NARUTO: Shippuuden ep. 88-89
NARUTO: Shippuuden ep. 78-79
[ Episode 78-79: Asuma Dies! Naruto Shippuuden One-Hour Special ]
This is easily one of the best episodes I’ve seen in a long time. The sheer drama and suspense was maddening, much more than when it was presented in manga-form because of the wonderful use of the soundtrack and great performances from the seiyuus. My nerves were being put to the test on the result of the battle even though I already knew its outcome. Long story short: Asuma got the short end of the stick and has been dealt two deathblows by Hidan. The shock was much more powerful in manga-form though since there was little to no foreshadowing of his death (the anime did little to hide that, especially with the preview saying “Asuma dies” in it). Shika’s reaction was authentic as it can get and I must commend his seiyuu on a job well done. The next episode is a crucial one on an emotional-level and I await to see just how its all handled (sad episodes are almost always done well in Naruto).
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Door no Jutsu!NARUTO: Shippuuden ep. 75
[ Episode 75: The Old Monk's Prayer ]
The biggest surprise (for anime-only viewers) of the episode was seeing Kakashi use the Rasengan. When I first saw this I was confused since I always thought that the Rasengan wasn’t a jutsu to be copied since it didn’t use hand signs. On a lighter note, the omake was friggin’ hilarious! What Shikamaru said about Naruto not doing anything for a long time is so true that I had to roll around in my chair a bit. I can’t remember just how long Naruto will be out for but episode-wise it may go for as long as 10-15 episodes or so. Is that a good or bad thing? Well, he is the title character so….
1 commentNARUTO: Shippuuden ep. 74
[ Episode 74: Under a Starry Sky ]
So Naruto’s training is finally complete! Or is it? Well, not really. He still has to come up with a new technique. What do you think it can be? Just give it a WILD guess. If you still can’t come up with anything then you deserve a shinigami CHOP to the head. Anyway, you’ll find out in the next episode if the clue in the preview isn’t enough. This episode mainly focuses on Naruto finally cutting the waterfall, Sakura crying and thinking of her feelings for Naruto, and Team Asuma going out to find Hidan and Kakuzu.
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NARUTO: Shippuuden ep. 73
[ Episode 73: Invasion of "Akatsuki" ]
Hmm. What can I say here really? Naruto is in training…which I really think should have been completed during the time-skip. Then again that apparently wasn’t enough so I guess he needs it to somehow overcome up Sasuke of the Hax. Still, I did enjoy the episode because of characters like Yamato as well as Hidan and Kakuzu (granted I don’t like either but that’s not the point here). Also, was Chiriku an original character or did he come from the manga? I do remember that there was a guy/monk they took to collect a bounty but I don’t remember if it was Chiriku specifically.
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NARUTO: Shippuuden ep. 72
[ Episode 72: The Approaching Menace ]
Haha. It’s been a while for this show, hasn’t it? Well, I just got caught up and my main reaction for the previous filler arc is this: Same old shit. I’m quite sure anyone who made it through all the episodes know exactly what I mean by that. I’m not even going to go deep into the whole “overdraft of Kyuubi chakra” mess and the sudden reappearance of KN4 plus a fake. Granted the arc wasn’t bad compared to some of the horrible stuff we’ve seen in the original series but I thought at the beginning that it would turn out to be one of the best. Sadly, that didn’t happen.
5 commentsNARUTO ALL STARS + ramblings about Pierrot anime scores
I’m sorry, don’t you mean five stars? False labeling aside, I couldn’t help but wonder what this was when I stumbled upon it. Checking it out over at CD Japan, I learned that this was a CD containing tracks from the NARUTO series (plus Shippuuden) and there are five of the cast performing a theme. We’re granted access to hear Takeuchi Junko (Naruto), Sugiyama Noriaki (Sasuke), Nakamura Chie (Sakura), Inoue Kazuhiko (Kakashi), and Morikubo Shoutarou (Shikamaru) with each one performing two songs for a total of 10 (what, only ten?) tracks. Okay, that’s decent, but don’t you think more could’ve been added? Well, let’s take a look at what we actually got first. BTW, all track names are labeled with “(NARUTO ALL STARS VERSION)” next to the title. Read more
2 commentsNARUTO: Shippuuden ep. 60
[ Episode 60: Wheel of Fortune ]
I laughed quite a few times during this episode. The whole conflict between Naruto and Fuuka had me glued to the screen because I didn’t know if she wanted to kill Naruto or make-out with him raw and uncensored. If I had a choice I’d go with the latter option, of course. Hell, we even got to see a glimpse of Naruto’s old trickster days when he let her kiss one of his clones and then proceeded to taunt her with more clones. Of course, pissing her off led to her showing some of her real power which is pretty interesting since she seems to have all (or almost all) of the elements at her disposal.
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