“I will never give up”
For most people, this is a cliche, cringed worthy statement that is overly idealistic. However, for those who followed the tale of the yellow hair Japanese punk for the past 14 years, this phase will resonate. Although the original phrase is in Japanese, these words resonate far stronger then any phase in my native language. A week ago, the most inspirational and meaningful film that I ever watch ended. This global phenomenal may have ended, but Naruto’s struggles will continue to inspire me….
It is easy for films to preach about the power of determination and its benefits. You start with a protagonist that has a difficult past such as abusive parents or being bullied in school. You put him through numerous obstacles (only a few showed on screen) and he/she meets a wise mentor that guides him/her. Eventually, he will after much difficulty overcame a great feat or honorably defeat his enemy. Naruto is an orphan, his parents were killed protecting the village from the monstrous and deadly Nine Tail Fox (Image above). As he grows up, he struggles in solitude as people avoided him since the beast was sealed within him. However, after a lot a lot of tough training and mission, he manages to recieve the recognition of a few individuals and eventually the entire village. Indeed, Naruto is no exception to the recipe above, but the built up of various characters and their struggles over a period of 10 years helps to provide depth and realism. Every single one of his friendship and success is extremely hard-earned, you basically watched his entire life journey.
Another theme portrayed in this series is the idea that you have the power to change your future.There is a parallel character to Naruto, who also loses his parents and struggled to grow up in a war-torn country. He shares Naruto‘s sense of Justice and wants to rid the world of sufferings. Eventually, he becomes extremely strong and is interestingly known as Pain. He then formed a Elite, merciless Mercenary group with the intention of controlling the world through force and wealth, to prevent any more wars and suffering. The story of Pain is in fact more realistic as someone who is constantly bullied from young will likely become a bully himself and be consumed by hatred. However, Naruto despite sharing similar sufferings, made a different call to be above that hatred and try to help and inspire people towards a better future. This story is a testament that everyone has the ability to shape their future and their suffering should not become their guiding principal.
Becoming a mercenary and killing his entire clan (including his parents), makes Itachi a classic villain. Except, he isn’t one and he is in fact the village’s savior and a good brother. This is one of the darkest theme explored in Naruto where, where sacrifice for the greater good is taken to the extreme. Itachi, slayed his entire clan to spare his younger brother and to avoid a all out war between his clan and his village. He even made his younger brother, Sasuke hate him and eventually kill him in order to make Sasuke stronger. Everyone has things that they desire or people they wish to protect, but are you willing to make the difficult decisions for it? Will you be able to sacrifice important things in life to achieve your number 1 priority. In reality, it will of course not be murdering someone but sacrificing things like social life, entertainment or even friends for your main goal.
Romance is at the heart of every flim and it can sometimes get messy, Naruto is of no exception. Naruto was madly in love with this girl, Sakura, to the extend that he made a lifetime promise to bring her lover who went rogue back to her. Keeping that promise and protecting Sakura become Naruto’s main motivation as he overcome various struggles. At the same time, another girl, Hinata fell for Naruto’s willingness to help people but choose to secretly admired him. Fortunately, after a long while (700 episodes or 14 years), Naruto realised Hinata’s affection and they eventually got married. True love is endearing, it takes time,patience and hard work to eventually materialized. Sometimes, we just need to widen our view and appreciate the people around us. Hopefully, I will one day find someone worth fighting again….
Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, and I will definitely miss this Anime. I thoroughly enjoyed the past 7 years, looking forward to every Thursday where a new episode will be released. Hopefully, the sequel will be as amazing….
Photo credits: https://www.pinterest.com/choseaquatique/n-a-r-u-t-o/
Joel 