Skip to main content

Naruto; the saddest death

For me, the saddest death in Naruto, is undoubtedly, Yashamaru's death. Let me say a few words about why I think so.

For me death by itself is not sad. I would in fact say that death is a blessing for the one who is dying. It is sad for those who are left behind. From that perspective I think Yashamaru's death is the saddest. Yashamaru was the only comforting figure in the life of Gaara. The moment it is revealed that the assassin who tried to kill him was that same Yashamaru was heart breaking. The way Gaara cries "Yashamaru.." still resonates in my mind.

Loneliness is one of the central themes of the anime. And, that scene captures it so magnificently. One of the most touching moments in the anime.

There are several other deaths for which I shed a lot of tears. Like the deaths of Haku or Zabuza or Jiraiya or Obito. But they truly shine through their deaths. As Jiraiya himself says "The true measure of a shinobi is not how he lives but how he dies. It's not what they do in life, but what they did before dying that proves their worth. Thinking back on it, my story is one full of failures. Tsunade rejected me every time. I couldn't save my friend, I failed to protect my student… and my teacher. Compared with the Hokage who came before me, my accomplishments have all been petty and insignificant. I wanted to die like them…". And these deaths really made them the excellent ninja (rippana shinobi) they always wanted to be. In the case of Zabuza, his human side was only seen at the end. Till then he would look like a cold hearted demon. So my tears were as much that of pride or happiness as much it was of sadness.

Neji's death was plain stupid. It was totally unnecessary. Notice that almost nobody other than Neji dies. And, that too he dies by getting hit by some sticks. He should have at least died in a more glorious way. At the very least he should have stopped a bijuu dama or so. So, Neji's death was more of a disappointment than sadness for me.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Naruto; My favourite anime

I am a huge fan of anime and I have watched several anime. However, no matter how many anime I watch, Naruto manages to remain my favourite. No anime could emote as much as Naruto - it makes me cry, it gives me goosebumps, it makes me laugh and so much more - and it manages to do that every time I re-watch Naruto. What is most surprising is that, there are scenes which made me genuinely scared. I was afraid what will happen to the characters I love, even though it is obvious that nothing will happen to them. For example, Naruto's and Sasuke's first confrontation with Orochimaru at Shi-no-mori (forest of death) is so scary. And not just this fight, there are so many fights where you feel that fear. I quoted this example, because this fight scared me the most. I don't remember getting scared while watching other anime. Anime in general are good at making you cry or give you adrenaline rush, but this is unique to Naruto. There are anime which has made me cry as mu

Deepavali - an interesting twist to a Greek Myth

Greek mythology contains tales of dangerous semi-human enchantresses called Sirens.  They seduce travelling sailors to their island using music and song to shipwreck on the rocky coasts.  Odysseus wanted to listen to the song of Sirens.  Heeding to the advice of Circe, he asks his crew to fill their ears with beeswax(so that they will not hear the song) and tie him to the mast of the ship.  He instructed the sailors that they are to leave him tied even if he orders to do otherwise.  Thus he could hear the song of the siren while escaping the treacherous end at the hands of Sirens.  This idea is called pre-commitment and is a favourite of many self-help gurus. The Tamil movie Deepavali gives an interesting twist to this story -  the hero is not Odysseus but a crew member.  Let me elaborate.  The heroine in this movie suffers from post-traumatic memory loss.  Troubled by the stressful experience of not recognising people she is supposed to recognise, she decides to go away from home.