Naruto manga chapter 353

[askerian]

http://www.mangahelpers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12599

Only the raw for now.


--edit mangahelpers is down right now, so here's the raw, and here's the translation. In-progress for now.


eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeitachi. Itachi being wet and hot.and girly, but that's a family trait. u.u

Itachi and Kisame. I wanna know what they talked abouuuut. *_*

... and then a bazilion pages of their shadow-ghost-talk-from-distances jutsu thing, which I'll bet my ass is Kishimoto's way of getting out of actually having to draw more than squiggly rocks as background and quick outlines with eyes for pages and pages and pages. u.u

And then a couple of pages about Naruto, still in the Hokage's office. nnngh too much talk in this chapter, not enough Naruto/Uchiha brothers/Sakura being hot. AND STILL NO TRANSLATION AAHHH. (yeah, I know it's barely been up a hour or less. XD *WHINES ANYWAY, BITCH*


edit: AHH that old man is the four tails? ;.; I like his look -he reminds me of that old jedi guy, a bit. o.o) What's the four tails' beastie again... the dog? *forgets like a forgetful thing* They haven't said in the chapter yet at any rate.

Ohh, look, an explanation as to why they need to keep naruto for last! One I'll be able to use for Teamwork too. XD A little more convincing than a simple "the hero is always targeted last we had other stuff to do first." Still, I wonder why the hell Sir Leader didn't think about warning them that he'd need Kyuubi last or the balance would be fucked up and the statue would crumble. D:


Sakura: If we can just capture one member of Akatsuki, we can turn them over to Ibiki-san, and let him extract whatever information he can get.
Someone has a ruthless streak. *.* (now i want to write about sakura learning torture, but that's been done before, and better than I could. Nnnh where was that fic again, that sounded like Tsunade was teaching her medic-nin stuff at first... *search search*)


Ahaha Akatsuki is such a tender, loving, friendly, close-knit group. XD
Kisame: Really now? Haha... So the "Zombie Twins" are dead, eh? I wish I could've seen how they were killed.


Poor, poor Sir Leader. XD His fearsome men are behaving like a bunch of little brats.

Kisame: Heh...impressive. You must be proud of your little brother, Itachi-san.
SQUEE -- uhh. sorry. >.> It's just. the mental picture. nnnghhh.


... how come Juugo and Suigetsu both have a rep even the Akatsuki know about, and the girl is, once again, the a non-entity. ... nngh. After all she doesn't seem to be as much of a fighter.

Comments

[book-people.livejournal.com]

...I'm pretty sure in the comic, MJ was a super-model. Maybe it's based on that?

I think also that there's an explanation for why kunoichi are usually overlooked. Namely, this is a manga for twelve-year-old boys. While those of us who are women would like to see more kick-ass kunoichi like Sakura and Tsunade (and Ino, on occasion...), the target audience probably doesn't. Thus, guys with reps and girls who... are there...

Truth be told, Naruto is better about letting women be cool than other manga of the genre. I agree it is a little annoying sometimes, though. Like how during the "ooh, look, Sasuke showed up after three years" plot line, Sakura, who had proven herself to be very good at what she does nowadays, just /stands there and looks surprised/ while Naruto at least shouts stuff. *grumble* *mutter*

Adi

[monique-27.livejournal.com]

It's based on a sketch done of her doing laundry, which wasn't as sexed-up as the statue ended up being, but was still awful. And, really, I don't think "MJ was a super-model" excuses or justifies this picture - not that excuses need to be made, but...still. *flinch*

I was on a bit of a "damn, the world is still really unfair to females" roll, but I'm not trying to be difficult or contrary or anything...and I'm not all "crazy femme FTW" either. *lol* I'm just very fair. I call it like it is, and if something happens that I don't feel is justified or sensible I'll say so. And, you see, I don't think the way women are portrayed in the specific instances of comics [MJ (and _so_ many others)] and Naruto [Karin, Sakura, etc.] is fair. There have been some turning points, but even when a female character develops substance, she can't escape the "sex object", "needs to be protected" or "damsel in distress" cliches. You need the hero to be all determined and noble? Have him save the chick he's banging, or partnered with, etc.

I'm not trying to change the world one comic at a time or anything - but in the Naruto World I really don't believe there is any reason for women to keep getting glossed over. There don't seem to be any gender stereotypes or barriers from the character's perspectives, and I think it's safe to assume there wouldn't be any in at all because it's more "life and death" and such stereotypes and limitations would be nonsensical in such a world; plus, it isn't our world and hence it could (and should) be better. So, yes, Naruto isn't awful, it's better than others, but it's really not as great as it has the potential to be.

The example you gave isn't the only one. Tsunade kicks major ass, she's a Hokage, a Legendery Sannin, and yet even she gets shafted. Almost all the women (except for like Anko) are over-emotional, go through instances of sheer pettiness, being love-struck or crushing on someone, and even when they are shown to have special skills they don't get praised for them. We see Sakura destroying in one arc, and completely ignorable in the next. *grr*

Since Naruto covers such a wide selection of topics, for almost any age group, even though it targets young males it should show female characters in a stronger, more appealing light. Again, I'm not trying to be "femmes!!!!" or anything, I just feel if you can depict characters favorably and interestingly, why not do it? How much more effort does it take to have someone say "And Karin of the (whatever) is with them" when mentioning the others in Hebi? It would have presented an opportunity for us to know more about her, and it would reinforce her as an interesting, strong female character in the manga.

That's just my two (err - 200 *;.;*) cents. *^.^*

[book-people.livejournal.com]

Ah. Alright. That does make the statue deplorable. *glares at the damn thing*


You're right, of course. Females do tend to be pushed to the sidelines a bit, and there really is no reason for this to be so, especially in fiction. Especially in fiction that a lot of females read, despite the target audience. Besides, it wouldn't hurt any twelve-year-old boys to have a kick-ass female idol, either.

And in response to you're 'not "yay! femme!"' thing, I am conversely not trying to say we should just accept the roles women are placed in over and over again, or that they are right, while somewhat understandable considering the general attitudes of history, etc. We need to bring them to others' attention so that any change at all can take place. I was just trying to say that we shouldn't short-change the steps in the right direction we /have/ taken, even in fictitious worlds. Sakura scaring the shit out of Kakashi and Naruto and Tsunade beating Oro to a bloody pulp were two such "steps in the right direction." >D

Also, Anko is one of the coolest characters in Naruto, hands down. She's so kick-ass even the ANBU think she's nuts. *grins*

Adi

[monique-27.livejournal.com]

Also, Anko is one of the coolest characters in Naruto, hands down. She's so kick-ass even the ANBU think she's nuts. <- *LOL like whoa*

I can definitely see your point/theories and I agree with a lot of it. The steps in the right direction would be nicer in larger quantities, but I'll take what I can get, considering. Also, I understand where you're coming from, and it's nice that we both see no one is being extremist on either end, and are just having an intelligent conversation.

... *gasps* (*whispers* Is the Naruto Fandom coming to an end?! *hides*)

... *^.^*

Besides, it wouldn't hurt any twelve-year-old boys to have a kick-ass female idol, either. <- Amen to that! ;)

[arminaskitty.livejournal.com]

*Nod-nods* Have to agree with you on pretty much all points. My theory on the reason women get ignored on a regular basis in Naruto is because of Japan's gender stereotyping. I'm not saying that that is 100% the reason, but most often, women are not seen as fighters, or as the really cool ones. They're the nurtures, example being that the most kick-ass woman in Naruto, Tsunade, is a HEALER!!
The next main female, Sakura, also a medic-nin. Next, Ino, learns medic-nin skills. Hinata is in the supporter position, Tenten, in the manga at least, is just there to fill out Team Gai, Kurenai gets preggers, and Anko is the 'crazy, psyco bitch that got trained by Orochimaru, so CLEARLY she's unbalanced and has issues'.
My view, Kishimoto is channeling the Japanese culture stereotypes. Good, proper, womanly women don't fight, they stay home and have babies and if a proper woman does go near battle, she's there to patch up the real fighters hurts. *stabs stereotype with rusty spork* My view point, my theory, just putting it out for analysis. *goes back to lurking*
A.S.

[monique-27.livejournal.com]

*Nods back* Yup yup...I can definitely see where your theories are coming from, though I can't say I fully agree or disagree. A lot of it is stereotyping, and like you said, it isn't 100% the reason, but I can't deny how it might seem that way. The females get shafted more often than not, but as Adi and I were saying the coolness does seep through every now and again, and that's better than nothing. "Steps in the right direction" and all that. :)

So, I can see your points/theories, and I agree with some, though not all of it. Lots of kunoichi are going medic-nin and we've got one barefoot and pregnant (as the saying goes) ... and widowed at that ... hopefully their awesomeness comes through with time. And not just with the kunoichi, but with all the neglected characters (Haven't seen much of Team 8 in Naruto II). :(

[arminaskitty.livejournal.com]

The object of a discussion is to put out theories and ideas to be analyzed and disected. I'm not in the least offended that you agree with part, but not all of my theories.
Stereotyping is probably the base of women not getting the spot light, the target audience probably plays a part and also, we don't know how much or how little of the Naruto plot line is spawned directly from Kishimoto's brain or how much is adviced upon by his staff. It looks like /someone/ wants to make women more important, but other factors keep ending it before it can fully come about. Also, perhaps Kishi's trying to represent a more historic setting in the Naruto world? A slightly medival Japan (ignoring the TV's, vcr's and electric lights...)
But yeah, what happend to the rest of the Rookie Nine + Team Gai? Shikamaru got the spot light for a little while, the rest of team ten and team Gai where looked at for a little aanndd.. Team eight showed up long enough for us to see them post time skip and they disappeared again........ W.T.F. What ever happened to Hinata-chan making herself stronger? What new abilities does Kiba or Shino have? Inquiring minds want to know!
A.S.