SK appreciation #2; Sasuke's partiality
aka: why I totally understand where Suigetsu’s coming from.
Alright, let’s give this a shot again! I’ve picked this theme for the 2nd one because, if you ask me, I personally believe that -
All Obito really did was state the obvious.
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLudnCxxZf
But I’ll get back to Obito’s comment in a different post. For now, I just want to appreciate the fact that:
Even before Kishi had Obito state it outright, there were (IMO) tell-tale signs that pointed towards Karin being Sasuke’s favorite all along.
From the very first moment, actually. But I’ll leave the subtleties for later and focus on the obvious stuff instead:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOLbnKnfwW
His choice of words is even more peculiar because she wasn't actually necessary. If you recall, Sasuke’s reason for rounding up Hebi was the following:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBl1X0O7bN
In other words, a task that was suited to people with raw power. IE: Suigetsu and Juugo. So all Karin would’ve done is - hopefully - make the tracking of Itachi somewhat easier, but Sasuke’s goals, nor the reason for Hebi’s existence would have been compromised regardless of whether she went or not. (Something Sasuke himself knew).
In other words: she was just an asset. Much like Suigetsu and Juugo.And yet she is still the one he valued as “essential" though I’ll go deeper into this in another post.
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtT1xBdEnrW
And if we keep on track with the obvious stuff, then there are things like these:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN884hiwWay
That was actually pretty fair, because even though Karin was the one to react violently (so a "stop it, you two” would’ve been in order); Suigetsu was the one to start.
Oh, but what happens when Karin starts?
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyZdzncIRg
Either Suigetsu gets a warning, or Sasuke doesn’t intervene at all and lets it slide.
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4K4QqSJxps
And when Karin reacts so violently that Suigetsu might as well basically been asking for help?
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErgHkidnXm
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXG31bUyhIH
Sasuke simply watches Karin do her thing (he doesn’t even ignore it - he watches). Even though - as I’ll never get tired of pointing out - Sasuke himself actually got splashed by the ruckus she was causing. Yet, he just lets her be. I bet he thought Suigetsu had it coming to him lol.
THEN even among the obvious stuff, there are details like these (and be prepared guys because I’m doing these posts mostly to indulge my inner shipper, so there’s no holding it back here haha):
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2O7MANTEyY
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqxMp5cKZ1
Or how she can badmouth and question him all she wants:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA53XV4t91b
But poor Suigetsu does as much as a grumble and he gets this:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRgbTB0wHv
And - heck, let’s just keep going, because this is pretty funny.
She brings him no useful information at all? Let’s let it slide.
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3WL2NOGic
They’re about to go into battle? She’s the one he trusts his back to.
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQW7y9ILGxr
Suigetsu and Juugo just got hurt? Let me step in and be a badass.
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6992TOP4J
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOplQ8ZNsKH
Sorry guys got no time to spare for even a glace least of all an are you alright the little ass
But wait. Now it’s not just Suigetsu and Juugo but Karin also happened to get caught up in the fray?
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMFTkKjb6V
What do we have here?
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMn2BCDjKw
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PCFaPbKGi
What a coincidence! Now he does have the time for that glance (he actually runs all the way towards them) AND that are you alright
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1TVg8TEuo
(which is not to say he wasn’t also concerned for Sui and Juugo when he asked that - I personally take it as a Nakama moment; it’s the difference between his reaction to each occasion that makes it noteworthy to me SK wise)
Suigetsu and Juugo just helped him? Touched Sasuke is touched; but as we know only too well, he has never really been a man of many words or good at expressing his appreciation.
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15MtCI1NKM
When Karin does though?
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpW0Shl2fk
And of course: if staying for Karin (who was for all intents and purposes, a goner) means risking his, Juugo’s and Suigetsu’s lives all in one go?
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyETFcffg2
Yep; he’s staying.
And after taking into account all that, I think it’s easier to notice the subtleties I mentioned above. Tiny details like these, for example, that could be considered meaningless but - again, considering all the aforementioned stuff - might not be as coincidental as one might think:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZhEptxNvH
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuqTtZzDeG
Compare Sasuke’s expression when Suigetsu and Karin question him about recruiting a team / Juugo respectively, to when Suigetsu asks him why Karin while sneaking in some thinly veiled insults at her:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32cGAYBsxb
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrip5GFBZw1
So, all in all, if you ask me: it was pretty obvious Sasuke is partial to Karin.
And though we’ve barely gotten to see them interact recently, it manages to remain obvious even now:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpey4mZgkj
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOQ5qkWhcu
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jWlASUGec
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPiBRwMFDi
Considering all THAT… it’s no wonder that someone who has been getting the short end of the stick more often than not AND reacts like this when one so much as interrupts his conversation with Sasuke:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAtg019MsN
Feels like this about the whole thing:
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepyCLydsEL
622Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eLG8GYzxr
I can’t blame him, I really can’t lol
So, like I was saying: in my humble opinion, Sasuke has been partial to Karin all along. All Obito did was state the obvious.
And I love it.
Nonetheless, it’s worth pointing out that while some of these (the detail of Sasuke’s expression, for example) could be dismissed as meaningless details, or reading too much into it, or mere coincidences - the truth is that it is the consistency of it all that makes it relevant to the pair. The fact that Sasuke does consistently show a different reaction when it comes to Karin in comparison to Suigetsu and Juugo to the point that there’s an aggregate of circumstances illustrating it, turns it into a pattern.
And in that pattern lies Kishi’s writer intent.
And patterns like these become even more important when you take into account the kind of character Sasuke is, IMO.
LASTLY! Have some Taka appreciation, because while Sasuke might play favorites, at the end of the day they’re all important to him and he’s bound to acknowledge it sooner rather than later~
Plus: it goes without saying that all this was just my personal opinion!
ns216.73.216.82da2
然後按「加至主畫面」