Naruto: the Duel of the Caged Birds

Last time I said I would talk about bad movies made from popular franchises, but I am not ready to go into that dark negative territory and dedicate an entire post to it just yet, so instead I will go in the other direction with Naruto. Naruto impresses me for a number of reasons. First of all, it falls into my favorite kind of anime story, which is most of them, the story of a misfit who becomes a hero. I find these stories inspiring because goofballs like me and Naruto need this more than anybody. It'shard when you feel like nobody wants you, but hearing a story like this can give you hope when you feel hopeless. I also appreciate Naruto because unlike other anime it has managed to stay on track instead of growing out of control. Dragon Ball kept escalating it's villains until it had to end because there wasn't anywhere left to escalate to and the dragon balls themselves became largely irrelevant for the last half of the series run. Bleach started out as being Soul Reapers vs Hollows, but after a dozen episodes seemed to abandon Hollows as the primary antagonists. And can anyone tell me how the Straw Hat Pirates are getting any closer to finding the legendary One Piece? Oh yeah, that's right, they haven't even been looking for One Piece since before Arlong. Don't get me wrong, I do love all those stories, but I have to give props to Naruto for always being about Jinchuriki vs Uchiha. The entire series starts with Naruto's rivalry with Sasuke, and by the time Sasuke steps out, who's the new antagonist but his brother Itachi. Itachi is part of the Akatsuki who are looking for Jinchuriki like Naruto, and then it turns out the Akatsuki are actually led by Obito Uchiha who is actually just a subordinate to Madara Uchiha, who as it turns out only started the Akatsuki to get the power of the tailed beasts that the ancestor of the Uchiha Clan sealed away in the first place. This means that ultimately the central conflict of the Naruto universe started with the Uchiha Clan and the tailed beasts and was destined to be settled by the last of each line which brings it back to Naruto and Sasuke. Considering how easy it is for some writers to lose sight of the original idea and stray off, I have to give a lot of credit to Naruto that it always ties back to where it started, it's nothing if not focused.

For those who may be a little lost, Naruto is the story of an eponymous ninja who carries within him the spirit of the nine-tailed fox. There are nine such spirits, each sealed in a person known as a Jinchuriki. Jinchuki are powerful because the spirit gives them extra energy and special powers otherwise beyond human ability even by ninja standards. In this world the ninja are capable of mystical ninjutsu and some clans have special powers called Genki Kekkai which are inherited and usually involve some unique anatomical trait. The most significant of the Genki Kekkai are the Dojutsu, the Three Great Eye Arts. All three of the Dojutsu are believed to have come from one ninja sage who split the ancient ten-tailed spirit into nine spirits to limit it's power. Few know this truth and are only aware that there clans of ninja with special eyes and a few ninja who have demon spirits sealed in them. Naruto has the misfortune of being one of the misunderstood Jinchuriki and forms a rivalry with Sasuke Uchiha who happens to be the last of the clan that carries the legacy of the Sharingan, a Dojutsu that allows one to have heightened attention to detail in battle allowing for quicker reflexes and learning ninjutsu by simply watching them be used. The Sharingan actually has a lot more power including Genjutsu, or ninjutsu of illusions, but more importantly Sharingan, as Dojutsu allows for the potential to control the tailed beasts since it is tied to the abilities of the sage who split and defeated the ten-tailed beast in the first place. In the beginning neither Naruto nor Sasuke is aware of just how much their destinies are tied together, only that they are both outcasts and are forced together on one team. It seems the secrets of their destinies are so little known nobody realizes what a bad idea it may actually be to force them to be friends. Sasuke is the last of his clan after his brother kills the rest of the family and leaves Sasuke all alone and this gives him both a large ego and major trust issues. Naruto on the other hand is also an orphan, but without the ego attached because he doesn't know his own legacy, he is desperate to be liked. From my own experiences I know that this desperation can make one even more awkward and creates a vicious cycle where it's not clear if nobody likes you because you're a hot mess or if you're such a mess because nobody likes you. Eventually Naruto's life turns around when he finally finds people who actually seem to genuinely like him and when he realizes he needs to protect these people his true strength comes out. Sasuke goes in the other direction, trying to be more independent and find his own strength and tries to isolate himself in the process. The story mainly follows how these two follow their own paths from a common starting point as orphans with greater power than they realize becoming ninja in the Village Hidden in the Leaves and going off to find their destinies in opposite directions only to find they reach the same end.

Of all of the events in Naruto, the most moving for me was something I call the Duel of the Caged Birds. It's four episodes long to get from the beginning of the set up to the big payoff, but honestly it is the most worthwhile of all anime. There are three ranks of ninja, four if you count the Kage leaders, but since there can only be one of those for each village it's hard to count it, and to move between those ranks a ninja must take an exam. The final part of the first exam is a fighting tournament between the top ninja who remain after the eliminations of the first few rounds. Naruto's first fight-only fight because the exam is cut short by unfortunate circumstances-is against Neji Hyuga. The Hyuga Clan has the Byakugan, the weakest of the three Dojutsu, but bear in mind that when I say weakest I mean the weakest of one of the three strongest powers, and as a relative measure it's still pretty badass. Byakugan allows for one to see all around in 360 degrees and even through objects, and since you can see inside your opponent, this allows for a special fighting style called the Gentle Fist because it relies on precision rather than force and even a gentle tap can be debilitating or even lethal. Neji has already mastered the Gentle Fist and knows the village idiot doesn't stand a chance against him. In an act of sheer hubris he tries to get Naruto to give up by explaining the futility of the fight, Neji will win. To make his point he explains the Mark of the Caged Bird. Every member of the Hyuga Clan has the mark except the leader and his heir, all those with the mark are subordinate. Neji is older and stronger than the current heir Hinata, but because his father was born only minutes after Hinata's father, his twin and current leader of the clan, Neji can never be the leader of his clan. He is caged by this fate as Naruto is caged by the fate of losing to Neji. Of course Naruto doesn't care and fights anyway, pulling out win against all odds and surprising everyone, possibly even himself. As Neji lies on his back defeated, he looks up into the sky at a bird flying free. "Even a caged bird will pick the lock to it's cage, never giving up the dream to fly free again." The clip below cuts off just before the pay off, but trust me, the line happens, and this sequence is still awesome.