Sasuke.
Gaara killed many, many people. On a whim. Some were assasins, and he did have a demon thirsting for blood, plus some insomniac insanity (which we see him dealing well with post Naruto). But he still killed them. And though he reformed, he won't kill anymore, it doesn't make it OK. Gaara probably feels no remorse for them, and probably has a lot of difficulty with that concept to those strangers, when it isn't someone like a sibling or Naruto. Not to say that because he isn't sorry, he's more guilty-- no, not at all, he's a stunted kid, that sucks. But reform doesn't make the past go away, it just means striving for a better future.
Sasuke ripped a hole in Naruto and turned his back on his connections. He didn't kill Naruto. And I cannot help but think, in his twisted logic, by getting away from his connections, he was also protecting them. Because his last connections died. Because he was going to a bad place. Because the bonds weren't making him strong enough, and heck, maybe they'd be better off without him too. And because he's selfish, but let him be. He's twelve. He thinks if he feels things he won't ever be able to kill his brother, and his brother, let's remind ourselves, slaughtered. his. entire. clan.
Why, why, why, why is that worse? Why is Sasuke's being a bitch to his friends so much worse than killing a lot of people? Gaara killed loads when he was in his dark place. Sasuke was a bastard to people who cared about him when he was in his. Gaara threatened to kill Kankuro, probably would have if not for Temari. He. Kept. Trying. To. Kill. Lee! And Lee's such love.
:/ I love all these guys. Sasuke's irritating, sure. But Gaara's not a saint. And Sasuke's not the devil. I swear.
Before I go, a few remarks: I love Gaara, I love Sasuke, I love Naruto, I love Sakura, I love them all. I think they should all have a great big orgy, and hurray. And I do understand why Sasuke is a dislikeable character. But a few recent trends have made me boggle a bit. Dislike whomever you like, these are just my opinions!
basically, when people compare gaara and sasuke, i get confused. so, first, we review a lot of crap. :D
A little rehashing of what we already know about the Angst Pot
We all know Sasuke's good at his angst. And why not? His entire family, beyond immediate, his entire CLAN, was wiped out in one evening. By the man he had admired the most, had aspired most to be recognized by, had obsessed over as a younger brother forever in his shadow. He tends to get criticized - or teased, lovingly - for being the biggest angstpot this side of the stars, but, I think its fairly reasonable. His whole life has revolved around his brother - first in a semi-healthy, brotherly competition way, then the twisted morphing into a boundless revenge.
The kid began at twelve years old. Sometimes I think people forget that these kids are TWELVE, and while ninja are supposed to be ninja, the series is pretty clear that they can't help being human. That's the point of frickin' Sakura early on, which is why it's sad when she's so hated on. She's the most human in that darn group of kids.
Then he turns his back on his friends, trying to sever his connections, nearly gets Chouji and Neji killed, punches a hole into his best friend. (As far as Neji and Chouji go, and even Naruto, Sasuke chose to leave, he never wanted anyone to RESCUE him. Yes, he was emotionally troubled, and no, it's silly to criticize them for wanting to "save" him. It's a mess of choices everyone would have made had they been in that circumstance.)
In the manga, we meet him as a pirate and he tells us he only didn't kill Naruto on a whim, bla bla am so badass, let Orochimaru take me. Well, for people shrieking bastard -- A) Duh, he's the main rival and B) .. We KNOW it wasn't a whim. We SAW HIM standing over Naruto. He looked a little more than motivated than a whim. In fact, we get into his head for the last time, and he resolved that he will NOT do it Itachi's way -- i.e. killing his buddy.
Which, hah, was pretty lucky for Itachi after all, since Akatsuki kind of needs Naruto from which to take their demon.
Gaara- more rehashing
Once upon a time the kazekage turned to his wife, said, hey baby, you're pregnant, lets stick something effed up in your belly and see what happens. She said, huh? And died. Little Gaara was feared by all the children and people, and his one seemingly genuine familial love, his uncle, shattered his happy little bubble of trying to reform by telling him he hated him after all, while trying to kill him. Then Gaara decided to take his mother's wish to heart, and lived to hate, to destroy everything, in order to make his existence have a point. Lots of people tried to kill him, but he introduced them to the sand castle in the sky instead.
Given that Gaara lived for hate, to become stronger and test himself, and Sasuke attempted to on Itachi's words, his comment to Sasuke -- that their eyes are similar -- was not unfounded.
Naruto rocks his world, Gaara reforms, tries to protect the people who loathed and feared him for years, gets killed for it, but lucky plot no jutsu, he came back. Woo! And he likes his people a lot. Really.
OK, the Point, Finally
I've noticed, here and there, that there are some comparisons of Sasuke's past and Gaara's past, in the sense of saying... Look, Gaara had it much worse, and he's better, he LISTENED to Naruto, what's Sasuke's stupid horrible deal?
First, I think it's pretty awful to compare their pasts. As horrible as both had it, they're quite different. I hope I don't really need to get more into it-- there are similarities, yes. But they are different.
Sasuke as a character can be very frustrating. He becomes increasingly cruel, he devastates the heroes. But this is what he was designed to do, to provide the conflict-- and, despite everything, it's understandable to me. Whatever Naruto can do, Sasuke had LOST all his precious people, and has become probably a little deranged in this Itachi thing. He can't just say, "Oh, right, you're my new brother, so I guess I can just let bygones be bygones, my bad." Everyone died. He's always been obsessed with his brother. These things don't change.
Gaara had nothing, but because of his similarity to Naruto, what Naruto did was able to get through to him. He was RIPE for the changing, because he was miserable, and there was nothing to make him stay that way.
And it's also very interesting, to me, to read that Gaara's such a better person than Sasuke.
Gaara killed many, many people. On a whim. Some were assasins, and he did have a demon thirsting for blood, plus some insomniac insanity (which we see him dealing well with post Naruto). But he still killed them. And though he reformed, he won't kill anymore, it doesn't make it OK. Gaara probably feels no remorse for them, and probably has a lot of difficulty with that concept to those strangers, when it isn't someone like a sibling or Naruto. Not to say that because he isn't sorry, he's more guilty-- no, not at all, he's a stunted kid, that sucks. But reform doesn't make the past go away, it just means striving for a better future.
Sasuke ripped a hole in Naruto and turned his back on his connections. He didn't kill Naruto. And I cannot help but think, in his twisted logic, by getting away from his connections, he was also protecting them. Because his last connections died. Because he was going to a bad place. Because the bonds weren't making him strong enough, and heck, maybe they'd be better off without him too. And because he's selfish, but let him be. He's twelve. He thinks if he feels things he won't ever be able to kill his brother, and his brother, let's remind ourselves, slaughtered. his. entire. clan.
Why, why, why, why is that worse? Why is Sasuke's being a bitch to his friends so much worse than killing a lot of people? Gaara killed loads when he was in his dark place. Sasuke was a bastard to people who cared about him when he was in his. Gaara threatened to kill Kankuro, probably would have if not for Temari. He. Kept. Trying. To. Kill. Lee! And Lee's such love.
:/ I love all these guys. Sasuke's irritating, sure. But Gaara's not a saint. And Sasuke's not the devil. I swear.
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Date: 2006-06-13 05:19 am (UTC)Anyway, I totally agree.
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Date: 2006-06-13 05:58 am (UTC)I'm a big ol' softy, because most of those guys (with Sai, emotionless as he is/was, a bit up in the air) weren't very happy before the light slapped them upside their heads. So I'd have liked him to get through to everyone. ... but would have been just as happy otherwise. I'm easy to please!