About Naruto's n00b status

[arzuro]

I've come to think of DBZ as an agent of entropy.

[iamdeath]

we know

[76]

I've come to think of DBZ as an agent of entropy.

eh........big word entropy

[KagomeSakuraMoon]

All I gotta say DBZ isn't all that good,and the english voice overs for Naturo SUCK!!!!!

[KingSchwill]

Backlash pure and simple. The thing with anime is that many of us got started on anime when there was little or no one else we new who watched it. Anime was unique and cool. As we got more involved with the scene we began to see a whole community existed out there. We began to see that others watched this special thing of ours we felt united and part of something bigger. Unfortunately the individual aspect gets lost on the mainstream stuff like DBZ, Inuyasha, and Naruto. So a lot of people began to resent the stuff that everyone else likes in order to regain that singularity. It's a clickish way for some people to create a feeling of superiority, and I'm also very drunk for the new years and am typing incoherent ramblings. I must there for apologize to any and all who read the poorly constructed and phrased paragraph above. I was using my own point of view and attributing it to others. The simple fact is I don't know why anyone hates a particular anime but me, and was attempting to justify my own bigotry through generalization.
Mea culpa

[aesling]

Even drunk you are more articulate than some people (I am not aiming that comment at anyone in particular). Anyway, I do think you have a good point. In addition, Naruto does have some kind of childish and silly aspects and in my experience people just tend to pick up on those, and along with all of the fighting scenes between ninjas owning on each other, they automatically assume that Naruto has no substence. They think, OMG this is so lame, and then don't end up giving it a chance and therefore they don't get to see the more serious undertones that have much more meaning if you actually watch the series. I also think that alot of the younger fanbase (I'm generalizing here) who only watch it for the ninja-action give it a bad name because they come off much like DBZ fans from the same age bracket who behave in a similar manner. In short, on the surface Naruto may appear to share faults with DBZ, but then these get blown way out proportion by people who haven't seen but have heard WAY too much about it.

[KingSchwill]

Interesting point, however...
The thing with DBZ and Naruto and whatever else becomes insanely huge is this, It's all the same story. Someone in a recent thread(read as sometime in the last three months) mentioned that all the mainstream anime follow the same story. If you go back and look at the archetype involved in these tales you begin to see a few common elements. The boy(occasionally the girl, but we'll get in to that later) is orphaned or raised by negligent parents. He knows he is special but hides it. Eventually a situation arises which only his hidden talents can solve. He uses his inner strength, saves the day. Everyone who previously hated him now loves him. This is the most basic formula for Shonen there is. It's the same in America (read Superman), as it is in japan.

In fact you can go one further and say no matter what time it is "the" story. Grimm's fairy tales are full of stories of lost princes who save everyone and find the truth behind their birth. The Bible is full of these stories, Moses cast away saved by the pharaohs wife, Jesus sent down by god and realizing he is greater then the common man. Every culture I've seriously looked at has some version of this story floating around.

Why this is so popular, I don't know, but I will venture a guess. Everyone at some point in their lives, feels powerless, worthless, and useless. These stories allow us at the times we need them most, to identify with something greater then ourselves and hope for the strength to face a world we can't possibly win in.

well that's my crackpot theory on Shonen and why certain anime are so popular. If your wondering how a thread could have possibly gotten so far of track read my previous post.

once more Mea Culpa

~King Schwill has been drinking Boiler Makers for several days without sleep. Forgive his incoherance.

[FukaiYami]

yes it is sad when good anime and manga come to america... i love the naruto manga, and i want to see the japanese anime...but they butchered the anime when they brought it to america (what a shock...) i never watch the anime on toonami... its just aweful... their voices are painful to hear, they watered down the content, and its just not worth watching... gomen to all the american naruto fans, but if you really want good anime, stick to the japanese...
--link--

[BasharOfTheAges]

I've always gotten the impression that it's not the <i>series</i> itself that's laughed at so much as it is the <i>fans</i> of the series, probably because so many of them fall into a certain demographic that doesn't represent itself very well on the 'net. Sure, there are plenty of perfectly non-embarrassing Naruto fans out there, but there's a lot of embarrassing ones too, and because they're embarrassing, they get noticed more.

You hit the nail on the head right there. There's an idividual at my university that I've seen on a weekly basis ninja-running with a konoha headband on. I look away and cringe. Now, I've been known to wear cosplay articles in public, but only contacts; nothing like that.

It's an odd force of personality that seems to be almost like mild-retardation in the "i'm unaware how to properly act in society" sence. You feel like you shouldn't mention it because you're not sure -- is (s)he really mentally-challenged? Should I callhim/her on it? It's hard to know. Assuming "yes" makes me feel a bit better.

[supersayian313]

i think a big part of the reason for it being overused,(popular), is the high numbers of episodes. dbz- 300+ episodes 12 movies. naruto has 150+ episodes. yu yu hakusho 100+ episodes. numbers alone dont make the series, but you get to reallyget to watch the characters evolve after that many episodes. its fun to watch. not to mention the hours of source for an AMV. i just started watching naruto and so far it is pretty interesting.