Hidden Messages Inside Anime

Author: Henry Hsieh
Anime is one of the best things that could possibly happen to television. Since its debut outside Japan, anime has reeled in millions and millions of fans. However, there are those that remain skeptical of anime, thinking of it only as a glammed up version of the typical cartoons that we see on TV. They take one look at the too perfect faces, the out of his world costumes, and the quintessential talking animals and they immediately dismiss anime as childish. Well, we as watchers of anime know that there’s much more to anime beneath its cartoonish facade.

There are several hidden messages in anime, messages that speak directly to the soul, messages about life’s lessons and truths. They might be hard to see at face value but if you look past all the humor and all the drama, you’ll see that what the characters are going through, be it a robot invasion or one-on-one battle with a dragon, are essentially the same things that we’re going through… just translated into fantasy. And every obstacle they encounter, every moral dilemma they face, we can relate to in some way or another.

Take Naruto for example. He is a young orphan boy who has been ostracized by his village for having a demon fox sealed inside of him. Now, I doubt that any of you who are reading this have demon foxes sealed inside of you. But I can bet that some of you have felt ostracized, unwanted, underestimated, and utterly alone at some point in your lives. And even when all you want is a bit of acknowledgment, nobody seems to want to give it to you. And here’s where Naruto’s hidden message comes in even in Naruto Shippuden… it’s a challenge to all of us, to do what Naruto is currently doing: never giving up. It’s a challenge for us to take on his nindo and to never back out on our own words.

Almost all of the characters have hidden messages within their own stories and backgrounds. Take Zabuza, he is portrayed as a heartless killer, a villain, someone whom we are programmed to hate. And yet, at the final moments of his life, it is revealed that despite all his brusqueness, he is still human, like all of us. And he knows how to value and be grateful to those he loves. The message in this is clear, those who have done several misdeeds are still human, and we owe it to them and to ourselves to coax the humanity out of them.

And it’s not just the characters that are worth looking into either. The themes and plots of several anime deserve a lot of praise for their insight and ingeniousness. Look at the anime Deathnote, if you take it at face value, it’s nothing more than just a very well-written and well-portrayed thriller, complete with some of the best plot twists ever concocted in anime history. But if you look at its theme, you’ll see that it’s about the classic debate on justice… is it just to kill evil men for the sake of protecting those who are good? Or should we allow evil men to live on the premise that they’re human like all of us? It’s even reminiscent of the age-old debate about the death penalty. Do we really have the right to kill another human being?

Indeed, the hidden messages in anime are very thought provoking and it fosters self analysis at many levels. They might just change the way we view our lives if we take a more serious approach to them and utilize its life provoking lesson to make our society a better place. Yes, all in all it’s just anime but the power that it brings onto the table should never be underestimated.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/television-articles/hidden-messages-inside-anime-396565.html

Who's Stronger Between Naruto and Sasuke?

Author: Henry Hsieh
One of the favorite topics of debate for Naruto fans is the matter of who the stronger one is; Naruto or Sasuke. Now, as you may know, Naruto and Sasuke are rivals. Naruto is the orphan boy who has never had a family and Sasuke is the orphan boy who saw his whole family murdered by none other than his own brother. Naruto was shunned and looked down upon by the villagers because he was the vessel for the Kyuubi, the monster that wreaked havoc upon Konoha 12 years prior. All Naruto wants is for people to acknowledge him. Sasuke, on the other hand, belongs to the Uchiha clan, the strongest and most prestigious clan in Konoha.

Naruto would do anything to have what Sasuke so haphazardly throws away; the respect of the villagers and the love of Haruno Sakura. Sasuke is everything that Naruto is not; he is handsome, well respected, and intelligent to the point of being a genius, powerful without even lifting a finger. Sasuke is the very image of perfection. But unlike Naruto, Sasuke is cold, aloof, and uncaring. He is arrogant and too obsessed with the past and the tattered aristocracy of his dead clan. He is single minded, so driven by the thought of revenge that he takes for granted everything he has left. And that is what Naruto cannot accept. Naruto cannot understand why Sasuke cannot see what he has right in front of him. Naruto cannot understand why Sasuke is never contented. As the series progresses, Naruto becomes stronger and he starts catching up. And this is what Sasuke cannot accept. He cannot understand why someone like Naruto who was dull and did not have a kekkei genkai could be so strong. He cannot understand why Itachi would be more interested in Naruto rather than him. Of course, Sasuke did not know about the Kyuubi back then.
And so they have a rivalry and it’s the age old debate between which would win: power and attitude or power and intelligence.

Naruto

Of course, power and attitude refers to Naruto. Naruto is pure determination. He might not be the brightest pea in the pod, but he sure is the most persevering. What he lacks in intelligence, he more than makes up for in raw power. Of course, Naruto owes his brawn to the Kyuubi who lends him a huge amount of chakra and stamina and this is a huge advantage in fights.

Sasuke

Sasuke, on the other hand is power and intelligence. He wields the Sharingan; the strongest doujutsu in Konoha. He is fast and powerful. And though he might not have as much stamina as Naruto does, he makes up for it with his ingenious strategies and techniques. Like Naruto, Sasuke is determined. But his determination is directed at all the wrong things.

Who is stronger?

So, in the end, who is stronger? Naruto who has his raw strength or Sasuke who has ingenious strategies? Perhaps the answer could be found if they fought. And fight they did. In the valley of the end, Naruto and Sasuke had a definitive fight. It was a grueling fight. They both had equal power ups, Naruto with his Kyuubi stage 2 and Sasuke with his Curse Seal 2. It was an extremely close fight but in the end, it was Sasuke who won. However, let’s not forget that Naruto only had a few tails out then from the Kyuubi and he’s still got up to 9 tails to go in terms of just Kyuubi’s side of power. Besides powers from Kyuubi, Naruto has been constantly been training very viciously in the Naruto Shippuden series and now in Kakashi’s own words “surpass” Akatsuki members by himself. Although Sasuke is more powerful then Naruto, in Shippuden if they were to have a fight today it’s tough to say that Sasuke would even have a chance to win the fight while on the other hand we would expect Naruto to win, bue only by a small margin.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/television-articles/whos-stronger-between-naruto-and-sasuke-382274.html