That bit on authorial sexism? A large part of why I just called it quits. I can put up with all kinds of garbage in Bleach, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Rurouni Kenshin, Clamp, D.Gray-Man, etc. because, even though I have issues with the girl is sidelined/there to be rescued(with varying degrees of gravity), those mangaka seem to really and truly LIKE their female characters and want them to be cool and do things and be important(and they all DO make them important...though I kinda wish Clamp wouldn't tie that so closely to their deep need for Epic Angst.) In Naruto, I never got that feeling. I felt like, no matter how much I liked them, the girls were there because there had to be girls. The only one Kishimoto seemed to really like was Hinata, which I have issues with. Not issues with Hinata herself(I adore her) but with the fact that the only one he seemed to like was the almost pathologically shy wallflower who has to be pushed by the boys into doing things, and who has a massive and near-blind crush on the lead, who doesn't notice.