Something About Sasuke
Dec. 17th, 2008 08:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tj_dragonbladeI've got a wee bit of a ranty thing meant to be a question/solicitation-of-opinion-and-understanding for the Naruto fans out there. Especially those who are also Sasuke fans.
Possibly vague spoilers-ish? If you don't know much about Sasuke?
First, I must confess: I don't like Sasuke.
More than that, I rather dislike him. And that bothers me. I don't want to be annoyed by one of the principal characters in any of the fandoms I like to move in. Especially when I can't really pin down a definitive 'why'. I went through this with Gundam Wing. It took me a couple years (and a couple of alt pairings) to move past my dislike of Heero and learn to appreciate him. I'd like to try to do the same with Sasuke, sooner rather than later.
Because right now, I have no resonance with the boy. At all. I can't muster any sympathy for him. I can't understand why he's so popular. I am irritated by the amount of screen/page time he takes up. I recall having thoughts early on of the 'It's called Naruto, for cryin' out loud - why the hell is it all about Sasuke?' variety, and lauging sympathetically when Naruto would have his 'Marcia Marcia Marcia!' moments. I was...excited, in a way, when Sasuke left, because hey! Stories without Sasuke! No Sasuke! Even though most of that post-Sasuke stuff in the anime (before Shippuden) seems to consist of relatively mediocre filler arcs. I'm sort of heaving a sigh against his eventual return, with the faint hope that maybe I'll like him better as a villainin all his pirateical-fashion glory.
And like I said. I don't want to be in the position of "I don't like this guy!" when my only answer to "Why not?" is "...I just don't."
Is my dislike of Sasuke the reason I'm apathetic toward NaruSasu? Or is the fact that Sasuke's commonly paired with Naruto when I'd rather see Naruto with someone else part of why I dislike Sasuke?
The latter might have something to do with it, but again I don't think I'd be quite so 'Agh. *eyeroll*' toward NaruSasu in the first place if I liked Sasuke better to begin with. Chicken and the egg, sorta.
Is it the whole broody bent-on-revenge thing?
Well, no, probably not, because there are other vengeful-and-driven young men whom I rather adore. Wufei comes to mind. He's even dark-haired and dark-eyed with a wardrobe in blue-white-and-black, to boot.
Is it just his generally unpleasant (imo) personality?
Well, no, again, because I can also point to other characters with arguably unpleasant personalities whom I rather adore. Wufei again. Sanzo. Konzen. Gaara. Zuko. Neji, even.
Is it the apparent lack of forward-movement and personal growth?
Maybe. I mean, there were a lot of characters who rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning, but have grown on me to the point of loving them as the series goes on. I didn't think very highly of Gaara, or his siblings, or Neji, or Kiba, or Hinata at first. Especially not Hinata - she really got on my nerves. Yet I favor all of them heavily by now as they've grown and developed and whatnot. I adore almost all the protagonists in this freaking huge cast.
But I just can't grasp the appeal of Sasuke. Rather than growing and moving forward, he seems to stand still, caught up in his vengeful obsession to the point that he's almost moving backwards. And I can't help thinking, at times - and I realize that this is unduly harsh, please forgive me - that it's really rather a waste that his brother bothered to leave him alive.
And don't get me started on Itachi. That's another great gaping bit of disgruntled inexplicable non-resonance, but I'ma tackle this issue one Uchiha at a time. ^_^;
Gah. I'm getting off track. Rather than trying to figure out why I don't like Sasuke, I want to solicit an understanding of why other people do like Sasuke. I don't know that I'll ever come to favor him, but if I can at least reach a point of not actively disliking him, I'd call it good.
Feel free to counter anything I've said above if you disagree - in fact, that's sort of the whole point. I realize my perception may be somewhat off; I've gotten the story in sizeable chunks from all over the place rather than seeing/reading from point A to point B to point C and so on and might be missing something in between (not really concerned with avoiding spoilers at this point, either). I don't mean to be inflammatory or offensive; I'm laying out my present opinion for analysis and debate and asking that you help me change my mind. Give me your opinions. Tell me what you like about him and why. Help me understand him, see him in a different light. Speak out in his defense. That sort of thing.
Fic recs are good, too, if there's something in particular that you thought portrayed Sasuke really well or made you love him just that little bit more. Anything that might be considered helpful would be appreciated. Regardless of pairing. ^_^
Thank you, and my apologies if I have managed to offend anyone despite myself. *bows*
Possibly vague spoilers-ish? If you don't know much about Sasuke?
First, I must confess: I don't like Sasuke.
More than that, I rather dislike him. And that bothers me. I don't want to be annoyed by one of the principal characters in any of the fandoms I like to move in. Especially when I can't really pin down a definitive 'why'. I went through this with Gundam Wing. It took me a couple years (and a couple of alt pairings) to move past my dislike of Heero and learn to appreciate him. I'd like to try to do the same with Sasuke, sooner rather than later.
Because right now, I have no resonance with the boy. At all. I can't muster any sympathy for him. I can't understand why he's so popular. I am irritated by the amount of screen/page time he takes up. I recall having thoughts early on of the 'It's called Naruto, for cryin' out loud - why the hell is it all about Sasuke?' variety, and lauging sympathetically when Naruto would have his 'Marcia Marcia Marcia!' moments. I was...excited, in a way, when Sasuke left, because hey! Stories without Sasuke! No Sasuke! Even though most of that post-Sasuke stuff in the anime (before Shippuden) seems to consist of relatively mediocre filler arcs. I'm sort of heaving a sigh against his eventual return, with the faint hope that maybe I'll like him better as a villain
And like I said. I don't want to be in the position of "I don't like this guy!" when my only answer to "Why not?" is "...I just don't."
Is my dislike of Sasuke the reason I'm apathetic toward NaruSasu? Or is the fact that Sasuke's commonly paired with Naruto when I'd rather see Naruto with someone else part of why I dislike Sasuke?
The latter might have something to do with it, but again I don't think I'd be quite so 'Agh. *eyeroll*' toward NaruSasu in the first place if I liked Sasuke better to begin with. Chicken and the egg, sorta.
Is it the whole broody bent-on-revenge thing?
Well, no, probably not, because there are other vengeful-and-driven young men whom I rather adore. Wufei comes to mind. He's even dark-haired and dark-eyed with a wardrobe in blue-white-and-black, to boot.
Is it just his generally unpleasant (imo) personality?
Well, no, again, because I can also point to other characters with arguably unpleasant personalities whom I rather adore. Wufei again. Sanzo. Konzen. Gaara. Zuko. Neji, even.
Is it the apparent lack of forward-movement and personal growth?
Maybe. I mean, there were a lot of characters who rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning, but have grown on me to the point of loving them as the series goes on. I didn't think very highly of Gaara, or his siblings, or Neji, or Kiba, or Hinata at first. Especially not Hinata - she really got on my nerves. Yet I favor all of them heavily by now as they've grown and developed and whatnot. I adore almost all the protagonists in this freaking huge cast.
But I just can't grasp the appeal of Sasuke. Rather than growing and moving forward, he seems to stand still, caught up in his vengeful obsession to the point that he's almost moving backwards. And I can't help thinking, at times - and I realize that this is unduly harsh, please forgive me - that it's really rather a waste that his brother bothered to leave him alive.
And don't get me started on Itachi. That's another great gaping bit of disgruntled inexplicable non-resonance, but I'ma tackle this issue one Uchiha at a time. ^_^;
Gah. I'm getting off track. Rather than trying to figure out why I don't like Sasuke, I want to solicit an understanding of why other people do like Sasuke. I don't know that I'll ever come to favor him, but if I can at least reach a point of not actively disliking him, I'd call it good.
Feel free to counter anything I've said above if you disagree - in fact, that's sort of the whole point. I realize my perception may be somewhat off; I've gotten the story in sizeable chunks from all over the place rather than seeing/reading from point A to point B to point C and so on and might be missing something in between (not really concerned with avoiding spoilers at this point, either). I don't mean to be inflammatory or offensive; I'm laying out my present opinion for analysis and debate and asking that you help me change my mind. Give me your opinions. Tell me what you like about him and why. Help me understand him, see him in a different light. Speak out in his defense. That sort of thing.
Fic recs are good, too, if there's something in particular that you thought portrayed Sasuke really well or made you love him just that little bit more. Anything that might be considered helpful would be appreciated. Regardless of pairing. ^_^
Thank you, and my apologies if I have managed to offend anyone despite myself. *bows*
