Will Kishi get his MOJO back?

Ok, I know the title assumes everyone agrees that Kishi has lost his groove.  I also know many of you disagree.   We’ll start with my premise; and if you still disagree after reading the post, prove me wrong.  As I recall, Negato’s suicide no-jutsu, left IRA virtually split on whether it was a cop-out or genius.  I still haven’t flushed that discussion out of my system.  Although Kishi has introduced some cool new characters and moved us towards the next story line, he still hasn’t reeled me back in.

So, where to start.  Let’s see…How about a poll.

 

Now if you voted that Kishi let us in on his genius, let’s see if I can change your mind.

The Set-up

We need to go back to the beginning of this arc.  Kishi had defined Akatsuki as an incredibly powerful organization.  Ostensibly, the head of that organization was Negato.  In order to lead such a powerful group of shinobi, he must have been dominant.  During the build-up of this arc, Kishi developed Negato’s character into a shinobi with god-like power and an evil aura.

Kishi then set events into motion that screamed for a massive showdown involving much of the shinobi world.  Many of the key players were on the fast slow train (the tracks were long and tortuous) to Konoha.  We were all guessing who would show up, when, and what would they do.

1. Team Hawk – To DESTROY Konoha
2. The Six Paths of Pain – To Capture Kyuubi
3. Naruto – Returning from his sage training in  Myobokuzan 
4. Danzo – Crawling out of the sewer
5. Team Samui – An envoy from Raikage- they are assumed strong but also provide some comic relief
6. Negato & Konan – Debated whether they went to Konoha or stayed in the power tower
7. Killer Bee – A wildcard, debated whether he might head to Konoha instead of Enka
8. Sand Siblings- A wildcard, but often discussed that they might be headed to Konoha
9. Madera & Zetsu – After discovering Bee’s deception, they could have teleported to Konoha at any time
10.  Team Gai - Dyyynnnnaaammiicccc EEEnnntryyyyy, remember they weren’t in the village at the start of the attack
11. Kabutoro – Another wild card, but he/it/they have motive to board the train

 So we had a mountain of kinetic energy converging on Konoha.  There were so many potential battles and subplots to be explored; so many potential surprises, alliances and betrayals.  What does Kishi do with most of these subplots?  He ignores them.  Evidently only Naruto and Negato got the “Meet me in Konoha, and don’t be late” memo.

The Good

Yes there were some great elements in this arc.  Among them, the Naruto/Pain battle was Awesomeness.  There were several twists that were also phenomenal.  Naruto’s entry into the melee was EPIC; Hinata’s mid-battle confession was masterful; Naruto going eight tails was massive; and Minato’s subconscious appearance was an event.  In the end, these great elements were not enough to overcome the debacle of an ending that Kishi authored. 

 

The Bad

There were some misses too.  Konoha’s intelligence corps looked more like the Keystone cops.  Kakashi’s fireside chat, which should have been an awesome surprise, ended up being a strange letdown.  Minato’s appearance was great, but Kishi left so much unexplored; Naruto didn’t even ask about his mother, WTF.  Negato’s flashback was full of information that we already knew… well except for TIIIIINNNYYYYY!  In the end we were left with the impression that Negato wasn’t a god, but a little boy who lost his parents (and puppy dog) then couldn’t figure out Yahiko’s dream of peace and turned it into a nightmare.  However, these imperfect elements wouldn’t have killed the arc if Kishi had delivered on the ending.

The Ugly

Of course the most important miss in this arc was Negato’s suicide by Gedo Rinne Tensei No Jutsu.  First, killing Negato off was such a waste, especially given the amount of story line invested into building the character.  Second, having Gedo Rinne resurrect all the dead leaf ninja was indefensible.  It diminished the sacrifices of the ninja who gave their lives defending Konoha, and it devalued Naruto’s decision not to kill Negato.  Of course I’m happy that Kakashi is still alive, but it should have been accomplished through his own strength of will, not some cheap plot device.  It was a writer’s cop-out.

There were a lot of you who claimed that preventing Naruto from fulfilling his primal desire for revenge was brilliant.  This showed, according to many of you, how much Naruto had matured.  I call bull$h!t, it’s the same story we saw in the Gaara arc, and as usual the sequel didn’t live up to the original.  The process through which Negato transformed from judging Naruto with absolute contempt to pledging fealty to Naruto’s path… lacked any semblance to credibility.  Negato showed virtually no internal struggle, no real admission that he understood the error in his ideology.  Someone just turned the light switch to the “ON” position.  Since there was no believable reason for this about-face, what was Kishi to do?  Quick suicide no jutsu before somebody turns the switch back “off.”  If you go back and read the Garra arc, Kishi presents a much better flashback, engages Gaara in a struggle to understand himself and his opponent, and the “Naruto effect” is subtle – not immediate and absolute. 

 

Negato Arc Wrap Up

So now Kishi has to wrap up this DUD of an ending to what was such a promising arc.  He starts by having Konan give Naruto a bouquet of paper mache roses, and then she walks off into the sunset towing the mummified remains of Yahiko and Negato.  I won’t even address the fact that she gives flowers to the kid who just talked Negato, her reason for being, into committing suicide.  No that’s not my big problem.  We know that Kishi has a penchant for playing switchy-switchy with tasty eyeballs.  How could Konaha (which includes the newly minted MATURE-Naruto, the Keystone cops…err intelligence corps, ANBU, Root, and all other thinking shinobi) allow the only existing pair of rinnegan eyes to just saunter back down that yellow brick road to the Hidden Rain?  It defies logic; the most powerful eye technique known just waltzes out of Konoha to an unknown end.  Who will claim them; is this a way for Kabutoro to get back into the “life-wouldn’t-suck-so-bad-if-you-didn’t-have-to-die” game?  Next, Kakashi pops up from his slumber, runs through the woods, directly to Naruto.  No debriefing; no, “Where’s Negato, or was anyone else with him, or where’s his eyes?’ Just, hop on my back and let’s get to the party.  Did he forget that Konoha was in a fight for its existence? 

At the Hurricane party, Naruto gets his hero’s welcome.  It was well deserved, but the timing was rotten.  That said…what does Hinata do, given her earlier heroism?  She hides in the crowd and whispers, “Thank God” under her breath.  So much for her Dyyynnnaaammiiccc Entry Connnffffeeesssioooonnnn, and  Naruto doesn’t even look for her.  Then Pinky shows up.  How does she greet the hero for whom, she had shrieked, “Hurry back Naruto!! Naruto please!!”  She punches him in the gut and calls him a “dummy.”  And what was Naruto’s reaction?  “OW!” Yep, he sure has matured.  Ok, she does hug him and say, “Thank you.”  The hug does have a more intimate appearance; note her hand on his cheek.  But if in a later chapter she makes a big confession to Naruto, Kishi will fall into the manga hall of shame… Unless, Naruto tells her to pound sand.  (Yah, I had to throw that in after Kishi vomited that load on us in the last chapter.)

Then comes the meeting to decide who will become the next Hokage.  The ruling class of the fire country turns out to be a bunch of absolute nimrods.  How could they have chosen so well in the past, then demonstrate the complete ineptitude portrayed in this chapter?  If this decision was caused by Danzo’s genjutsu, wouldn’t some of The Leaf’s elite shinobi seen through it, and why didn’t Danzo use genjutsu to prevent Tsunade’s ascendance in the first place?  Again, it seems that Kishi has a direction in mind and doesn’t care how foolish it looks as long as he gets to his destination.

Other Nagging Issues

There were also some inconsistencies that bothered me.  Kakashi died from Chakra depletion, and then got resurrected.   Tsunade is almost dead from what… chakra depletion, yet after Gedo Rinne takes his pilgrimage through town, she remains in a coma.  I know, I know - Tsunade wasn’t dead and Shikamaru’s broken leg wasn’t healed either.  That’s an apples and oranges comparison.  We’re expected to believe that Tsunade had to completely deplete her chakra reserve before Negato could infuse her with some of his?  It just doesn’t make sense…  until we find out that Danzo uses Tsunade’s coma as his opportunity to usurp the Hokage hat from her unconscious, wrinkled fingers.  How convenient.  I suppose that it would have been a little more difficult for Kishi to accomplish this coup d’etat if Tsunade was in a position to defend her leadership. 

There’s another inconsistency that has bothered me; although it appears to be pretty picky, it’s telling about how Kishi didn’t think through the ending and wrap up of this arc.  Remember Tazari and little Izuna from the Zabuza arc; they show up to help rebuild Konoha.  What a nice stroll down memory lane.  One question, how the hell did they show up hours after Konoha was leveled?  Team Samui had been racing to Konoha for 20 chapters, yet old man Tazuna gets started building a tavern before they arrive.  Worse, Raikage’s ”messenger” hawk, demanding a meeting of the five Kages, showed up after Tazuna.    I know that it’s a small mistake, but it adds another brick to the argument that Kishi is off of his game.

Beginning the New Arc

 It’s been said many times before, but it’s worth repeating; a great villain makes for a great hero.  We start this arc with no new antagonist and Akatsuki has been virtually destroyed, its strongest member/leader embalmed by origami.  Madera, the puppet master, now takes overt control over what’s left of Akatsuki.  By his own admission, Madera is but a “shell of his former self.”  Akatsuki is on life support.  What does Madera do? He declares war on the Five Great Nations.  Five apparently very powerful Kages, a treasure trove of strong shinobi, the two strongest jinchuurikis, and the pooled resources of five independent nations.  What was he thinking?  That’s right, he has a plan.  Moon pie, Red eye…whatever.  It’s laughable.   Yes, Madera has the seven captured bijuu sealed inside Gedo Mazo, but there’s a couple of problems with utilizing that power.  One, can he even use their collective chakra pool?  As far as we know, Negato and his rinnegan were the only forces that controlled the statue.  In fact, why didn’t the statue crumble when Negato slit his anorexic wrist?  Can the Gedo Mazo even be exploited without all nine eyes being activated?  We know that the massive power it contains requires balance, which is why Kyuubi had to be the last bijuu captured.  Two, let’s say that Madera can employ the Gedo Mazo in its current condition.  Then why wouldn’t Akatsuki have used it all along as they captured each bijuu, the next would have been easier, right?  It’s just another plot hole that seems to defy the rules that Kishi had set when he introduced us to Akatsuki.

And what about Naruto?  He should be sitting on top of Kage Mountain waiting for Granny to pass the torch.  Instead he’s had Sakura sucker punch him in front the entire village.  He’s been told by Kakashi to stay out of village politics.  He’s had Team Samui beat the snot out of him.  He’s lain prostrate before the Raikage begging on behalf of Sasuke.  And finally, half of his manga appearances have shown him pining away for Sasuke, I’m beginning to wonder if he’s changed teams on us…err, Hinata.  Come on Kishi, you moved Naruto two steps forward only to walk him back three.  If he’s matured so much, show it.  If Naruto is going to be an equal to Sasuke, who in my mind will become the final, most evil antagonist of this Manga (but that’s another post), Naruto must also become a true leader of men.  So far that type of growth has only been alluded to… but not defined.

 

Final Thoughts

I’ll finish by stating the not-so-obvious; I really am a fan of Kishi’s work.  I didn’t start reading the manga until a month after finding IRA.  I was amazed at some of the hidden, surprising, and meaningful nuggets that were explored within individual panels and expanding to the overall plot.  I never even noticed many of those nuggets, until Jeremiah and Ibiki pointed them out in their posts.  As a result, I now expect more from Kishi’s story lines.  The ending to the last arc and the start of this current arc, don’t seem to have the same commitment to the story.   I hope I’m wrong about the current arc, but as of this writing, Kishi has yet to find his muse.

So, did I change any minds?  If not, go to the comments and try to change mine.  But first…

 

 

~ by jdb44 on November 3, 2009.