"Those who inherit the Will of Fire" by Toshio Masuda

Toshio Masuda's "Those who inherit the Will of Fire", which he composed for the Naruto anime-series, is one of my favourites. I can still remember the goosebumps I got the first time I heard it. It is a beautiful fanfare mixing classical instruments with Japanese traditional instruments. Listen to it with your volume up high.

Kakashi Hatake Lives

Image by Namh

I posted in May how intensely I felt the death of Kakashi Hatake, a fictional character that is part of the Naruto series. I could not believe that Kakashi died. I literally felt all the emotions one would feel when you suddenly hear of the death of a real person you know.


I'm not the only one. Of all the posts on my blog the one on Kakashi's death is the most popular. By itself it has had over 7000 views! It usually gets 60-some views per day. The strange thing is that it is not a particularly great post. It's merely my personal musings over the shock I felt when this character died. I guess other people share my love for the Naruto characters, hence the many views of this page.

I'm happy to announce that Kakashi came back to life. Again, I hope I'm not spoiling it to anybody. I'm sure the avid Naruto fans all know this already as the anime episode "Hero of the Hidden Leaf" in which it happened aired on August 26 already. (I don't watch the episodes weekly. They are usually so intense that I cannot handle waiting for the next episode, so instead I skip a number of weeks so that I can watch a lot of episodes in a row.) Yes, our dear Kakashi lives and what is more, in this episode Naruto's years of struggling to get acknowledgement from the village is finally realised. Remember those first episodes where the other villages ignored him, shunned him, ostracised him? Naruto has come such a long way since then and the villages, like so many of his enemies, and all us readers of the manga and viewers of the anime have fallen in love with his cheerful character and indomitable spirit.

I cannot count the many times I've cried watching this anime. Often not tears of sadness, but tears of joy and feeling a tremendous sense of pride and caring for this little mischievous outcast. The author of this manga series is Masashi Kishimoto, a truly masterful storyteller. Time and time again he changes the most flat characters into such rounded people you cannot help but feel a strong sense of empathy for them. Surprisingly, it is Naruto, the main character, which is probably one of the most flat characters. But it is this, his consistent, hard-headed, personal "way of the ninja" -- never to give up -- that is so enduring.

I'm just happy that Kakashi is back again. I guess this is a foretaste of how it must feel when the dead are resurrected.

Kakashi Hatake

Image Source: Unknown

Over the weekend I watched an episode of the Naruto Shippuden anime and witnessed the death of Kakashi Hatake.

Hopefully I did not spoil it for anybody. The manga in which Kakashi’s death occurred was published in 2008 already and the anime episode in which it occurs showed a number of weeks back already, so at least all avid Naruto fans would probably known about Kakashi's death by now. It is I that am late at finding out the terrible news. His death in battle against the villain Pain came as a shock to me. What I find more shocking is my reaction to the death of a fictional character. It truly felt like someone I have known had died. I woke up Sunday morning and the first thought that came to mind is "Kakashi is dead!" I felt a sense of loss—that terrible inexplicable hollowness one feels when someone you care for has been ripped away by death.

 In trying to figure out why Kakashi’s death was so intense for me, I realized that I identified with this character the most. Kakashi (“Scarecrow”) is a protective martial art teacher, has a laidback personality, likes reading (albeit erotic literature). All qualities I can use to describe myself. Furthermore, Kakashi has a mysterious charm about him; something I doubt I have, but wish I did. (Not to mention that he has the coolest hairstyle of all the characters.) Is the reason his death disturbed me so because he reminds me a little of myself and thus his untimely death is especially disconcerting? Or is it just the simple fact that fictional characters, especially ones well crafted, becomes more than fiction . . . they become “real.” I have been following the Naruto anime since, maybe, 2004, which  means that I’ve “known” these characters for approximately five or six tumultuous years. (I've written in an Afrikaans post before how much I enjoy Naruto and the fact that one really start to love these characters.)

There’s a rumour that Kakashi will somehow be revived. I don’t know if that is true or not. In the meantime, I’m terribly sad about his passing.