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Source: Wikipedia
“Zero Motivation: The Guy with Cloud Envy!”
“Though initially unwilling, Shikamaru fights Temari because he refuses to lose to a girl. Shikamaru quickly studies the arena and its elements and comes up with a plan. Despite this, Temari has seen Shikamaru’s primary attack in action and knows how it works. Shikamaru relies on strategy to defeat his opponent, but it becomes evident that Temari is a keen strategist too. However, Shikamaru’s strategies are superior and enable him to capture Temari with his jutsu, but he forfeits as he has no chakra left to fight.”
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Analysis
Shikamaru came up with a brilliant plan using his strategy. In other words, Shikamaru is a strategist. Moreover, Shikamaru is naturally smart. For example, he is similar to someone at school who doesn’t put much effort into their schoolwork, yet always passes the tests. Shikamaru is that type of person, which is why he is naturally smart. Even his Jonin teacher, Asuma Sarutobi, has noticed that Shikamaru’s IQ is very impressive. Moreover, it also shows that he is a round character who seems like a real person.
Temari and Shikamaru share one similarity. They are both strategists, which makes this match unique because they are both using strategy to win the match. Therefore, this is how Shikamaru used his strategy. For instance, he activated his Shadow Possession Jutsu to reach Temari, but he wasn’t able to reach her. Immediately, Temari thought that she should measure Shikamaru’s jutsu by leaving marks on the ground using her fan; hence, that’s her strategy.
Moreover, Shikamaru attempted to use his Shadow Clone Jutsu again, while Temari thought he wouldn’t reach her this time because she measured his jutsu. However, the Shadow Possession Jutsu reaches beyond the range she measured, which compelled her to become cautious. The interesting part of Shikamaru’s strategy is that this was just a decoy to force her to go backwards. Furthermore, Shikamaru used the hole that Naruto had made (the match between Naruto and Neji) to catch Temari with his Shadow Possession Jutsu. This was impressive since his Jonin teacher, Asuma, had also noticed his strategy.
The interesting part of this episode is not only Shikamaru’s strategy but also the triumphant music in the background. The music is used to make the audience assume that Shikamaru is going to win the match. However, there is an element of surprise when Shikamaru forfeits the match because he has no chakra left. Everyone is shocked and disappointed about this, especially his teammate Ino. At that moment, it shows a situational irony where what happened is the opposite of what was expected. Moreover, this is why the title of the episode has these words: “Zero Motivation,” because Shikamaru lacks motivation to do anything to win the match. Even Temari was shocked by Shikamaru forfeiting the match. So, Shikamaru explained to her by saying that even if he did win the match, it would have been too much work. Although Shikamaru forfeited the match, his strategies were superior to Temari’s, so he is extremely intelligent.
Another interesting part of this episode is that the Jonin were impressed. They are confident that Shikamaru will one day become a team leader because he won’t risk the lives of his comrades, and his strategic skills might help when there is a battle with the enemy. Although people don’t understand why Shikamaru forfeited the match, the Jonin teachers understand why he forfeited the match. After all, it would have been very risky for Shikamaru to lose most of his chakra. He could have ended up like Hinata, Kiba, or Neji, who had to seek medical care. Shikamaru, in this case, seems to have the potential to be the leader of a team one day. In other words, he works smart, not hard.
The lesson from this episode is that we shouldn’t underestimate others because they might have something unique in them that’s interesting, just like Shikamaru, who is naturally smart. Moreover, sometimes it’s good to work hard, but it’s also important to work smart.
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