You know, I remember back in the chunin exam when the manga showed Temari Vs. Ten Ten and then the very next page was ten ten sprawled unconcious across the top of temari's fan. I thought "damn, I wish I'd gotten to see that fight!" and the anime actually delivered on that! In fact, it delivered quite competently, because it was one of the coolest chunin prelim fights to see animated, and it didn't even have a flashback in the middle of it!Then, during the manga storyline when Team Gai had to face off against their dopplegangers, the manga showed only that they'd overcome their evil clones, but skipped the fight. Once again the anime delivered these unseen fights, and, although not particularly thrilling, at least filled in the gaps from the manga.
So when the manga skipped over Hidan and Kakuzu's capturing of the two tailed Jinchurriki, as well as the massacre of the fire temple, I figured the anime would deliver on what must've been some totally badass action!
I WAS WRONG.
Other than a rather hilarious scene where Hidan and Kakuzu get bitch slapped like pansies (more on that later), these fights were once again totally passed over. Well, fine then! Thus far these Akatsuki guys are still far off from being as threatening as Deidara (exploding clay guy with Vampire Hunter D mouths in his hands) and Sasori (immortal bishounen puppet dude). All they've done so far was complain about having to work with each other. Their banter is almost as painfully forced as Asoka's and Anakin's banter in that new Clone Wars CG movie! And that's pretty damn forced. At least it's slightly less cringe worthy because it's all in Japanese. Yes, watching something in a foreign language lessens the edge on awkward dialog!
But really, this episode wasn't so bad, a lot of stuff happened, so I am, admittedly, pleased! So, onto the screenshots!
Hidan gets politically incorrect.
Kakuzu shares his true feelings with Hidan.
Kakuzu shares his true feelings with Hidan (again).
Poor Shizune never gets a break.This girl just needs to find another job or something. I don't think she has ever once not looked stressed and on the verge of a total nervous breakdown. Maybe she should pick up an application at the local ramen shop.
REALLY?? I'd totally forgotten!
"Or maybe just the 'kills people occassionally' Rasengan?"Naruto's always so eager to learn how to do the same move slightly differently. Does he have no desire to learn, maybe, a genjutsu, or some Rock Lee-esque taijutsu? I can see how something like that would be good for a character whose only attack works by getting right up in your opponent's face.
Yay, he's improving!
That necklace doesn't look like a penis AT ALL.Naruto gets shirtless! Wow, this kid is RIPPED. How's he even fit in that retarded orange jumpsuit? Oh, I want to mention one of the coolest bits of this episode! Watching the animation on Yamato's wood bending almost made this whole episode totally worth it. What a badass jutsu! (if not totally underused)
VISHNU GHOST PUNCHING JUTSU!It must be seen to be believed! Bald monk guy summoned a multi armed woman to punch those Akatsuki guys with giant ghost fists! HILARIOUS! I don't want to say that's the best jutsu ever, but it's pretty high up there on my list of "WTF Jutsu". Also, to get beat down by a jutsu like that has to be terribly humiliating. Especially if you're a supposedly badass Akatsuki memeber!
"No, seriously, I'm really scared of the Akatsuki right now."
"Grr, how dare you not take our constant infighting and childish bickering seriously!!"
"And now you're dead." Wait, what??
So here was the highlight of the episode for me (you know, aside from the cool wood jutsu animation). Kakashi teaches a bunch of cute ninja kids how to light their parents on fire!
Yes children, it's important to practice your fire breathing jutsu or you'll never be able to give your friends third degree burns!
Next time I'll teach you how to shove Raikiri through a man's ribcage!
Until next episode, peoples!
13 comments:
oh, old penis-necklace naruto is at it again!
I think the point was that we aren't supposed to know what Hidan does when he fights. That was the impression I got from the manga anyway. They probably wanted to make the fight with Hidan and Asuma more intense. I agree, though. I would have rather seen the fight.
I'm pretty sure they want to keep the secret of Hidan's jutsu out of the anime until after the Asuma fight, otherwise the whole point of Shikamaru's figuring it out with his hyper-intelligence would be a bit like 'duh, we already knew that!'
But in regards to episode 73, I think they should've just cut Chiriku's counteroffence all together. That way we wouldn't have had to see how pathetic the Akatsuki really is (before they somehow came out as the victors).
Man, considering first impressions so far, I sure hope they won't disappoint me again when they bring in the rest of Akatsuki. I'm especially looking forward to how the anime will handle Pein and Jiraya!
So far the Akatsuki were a lot more threatening BEFORE the timeskip! Now everyone and their grandma is taking out Akatsuki members!
On a side note, Shikamaru's hyper intelligence usually comes off as plain old common sense. But in a world where no one can see the obvious, being the the guy of average intelligence can get you pretty darn far!
Just curious, are there any more serious ninja anime? I don't like Naruto's sillyness and total disregard for more historical ninja accounts. Is there a anime with a bit more realistic ninja in it? Someone said Basilisk was good.
Basilisk Kouga Ninpo Chou isn't exactly 'realistic' since all the ninjas have crazy ninja super powers, but it does tie into actual Japanese history. I thought Basilisk was totally badass, but it's pretty depressing. Let's just say you shouldn't get too attached to any of the main characters...
An oldie but goody is Ninja Scroll (the movie, not the tv series)! Same deal as Basilisk, implausible ninja abilities, but centering around actual Japanese history.
It's also worth mentioning that both Ninja Scroll and Basilisk are pretty mature in their subject matter, so expect sex, gore, and disturbing imagery at times.
"On a side note, Shikamaru's hyper intelligence usually comes off as plain old common sense."
I would disagree. He's hyper-intelligent, but also lazy, so it usually just manifests itself in clever little tricks up until this arc, such as using the tunnel Naruto dug to lengthen his shadow against Temari. He only does as much as he has to in order to get by, which of course bit him in the ass during the retrieval arc
This arc, though, he gets a major head-check and finally pulls off a Batman style "I planned for everything" move. So, to be honest, I really think that Shikamaru is actually one of the better developed characters on the show, and that his intelligence is kind of believable. I mean, it's certainly easier to swallow than Light Yagami's.
Of course, you also have to factor in the observer factor. Watching from the sidelines and having everything explained to us in super slow motion, things like Hidan's jutsu can seem obvious, especially since we see things from multiple perspectives. However, considering that Shikamaru figures it out in about one to two minutes in real time, I'd say that aint bad.
Seriously, though, you won't see me defend what Naruto has become all that much, but I consider this particular arc to be the best out of all of them in the manga.
I think it's sad how they fill up the naruto anime which worthless filler scenes, just to slow down the pace of this already slow anime series. I mean, the manga is very far ahead, and the naruto manga is so awesome i can't even find words to describe it!
wow, a blog where a grown man whines about a kid show. I feel better about myself.
I have hard time understanding why the writer chose ninja in the first place. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't ninja supposed to be sneaky assassins who would rather die then fail a mission? Everything in Naruto is so backwards assed in the since that
A: Ninja wear bright colored clothes and yell constantly
B: Actual assassination attempts are replaced with bum rushing like DBZ
and C: Themes of misguided "friendship" are used as opposed to making the mission a success the top priority. It's like making a show about vegans who run a slaughterhouse only I'd probably watch that.
See... reading the manga far ahead shows you alot of sneak peakage.
Though they talk the most and hate each other they are actually probally 2 of the most dangerous villans yet, Hidan makes orochimaru look like a bitch boy :P
as for someones previous comment, historical ninja would be boring. youd get fight scenes with no plot or dialect other then their told to go kill someome and then they do it. Yay someone got stabbed in their sleep 500 times over.
Ah..this makes me laugh.
From the shoulder
To the wrist
Look out evil
It's my fist!
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