Naruto 129

[M'k'n'zy]

Just finished watching it. Yay for badass new intro. New closing is kinda...meh tho. Still really good, and one of the better songs they have done, but the animation setup they chose for it could have been better.

[SineSwiper]

WTF?! It's not even Thursday? Are you refreshing the DB page over and over again?

[M'k'n'zy]

Oops, forgot to mention I watched it raw. Though the sub should be up in an hour or two. And no I dont sit and refresh DB's site over and over again, they ban people for that. Not gonna risk that ^_^

[Eric]

Ahhhh yeah the new intro is full of freakin spoilers.

I like the new ending just fine, wasn't a fan of the one before it anyway.

Looks like Sasuke's back story might take 3 episodes, this is just the warm-up. Isn't Itachi just freakin awesome?

[M'k'n'zy]

I took another read through of that part of the manga today. I think next episode will be enough to wrap up the backstory. God tho its almost over. The stuff now is about half way through volume 25 of the manga, and this arc ends half way through volume 27. Then the side story arc for the rest of 27, then Naruto Part 2 starts.

[SineSwiper]

Ahhhh yeah the new intro is full of freakin spoilers.

Eh? I didn't see any. I was actually looking to see if people like Chojin or Neji were in the intro, just in case they were going to throw that in there. So, if they really are alive, they certainly didn't put it in the intro.

I like the new ending just fine, wasn't a fan of the one before it anyway.

I hate this one about as much as I hate the one from episode 50-75 or so. Most of the ending songs are terrible, though I liked the acid-trip-like one, and the one with the mini walking characters.

[Eric]

before the Arc is over you'll notice that you were slightly spoiled. heh.

[M'k'n'zy]

Yeah I know what you mean about the spoilers in the intro. It was pretty bad.

[SineSwiper]

Heh, well, if I didn't know that I was spoiled, I guess it's not really a spoiler. I'll wait and see.

[Zeus]

I'm dying to see what Naruto pulls out of his ass this time. Sasuke's got to be more powerful that Kabuto, and he almost died there...

[M'k'n'zy]

Sasuke is not really more powerful than Kabuto. You have to remember that Kabuto is about as powerful if not more powerful than Kakashi. And we know Sasuke can't beat Kakashi.

[Eric]

More fun food for thought. Sasuke has always been an excellent ninja, but he had a shortcoming on chakra. Naruto is a decent ninja and his chakra is off the scales. The curse seal kinda evens up this match up. Who do you think is gonna win? @_@ The ending will leave you like OMGWTF.

But no spoilers. ^_^

[SineSwiper]

Naruto has a problem with a lack of intelligence and not very many techniques. His fight with Kabuto was pathetic. His "strategy" is shadow clones, and if that doesn't work, then more shadow clones.

His Rasegen works but it's slow. He's not going to use the toad summon in a non-summon battle. And then he has his overused shadow clones. I think that's it. He might have some new physical taijutsu moves to pull out, but I doubt that will matter much.

And we haven't even factored Susuke's Sharingan yet...

[M'k'n'zy]

I am not really going to say anything here. Just smile and simply look forward to the surprise that I know is comming ^_^ This should be fun ^_^

[Zeus]

Naruto has a problem with a lack of intelligence and not very many techniques. His fight with Kabuto was pathetic. His "strategy" is shadow clones, and if that doesn't work, then more shadow clones.

His Rasegen works but it's slow. He's not going to use the toad summon in a non-summon battle. And then he has his overused shadow clones. I think that's it. He might have some new physical taijutsu moves to pull out, but I doubt that will matter much.

And we haven't even factored Susuke's Sharingan yet...

Naruto always faces enormous odds and surprises the fuck out of you. Don't forget, he outsmarted Neji who, next to Shikamaru, was easily the smartest of the other Genins. He's a brilliant idiot, he always seems to pull it out of his ass even though he seems to be such a moron most of the time. And he's at his best when the odds are against him. That's why he's my fav character. I usually don't go for the main characters as my favs, but he is just that damned good of a character. He's what makes the show for me. The supporting cast is excellent, which gives it depth, but if Naruto wasn't as good as he was, the show wouldn't be as fun, particularly considering how he's so central to nearly every major thing that happens.

Don't forget, Kabuto had to pull a special technique out of his ass that required him to get pummelled to beat Naruto, and if he's as strong as Kakashi, that's saying something. Not to mention how they freed Kakashi from Zabuze's hold. That was all Nine-Tails boy......

[Eric]

Naruto has a problem with a lack of intelligence and not very many techniques. His fight with Kabuto was pathetic. His "strategy" is shadow clones, and if that doesn't work, then more shadow clones.

His Rasegen works but it's slow. He's not going to use the toad summon in a non-summon battle. And then he has his overused shadow clones. I think that's it. He might have some new physical taijutsu moves to pull out, but I doubt that will matter much.

And we haven't even factored Susuke's Sharingan yet...

Naruto always faces enormous odds and surprises the fuck out of you. Don't forget, he outsmarted Neji who, next to Shikamaru, was easily the smartest of the other Genins. He's a brilliant idiot, he always seems to pull it out of his ass even though he seems to be such a moron most of the time. And he's at his best when the odds are against him. That's why he's my fav character. I usually don't go for the main characters as my favs, but he is just that damned good of a character. He's what makes the show for me. The supporting cast is excellent, which gives it depth, but if Naruto wasn't as good as he was, the show wouldn't be as fun, particularly considering how he's so central to nearly every major thing that happens.

Don't forget, Kabuto had to pull a special technique out of his ass that required him to get pummelled to beat Naruto, and if he's as strong as Kakashi, that's saying something. Not to mention how they freed Kakashi from Zabuze's hold. That was all Nine-Tails boy......

He only beat Neji because Neji completely and utterly underestimated Naruto. Like the examiner said Naruto's will to win that fight was greater. >_> Neji took it easy, and didn't finish it when he should have.

Kabuto had already fought with Tsunade a freakin Hokage mind you, and his entire body was outta whack.

He freed Kakashi with Sasuke's help....

[M'k'n'zy]

Naruto has a problem with a lack of intelligence and not very many techniques. His fight with Kabuto was pathetic. His "strategy" is shadow clones, and if that doesn't work, then more shadow clones.

His Rasegen works but it's slow. He's not going to use the toad summon in a non-summon battle. And then he has his overused shadow clones. I think that's it. He might have some new physical taijutsu moves to pull out, but I doubt that will matter much.

And we haven't even factored Susuke's Sharingan yet...

Naruto always faces enormous odds and surprises the fuck out of you. Don't forget, he outsmarted Neji who, next to Shikamaru, was easily the smartest of the other Genins. He's a brilliant idiot, he always seems to pull it out of his ass even though he seems to be such a moron most of the time. And he's at his best when the odds are against him. That's why he's my fav character. I usually don't go for the main characters as my favs, but he is just that damned good of a character. He's what makes the show for me. The supporting cast is excellent, which gives it depth, but if Naruto wasn't as good as he was, the show wouldn't be as fun, particularly considering how he's so central to nearly every major thing that happens.

Don't forget, Kabuto had to pull a special technique out of his ass that required him to get pummelled to beat Naruto, and if he's as strong as Kakashi, that's saying something. Not to mention how they freed Kakashi from Zabuze's hold. That was all Nine-Tails boy......

He only beat Neji because Neji completely and utterly underestimated Naruto. Like the examiner said Naruto's will to win that fight was greater. >_> Neji took it easy, and didn't finish it when he should have.

Kabuto had already fought with Tsunade a freakin Hokage mind you, and his entire body was outta whack.

He freed Kakashi with Sasuke's help....

Twords the important part of the fight, Neji was taking him seriously. He defidently underestimated him twords the start, but not anymore twords the end.

I agree with you with regards to Kabuto, but he still outwited Kabuto with catching the kunai hand like that. Kabuto was surely tired, but it wasnt affecting his mental responses that badly. He could still think clearly.

As far as freeing Kakashi goes, yeah Sasuke helped, but Naruto was the one who came up with the plan and got the plan to him.

[Eric]

The point is, Neji should have murdered Naruto and could have, but didn't.

Kabuto wasn't at 100%, the fact that he couldn't escape a simple grab of the fist says it all. >_>

Fine I'll give you the Sasuke Naruto trick!!!!! BAH! I SAY BAH!!!!

[M'k'n'zy]

Get on ICQ man I want to talk to you about something.

Also itw asnt just a hand grab, Naruto let the Kunai impale his hand in order to trap him.

[Eric]

No it didn't it was like a deep cut inbetween his midle finger and his index. >_>

[M'k'n'zy]

Still it would give extra leverage.

BTW I love the GetBackers Icon ^_^

[Gentz]

I should also remind everyone that Kabuto technically beat Naruto in that fight. Remember that Naruto would have died had it not been for Tsunade and the Nine-Tails resurrecting him basically. Yet Kabuto was up and about again in a few minutes.

[SineSwiper]

In the fight with Neji, he basically beat him on sheer Nine-Tails power alone. Unlike Neji, Susuke actually has power to match, since he now has the runes to help him. Of course, I'm sure the anime will pull something out of his ass, but realistically (ha!), Naruto doesn't stand a chance.

I really wish he stopped doing that fucking shadow clone shit over and over again. Why doesn't he yank that forbidden scroll and read the 2nd technique? His shit is getting really old. Also, I'd laugh if Susuke matches Naruto's shadow clones with his own (given his Sharingan).

[Zeus]

The whole show they've talked about how he's not good at seals and doesn't have a large number of techniques, so he has to use it over and over again 'cause it's what he knows. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer but its the way he uses his techniques that makes him good.

In the Chuunin exam, he fought for hours using 5 shadows lookin' like the others so they could get by the Sound. Against Neji, he used one to hide himself to sneak up on Neji and win. Against Zabuze, he used them to conceal himself as a shruiken so they could free Kakashi. In that crappy filler series with Aoi, he used them with the Rasengen to create a whirlpool to get them away from the Sound again.

Creative use of a few techniques is as fun to watch - and can be potentially as effective - as using a million techniques. He uses it a lot but differently each time. Besides, he doesn't use it exclusively. I mean, he didn't use a single shadow clone against Gaara....

His determination and sheer amount of Chakra is what he's all about. If all of a sudden he just got smart and shot past everyone, the show would be boring. Maybe later on when he's older Jiraya would have settled him down a bit and taught him how to properly use seals (Jiraya is the seal master, after all), he'll be much more of a multiple technique user. But for now, that's just who he is. If the show tried to make him more than that, it would just be silly

[Zeus]

I should also remind everyone that Kabuto technically beat Naruto in that fight. Remember that Naruto would have died had it not been for Tsunade and the Nine-Tails resurrecting him basically. Yet Kabuto was up and about again in a few minutes.

Oh, very true, but it took a secret technique by a Jounin (or better) to do that. Remember, he's just a 12 year-old boy here. And the good thing about that fight is that Naruto didn't win against someone clearly better than him in every way.

It's these simple rules and logical ideas that the show follows that makes it better, IMO

[Don]

I've found Naruto's fighting to be about as consistent as the current HXH, which is to say, not at all. Trying to rationalize why the main character who is inexplicably weak despite having the potential to destroy the universe rarely works out well in the end. Saint Seiya and Dragonball is the tried and true method for such things and to this day I don't know of any fighting-oriented series that can provide a plausible explanation for overcoming the impossible better than these two.

[Eric]

I've found Naruto's fighting to be about as consistent as the current HXH, which is to say, not at all. Trying to rationalize why the main character who is inexplicably weak despite having the potential to destroy the universe rarely works out well in the end. Saint Seiya and Dragonball is the tried and true method for such things and to this day I don't know of any fighting-oriented series that can provide a plausible explanation for overcoming the impossible better than these two.

Heh, bingo! Sit back, enjoy the show. ;p

[Zeus]

I've found Naruto's fighting to be about as consistent as the current HXH, which is to say, not at all. Trying to rationalize why the main character who is inexplicably weak despite having the potential to destroy the universe rarely works out well in the end. Saint Seiya and Dragonball is the tried and true method for such things and to this day I don't know of any fighting-oriented series that can provide a plausible explanation for overcoming the impossible better than these two.

That's just it, the Nine-Tails isn't something that he can just use at will. I mean, he's learning to tap into a bit when he's really in dire straits, but it's not to the point it being able to overtake him, like was the case with Gaara and the raccoon demon. He's just learning to tap into the Nine-tails.

Again, don't forget, he's just a kid learning to actually use this gift he has. What makes the show good is that he still can't stand up to the good ninjas even though he potentially has more "juice" than everyone else is what makes the show good. Experience, training, knowledge...all that makes a difference. It's not "you're the strongest, therefore, you win". Naruto may eventually become the strongest, if he starts using his head. But right now, he's outmatched even by Kabuto. Imagine if he went up against someone like Orochimaru or Itachi, he'd be wasted. And neither of those guys is the strongest because they have the most chakra; they have good blood limits AND are very smart and use their skills extremely well.

That's what makes the show good. It creates it's own rules and sticks to them. It doesn't say "well, it would be better if Naruto just pummelled Kabuto and saved the day, so we'll do it, even though it doesn't make sense". That kind of mentality may be fine in the short term, but it kills the show in the long term. Also, they have a helluva good supporting cast

[Don]

Sorry, don't believe for a moment good old 9-tails isn't coming out to bail him out if he ever gets in a life-threatening situation. Rules don't mean much if you get a get out of jail card whenever you need one.

See, at least Saint Seiya just outright and tell you the main characters are utterly indestructible so their victory is all but assured. Heck, one of the character, Phoenix Ikki, self-destructs himself because when he gets self-resurrected (which takes all of 3 seconds) he is more powerful than before so not only is self-destruct a pretty good attack he gets more powerful the more times he uses it! But it's a good world because within these rules, fighting progressively super powerful things actually make sense and the method to defeat is fairly obvious. On the opposite spectrum, you get DB, which basically resets the rules every major arc. Everyone starts over with no regard to past history, and that works too. In fact those are the only two ways I've seen that make sense.

[Zeus]

Did good 'ol Nine Tails save Naruto against Kabuto? No, he would have died without Tsunade saving his bacon. That fox was sitting there sayin' "What the f**k is going on here? Why is it getting darker and darker?" So, it's not nearly the get-out-of-jail card you think it is, mostly because he hasn't learned to use it properly yet. But if he goes down, the fox ain't coming to save him. He uses the fox to keep himself from going down.

Again, just being the most powerful doesn't save you butt in the Naruto world. You're not going to win all the time just because you're the strongest. You have to have a lot more than that (that whole training, experience, and smarts thing we talked about before). That's how Naruto was able to beat Gaara before but would probably get wasted by him now (and Naruto would have been pummelled against Kimimaru but Gaara killed him). If it was simply all about power, the fights would be boring as hell. And, if someone risks themselves to get an opponent (like, say, Neji or Choji), there's actually a risk of death (we're not quite sure right now); it's not a fighting strategy which actually makes you stronger. That may work well in another world (I personally find it silly and over-the-top), but if you're trying to at least have some grouding in reality, it won't work. And the Naruto world is a fantasy world grounded in reality.

These rules are what I like about the show. They're not black and white and the outcome isn't always determinable. If they were, that would sure make a boring show.....