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watermelonsloth · 8 months

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The Boruto Designs for the Rookie 9 Make No Sense

(Note: I'm not mentioning the blank period designs because that's a post all on it's own.)

A lot of people have complained about the designs of Naruto's generation in Boruto and I can't blame them(I actually agree with most of the criticisms made), but the number one problem I have with them I haven't found voiced. That problem is that they have no rhyme or reason behind them.

I don't think that Naruto was the pinnacle of character design or fashion in anime or anything, but I did like it for one big reason. All of the designs made sense for the characters. To me all of the Naruto character designs come across as in-character because, not only do they fit the personalities of the characters, the changes in the designs(specifically between Part 1 and Shippuden) feel like the natural progression of their designs.

The designs fall into one of two categories: more mature versions of their last designs(for the characters that have changed during the time-skip outside of getting more mature) and significant changes(for the characters who did change during the time-skip, usually in response to the Sasuke Retrieval arc).

The more mature ones include Naruto(he got longer pants, a new headband, and shoes, and started wearing black), Hinata(she lost the fur, got more color and new shoes, and grew her hair), Shino(got more jackets and color), Shikamaru(continued to look more like a chunin), Ino(lost most of the bandages and arm things, and got elbow and knee protection), TenTen(getting longer sleeves and new shoes, and simplifying her color pallet), Rock Lee(got a chunin vest and lost his headband), and, I'd argue, Neji(swapped the color beige for white, got longer sleeves and a skirt, and lost all of the bandages). Every aspect of their designs can be chalked up to Kishimoto's art style simplifying or adjustments that make the characters look more mature or protected. When you put their old and new designs next to each other, they're the natural progression of their last outfit(and a beautiful example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"). Hell, if you know the characters well enough, you can probably imagine their thought process while they were out shopping(Hinata being embarrassed to still wear fur lining as a chunin, Shikamaru being tired of fighting to get his chunin vest over his jacket, etc.).

The significant changes match the characters who most needed a jump in practicality and probably went through character arcs related to taking their career more seriously. Sakura's outfit in Part 1 was cute but it was fashion over function. In Shippuden, she kept her hair short to avoid it being grabbed again, shortened her skirt for better mobility, changed her color pallet to look more mature, and got boots(with a heel, but it's low enough to be passable), elbow pads, and gloves for better protection. She's planning to seriously help Naruto find Sasuke and fight off the Akatsuki and her outfit reflects that. Sasuke has a very different outfit in Shippuden to reflect both his drastically different fighting style and his connection to Orochimaru. Kiba(changing into a more protective leather outfit) and Choji(wearing straight up armor and growing his hair out to better match his teammates) also fall under here and it's most likely in response to nearly dying on the Sasuke retrieval mission.

I'm not going over them, but the other members of the cast(if they even got a new look) also follow this trend.

The Boruto designs break this trend and give us worse designs because of it. At least that's the case for the rookie nine. Outside of the rookie nine, the trend continues and any complaints I have come down to personal preference. This time, their designs fall into three categories: salvageable, time moves forward and their clothes move back, and what the fuck?

The salvageable ones are Naruto and Ino. I can understand giving Naruto more black and shortening his hair to make him look older, I just think it could've been better and needs a second draft. Ino is fine just plain(something made worse by her being the most fashionista-like member of the Konoha 12). I'd say it also needs a second draft, but it doesn't. The anime just needs to start using her design in the Boruto manga(I know it's kind of hard to see since we don't get any panels showing it off, but it looks good from what I can tell).

The time moves forward and their clothes move back ones I have an easy to guess problem with. Kiba and Choji's outfits resemble their Part 1 designs much more than their Shippuden designs. Kiba lost the leather and Choji lost the armor despite both of them still being active shinobi. Instead of progressing, they regressed for some reason. Choji also cut his hair shorter. If they really wanted to give him a different haircut(because they insist on much of the cast having different hair), why not tie his hair into a ponytail to better match his teammates?

(I'm gonna give Sakura her own section since I have a lot to say.)

Remember when I explained how Sakura's more practical outfit in Shippuden denoted character growth? Well, that all went out the window. First, I have two nitpicks that I think add to the problem, but would probably be fine otherwise. 1. She's now wearing heels that not only remind me more of Tsunade than herself, but they also look bad for working in a hospital, let alone going on missions. 2. She chose to start parting her hair differently because... of reasons. This was literally the first thing I noticed about her design. I know this sounds super minor, but changes like these do impact character design and recognizability. However, the main problem is how many awkward call backs there are to her first design. The attaching part of her top is curved, the tail of her top(I don't know what else to call it) falls to her knees again, the Chinese elements of her top, and the white lining. In some ways, her design is actually worse. Not only is she wearing loose looking heels, but she's also wearing tight-fitting, non elastic pants. Why doesn't she dress like a ninja anymore??? What possible reason could there be for any of this??? I'd also like to bring your attention to her wearing make-up and jewelry. I like hyper-feminine characters. I especially like hyper-feminine characters that are also badasses. I don't think it's good character design to add hyper-feminine elements to the design of a character that has an entire moment dedicated to how their insecurity and resulting focus on their ability to live up to female expectations distracts them from their job and goals.

The what the fuck designs I have the most problems with. I'll do my best to keep my complaints to a reasonable length because I could do a full rant on all of them.

Shino is the easiest to explain. He lost the layers of jackets associated with his clan, he completely changed his hair, and he replaced his sunglasses with a weird thing around his head(I don't know what to call it). At first I was gonna say he more resembles his Part 1 design, but it doesn't resemble any of his designs. He looks like an entirely different character and I have no idea why Kishimoto changed him so much, let alone Shino's motivation in-story. Did they think he looked more like a teacher this way?

I don't even know what to say for Shikamaru. I can only assume that they said "We should give him a goatee like his dad" and then they gave up. He's wearing a black jumpsuit with a beige-ish green-ish jacket and brown gloves. I couldn't tell you why and I doubt Kishimoto could either. Why are his colors completely different from all his other designs? Why is he suddenly interested in wearing jumpsuits every day? Why is he wearing a necklace with a circle hanging from it(it's too big to be a wedding ring and Temari isn't wearing one(or any ring for that matter))? Why is he wearing gloves if he never goes on missions?

Technically, Hinata has three designs(one for the epilogue, one for the anime, and one for the Boruto manga), but all of my complaints are for the one used in the anime so that's what I'm gonna talk about. First, why is her design so busy? The art style used for the Naruto series has been getting progressively simple throughout its run time, so why does her design have so many unnecessary elements? Her hooded sweater is lined, she has three layers, her outfit consists of five different colors, and there's a little thing hanging off of her sweater. I know these all sound minor, but none of the other adults get this detailed. If anything, the others have designs that are too simple. The only exception, kind of, is Sasuke, but Sasuke is always covering his layers with a plain black cloak. Also, keep in mind, Hinata only has this problem with her anime design, her other designs are much more simple. Wouldn't it make more sense for the anime to use one of the simpler and better looking designs? Second, was there any thought put into her design elements? Her design looks so different from her Shippuden one that I feel like it would be a waste of time to list those differences. Just look at the two, they look completely different. If I had to guess, the only thought that went into her design was "how do we make Hinata look like a mom?" Which is a shame, because they should've been asking "how do we make Hinata look like an older Hinata?"

Last, we have Sasuke. Where do I even begin with Sasuke? Why is he suddenly wearing what looks like a button-up shirt and vest into battle? Why is there so much detail in his design if it's all gonna be covered by a cloak anyways? Why does he have two belts? Why is his hair brushed downwards? But, most importantly, why doesn't he look like Sasuke? It's not like the Shino situation where he looks so different he might as well be a different character, I can tell it's Sasuke, but he doesn't dress like he used to at all. He's the one character that it would've made sense to dress him like a more mature version of his Part 1 outfit and then they chose the worst characters for that instead. He doesn't even resemble his parents or Itachi at all. He doesn't resemble his clan at all. Nothing's really "wrong" with the design. It's not infuriatingly impractical or ugly and it only needs a few tweaks at worst. But it's probably one of my, if not my number one, least favorite Boruto design. It doesn't look anything like the character it's for and there's no in-story reason why that is.

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dark-elf-writes · 11 months

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I’m literally cackling thinking about Shino’s reaction to everything that went down. He would have been praying for both Sasuke and Sakura’s downfall since day one, but this is a declaration of war.

Maybe Naruto and Sasuke somehow still had the kiss happen and Shino was just in the background buzzing like an angry eldritch god. Or he saw Sakura hit naruto one time and decided one day she would die vry painfully and be humiliated.

Shino has never liked the Haruno girl or the Uchiha.

Both of them have swatted at the stragglers in his hive more than once (the girl had actually screamed when she did it then called him a plethora of names that had Naruto vibrating with anger next to him) both of them were childish and arrogant at best seeing themselves as so much more than the rest of them regardless of the fact that the race for the top was far closer than either of them were willing to admit.

Worst of all, however is how they treated Naruto.

Most of the class was, if not friendly, then willing to ignore his friend for the most part. There was his odd not-friendship with Kiba that persisted through the years, and the fondness he had of both the Nara and Akimichi, but most of the rest of their class had taken one look at those fangs slick with venom and decided that polite distance was their best option.

Their loss, truthfully. There was never a more devoted friend than Naruto.

(Not that Shino was offering to share. He had been the one to see Naruto’s worth from the beginning.)

But Haruno and Uchiha had never been the same way.

He remembered Iruka-sensei watching him out of the corner of his eye the first time the girl had hit Naruto in annoyance, even as their teacher rushed forward to correct the behavior. The buzzing of the hive filled the classroom. So loud that Iruka-sensei had to raise his voice to be heard over them. Most of their classmates had edged away from him with wary eyes and disgusted expressions. Not Naruto who tucked himself under Shino’s arm and asked loudly with their teacher only feet away if Shino wanted to skip the rest of the day (Iruka-sensei didn’t even try to stop them.)

The less said about the Uchiha the better. It had taken all of Shino’s self control not to lungs at him when Naruto was knocked practically on top of him and their lips met only days after he realized he was head over heels in love with his best friend.

But this?

This?

Naruto sobbing into his chest, gasping out mangled explanations and apologies between each one. The horrible truth of what had happened on Team Seven’s first and only mission out of the safety of the village.

(That the two of them had nearly let Naruto die twice?)

His father met him at his bedroom window that night after he had claimed to go to sleep, hands tucked into his jacket and a single eyebrow raised high enough to be seen over his sunglasses.

“Go back inside, Shino.”

Shino’s hive buzzed loud enough that he almost didn’t hear the order. His fists clenched on the window sill so tightly the wood creaked.

“They hurt him,” Shino spat voice shaking, buzzing in his rage.

His father nodded. “And they are being punished. You can go help him if you are thrown in prison for killing your fellow Shinobi.”

“Technically they aren’t Shinobi anymore.” His father did not look impressed at the distinction.

Shino can’t breathe, poised halfway out his window with his father watching him and the horrors Naruto had confessed to him only Horus before. Can’t think of anything except.

“They hurt him,” He says again, weaker now. Defeated more than enraged.

His father comes closer, climbs up to meet him in the window and pulls him in to a side hug (the first hug Shino can remember from his father in a long time. Physical affection is not their clan’s way.)

“I know,” His father says.

Shino sags against him. Neither of them move until the first light of morning breaks over the horizon.

#the elf talks #naruto #venomous naruto: the breaking of team seven #venomous Naruto #shibi: you cannot murder Shinobi #shino: they are not Shinobi #shibi: fuck wait that’s not what I meant

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