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In the light of the recent events in the naruto universe, I have yet again been reminded by a character held in very high esteem, one with a strong, healthy fan base. All brains and no brawl, the ninja in question is Shikamaru. Possessing one of the most efficient strategical minds in naruto, his analytical capabilities unquestioned, his name (altough sometimes forgotten - I had a friend who called him Shikachimaru) praised far and wide by many other characters, including teamates Chouji and Kotetsu, Asuma-sensei and Sarutobi Sandaime himself, Shikamaru has effervescently been glorified by the writer of the story many times over.
His backstory, altough simple and honestly quite boring, has somewhat warmed some of us to this laid-back, calculating embodiment of intelligence. Most of us certainly find a certain liking to his personality, connecting ourselves with his exaggerated laziness and sense of philosophy. Some people even tell me he makes them feel old, but perhaps they've just been confined in a nursing home for too long.
Back on topic; thank you for sticking with me through this lenghtly introduction, by the way XD
I feel that a lot of effort has been put in naruto to ground the characters in the story, to give them a more "human" feeling. Of course, encompassing a human being in a 2D manga strip would prove difficult, yet the author does this very sucessfully by showing us unique traits to each characters that we can all relate to. For example, "loneliness" is the main theme of many of the shinobis, as is envy and hate for Sasuke or shyness for Hina-..oh shit, I'm wandering off-topic again >.>
Anyways, it all comes down to the principle attributes of Shikamaru, that are overly present and even repetitive sometimes: his intelligence and loyalty. The latter can't be stressed enough by the author. He must have an obsession of reminding us of Shika's unwavering loyalty. He put so much emphasis on this, that he even tried to make us lose faith in this lazy shinobi during the invasion of Konoha arc - just to betray our first impressions and make us see what a real hero Shikamaru really is. Countless times afterwards, is his commitment to his friends referenced, such as in the save Sasuke arc, where his "leave no man behind" philosophy had to be put aside in order to accomplish a mission. A mission that ultimately failed; resulting in a harsh scolding by his father for leaving every single man behind.
But our brave little boy learned his lesson, or so we can assume. Three years later, Shikamaru returns as a brash young man, loyal to his old friend Naruto, and to the death to his sensei. Sporting a chuunin flask vest and the same old haircut, his accoutrement is unimpressive, but typical to a character that doesn't care much. That aside tough, I've noticed that once again, are his intellectual capabilities excessively displayed.
Actually, I'm begining to think that Kishimoto himself got lazy, and just decided to show us some panels of previous chapters, with the excuse of Shikamaru re-thinking over a hundred times something that supposedly happened mere seconds ago >.>
In my humble perspective, that was some poor writting on his part. I was expecting something much more out of the ordinary, something that would've made me remember why I think naruto is such a brilliant manga. But guess what ?
Right. So what I want to know is, what do you guys think of shikamaru ? Abrupt and awkwardly written, or masterpiece of the naruto universe ? Stimulating and interesting, good supporting character, or "meh" ?
And stay on topic XD!!!!
His backstory, altough simple and honestly quite boring, has somewhat warmed some of us to this laid-back, calculating embodiment of intelligence. Most of us certainly find a certain liking to his personality, connecting ourselves with his exaggerated laziness and sense of philosophy. Some people even tell me he makes them feel old, but perhaps they've just been confined in a nursing home for too long.
Back on topic; thank you for sticking with me through this lenghtly introduction, by the way XD
I feel that a lot of effort has been put in naruto to ground the characters in the story, to give them a more "human" feeling. Of course, encompassing a human being in a 2D manga strip would prove difficult, yet the author does this very sucessfully by showing us unique traits to each characters that we can all relate to. For example, "loneliness" is the main theme of many of the shinobis, as is envy and hate for Sasuke or shyness for Hina-..oh shit, I'm wandering off-topic again >.>
Anyways, it all comes down to the principle attributes of Shikamaru, that are overly present and even repetitive sometimes: his intelligence and loyalty. The latter can't be stressed enough by the author. He must have an obsession of reminding us of Shika's unwavering loyalty. He put so much emphasis on this, that he even tried to make us lose faith in this lazy shinobi during the invasion of Konoha arc - just to betray our first impressions and make us see what a real hero Shikamaru really is. Countless times afterwards, is his commitment to his friends referenced, such as in the save Sasuke arc, where his "leave no man behind" philosophy had to be put aside in order to accomplish a mission. A mission that ultimately failed; resulting in a harsh scolding by his father for leaving every single man behind.
But our brave little boy learned his lesson, or so we can assume. Three years later, Shikamaru returns as a brash young man, loyal to his old friend Naruto, and to the death to his sensei. Sporting a chuunin flask vest and the same old haircut, his accoutrement is unimpressive, but typical to a character that doesn't care much. That aside tough, I've noticed that once again, are his intellectual capabilities excessively displayed.
Actually, I'm begining to think that Kishimoto himself got lazy, and just decided to show us some panels of previous chapters, with the excuse of Shikamaru re-thinking over a hundred times something that supposedly happened mere seconds ago >.>
In my humble perspective, that was some poor writting on his part. I was expecting something much more out of the ordinary, something that would've made me remember why I think naruto is such a brilliant manga. But guess what ?
It was all just filler for the staff to work on that phat bigass statue and stylish shots of the AL in the following chapter XD
Right. So what I want to know is, what do you guys think of shikamaru ? Abrupt and awkwardly written, or masterpiece of the naruto universe ? Stimulating and interesting, good supporting character, or "meh" ?
And stay on topic XD!!!!
