My 10 Best Fictional Moms

So, that special day where we celebrate that special woman in our lives is coming up, and I thought it would be appropriate to do a list of some of the best mothers I have seen in any medium of fiction thus far. Keep in mind, this list will include non-traditional roles as mothers, including step-mothers, adopted mothers, and just over-all motherly figures. Also, keep in mind that this list is limited to pieces of fiction that I have personal watched/read/played (and that I may have a slight personal bias to characters like my own mother, who is kind of the most awesome person I know and my biggest role model ever).

10: Bubby

The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack

I haven't watched Flapjack in a LONG while due to it never being on Cartoon Network anymore, unfortunately. I do know that a lot of people found the show super annoying, which I never got, particularly due to my favorite character: Bubby, Flapjack's makeshift house/adoptive mom. Bubby is just so caring and protective of sweet, naive Flapjack, and she does everything in her power to protect him from the harshness of the world and the bad influence of that sleazy drunk ex-sailor he idolizes so much. She's sweet, caring, sassy, and downright terrifying if you ever even think of messing with her kid. For that, Bubby will always be one of my favorite cartoon moms.

9: Catelyn Stark

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones)

 OK, first off, let's keep the comments spoiler-free. I'm still not caught up with the books or TV series, and I'm sure there are other people here who aren't, either.
Now that we have that out of the way, Catelyn is an excellent example of a mother who would do almost anything for the sake of any of her five children. She just loves being a mom, and she loves her children with all of her heart, which is freaking fantastic. The only thing keeping her from being any higher on this list is that she's an absolutely awful step-mom. Poor Jon. It's not his fault that Ned supposedly cheated on you and took his bastard son home (which is already a pretty shaky story to begin with, anyway; idk why you bought it). She just needs to learn to accept the poor kid. He has enough crap to deal with already.
(BTW, if she makes up with Jon Snow at any point, feel free to move her over to spot #2.)

8: Helen Parr/Elastigirl

The Incredibles

Helen is definitely one of the most realistic mothers you will ever find in animation. You get to see Helen, formerly known as Elastigirl, struggle through an ordinary life as a wife and mother of three, with a moody teen daughter, rebellious preteen boy, and fussy baby- all of whom have super powers like their parents. It's really interesting to see that someone with the power to stretch her body in a number of impossible ways can struggle with so many mundane tasks like trying to make her son chase after his dreams- but not too fast for the other kids to catch up- and help her daughter come out of her metaphorical- a I guess sometimes literal- shell. But while she does try to keep her family as normal and functional as possible, she's also a badass ex-superhero on the side, so when a situation involving her children being in danger does come up, you can be sure she'll be right on top of that.

7: Mom Squared Garnet

Steven Universe

So Garnet isn't exactly Steven's mother- er, mothers?- but really a friend of his mother's, but the entire premise of the show is that Steven is being raised by sentient alien space rocks, so Garnet more than qualifies as a motherly figure(s). While Garnet is undoubtedly the most cool, quiet, and stoic of the group, she's also the most affectionate and loving between her, Pearl, and Amethyst, all while still managing to give Steven enough space and respect to figure things out on his own. She's just a fountain of love and motherly wisdom, and I absolutely adore her because of it.

6: Tatsumama Tatsumiya

Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea

BTW, things get spoiler-y with this one.

Tatsumiya, other than being the single-handed greatest thing in all of Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea (other than Idate and power-couple Doloz and Cherryblod), is also a freaking awesome mother. Now, yeah, I suppose that Doloz is also a great mom and could be on this list, but, really, Tatsumiya didn't have to be a mom. Wadanohara isn't her actual child; Tatsumiya was the oarfish familiar of her father, The Great Sorcerer Meikai, and after his death and the betrayal of his other familiar Old, she takes in little Wadda, who had yet to even hatch from her egg. Now, since Meikai was very important to the Sea Kingdom, Tatsumiya didn't have to take Wadda in- just about anyone would have been more than willing to- but she did, possibly because she "respected Meikai more than anyone else." Really, Mogeko, we all know she was in love with him; I don't know why you won't say it already... She taught Wadda everything she knows about magic, and despite knowing how much the kingdom relies on her, still tries to let Wadda know that she doesn't ever have to do anything she doesn't want to, and that it's OK to quit if anything becomes too much of a burden on her.

No, this is totally not me just adoring her as a character and wanting to give oarfish mom some much needed time in the spotlight.

5: Emma Swan

Once Upon a Time

Emma isn't the type of woman you'd expect to make it on a list of awesome moms, mostly because she put Henry up for adoption when he was born. She was a little young to be a mom, and she didn't feel ready for parenthood at all, so she made a respectable decision in trying to give Henry what she thought would be a better life. Once Henry tracks her down and finds her later in life, though, she quickly builds a strong attachment with him and begins to take a motherly role in his life. Yes, she makes some mistakes, but keep in mind that she never really knew her kid, and she is suddenly thrown into a position she has no experience with, and that she always encourages Henry the way that any mother should. So, yeah. Emma may not have wanted to be a mom, but she sure as hell is doing a good job of being one, all things considered.

4: Yasuko Takasu

Toradora!

When we are initially introduced to Yasuko, she doesn't come off as a good mother- in fact, when I first saw her, I was under the impression that she was a complete deadbeat that neglected her kid and just never grew up, since she's always out of the house until very late at night, which therefore leaves Ryuuji doing all of the work at home. We later find out, though, that she's actually living my worst nightmare- working two shifts at two different jobs literally every single day- in order to make sure her son gets the financial support he needs for a good life and a good education. The only thing she asks for is that he doesn't get a job and focuses on his studies. So, should Yasuko be a mom? Probably not; she was a teen mom, is a total airhead and, as I said earlier, seems like she never really grew up. But, at the same time, you have to admit that the sheer amount of her own life that she sacrificed for her son- who looks so much like the man that left her while she was pregnant- is genuinely awe-inspiring and just overall the quality of an excellent mother.

3: Molly Weasley 
Harry Potter

Well, for one thing, there's the scene depicted above. That was pretty badass.

OK, but, no, seriously, I almost had Lily Evans Potter in this spot (because Harry Potter is actually full of great moms being great), but Molly takes the spot because 1) We hardly ever get to see Lily, and 2) Molly has a lot of experience with being a mom. You'd think that she'd be done after raising three sons, who are all pretty successful in their own rights, but she goes on, has trouble-maker twins, then she has asshat Ron- oh, I'm sorry- Ronald, and then she stops popping out babies with her only daughter, Ginny. Now, you may say, she's had seven kids at this point. Surely she's had enough of children by this point, to which I would typically agree. But then she goes and pretty much all but adopts Harry into the family. Holy Hell, woman!

But, really, despite being so big, the Weasley family is also tightly knit together, and no matter how much I may hate Ron and that filthy traitor Percy, Molly did a damn good job in raising and caring for seven kids, and God knows she isn't going to take crap from any one of them.

2: Kala

Tarzan

I know it may seem strange, but one of my favorite Disney movies is Tarzan, and I think that the story of how Kala found Tarzan and raised him was a huge reason as to why. Baby Tarzan wasn't even the same species as her, yet Kala was willing to risk her life in order to save him. She's a kind, caring, and very accepting mother, and nothing else really needs to be said about her.

Before I get to my number one pick, here are some honorable mentions:

Queen Elinor from Brave
Because, while she started out the movie as a overly controlling mother, she learns what it means to be supportive of your children's decisions and that you just need to give them room to grow.
Really, IDK why this movie gets so much hate.

 Eudora from The Princess and the Frog
My favorite Disney mom, who also happens to be the mother of my favorite Disney princess. She's the kind of awesome mom who knows it's OK to have ambitions and to follow your dreams, but she also makes sure to let Tiana that you can't get so caught up in those dreams that you start missing out on all the fun in life.
Only reason she didn't make it on to the list is that she barely gets any screen time. I didn't even know she had a name before I started doing research for this post!

Mavis from Hotel Transylvania 2

While I do dislike the end of this movie because I felt it undermined the lesson that Mavis was trying to teach her own dad about parenting, I really do like that message she was trying to hammer in. You can't force a kid to be someone they're not; you just have to love them and accept them for who they are.

1: Hana

Wolf Children

A lot of people from the anime community probably saw this one coming from a mile away, but, really, there's a reason for that.
Wolf Children is more than just a movie about a woman that did the do with a wolf- it's about a woman that struggles with the loss of her husband while at the same time learning to take care of her half-wolf children, who are caught between their human and animal instincts.
Hana is the picture of what a mother should be: she is patient, loving, and willing to make sacrifices for her children. She moves to the country and learns how to farm when she figures out that he half-wolf children won't be able to thrive in her current home in the city, and when the time comes, she ultimately makes the gut-wrenching decision to let her baby go.
Wolf children is the most simultaneously heart-warming and heart-breaking film about parenthood that I have ever had the pleasure to view, and if you haven't watched it, you should.

 Anyway, that's my little list, feel free to let me know who your favorite fictional moms are, and who the most inspirational mother figure in your life is. Our mothers make a huge difference in our lives and help shape us as who we are; I, for one, know that I wouldn't be anywhere in life without my mom, and I love her so much for the amount of effort that she puts into me and my siblings' lives.

 So, happy early Mother's Day, guys! For all you moms out there, I hope that you have a fantastic Sunday, surrounded by the people you care about! As for the rest of you, have a great day!

Love y'all! Bye!

Is Diabolik Lovers the Worst Anime Ever?

Let me start off giving you a very quick answer to the question posed above:

Yes.

At least from my experience thus far.

Light Spoilers. If you care, anyway.

Also: trigger warning to those sensitive to the topic/depiction of sexual assault.

For those of you who don't know what this anime is: good for you. If you still have as bad a sense of morbid curiosity like me, then here's the basic run-down: This chick named Yui is sent by the church (with no apparent explanation being given to her as to why) to live in a mansion with six vampire brothers, and her blood just smells and tastes so good that they all want a taste of it. They try to add more plot to it later, but, really, it's just stupid, and that's about all you need to know.

I ran across this flaming garbage heap a couple of times in the form of some of the "Top 10 Reverse Harem Anime" lists that litter YouTube, though all I really got outside  of those was that this somehow ranked above Ouran High School Host Club in most, so while I had put it on my watch-list for a while, I never got around to it until this video was released by Anime America. A drinking game. After listening to the rules, I became kind of horrified and mystified at the same time, so my curiosity won out very quickly. Now, as I was under 21 (the legal drinking age in my country) at the time, I played with goldfish, but it still had the affect of me not wanting to look at those delightful little snacks for at least another week, and I had wanted to kill myself after just the first four of those fifteen-minute episodes. It was pretty bad.

And what made it so bad? Well, here's a list of things that happened in that short span of time:

• Lead boy, Ayato, assaults lead girl, Yui, within the first five minutes of the anime.
• Nobody seems to think this is wrong or mentions this again.
• This disgusting scene is what established Ayato as lead boy.
• Literally all the boys constantly go on about how much they want to drink Yui's blood, and how abnormally good it tastes.
• None of the boys can stop talking about the smell/look of fear in her eyes, and how much they love it.
• Yui doesn't know how to stand up for herself except by shouting "no," "help," "please stop," and "God" when being assaulted.
• I feel so awful for this girl that I literally can't listen to this with both earbuds in.
• Lead boy Ayato constantly claims Yui like she's an object.
• Yui never even thinks to tell him otherwise.

• At one point early in the anime, Ayato dumps Yui- who can not swim- into a pool for no reason and- while she is still under the water and in the process of drowning- decides to kiss her and drink her blood.
• This is portrayed as being romantic.
• The writers still try to make Ayato, like all the other awful characters, redeemable with a tragic backstory later.
• It doesn't work

• Yui is sexually assaulted twice in one episode by one character, Laito. The first time, he only presses his leg between hers and bites her neck once before she escapes. The second time is in a church, where he unbuttons the top buttons of her shirt, and bites both her neck and the inside of her thigh. The anime cuts to the end credits, and I'm pretty sure a lot more disgusting stuff happens afterwards.
• The only thing Yui upset about in the next episode is that Laito told her the obvious fact that the church sent her as a sacrifice. Like that hadn't already been obvious by that point.
• The writers still try to make Laito, like all the other awful characters, redeemable with a tragic backstory later.
• It doesn't work

And, you know, I probably wouldn't mind the fact that Yui is being insulted, slut-shamed, body-shamed, put down, man-handled and physically assaulted if not for the fact that the anime is obviously trying to portray the boys as being broken and in need of being fixed, like that solves all of their character issues and makes any of this romantic. Because it doesn't. I always like to say that a person's past only makes up a part of who they are; the fact that someone had a bad past or childhood does not excuse them from being an awful person in the present. And the fact that Yui actually shows any semblance of affection for these boys when they've done nothing but be terrible people to her makes me absolutely pissed. In fact, Yui in general makes me pissed, so let's talk about her real quick.

Yui is a completely weak and spine-less lead role, and is completely void of any personality whatsoever. I suppose it's so other girls watching this can put themselves in her shoes, but, and consider this for a moment: WHO THE HELL WOULD WANT TO BE IN HER SHOES??? It makes no sense at all because Yui makes a show of being miserable and not liking it when she's being touched by the guys, so I'm really not sure why she's a character you're supposed to want to insert yourself into.

Also, while she obviously doesn't like being abused the way she is in the show- as shown by her constant shouting of "stop" and her minuscule amount of struggling- she never really tries to get out of her situation. She never tries to fight by flailing her limbs, biting, or kicking the boys between the legs when she has the clear opportunity to do so. She just takes everything that's thrown at her and kind of accepts it without much complaint, which just annoys me because she obviously isn't happy with the situation AND SHE JUST MAKES NO DAMN SENSE.

And, really this has no no place as being an actual complaint, but I legitimately cringe any time one of the guys bites her because it sounds like they're biting into an apple, and she sucking noises that follow are just so gross and I- I just- I just can't even. Just everything about this show grosses me out and makes me feel so incredibly unclean.

Plus, they dragged poor Monica Rial into this train wreak. I really liked her, too. :(

The worst part, though: it somehow worked. Women actually like this crap. I'm not even kidding you. I can't count the number of times I would scroll down into the comments section while re-watching this abomination looking for some comfort, only to find girls saying things along the lines of "Kanato is so cute," or "we need more anime like this." Because, no, Kanato is as freaking psychopathic as all the other brothers, and no, we certainly do not need more anime like this. I'm distrubed by the sheer amount of people that think this, and I mean, yes, I do find even more people on my side of things, but that doesn't change the fact that there are some girls out there that find this anime romantic, and that... that's a little scary, actually.

I can't say that I don't see whypeople like it, though, to some degree, anyway. It's a shame, really, because Diabolik Lovers has quite a few things that even helped it: the art is beautiful (I absolutely adore the colors), the soundtrack is great, and the character designs are pretty decent (well, some of them, anyway- I hate it when the animators make so that you can see a character's eye through their hair like with Subaru, and pretty much all the designs in the second season are total garbage, honestly).

Ah, yes, there it is- I watched season two. I can already hear the comments: "Why the hell did you watch the entire thing if you hate it that much?" You're probably asking right now. And, yes, you have a very valid point. I do normally stop watching a show if I realize I'm not going to like it early in, and in this case, I would have stopped in the first five minutes at the earliest or the end of the second episode at the latest. But, here's the thing: Diabolik Lovers is like Amnesia in that while I can tell this thing is a train wreck, I am also mesmerized by the absolute absurdity of it and feel the overwhelming desire to see just how much worse it can possibly get.

Also, because the characters were already awful, and the later addition of plot only served to make things even more pointlessly stupid and confusing, it just made me so mad. And, as I said in my Harry Potter post, I'm not a confrontational person by nature irl, so there are only two ways that I am really able to release my anger: 1) road-raging, and 2) yelling at fictional characters and stupid shows that personally insult me on a philosophical level. That's what Diabolik Lovers did to me, and so while I get extremely angry and frustrated while watching this thing, I feel like I can't stop. I want to see how much worse it can get, and I do want to release some of that pent-up anger by shaking my fists and muttering obscenities at the computer screen. It just makes me feel so much better when I finish a season and move on to something else. It's almost kind of therapeutic, actually.

It's still extremely awful, though, and probably one of the worst things I've ever seen. I just love hating it too much, I guess.

Td;dr: Diabolik Lovers is complete and total garbage, but it's the kind of garbage that you can't stop watching because it's on fire and you just want to see what else it'll catch.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go swan dive off a cliff. Y'all have a good day.

The Church of M.U.M. (HARUHI'S FALSE RELIGION IS EVIL: REPENT)

Spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Mawaru Penguindrum

 Today, I wanted to take a moment to praise not only our lord and savior Madoka, but also her wise and wonderful profits, Utena and Momoka. Any time I've hit a hard spot in my life, I've always been able to turn to these three and know that I am loved, for I have a deep and powerful relationship with my God and my religion. Any time that I am temped by the evils of Kyubey, Homura, Akio, or Haruhi's false and evil religion, I simply think of the endless love that Madoka, Utena, and Momoka feel for me, and the endless sacrifices that they have made for my sake.

And now, I wish to share the love of these pink-haired magical girls with you.

First, however, I would like to correct some of those poor stay lambs who have fallen into the hands of the God Haruhi. Haruhi Suzumiya is selfish. Haruhi cares only for herself and not for your fears and struggles, and according to her religion, all evils in this world can be traced back to her and her selfish, evil desires. Haruhi is cruel and perverse, and there are other, more benevolent Gods to follow. It is not too late for you to repent. There is only one true God.

Our first and foremost figure of prominence in the church of M.U.M. (Madoka Utena Momoka) is, of course, the loving Madoka. Madoka fought the evils of Kyubey and his teachings before eventually sacrificing herself and her mortal body to become God and save all magical girls from a fate far worse than death. She till watches over us and loves us all, and she continues to protect us from the evils of the incubator Kyubey and the fallen angel Homura, who rebelled against Madoka's perfect world to threaten our peace and safety. Blessed be Madoka.

Utena was our first true profit for in the Church of M.U.M., though it took nearly her entire short life to attain the sacred role of messenger of Madoka. Utena, too, was once wrapped in self-centered goals and wants, but eventually turned into a magical girl of pure selflessness and love when she died for the sins of her girlfriend, Anthy Himemiya, and saved us from the evils of the fallen angel Akio , who wished to attain the powers of Madoka to become a God, himself. Blessed be Utena.

 Utena then passed on her legacy into the heart and soul of Momoka Oginome, who kept true to her faithful mission of love for the entirety of her unfortunately much shorter life. When she failed to bring the spirit of Akio, now known as Sanetoshi, back to the loving path of Madoka, she devoted her life to protecting those around her with the powers that Madoka bestowed upon her in the form of a diary. Blessed be Momoka.

So, as you may now see, these three have affected our lives in a countless number of ways that we may have never noticed before!

Madoka saved us despite how cruel a world she lived in, and she continues to do so!

"Though this world is filled with repeated sorrow and hatred, and it isn't worth saving, it's still a place that She wanted to protect. I remember it. I will never forget." (Akemi:13)

Utena, despite living in a world of those selfish enough to forget her great sacrifice, would never have regretted her choice!

"She isn't gone at all. She's merely vanished from your world. ... This time it's my turn to go. No matter where you are, I swear I'll find you. Wait for me..." (Himemiya:38)

And Momoka showed love to everyone, whether they wanted it or not!

"Even if fate steals everything from them, the loved children will definitely find happiness. We were left behind in this world to do just that." (Tokikago:24)

So, you see, Madoka and her disciples really do love us, and they sacrifice so much for us! Do not fall into the clutches of the Church of Haruhi, lest you lose your way, and do not heed the words of the fallen angels Homura and Akio, for they already have lost themselves. The Church of M.U.M. accepts and loves all, and should you have any questions about our faith, I will be more than happy to answer.

Blessed be Madoka.

Blessed be Utena.

Blessed be Momoka.

The Definitive Moment Naruto Screwed Up, and Why I Had Higher Hopes for Boruto

Anime has been a big part of my life for a while now, and though people give it a really bad rep, Naruto is a big reason as to why. Yes, Naruto is what you would call my "Gateway Anime".

I guess that my first animes were technically Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Dragon Ball Z, but though I always kind of knew that there was something kind of different about those three from the other types of animation and cartoons I watched, I hadn't quite understood what anime was until I began watching Naruto. After watching that delightful cartoon about a young ninja-in-training wearing a bright orange jumpsuit, I followed with One Piece, then Death Note, then Angel Beats, and so on and so forth.

I am a little ashamed to say that I was kind of obsessed with Naruto for a couple years before branching out into other anime, though. I was just so enamored with the characters, the story, and the unusual amount of violence that you just don't see in western animation that it drew in literally all of my attention for an amazingly long period of time. But then, somewhere in Shippuden, I just stopped.

First, while I realize that Naruto is far from a perfect anime (it in fact became a guilty pleasure of mine after I began watching others), I also feel as if it, at times, had a lot of heart and characteristic charm to it, which is the reason why I believe it drew in a lot of kids like me when it began airing on Toonami. But there is one genuine moment in the anime Naruto that completely betrays its fanbase, and in order to explain when it was and why I'm talking about it now instead of when it happened, I feel it to be more appropriate to talk about what made the show work in the first place. Which means, basically, that this will contain spoilers. So if you either haven't finished or haven't started Naruto and want to watch through all the 500+ episodes before reading this, be my guest. I'm not going to stop you.

Now, there were a couple of things that I felt really worked in Naruto's favor, and one of them was the underdog story that everyone just loves. Don't get me wrong- underdog stories are definitely overused, though for whatever reason, our modern culture seems to absolutely love them. There's something uplifting about stories featuring a person being looked down on or being pushed around rising to the challenge and showing everyone what they've been missing- this especially works since a great portion of anime fans can relate to Naruto on some level. Many of my current anime-watching friends and I would describe our high school-selves as being the quiet kids that sat by themselves in the cafeteria reading a book. A lot of anime fans felt like outcasts, and so seeing this kid that was clearly being treated unfairly look at life in a positive way and fight to overcome each obstacle he faced- that was something we wanted to see. That was something we felt we needed to see.

Another thing that I find Naruto did really well with was- and I know that quite a few of you will fight me to death over my saying this- the characters. Now put down the pitchforks, guys, I know you disagree. And I will concede to you that a lot of characters weren't well developed- I especially hate Sasuke for just being himself; I don't need crappy character development to to do that for me- and that quite a few of them felt one-dimensional, with only a few key traits that helped define them. But, those of you that watched the show in your childhood, please stop and just think of as many characters by name that you can in five seconds.

Pretty quickly, you probably have a lengthy amount of names: Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Kakashi, Gaara, Orochimaru, Sasuke, Shikamaru, just to name a few. And you're likely to remember each of their personalities, their backstories, who all was on their team, and who they did or didn't like. Sure there may be a ton of characters, and sure, they may only have a couple of really defining character traits, but they're memorable, and I'm willing to bet that there is at least one character in the cast that you can relate to.

I've always had two from the characters that I could relate to very well: Choji and Hinata. Ever since middle school (AKA: worst three years of my life), I've had a very bad case of social anxiety, and though it has died down to a degree, I still have trouble interacting with people, like how Hinata does with Naruto- I even do the same hand thing that she does when she gets nervous. And I can relate to Choji because I, too have had a low self-esteem, though, once again, it was mostly in middle school (AKA: Hell); my self-esteem issues had more to do with me finding myself ugly and thinking that I had no friends because I was an awful person while Choji was self-conscious of his weight, but it was still nice to see someone on TV that suffered through the same kind of stuff that I did when I was a kid.

And I'm sure there are some characters you can relate to, too.

Ever felt trapped by family expectations? Neji and Hinata

Feel like no matter how hard you try, you just can't keep up? Rock Lee

Have you ever let a friendship slip away due to the stupidest reason possible and regret it? Sakura and Ino

Do you sometimes want to lose all sense of feeling in order to stop the pain? Sasori

Or maybe you're just super dedicated to your art and would do literally anything for it? Deidara

I could go on and on with lists of examples, but I won't.

That said, this show is also a haven for shippers, as there is a ton of fun to be had with these characters. And lots of people get very defensive over their ships, which is probably one of the many reasons that the ending to the anime got such a backlash. (As a KibaHina girl, I'm just offended. I mean, come on, the only ships they got right were ShikaTema and InoSai, and I was pretty sure the last one was a crack ship! And don't even get me started on SasuSaku! D:<)

*Deep Breath* This is not a shipping post, this is not a shipping post, this is not a shipping post...

*Ahem* Anyway, because the characters tend to be pretty likeable for the most part (I'm looking at you, Uchiha), we tend to get attached to them rather quickly, which makes the deaths in the anime all the more gut-wrenching. Haku was a death very early in the series that hit you hard and really set the bar for this anime pretty high. Meanwhile in Shippuden, the death of Asuma was heart-breaking not only because he was such a cool teacher, but also because it was thanks to him that we saw Shikamaru completely lose it for the first time- and this is arguably the most relaxed, laidback character in the series, whose closest emotion to anger thus far had been annoyance.

And that is one thing that I will say that I know a lot of people will disagree with: Naruto can be very genuinely emotional when it wants to be.

And that, my friends, is where Naruto screwed up big time.

You may have guess it by now: The very moment when Naruto began to totally and completely betray its loyal fans, who were able to turn away from the poor pacing, inconceivable amount of filler, and terrible Sasuke story arc, was the moment in which it began making death null and void. Yes, Kishimoto did it. He brought characters back to life. And not just a few. 

All of them.

He brought every single god damned dead character back to life.

Are you happy now, fanbase that was screaming for Haku, Zabuza, Asuma, and Deidara to rise from the dead to complete their unfinished business? Because I sure as hell hope you are. And I hope that you shed sweet tears of regret when they were all killed off a second time.

And, no, it isn't just the way that they are brought to life again that boils my blood- it is the incredibly stupid and contrived way in which it is pulled off.  They are brought to life by Kabuto, the enemy, who amazingly enough has enough power to control them all into fighting against their loved ones and former allies. Already, this is triggering some warning bells. But then we receive confirmation that Kabuto can control the amount of will they have and how much of their individual personality they can still retain, but that he lets them keep their personality. Um, OK. 

And, well, I suppose it would make sense, then, that some of these reincarnated characters would be asking their loved ones to put them out of their misery once more. But... But all of them are. Not just a few, but all. There is not a single reincarnated person afraid of dying again, begging not to be killed once more. They are all telling our characters to kill them.

Screw this.

Though I will admit that Deidara acting like Sasuke's crazy ex girlfriend was absolutely unintentionally hilarious, everything else about this arc is absolute garbage and just a cheap grab at the viewers' feels for a round two. Hell, I wouldn't have been nearly as enraged with this entire plot point if all the characters had just been puppets with no free will whatsoever- it would have been much more emotional, in my opinion, and the characters would have had to really think and battle with themselves over whether or not they wanted to punch the life out of their dead friends a second time if they weren't having "KILL ME PLEASE" screamed directly in their faces.

It's cheap, and it's a cheat.

And after the episode with Team 8 and the White Zetsu , I dropped Naruto faster than Rock Lee without his leg weights. I haven't even considered picking up where I left off since. The only other things I watched in regards to Naruto were the last two movies- both of which I had some major problems with.

Which brings me to part two of this post, the reason why I'm writing about this now:

Boruto.

I was a lot more excited than I should have been when I heard that Naruto ended and that the story following the next generation of ninja, Boruto, was getting an anime. I mean, yes, I was still a little pissed about SasuSaku and (to an extent) NaruHina, but having a new story revolving around the kids of the characters we grew up with provided an opportunity to start off clean. There was no way Naruto could have been salvaged, I knew that, but starting again, years after the first series ended, with a mostly new cast? Sign me the hell up!

While Boruto's movie had some big problems, I still thought that the action was fun and the characters seemed pretty refreshing, so it wasn't bad.  Except for Sakura and Sasuke literally naming their kid 'salad.' That's just awful parenting. Still, I was pretty hype.

 But with the first two episodes out and the next coming out soon, I feel as if Boruto is starting on a very unfortunately low note.
 It starts out with a flashforward way into the future, where the Leaf Village is pretty much destroyed and Boruto is facing off with a strange new adversary. Which is kinda cool, I guess, until we continue on to the rest of the episode and realize that probably the only reason it was there was to keep people watching because we can tell it's going to be a long drag, probably filled with filler and various obligatory anime school plotlines like bullies, the importance of studying, and how you can become popular by beating that rebellious kid no one likes/is afraid of in a fight.

They try to draw you in with some sort of weird eye power that Boruto seems to have somehow, possibly having to do with the fact that he's part Hyuuga, but overall, it just seems predictable so far, and the new character, Denki seems really... boring. Like he's just standing in as that obligatory best friend stereotype.

Now it could just be that the animators are trying to set some stuff up so they can do a time skip later and get to the real action, but so far, it has been exceptionally slow compared to its predecessor, and I was really hoping for a lot more. Still, I have hopes that it will improve with time, so I'll continue watching for now. I may actually make another post with my revised impression on Boruto after a month or two.

Oh, and I'm still hoping that some idiot randomly walks by the hole that Hidan is still buried alive in and accidentally digs him up. I'd like to see another fight with the guy, hopefully between him and Shikadai, who is already my favorite character in the new series, followed closely behind by Chocho.

That's all I've got for today. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments: Do you think that Naruto got bad at a different time? Do you think it never got bad in the first place? Was it always bad? And how about Boruto? What are you thinking of it so far? I'd really like to know!

For now, though, Imma get going. See y'all later!