Rock Lee: A Retrospective

[@haadnaqvi1323]

The ego was an important part of who Rock Lee was. To be a splendid shinobi is a subjective topic, but watching the show as a younger person I never imagined Rock Lee would be okay “just” being a Genin. Rock Lee had a competitive personality and I don’t think he needs to apologize for that. Splendid meant in comparison to others. He wanted their respect as an equal, not as someone who is “also useful “

[@ThinkingAnime]

I agree that Rock Lee would never accept inferiority to anyone. But its about measuring himself against others to surpass his personal limits and achieve the power to protect what's important. It's not power for the sake of pride or dominance because the best shinobi in Naruto are praised for their strength of character.

[@haadnaqvi1323]

@@ThinkingAnime I don’t think it has to be purely one or the other. Rock Lee’s ninja code is connected to protecting people, we see this in his personality, and we see it in the actual rules he has been given (like the conditions for removing his weights which he has no disputes about), so that does win out as priority number one. Even so, what people forget is what you noted in the video, Rock Lee isn’t super nice/polite when we meet him. As good a guy as he is, and as much as he expresses the personality of a protector, he’s also got an ego. His challenge to Sasuke May have been so that he could see how he stacks up to protecting people, but it also had the characteristic of “O won’t let these people look down on me”. He might be cell saga Gohan, but he definitely has Vegeta in him too. When Naruto leaves for the time skip, in the anime we see Rock Lee say he will be training and he doesn’t want to be embarrassed for having fallen behind Naruto and the other shinobi.

[@emitrex]

Agreed, him just being useful felt complacent and unsatisfying, the ego is apart of the reason fans love rock lee, he wants to be highly respected and not pitied.

[@Wraithling]

15:24 Just a reminder that if Guy wouldve killed himself due to Lee not recovering from his injuries, he wouldnt have been able to defend against madara long enough for sasuke and naruto to come save the world and the show wouldve been over

[@mainelettuce9040]

This was not a video essay. IT WAS A MASTERPIECE! I am so happy that I found this hidden Gem on KZbin cuz now I am just Binge watching all your videos. And as a someone who knows what its like starting out on KZbin, I can't wait until you get to the subs and view counts you deserve based on the QUALITY of these videos. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!

[@ThinkingAnime]

Much appreciated! Glad you're enjoying the whole play list 😊

[@rufinlooks6956]

I don't fully agree with some of your conclusions but you clearly put a lot of thought and research into this. Good vid man, keep it up.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@voodooomega4387]

I don't really get the perspective that Naruto is about hard work vs natural talent. For me, the show is very blatantly about human connection vs isolation.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Yeah, those are far more prevalent themes. Hard work is just easier to understand so it took off I think.

[@oasisflame]

Talent n hard work beat both

[@JoshJEdwards]

Great video explaining Rock Lee’s character development. Never looked at it from this perspective, but now that I do see it this way, you’ve given me a lot to ponder over in my own life. Again, great video! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thanks! That's great to hear!

[@user-sz2rn5tb9f]

Very well done video, nice insights and explaining!

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thanks! This was one I've been looking forward to making!

[@supersecret4899]

Thank you for the video! Rock Lee has always been my favorite character and it's good to hear someone giving him worthy praise.

[@ThinkingAnime]

He's far too good a character for all the negativity surrounding him!

[@u140550]

I love rock Lee, and at the beginning I felt bad for him liking Sakura; especially when he saves Sakura a lot (some of times that I once again disliked Sakura). Lee showed his hard work, even though he had a lot against him.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Yep, Lee is my favorite representation of work ethic!

[@EurickHidalgo]

I think lee being ugly and not getting women and being untalented and failing no matter how hard he tried when he was young is why so many men resonate with lee because it’s so relatable and even those who don’t still respect him it wouldn’t be such a great character if he looked cool or got girls in the beginning

[@adrianxx22]

it’s so sad that you don’t like sakura for not loving lee… and naruto fans wonder why people call them incels 😂 how many women do you hate in real life for not throwing themselves at you for doing something nice?

[@u140550]

@@adrianxx22 I seriously think you don’t understand, and there are incels of both sexes; but you can totally say the same for sauske for a lot time not loving Sakura. Sakura couldn’t defend herself for a lot of the show until she was with tsunade, and if it wasn’t for Lee then she’d be taken out a long time ago; which some fans would be happy or sad that this character was taken out. Ino is a better fighter in many standpoints during this situation, and she mainly used her mindstransfer jutsu. Maybe if you’ve been rejected or people you liked didn’t see you in that way, and believe your not a man so I’d also say to get the man’s experience of said situations (maybe ask your guy friends, and I think they’ll relate); especially during this time that young kids saw this. It all tracks, and he actually worked hard for so many years; while she sorta had the easier route. Honestly if you can’t see why many don’t like her, don’t blame us; but blame the writer who at one point doesn’t know how to write women in his manga/anime. He’s gotten better in boruto, but og naruto it wasn’t good. I love the process of other female characters that were better written in naruto than Sakura, and mind you there are women that also agree with many of these points; because it’s not just guys understanding. There are people of both genders that love Lee, and dislike Sakura.

[@adrianxx22]

@@u140550 sasuke has always had a soft side for sakura… manga shows this multiple times especially in part 1. the same could be said for naruto, he would have died vs Zabuza if Sakura didn’t save his life. i am a Sakura fan as well as a man and i can’t really see any reason to dislike Sakura. it’s very clear she is mainly disliked because she didn’t share the same feelings naruto or lee had, 2 fan favorite characters, also i call them incels because they feel as if Sakuras love should have been the payment for Naruto saving her multiple times which is actually insane because she doesn’t owe him love for anything.Not sure what Ino has to do with this, but Ino is the daughter of the head of her clan and inherited her clans jutsu before she was a genin, she has been trained to be a ninja since she was a child unlike sakura who came from a civilian family. her first taste of the ninja world was training in the academy. her entire class was filled with prodigies and future clan heads, so Ino should definitely be a better fighter and it’s wild that Sakura was even able to tie her during the chuunin exams. it’s very dishonest to say Lee worked hard for years and Sakura didn’t.. Lee is a year older than Sakura and has been training with Guy for years, meanwhile Sakura first started training with kakashi much later than everyone else started and worked her way up, we see how much of a hard worker she is when she starts training under Tsunade. within 3 years she went from being completely clueless about medical ninjutsu to being one of the best medical ninja in the world by the kazekage arc, on top of saving chakra for her byakugou seal, Sakura might be the hardest working person in Naruto as a whole. it’s true Kishimoto doesn’t know how to write women well, but Sakura’s progression as a character makes her one of the best character in the manga. that’s why she placed 3rd in the most recent naruto popularity poll. that is true people of both genders dislike sakura, but the vast majority are men and it’s always because she rejected naruto or punched naruto or gave him a fake love confession, completely skipping over the plot and reasons why she did that. these are the same people who can perfectly analyze anything else in naruto whether it comes to literary techniques or scaling, but lose all of their brain cells when it comes to Sakura. There’s an inherent hate that men have for her and it’s very over the top and sexualized for some reason. on any site you can find men wishing death or r*pe on Sakura just because they dislike her… is that not incel like behavior? and then these same people turn around and love Hinata… the only reason they love her is because she likes the main character which these men see themselves in… so naruto getting rejected by sakura is as bad as someone actually rejecting them in real life, that anger and hatred transfers over from the real world into a fictional one. if you can’t see sakura growth as a character and her goals throughout naruto i just assume you lack basic reading comprehension, because it’s very clear within the story. sakura is liked way more than Lee.. see the most recent naruto top 10 poll. Sakura comes in 3rd and Lee isn’t even in the top 10

[@su7113]

Mann ... You changed my perspective 🙂. I would love to hear your take about guy and tobirama.

[@ThinkingAnime]

I might some day. Tobirama has been getting a little too much slander lately...

[@su7113]

@@ThinkingAnime oh great 👍 waiting for it... Yah i agree about tobirama 😅

[@chrismergeright7515]

To think lee would surpass guy from his work ethic is crazy I really loved the shira fight

[@u140550]

Hmm to me yes he was reckless, but he could’ve died if it wasn’t for him using his technique; but I think after living through the surgery I think it’s more reckless that he went out with his Drunken Fist.

[@ThinkingAnime]

I see why you say that but that was by accident. He thought he was taking his medicine. Very responsible of him!

[@Black_Guy]

I thought this was a spectacular character analysis of Rock Lee. You didn't get enough likes on this video compared to the views. This video was quality.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thanks man, appreciate that 🤝

[@lordkeith513]

Hustle means hard work and no one works harder than rock Lee

[@ThinkingAnime]

💪💪

[@SeanLaMontagne]

Rock Lee is the Barry Allen of Naruto. The Spider-Man of Naruto. An everyman story.

[@ThinkingAnime]

And we love him for it

[@lisa2stewart]

🍜🌌Lee is a favorite character for a reason. We all have insecurities that make us act cocky around those that trigger them but when we realize what we are trying to be good for is worthy we can really become our best. This was a great video pointing out the point of Rock Lee.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thanks, he's a truly inspirational character

[@Peegee45]

I felt troubled with your analysis but the more I watched the more i understood your points… I think you perfectly explained why I love Lee so much in the end. Although I do wish we had more of him in shipudden SIGHH

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thanks! I would have loved to see more of him in Shippuden too, even if finding places to give him good character development would be tough. His story is so captivating.

[@darkalternativeplanet2415]

Amazing video

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@o.a.j.8168]

Thank you for all the naruto videos!

[@ThinkingAnime]

Your welcome. Working on more as we speak 💪

[@xlro8f853]

This is important to hear.

[@slashpl8800]

Finally someone who understands this character

[@tidepods8055]

Amazing video. Rock lee is one of my favorite characters

[@ThinkingAnime]

He's great and I hope the discussions around him are more positive some day

[@SlugSage]

Every Naruto fan should see this video.

[@ThinkingAnime]

High praise. Thanks!

[@discordanceplays]

This is a refreshing take on the character and well done challenging the established opinions of the community on the matter....as a rock lee fan myself and him wanting him to have more time in the later arcs. I can accept that he did get a complete character arc like you pointed out...the only problem was that his taijutsu and fight was so popular we just wanted more fanservicey Shonen fights from him lol. Speaking of resolve it would be like in bleach if we never got much byakuya screen time again after his fight with ichigo even though his character arc was complete with his loss to ichigo lol. Tldr great video on a popular character subject. Got my sub hope to see more vids like this :)

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thanks for the sub!

[@grantwilliams93]

I like this take. I usually seem to get the vibe of "we wanted more cool fights" Which is fine! It's the "his arc was incomplete" part that I disagree with

[@RealHyperHedgehog]

Rock Lee is a good character, who is the victim of an idiotic fanbase, who completely misunderstood the themes of the story.

[@THEWALLSHOW]

YES FINALLY SOMEONE GETS THE POINT OF ROCK LEE

[@ThinkingAnime]

Need more appreciation of him

[@craigime]

very nice

[@sakhinjobe8420]

Splendid video

[@brandonceme4979]

Loved the vid but it would be so much better with a good mic. All love tho

[@angelocaruso]

Cool

[@beginnereasy]

Yeah a true master of sage senjutsu energy, would find that he has the ability to catalyze fate with song... Working hard wouldn't make sense because easy victories are as easy as imagining.

[@jonathanroberts3657]

Ho snap you're right the way you explained the sort of efforts the genius characters also express would logically contradict the misinterpreted theme of hard work beats natural talent in that Neji and Sasuke are not lazy genius freiza characters, not to mention Naruto never once said anything about natural limits but rather overcoming fate which could or could not involve one's inate talents

[@ThinkingAnime]

Yep, its pretty interesting that a lot of these ideas are established as early as the Land of Waves but aren't mentioned all that often

[@jonathanroberts3657]

@@ThinkingAnime Ay people like myself admittedly don't pay too much attention to the underneath of details, not to mention just going along with other peoples analysis

[@eurickhidalgo9423]

thing is naruto started out with some level of competition but it grows into more responsiblity and serious topics when naruto is still unable to control the nine tails I definitely see the hardwork vs talent theme even in shippuden even with naruto learning a justu the 4th couldn't but once naruto learns to control the nine tails for the sake of saving the world and protecting his friends all that is changed to a much more mature theme that his sensies all were trying to teach through out the show so in a way you are right because even guy said with passion and health competition you can be great ninjia and I feel when naruto learns to control the nine tails from then to boruto the purpose of fighting in the show changes and matures Lee's true goal is to prove that his fighting style works it's actually naruto who shows hardwork can beat talent in my opinion because he can use justu but he not the most gifted lee's true goal is to prove that his fighting style can work and i believe he even says that guy sensei accomplished his dream for him in the war. naruto eventually learns sage mode and after hurting sakura was focused on building his own power but once he starts to control the nine tails he uses the nine tails power to protect more rather then try to win as you said a big theme of the show was understanding and naruto can do that because of his experience as a nine tail jin.

[@Yggdraseed]

Personally, I feel like a lot of these interpretations are a little more charitable to Kishimoto than they need to be. While I think Naruto is still a good series, it has a lot of flaws as well. But there's a reason why people advocate for death of the author when analyzing a work of fiction, and this video is a great example of that. While I'm dubious that all of this was *intended* by Kishimoto, your analysis has really uplifted material that I have problems with and given me a fresh perspective on the themes at play here that I'll reflect on in my own writing; and you were able to take a character arc that felt inspiring, if broken in some parts, and give an even more inspiring and by far much more complete way to interpret it. You've got a sharp sense for literary analysis, and I hope I'll get to see lots of content like this by you going forward.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Thank you! I think that's a fair take; this is very much my interpretation or theory, and I appreciate you giving it thought!

[@sicklyflower]

I was ready to call you a hater when you said lee was going overboard with sasuke and getting cocky with the sound ninja, but you made a good point. Rock lee wasn't in the right mindset. Not even confident, just incredibly insecure. Constantly trying to steal the spotlight.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Right! I think it's missed that Rock Lee spent too much time trying to prove himself superior to others, when his original goal was his own self-development. It's a really mature and interesting character arc.

[@MO-2018]

In my eyes Rock Lee is a failure. He is introduced as a fellow untalented ninja who unlike Naruto has no basic application to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. We see how he strong he is with just hand to hand combat and how he was so unconfident he was in his self-worth. When he said he wanted to be a splendid ninja, what did that entail? Is being splendid being the 25th strongest ninja out of 30? So it makes sense that he can only prove he is a great ninja by beating the best. He only won one fight, his fight with Sasuke was interrupted and he lost every other fight. Essentially the end of his arc is that he recovered from his life threatening surgery and can only buying time for his friends. In the eyes of many of his fans along with myself that is really unsatisfying and doesn't really prove he is that stand out of a ninja. What is more frustrating for Lee fans is that Guy gets way more focus after the timeskip, him getting more shine just left Lee completely obsolete when before he just served the purpose of Lee's mentor. Its like the opposite of Jiraiya , Tsunade and Asuma where their students take up their mantle but that is not the case with Lee before the literal finale.

[@ThinkingAnime]

I understand wanting more focus, but Choji and Sakura also only get the torch passed to them during the War Arc, so he's not alone. And shinobi are praised far more for their character than strength. Jiraiya wins 0 battles and is amazing. I thin Lee falls into that category

[@doggoinastukagames1500]

The video is spot on, but it’s just that the perception a lot of people have when observing the series as a whole is that while he eventually does find his way and becomes splendid, nothing further in the series besides these niche example show that. They should’ve gave him a straight victory in naruto and maybe a couple in shippuden against some minor villains or something and then I think the audience would be a bit more satisfied. Also considering his popularity in the fan base coupled by his disregard lack of appearances in the second show really gives the impression he was put in the waste bin. Idk, shows over doesn’t matter now lol. Nice video!

[@JC-kz9zn]

Rocklee drunkin físt plú the 8th gate gg

[@ThinkingAnime]

Real

[@TwOPeRcEnT4LiFe]

Rock lee should've won that fight with Gaara but natural talent will never really lose to hard work. Take gaming for example someone who uses better characters or uses exploits will more than likely win over a honest player. It's sickening that this is how the world works 😞. It's not impossible to beat these meta characters and people but hard workers have to work harder and still may not win which is wrong and unfortunate

[@ThinkingAnime]

It's a rough world, which is why I find Rock Lee inspiring! Even if you lose, the hard work you put in still makes you a better person.

[@karljohan2300]

man imagine how good the series would be if rock lee was the protagonist instead of the annoying naruto. hell they could easily work it in because the tailed beast is sealed he cant use the ninja magic stuff and wouldnt stand a chance at all in the world until he learns how to fight with his body alone

[@iceland9461]

👍

[@clarkkentwithglasses4759]

I prefer rock lee over naruto and superman..i am wouldn't aspire to be naruto or superman

[@trexxis812]

I know this video is old but one thing: You said Neji wasn't born as elite because he was born into the branch family. That's not entirely true. Which family he's in, doesn't quite matter in this instance, because Neji and Hinata's dads were twins. Genetically, their parentage (at least the side of their parentage that matters as far as this conversation goes) is negligible, because their dad's literally have the same exact genetics. The only thing separating Neji from the branch family is who was born first between their dad's. But genetically speaking they both have the same right to be part of the main family, which was the entire point of Neji's anger, and why he directed it at Hinata, who he believed was inferior.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Neji hated Hinata out of a resentment of his own fate and belief it could not change. From the perspective of being locked out of the main branch, Neji was not "elite" like the heir to a clan. Neji being of basically the same genetic stock as Hinata is really just more evidence that his belief that where you start in life is where you finish is wrong. Because he uses his gifts to push above his station.

[@beginnereasy]

I went through basic training and because we were constantly doing push-ups the most push-ups I could do at a time was like 30 they never ever became easy for me... When I have six to eight months break not only are my muscles bigger but I have more burst energy and I can do hundreds of reps at once if that's what the moment needs.... Naruto's values about hard work and sacrificing for others honestly is just corporate slave culture You're not going to be better than me don't even try because I'm the god you seek to arrive

[@EurickHidalgo]

Yea I mean let’s compare lee to naruto without the fox it’s a close fight and without the fox naruto wouldn’t have made the same impact in the war so lees performance in the war is realistic their was a lot of good points that were made I think hardwork vs talent was a theme but as the show goes and the characters grow larger themes start to take over. Compare naruto to shippuden shippuden Is way more mature but obviously the characters in naruto were kids in shippuden they’re young men

[@ThinkingAnime]

I think the thing to remember with the hard work theme is that it's all about self-improvement and self-confidence. It's a really great lesson I think, because even talented people put in effort in reality, and you aren't guaranteed to do better than them even if you try harder.

[@EurickHidalgo]

@@ThinkingAnime yea Ik that from experience and that’s a good point I think it also depends what field or performance your trying to succeed in because naruto is violence and fighting It matured to bigger themes about not killing or not taking revenge or even themes on war and the consequences of it because it’s a field of combat and power and obviously it’s not always going to be clean and 1on1 or natural so it opens up possiblities that aren’t in a sport shows or dbz

[@stevenviljoen160]

Lee to me is a bit of a sore spot just like Neji. He was the absolute best character in OG. In fact he is one of the only things that clicked with me when watching OG, The Tsunade retrieval arc and the time he is injured and struggling was the only thing that kept me watching back then. Now imagine my disappointment when Shippuden rolls around and he is tossed aside entirely, he does not get a single good fight nor is he given a emotional and growing moment like Shikamaru. Infact they do the exact opposite to him that they do with the others. While Jiriya, Asuma, Tsunade and Kakashi are there to develop and grow their students Lee is entirely replaced with Guy. Even worse he is just a worse version of guy in the end because while Guy is mostly Taijutsu base he can still do some basic ninjutsu like summoning etc. He is never shown to match or surpass Guy in anyway and he isn't even a character in Boruto like Naruto and Sasuke are. He might as well have been completely erased after OG and if you removed him completely from existence post Kinimaro absolutely nothing would change.

[@ThinkingAnime]

I personally think Kishimoto moved forward with Guy more than Lee because Lee had so much more characterization than Guy already, but ill always understand being dissapointed when your favorite character loses relevance.

[@CarlosRodriguez-cl5dq]

You’re not wrong about the themes in Naruto. The issue is that your bring up characters in shipudden. Over and over again we were fed that hard work was more important in the original series. That’s the issue with Naruto, the series does a complete 180 on its original message.

[@ThinkingAnime]

Naruto's original and most important themes are not about hard work. If anything, they closest theme would be about effort, a theme which is never abandoned at any point in the series.

[@kintarooe8688]

So many people hate on Naruto. But this is the essence of the show. This is Naruto.