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braves
Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Posts: 2309
Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas)
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:48 am
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Dang. Harsh.
I liked the Sasuke vs. Naruto fight, even with the meandering pace. But I agree that it's not all that it's hyped up to be, and it's definitely not the best fight in the Naruto series.
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Iritscen
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
Posts: 793
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:30 am
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Yeah, "harsh", as braves said, although I can't disagree with a lot of it.
I had never realized how close Naruto and Sasuke supposedly were through childhood until the flashback marathon started, which in hindsight kinda tells you, as the reviewer said, that some of this development really should have started earlier. It's like Kishimoto said, "Oh, crap, the fight already began, and I forgot to develop the whole hidden friendship between Naruto and Sasuke that goes back many years before they were even in the same squad! It's flashback time!"
I wouldn't quite call the Sand Ninjas coming in and saving Shikamaru, Rock Lee, and Kiba a cop-out, since, after all, it was a pretty tall order to defeat the three Sound Ninjas; I mean, it was hardly a fair fight for our Leaf Village friends.
But the main point I wanted to make was that I'm really surprised that the reviewer doesn't even directly mention Gaara's fight with Kimimaro, which in my opinion is the best fight in the arc, easily. It uses flashbacks to effectively build up a newly-introduced character, and yet packages an epic fight in with those flashbacks and seals it all up in two episodes, IIRC.
Also, I'm not quite sure what the reviewer means when he says we shouldn't think about how young these guys are. Does he mean that because... they are already so powerful, or they seem wiser than their years should allow? I really didn't get that, did anyone else?
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doctordoom85
Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2093
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:44 am
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I don't see how Naruto and Sasuke's friendship came out nowhere. The majority of the flashbacks used to hint at it are from earlier episodes aside from the one where they're like 8 or so. Naruto and Sasuke's friendship did build during Part 1, it was just Kishi choose to show it through subtle moments (look at the Chunnin finals. When Sasuke emerges, Naruto's challenging him, but they're both smiling at each other. Quite different from their behavior back in the day) rather than hitting the viewer with a sledgehammer on it.
And yeah, it wasn't really a cop-out that the Sand Ninjas appeared. Let's face it, if Tsunade really only sent 4 Genin and 1 Chunnin on such a vital mission, it'd be hard to not call her an idiot. Sure, security is important, but Orochimaru + Sharingan = big trouble down the road. So it makes sense she'd call for some back-up. Not to mention Kiba smelled them several times before they emerged, so it wasn't like Kishi made it up at the last second.
And yeah, why the 12-year old mention? We've known they were that age since the first episode, for crying out loud. If you're suddenly unable to suspend belief, keep in mind Kakashi was a Chunnin at age SIX. Now THAT'S pushing belief!
As for the Uchiha flashbacks, criticize them all you want, but PAY ATTENTION to them! Because later people will say a certain twist came out of nowhere, when there were several hints that things were not as they seemed in the flashbacks. But then again, I am a uber LOST fan, so I tend to overanalyze every scene in any series compared to most people.
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braves
Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Posts: 2309
Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas)
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:53 am
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doctordoom85 wrote: | And yeah, why the 12-year old mention? We've known they were that age since the first episode, for crying out loud. |
Aren't they actually 13 at this point? It's been quite a while from the beginning of the series.
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doctordoom85
Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2093
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:20 pm
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braves wrote: |
doctordoom85 wrote: | And yeah, why the 12-year old mention? We've known they were that age since the first episode, for crying out loud. |
Aren't they actually 13 at this point? It's been quite a while from the beginning of the series. |
2-3 months at most. They also flat out say they're 15 after the timeskip (2.5 years later).
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Heretic
Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 177
Location: Laurel, Maryland
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:25 pm
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braves wrote: |
doctordoom85 wrote: | And yeah, why the 12-year old mention? We've known they were that age since the first episode, for crying out loud. |
Aren't they actually 13 at this point? It's been quite a while from the beginning of the series. |
This is correct. They were 13 and are now 16 according to the latest databook.
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Top Gun
Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4723
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:58 pm
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I'd only made it up to episode 40 or so of the series (and am still there, come to think of it, with no real desire to go further) when this set of episodes aired on Toonami. A few of my friends offered somewhat tongue-in-cheek praise for the climax of this set, by which they meant that there would be one beautifully-animated episode reached only by sitting through all sorts of nonsense beforehand. I decided to sit through a few episodes, and I saw exactly what they meant. Sure, the final payoff at the end was a visual treat...but what led up to it was some of the worst-paced, overly-angsty schlock I've ever had the displeasure of watching. If there's ever one example of how not to structure a climactic fight (besides half of DBZ, of course), this is it. Ugh.
(And from what I've heard, even after you skip over all of those fillers, the series drifts even more toward being properly called "Sasuke" instead of "Naruto." At this rate, I don't know that I'll ever motivate myself to watch the rest...)
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Josh7289
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 1252
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:00 pm
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Hahaha, Mr. Carl Kimlinger, I disagree completely!
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doctordoom85
Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2093
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:04 pm
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Top Gun wrote: | (And from what I've heard, even after you skip over all of those fillers, the series drifts even more toward being properly called "Sasuke" instead of "Naruto." At this rate, I don't know that I'll ever motivate myself to watch the rest...) |
An over exaggeration. Sasuke has like some 40 chapters in Part 2 that are mainly focused on him, but considering he shows up for like 2 chapters of the first three Part 2 arcs, it's kinda justified seeing as how he's the second main character.
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DFBTG
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 385
Location: Hell
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 3:27 pm
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It's been probably a year or more since I've seen that block of episodes, but I don't recall being annoyed at the 'stop-and-go' pace. I don't doubt I would have enjoyed constant action, but I wasn't distracted too much by the flashbacks and attempt (that succeeded in my opinion) at character development.
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Iritscen
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
Posts: 793
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:51 am
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The only thing that annoyed me about the pacing of the fights was right at the end of Sakon vs. Kiba, when Sakon's like, "Okay, Kiba, I'm gonna kill you now.... you're totally unable to move and I'm right here in front of you... yep, totally gonna kill you... like... any minute now... okay, I really mean it! There's no escape! You're really gonna die! Like really soon now! This is me killing you! Okay, I'm finally lunging at you! I've in no way allowed time for a last-minute rescue by telling you how much you're totally about to die! Die! YahhHHHH-- oh no, a last-minute rescue!"
I mean, I can't count the number of times that happens in animé, so I had to roll my eyes. Overall, hardly an important issue, of course, I just wanted to get that off my chest.
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jr240483
Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4416
Location: New York City,New York,USA
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:08 pm
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kinda too harsh for my taste.thats why i dont pay attention to reviews.never had never will.
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leftbehindxp
Joined: 09 Dec 2007
Posts: 142
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 11:50 pm
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Is there a point to use spoilers with Naruto? Even if you didn't watch it, you know what happens. And I agree with the first post, ouch. Can not wait until they release Shippudeen.
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braves
Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Posts: 2309
Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas)
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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:25 am
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leftbehindxp wrote: | Is there a point to use spoilers with Naruto? Even if you didn't watch it, you know what happens. |
While the final result is obvious since it's a Shonen Jump title, how it gets there isn't exactly so obvious (though, you might have a general idea).
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doctordoom85
Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2093
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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:14 pm
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braves wrote: |
leftbehindxp wrote: | Is there a point to use spoilers with Naruto? Even if you didn't watch it, you know what happens. |
While the final result is obvious since it's a Shonen Jump title, how it gets there isn't exactly so obvious (though, you might have a general idea). |
Actually, a lot of generic shonen would have Naruto winning and bringing Sasuke back. The end of this arc began a new feel for the series for me, and Part 2 is a lot darker. It went from being Dragonball-like to almost more Fullmetal Alchemist-like. So I would argue that the end result of this arc isn't really obvious.
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