Afterword and Closing Remarks 3.16
After thinking it over, I still felt I should say something.
There are many things I want to say, but there's no need anymore. Those who understand will understand, and those who don't can't be force-fed an explanation.
What can I say about Naruto? Let's extract a few keywords: hard work, striving, passion, battles, and fate, along with a whole heap of other messy things.
The main themes still have to be these two: Bonds, and love and peace.
In other words, the so-called Will of Fire.
Without those things, Naruto wouldn't have the Naruto flavor. Everyone understands that, right?
One Piece has a strong sea-faring flavor, the romantic adventure of men. Many girls may not understand it. The spirit of camaraderie that fills it is a promise between companions to remain faithful unto death, along with a spirit of rebellion and so on.
As for Dragon Ball, its flavor is even more intense: a childlike sincerity and passion, the very portrait of the protagonist Goku's entire life. It runs through the whole story. There's no grand philosophy to it—if you come to mess with Earth, I'll come mess with you. The fights are simply exhilarating, and the Frieza arc is the peak.
Then there's Shinigami, which is even more iconic, filled from beginning to end with that distinctive style. Especially the literary beauty of its battles—it's worth savoring carefully. As for the battles themselves, I won't say anything. They fell apart so badly that even their own mothers wouldn't recognize them.
Without a doubt, Naruto has many problems. As a fan-fiction writer, I could write it however I wanted. I didn't need to care about the original core. I could slap on a skin and kill, kill, kill until it was done. Whatever felt