"Bully Beatdown: 5 Characters Who Overcame Adversity"
http://www.nerdistnews.com/region/tokyopop/bully-beatdown-5-characters-who-overcame-adversity
Surprisingly, there were a lot of comments on Tokyopop's Facebook page complaining that Hinata was a terrible example of an anime character who overcame her bully. I dare to disagree. Even if Hinata seemed like a push-over against the bullying from Neji and her father (though, according to some commentors, this bullying was only in the anime, but not the manga), she's still a good example of standing up to bullies. I don't see why everyone is disagreeing with Tokyopop's use of her picture in their anti-bullying Facebook post.
Sure, she got beat up physically by Neji, and Naruto had to physically defeat Neji, but in very significat ways, Neji was also defeated by Hinata. Despite Neji's bullying, Hinata did not give in to his constant claims that she was a failure. She rose above the dictation of his emotional tormenting, and she chose her own way of living her life, to try her best and maintain hope in herself, regardless of what he said. Not only did she not believe in the hopeless destiny he was claiming for her, but she also was able to see through to his own weaknesses and motivations against destiny, which were hidden even from himself. If not physically, Hinata certainly proved herself to be superior in spirit. It could be said that she defeated Neji in a much more significant manner than physical battle. And though this did not completely defeat Neji, it did strike him enough to lose his cool---I think he realized that she truly had defeated him, by superceeding the obstacles that he had succumbed to.
Naruto was the one who completed Neji's defeat. But as the Hero of the series, Naruto exemplified the best way to deal with a bully. Not necessarily by defeating them, but by transforming their bullying spirit into a non-malicious one. Even after the moment Naruto punched-out Neji, incapacitating him, Neji was still speaking in a manner that suggested that he had not changed his way of thought (the inflexibility of destiny and the destiny of the weak to be defeated by the physically strong). Neji really changed only after Naruto went on to explain that in the academy, Naruto himself was the biggest failure ever, and yet, he just proved that even a "failure" could change destiny and overcome challenges. This gave hope to Neji's inner torments, thus negating his hidden needs to torment Hinata. Time and again, this solution of tending to the hidden pain of bullies, to turn them into people more empathic towards others' pain, and enable them to feel remorse for bullying, has proven to be the real answer. This solution also saves the tormented from becoming bullies themselves, just to defend themselves from bullies.
Naruto and Hinata together demonstrated 2 different fronts against bullying, and I don't think that the emotional side of bullying issues should be neglected, in favor of physical battles alone. Bullying isn't just physical, afterall, and neither are the tools to battle it. And personally, I think that showing that if even a soft-spoken, (relatively) physically weak person like Hinata can persist against bullies, and hold on to her hope in herself and in life, and even go one further, by continuing to try her best in all she does, then she's an excellent example of hope and true Strength for people tormented by bullies.
