I suppose this is a good a place to rant and rave about Naruto fandumbs. I am honestly starting to believe that the only people who enjoy reading and actually like Naruto, are me and a bunch of NF newbs who have yet to be corrupted.
I'll start my inane ramblings on why I think Gai is a brilliant character. Why him? Well, I've actually been meaning to create a well constructed essay on the defense of his character, but since I actually committed myself to doing it, I have actually done everything I could to get out of it. So instead, I make this entry a diarrhea of half witted conclusions and streams of consciousness about his character.
Gai has always caught my attention. Probably because he's so flamboyant and eccentric that whenever he is in the manga, it's never boring. He brings a splash of color to the story stronger than most main characters. He never fails to make us laugh as much as he never fails to impress us when he fights. He leaves a strong impression on readers, whether they like him or not.
But even more than that, I like him beyond comedy. I think it's take for granted that Gai is a funny character, and they label him stupid and annoying. But that's not the case, he isn't stupid. He isn't ignorant. And some consider him annoying, but I think there's more to him than that. It's sad that people can look at Gai and only manage to scrape a very shallow part of his character. There is something so fundamentally noble about his character that many people miss. Gai has something the rest of the characters lack, something almost absurdly simple, but very important.
Gai loves life.
He treasures it, he enjoys every minute of it. Even in this splurge of constant drama and villains and burdens and hate, it never pushes him down. Gai isn't oblivious as many people think. He's the same age as Kakashi, he was a child in a shinobi war; seeing and experiencing things that everyone in war sees and experiences. What makes him different is that he has a quality that is absent in many characters we have seen, emotional strength. We so often consider being "fucked up" part of a deep, dynamic character that we don't consider "being happy" anything special.
Another part I really love about Gai is that even if he has no qualms about life, he is never content with the way things are now. There are people like prebitched Neji, who was so wrapped up in fate and bitterness that all he could do was blame fate and he left it at that. He hated and hated, self pitying his lost potential, but never sought to change anything. However, Gai is different, he doesn't have to hate something to change it. And he refuses life to be static.
Gai doesn't believe in things like "potential" because potential means there is a limit in what you can achieve. There is only where you stand now and better. And there's no reason not to become better. That's what Gai saw in Lee, who had no ability to do ninjutsu and genjutsu, and had absolutely no potential in taijutsu. When you are the bottom, the only thing you can do is climb, and Gai resonated that theme to Lee.
Gai cultivated Lee because his willingness to work. He gave him his all, because Gai does not believe in doing anything 50%. He even put his life on his line as a bet so that Lee would take the operation, and it was his confidence that inspired Lee into the absolute fantastic shinobi. Gai has shown through Lee that he has a quality that only Naruto and Orochimaru seemed to posses, the ability to change people. There will be countless of strong shinobi that come and go, but very few of them ever leave a strong impact on anybody. He isn't an idiot, he's just to busy living to be careful.
In short, Gai is beyond a shinobi. Shinobi are tools, but Gai is a man among men.
PS. Gai is the sexiest character in Naruto, believe it.
Currently listening too: Sleepy Maggy:: Ashley MacIsaac
I'll start my inane ramblings on why I think Gai is a brilliant character. Why him? Well, I've actually been meaning to create a well constructed essay on the defense of his character, but since I actually committed myself to doing it, I have actually done everything I could to get out of it. So instead, I make this entry a diarrhea of half witted conclusions and streams of consciousness about his character.
Gai has always caught my attention. Probably because he's so flamboyant and eccentric that whenever he is in the manga, it's never boring. He brings a splash of color to the story stronger than most main characters. He never fails to make us laugh as much as he never fails to impress us when he fights. He leaves a strong impression on readers, whether they like him or not.
But even more than that, I like him beyond comedy. I think it's take for granted that Gai is a funny character, and they label him stupid and annoying. But that's not the case, he isn't stupid. He isn't ignorant. And some consider him annoying, but I think there's more to him than that. It's sad that people can look at Gai and only manage to scrape a very shallow part of his character. There is something so fundamentally noble about his character that many people miss. Gai has something the rest of the characters lack, something almost absurdly simple, but very important.
Gai loves life.
He treasures it, he enjoys every minute of it. Even in this splurge of constant drama and villains and burdens and hate, it never pushes him down. Gai isn't oblivious as many people think. He's the same age as Kakashi, he was a child in a shinobi war; seeing and experiencing things that everyone in war sees and experiences. What makes him different is that he has a quality that is absent in many characters we have seen, emotional strength. We so often consider being "fucked up" part of a deep, dynamic character that we don't consider "being happy" anything special.
Another part I really love about Gai is that even if he has no qualms about life, he is never content with the way things are now. There are people like prebitched Neji, who was so wrapped up in fate and bitterness that all he could do was blame fate and he left it at that. He hated and hated, self pitying his lost potential, but never sought to change anything. However, Gai is different, he doesn't have to hate something to change it. And he refuses life to be static.
Gai doesn't believe in things like "potential" because potential means there is a limit in what you can achieve. There is only where you stand now and better. And there's no reason not to become better. That's what Gai saw in Lee, who had no ability to do ninjutsu and genjutsu, and had absolutely no potential in taijutsu. When you are the bottom, the only thing you can do is climb, and Gai resonated that theme to Lee.
Gai cultivated Lee because his willingness to work. He gave him his all, because Gai does not believe in doing anything 50%. He even put his life on his line as a bet so that Lee would take the operation, and it was his confidence that inspired Lee into the absolute fantastic shinobi. Gai has shown through Lee that he has a quality that only Naruto and Orochimaru seemed to posses, the ability to change people. There will be countless of strong shinobi that come and go, but very few of them ever leave a strong impact on anybody. He isn't an idiot, he's just to busy living to be careful.
In short, Gai is beyond a shinobi. Shinobi are tools, but Gai is a man among men.
PS. Gai is the sexiest character in Naruto, believe it.
Currently listening too: Sleepy Maggy:: Ashley MacIsaac
