KARIN’S SUPPOSED SEXUAL DEVIANCE
[updated since I bought the Databook] First of all, this is the official translation, according to Viz’s translation of the infamous panel in the 2008 Naruto Databook I just bought today - there are clearly no allusions to rape or sexual assault of any kind (or date rape, which is what some of the biased unofficial translations implied by saying, with no textual basis, that Karin had drugged Suigetsu and Juugo…when they were actually just tired out from traveling):
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Just a refresher course for anyone new to the tag about how Karin has never contemplated any form of sexual assault since I’ve seen some people alleging this again. First, read THIS EXPLANATION by my friend Jo, who confirmed that Karin’s thoughts had nothing to do with sexual assault of any form after discussing the matter with three of her Japanese friends, while she herself has years of speaking and reading the language under her belt.
What Karin says has been translated in various ways, but one I’ve seen that is closest to Jo’s translation is that while Juugo and Suigetsu are sleeping, Karin will “make her move” on a tired, unsuspecting Sasuke.
So ask yourself, what does Karin do when she “makes her move?” All she does is flirt (note how she’s spraying herself with perfume in this panel - to make herself more desirable! last time I checked when you go to sexually assault someone you don’t try to make yourself desirable) and if Sasuke’s not receptive, she stops (that’s obvious esp. when Suigetsu and Juugo go on ahead and she’s like “Oh look we’re alone” and Sasuke says Karin has to go too and she just…goes. She doesn’t even object). That’s why this line is also translated as “I’ll make my move.” With Karin, it’s important that she’s alone with Sasuke - that Suigetsu and Juugo are gone or asleep - because Karin would hate to have anyone know that she has feelings for someone - that is an inherent part of her TSUNDERE CHARACTER, WHICH I ANALYZE HERE. Viz’s translation is in keeping with this - she wants to be alone with Sasuke (and that’s why she gets excited when Suigetsu and Juugo take off to search for signs of Itachi and Karin talks about how glad she is that it’s just the two of them before Sasuke tells her she has to move out too). When she’s alone with Sasuke, he gets to see her softer, flirtatious “dere” side, and with Sasuke stuck in bed, she’d have another chance to get him alone and so she fantasizes about seducing him. That’s really all there is to it. Her idea of “pouncing/making her move” is merely flirting with him in the hopes that he’ll reciprocate, something she doesn’t want anyone else to see because she only shows her “dere” side to Sasuke. Besides, how the hell could that phrase mean she was planning to assault him when he could physically overpower her with no problem? Thinking she’d try something like that is not only out of her character but also assumes she’s an idiot when she’s one of the most perceptive characters in the manga. Yet people refuse to contextualize this panel. It’s important to look at Karin’s behavior throughout the manga when contextualizing what Kishi was talking about when he wrote that line, which was clearly meant to be a joke to begin with. He did not want to present Karin as some sort of sexual predator - he merely told us with this line that yes, Karin is sexually interested in Sasuke in case you didn’t know and it’s kinda funny sometimes how into him she is. Hell, he generally presents her as someone capable of great self-sacrifice on behalf of her comrades, whose only desire is to see Sasuke smile again. That’s what she thinks about on the verge of death, not about getting into Sasuke’s pants. So be careful not to allow your biases to cloud your judgment based on this single panel.
#KARIN UZUMAKI#SASUKARIN#THEORIES
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