Alex Strife
Ex-SOLDIER
Ooooooooh!! That is good news indeed.
Naruto Anime/Manga (Manga Spoilers Not Tagged) [WSJ]
- Thread starter Hinata Hyuga
- Start date
Dark and Divine
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- D&D
Yes, I've been following it!
And it's getting to a crucial part of the manga.
Basically, the release of the Edo Tensei, but first we'll have Madara's Ultimate Susano'o
And it's getting to a crucial part of the manga.
Basically, the release of the Edo Tensei, but first we'll have Madara's Ultimate Susano'o
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
And I'm finally done with the first part of this. This is seriously a ton of fun to do. Enjoy!
Chapters 1-33
Series Start, Wave Arc
I'm hoping to do more then 30 chapters at a time, but it was either this, or splitting up the Chunnin Exam Arc. And both the Series Start and the Wave Arc are really important development-wise for the rest of the series. Observations are listed in order of appearance.
Series Start
Probably the most important thing to be established right from the get-go is that Naruto craves acknowledgment for who he is and that he doesn't get that from anyone on a regular basis. And that he's willing to go to great lengths (become Hokage) to get that acknowledgment. Which fits the profile for a large number of enemies he encounters and nicely starts to set up the idea that the main difference between the heroes and villains in Naruto is not the backgrounds they have, but how they responded to that background.
I've always found it interesting that as horrible as Naruto is at the normal Bunshin, he does great at Henge. Given what Jiraiya says about how Naruto has a hard time with jutsu that require small amounts of chakra, which Bunshin does, how is it that he's so good as Henge when you'd think it would require similar amounts of chakra, especially as they're both E-Rank jutsu?
You'd think security would be better around a scroll of forbidden jutsu written by Tobirama, not to mention Sautobi's house. It's good that the first jutsu was Kage Bunshin, not Edo Tensai... How easily Naruto gets the forbidden scroll is one of the weaker plot points in the first arc for me. That said, who in their right mind would try to steal from the house of the greatest ninja in the village?
In the Mizuki/Iruka/Naruto showdown the biggest thing that stands out to me now is Mizuki's ignorance of the whole Kyuubi sealing affair and what the forbidden scroll really is. On the one hand, this is most probably a retcon, on the other, it's equally probable he has no idea what is really in the forbidden scroll. For whatever reason, Mizuki thinks the forbidden scroll has something to do with Naruto's seal, when what it really has is jutsu. In this same vein, the other ninja that we see in the first chapter don't think much differently about the Naruto/Kyuubi relationship either. This causes me to think that there's a information gap between Iruka/Mizuki's age group and Kakashi's age group regarding who's son Naruto is.
What also stands out is that when Mizuki tells Naruto he has Kyuubi sealed in him, Naruto doesn't tell him he's lying; he actually thinks it's a good explanation for what people think about him and how they act around him. And then Iruka tells Naruto that it's not what he is that matters, but who he is as a person that matters, which is what Naruto has been waiting for years to hear.
Naruto's meeting with Konohamaru is a pretty accurate summation of how most of Naruto's interactions with other people go. More often then not (make that practically all the time), Naruto sees people for who they are rather then for the roles they have/play and deals with them accordingly. Which leads to much better outcomes usually.
Rather interesting too is that Minato is always refereed to as the 4th Hokage throughout all of Pre-timeskip Naruto, or rather the 4th Hokage is never referred to by name until Kakashi Gadien. Which makes me wonder when it was that Kishimoto made the decision for the 4th Hokage to be Minato and Naruto's dad. More on that later.
It's really interesting to see how everyone on Team 7 has changed since their initial introduction. Kakashi's gotten out of his "limbo" state, Naruto has changed the reason for why he wants to be Hokage, Sasuke has gotten his revenge on Itachi (sort of) but has yet to find a place to rebuild the Uchiha, and Sakura has gotten over(?) her crush on Sasuke. Kinda wonder how they'd all react if they knew what they'd eventually be doing and getting into.
Probably what I consider to be one of the most obvious "retcons" (it isn't really) in the early chapters is that Sakura seems surprised to find out that Sasuke doesn't have any parents. Given how large and publicly visible the Uchiha were, I'd think she'd at least know of the massacre. It seems like almost everyone in Konoha knew. And none of this is really a retcon, it's more of an observation of something that doesn't fit quite right with the rest of the manga, but still has a plausible explanation.
The location of the "Survival Test" is pretty ironic considering what Kakashi wants to teach Team 7. Especially as there's some evidence that Obito has been back to the memorial stone since the Uchiha Massacre. On a rather random note, the "kill person X or I kill person Y" scenario has yet to come up in the manga.
The title page of Chapter 6 is the first association of Naruto with toads in the manga.
"A ninja must see underneath the underneath." This has constantly come up in the series regarding why people do things. Most often in the form of flash-backs to flush out what people were actually thinking about events, instead of what everyone else thought they were thinking. Sasuke's arcs in particular revolve around this as he tries to uncover why the Uchiha massacre happened, and then why the ninja system was come up with in the first place.
"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who don't take care of their comrades are lower then trash." One of the driving forces of the entire series. There's so much to be said about this and I'll say most of it as we go instead of here.
This also introduces the main divisions in ninja techniques, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. Ninjutsu is easily the most diverse out of all three of them, with genjutsu in the middle and taijustu last. This makes a lot of sense now that we know where chakra comes from, as you need chakra for both ninjutsu and genjutsu, but not necessarily for taijutsu (or at least, not as much). This is head-canon, but I get the feeling that humans were doing taijutsu long before they ever got chakra. Genjutsu is more limited then ninjutsu is as it's an illusion, and it's practically useless once the person has figured out they're in a genjutsu. Which is why the genjutsu the Mangekyou Sharingan is capable of making are so terrifying. Itachi's is impossible to get out of even when you are aware you're in it, and Sasuke has one that is so weak it's impossible to detect and Suishi's lets him take control of another person and they're not even aware of it. Ninjutsu is the flashiest of the three, but the shear range of effects it can produce make it the most feared out of the three. What they all have in common though is that they're near useless if the person using them isn't creative with using them.
Wave Arc
And we're finally introduced to how the ninja system itself normally works... when people aren't trying to take over the world anyway. It's remarkably similar to the way SeeD in FFVIII works, except that the different ninja villages compete with each other instead of being part of the same organization.
It's sad seeing how far Wave Country has fallen since the Uzumaki clan was driven out. And that was something that was definitely added later.
The beginning of the first Kakashi/Zabuza fight is an interesting, but telling deviation from the traditional "I am "x" from "y" organization, (where I have "z" rank)" introduction to most shonen fight arcs. Instead of volunteering their own names, both Kakashi and Zaubza tell each other that they know who their opponent is, and nothing else. And it's not just them, this is repeated throughout most of the fights in the manga (Chunin Exam doesn't count), and the few time we do see people say their own names, it's usually after the outcome of a fight has been determined, which goes well with how important information is to the ninja. Given how worked up characters in shonen manga get when people ask them for their names without giving their own... yeah. The other thing I've noticed about fights in Naruto is that I can't remember anyone in the manga complaining about underhand, dishonorable fighting techniques, in fact, most ninja expect for other ninja to use them. Which goes pretty well with the "underneath the underneath" theme. It's like in the Naruto series, fighting fairly takes a backseat to actually winning the fight you're in. Anyway, the above points are my two main arguments for the "why should we be calling the ninja in Naruto ninja if their techniques are so flashy?" debate. For me, it's less about what techniques you actually use (especially in manga) and more about strategies that determine how those techniques are used.
From the first introduction of the sharingan, I've always thought of it being less of a special eye technique and more as something to do with chakra as a whole. Especially when you consider unlike the byuuakugen, not all Uchiha have it and that it's gotten in stages. It also behaves more like a computer program then an active jutsu, as in, it gives a person near photographic memory for jutu as well as the equivalent of a simulator for jutsu. That has a lot more to do with the brain then just the eyes. And that's before we even get to what Uchiha can pull off with Izanami, Izanagi, and Mangekyou Sharingan, all of which are so much more then eye techniques. On a side note, as what triggers the sharingan is loss, I'm thinking that it was a lot more common for Uchiha to have sharingan before the Hidden Village system was invented.
The title page of Chapter 16 is the first place we ever see Obito, Rin and Minato's character designs. And they're definitely Obito and Rin, not just some generic ninja. So they at least have been around since the beginning of the manga.
It's interesting what Kakashi terms too much sharingan/Chidori usage this early in the manga, as he's gotten way better at using it after the time-skip. It's not just the kids that have been getting better at their ninja techniques...
The series first introduction to what chakra is... or how ninja use it at any rate. What is apparent though is that both of the energy types that go into making chakra both now originate from within ninja. Body energy originates in the body's cells. Spirit energy is gotten from training, and both are needed to make chakra. It's also mentioned that using to much chakra at once can kill you. Really makes me wonder what the Juubi's chakra contributed to people being able to use chakra... I'm thinking it has to do with how humans mix body and spirit energy together, but IDK.
Even though Haku is the first one to bring up the "I will protect my precious people" idea, Naruto seems to know exactly what that looks like, and doesn't even bother asking Haku to explain what it means. He's got enough people who have already demonstrated it for him. It's almost like Haku is pointing out the obvious to Naruto.
The title page of Chapter 24 is the first time Sasuke is associated with snakes. Foreshadowing much?
Kekkai Genkai... the first of a lot of hints that chakra is something people inherit from their parents... And we all just thought it was something along the lines of spiritual energy from other series... as in it's always been around and people have always been able to use it.
The back-story we get here for Kiri is rather difficult to fit in with what we later learn about Kiri, specifically that several people with some really bizarre Kekkai Genkai are from there, and that those people are (will be?) living in Kiri four years from now. Further complicating this is that both the 2nd Mizukage and Yagara share similar philosophies with Naruto, so it probably isn't until Madara (Obito?) gets control of Yagara that the anti-Kekkai Genkai stuff shows up. Problem with that is, there's only a very narrow time that could happen as Obito isn't able to control Yagara until he summons Kurama against Konoha... but that doen't line up at all with Haku's birth or the whole deal with Zabuza's "graduation". I keep hoping Kishimoto will go back to this as it's one of the most obvious plot-holes from this arc.
The entire Zabuza/Team 7 fight is almost a tour de force of all the main themes of the Naruto series. There is people willing to sacrifice themselves for their precious people, Naruto's ability to inspire hope in other people, the controversy over what the role of ninja should really be, etc. The main thing that sets it apart from the rest of the manga though is that Naruto is on the learning end of it this time, and for that reason, this is the hardest thing he's had to learn in the series. In some ways, the rest of the series is all about what he does with the lessons he learned here, and how it affects other people.
It's a huge irony that burring ninja is seen as a something honorable, when that's exactly what you shouldn't do if you don't want them to be raised again by Edo Tensai...
I'd argue that what Naruto learns in Wave Country are critical for him, as when you look at what is driving Madara, Tobi, Pain, Kabuto, and several of the other ninja in Akatsuki, it's really similar to what was diving Naruto to want to be Hokage pre-Wave. After Wave, not so much.
And I'm going to try to do at least half the Chunin Exam next time...
Chapters 1-33
Series Start, Wave Arc
I'm hoping to do more then 30 chapters at a time, but it was either this, or splitting up the Chunnin Exam Arc. And both the Series Start and the Wave Arc are really important development-wise for the rest of the series. Observations are listed in order of appearance.
Series Start
Probably the most important thing to be established right from the get-go is that Naruto craves acknowledgment for who he is and that he doesn't get that from anyone on a regular basis. And that he's willing to go to great lengths (become Hokage) to get that acknowledgment. Which fits the profile for a large number of enemies he encounters and nicely starts to set up the idea that the main difference between the heroes and villains in Naruto is not the backgrounds they have, but how they responded to that background.
I've always found it interesting that as horrible as Naruto is at the normal Bunshin, he does great at Henge. Given what Jiraiya says about how Naruto has a hard time with jutsu that require small amounts of chakra, which Bunshin does, how is it that he's so good as Henge when you'd think it would require similar amounts of chakra, especially as they're both E-Rank jutsu?
You'd think security would be better around a scroll of forbidden jutsu written by Tobirama, not to mention Sautobi's house. It's good that the first jutsu was Kage Bunshin, not Edo Tensai... How easily Naruto gets the forbidden scroll is one of the weaker plot points in the first arc for me. That said, who in their right mind would try to steal from the house of the greatest ninja in the village?
In the Mizuki/Iruka/Naruto showdown the biggest thing that stands out to me now is Mizuki's ignorance of the whole Kyuubi sealing affair and what the forbidden scroll really is. On the one hand, this is most probably a retcon, on the other, it's equally probable he has no idea what is really in the forbidden scroll. For whatever reason, Mizuki thinks the forbidden scroll has something to do with Naruto's seal, when what it really has is jutsu. In this same vein, the other ninja that we see in the first chapter don't think much differently about the Naruto/Kyuubi relationship either. This causes me to think that there's a information gap between Iruka/Mizuki's age group and Kakashi's age group regarding who's son Naruto is.
What also stands out is that when Mizuki tells Naruto he has Kyuubi sealed in him, Naruto doesn't tell him he's lying; he actually thinks it's a good explanation for what people think about him and how they act around him. And then Iruka tells Naruto that it's not what he is that matters, but who he is as a person that matters, which is what Naruto has been waiting for years to hear.
Naruto's meeting with Konohamaru is a pretty accurate summation of how most of Naruto's interactions with other people go. More often then not (make that practically all the time), Naruto sees people for who they are rather then for the roles they have/play and deals with them accordingly. Which leads to much better outcomes usually.
Rather interesting too is that Minato is always refereed to as the 4th Hokage throughout all of Pre-timeskip Naruto, or rather the 4th Hokage is never referred to by name until Kakashi Gadien. Which makes me wonder when it was that Kishimoto made the decision for the 4th Hokage to be Minato and Naruto's dad. More on that later.
It's really interesting to see how everyone on Team 7 has changed since their initial introduction. Kakashi's gotten out of his "limbo" state, Naruto has changed the reason for why he wants to be Hokage, Sasuke has gotten his revenge on Itachi (sort of) but has yet to find a place to rebuild the Uchiha, and Sakura has gotten over(?) her crush on Sasuke. Kinda wonder how they'd all react if they knew what they'd eventually be doing and getting into.
Probably what I consider to be one of the most obvious "retcons" (it isn't really) in the early chapters is that Sakura seems surprised to find out that Sasuke doesn't have any parents. Given how large and publicly visible the Uchiha were, I'd think she'd at least know of the massacre. It seems like almost everyone in Konoha knew. And none of this is really a retcon, it's more of an observation of something that doesn't fit quite right with the rest of the manga, but still has a plausible explanation.
The location of the "Survival Test" is pretty ironic considering what Kakashi wants to teach Team 7. Especially as there's some evidence that Obito has been back to the memorial stone since the Uchiha Massacre. On a rather random note, the "kill person X or I kill person Y" scenario has yet to come up in the manga.
The title page of Chapter 6 is the first association of Naruto with toads in the manga.
"A ninja must see underneath the underneath." This has constantly come up in the series regarding why people do things. Most often in the form of flash-backs to flush out what people were actually thinking about events, instead of what everyone else thought they were thinking. Sasuke's arcs in particular revolve around this as he tries to uncover why the Uchiha massacre happened, and then why the ninja system was come up with in the first place.
"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who don't take care of their comrades are lower then trash." One of the driving forces of the entire series. There's so much to be said about this and I'll say most of it as we go instead of here.
This also introduces the main divisions in ninja techniques, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. Ninjutsu is easily the most diverse out of all three of them, with genjutsu in the middle and taijustu last. This makes a lot of sense now that we know where chakra comes from, as you need chakra for both ninjutsu and genjutsu, but not necessarily for taijutsu (or at least, not as much). This is head-canon, but I get the feeling that humans were doing taijutsu long before they ever got chakra. Genjutsu is more limited then ninjutsu is as it's an illusion, and it's practically useless once the person has figured out they're in a genjutsu. Which is why the genjutsu the Mangekyou Sharingan is capable of making are so terrifying. Itachi's is impossible to get out of even when you are aware you're in it, and Sasuke has one that is so weak it's impossible to detect and Suishi's lets him take control of another person and they're not even aware of it. Ninjutsu is the flashiest of the three, but the shear range of effects it can produce make it the most feared out of the three. What they all have in common though is that they're near useless if the person using them isn't creative with using them.
Wave Arc
And we're finally introduced to how the ninja system itself normally works... when people aren't trying to take over the world anyway. It's remarkably similar to the way SeeD in FFVIII works, except that the different ninja villages compete with each other instead of being part of the same organization.
It's sad seeing how far Wave Country has fallen since the Uzumaki clan was driven out. And that was something that was definitely added later.
The beginning of the first Kakashi/Zabuza fight is an interesting, but telling deviation from the traditional "I am "x" from "y" organization, (where I have "z" rank)" introduction to most shonen fight arcs. Instead of volunteering their own names, both Kakashi and Zaubza tell each other that they know who their opponent is, and nothing else. And it's not just them, this is repeated throughout most of the fights in the manga (Chunin Exam doesn't count), and the few time we do see people say their own names, it's usually after the outcome of a fight has been determined, which goes well with how important information is to the ninja. Given how worked up characters in shonen manga get when people ask them for their names without giving their own... yeah. The other thing I've noticed about fights in Naruto is that I can't remember anyone in the manga complaining about underhand, dishonorable fighting techniques, in fact, most ninja expect for other ninja to use them. Which goes pretty well with the "underneath the underneath" theme. It's like in the Naruto series, fighting fairly takes a backseat to actually winning the fight you're in. Anyway, the above points are my two main arguments for the "why should we be calling the ninja in Naruto ninja if their techniques are so flashy?" debate. For me, it's less about what techniques you actually use (especially in manga) and more about strategies that determine how those techniques are used.
From the first introduction of the sharingan, I've always thought of it being less of a special eye technique and more as something to do with chakra as a whole. Especially when you consider unlike the byuuakugen, not all Uchiha have it and that it's gotten in stages. It also behaves more like a computer program then an active jutsu, as in, it gives a person near photographic memory for jutu as well as the equivalent of a simulator for jutsu. That has a lot more to do with the brain then just the eyes. And that's before we even get to what Uchiha can pull off with Izanami, Izanagi, and Mangekyou Sharingan, all of which are so much more then eye techniques. On a side note, as what triggers the sharingan is loss, I'm thinking that it was a lot more common for Uchiha to have sharingan before the Hidden Village system was invented.
The title page of Chapter 16 is the first place we ever see Obito, Rin and Minato's character designs. And they're definitely Obito and Rin, not just some generic ninja. So they at least have been around since the beginning of the manga.
It's interesting what Kakashi terms too much sharingan/Chidori usage this early in the manga, as he's gotten way better at using it after the time-skip. It's not just the kids that have been getting better at their ninja techniques...
The series first introduction to what chakra is... or how ninja use it at any rate. What is apparent though is that both of the energy types that go into making chakra both now originate from within ninja. Body energy originates in the body's cells. Spirit energy is gotten from training, and both are needed to make chakra. It's also mentioned that using to much chakra at once can kill you. Really makes me wonder what the Juubi's chakra contributed to people being able to use chakra... I'm thinking it has to do with how humans mix body and spirit energy together, but IDK.
Even though Haku is the first one to bring up the "I will protect my precious people" idea, Naruto seems to know exactly what that looks like, and doesn't even bother asking Haku to explain what it means. He's got enough people who have already demonstrated it for him. It's almost like Haku is pointing out the obvious to Naruto.
The title page of Chapter 24 is the first time Sasuke is associated with snakes. Foreshadowing much?
Kekkai Genkai... the first of a lot of hints that chakra is something people inherit from their parents... And we all just thought it was something along the lines of spiritual energy from other series... as in it's always been around and people have always been able to use it.
The back-story we get here for Kiri is rather difficult to fit in with what we later learn about Kiri, specifically that several people with some really bizarre Kekkai Genkai are from there, and that those people are (will be?) living in Kiri four years from now. Further complicating this is that both the 2nd Mizukage and Yagara share similar philosophies with Naruto, so it probably isn't until Madara (Obito?) gets control of Yagara that the anti-Kekkai Genkai stuff shows up. Problem with that is, there's only a very narrow time that could happen as Obito isn't able to control Yagara until he summons Kurama against Konoha... but that doen't line up at all with Haku's birth or the whole deal with Zabuza's "graduation". I keep hoping Kishimoto will go back to this as it's one of the most obvious plot-holes from this arc.
The entire Zabuza/Team 7 fight is almost a tour de force of all the main themes of the Naruto series. There is people willing to sacrifice themselves for their precious people, Naruto's ability to inspire hope in other people, the controversy over what the role of ninja should really be, etc. The main thing that sets it apart from the rest of the manga though is that Naruto is on the learning end of it this time, and for that reason, this is the hardest thing he's had to learn in the series. In some ways, the rest of the series is all about what he does with the lessons he learned here, and how it affects other people.
It's a huge irony that burring ninja is seen as a something honorable, when that's exactly what you shouldn't do if you don't want them to be raised again by Edo Tensai...
I'd argue that what Naruto learns in Wave Country are critical for him, as when you look at what is driving Madara, Tobi, Pain, Kabuto, and several of the other ninja in Akatsuki, it's really similar to what was diving Naruto to want to be Hokage pre-Wave. After Wave, not so much.
And I'm going to try to do at least half the Chunin Exam next time...
Roger
He/him
- AKA
- Minato
This is one of the big misconceptions in Naruto. The Water Country had anti-Kekkai Genkai values. The Village Hidden in the Mist wasn't neccesarily at the heart of this.
As for the Bloody Mist era. it will probably be revealed Madara was behind it. And indeed was the one responsible for Rin's situation.
Alex Strife
Ex-SOLDIER
I have been watching it. As always 
. And it's been good as of late!
. And it's been good as of late!
X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
Uh-oh!
Was not expecting this... which is kinda stupid as Madara has had the Rinningan this whole time...
Was not expecting this... which is kinda stupid as Madara has had the Rinningan this whole time...
X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
It looks like Naruto's actually winding into its final phase: http://www.saiyanisland.com/2013/11/masashi-kishimoto-narutos-story-is-at-final-phase/
X
X
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
That said, define "final phase". We've got Madara (a newly alive one at that), Orochimaru (revived again), Kabuto (as out-of-the-way he is, he still hasn't made a final decision yet), the reanimated Hokage (they've got to end up dead again, as much as we love them), Obito (is he dead now?), the Jubbi (it's dead right?), the Sasuke vs. Naruto conflict (how's that going to be resolved now?) to figure out endings for. Given how far we've com in the past year (or not come really, 50 chapters ago we found out who Tobi really was) I'm thinking we've still got a while yet to go time-wise.
TBH, it's been pretty obvious we've been in the last major conflict of the series for a while. It's really only matter of concluding it.
TBH, it's been pretty obvious we've been in the last major conflict of the series for a while. It's really only matter of concluding it.
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
http://www.mangapanda.com/naruto/658/3
Note to self: Getting the Bijuu mad enough that they are actively out to get you is hazardous for your health.
Note to self: Getting the Bijuu mad enough that they are actively out to get you is hazardous for your health.
Dark and Divine
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- D&D
Not only that, how could Madara use Susano'o without eyes?
Something to do with the Senjutsu Chakra he absorbed from Hashirama?
Something to do with the Senjutsu Chakra he absorbed from Hashirama?
X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
http://www.mangapanda.com/naruto/660/3
X
Good chapter for Gaara/Shukaku development, and Naruto loses Kurama!? I'm pretty sure that Minato's portion of Kurama is gonna come into play soon.
X
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
Dang. And Naruto is one of the jinchuriki who got his bijuu as soon as he was born, so he's never not had it. It's got to be worse for him then for everyone else (except Gaara whose in the same position). And I really want to know what Kurama asked Gaara to do...
Kudos to Kishimoto for "undoing" the entire premise of the manga though...
Also, Naruto should be renamed to "Chekhov's Gun Depot in manga format"...
Kudos to Kishimoto for "undoing" the entire premise of the manga though...
Also, Naruto should be renamed to "Chekhov's Gun Depot in manga format"...
Alex Strife
Ex-SOLDIER
I'll sound extremely rude and confrontational here but if you don't like Naruto, don't go piss on the parade of those who like it.
I mean, what's the purpose? Looking for a fight?
Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
Are you saying this because you don't like it? or because you've finally found people who like it as well? I can't tell.
Also... FFVII and Naruto have a lot in common with the style of plots. They're both over-complicated, inter-connected plots that depend on flash-backs to tell the story. And their plots are very, very long-term and depend mostly on why people do things, not just what they do. And the themes they deal with have a lot of real-world parallels. The odds that people who like FFVII will also like Naruto (and Bleach) is pretty good.
The difference I find between the two is the amount and quality of retcons. Searching for retcons in FFVII is like staring at 3-foot long needles in a foot wide haystack, while searching for retcons in Naruto is like looking for an inch long needle in a mile wide haystack.
*goes back to reading Naruto and wondering what Sasuke is thinking about last weeks development*