Naruto!!!

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Fillers are finally OVER!!! WOOHOO!!!

For the record; they did clean up some at the end if you seen the last filler episode. Fantastic!!

Same goes for Bleach too!!!

[Nightmarenny]

Fillers are over? Seriously? I can watch subed anime again? Sweet

[B-Man]

Yes! Believe it!!:smallbiggrin:


I stopped watching at the beginning of the filler (ep 136) and began to watch some of the later filler (starting at ep 200) to the current (and last, hopefully) episode of filler (ep 220). I can't wait for Thursday to come around!

[Gorbash Kazdar]

That's more dedication than I have, B-Man. I'm just going to start with the non-filler.

[B-Man]

That's more dedication than I have, B-Man. I'm just going to start with the non-filler.

I only really watched the fillers starting at 202 (which turned into a huge 90 min, 3 episode special) because that's when I thought the filler was going to end, but then I got sucked into the void of fillerness. I will shamelessly call myself a Narutard. :smalltongue:

[Nevrmore]

Yep, fillers are said and done. Let Naruto Shipuuden begin.

[kamikasei]

Phew! I had watched the filler for a while, then got sick of it; kept downloading them, but putting off watching them until I could do it in a block (so I didn't have to keep boring filler-ness in my head over a week); then just gave up and stopped downloading with most of the filler unwatched. I think it was the "magical healing curry" that was the last straw. This is quite a relief!

[FdL]

Wait wait. You are telling me that chapters 136 to 200-plus are fillers???????????? OMG

I'm just watching the beggining of the series yet, currently in the middle of the Chunin Exams.

I guess I'm better off reading the manga first...I've had bad experiences with anime filler...The las chapters of Gantz were so awful. GOD, were they awful!

[Madmal]

meh, i'm already around 198, so i will keep on watching them.....
i didn't buy them to not see them, ya know...

[Gralamin]

So now just Kakashi Gaiden, and then they can get back to the plot

This includes: Chasing down Akatsuki who stole Gaara's Biju
Finding Sasuke

Also: Shikamaru = hax.

[Tsunomaru]

When I heard about this, I picked it up from the start of the *final* filler arc (I think 216). Compared to the canon, I still found it unimpressive: the story was uninspiring and the combat seemed hopelessly subdued, with characters who had a previously spectactularly varied repertoire using the same old basic attack over and over again.

I recommend not doing this if you were considering it. And if you do nonetheless, the group whose subs I use (Dattebayo) goofed a background-critical translation in 216: apparently they heard ninbu, "ninja weapon", as ninmu, "mission". Perfectly understandable, but be advised.

Viva la Shippuuden!

[sethdarkwater]

Wait wait. You are telling me that chapters 136 to 200-plus are fillers???????????? OMG

I'm just watching the beggining of the series yet, currently in the middle of the Chunin Exams.

I guess I'm better off reading the manga first...I've had bad experiences with anime filler...The las chapters of Gantz were so awful. GOD, were they awful!

Yeah the Manga is great, and the anime tends to lose some of the intended meaning. Love both though.

[FdL]

Yeah the Manga is great, and the anime tends to lose some of the intended meaning. Love both though.

You mean Gantz? I think is really great, I'm still in awe after finishing volume 20. I kind of pity those who take the series for what the anime shows and how it does it...It's a shame.

[sethdarkwater]

You mean Gantz? I think is really great, I'm still in awe after finishing volume 20. I kind of pity those who take the series for what the anime shows and how it does it...It's a shame.

What is Gantz?

[Poison_Fish]

Ask and you shall receive

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=3749


Somewhere in Tokyo, there is a room. In that room is a black sphere. Periodically, people who should otherwise have died are transferred to the room. There, the sphere gives them special suits and weapons, and sends them out on a mission to kill aliens here on Earth. While these missions take place, the rest of the world is largely oblivious to them. These missions are lethal - few participants survive them. The sphere calls the shots, and it's not the slightest bit nice. It's name... Gantz.

I've read most of what's been out so far. It's good, if you can have the stomach for it. The warnings they put on ANN there aren't joking, as the manga is very explicit.

[Jewel Thief]

I was totally in love with Naruto until the filler started. The Kakashi filler was great (way back when), but the filler that's gone on for the last sixty or so episodes (don't know the exact number) has been ridiculous. Why not do what Bleach did and write a story-arcing filler? I mean, the Bound might not have been that great compared to the actual Bleach story, but they were definitely a thrill. For filler, Bleach did pretty good with its spare time.

Naruto was just the same crap thrown at us over and over again, disguised in different characters. HATE FILLER. HATE IT.

[B-Man]

WHOOOOOOOOO!!! NARUTO SHIPPUUDEN IS AWESOME!! IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!

* gasp for breath *
* cough *

Well, I guess that means that I enjoyed the first two episodes of Naruto Shippuuden. :smallbiggrin:

[FdL]

What is Naruto Shippuuden?

[B-Man]

Naruto Shippuuden is the 2nd part of Naruto (the 2.5 year time skip that's shown in the manga).

[Gralamin]

Also known as
Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles

first two episodes are amazing, I've read it and they are actually showing it accurately!

Did I miss Kakashi Gaiden or have they not aired it yet?

[B-Man]

I believe that the Kakashi Gaiden is not to be aired... alas... but you never know...


* prays that if Naruto Shippuuden ever has to go to filler (cringe) that the Kakashi Gaiden will be aired *

[Callos_DeTerran]

Were are you guys seeing the subbed Naruto episodes? The site I used to rely on has ceased to let me download them.

[Nightmarenny]

Check youtube.

sasuke's sword.....wasn't it black?

[kamikasei]

Were are you guys seeing the subbed Naruto episodes? The site I used to rely on has ceased to let me download them.

If you can use bittorrent, Dattebayo is the main fansub group. Just google the name to find their site.

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

:smile: SSHHH No spoilers!!! I'm still downloading the episode and going to watch it in full screen highdef goodness Sunday!

[anphorus]

I was pretty suprised that they showed the meeting with Sasuke right off the bat, though it was a present suprise. At least the anime didn't have Sasuke's sword sheath horribly misaligned. Sai is a tad paler than I imagined.

Still, VERY good episodes. Naruto seems to be back at the quality it was before the fillers began. Very good opening sequence, though I notice that Sai and Yamato are totally absent, which is odd considering they were shown earlier in the episode.

[B-Man]

I was pretty suprised that they showed the meeting with Sasuke right off the bat, though it was a present suprise. At least the anime didn't have Sasuke's sword sheath horribly misaligned. Sai is a tad paler than I imagined.

Still, VERY good episodes. Naruto seems to be back at the quality it was before the fillers began. Very good opening sequence, though I notice that Sai and Yamato are totally absent, which is odd considering they were shown earlier in the episode.

That whole post should probably be put into a spoiler. Some of us might not have read the manga up to chapter 300-307. :smalltongue:

I cannot wait until the next episode comes out! :smallbiggrin:

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Agreed on that Spoiler thing...

Anyways, finally watched the new episodes, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. For this first time well over a year, I'm really excited for the next episode of this show.

[Callos_DeTerran]

And if you don't have bittorrent then where perhaps do you find them then?

[Eldpollard]

You tube has them. search naruto shippuden for the episodes after 220. thank god the filler has ended, i watched it all thinking it'll stop soon, but it didnt. but shippuden is sooo good. so happy to have naruto back.

[Druid]

Anyone know where I can find shippuden episode 3? I can't download it and it doesn't seem to be up on youtube yet.

[thorgrim29]

I quit reading naruto just before the fight at the big eveil guy's place (I wont say the name but you can probably guess since its just after the 2.5 skip). Just got too boring for my taste, as most manga series of that type tend to do IMO, its just better ennemy, better technique, rince and repeat.

[B-Man]

Anyone know where I can find shippuden episode 3? I can't download it and it doesn't seem to be up on youtube yet.
I'm not even sure if the raw's been posted yet. Be patient. It should be out (translated) by tomorrow morning (EST).

[Poison_Fish]

Thursday's are the days they are out. So, since DB tends to be pretty quick, you'll usually see it by tonight or right now in fact. Now as to actually directing people to such things, that's iffy grounds, and I don't believe we do such things on this board (Right?).

[anphorus]

I think it is against the rules to direct folks to where to download the anime, since Naruto HAS been licensed. But it isn't too difficult to find anything if you have good googling skills.

[B-Man]

All these episodes seem so new to me (mostly because I've forgotten quite a bit of the manga from before chapter 300). Anywho, I'm rather enjoying these episodes.

* hits the replay button on Media Player to watch again *

[Callos_DeTerran]

WWWWOOOOOOOHHHHHH! Yeah! The Shippoden looks great!...Mostly cause of Gaara but its great normally too!



Alright, I've seen up to the point where Deidre and Sasori have arrived at Sunagakure. Is there more of the Shipponoden on YouTube or am I searching in vain?

[Nightmarenny]

WWWWOOOOOOOHHHHHH! Yeah! The Shippoden looks great!...Mostly cause of Gaara but its great normally too!



Alright, I've seen up to the point where Deidre and Sasori have arrived at Sunagakure. Is there more of the Shipponoden on YouTube or am I searching in vain?
We're waiting for the next one.

[RaistlinandPals]

3 can be downloaded at Dattebayo.

Naruto Shippuuden = \m/

[B-Man]

Because I do not feel like making a Naruto thread in the Comic Book forum:

Holy crap! I can't believe that Sasuke is going to try to kill Orochimaru!! I did not expect that in the least bit!! I eagerly wait for chapter 344!

[Tsunomaru]

The singular disappointment: they appear to have thrown out the face-rockin' background music from the original series. The least they could do is hit us with some fresh mixes of the old hits like Strong and Strike, Heavy Violence, Need to be Strong, etc. That stuff was crazy awesome when it wanted to be.

[anphorus]

Because I do not feel like making a Naruto thread in the Comic Book forum:

Holy crap! I can't believe that Sasuke is going to try to kill Orochimaru!! I did not expect that in the least bit!! I eagerly wait for chapter 344!

One thing that irritated me about that chapter: Sasuke is able to perform simultaneous elemental/shape manipulation now? With one hand? What the hell!? Way to take the thing that "Only Naruto can do because of his amazing Chakra and Shadow Clone powers" and give it your favourite character, Kishimoto..

[Soniku]

I only really watched the fillers starting at 202Fool! The fillers from 197 to 201 were pure awesome-cool! Even if you hate fillers and/or Naruto you need to watch those ones, it's like the writers decided to read some murder mystery style book and thought "Hey, lets do that"

Plus

I like the way the bad guy is more effective than the main villains. He out-thinks Shikamaru, is Lees equal in a fight and doesn't get completely owned by the anbu even though he's working alone with 0 allies.

Plus, Naruto figures something out and it's actually believable than a random jump to speed things up


But yeah, the new Naruto has been awesomeage so far, although I can see they are not following the manga order of things... I really wanted to see the flashback that happened before Naruto returned!

[Nightmarenny]

One thing that irritated me about that chapter: Sasuke is able to perform simultaneous elemental/shape manipulation now? With one hand? What the hell!? Way to take the thing that "Only Naruto can do because of his amazing Chakra and Shadow Clone powers" and give it your favourite character, Kishimoto..
If I remmember correctly several others have been able to do it but not to the level of rasengan. Sasuke can have his lighting sword all he likes it will just be crushed by the Wind Rasengan.

[Gralamin]

If I remmember correctly several others have been able to do it but not to the level of rasengan. Sasuke can have his lighting sword all he likes it will just be crushed by the Wind Rasengan.

From the way it was described in some of the earlier chapters, I see combing elemental and shape manipulation to basically be a precursor to an kekai-genkai (I think I spelt that right). For example, Haku had mastered shape and elemental manipulation, combining wind and water to make his ice element, then shaping this ice into mirrors he could enter and jump across. He could also do this with one hand.

[Person_Man]

I've just recently gotten into Naruto, watching most of the episodes on youtube. I too have noticed the poor quality of the filler episodes - does anyone have a list of which ones are "real" and which are garbage, so that I can just skip through the plot-less wastes of time?

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Episodes 136-220 represent the large filler chunk. Episodes 101 and 102-106 are also filler. After 220, episode 1 of Naruto: Shippuden picks back up with the manga's storyline.

That's 90 total episodes of filler and 130 based on the manga, not counting the 3 Shippuden episodes so far.

[B-Man]

Yes, but ep 101 was the best filler of all!! :smallbiggrin: What does Kakashi look like without the mask?!

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Yes, but ep 101 was the best filler of all!! :smallbiggrin: What does Kakashi look like without the mask?!
Point well taken :smallwink: I just wish they would animate Kakashi Gaiden!

[That Lanky Bugger]

I've just recently gotten into Naruto, watching most of the episodes on youtube. I too have noticed the poor quality of the filler episodes - does anyone have a list of which ones are "real" and which are garbage, so that I can just skip through the plot-less wastes of time?

That's entirely up to opinion, but I personally enjoyed the following ones:

Mizuki Returns (Episodes 142-147): This was actually pretty cool until Tony the Tiger showed up.

Sea Country Arc (Episodes 169-173): A must if you're a fan of Anko, as it features her prominently. Only ruined by mer-people Ninjas.

Konoha 11 (Episodes 197-201): Pretty action-filled filler which manages to give every one of the characters a moment to shine.

Sand Country (Episodes 216-220): I liked it because I like the Sand-nin, but it's all a matter of taste.

[Soniku]

Konoha 11 (Episodes 197-201): Pretty action-filled filler which manages to give every one of the characters a moment to shine.

Seconded. And once again I must point out the villain acts more competently than the main series villains.

[theswarm]

Finally, some cool bad guys again. Can't wait to see Sasori fight...

[Dariendel]

Many of the Filler Bad Guys had cool jutsus... it's a pity they had very poor character design.

[AmoDman]

I just watched 151...are you telling me 152-220 is going to be a waste of time?! Blah! Why so much "filler"?! I'll watch them anyway...because I'm stubborn.

[Dariendel]

Oh, And I also think one of the best jutsus of all is Puppet Mastery. I'm gonna make a Mage:The Ascension character with such powers.

[Soniku]

The best jutsu has to be the replacement jutsu! I would take bombs or logs wrapped in poison barbed wire into battle so I could switch myself with them and blow up the fools :smallbiggrin:

[Nightmarenny]

I just watched 151...are you telling me 152-220 is going to be a waste of time?! Blah! Why so much "filler"?! I'll watch them anyway...because I'm stubborn.
Because anime creaters don't seem to have the common sense to wait intill a manga is finished.

[storybookknight]

I'm actually fairly disenchanted with the animation for both the new Naruto and the new Bleach. While the episodes are back to being "topical" and following the manga, it doesn't make them interesting.

For example... Gaara vs. Deidara is just about as interesting as dry toast. Compare that fight to any of the other fights prominently featuring Gaara, and you'll see what I mean - a lot of time just spent looking at the characters' faces, very little movement, clumsily animated sand... In the manga, you get that Gaara is using almost the entire village to rise up against this intruder. In the show, it's boring.

Similarly with Naruto + Sakura fighting Kakashi; they're reusing a lot of animation panels and at one point did a flashback to the beginning of the episode! (I'm talking about shipuuden 4). Sadly, I think both Naruto (and Bleach, which I won't really criticize in this Naruto thread) have fallen prey to Long-Term Shonen Syndrome, and are no longer all that interesting... which is a shame, because the manga for both are still running strong.

[That Lanky Bugger]

I haven't had the inclination to watch Shippoden yet (mainly due to a lack of free time), but really? They did a flashback within the same episode?

Damn...

Though I do hope they use the clone fights competently. They've got material for a good two episodes just based on Neji, Tenten, Lee and Guy fighting their counterparts. In fact, I'm noticing that post timeskip, the manga team is actually doing setup for a lot of fights which they don't show. Maybe they want to give the anime team enough material so that they won't catch up as quickly this time?

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Episode 4 was pretty low quality, noticeably worse than the first three in pretty much all aspects. That being said, I'm going to wait a while before passing judgment - based on what I know to be coming up later in this arc, I can't help but suspect that this may have been what my friends and I have - admittedly somewhat unkindly - as a "Korean week," referring to practice of shows having cheaper Korean animation studios fill in to save budget and to free up the normal studio to focus more energy on later episodes that are expected to be more exciting/interesting.

We'll see whether it's something like that...

[That Lanky Bugger]

That's still disappointing... Gaara is one of my favorites, and to hear that the last fight he's had thus far in the manga is going to be animated drek is a big let down.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

I'm not big on Gaara... but I do share your pain, since I'm a big Sakura and Kakashi fanboy. :smalltongue:

[That Lanky Bugger]

Speaking of which... I hope they've decided to wait to tell Kakashi Gaiden because it's an OVA project or something... Though I do see the problems with featuring the Yondaime in animated form if the current consensus that the Akatsuki leader was the Yondaime is correct, having the same Voice Actor would be a dead giveaway. Likewise, there's probably quite a few other issues with animating Kakashi Gaiden (Rin, for example). As much as I enjoyed it, the entire thing could probably only be stretched to a two episode jaunt in any case.

The fight I'm looking forward to the most, though, is Shikamaru versus Hidan, or maybe the most recent fight involving Sasuke. That looks like something they could have a lot of fun with.

[AmoDman]

Similarly with Naruto + Sakura fighting Kakashi; they're reusing a lot of animation panels and at one point did a flashback to the beginning of the episode!

I think you've had too high expectations for the show. I can't place which ones it was right now, but I can guaruntee 100% on multiple occasions early on in the series (in the original Japanese) they literally did do flashbacks to earlier in the same god damn episode. I know this because me and a friend of mind nearly died of laughter at the sadness of it. The show eventually seemed to move out of that phase and we stopped seeing it...but you know, eh.

*When Naruto cut his hand when leaving on his first mission for his "way of the ninja" might've been one scene they flashed back to in the same episode...it's been so long. They flashed back to that one a helluva lot for a while. A helluva lot.

[Nightmarenny]

Speaking of which... I hope they've decided to wait to tell Kakashi Gaiden because it's an OVA project or something... Though I do see the problems with featuring the Yondaime in animated form if the current consensus that the Akatsuki leader was the Yondaime is correct, having the same Voice Actor would be a dead giveaway. Likewise, there's probably quite a few other issues with animating Kakashi Gaiden (Rin, for example). As much as I enjoyed it, the entire thing could probably only be stretched to a two episode jaunt in any case.

The fight I'm looking forward to the most, though, is Shikamaru versus Hidan, or maybe the most recent fight involving Sasuke. That looks like something they could have a lot of fun with.
Consencus? You mean minority. And thank god. He doesn't have the same hair exept that its spiked and we know nothing else.

[That Lanky Bugger]

Depends on where you go, Nightmarenny. It can be supported both ways, really.

[Raistlin1040]

Can't wait for more scenes with Sasuke.

<gets killed by Sasuke haters.

But Gaara and Neji are my #2 and #3

[That Lanky Bugger]

Raistlin, do you follow the manga scanlations? Sasuke's actually got some really cool stuff coming up. Even if this one is his last, it's gonna be epic.

[Raistlin1040]

I don't have access to the japanese manga, so I watch the japanese anime on Youtube. I'm a few episodes behind though (I'm on 224)

[That Lanky Bugger]

Ah... Then you've got no idea what I'm talking about. Ah well.

[Lord Xaedien]

I don't have access to the japanese manga, so I watch the japanese anime on Youtube. I'm a few episodes behind though (I'm on 224)

224 is the most recent, so you aren't behind... and the translated manga is easily found online, with a simple google search, and for free.

[Raistlin1040]

I'm not going to read the manga. It'd take too much time and I can watch the episodes when they come out. BTW what days do the Japenese episodes air?

[B-Man]

They air Thursdays at 7:27 pm Japan Standard Time (+9:00 GMT). They are usually ready by Thursday at 10:00 pm EST (-5:00 GMT) courtesy of Dattebayo Fansubs.

[Raistlin1040]

Well if it isn't the guy who doesn't do Naruto banners. *twitches* Well I don't need you. I'm getting Ceika to do it so HA! On a side-note 7:27?

[B-Man]

Sorry about the banner, but I have been stressed out lately. And yes, 7:27 pm JST, that's what Dattebayo Fansubs says in their FAQ.

[Raistlin1040]

So they can't just say 7:30? They have to be needlessly complicated. *Gasp*! They must be in league with Nale! It all makes sense now. Oorochimaru is really a shapeshifted Sabine who dresses in drag and wants to have NSFW relations with Belkar Sasuke. I R a genious!

[anphorus]

Depends on where you go, Nightmarenny. It can be supported both ways, really.

They do have totally different hair colours though. Leader's is brown.

The most credible Akatsuki theory I've heard is that Obito is really Tobi and the most credible Yondaime theory is that he is Naruto's father.

I'm inclined to beleive the latter solely on how much effort Kishimoto puts into hiding Yondaime's name.

[That Lanky Bugger]

They do have totally different hair colours though. Leader's is brown.

The most credible Akatsuki theory I've heard is that Obito is really Tobi and the most credible Yondaime theory is that he is Naruto's father.

I'm inclined to beleive the latter solely on how much effort Kishimoto puts into hiding Yondaime's name.

Eh. I'm inclined to believe the whole Yondaime = Akatsuki Leader theory (which isn't necessarily incompatible with the Yondaime = Naruto's Father theory) just because they've gone to so much trouble obscuring his face... and the fact they've never shown either the circumstances of the Yondaime's actual death or a grave.

Though chances are likely regarding Naruto's father being the Yondaime. In addition to hiding his name, he's got the same blood type.

[Gralamin]

Note: I only use Spoilers on real spoilers be careful, don't read it if you haven't read the manga. Really.

The upcoming fights are going to be the best I think:
Sakura vs Sasori - This fight better be epic, or ELSE
Naruto vs Oroochimaru - I wanna see Naruto's Transformation.
Shikamaru vs Hidan - Shikamaru is hax.
"The" Sasuke fight - if you read the manga, you know what I mean.

Things I can't wait to see:
Kakashi using the Mangekyo Sharingan

Things I want to see but they can wait:
Naruto developing his new technique. [oh you knew it was coming]
-Specifically The Explanation of the Elements, more in depth about them would also be nice.

More Manga Spoilers:
First: I was right about the king piece, take that NarutoFan forums I'll never visit again.

Now thats out of the way, some predictions:

The Akatsuki Leader is either: A new character, or Uchiha Mandara, who was mentioned by the nine tails.

The 4th: I'm not sure what to think, I mean if The 4th was Naruto's father or is Naruto (both theories I've seen), Then why would the village treat Naruto badly?

Kakashi's Father: I don't buy the whole killed himself thing. I'm one of those crazies that think he's the 5 tail beast, and is still hiding out there :biggrin:

[Raistlin1040]

This question will only be asked once. Am I the only one that has ever ran around his house screaming "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" at the top of his lungs?

[OcoM]

Shippuuden is really nice.
I did swear after the 3rd format (With every format I lost all the Naruto episodes of that point) i wouldn't delete anymore Naruto before i burn them on a DVD (I don't have a writer... or a reader :smallfrown: )
well i just deleted the boring fillers and am happy. But what if I run out of my 596MB of free space on the drive..... :smalleek:

[Madmal]

I can't even remeber where i stopped watching....
hmmm...i'll just look on youtube for ep 220...

[geek_2049]

Shippuden rocks even if the animation in 4 was not so great.

The tempo in the manga has really picked up the pace in the second arc.

Anyone hear of Tengu Theory? It's spoiler heavy but well thought out and worth taking a look at. Here is a link if anyone is interested. http://forums.narutofan.com/showthread.php?t=106576

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

It took me some time to really get into the story for Naruto. The Haku/Zabuza arc was great, but the Chuunin Exam arc was what got me hooked.

[TheEmerged]

More Manga Spoilers:
The 4th: I'm not sure what to think, I mean if The 4th was Naruto's father or is Naruto (both theories I've seen), Then why would the village treat Naruto badly?

Hope I didn't mess up the format there...

Because nobody knew/realized he's the 4th's son, perhaps?

[Eldan]

Sorry, I just had to do this:
Leader: I am your father, Naruto! Join me and we will rule the world with the power of the tailed beasts!
Naruto: That's not true! That's impossible! My father was the fourth Hokage!
Leader: I am the forth hokage!

[anphorus]

I hope they don't do both theories actually. Although now that I think about it, if Naruto is Yondaime's son, just how the hell will it be revealed?

I, personally, hope that Naruto gets to interact with another Jinchurikki Since Gaara is just an ordinary guy now and the only other Jinchurikki we've seen is as good as dead. I hope they flesh THAT fight out some in the anime. I'm not sure how many are left though. Akatsuki already had a few before they captured Gaara. Maybe even one who isn't an emotional wreck.

Oh and a bit late, but about the elemental thing. It's a bit long and has spoilers. I wouldn't bother if you already understand the elements perfectly, except maybe to correct me.

This is how I think gathered it works. An elemental Kekki Genkai is when you combine two elements to form a totally different one. I.e. Wind + Water = Ice (Haku). Water + Earth = Tree (1st Hokage. Yamato). And (possibly, though this is a guess on my part) Lightning + Earth = Magnetism (Sandaime Kazekage). If you don't have a bloodline, you can combine elements. The closest to what we've seen is the Sandaime Hokage using Earth and Fire together in the fight with Orochimaru. Even then they remained separate and distinct.
Shape and Elemental manipulation are different. Shape manipulation is turning pure chakra into a Rasengan, or another shape. Elemental is turning your chakra into an element like Fire or Lightning (chidori). While it is possible to control the form of these elements, you can make them into something incredibly complex or precise. Like the rasengan. Doing both at the same time has been described as "looking right and left and the same time". Using both together allows you to form an incredibly complex and powerful shape jutsu, whilst giving it elemental properties too.

[AmoDman]

Granted, I've never read the Naruto manga (nor plan to), but I didn't realize there was any question that the fourth was Naruto's father. There's so much hinting and blatantly obvious shadowing for it...it's like a secret for children to (maybe) not catch :P.

[ozymand1as]

huh? o i just started watching, but sweet

[TheEmerged]

Granted, I've never read the Naruto manga (nor plan to), but I didn't realize there was any question that the fourth was Naruto's father. There's so much hinting and blatantly obvious shadowing for it...it's like a secret for children to (maybe) not catch :P.

Point you may be missing, Amodman, is that it's so obvious some people feel it therefore can't be true :smallcool:

[Dariendel]

At the moment I'm disappointed with Naruto (the character). 3 years in training and he hasn't shown much improvement? Although

I have seen in a video game that he can do a double Rasengan

Oh and this silly thing:
Perform hand seal, say "Kage Bushin no Jutsu", use clone to pull original out of a kunai's way= 5 seconds

Speed of a kunai thrown by a legendary Jounin towards a less experienced person= .05 seconds

[Gralamin]

Oh he has improved a lot, you just don't see it yet.

you have to ignore time differences as its generally "slowed down" time. sorta like how it took them a long time to do that jump at the end of shippuden 4.

[anphorus]

It's also like Namek exploding. The longest 5 minutes in television history.

One thing you have to bear in mind is that a lot of the improvements aren't obvious. Naruto has probably tightened up his basics quite a bit. He's probably better with chakra control. His stamina has probably gone through the roof too, and his taijutsu seems a lot better. He's also probably improved his stealthiness tactical awareness etc. There is more to come though. Oh yes there is. Four-Tailed Kyuubi vs. Orochimaru showdown should be pretty cool. They might have to tone the transformation down a tad though, what with all of Naruto's skin melting off.

[TheEmerged]

My Personal Naruto/4th Hokage Theory. They might be father and son... but they're pretty close right now either way.

Please note that I suck at names so forgive me if I use nicknames or approximations. I'll try to at least be consistent.

During the fight between the 3rd Hokage and Orochimaru, the 3rd Hokage uses a jutsu on Oro which Oro states "is the jutsu the Fourth Hokage bound the Nine-Tail Fox with." 3rd Hokage says that it will bind BOTH of their spirits forever.

Ergo, I think the 4th Hokage's spirit is trapped inside Naruto as well. It makes a kind of sense that a good father wouldn't want to leave his son completely comfortless. Could Naruto's bursts of courage be the result of inner encouragement?

This also has interesting consequences for Gaara/Sand Boy. We know he's got the one-tailed spirit bound inside of him although we don't know if it's the same jutsu or not -- we'll assume it is. If so, and we know Gaara's mother was the one sacrificed for the binding spell, maybe Gaara isn't completely nuts when he's talking like his mother can hear him...

[anphorus]

Granted, that Death God jutsu is pretty inconsistant, but doesnt the sandaime hokage specify that the user of the jutsu's soul is taken by the death god?

[Gralamin]

Yes he does. Also, What happened to Naruto's Mother?

[anphorus]

Heroic main characters only ever have one known and/or living parent, at most. The only time they have both a mother and father is when both parents are horribly killed by the main villian in the first episode/chapter of the story. Mothers are usually Not Important, and fathers are usually incredibly talented Warriors.

[Sage in the Playground]

My Personal Naruto/4th Hokage Theory. They might be father and son... but they're pretty close right now either way.

Please note that I suck at names so forgive me if I use nicknames or approximations. I'll try to at least be consistent.

During the fight between the 3rd Hokage and Orochimaru, the 3rd Hokage uses a jutsu on Oro which Oro states "is the jutsu the Fourth Hokage bound the Nine-Tail Fox with." 3rd Hokage says that it will bind BOTH of their spirits forever.

Ergo, I think the 4th Hokage's spirit is trapped inside Naruto as well. It makes a kind of sense that a good father wouldn't want to leave his son completely comfortless. Could Naruto's bursts of courage be the result of inner encouragement?

This also has interesting consequences for Gaara/Sand Boy. We know he's got the one-tailed spirit bound inside of him although we don't know if it's the same jutsu or not -- we'll assume it is. If so, and we know Gaara's mother was the one sacrificed for the binding spell, maybe Gaara isn't completely nuts when he's talking like his mother can hear him...

It isn't the same jutsu. Don't quite remember the name now.

[Eldan]

Heroic main characters only ever have one known and/or living parent, at most. The only time they have both a mother and father is when both parents are horribly killed by the main villian in the first episode/chapter of the story. Mothers are usually Not Important, and fathers are usually incredibly talented Warriors.

Except if the mothers are powerful sorcerers. It's also possible that one of the parents has the children and the other one is actually evil.

[Raistlin1040]

SASUKE! Sorry. Blame Ceika.

[Nightmarenny]

At the moment I'm disappointed with Naruto (the character). 3 years in training and he hasn't shown much improvement? Although

I have seen in a video game that he can do a double Rasengan

Oh and this silly thing:
Perform hand seal, say "Kage Bushin no Jutsu", use clone to pull original out of a kunai's way= 5 seconds

Speed of a kunai thrown by a legendary Jounin towards a less experienced person= .05 seconds
The video game.... Not canon. Don't listen.

He has improved he doesn't have a bunch of killer jutsu but he's faster and smarter. That moment you refer to shows how fast. It took less then .05 secounds because theres only one handsign and he's really freaking fast.


P.S.(manga)Zabazu's aprentice and Sasuke ain't a puppet, how cool?

[Madmal]

SASUKE! Sorry. Blame Ceika.

No. Never. i blame you...

you could have gone with Kiba, Shino, or Gaara (more fitting for you i think...) but noooo... you had to go with the "avenger" with a Tengu descendance possibility....

[anphorus]

P.S.(manga)Zabazu's aprentice and Sasuke ain't a puppet, how cool?

Pretty damn cool. I thought that Orochimaru's demise was a bit of an anticlimax. I'm hoping that Orochi is still there somewhere in Sasuke's mind. Plus, Zabuza's replacement (I don't know if he was trained by Zabuza, it just said that he was going to be (and it seems that he IS now) one of the 7 Mist Swordsmen. Plus he's just plain cool lookin'. It'd be nice if Sasuke's group went after Akatsuki too, so you'd have two opposing groups going after the same enemy. Also, shouldn't Naruto's fast healing give him some kind of resistance to his Rasengan-shuriken jutsu? Just a thought.

[Raistlin1040]

No. Never. i blame you...

you could have gone with Kiba, Shino, or Gaara (more fitting for you i think...) but noooo... you had to go with the "avenger" with a Tengu descendance possibility....
If you wanted to make me a Gaara avatar, feel free.

[Madmal]

If you wanted to make me a Gaara avatar, feel free.

I still don't have avatar-maker levels, sadly.

[Druid]

My Personal Naruto/4th Hokage Theory. They might be father and son... but they're pretty close right now either way.

Yeah, I've been thinking that for a while now, mostly because the two look so much alike.


Please note that I suck at names so forgive me if I use nicknames or approximations. I'll try to at least be consistent.

During the fight between the 3rd Hokage and Orochimaru, the 3rd Hokage uses a jutsu on Oro which Oro states "is the jutsu the Fourth Hokage bound the Nine-Tail Fox with." 3rd Hokage says that it will bind BOTH of their spirits forever.

Ergo, I think the 4th Hokage's spirit is trapped inside Naruto as well. It makes a kind of sense that a good father wouldn't want to leave his son completely comfortless. Could Naruto's bursts of courage be the result of inner encouragement?

This also has interesting consequences for Gaara/Sand Boy. We know he's got the one-tailed spirit bound inside of him although we don't know if it's the same jutsu or not -- we'll assume it is. If so, and we know Gaara's mother was the one sacrificed for the binding spell, maybe Gaara isn't completely nuts when he's talking like his mother can hear him...

I doubt that the same jutsu was used to bind Shukaku as the demon fox. For one thing the binds on the fox seem much tighter than those on Shukaku (its powers only coming out in extreme circumstances rather than being constantly active) and it also seems unlikely that the fourth shared his jutsus with other villages. Further more, it has been hinted that others before Gaara had had Shukaku sealed within them, making it unlikely that a jutsu created within the fourth's life time was used. Lastly, the dead demon seal kills whoever uses it, not an unwilling sacrifice. Considering how much Gaara's mother is said to have hated the Sand for killing her and binding Shukaku to Gaara I doubt that she would have voluntarily been the one initiating the process. I had some other stuff to say, but this wound on longer than I expected and now I forgot.

[Drunk Dwarf]

My Personal Naruto/4th Hokage Theory. They might be father and son... but they're pretty close right now either way.

Please note that I suck at names so forgive me if I use nicknames or approximations. I'll try to at least be consistent.

During the fight between the 3rd Hokage and Orochimaru, the 3rd Hokage uses a jutsu on Oro which Oro states "is the jutsu the Fourth Hokage bound the Nine-Tail Fox with." 3rd Hokage says that it will bind BOTH of their spirits forever.

Ergo, I think the 4th Hokage's spirit is trapped inside Naruto as well. It makes a kind of sense that a good father wouldn't want to leave his son completely comfortless. Could Naruto's bursts of courage be the result of inner encouragement?



You got pretty much right about the 4th hokage being bound to Naruto, though I have doubt about Naruto being the 4th's son, surely the adults in the village would of told if he was?

I have a even more crazier theory: that the leader of akatsuki (only seen in the manga in the shadows) could be Naruto's father/mother. Although that sounds abit Star Wars to me.

[Druid]

You got pretty much right about the 4th hokage being bound to Naruto, though I have doubt about Naruto being the 4th's son, surely the adults in the village would of told if he was?

Who says that Naruto doesn't know that the fourth is his father? I can't remember him ever talking about the identity of his parents, even so much as to say that he doesn't know.

[TheEmerged]

RE: "Not the same jutsu". Well, I *am* taking Orochimaru's word for it so... Also note that when everyone found the dead 3rd Hokage's body, he has the same seal as Naruto on his chest. So I think we can say he was using the same technique... although there's still no guarantee this is the same technique used for binding 1-tail to Gaara.


Who says that Naruto doesn't know that the fourth is his father? I can't remember him ever talking about the identity of his parents, even so much as to say that he doesn't know.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but given his character I don't see him shutting up about it if he knew 4th Hokage was his father.

On the subject of his mother, an acquaintence of mine suggested a disturbing theory. The 4th Hokage is the leader of the akatsuki (as someone suggested earlier) and it was actually Naruto's mother that was sacrified.

[Sage in the Playground]

RE: "Not the same jutsu". Well, I *am* taking Orochimaru's word for it so... Also note that when everyone found the dead 3rd Hokage's body, he has the same seal as Naruto on his chest. So I think we can say he was using the same technique... although there's still no guarantee this is the same technique used for binding 1-tail to Gaara.



I'm not saying you're wrong, but given his character I don't see him shutting up about it if he knew 4th Hokage was his father.

On the subject of his mother, an acquaintence of mine suggested a disturbing theory. The 4th Hokage is the leader of the akatsuki (as someone suggested earlier) and it was actually Naruto's mother that was sacrified.

I meant Gaara's demon.

[Trond Forgelighter]

I don't know how to do spoilers yet (yes I am a noob) so here is the warning

There will be a spoiler noew If you don't read the mang or want to wait for 348 to come out then don't read this

Am I the only one who thinks that varsiavus and Juugo are a little bit alike, both gender confused and probably extremly powerful

[Gralamin]

First Trond, Spoilers can be made by putting text between [spoiler ] and [/ spoiler] (without the spaces)
I'll input more once I read the newest Manga and Watch shippunden 6-7

[B-Man]

Am I the only one who thinks that varsiavus and Juugo are a little bit alike, both gender confused and probably extremly powerful

It never really crossed my mind, actually. I haven't really been carefully reading Naruto for the past couple weeks...

I'm pretty sure that Sasuke's preparing to attack Itachi, that's why he's gathering Orochimaru's other candidates. I'm hoping for a really good rematch between the two of them.

I'm fairly certain that when/if Sasuke tries to fight Itachi, Orochimaru is going to hinder Sasuke mentally and Itachi will nearly kill him and perhaps someone saves Sasuke's little emo butt. Perhaps, dare I say it... Naruto!

[zeratul]

I love naruto, I cried when zabuza cried after haku died.

[Eldpollard]

I love naruto, I cried when zabuza cried after haku died.

so did I. I was like NOOOOO! So who's seen the new one? ep 6-7?

[zeratul]

so did I. I was like NOOOOO! So who's seen the new one? ep 6-7?

im on episode 80

[TheEmerged]

I believe he was referring to the new ep of the new series (which isn't airing in America yet), not the one currently airing in America on Cartoon Network (which is about to enter a new arc).

[Eldpollard]

Yeah, I meant naruto shippuden. Episodes 6-7 of that are up. And delays mean that episode 8 probably wont be up for a week.

[B-Man]

Yeah, I meant naruto shippuden. Episodes 6-7 of that are up. And delays mean that episode 8 probably wont be up for a week.

You are correct. Naruto Shippuuden Episodes 8-9 is being released as yet another hour-long special. It's airing on April 12 in Japan.

[Ceska]

Am I the only one who thinks that varsiavus and Juugo are a little bit alike, both gender confused and probably extremly powerful
Read 349. He's confused on which gender to kill, not which he himself is. I'm currently at 350/Shippuuden 7. Damn I'm hooked right now just to find out there's nothing left (don't have the time to watch 8-9, that's all)... Crap.

[zeratul]

I have now seen Naruto Shippuden 1-7, the others aren't on www.youtube.com yet.

[doliemaster]

I would like to note this is not a flame, but GOD I hate those stupid characters!!!!! The premise-good, The plot and characters-BAD.

My views on the main characters.

Sakura- USELESS, god why is she not dead?!
Naruto- HE didn't have parents his entire life and his village hated him, why is he a carefree IDIOT?! He should be evil for friggins' sakes!
Sasuke- I hate him! He should die a horrible death for being an emo whiny brat. "Oh look at me, my brother killed my family so I get to be a freakin' wuss." I hope he dies and that this series is done over with something more friggin' ninja-like not things I would let a 5-year old watch.:smallfurious:

[Rakeesh]

How much of Shippuuden have you watched, Doliemaster? Sakura, as you'll find, is well aware of her past uselessness (mitigated only by brief moments of usefulness, I believe there were, like, three in the first portion of non-filler), and feels guilt over it and resolve to do better. After all, she has been training under Tsunade for 2.5 years, and Tsunade--no offense intended--is one tough bastard! And not likely to cultivate fools or wimps, either.

As for Naruto, as he explained himself (or at least, thought about, in his fight with Gaara), he was well on his way to becoming evil, was perhaps right at the turning point of it when Iruka saved his life (well, probably didn't really save his life, Naruto of the Nine-tail Fox would almost certainly have survived the attack), but Iruka plainly risked his life to save Naruto from serious injury, and expressed his acceptance of him, becoming almost at once Naruto's surrogate parent figure.

From that point on, he's not a carefree idiot...not that he ever was, really, to begin with. You see flashbacks sometimes of him training himself to exhaustion, even prior to the beginning of the series.

Sasuke...ey, I ain't a fan of his, I agree with you there. I can certainly understand his single-minded devotion to murdering his brother, but not his total willingness to betray everyone and everything he was ever a part of...when it was completely unnecessary.

But, as we discover much later in Shippuuden, all is not as it seems with Sasuke either. He is not as stupid as his recruitment by Orochimaru would lead you to think.

[Cubey]

Now, I didn't see Shippuuden yet, as the fillers (of which I didn't see many - got bored at their "find the bug" mission and never came back) left a bad taste in my mouth, which I didn't manage to overcome yet. So, my post is about characters as they are up to Sasuke running away to Orochimaru and before.

And I must say - YES, team 7 has the worst characters, personality-wise. Naruto is far too stupid for his own good, Sasuke is an awful emo and Sakura would win the first prize in an Uselessness contest. Kakashi kicks ass though. Also, the support cast is much, MUCH more interesting. Even in the first saga, Zabuza and Haku make pretty good and definately not one-dimensional villains. And later, with the appearance of characters such as Neji (bad ass), Rock Lee (kicks arse) or Shikamaru (kicks arse - with his mind!), you have nothing to frown at.

EDIT: My personal favourites are the rarely-accuring characters though, like "Godwin's Law" Ibiki or Anko.

[Rakeesh]

See, I get the 'Naruto is stupid' accusation, but it seems to me that when you examine his behavior, it doesn't quite hold up. He can be and often is extremely impulsive, and since he doesn't have a bedrock of wisdom and major book-learning, this means his impulsiveness often leads him to dumb ideas.

But, when he does actually calm down and think about things, he has repeatedly shown himself to be quite clever. Sexy Jutsu against dirty old men, attempted use of clones against Kakashi to retrieve the bell, use of clones against Sasuke to incapacitate him and see how Sakura feels, noticing all the cut marks on animals and foliage to know that the mom and kid were in trouble, using clones to mimic Rock Lee and Sasuke's attacks, much of the battle with Akamaru and Kiba, the list goes on... As you can see, Naruto does quite a lot of really clever things, things which arguably someone should expect of someone who uses clones so liberally, but still come as a surprise.

As for Sasuke, well...I submit that if anyone here had a brother whom they idolized and revered who one day, for almost no reason (Itachi basically said I did it "to see if I could" or something) murders your entire family, and your entire clan...the whole foundation of your life as a child, and then taunts you and basically brainwashes you a bit...well, who wouldn't be emo?

[Madmal]

Well, haven't seen it around before...so i'm gonna post this...

www.naruto-arena.com (http://www.naruto-arena.com)

online game of Naruto where i play. hope you'll join!

[TheEmerged]

RE: Naruto's Intelligence. Naruto isn't smart, he's cunning, rather like the mythical fox. Want him to be able to explain the chakra system? No good. Want him to be able to recognize the significance of sword marks on trees? He's good.

Want him to be able to remember something someone told him about a month ago? Forget it. Want him to create a clone to trick an enemy into thinking he's unconscious while burrowing underground so you can surprise him? He's good.

It's also worth noting from a writer's perspective that Naruto's "book stupidity" is actually an excellent opportunity to explain things to the reader/viewer.

[doliemaster]

WAIT......It's Iruka's fault naruto is good!
Iruka, you just went above sasuke on my must destroy list, thanks for helping me hate Iruka Rekeesha, as for sasuke, he is a whiny retard who is still the worst thought character EVER! In fact I should be watching Anime that has well thought out characters instead of retards, only five characters make this show enjoyable and one is dead, well that and the fact that I still hope anko and orochimaru hook up, they make such a cute couple:smallsmile: .