Naruto Anime/Manga (Manga Spoilers Not Tagged) [WSJ]

[X-SOLDIER]

Loved this chapter.

REALLY awesome seeing all four Hokage working in tandem, and being ridiculously powerful. Minato being faster than the Second was expected, but nice to see openly recognized (not to mention, he apparently had time to stop at the ocean on the way there). Also - hell yes at Hashirama going into Sage mode, and Minato being able to utilize Kurama's Chakra cloak the same way that Naruto can. It'll be extra interesting to see if he leaves that power behind for Naruto.

Sasuke wanting to be Hokage to steer the village in a new direction doesn't actually surprise me. This is the VERY first time that we've ever seen Sasuke acting of his own accord, and not having his hatred being manipulated by a third party. He's gotten an opportunity to get to the core of what he actually hated about the village, and he's found a way that he believes that he can change things that doesn't leave him as someone else's pawn. From a character progression, it actually makes sense if you look at how Sasuke's been used manipulated throughout the series, and it puts him & Naruto back into a Hashirama/Madara rivalry that was foreshadowed WAY back at the Valley of the End (and also gets to put the "what makes a Hokage" quote from Itachi in a light that's extra relevant).

I'm glad that Sakura is actually stepping up with a "Hey, fuck you guys, I was trained by one of the Sannin, too. Don't write me off, just give me a chance to get up in this with the two of you." I was sad inside by the little "Yeah, sure she's my girlfriend." move by Naruto, but Sasuke returning to the picture is almost IMMEDIATELY going to cause some sort of lulzy (non) love triangle shenanigans while Naruto's dad is around.

Obviously everyone's WTF!)U(#@HGOS*Y{IQ#QEG reaction was pretty spot on, and it's nice to have the focus closing back in on the main Konoha ninja, especially because the next section of the story could should focus on all of them taking up new, and key roles within the reconstructed village.

Last, but not least, in spite of the whatnot that happened with Sakura, Hinata's still my favorite this chapter, because she is completely and absolutely unfazed by anything that happens, and she's the only one who seems to be cognisant of the fact that there's still a giant battle going on around them (aside from Hashirama, whose comment was just friggin' hilarious).



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[Super Mario]

No Minato, that's not Naruto's girlfriend. That's just baggage who thinks she's still relevant to this plot and Naruto's heart, the real woman is there who is more focused in the battle and with white eyes.

 

[Theozilla]

Aww come on neither Hinata or Sakura should be hated on, support both without tearing down the other.

 

[Splintered]

maybe it's me as the Sakura fan but I'm tired of this stupid pairing war Kishi is dragging out, and the pairing fans are pretty much ripping each other new ones since these chapters it's embarrassing. Stop trolling Kishi.

You would think a Team 7 reunion after, what, since 2007? I don't blame them though, I always thought Naruto had pacing issues and inconsistencies, but Sasuke's turnaround was insane. I can sort of see that he was wavering since Itachi, but now he says he's going to be Hokage and everybody does the equivalent of finger waving to express their disapproval for what he's done.

And even with all of that I still eat up the Team 7 things.

Hashirama makes this chapter though, he even fazes Madara's crazy face. He's quickly becoming a favorite.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Yeah, Hashirama is awesome.

By the way, with the happy reunion of Team 7, is anyone else feeling a bit sad to think about how the Konoha 11 will never be able to reunite again, what with

Spoiler

Neji being dead

?

 

[Alex Strife]

By the way, with the happy reunion of Team 7, is anyone else feeling a bit sad to think about how the Konoha 11 will never be able to reunite again, what with

Spoiler

Neji being dead

?

On a relatively related note:

Spoiler

I could see Naruto's kid being named Neji by Hinata... If they did end up together

[/shipping]

 

[Super Mario]

Fuck the Sakura pairing, all she did was bring him grief and all she can think of is Sasuke no matter how hard he tried to make her happy. I think we ought to throw this masochist woman off and give Naruto someone better, far exceedingly better, which I see in Hinata.

 

[Splintered]

That's a load of crap. I don't particularly care either way with NaruSaku and I think Naruhina is endgame canon, my preferred pairing for Sakura is no one, but I don't need shipper goggles to understand that Sakura is dedicated to Naruto. She makes a shit ton of mistakes, she has the ability to make some horrible decisions and is the main source of slapstick, but that didn't mean she doesn't think about Naruto.

Sakura lives and breathes Team 7, it's 90% of her development, maybe even to her character's detriment. Naruto causes her to go irrational in hopes to save him, it caused her to break down in tears, it inspired her to get stronger. When Naruto considers the people who helped saved him from loneliness, Sakura is one of the people that's consistently brought up.

The only issue is that, imo, it's not romantic. Hinata's development is romantic, Sakura's and Naruto's are one of maturity and comradeship.

I don't know why shippers are going crazy over this chapter anyway. Yeah there's a hint or two thrown in there, but it's obviously about Team 7. Naruto's talk about Sakura being his girlfriend, that's been a recurring joke since the double digit chapters. It's a throwback.

Since the beginning of the manga, Naruto makes a bad pass at Sakura, Sakura does some slapstick and rejects Naruto, Sakura oogles Sasuke, Sasuke is a rival.

This return chapter is about how it's all the same, and how incredibly different it is:

Naruto's bad pass is lighthearted and it's clear he's not as tied up into the idea. Sakura's slapstick is more to a comrade she's annoyed with than a person she hates- she's healing and supporting him at the same time. Sakura's reaction to Sasuke is less fangirly and more of shock, she no longer values him above Naruto (even if she does romantically love him). Sasuke and Naruto's rivalry is no longer about one uping each other nor does it have the lethal implications, it's about who is going to lead the village. Then Naruto declares Team 7 is back and better than ever, because a lot of them overcame that baggage.

That's it, that's the chapter.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Maybe it's my lack of giving a fuck about the non-triangle that is those three talking here, but I saw it the same as you, Splint.

 

[Alex Strife]

Great, great post there, Splintered!!

 

[Kai Schulen]

Splintered said everything I wanted to say, only better.

Sakura's reaction to Sasuke is less fangirly and more of shock, she no longer values him above Naruto (even if she does romantically love him)

Also, keep in mind the last time Team 7 reunited, Sasuke was in the middle of going batshit and attempted to murder Sakura. If I was in Sakura's place, I would be shocked to see Sasuke fighting on the side of the Alliance, calm, not looking batshit or attempting to kill off all of his former friends and the like. She's not even blushing in any of the pages when Sasuke arrives.

Sakura's shock is understandable. Karin instantly forgiving Sasuke the second he says sorry, on the other hand...

 

[Dark and Divine]

Chapter 623 is up!

 

[Marcus]

I've just got into this show after watching some subbed episodes on the internets, I now have most of the series on my PC so I plan to make the most of my week off work and watch as much as I can.

 

[Alex Strife]

Holy shit, Sakura.

I was wondering whether she would also use that same jutsu as Tsunade... it turns out she does. Loved Sasuke's reaction to that. He's closer to who he was back when he was part of Team 7, and I like that.

And the banter between the three of them make me think of old times! Wonderful.

 

[Dark and Divine]

I also find amusing the fact that Madara pretty much forgot about the Ten Tails once Hashirama arrived at the battlefield.

The Kages are all bent in destroying the Ten Tails and all Madara seems to care is to fight Hashirama. lol

 

[Obsidian Fire]

^^What would be hilarious is if Madara ended up helping the hokage defeat the Juubi so he could fight Harashima faster.

And now we know one reason why Naruto hasn't wanted to kill Sasuke; they wouldn't be able to be Team 7 again.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I'm digging all the nostalgic team recreation (ESPECIALLY Sakura's bad assery), but I really hope that they don't go back to being heavily compartmentalized groups that seldom interact after this - i.e. Ino Shika Cho only really interacting between the three of themselves most of the time sort of thing. I like having them in groups again, but I want it to also maintain the loose interactive structure that they've had during the war.

I dig that the Jubi breaks down into little minions that are analogous to the Zetsu. Their designs are rad and it gives everyone something to do. Speaking of which, can we all appreciate how TOTALLY BADASS the Four Red Suns barrier technique is?



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[The Twilight Mexican]

I agree with Madara. Clones are lame.

Probably the only thing I really dislike about Naruto.

Is it just me or was the art better than usual this chapter?

 

[Obsidian Fire]

I'm digging all the nostalgic team recreation (ESPECIALLY Sakura's bad assery), but I really hope that they don't go back to being heavily compartmentalized groups that seldom interact after this - i.e. Ino Shika Cho only really interacting between the three of themselves most of the time sort of thing. I like having them in groups again, but I want it to also maintain the loose interactive structure that they've had during the war.

Well, with Neji dead, they'll always be short one person. Also, who knows what Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin are going to do afterwords.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Well, with Neji dead, they'll always be short one person. Also, who knows what Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin are going to do afterwords.

Juugo's speculation was rather interesting, and will probably be brought up later. I'm interested to see how Sasuke's endgame will play out with this.



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[Dark and Divine]

And chapter 633 is up!

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Art was a mess this chapter.

 

[Kai Schulen]

Poor Sai. He's all "I'm a part of Team 7 too!", tries to attack and gets shot down the next page. :<

 

[Splintered]

I told someone a long time ago that Kishi should start using Sai regularly with a ton of panel time, or completely drop him and forget he existed. Because this whole thing with Sai would be sad if it wasn't hilarious.

That said, it's great to see how far the Konoha 9 have gotten, but where the fuck is the rest of war effort? And Lee and Tenten.


And poor Yamato, still just chilling in a chapter far far away.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

So, let's get into this.

We start with a call back to Naruto & Sasuke's friendly rivalry analyzing each other's techniques, which is some nostalgia, and makes it feel like all the strife between the two of them has been a part of their friendship, even if Sasuke's not being completely upfront with his feelings yet, it's a clear indication that he's not JUST a monstrous ball of hatred anymore, and he's really noticeably an evolution of the person that he started as.

Then we get everybody's new techniques:

&#8226; Kiba: FINALLY we get to see a new form of Garouga as Cerberus (3-Headed Wolf). It's a reminder that Kage Bunshin is really a tough technique, even if he can only make one, and it's nice to see Kiba as a really large-scale heavy hitter from Team 8.

&#8226; Shino: I love that Shino's technique is the opposite of what we saw with Torune. Rather than going Microscopic, he's gone huge, and that's REALLY cool, especially since the technique is a direct representation of the body horror of the insects living inside the Aburame Clan members.

&#8226; Hinata: I'm really pleased with Hinata. It didn't make sense for her to suddenly have a new technique when she was already giving it her all when attempting to save Naruto. Instead, we get to see Neji's legacy passing down to her as the main family, and how his instruction and Naruto's influence has changed her and made her stronger both as a character and as a combattant.

&#8226; Ino/Shika/Cho: This drives home how their clans really act as one. Mindlinked, and combining their skills into a single technique that uses personal targeting through Ino's chakra sensing, massive impact and damage with Chouji's rotation and size, and precise targeting with Shikamaru's shadow technique. While Team 8's strengths are varied and versatile, NO ONE else has a unit like these three. (Also, Shikamaru suddenly getting competitive was hilarious).

&#8226; I think that Sai's reveal is gonna be delayed until they get through to the main form. He's one of the only ones who knows sealing techniques, and his aim at going after the main form makes me think that we'll see something special from him when ALL of Team 7 breaks through to the main body.

Lastly, seeing Sakura, Naruto, & Sasuke summoning really completes the message in the chapter that they're succeeding the previous generation and taking up the mantles of their parents and mentors. The Neo-Sannin is a moment that just felt like it's been something that's such a long time coming, and something that we've wanted to see for so long, but until a few chapters ago never seemed like it'd be a possibility, it was fantastic actually seeing it happen.

That said, it's great to see how far the Konoha 9 have gotten, but where the fuck is the rest of war effort? And Lee and Tenten.

Jubi is HUGE and there are certainly more monsters being attacked by other members of the alliance (since Ino/Shika/Cho took out 25, and there's GOT to be a TON more than 75ish of them attacking), but this chapter was about the focus on the Konoha 9 + Sai. I'm really hoping to see Lee & Tenten coming in to assist with some of the other characters next week, since the creatures are getting bigger, and they need their moment in the spotlight, too. (Having Hinata being the only one being motivated by Neji this chapter helped it to be more personal for her whole development, and focusing on her teammates in a second chapter seems like a good move thematically to allow each to have their maximum impact).



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