Fandom Report: Naruto on FanFiction.Net

[kohikari]

...I need a hobby.

Um. A different one, I mean. Maybe I need multiple hobbies. I'm just a liiittle too dangerous when I'm bored/procrastinating/avoiding something.

So.  First, since I knew Harry Potter was the most popular section overall and Naruto was the most popular section in the Anime/Manga category, I decided to check out the rest of the site so I could get an idea of what the rest of ff.n is like.

Heavy Hitters Per Category (10K+ stories)

TV Shows
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer - 32K
CSI - 19K
Stargate: SG-1 - 17K
Supernatural - 12K

Movies
Pirates of the Caribbean - 15K
Star Wars - 19K

Miscellaneous
Wrestling - 13K (...)

Games
Final Fantasy VII - 20K
Final Fantasy VIII - 11K
(FF total: 45K)
Kingdom Hearts - 29K
Pokemon - 18K
Zelda - 11K

Comics
none (sad)

Cartoons
Teen Titans - 21K
X-men: Evolution - 11K

Books
* Harry Potter - 333K
Lord of the Rings - 41K
Twilight - 11K (ew)

Anime/Manga (HQ)
Avatar: Last Airbender - 11K
Beyblade - 17K
Bleach - 11K
Card Captor Sakura - 21K
Digimon - 29K
Dragon Ball Z - 29K
Fruits Basket - 13K
Fullmetal Alchemist - 21K
Gundam Wing/AC - 39K
Inuyasha - 76K (my old fandom)
* Naruto - 113K
Rurouni Kenshin - 15K
Sailor Moon - 26K
Yu Yu Hakusho - 21K
Yu-Gi-Oh! - 43K

(Note on URLs:

http://www.fanfiction.net/category/Section/rating/genre/language/sort/length/character1/character2/status/0/page
Category and section are words, i.e. anime, tv, book, movie, misc, game, comic, cartoon; Naruto, Harry_Potter, etc.
All the rest is in numbers.
All ratings is 10, K-T is 3, T is 13, pr0n is 14, etc.
All genres is 0, General is 1, Romance is 2, Humor is 3, Drama is 4, Poetry is 5, Angst is 10, etc.
English is 1, Spanish is 2, etc.
Sort by: Update Date is 1, Publish Date is 2.
All lengths is 0, 1K is 1, 20K is 20, 100K is 100, etc.
I'm not entirely clear on the character codes, but I do know that for the Naruto section, Naruto is 2039, Sasuke is 2040, Sakura is 2041, and Hinata is 2045. The URL may be selecting from a pan-site character base to which the Naruto characters were added after 2038 others. All characters available in the section is 0.
All statuses is 0, In-Progress is 1, Complete is 2.
I have no clue what the second-to-last bit is; it doesn't work with any other numbers. Verification, maybe?
Aaand the last number is for the page number.
So, http://www.fanfiction.net/anime/Naruto/10/0/1/1/100/2039/2040/0/0/1 is fresh meat for sporkage that I will get around to...sooner or later.
It's liek a sekrit CODE. 8D

)

So.

As of today, there are 113K stories in the Naruto section. 4056 pages of English stories.

Let's see what the character statistics are like.

Most Popular Characters (with 100 pages or more)

1.) Uchiha Sasuke (1116p)
2.) Uzumaki Naruto (1100p)
3.) Haruno Sakura (813p)
4.) Hyuuga Hinata (364p)
5.) Sabaku no Gaara (246p)
6.) Hatake Kakashi (226p)
7.) Hyuuga Neji (221p)
8.) Uchiha Itachi (214p)
9.) Nara Shikamaru and Tenten (132p)
10.) Yamanaka Ino (116p)

Analysis: The boys are pretty much up there, and of their own merit, either for their character or for Teh Ghey or to be paired with someone else.  Together they take up a good 44% of the entire section.  Sakura isn't too far behind, but most of the reason she's so popular is because fangirls use her (and Hinata) for either self-insertion with their favorite Hawt Guys, or for their character but still to be paired with the Hawt Guys. (Gen is so underappreciated.) After that are the Hawt Guys. Notice that they're all in the same general area of popularity. One statistic that will always be true is that fanfiction tends to be written by teenage girls. These teenage girls all tend to have Bad Boy kinks. Fact: 20% of the Naruto stories are rated pr0n. Coincidence? I think not. (Ah, the sad fate of the yuri fans, to be oppressed by the rabid het fans and the rabid yaoi fans! Alas.) Then there's Shikamaru and Ino, who exist solely to be paired with each other (and often with Temari as well), and poor Tenten. Oh, Tenten. 77% of your stories are just so you can be paired with Neji. Such selectiveness in choice of partners is unprecedented in the other characters (like Naruto, who can be found to pair with at least eighty others). Maybe if Kishimoto had given you a backstory--or a personality--or hell, even a full name--but no. Such is your fate.

...See, this is why I need a hobby. A hobby that maybe doesn't involve theatre, because acting classes just make me more special.

On to the pr0n!

Most Popular Pairings (with 30 pages or more)

1.) SasuNaru/NaruSasu/whatthefuckever (450p)
2.) SasuSaku (390p)
3.) NaruHina (163p)
4.) NejiTen (101p)
5.) NaruSaku (99p)
6.) ItaSasu/SasuIta/wtfe (65p)
7.) SasuHina (63p)
8.) KakaSaku (54p)
9.) GaaSaku and KakaIru/IruKaka/wtfe (52p)
10.) ShikaIno (45p)
11.) ItaSaku (40p)
12.) ShikaTema (36p)
13.) NaruGaa/GaaNaru/wtfe (35p)

Analysis: RYFGs are scary. I will concede this point. But those rabid het fangirls, they're damn persistent. They're catching up to the crazy yaoi pr0n. That's quite a feat. However, I'm obligated to say that they will never overcome the canon subtexty pairing that looms over all the rest. That one's too obvious to ever die.  *ship ship*  I'm not sure how I feel about SasuHina catching up to ItaSasu and the like, because while the Uchiha Drama Queens are Teh 'Cest, they have way more canon evidence (i.e. actual interaction) than Sasuke and Hinata.  Who never spoke to each other.  Because Hinata is a Narutard and Sasuke (the original Itachitard) is beyond uninterested.  HOWEVER.  I must confess a pet peeve for the KakaIru pairing and the like, which never made sense to me because the one time they spoke was utterly lacking in UST.  The first time I did a Pairing Reporrit, in October of 2006, KakaIru and the like was #8; last October, it was #9; today it dances on the edge of a full #10 spot.  This fills me with the most unholy joy.  If ShikaIno overtakes it next, then so much the better; we need a little Team Ten in the top ten pairings.  (Also:  The animation of Shippuuden inexorably sweeps on, and the manga and anime are being professionally translated faster than ever.  NaruSaku, which has always been canon because of the inherent nature of shounen manga, may soon chase NejiTen out of the #4 spot.  Some may celebrate; some may mourn.  It's up to you.)

Tendencies of the Long-Winded Fangirl (6 stories or more)

Total fics worded 100K or more: 22p (531 stories)

1.) NaruHina (4p; 80s)
2.) SasuNaru/etc. (3p; 51s)
3.) SasuSaku (2p; 37s)
4.) NaruSaku (18s)
5.) KakaSaku and ShikaTema (9s)
6.) SasuHina, KakaIru/etc., NaruIno, and KyuuNaru/um? (8s)
7.) NejiTen (6s)

Analysis:  Remember what I said about het shippers being persistent?  NaruHinatards define the term.  I respect that.  There is great power in OCD.  Also, more evidence that NaruSaku has a good chance of advancing in the lines.

Note:  As working with the major pairings alone was inconclusive, I expanded the terms of 'major' to 15 pages or more.  The pairings with 15 to 29 pages, in that order (a.k.a. from least to greatest), are KakaSasu/LeeSaku, InoSaku, NaruIno/LeeGaa(etc.), KibaHina/KakaNaru/KyuuNaru, ItaNaru, GaaHina, NejiSaku, and NejiHina.  Ah, fangirls.

Compound Analysis:  I have way too much fun with this.

Comments

[kohikari.livejournal.com]

You know it is sometimes said that if enough people see certain things the same way, it may as well be fact. And with how many more people are waving the NaruSasu flag versus anything else...
X3 Well, it's obviously subtext in canon anyway. Ah, Kishimoto. I have no idea what he's trying to do most of the time.

Why doesn't NaruSaku get the same love when there's WAY more canonical evidence for it during Shippuuden?
There are some things we may never understand. It might have to do with which of the girls the writer identifies with most, or which of the boys is the writer's favorite, or maybe their interpretation of canon is completely different from ours. Also, SasuSaku and NaruHina are side-by-side ships along with NejiTen and ShikaIno; the same prolific (and long-winded) people write for them, just in different proportions. How many stories on fanfiction.net have all four het pairings together, with one being prominent?

XD ItaSaku is much like the Inuyasha fandom's SessKag ship. A lot of fangirls have a phase like that, where they want the female protagonist to get with the hot older guy, the deadly one who manages to trump his little brother. Forbidden romance! Hot enemy sex! It doesn't necessarily have to be canon, or to make sense. A lot of people write for themselves, not for an audience. Hence self-insertion and OCs and the like.

SasuNaru/NaruSasu/etc. fans are the majority, and write a lot, and are very rabid, but they're not the most intense ship in the fandom. I don't know what makes NaruHina fans so emotionally invested in their OTP--maybe they've been in Hinata's position before, or they really hate Sasuke and Sakura, or they believe that Hinata is Naruto's best/most likely happy ending--but they are persistent in a way that redefines the term. On NarutoFan and Gaia they launch massive fantard wars on NaruSaku fans and the like. They don't write as many stories as the top two pairings, but what they do write is much more likely to be novel-length. o.o It's kind of scary, really.

A lot of the PWP is probably put up on AFF instead.

(Gyaaargh, why is this reply so looong. I talk too much. >.<;; )

[sp-kathrine.livejournal.com]

It's okay! I love long replies (that don't use text-speech), because it always gives you a more indepth understanding and put a new light on some things.

How many stories on fanfiction.net have all four het pairings together, with one being prominent?
I wouldn't know (as I don't read Het-centered fics), but I would guess it's alot. I know that even in ShounenAi/Yaoi fics, you'll find NejiTen and ShikaIno side pairings, which is somewhat sad as like you said, Tenten gets very little variety (and where do these two have any UST, I ask you??)

I used to be a massive Hinata-fangirl...until I saw that she was still an overly shy and passing-out-like-she's-narcoleptic type of girl. I see no character development (Why did her only character development after getting her ass handed to her by Neji have to be in the fillers?) and it really turned me off of her character (whereas now I love Sakura, who's definitely grown as a character).

Even though I know part of the reason for the lack of love it that he hasn't been around long enough, I'm still somewhat saddened by the lack of Suigetsu love. Hopefully the sect of the fandom set aside for snarky boys who can turn into water will grow.

[kohikari.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I pop in to the most-recent-stories and look at them. It's funny as hell. If they're not SasuNaru, they're SasuSaku/NaruHina/NejiTen/InoShika or the occasional Naruto/Sakura/Hinata-goes-to-Akatsuki!~ fic. Sometimes there's something good, though. Goodfic popping up out of the mud always warms my heart. ♥

Poor Tenten has no personality. All we know about her are a few facts: she was born on March 9th; her blood type is B; she has 100% accurate aim; she has/had a crush on Neji; she most often trained with him, because Gai and Lee were off being Beautiful Green Beasts; she's detail-oriented; and...uh, that's all I remember. *pats Tenten's head* She has the potential to be such a badass character, but even the animators forget about her. I think she's paired with Neji a lot because what little we see of them together has them all friendly. Not UST so much as fluff or something. They could be friends, they could be canon. Have we ever seen her without Neji around? That might be part of the problem...

I like Hinata, she's sweet. And Team 8 is a cool team. They don't get any real attention, though, so character development (besides the outfits) = nil. Ah, Team 7, always hogging the camera. If I didn't love all of them so much I'd probably be really irritated by it.

Team Funny Farm will never not be made of awesome. Their inherent specialness is compounded by the eye-blinding clashy colors and the fact that Sasuke is incapable of originality in a team name. (Heh, 'snake.' If he ever had a kitten he'd probably name it Neko.) Hebi and Sai and Akatsuki are some of my favorite things about the timeskip arc~ ♥

[sp-kathrine.livejournal.com]

I've learned NOT to peek at the latest stories unless the summary makes the plot appear interesting enough to try it. Too much trauma to the fandom-lobe of my brain. But you're right, it's great to find those very few good ones out of all of the rest that make you remember why you even bother.

Tenten and Neji seem generically friendly to me. Unlike Naruto and Sasuke or Naruto and Sakura (almost typed Sasuke again XP), or even Naruto and NEJI. Almost like acquaintances who spend enough time together that they enjoy each others' company but not enough to where they see those idiosyncrasies about each other that drive them nuts. Like Neji and Lee (or Lee and anyone...)

I still like Hinata, but I'm not the Hinatard that I used to be. And it does seem that Kiba has calmed down a little and Shino has become more emo (Emo-Shino = &hearts &hearts), but Hinata did seem to have changed more than her hair had gotten longer (and her breasts actually got BIGGER). Love of Team 7 does help curb the annoyance at the lack of everyone else (although Jiraiya decided to jump in and get his final bit of limelight).

*snorts* That name...*laughs* Actually I find it awesome that Suigetsu's shirt is the same color as his eyes, and for some reason Juugo's eyes are three different colors at once. I've also noticed that the people who think they're badass tend to wear purple (Orochi-chan, Sound Village in general, Akatsuki paint their nails purple...) So maybe that just means Suigetsu is really strong but we just don't know it yet.

And Sasuke would probably name his cat Itachi (he couldn't name his team that or they might realize just how screwed up he really is).

[kohikari.livejournal.com]

I'm a masochist like that. :D

(or Lee and anyone...)
XD Poor Lee. (I agree with your point, though.)

XD Aaack Emo Shino. I've heard his new outfit described as Your Friendly Neighborhood Drug Dealer before, but never emo. That's priceless. (Kiba's a biker boy now! ...Akamaru's the bike. And Hinata's totally the Nidaime Tsunade~)

Akatsuki having its own shade of nail polish will never not be priceless.

And Sasuke would probably name his cat Itachi (he couldn't name his team that or they might realize just how screwed up he really is).
XDDD

[sp-kathrine.livejournal.com]

*points to self as person who will read twenty chapters of a thirty chapter fic just to see if it ever gets better*

I love Lee! (He kinda replaced the Hinatard in me...) But sometimes he can be a little...yeah. *clings to SakuLee flag even though she knows it will NEVER happen*

Drug Dealer??? That's susch a television way of calling it. That outfit's so conspicuous. But I just meant he sulks more, like when Naruto couldn't recognize him and went off into his corner to pout. Poor Emo-Shino.

When a missing nin joins Akatsuki they gets they're ring, the cloak, and a lifetime supply of "Violent Dawn" nail polish. But of course the artists for the anime had to change Sasori's to turqoise because he can't tell what color he was using when he was painting his nails inside Hiruko.

[kohikari.livejournal.com]

*loves on*

I love Lee too. He and Shino and Shikamaru are some of my favorite characters. (Shikamaru is my HERO~)

I loved the episode Team 8 appeared in. The awful pacing and animation in the latter part of the Save Gaara arc was getting me down, but then Tobi and Sai and Ino and Shino and Hinata made everything better~ Oh, Shino. The only reason I'm not a complete rabid fangirl is my horribly inconvenient bug phobia.

Erk, they messed that up too? X3 I didn't notice. Did you know that Jiraiya's nose wart was actually supposed to be a nose ring? Those crazy animators...

[llivla.livejournal.com]

Sorry to jump in, but you forgot NarakuxKagome. xD Oh...crack pairings...(I typed Naruto THREE TIMES ><)

They HAVE to write novel-length because there's no canon development to Hinata's shyness thus far. >< I love Hinata, for wanting to change the clan and spare Neji and all that brave stuff, but taking HinataxNaruto so seriously as declaring it canon NOW? For fainting? No.

maybe they've been in Hinata's position before, or they really hate Sasuke and Sakura, or they believe that Hinata is Naruto's best/most likely happy ending--but they are persistent in a way that redefines the term

I have to say that's what annoys me about NarutoxHinata the most: a large majority of the fans hate Sasuke or want him dead, even more than, bizarre as it sounds, SakuraxNaruto fans (seriously wtf? they both want him alive, not dead! D;). Or Sakura. Jealousy maybe, because Naruto's canon obsession (platonic or not) in the Rescue Sasuke arc continually puts a kink in their omg so perfect NaruHina plans? Naruto clings to Sakura, Sasuke, Iruka, Gaara (and now maybe Sai) in his darkest moments; it's beyond family, it's desperate, soulful love nothing can break into. It's not that it's a private club, it's just...Hinata wasn't -there- for it, because she chose to watch and wish than get involved.

invest so much in their OTP

I don't see why they aren't up front about their pairing being crack, or SakuraxSasuke being crack, I'm up front for my crack, hell DEFINITELY SasukexNaruto being crack (despite the subtext Kishi screams out of a bullhorn at the top of the mountain it's never gonna happen D;); seriously the only pairing I see becoming canon that ISN'T crack or way the hell out of left field is maybe TemarixShikamaru, maybe TsunadexJiraiya (IF THIS FIGHT DOESN'T END THE WAY I THINK IT'S GOING TO D;), and...NarutoxSakura. I mean, after those three, ALL pairings have equal chance of happening. SasukexSakura can still happen, and Kishi could damn well make NarutoxHinata happen, but there's nothing yet. It's not a patient love because not even Hinata's confident it could happen. And it's a shounen manga, so there probably isn't going to BE any pairings at the manga's end.

I'd love that. I kind of like Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto being these lone Super Saiyan Sannin. xD

ERK. God I wanked a bit/lot. Sorry... D;

[kohikari.livejournal.com]

Ooops. ^^; I was a pretty oblivious fan when I was in the Inuyasha fandom; pairings like NarakuxKagome never even crossed my mind, let alone yaoi. (I was like, 'yowie'? Whuzzat?)

Poor Hinata doesn't have a canon chance. But that's what fanon is for! cry the hordes of NaruHina fans. Well, yes, I agree. Fanon should be rife with imagination and creative license. Too bad it isn't equally rife with peace, love, and open minds. [/hippie]

Fics where Naruto hates Sasuke or Sakura make me laugh (mostly because if I wasn't laughing I'd be staring blankly, and that takes up more of my time than I'm willing to give to such stories). He's got such the puppy-love for Sakura, and sure he 'hates' Sasuke in a way, but that's how the boys expressed themselves: by pulling each other's pigtails. It's really just the fans expressing their own hatred for characters through their medium, I guess. Sakura-fans are few and far between, and behind the squealing Sasuketards are the rabid Sasuke-haters. -.-;; Oh well, fandom's fandom.

A lot of NaruHinatards probably do believe that their pairing is canon and not crack. I guess it's their own interpretation, really.

Super Saiyajin Sannin FTW. X3 Although to trump the other Sannin, they might be less split up. Like, they play cards every Friday night or something... [/lame]

[llivla.livejournal.com]

LMAO:

Naruto: BINGO! OOH, I WIN!
Sakura: Naruto, this is UNO.
Sasuke: You dumb ass.

[kohikari.livejournal.com]

XD That would so happen, too.