Naruto manga.

[naanima]

So, I haven't read the newest chapter or anything, but, um, so, uhh - Kakashi is dead? Wow, so, Kishimoto is really trying to clean out the old and put in the new. Mind you, it makes sense from a thematic level that he will need to get rid of most of the old cast so that the young; Naruto and crew and take over. But still to kill off Kakashi. Wow, did not see that one coming at all.

In conclusion, Kishimoto, just when I think you will go the 'normal' shounen route you do something completely unexpected. If you carry through with this I'll be pretty damn impressed.

Comments

[code-renegade.livejournal.com]

If nothing else, Sasuke will return to Konoha to wipe out the village. It's kinda stupid, though. In a "my brother so loved this village that he killed his entire bloodline except for me, so I'm going to honour his memory by destroying the village that he practically gave his life for".

Like, WTF.

Thing is, unless Naruto defies the common expectations of a shonen manga, the most likely case is that Sasuke will eventually return to his birthplace (with much.... 'persuasion' on Naruto's part). Starting up his own village, and by that same line of thought, his own clan, seems like a pretty spiffy idea, though. We can definitely entertain this as a possibility, given how much the current anime/manga industry seems to embrace the uncommon (FMA, anyone?).

[naanima.livejournal.com]

I'm rather suspicious of Sasuke's newest goal, I'm reserving my judgement till he actually does something.

For me Kishimoto has already defied expectations. Back during the Valley of the Dead fight the general consensus was that Naruto was going to beat Sasuke and drag him back to Konoha. (The whole 'night' took practically several months to wrap up). So, when Sasuke pushed his hand through Naruto's chest and left it kind of shocked fandom to its core. And then the time skip, which threw the fans again. Thus, in many ways Kishimoto has done things in the past that defies expectations.

(But FMA, the anime, is relatively old, over 2 years).