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Post by SporkBot on Oct 17, 2018 17:06:24 GMT -5
When I started doing the review show (which roughly two years, if you include working on the early episodes before first upload), I neglected to catch Naruto on Viz.com like I had previously doing. But with Boruto premiering a few weeks back, I decided to catch up. Sure, I was already spoiled on a few things (like certain character relationships), but I just wanted to see the show through. Last episode I'd watched was when Sasuke and Itachi are fighting...whosits...Kabuto...and he got his own flashback origin episode. That was episode 336.
Shippuden is 500 episodes long. Son of a--
And their dubs only went to about 97 (now 140). FRICK.
AAANYway...I've been watching a few episodes a day (I've watched as many as 8, but I had more Taking Issue episodes to record). I just watched 476 about an hour ago. And here are my thoughts thus far.
-Sweet merciful crap, I thought the Naruto at Sea arc was exhaustive filler, but it at least wasn't interfering with the main story! I get this likely had to do with the manga-anime ratio of story available (and a year-old review from MasakoX of a DB Super episode helped to clarify that possibility)...but come ON! And their constant reuse of the same scenes and footage, some times in consecutive episodes, really didn't help.
-That fight between Kid Kakashi and that leader of the cave-dwelling smoke-people was pretty cool.
-Naruto's "distraction" against Kaguya...even though I half-expected it, it ALMOST made up for some of the filler.
-Seriously...Anko has been unconscious for about 200 episodes now. And when she gets retrieved from Kabuto's clutches, I think freed from that curse mark...we don't see her again. The group that took her out of the caverns, show up not long after, sans Anko. What the eff?!
-Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream was...kind of like someone's fan-fiction of what the show would've been like if Naruto's parents and the Uchiha clan didn't all die...and yet everything still happened the same. Huh.
-Sakura...come on. This show isn't exactly great with romantic relationships as it is, but this Sakura/Sasuke bit is on a whole other level of stupid. The guy's always kept others beyond an arms length, never shown her a bit of affection, has been gone for four years, committed one crime after an other in his quest for revenge, and when the big bad is all defeated and such, he STILL wants to kill a bunch of people...WHAT'S THE APPEAL?! Chicks dig "bad boys"? He astral-punched your heart, lady!!! GAAAAAHHHHHH! This makes the Naruto/Hinata relationship seem focused and developed.
-I actually thought that Tenten would've been a surprising aid in victory when she remembered the war after being cocooned. Done had me fooled.
*sigh* 24 episodes left. Freakin' anime, man.
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Post by machsabre on Oct 17, 2018 19:45:22 GMT -5
Yeeeeeah, one of the first things the wife and I do when we start a series is look how long it is.
13-26? Let's do it! 48-52? Oooh boy, this better be a really good series. 52+? Uhhhhh... No.
It's amazing I got her to watch Lupin III with me.
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Post by SporkBot on Oct 17, 2018 20:25:02 GMT -5
I've thought about starting over with Bleach (which I understand has a long run itself) and One Piece (which is, what, 700?), because normally I don't mind those types of shows (probably the DBZ influence)...but if the filler is anything like Naruto's? Yikes.
Part of the problem is how the filler kicks the pacing of the Fourth Ninja War arc right in the face. Maybe if the dubs were available, it'd make it a little easier, so I wouldn't have to rewind 10 seconds if my eyes don't focus in time or the subtitles go a little two fast (seriously, only 140 dubbed episodes?).
Lupin could not keep my interest, though. I thought it was more interesting when it first aired, but no DVR. Though, funny story, the night it premiered, my bro and I watched Smallville; Lois was in some fighting circuit, and named "The Green Scorpion...of DOOM!". When we watched Lupin III, the enemy they face? The Green Scorpion. Weird coincidence.
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Post by machsabre on Oct 18, 2018 0:05:30 GMT -5
Well, I kinda dug Lupin when it was on Adult Swim. I got my wife into it when they relaunched the series in 2016 with Lupin III Pt. 4, and then she watched the Fujiko Mini series, and then they released the new Part 5 series. She's never actually seen the older shows, but through the Fujiko series, Pt. 4 and 5, and some of the recent movies, she's kept up.
She absolutely loves Fujiko.
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Post by SporkBot on Oct 18, 2018 19:05:11 GMT -5
So they had a big final fight between Sasuke and Naruto that was...actually pretty sweet. Some actual hand-to-hand instead of only jutsu techniques. It was very well done. Same goes for the following episode where they've each got a foot in the grave, and it's basically them reminiscing/experiencing flashbacks while laying in canyon, and then a genuinely shocking reveal.
After that is an episode that would mostly work as a series finale. It shows some characters recovering and moving on, Saskue kind of getting a slap on the wrist, I think, but hey, he did help save the world. It doesn't touch on stuff like Orochimaru, Karin, Jugo, and Water-Guy whose name I forget...they were all criminals before helping out a bit in the war, so...what about them, I wonder. Orochimaru in particular was a wanted snake-man since before the main character was born, so I doubt a little jail time and a bit of convenient community service wipes his record clean. Oh, and a hint that Sasuke might actually like Sakura. I guess that's...something? I'm kidding, no it isn't.
Then there are several episodes where half of each is focused on a different character. "Naruto-Hinata" is probably the best, had a lot of nice, quiet, moments that, even if its filler, is really well done. Though I'm curious why kid Naruto doesn't recognize the old man as his village leader. Largely because a different flashback earlier in the series showed the Third Hokage dropping off his living allowance. One thing they never really get into is how Naruto got by for the first several years of his life when he had no parents and everyone hated him. Hinata at three years old gets thrown around, let to wander away from a funeral in the winter, and then scolded about her genetic importance (where were you, oh-so-important pappy?). Not sure why she ran off though, I guess because Neji was sad his Dad died...?
Sasuke-Sakura covers familiar territory for the former, him and his relationship with his brother before the big family slaughter. And I guess Sakura had a hideaway in the woods decorated with bows, stuffed animals and...the Virgin Mary? ...'kay. This was fine, too, getting a bit more personal with characters.
The other eps are in the same vein, looking at some characters in their youths, but not as strong as the first pair. I think they did some rewriting of history, with Naruto getting pretty friendly with two of his classmates that, in the first show, thought of him as a goofy nuisance, when he learned/used the Sexy Jutsu (the American version kind of implied his first used it in class, at 12) and kid-Kakashi being much friendlier with Obito and Rin (because we didn't get enough of those two in the last several dozen episodes).
But freakin' Gaara, man. Kid was always looking like he was on the brink of crying. Even when it seemed he was having fun. Damn near got me misty-eyed. But then he'd have a sudden transition to smiling when talking with his uncle. I'm glad they didn't end with a jump to that assassination attempt (which would've been a thematic 180, given the other stories).
Next several episodes are about Sasuke post-war, on a path of atonement.
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Post by SporkBot on Oct 24, 2018 20:47:59 GMT -5
So, two year time-skip. Figured the focus on Sasuke would be him actually atoning for everything, shortly after he leaves the village, but I guess a few episodes about someone trying to kill him because of something his clan did is good, too. I guess this could qualify as atonement...just not what I was expecting. And I guess long-time wanted criminal Orochimaru, responsible for so much chaos and death...is under house arrest. Captain Yamato, the wood-style user that spent about as much time having his abilities used for the enemy (against his will)...he alone is tasked to watch him. More on that in a bit, but it just seems like not enough, given how hard this scaly bastard's been to kill before. Oh, and Karin, Jugo, and Water-Dude are there two. And the Hidden Leaf sends one dude to watch them.
Then we have a few episodes about Shikamaru. He's personal assistant to Kakashi, the new Hokage (I get his ol' buddy suggested he take the role, but I'm not sure why Tsunade stepped down...maybe it was being cut in two during the war...frick, that was messed up, and they didn't even show it). Anyway, Shikamaru goes on a mission. Not terrible, but just odd to focus on this particular character.
Then, several episodes where characters prepare for Naruto and Hinata's wedding. Sometimes it gets downright silly, bordering on FLCL levels of sudden animation style changes (at least where Lee and Tenten are concerned). Most of it is people figuring out what gifts to get, how to decide who'll attend the wedding and who'll be on duty, and some nice introspection on Iruka, the academy teacher and Naruto's first Sensei. And throughout these episodes, Orochimaru is buzzing around the village (followed closely by Yamato). Seriously, he's like if the waving Snail on Adventure Time was less subtle, and a bit more screen time, and a bit of dialogue. He even gets to record a message for the happy couple. Y'know...THE CAREER CRIMINAL AND VILLAGE TRAITOR. I can just imagine Steve Blum, in a fiendishly raspy voice saying, "Hey, Naruto, congrats on landing a hot wife. Remember when you were twelve and one of my snakes almost ate you? All so I can lure your buddy to the dark side and then assimilate his body in my mad quest for immortality? HA! Good times! Oh, and never go to bed angry."
One thing I noticed, there's A LOT more personal technology shown in the last few eps. Mostly, the camcorder used to record messages from everyone, but then there are digital cameras, and the end credits (before the final ep) has Kakashi using a laptop. Use of tech has been present, but kind of inconsistent in this world, so it's a bit weird.
Most of the time, we don't see Naruto or Hinata very much until the final episode (last two, in Hinata's case). And it ends when the two of them walking out the door to get married. It was alright, even though Naruto never before reciprocated Hinata's feelings (unless you count holding her hand after a certain someone's death during the war). It's not like I was hoping Sakura would fall for him, but it's just such a sudden and unfounded twist that it's kind of jarring. Shikamaru's romance gets a bit of attention, and that feels WAY more developed.
One last note: one of the closing credits had a montage of people eating at Ichiraku, Naruto's go-to restaurant for ramen. You see some characters when they were younger (or alive), and in the present day. One thing that stood out for me was a moment when Naruto (maybe 5-6) peeks inside, is about to run off (possibly scared), but the owner waves him inside. This is a kid who's been isolated for years, sometimes cussed off by random, grown-ass villagers for reasons he never understood until he was 12. And this shop-owner not only lets him come in (from what I think was the rain), but feeds him. And continues to feed him from that moment on. Sure, he might lose his temper when comedy calls for it, but he doesn't treat Naruto like a monster. So either old man Ichiraku never got the memo every other adult in the village did, or he knew well enough that this orphan kid didn't choose to have a fox spirit chain-linked to his life-force. And I think that says a lot.
Though, that kind of depends if the end credits are canon.
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Post by triumshockwave on Oct 28, 2018 11:26:52 GMT -5
I had been keeping up on the manga, so I saw how this all played out way back when the manga ended. A while ago, I did go back and finish watching the anime, but I looked up lists of filler episodes and skipped them all. I've been done with Naruto filler ever since the one where Naruto literally pisses on Ino.
I watched a few episodes of Boruto, but just can't get into it.
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Post by SporkBot on Oct 28, 2018 18:12:49 GMT -5
So far, my biggest complaint with Boruto is that Anko isn't hot anymore.
Yeah, I'm shallow, wanna fight about it?!
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