Naruto: Shippuden - General Discussion

[Lantern7]

On 4/21/2019 at 5:58 PM, Sandman87 said:

Naruto takes a nice long break in the middle of wrasslin' the Nine Tails to have a chat with his mom, who could probably have been written out of the story completely without any impact on anything important.

I found it sweet, since Naruto never knew his mother. Once he realized, he was broken . . . but the good kind of broken, if that makes sense And we find out that Minato's red and Kushima's yellow would mix to make orange. If Naruto knew his parents, his outfit color would make more sense.

On 4/21/2019 at 5:58 PM, Sandman87 said:

I guess it's kind of like not wanting to hang around with an atomic bomb.

I get the fear. Not so much the loathing. If there was a child with an ungodly beast of immense power within him/her, why would you pick on that kid?

[Tenshinhan]

On 4/27/2019 at 2:09 AM, Lantern7 said:

I get the fear. Not so much the loathing. If there was a child with an ungodly beast of immense power within him/her, why would you pick on that kid?

They both fear and hate the kids because the Tailed Beasts killed their loved ones and caused all of that destruction.  To most, the demons and their hosts are one and the same.  So some might attack them, and some might avoid them, but they all fear/hate them.

Edited April 28, 2019 by Tenshinhan

[Sandman87]

On 4/26/2019 at 11:09 PM, Lantern7 said:

I get the fear. Not so much the loathing. If there was a child with an ungodly beast of immense power within him/her, why would you pick on that kid?

As if in response to your post, tonight's episode gives it up: The Nine-Tails got loose and rampaged, killing lots of Leaf folks, because Naruto was born. Bet there's a lot of "it's all your fault" in their loathing.

[Lantern7]

I'm understanding why Kurama is cranky all the time. Anytime we see him within a human host, he's chained up caged, or heavily restrained. That gets annoying after a few years.

Milestone: Naruto's flaming orange look! It works for him . . . or maybe that's because I've seen it in the past.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

More backstory about Naruto's birth, and an asshole Uchiha ruining everything.

1. Anyone else get a kick out of the "Just Another Night in the Leaf Village" bits before Kurama made his appearance?

2. Might Guy wanted to release pent-up energy. Yeah, I'm just leaving that out here.

3. As far as jutsu gimmicks, Minato's teleportation is right up there. Sure, he can only go to marked places, but it's awfully handy.

4. Naruto had the "whiskers" at birth. I had figured they came after Kurama was placed into his body. Minato and Kushima didn't look to have anything remotely like that.

[Sandman87]

Sasuke started crying when Naruto was born. How appropriate.

 I guess Minato's teleportation is basically a reverse summoning.

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

2. Might Guy wanted to release pent-up energy. Yeah, I'm just leaving that out here. 

This is the same Might Guy who gave Kakashi a bouquet of flowers not so long ago...

[lathspel]

I’m enjoying the Naruto birthday flashbacks way more than I thought I would.  Minato and Kushina were so happy for about ten seconds.  

[Sandman87]

It's Samehada night on Toonami; first Boruto, and then this episode.

Bee picks up Guy and throws him. Guess you could say that he's a Guy-ded missile. <rim-shot>

[Lantern7]

I like the absurdity of Guy getting launched in the air, then summoning his turtle . . . who immediately bitches about not being let out in ages. And Guy responds by performing the Yoshi Maneuver, jumping off his back for additional height.

Guy has the talent for being fearsome and still funny. Like seeing the enemy emerge from the waterfall and thinking it was an evil version of himself, even as one of his teammates keeps yelling otherwise.

ETA: I found this; it made me think of the "Clones Revolt!" filler episode.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Lantern7

[Sandman87]

Again with the damn ostrich.

A giant armadillo falls in love with Naruto at first sight. Because he's just that amazing. He'd better be careful - armadillos sometimes carry leprosy. Also Naruto and Bee take turns tormenting Guy.

Kabuto resurrects Deidara so he can do some goodwill building with Madara. En route to Naruto's last reported location, they tangle with the Tsuchikage. It looked like the old guy got killed by an excessively "artistic" explosion, but I doubt it was that easy, especially since his two bodyguards didn't join in the fight.

And Madara has an army of clones.

[Lantern7]

Saw this on Facebook; I may have found it too funny. (NSFW)

I’m thinking the animal wrangling was added. Giant koala and penguin made me think of the Chimeras from Hunter x Hunter.

[Sandman87]

19 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I’m thinking the animal wrangling was added.

Yeah, anything involving the ostrich is filler.

[Sandman87]

This episode of Naruto is sponsored by Armadillo Willy's! But seriously, I did not need to see that, and neither did Naruto, judging by his expression.

Kabuto and Deidara manage to flip the island-turtle over on its back and capture Yamato. Not a bad consolation prize, since they didn't get a tailed beast.

[Vermicious Knid]

Sadly, the bit with Naruto counting the animals and the gender bending armadillo are direct from the manga. Only the ostrich was added. Aaand, say goodbye to Yamato contributing anything to the plot.

[Lantern7]

Looks like the Great Ninja War is upon us. On one side: a shit-ton of ninjas from all major villages ready to kick Akatuski ass. On the other: the bad guys and the resurrected dead, a lot of whom have familiar faces. But first! Two weeks of filler. I think we’re clear of that afterward, but I might be misreading the online search.

[Lantern7]

. . . aaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnd the filler is still going on. I get that the anime has to recap the Naruto/Sasuke rivalry in order to get distance from the manga at that time, but it's still annoying. The thing that struck me was that I think new animation was used when Team 7 fought Kakashi. Or maybe it was just the part where he gave Naruto the ol' One Thousand Years of Death up his pooper. It's cute, but I want to see a gigantic battle of ninjas that will CHANGE EVERYTHING.

I also liked the bit on the roof with Naruto and Sasuke charging at each other and Sakura leaping between them. That bit was a cliffhanger; back in the days of TWoP, I made up a story that ended with Sakura's upper half getting sent into orbit by the Rasengan/Chidori collision. I don't have the hatred of Sakura that others do, but getting between two charging bulls was pretty stupid.

[Sandman87]

I'm disappointed that the recaps showed Kakashi giving Naruto the 1000 Years of Death, but didn't show the part where Naruto used it against Gaara during his rampage.

[Lantern7]

We're free of the filler, and the Fourth Great Ninja War is about to commence. On one side: approximately 7.2 million ninjas from the five main village. I think there's at least a million who are normal guys who woke up with two things on their heads: a huge bump and a sweet headband. On the other side: the Akatsuki, who seem to be resurrecting every shinobi that has died from the first episode of Naruto to today. And most of them have a sense of identity, but they're stuck being minions. This includes Azuma (who's probably going to be pitted against Shikamaru) and the pair of Zabuza and Haku. Damn, that was forever ago, wasn't it?

[Vermicious Knid]

Quote

 On the other side: the Akatsuki, who seem to be resurrecting every shinobi that has died from the first episode of Naruto to today.

Yep, pretty much. Including shinobi who died before the series started like a bunch of the former Kages. 

[lathspel]

I was really looking forward to a Sasori (my favorite Akatsuki) vs. Kankuro rematch, so that was kind of a letdown.  It would’ve been way more epic than Sai vs. “only mostly dead” Shin.  

[Lantern7]

I'm okay with it . .  though I'm expecting a lot of whiplash with fights between ninjas and their dead comrades. Also: if you turn Sai's brother into a bomb, he is going to be really pissed off about it.

[Sandman87]

I always feel like hiding under the bed whenever Kankuro fights anyone. He and his puppets are built to trigger pretty much every phobia there is. Clowns, spiders, creepy puppets, and so on. And don't even get me started about the puppet that traps you in a dark, confined space and then murders you with sharp objects.

In any case, his fight with Sasori was a letdown. Sasori's corpse vs. Sasori's other (puppet) corpse should have been a five-star battle.

I'm pretty sure that's the only time I've ever seen Sai get mad.

[lathspel]

21 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

I'm pretty sure that's the only time I've ever seen Sai get mad.

I was thinking the same thing.  Sai showing some fight was cool, also the earth style elevator. 

Zombie Sasori and Daedara seemed way slower on the uptake than their original forms, there’s no way this squad could’ve taken them at that time.  I’m going to chalk that up to Kabuto having to split his focus so many ways.  

[Lantern7]

On 8/21/2019 at 1:52 AM, Sandman87 said:

I always feel like hiding under the bed whenever Kankuro fights anyone. He and his puppets are built to trigger pretty much every phobia there is. Clowns, spiders, creepy puppets, and so on. And don't even get me started about the puppet that traps you in a dark, confined space and then murders you with sharp objects.

Yeah . . . but Gaara.

I mean, the Kazikage is more chill than when we were introduced to him at the Chunin Exams, but Kabuto almost crushing a guy didn’t come close to anything Gaara did back then.

[Sandman87]

Naruto gets some more practice wrangling his Beast. In a nice way, I mean. Kabuto shows Madara the special thing that he does with dead people. And the underground clone army gets intercepted by the ninja army.

The volcano spewing the clones made me think of a certain J.G. Thirlwell project.

[Lantern7]

I don't have much to add about this episode. I figure it'll be a while before Naruto and B hit the battlefield, and it will be epic when they do.

I do have something to tide us over. This is from a Naruto video game. Here's the Crowning Moment of Funny text:

Quote

"The Tale of Killer Bee." To put it into context, this is unlocked after "The Tale of Madara," which even roles credits, so it's essentially a post-game story. So far each tale has an opening animation, then segues into still pictures of characters in situations being narrated to use, then a similar thing, but with the actual characters talking, then the fight. Bee on the other has decided that the game doesn't have enough wacky. Each of his "Between Battle" things are animation, including the opening and closing, and each time, he raps, the opening telling him straight up that he's going to fight four others with no story reason, then rapping about who he's fighting next, with appropriate costumes and props...and each time he defeats someone, they go into the background as defeated back up dancers. That's not the funniest bit though. The funniest bit is that the last two people he does this too are Sasuke and Kisame. And the icing on the cake? You're either doing this tale for the animation, or the fact that you get to unlock Bee by beating it (And only Bee, since by this point you have everyone else).

Judge for yourself. Defeated Back-Up Dancer Sasuke looks like the soul has been drained from his body.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

The next Death Battle has been announced, and Sasuke will be making his debut in three weeks. The opponent: Hiei, everyone's favorite snarky/grumpy three-eyed demon from Yu Yu Hakusho. I think the franchise's current record is 1-1; Naruto managed to best Ichigo Kurasaki, but Jiraya fell to Master Roshi.

As for Ninja War IV: it's gotta be rough being resurrected and forced to fight others. Even if you figure they're basically shells with memories of their departed souls, it's still brutal. I like Zabuza's happiness that Naruto grew into a fine ninja, and that they named the damn bridge after him. Haku? Still looks like a girl.

Edited September 5, 2019 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

Anybody else keeping up. Way too many moving parts for me. Too many dead ninjas to cover. At least the White Zetsu guys aren't really supposed to be individual.

[Sandman87]

I thought the White Zetsu clones were all supposed to be super enhanced by Kabuto, but they just stand there while various named characters demolish them. It's like the Great Ninja Alliance is fighting an army of slightly mobile cauliflower plants.

I had forgotten about Gaara's creepy spy-eye ability.

[Lantern7]

Here's the Death Battle preview profile of Sasuke:

And here's a similar profile on Hiei.

[lathspel]

The White Zetsu seem to be cannon fodder, agreed.  

I had to look up Haku all over again.  It’s a sad and strange relationship.  But I like that we are tying in more of the seven great swordsmen of the Mist.  

[Lantern7]

From WatchMojo: Top 10 WTF Naruto Moments. Warning: Nos. 7 and 5 have major spoilers for the end, and #4 hasn't come up yet on Toonami.

Before I hit the hay, I have a general question with a spoiler to the ending.

Spoiler

Isn't a Reverse Harem basically a Harem? It's like "Reverse Racism" . . . that should be the opposite of racism. Does having a woman being surrounded by guys in that way have to be considered the direct opposite of the time-honored anime trope?

[lathspel]

I’m enjoying the random craziness of the Ninja War, although it really has a cast of thousands.  

I kind of wish they’d sent one of those telepathic ninja with Naruto so they could summon him back once he’s fully trained.  I believe the sum total of their communication tools is Gai-Sensei’s turtle, and he accidentally used that up while seasick. 

[Lantern7]

Naruto mashup fan art. “Ninja Time” with Kiba and Akamaru is cute, and I’m impressed by the larger group shots.

[Sandman87]

We interrupt this Great Ninja War to bring you some annoying filler.

Sakura bumps her head and gets amnesia. Stupid stuff ensues. I have no idea how it got resolved, because I turned off the TV and went to bed.

[Terrafamilia]

You didn't miss much. It turns out Sakura somehow slipped into an alternate time-line. I had to read up on this episode to make sense of it. Apparently, the Sakura we see in this episode is from the alternate timeline of the movie Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie. It's confusing.

[Tenshinhan]

It was cross-promotion for the Road to Ninja film, which was released the same week as the episode back in 2012.

[lathspel]

The Mifune back story was way better than Road to Sakura.
Although I feel like the Great Ninja War is kind of an excuse to fill in the back story on a ton of minor characters that we couldn’t learn about organically somehow.  (We never even met Mifune until the recent Kage summit where the Raikage lost his arm, right?)

[Terrafamilia]

In this episode Choji turns into a butterfly. Really!

It seems like with all the usual incessant flashbacks and occasional filler this latest, greatest Ninja War is going to drag on for 120 more episodes.

[Tenshinhan]

27 minutes ago, Terrafamilia said:

It seems like with all the usual incessant flashbacks and occasional filler this latest, greatest Ninja War is going to drag on for 120 more episodes.

It's actually like 200 more episodes.  But you're totally right about the incessant flashbacks and occasional filler!

[Lantern7]

On 11/12/2019 at 7:38 PM, Terrafamilia said:

In this episode Choji turns into a butterfly. Really!

It seems like with all the usual incessant flashbacks and occasional filler this latest, greatest Ninja War is going to drag on for 120 more episodes.

Funny thing . . . I'm attending Anime NYC this weekend. I was taking a picture, I turned around, and here's what I saw:

[Lantern7]

Just wondering who else is keeping up. Also, Might Guy is going to be in the season finale of Death Battle. Here's his preview:

. . . and here's something that isn't really safe for work.

Edited December 15, 2019 by Lantern7

[lathspel]

Did toonami not air Shippuden last weekend?  The last one I saw was where he argues with the nine tails. 

[Terrafamilia]

22 hours ago, lathspel said:

Did toonami not air Shippuden last weekend?  The last one I saw was where he argues with the nine tails. 

That is correct. I believe Lupin ran long as they were airing an OVA.

[Lantern7]

Shippuden will air at 3 a.m. when Toonami returns on January 4.

And here's the All Might/Might Guy Death Battle:

 

[Lantern7]

Anyone else watching? I think we're in the middle of filler related to one of the movies, what with the improved animation. Something something attacked village, Kabuto using Resurrection Jutsu, and a kid one-shots Naruto in the balls. Y'know, filler.

[Tenshinhan]

19 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I think we're in the middle of filler related to one of the movies, what with the improved animation.

The Power/Chikara arc was created to commemorate 500 episodes of Naruto, which is why the artwork and animation appears as it does.  There's rumors that it was originally intended to be one of the movies instead of episodes, but that's only speculation.

[lathspel]

I’ve finally caught up thanks to the DBZ marathon.  The recent anime quality power-up has been nice, but my favorite of the last few eps has been the Tsunade vs. Raikage arm wrestling match. 

[lathspel]

“Power” was a really well done filler arc.  I think I liked it better than your average 4-5 episode stretch of the main show.  (It didn’t hurt that the power monster from within the earth was a Big O monster, kind of.)

Too bad that we’ll probably never see this alternate Naruto transformation again. 

[Vermicious Knid]

It was terrible because it posts that things happened before they actually happened, which they would have already known about at the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi War and would have been prepared for, and Naruto having a mode that he only just developed on Turtle Island. It was not as horrible as a talking ninja ostrich but I frickin' hate inconsistent filler. At least we're back to the actual story now.