Naruto: Shippuuden Episode 1-2 [Archive]

Yukimura

Fri, 02-16-2007, 01:38 AM

I'm actually not happy that they did what they did with the beginning of the new ep. REMOVED Anyway, everything else about this episode was amazing, the animation was near movie quality, the music was good (esp that ominous tune that played as the two Akatsuki approached the Sand Village). The new op and end don't really appeal to me, but I'm sure they'll appeal to plenty of other people. I doubt the quality will be kept throughout, but its so nice to be free from those filler animators even if it's not going to last.

You're giving away too much about the details between the anime and manga

Assertn

Fri, 02-16-2007, 01:49 AM

WOW I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT THEY PUT IN THE BEGINNING OF THE EP

Divinity

Fri, 02-16-2007, 01:50 AM

downloading right now.. it's going to slow though.. ahh... guess i'll have to wait till the morning to watch.

fahoumh

Fri, 02-16-2007, 02:07 AM

I'm downloading it now...EDIT: now it's moving...

Thanks for the link!

ShinobiNiNaritai

Fri, 02-16-2007, 02:24 AM

Threads merged

Its Here!!!! DB's sub that is.

http://yhbt.mine.nu/t/ns001-002.torrent

masamuneehs

Fri, 02-16-2007, 02:25 AM

g()()d lawd iz dat sum Shi99uD3N?!!111

edit - yay!

imanewb

Fri, 02-16-2007, 02:27 AM

OMFG naruto fillers are over.
i waited a year and a half for this.
=]

nests

Fri, 02-16-2007, 02:30 AM

Woo-hoo I new Dattebayo wouldnt let us down

XanBcoo

Fri, 02-16-2007, 03:10 AM

This is surreal...

Downloading now. Can't wait.

Shadow Skill

Fri, 02-16-2007, 03:25 AM

Downloading it right now, 30kbs, my network must be slow lol. Thankfully I'll be upgrading to a 25mbit from my 10mbit soon.

I can't wait to watch it, I'll be staying up for this lol.

Heart Dattebayo!

Also, since it's titled "Naruto: Shippuuden" does that mean it's not licensed?

Divinity

Fri, 02-16-2007, 03:57 AM

Wow... just wow... the animation is awesome... let's hope it continues to be this crisp throughout the series.

On another note... I didn't expect the beginning to start off like that... Teases non-manga readers so much and people who want to see the manga animated! Will be awhile till it gets to where the beginning of the episode started.

Can't wait for next week!! AHHHH!

stratosthegreek

Fri, 02-16-2007, 04:04 AM

This has literally been the most painful download of my life. Instead of getting the usual 250+ kb/sec im getting between 5 and 30...can't wait to watch and go to sleep

Divinity

Fri, 02-16-2007, 04:10 AM

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E9BVUOS2

Hey I uploaded to megaupload for direct download... so if you guys don't want to use torrents here it is!! :D

it's the DB version.

Danad_corps

Fri, 02-16-2007, 04:13 AM

I've compared the two releases and i'd have to say for the 10 minutes that them simultaneously, SD was better in both picture quality (i've always hated how fuzzy DB's releases were) and in translation (just slightly). Not only that, but SD released their version hours before DB. I think SD might give DB a run for their money.

Shuurai

Fri, 02-16-2007, 04:26 AM

Just a thought, will AnimeOne be making this series a priority now the fillers are over?

Assertn

Fri, 02-16-2007, 04:44 AM

Hmm.....the pacing after konohamaru's scene felt kinda weird for most of the ep....
They definitely introduced some elements differently than it was in the manga, but also playing that not-so-naruto-esque music the whole time was odd too.

It basically didn't feel like I was watching Naruto.

Pretty soon this thread will become pretty hot....there's alot of stuff they've introduced into this ep.

XanBcoo

Fri, 02-16-2007, 05:10 AM

Now I remember why I love Naruto. Great introduction after 2 years of filler. Couldn't have been better. The animation and music were great as well - especially when the 2 new Akatsuki guys showed up at the Sand Village gates.

And what was up with those first 8 minutes?? What was that??

I had already seen the new character designs for the post-time jump characters, but the way in which it was all presented still made it feel exciting.

It basically didn't feel like I was watching Naruto.
I got the same feeling, kinda. But I loved it. I guess this new stye helps to differentiate between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.

Kraco

Fri, 02-16-2007, 06:29 AM

Hmm... I liked the beginning. While it might have been a sort of advertising trick and didn't make terribly much sense, it was both a good watch, and it worked as an artistic trick to get the show back on focus 100% (assuming the focus still is the Naruto - Sasuke line).

What comes to the rest of the episode, I liked it a lot. The graphics were good, like has been said numerous times already, and so was the music. Very good. Character design was fine. It was also nice they introduces a couple of Akatsuki doods right here at the beginning. Gives some shadows and weight to this show that was ruined by the fillers for so long. And having the Shikamaru - Temari couple there, almost hand in hand, was a funny detail. Those two must really be a destined couple...

The things I didn't like about this was the intro feeling that was so pervasive except for the Sand parts (and of course the very beginning). Those strange breaks with height comparisons with the old characters were the worst. The fight against Kakashi reeks of a cheap way to show new abilities and replay old memories, but on the other hand if Naruto is going to join the shinobi pool reserved for missions I guess they really need to know how good he is and what manner of opponents he could face. After all, he hasn't been participating in chuunin exams or other events that Tsunade would know of.

Well, all in all, it's splendid to be able to once more look forward to both Naruto and Bleach once again.

Oh, and I wonder if they are going to keep humorous extras at the end of episodes à la Bleach, or if it was just this episode.

master_me

Fri, 02-16-2007, 06:45 AM

God... I keep hearing you guys talk about the first half of the episode, but I have to wait like seven hours to watch it because I've got school. I'm downloading it now so it'll be ready when I get back~

Xyrox

Fri, 02-16-2007, 07:00 AM

I thought I would be disappointed. I'm glad that I was wrong.
I really liked this episode. The opening/ending didn't appeal me either, they were OK. There are probably people who enjoy them more than I do.

They kept saying "This feels nostalgic". And at least I felt that way to. And those break, while they were annoying, I didn't really care; the animation, music, excitement, everything else was so good.
And the couple looked so cute together.

Oh, and I wonder if they are going to keep humorous extras at the end of episodes à la Bleach, or if it was just this episode.

I thought about this too. The preview had this "Bleach-feeling" too.

Knives122

Fri, 02-16-2007, 09:30 AM

WOW I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT THEY PUT IN THE BEGINNING OF THE EP

I think I finally made sense of why they put that in the beginning of the ep. It's more or less what's happening to them right now, and everything else we saw for the rest of the episode is a flashback of sorts even though no one has seen it yet..

Necromas

Fri, 02-16-2007, 09:47 AM

Damn that first part was such a tease if you haven't read the manga.

All the little code word skits they threw in, Jiraya advertising his book, and the stuff after the ending theme were kind of annoying, it was more like one episode + a big teaser and some filler, but at least we got a full episodes worth and they're not skipping a week like they normally do with 1 hour specials.

kimbap629

Fri, 02-16-2007, 09:54 AM

Just a thought, will AnimeOne be making this series a priority now the fillers are over?

Considering they just released 9 episodes at once, I think they're really trying to finish up Part I now (it's about time) and start doing Naruto Shippuden on a more regular basis (i.e. 1 episode a week). I mean ideally, this is what I'd want, but you never know.

But then again, Naruto is out of filler so all the Naruto fans will come back to and start watching Naruto on a weekly basis again.

I just hope that Shippuden does not resort to massive fillers. I think that the anime has a good chance there won't be much use for filler because of how slowly they're pacing the anime. If you check out Leaf Ninja for future episode titles, it seems like they'll be extending Bell Test #2 all the way through episode 4. If I'm not mistaken, the manga finished this part up within a matter of a few pages.

I also would like to comment on how nice the animation is.

And what's up with using that scene in the beginning of the episode. That part doesn't show for quite a while. Are they just trying to tease the audience or like give an example of what's to come later on?

Oh, and did you guys also notice how much "filler scenes" they've added? I think it's great because it'll lengthen up the story up a bit so the anime does not catch up to the manga any time soon.

Oh well, here's to Naruto Shippuden continuously airing non filler episodes (at least for a long long long time)~ :)

DarthEnderX

Fri, 02-16-2007, 10:20 AM

Oh man, it's almost hard to formulate sentences right now because I'm right in the midst of a nerdgasm.

So much awsome shit going on!

Okay, actually almost nothing is going on that wasn't going on 3 years ago. But still!

I can't believe it was an hour long special and they STILL ended right there! I want to see new powers dammit!

I loved the fact that Naruto is the only one who's still a Genin. I wonder if he's join the chuunin exam and just blow through it.

Also, Neji, Kankuro and Temari are all Jounin? But Shikamaru isn't? Wierd.

Sucks for Naruto can Naruto could totally beat any of those 3!

He needs to catch up. They won't be making a Genin hokage any time soon!

And I guess the opening isn't just Gaara fanservice afterall. Seems like he's going to be a central character in this arc at least.

Also, bonus, we have a name for what Naruto and Gaara are now! Jinchuuriki!

kimbap629

Fri, 02-16-2007, 10:36 AM

For manga readers like myself, I'm quite pleased with how they're going about doing Shippuden (as I mentioned right before). It just sucks how they make the anime cut off at such good places, butu then again, that's good because it'll keep us anxious and ready for more each week.

Pessu

Fri, 02-16-2007, 10:57 AM

Whats up with the beginning? Was it a preview of whats coming? Makes no sence...

The show feels exactly like it was before fillers. I was hoping for more dramatic changes in the series but, its just the same. Atleast Naruto aint as annoying he used to be.

Terracosmo

Fri, 02-16-2007, 11:03 AM

What I don't like about the opening minutes is that once the anime gets to where that stuff takes place, they'll have to show it again and we'll have an episode which runs only half of the time! Damnation!

*downloading*

KitKat

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:10 PM

It feels almost surreal to watch a Naruto episode again. This ep reminded me both of how totally awesome this series can be, but also how brain-numbingly bad it can get. Maybe I'm just pickier because I stopped watching the fillers, but I didn't like the little skits where they introduced keywords. I've always found the silliness in Naruto to be too over-the-top for my liking.

The intro was fantastic. We probably won't get to that point in the story for a while (I'm just assuming that it's a snippet from an episode in the future....I don't read the manga so this is just my guess), but it was a brilliant reminder of how compelling the story is, and that we didn't wait through all those fillers for nothing.

The new events at the Sand Village look like they're shaping up to be pretty sweet. As for the Naruto and Sakura vs Kakashi battle, I'm feeling a bit meh about it. Hopefully it will exceed my expectations.

Shinji Ikari

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:13 PM

Is it just me, or was it really annoying when Naruto used the word nostalgic in like every sentence, just feels like a poorly written start.

masamuneehs

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:23 PM

the one thing that nobody's talked about yet was the new Akatsuki guys and their jutsus. i thought of saw that one guy's Possession/Control jutsu to be something like Sakon's jutsu, especialy when that Sand nin was talking to the thing in his shirt. i know it has something to do with the brain, so it's different, but it just reminded me...

and i liked the teaser/whatever in the very beginning of the episode. it was like instant kickass injection into my skull! I don't care if we don't get to it for awhile, it got the blood in my veins pumping (and looked beautiful)

i even thought the weird "keyword" parts were tolerable, at least the one with Kakashi and Jiraiya. I also lol'd at Naruto still being a Genin. It makes sense to me that Shikamaru would still be Chuunin. He lacks raw skills (and motivation), at least in comparison to Neji. I think of the Sand ninjas gaining rank as more of a necessity, since they were really weak after the Sound event and those 3 needed to step up. It would be no surprise to me if Gaara can't handle the two Akatsuki guys.... just a feeling...

ryon

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:28 PM

lol... guess too much fillers have affected our expectations of a naruto ep...

definitely a good start to erase the damage done by fillers in any case....

XanBcoo

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:29 PM

Is it just me, or was it really annoying when Naruto used the word nostalgic in like every sentence, just feels like a poorly written start.
lol, I was just about to say, "Nostalgic" is the new "Dattebayo"

Naruto: "I have to find Sasuke, nostalgicttebayo"

In hindsight, I also didn't really like the filler bits with the keywords every 10 minutes. It honestly didn't bother me as I was watching the episode, though, and I guess I can let it slide considering the opening 10 minutes. Perhaps we should think of that as Perriot's apology for the 2 years of filler?

Come to think of it...it actually has been 2 years both in the anime and in real life. What a tragic parallel...

JaySee

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:32 PM

It's kinda like "BELIEVE IT!" from the dub. =/

DDBen

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:35 PM

Well lets be honest cut out all the filler and say this takes place after episode 137 of the anime and we had no Naruto until now. If that was the case all of the Nostalgic comments make perfect sense.

As for the keywords I assume that was just for a contest and we won't see them in the future as such I can live with them.

So far they definatl have it back on track and I certainly hope they continue like this with the animation and music.

Terracosmo

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:38 PM

Fucking good shit, this. Worth the wait. I enjoy the new music and great animation although I think the latter won't stay that sexy unfortunately.

They added a lot of anime-only stuff which improved the story IMO. That's nice to see. A lot of funny parts too. I laughed so hard at Sakura's flashback when Tsunade woke up and threw all those things at her which exploded, just something about the line "Of course I thought I was going to die but..." (something like that, the stuff Sakura says in the flashback) made me LOL. Great stuff.

The only BIG DISAPPOINTMENT is that my favorite akatsuki does not have the same voice as he has in the short shadowy akatsuki segment which took place before the filler started! I had already affiliated him with that really gruff voice and I thought it would be really interesting to see. DAMNIT!

Assertn

Fri, 02-16-2007, 12:44 PM

Hahaha.....I was wondering if Terra would notice that....

Yeah, there's some good additions they've thrown in, but like I said before, the pacing is a bit different than in the manga. The Kakashi vs Naruto/Sakura faceoff was not a formalized event spectated by Tsunade and Shizune in the manga....it was more like Kakashi just trying to re-assess what level his team's at now.

Genma

Fri, 02-16-2007, 01:07 PM

I didn't really like how they started the anime, because it pretty much seemed out of place. Of course it was a ploy to attract viewers back to the anime, but people who haven't read the manga probably have no idea who the two other guys with Naruto and Sakura are, or what the hell was going on for that matter.

Regardless, as a manga reader, it was still pretty interesting to see. I would've just prefered if they started it normally though, instead of giving a teaser.

As a sidenote, I really liked [insert akatsuki name here]'s voice.

Assertn

Fri, 02-16-2007, 01:12 PM

Watched a snippet of DB's translation.....looks like the other guys before them did a little better job with translations.....

Like the part where [Blonde Akatsuki's Name] was saying "After all, it's just a shrimp" was supposed to be "After all, it's the one tails"

Which like.....completely changes the tone of that statement.....

kooshi

Fri, 02-16-2007, 01:40 PM

I think that they revealed a little too much in the first 10 minutes of the episode. Regardless of that, it's a really nice teaser for the anime-only viewers.

As for the rest of the episode, I thought that it was done pretty well. The only thing that bugged me a bit was the Konahamaru team mission. I just thought that it was just a lazy way of filling up time.

Aeon

Fri, 02-16-2007, 01:43 PM

Just watched it, it was really good. The first couple of minutes were intense but now I wanna know who belly shirt guy is and the other guy that was with Naruto and Sakura.

Assertn

Fri, 02-16-2007, 01:44 PM

Just watched it, it was really good. The first couple of minutes were intense but now I wanna know who belly shirt guy is and the other guy that was with Naruto and Sakura.
Tehe, the other guy that was with Naruto and Sakura is actually quite interesting ^_^

Also....that part with Sasuke and Kyubi helped remind me/cleared up some things. I don't think it was translated too well in the manga.

I'm surprised nobody said anything about Gaara being the kazekage yet

DarthEnderX

Fri, 02-16-2007, 03:06 PM

I actually kinda expected it because, seriously, who's stronger than Gaara in the Sand village?

Nobody that's who.

I'm surprised to many people didn't like the opening scene. I loved it, because it just set the mood for the whole series right off the bat. It's like how the opening scene of Two Towers shows Gandalf fighting the Balrog. The fight actually took place way before where the movie begins, but by showing it then, they set this tone of awsomness for the whole movie.

I feel the same way about this opening scean. It just gets you pumped up way better than Naruto's arrival in the village would have.

I also seem to be alone in the liking of the code letter parts. At least the first two, where the old versions talked to the new versions. It's cool seeing both side by side and I hope they do it with all the characters as they get reintroduced.

Assassin

Fri, 02-16-2007, 03:30 PM

quite a wonderful ep. a great first ep for a "new" series. i rather liked the new intro. it seemed fitting after the preview in a way. speaking of the preview, im surprised they showed all that. at first i thought i had missed an entire arc during the fillers or something. definately a good way to get people back into naruto and apologize for the fillers.

as a manga reader, i really enjoyed seeing that part animated. but it sucks for the anime only viewers cuz you guys have no idea whats going on, who's who, or whats gonna happen next (but god damn, it'll be good). and if i remember correctly, that stuff is SPOILERS REMOVED. so thats quite a long time to wait (but dont worry cuz you'll definately enjoy the ride ;))

cant wait for the second (or is it third?) ep.

Knives122

Fri, 02-16-2007, 03:37 PM

Hahaha, yeah it was quite a surprise to see, I thought I had dled the wrong thing for a second there.

But yeah it was a pretty good episode.

Stupid konohamaru crap = stupid
Akatsuki montage = cool(and if you look really closely you can see another guy behind itachi)
Akastuki mind control = badass
Naruto sorta not acting like a jackass 78% of the time = very much needed
Kakashi doing that weird laugh during the keyword thing = funny

Yep, I say they started off the new show pretty well....even if the beginnig is in the future..but that whole "how we got to this point" approach is acceptable.

Shuurai

Fri, 02-16-2007, 03:40 PM

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5664/nanifw3.jpg

I've never heard Kakashi so enthusiastic about anything before, I cant stop saying "NANI" now.

Assassin

Fri, 02-16-2007, 03:41 PM

ya, although i was kind expecting them to actually show on screen something like "3 months earlier". But i guess thats implied.

btw, how come no ones mentioed the fact that kyuubi apparently knows an uchiha madara (sp). if its someone the he remembers by name, i'd imagine he was some super badass ninja. like the original sharingan user or some crazy shit like that.

Assertn

Fri, 02-16-2007, 04:01 PM

Manga guys....stop giving too much away about the beginning. Many of you are inadvertently breaking the "Don't discuss future arcs" rule, which is grounds for spoiling.

AceAlpha

Fri, 02-16-2007, 04:18 PM

The Episode was GREAT, they're back at the old level of great naruto anime.

masamuneehs

Fri, 02-16-2007, 04:20 PM

i'm going to defend the part with Konohamaru and his team running around doing the shitty D-rank cat mission. It might have been a little heavy-handed showing how they're where naruto was back in the day, but for me it made me very nostalgic. the whole sexy-no-jutsu bonding between naruto and him made me smile. It might not be as badass as the rest of the episode, but I thought it was a good scene to throw in there.

btw, how come no ones mentioed the fact that kyuubi apparently knows an uchiha madara (sp). if its someone the he remembers by name, i'd imagine he was some super badass ninja. like the original sharingan user or some crazy shit like that.

it's no surprise that the Kyuubi, which fought the Leaf Village from before Naruto (and Sasuke) were born, would know about the Uchiha Clan. The fact that Sasuke didn't know that name, or at least acted like he didn't know, was the surprising part (Although i'd not be surprised to see it on a certain scroll hidden in the floor of a certain clan's meeting room...). All signs point to Madara being "teh 133t original Uchiha".

Chouonsoku

Fri, 02-16-2007, 05:07 PM

So, after watching the episode I see how it was a mean way to open Part 2. :P I already read the manga but a friend of mine I watched the episode with hadn't.

Souryusen

Fri, 02-16-2007, 05:12 PM

Less keywords, more fireballs.

Can't say as I care for the Intro/Ending or most of the soundtrack in this ep. Just didn't feel like Naruto. Not to mention that the whole affair seemed kinda stilted to me... I kept expecting a text tutorial tell me to press the triangle key to access my status menu.

"Welcome back. Let us now see the fruits of your training! You must fight a certain someone... OVER THERE!"

To do a barrel-roll, press Z or R twice.

Bread-sama

Fri, 02-16-2007, 05:18 PM

the episode was terrible... they put everything they could to avoid the fight against Kakashi and Naruto.

fuck it.

XanBcoo

Fri, 02-16-2007, 05:24 PM

The only BIG DISAPPOINTMENT is that my favorite akatsuki does not have the same voice as he has in the short shadowy akatsuki segment which took place before the filler started! I had already affiliated him with that really gruff voice and I thought it would be really interesting to see. DAMNIT!
If that is indeed the same guy (the one with only one eye showing, right?), then he also seems to have lost that idiosyncratic "Unnnh" he had at the end of his sentences in episode 135. I thought that was really cool. Or maybe I'm just wrong and that's a different guy...

It might have been a little heavy-handed showing how they're where naruto was back in the day, but for me it made me very nostalgic
I can't help but think that your use of that word was intentionally satirical...nostalgicttebayo. In any case, I agree. I thought it was a really nice touch.

darkmetal505

Fri, 02-16-2007, 05:55 PM

"Panning.... show her face.... panning.... show his face.... OMG short asian guy?"

- My chemistry teacher's reaction when watching them reveal Sasuke.

She told me and my friend that we had no life since we were watching cartoons at lunch.

Naruto I <3 you.

Kraco

Fri, 02-16-2007, 06:06 PM

She told me and my friend that we had no life since we were watching cartoons at lunch.

Naruto I <3 you.

I trust you told her you don't need a life if you can watch Naruto?

Sapphire

Fri, 02-16-2007, 06:56 PM

The entire episode was amazing to me, the extremely good animation was SHOCKING at first. I felt like crying or screaming the entire time. Err, what are they going to do when the anime actually gets to that part? Maybe it will be a lot more detailed or something. I hope it is. If not, that sort of seems like a waste.

They better not skip it though.

ShinobiNeko

Fri, 02-16-2007, 07:08 PM

great episode, really loved it and it was nice to see Naruto series back to how it use to be.:D Also liked how they ended it in a really good cliff hanger and as usual, Naruto series has multiple things going on so have to wait till next episodes to see how the test goes and whats going on in the sand village. I personally didn't mind the keyword things..was obvious to me those were place probably when commercial breaks were starting and they were little funny although yes distracting from the main story but what do you expect, they are giving a service to the viewers (Japanese) w/ those giving a keyword to win prizes.
:cool: cool episode either way.
Just seems they probably gave a lot away in the beginning with the first few mins..guessing that's whats going to happen later. >.< teasers.

DB_Hunter

Fri, 02-16-2007, 07:30 PM

Great to see Naruto back to its high quality level. Despite all that has been said, it was a bit nostalgic seeing it all again. Man infact last time I watched Naruto doing the things Konohamaru was doing I was still in my Uni days chilling...

On another note, excuse my ignorance but what does Shippuuden mean? Is this some special arc that is not part of the normal anime?

Edit: Sorry for that. just found out the answer in the other thread...

Fri, 02-16-2007, 07:31 PM

Finally, after about a year and a half of fillers, Naruto is back to its awesomeness!! I enjoyed the entire episode and the animation was superb. You can just see the difference from the fillers animation to this one. I have to admit I was surprised by the beginning; didn't think they would show Sasuke so early (whereas us manga readers had to wait like an unmentionable number of chapters just to see him). I can finally look forward to watching Naruto again. Amen! :D

High Wind

Fri, 02-16-2007, 08:05 PM

I finally got the opportunity to watch it and I was pleasantly reminded of why I first started watching Naruto. It was refreshing to watch a real episode of Naruto after being turned to abandon the series for two years by those revolting fillers.

As an anime-only watcher I was pretty confused by the first ten minutes, but thats not to say it detracted from the overall feel of awesome. I took it more as a "This is how incredible this series will get, so just pretend fillers never happened and keep watching" kind of thing.

My only complaint is that, like many other people on these forums, I felt that the "Keyword" segments really broke up the pacing of the episode. Other than that, I'm glad to have Naruto back and I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode.

Spoilers
The keyword might be "Shippuuden"

DB_Hunter

Fri, 02-16-2007, 08:23 PM

Shippuuden... Hurricane Chronicles?

Either this is going to be mainly Sand Village centred (Wind Country) or we're going to have another load of bloody Rasengans...

Vegechan

Fri, 02-16-2007, 09:21 PM

Concerning the keyword segments, I think those were for a contest or something. We have things like that all the time "Watch this show, look for the special words, send in a post marked letter with all the keywords to this address to enter the contest." Most of them seemed to happen right before commerical breaks, so it fits.

RyougaZell

Fri, 02-16-2007, 10:44 PM

Finally something awesome again on this series.
All the episode was great for me, even the stupid keyword sections (the first one was based on a manga poster btw, I don't believe this is a spoiler btw)

Konohamaru's section at the beginning was good, it was nice to see something well planned, unlike several 80+ previous eps.

Akatsuki! w00t!

Too much to discuss... like Bleach once again.

I hope they keep the Shinigami Gold... errr... the section at the end.

Mr. Roboto

Fri, 02-16-2007, 11:06 PM

it's about time. i thought the opening was confusing since i don't read the manga but i guess it's safe to assume that they find sasuke. the animation in this episode was way better than the filler crap, hopefully they can keep it up. the akatsuki guy reminded me of vampire hunter d in the way that they have the mouth in the palm of their hand that they have to feed. it looks like it's going to be three on one for gaara unless kankuro or temari can make it back to the sand village in time to help. i was always a bit curious as to what would happen with naruto and becoming a chuunin. i guess i thought they would just magically have him be a chuunin when he came back. i know someone mentioned that it was odd that shikamaru is still a chuunin while others have moved past him. shika is probably just too lazy to move up a rank. or it's possible that the skills required to become a juunin are skills that shika lacks and the others excel at. naruto is going to be like billy madison going through all these exams and crap.

Assertn

Fri, 02-16-2007, 11:34 PM

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7308/picture5or9.png
uh...is that what i think it is?

Deadfire

Sat, 02-17-2007, 12:24 AM

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7308/picture5or9.png
uh...is that what i think it is?

Yes, AF
Your using a mac, thats what it looks like :P

Anyways, I guess this is what I get for posting this many pages in, but what ever one has said so far. The keyword thing I didn't mind as my eyes were still glossed over at rest of the ep. It was so awesome to see it in fine shape again. Seriously this was so needed to bring me back to naruto (even like no action ever really happened...yet)

On the note of future EPs it will be bad ass to see garaa fight again.I'm sure this is going to happen as I know the 400 other odd ninja aren't main characters :P

Danad_corps

Sat, 02-17-2007, 01:36 AM

My favorite part of this episode was when Naruto realized how goddamn annoying he was!

JaySee

Sat, 02-17-2007, 01:38 AM

What's with the Konohamaru hate? IIRC that was in the manga. It's not filler crap. It's playing homage to Team 7 and also adding to the "nostalgia."

Why hasn't anyone complained that they replayed 30 seconds verbatim of what happened before Sakura's keyword interruption? That's worse than all the flashbacks they threw in. This "1 hour special" was full of filler crap. 30 seconds replayed, lots of flashbacks, keyword nonsense. Without all that filler and the unnecesary teaser at the beginning, this would've been a good regular 30 minute episode.

I also didn't care for all the computer animation. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

Board of Command

Sat, 02-17-2007, 01:50 AM

After a year and half I can finally start getting a weekly dosage of Naruto again. That in itself is quite nostalgic.

ShinobiNiNaritai

Sat, 02-17-2007, 02:43 AM

Everyone has said what needs to be said, for or otherwise to certain aspects of the Shippuden, but all in all we all agree that it was an awesome welcome back. So I dont have much to add on... Other than, Definitely the DB version's translation is more accurate than the SD translation. I watched both and in listening and following along I found that DB's translation was pretty much correct. However SD's version had quite a number of totally incorrect translations. Eg when Iruka is talking about how its being quite a long time since Naruto went off to train with Jiraiya (which is what he says), however in SD's version, they translate the "it has been quite some time" as "He was really serious too", and what Tsunade said afterwards is somewhat incorrectly translated.
But dont get me wrong, I still am glad that they at least subbed it and put it out to be dled. I'd rather have that, than have nothing at all.

Assertn

Sat, 02-17-2007, 04:10 AM

DarthEnderX

Sat, 02-17-2007, 04:42 AM

I must be the only anime-only person who wasn't at all confused by the beginning.

Pretty much as soon as they started the scene after the opening credits I realized the beginning scene was a flashforward.

DB_Hunter

Sat, 02-17-2007, 08:57 AM

eat_toast

Sat, 02-17-2007, 09:57 AM

Holy shut, I never thought I'd see the day again when I'd download a torrent with over 20 k users. Naruto is BACK BABY!!!!

Psyke

Sat, 02-17-2007, 10:13 AM

The first 10 minutes really got me excited. I thought that Naruto was going wide screen. But that was not to be, well at least the fillers are over and the new animation really makes the fillers look like garbage.

I'm quite sure I'm not the only one who noticed this, but does this guy look familiar to any of you?

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/700/vlcsnap40274qt1.png

I thought the "filler" parts of the anime were done rather well. Hope to see more, including the short segments with both the pre and post time jump characters. Naruto talking to Naruto is classic.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/8243/vlcsnap40576copyop5.jpg

Kraco

Sat, 02-17-2007, 10:36 AM

I was also wondering who it was, and does that character have some significance later because of the placement. Or maybe they had just added one random person there to make the situation look more official, as opposed to those filler mission briefings that always just happened at Tsunade's office without extra ceremonies.

Psyke

Sat, 02-17-2007, 11:19 AM

Well it's not really just another random character, but I though that he really looked like a character which appeared in the series waaaaaaaay back in the first few arcs. Must be the hat.

Assertn

Sat, 02-17-2007, 11:52 AM

I think you're referring to Inari.....the kid that cried too much

DB_Hunter

Sat, 02-17-2007, 11:57 AM

That guy can't be Inari... he's too tall!

DarthEnderX

Sat, 02-17-2007, 12:15 PM

dellthx

Sat, 02-17-2007, 02:44 PM

Issue of Naruto being chunnin or genin or etc. I'm not reading the manga so i can't be sure what level he will become, however i believe its a moot point. My reasoning is, he is probably same or higher level than neji, temari, etc. If you were to say from the standpoint of can he be a mission leader, that remains to be seen. But if you were to look at it from fighting standpoint he is probably at the level of Gaara and Sasuke. BTW in the first 10 mins. When the kyubbi is talking to naruto, anyone seem to think naruto didn't want to resort to using the kyubbi's chakara. Seemed to me he wants to do it with his own power.

Narasho

Sat, 02-17-2007, 02:49 PM

On the issue of Naruto not being a Chunnin... I think its pretty simple. Tsunade will obviously watch his fight with Kakashi, and obviously Naruto will perform well. Based on this performence he will be promoted to Chunnin, because it will be so blatant that he is above Genin level... you can't honestly say that Naruto = Konohamaru now can yo, or that he is lower than the likes of Chouji, Ino, and all the other lame ass figthers...?

Well, they did mention a Chuunin exam coming up. Maybe Naruto will take that exam, own everyone really quickly, and become a Chuunin? (reminiscent of Killua in Hunter Hunter taking the Hunter exam way later)

On a side point, if Sakura is a Chuunin now maybe she will actually contribute something to battles other than just screaming "Sasuke-kuuuuuunnnnnn!"

Kraco

Sat, 02-17-2007, 02:57 PM

BTW in the first 10 mins. When the kyubbi is talking to naruto, anyone seem to think naruto didn't want to resort to using the kyubbi's chakara. Seemed to me he wants to do it with his own power.

That scene was a bit hard to interpret. Although it didn't look to me exactly like he didn't want to use it, even though the kyuubi himself suggested Naruto is too weak otherwise. Still, I hope this series will never go to that direction. After all, that source of unlimited chakra is Naruto's own bloodline limit or the closest thing he has to any special ability... It would be foolish not to use it because it's not his own originally. It's inside him, rather permanently, so in my opinion not using it would be like Hyuuga or Uchiha not using their eyes.

Assertn

Sat, 02-17-2007, 03:12 PM

One thing I always wondered about that scene between Naruto and Sasuke was, that as I understood it, most of those inner chamber scenes represented a metaphorical connection between Naruto and Kyubi. It made sense in the context of two conscious entities having an in-depth interaction that, in the real world may only be an instant in time, such as the whole conversation taking place during the single swing of Sasuke's sword. However, for Sasuke to enter this conversation as well...did he stop swinging his sword to use the sharingan on Naruto? If so, what does this exchange of events look like from Sakura's perspective? Is Sasuke talking to the kyubi internally while physically he's still swinging his sword?

I totally dig the very concept, but sometimes drawing on it for so long, you start to blur these details.

Vegechan

Sat, 02-17-2007, 03:25 PM

That scene was a bit hard to interpret. Although it didn't look to me exactly like he didn't want to use it, even though the kyuubi himself suggested Naruto is too weak otherwise. Still, I hope this series will never go to that direction. After all, that source of unlimited chakra is Naruto's own bloodline limit or the closest thing he has to any special ability... It would be foolish not to use it because it's not his own originally. It's inside him, rather permanently, so in my opinion not using it would be like Hyuuga or Uchiha not using their eyes.

One thing I always thought, was that the more and more Naruto uses the Nine Tail's power, the more and more it becomes likely for the Nine Tails to take over.

I mean, based on what was said in the first episode alone, we now know what was locked inside Gaara is the same type of creature Naruto has inside him. And look what happened when Gaara lost himself in the the power. It was at the point where he wasn't even the one controlling it anymore, and it was more or less using him as an avatar so to speak.

I can see why Naruto wouldn't want to use the Nine Tail's power. Maybe he knows about losing himself to the demon? Or, maybe he just wants to use his own power, and not rely on anyone else but himself.

big_ac

Sat, 02-17-2007, 03:29 PM

[QUOTE=AssertnFailure]One thing I always wondered about that scene between Naruto and Sasuke was, that as I understood it, most of those inner chamber scenes represented a metaphorical connection between Naruto and Kyubi...what does this exchange of events look like from Sakura's perspective? Is Sasuke talking to the kyubi internally while physically he's still swinging his sword?QUOTE]

If you look back at when Itachi used the Mangekyou/Mangekyuu? Sharingan on Kakashi, the exchange felt to Kakashi like hours when in fact it was instantaneous. I realize that Sasuke does not currently possess the Mangekyou, but the fact that time dilation like this has occurred before only makes that explanation all the more plausible. If it is in fact a single instant, then from Sakura's point of view it should look as if Sasuke is swinging his sword uninterrupted.

Traditionally, telepathic contact in movies and other shows appears to take a great deal of effort and takes place at the same speed as if both parties were having a conversation, but one fictional example doesn't invalidate another. Telepathy doesn't exist (as far as we know), so if the animators want it to be instantaneous, then I say why not.

@Psyke, I saw that and immediately wondered what Inari was doing in Tsunade's office, although they probably just needed a place-holder character and used an amalgam of old character designs.

Board of Command

Sat, 02-17-2007, 04:04 PM

One thing I always thought, was that the more and more Naruto uses the Nine Tail's power, the more and more it becomes likely for the Nine Tails to take over.

I mean, based on what was said in the first episode alone, we now know what was locked inside Gaara is the same type of creature Naruto has inside him. And look what happened when Gaara lost himself in the the power. It was at the point where he wasn't even the one controlling it anymore, and it was more or less using him as an avatar so to speak.

I can see why Naruto wouldn't want to use the Nine Tail's power. Maybe he knows about losing himself to the demon? Or, maybe he just wants to use his own power, and not rely on anyone else but himself.
Actually, from the first part of the episode I thought Naruto was able to control the Kyuubi. He was talking with it and wasn't scared at all. The Kyuubi said "let's show them our power" which I assume meant Naruto is able to fully harness the Kyuubi chakra inside himself.

darkshadow

Sat, 02-17-2007, 04:25 PM

I dont think that would happen, the first time naruto went kyuubi, he went berserk, and attacked haku in a mad rage ( his power was obviously more feral then the other times he used the kyuubi after that, even running on hands and feet).
Kyuubi is supposed to be a NINE-tailed beast, while when naruto fought sasuke he developed only 1 tail, this to me means naruto was only using a 9th of kyuubi's power.

Now this leads me to believe that kyuubi was tricking naruto, there is no way in hell that naruto's mind and body would be able to handle 100 % of kyuubi's power, especially since it's a dark and sinister power.
And naruto's body was already "breaking up" at the climax of that fight.
I can just picture naruto breaking the seal and blowing up afterwards or something..... kyuubi would definitly take over.

Assertn

Sat, 02-17-2007, 05:33 PM

Would you say, that when Naruto hit the next level of the transformation vs Sasuke in the chase arc, that he had control of the demon power? He still said stuff like bringing Sasuke back (although with much more verocity, ie. "even if I have to break your legs"), and he still had the consciousness to be able to summon up a rasengan too. I think ever since his first metaphorical confrontation with kyubi back in the chuunin exams, Naruto has had more of an awareness about his actions while under that power.

iMUSTbeTHEdevil

Sat, 02-17-2007, 06:41 PM

I thought that it was cool the first ten minutes. I wonder if Kakashi could use his Sharingan and see into Naruto's mind like that!?! That would be cool. I wonder if that Uchiha Madara is going to show up in a story line? I still want to see more about the 4th! But hopefully the Naruto God's will bless us! -dg-

kimbap629

Sat, 02-17-2007, 07:39 PM

Well, if "KG" gets aired, we'll get a bit more insight on the 4th. Anyway, the Kyubi has a lot of potential, but it's one of those double edged swords.

It gives Naruto a massive increase in strength, speed, defense, jutsu speed, etc but at the cost of going berserk, constantly causing damage to his body, and the potential to literally oblierate even his comrades. We've all seen how destructive 1 tail (out of the 9 total) the Kyubi is. Imagine that but add on 9x more the strength and you get the Kyubi pretty much. If Naruto loses full control of the Kyubi, it'll be like what happens to Gaara. The Kyubi comes out, but this time, it'll be all over for Konoha unless there's a Konoha shinobi who can use the same sealing technique as the Fourth and the Third.

DB_Hunter

Sat, 02-17-2007, 08:08 PM

I can't see why everyone is linking 1 tail of Kyuubi to = 1/9th of this power... although I see the logic in this this has not been confirmed in the anime so far.

Yes I did think it was interesting when Kyuubi said to Naruto 'lets show them our power'. Perhaps he meant a combination of his (Kyuubi's) chakra with Nartuo's newly learnt powerful techniques?

Although Naruto did not want to use Kyuubi's power, did he not begin to put his hand out to touch him, just before Sasuke entered? Maybe he was about to accept his power, or maybe he was going to do what Sasuke did anyway... which was to disperse the Kyuubi chakra.

XanBcoo

Sat, 02-17-2007, 08:32 PM

Now this leads me to believe that kyuubi was tricking naruto, there is no way in hell that naruto's mind and body would be able to handle 100 % of kyuubi's power, especially since it's a dark and sinister power.
And naruto's body was already "breaking up" at the climax of that fight.
I can just picture naruto breaking the seal and blowing up afterwards or something..... kyuubi would definitly take over.
I agree totally with this. Clearly Kyuubi was trying to trick Naruto into freeing him (if it was even possible) just before Sasuke showed up. I don't think Naruto accepting 100% of Kyuubi's power would be beneficial for anyone...Anyway, I think Assertn is also right in that Naruto definitely has some mastery and understanding of Kyuubi's power (shown in his fight against Sasuke), but he can only handle a certain amount given his current level of skill. When Naruto was totally conscious in his Kyuubi-mode against Sasuke, he was able to harness more of the red chakra and become stronger. He was obviously semi-coherent (able to talk to Sasuke and form a Rasengan), but even then he become more ferocious and fox-like.

I can't see why everyone is linking 1 tail of Kyuubi to = 1/9th of this power...
Yeah...I don't get this either. There seems to be different incarnations of Kyuubi's power in every instance. He either goes berserk (like the first time against Haku), harnesses the power for his own use (like when summoning Gamabunta or in his fight against Neji - actually, couldn't we see 9 tails of Chakra in that fight too??), or physically manifest ears and a tail - perhaps "becoming" Kyuubi. Maybe it's that last one that people are referring to...

Shadow Skill

Sat, 02-17-2007, 09:25 PM

Even if Naruto were to damage himself in a fight using Kyuubi's chakra, it wouldnt matter, as the past episodes have proven, the power of Kyuubi gives Naruto instant healing, I believe even when he's not in Kyuubi mode, At the very beginning when they left Konoha and they got attacked by those 2 Ninja that used poison Kunai or something. Naruto got hit and kakashi was worried the poison would kill him. After the antidote and everything, kakashi saw his wound and noticed it was already healing quite fast.

Fight with Haku, all his wounds healed. Fight with Neji, I think there too. The fight with Gaara as well and most noticable in the Sasuke fight before Sasuke ran away. Instant healing. So even if Naruto does go berserk, it wouldnt matter if he was damaged. :/

Well... Kyuubi can supposedly cause tidal waves and mountains to crumble from one wag/whip of his tail... so I am assuming, Kyuubi's real power has not even been seen yet. From the looks of it, Naruto seems to be more in control the more he uses Kyuubi's chakra, that's just my take on it though. :/

Also, since it's titled "Naruto: Shippuuden," does that mean it's not licensed, or is it licensed?

DB_Hunter

Sat, 02-17-2007, 10:16 PM

It would appear to me that Naruto and Naruto:Shippuuden are two different series, like DB and DBZ. So IMO it should not be thought that it is licensed right now.

Chouonsoku

Sat, 02-17-2007, 10:23 PM

Even if Naruto were to damage himself in a fight using Kyuubi's chakra, it wouldnt matter, as the past episodes have proven, the power of Kyuubi gives Naruto instant healing, I believe even when he's not in Kyuubi mode, At the very beginning when they left Konoha and they got attacked by those 2 Ninja that used poison Kunai or something. Naruto got hit and kakashi was worried the poison would kill him. After the antidote and everything, kakashi saw his wound and noticed it was already healing quite fast.

Fight with Haku, all his wounds healed. Fight with Neji, I think there too. The fight with Gaara as well and most noticable in the Sasuke fight before Sasuke ran away. Instant healing. So even if Naruto does go berserk, it wouldnt matter if he was damaged. :/

Well... Kyuubi can supposedly cause tidal waves and mountains to crumble from one wag/whip of his tail... so I am assuming, Kyuubi's real power has not even been seen yet. From the looks of it, Naruto seems to be more in control the more he uses Kyuubi's chakra, that's just my take on it though. :/

But you have to take into consideration the long term effects of constant damage and then healing could cause. If not physical, you've gotta wonder if his mind can take the pain of all of the Kyuubi's chakra forcing out of him.

XanBcoo

Sat, 02-17-2007, 10:37 PM

It would appear to me that Naruto and Naruto:Shippuuden are two different series, like DB and DBZ. So IMO it should not be thought that it is licensed right now.
Naruto Shippuden is licensed. Because it is not a sequel, but rather a continuation of the same series (just with a brand spanking new name!), then Viz should have the rights to it.

DB_Hunter

Sat, 02-17-2007, 10:41 PM

Deblas

Sat, 02-17-2007, 10:46 PM

Sakura's skirt seems longer here....

A.n.y.w.a.y. Good start even though it was just really showing the old characters and how they have grown the past two years. After not watching Naruto ever since the fillers started, it really did start to interest me again.

Couple of funny scenes and we get some action next episode...more please. :)

Shadow Skill

Sat, 02-17-2007, 11:49 PM

That's reasonable Chouonosoku, the mental fatigue would probably be devastating.

I guess you're right Xanbcoo. :(

One would think it would not be, considering it's under a different name now. :/

Mizuchi

Sun, 02-18-2007, 12:09 AM

OMFG

I think i sh*t myself.

This episode was AMAZING. Especially if you haven't watched the show for a long time, coming back to all the places where they were so long ago, idk it was really emotional to me. like A LOT. I just love it when people in series and games and things like get older and then revisit the places where they grew it, it just feels so "nostalgic" lol.

Idk why you guys didn't like that teaser in the beginning, i've seen it in many other places and I like it. For a moment in the beginning i thought belly shirt was sasuke. How did sasuke turn so evil though =/ he was so innocent back in iruka's class.

I don't like how some people turned into jounin in only 2 years, especially the ones who did. It's hard to believe that newly jounin temari could take on kiba/shino/hinata's sensei (forget her name). Also, Kankuroh became jounin but shino did not?? Also, I don't like how kakashi has to get serious with people he could take on while reading a book just 2 years ago. What has he been doing all this time?? He is supposed to be one of the strongest jounin in the village.

I also don't understand how you can take the chuunin exam when you don't have a full squad of 3? Anyone know?

Other than that, awesome episode. For the past couple weeks i thought bleach was my favorite anime and i started to think "was naruto really even that good" after seeing new non-filler bleach. But now im like, holy sh*t, bleach does not raise a finger to this orgasmic series.

Assertn

Sun, 02-18-2007, 12:23 AM

I believe Asuma and Kakashi are "elite jounin"....which is much higher than jounin.
Kurenai however might just be a regular jounin. I could see her having trouble against the sand trio or neji......

Don't forget how well those guys fared against the sound 4's ultimate forms, even considering how two elite jounin failed against the 4 sound.

Good points about how shino should be a jounin and needing a team of 3 for the chuunin exams

XanBcoo

Sun, 02-18-2007, 12:54 AM

Is that the official line or your reasoning?

The reason I ask is that it seems to be a bit of a technicality deciding if it is a continuation or a new series. Afterall, DBZ did continue the story line from DB and developed it further.
My reasoning. After checking, it seems that ANN has it as a "sequel" even though there was no break whatsoever from the Naruto airing schedule.

But even if it is a "different" series and not yet licensed, I'd say it's as good as such. Companies usually buy the rights to shows in chunks. Once Viz "buys" the rest of Naruto's episodes, they will buy Shippuden sooner or later. I dunno why it's even worth talking about though. Neither fansub group takes the licensing status of the series into account anyway.

DarthEnderX

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:20 AM

It seems pretty obvious to me that the more of the Kyuubi's power Naruto uses, the closer it comes to breaking free. If Naruto ever tries to use all of Kyuubi's power, it's will break free. Weather Naruto survives that or not is probably moot because if Kyuubi ever get's free he'll kill him either way.

I mean, based on what was said in the first episode alone, we now know what was locked inside Gaara is the same type of creature Naruto has inside him. And look what happened when Gaara lost himself in the the power. It was at the point where he wasn't even the one controlling it anymore, and it was more or less using him as an avatar so to speak. One thing you have to keep in mind though is that, even though Naruto and Gaara are both bound to Tailed beasts, the method used for each of them is completely different. In Naruto's seal, the Kyuubi seems to spend most of it's time asleep inside him. It only effects Naruto when his rage overwhelms him, or he suffers a fatal injury. Other times it mostly leaves him in peace. Gaara's seal, on the other hand, is a constant torment for him. He can't even sleep without losing control of Shukaku. It's pretty obvious that the 4th's method is alot better for the host than the Sand's method is.

But you have to take into consideration the long term effects of constant damage and then healing could cause.If it's anything like every other anime, recovering from being fucked up only makes you more powerful.

Would you say, that when Naruto hit the next level of the transformation vs Sasuke in the chase arc, that he had control of the demon power?I'd say at first, yes, up until Sasuke broke his neck. But once Kyuubi revived him and surrounded him in that cloud of red chakra he didn't seem to have any control anymore.

Good points about how shino should be a jounin and needing a team of 3 for the chuunin examsIf that's the case though then how did Sakura become a Chuunin?

The thing about Temari and Kankuro that you have to remember is that it's the Sand village that made them Jounin, not the Leaf. And the thing you have to remember about the sand village is...everybody who's any good in it is dead. Temari and Kankuro are probably Sand jounin because they are more powerful than 90% of the ninjas in their village, not because they're more powerful than, say, Shikamaru or Shino. Konoha on the other hand still has a ton of really powerful ninjas, so by comparison, someone like Shino may not be considered in the elite class of his village.

It's all relative to their village. I mean, they made Gaara Kazekage. Does that mean Gaara can beat Kakashi? After all, Kakashi is only a Jounin, and Gaara is a Kage.

Whereas Neji I have no problem with being a Jounin. He's from a noble family with a bloodline limit, and a genius besides. And with Naruto and Sasuke gone, he's the most powerful of the remaining original genins. He would most likely have been a chunin in the first exam if he hadn't got his ass beat by Naruto.

Uchiha Barles

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:34 AM

Man, two years of fillers you guys say? I haven't the slightest clue of whatchootalkinbout :-P. But yeah, that episode was something fantastic, and mind you, not even a single combat scene. As you guys mentioned, the atmosphere is different then before. I'm especially pleased with the music. I didn't think one could improve much on best stuff of the first series, or even match it. While I don't think they improved, they did match it in quality, particularly with the music that was playing during the showoff between Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi...so grand it got right to pit of my stomach! I'm gonna stop reading the manga at this point, which is great, because the manga pretty much just finished an arc and I'm not leaving in the middle of a cliffhanger :-).

About the nine-tails, I wonder how that's going to be handled. Assuming that "Naruto" isn't the "series that doesn't eeeeeeeennnnnnnnd..." they're going to have to bring some kind of closure to this demon fox. I'm thinking Naruto is going to have to be without it, either by willingly getting rid of it somehow, or having the seal broken and the fox gaining control, or some other means. I'm hoping its something involving Negative effects of the kyuubi on Naruto causing him to have to get rid of it, and then fighting it, not necessarily alone.

Assertn

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:36 AM

The sand village was always about quality over quantity. Kankuro and Temari were definitely among the top ranking of the participants of the chuunin exam before.

darkshadow

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:40 AM

Kakashi can prolly beat gaara, i think it was stated somewhere ( a databook perhaps), that kakashi is the strongest jounin of konoha.

kyubisrage

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:44 AM

dam I actually thought they were gonna stick with the manga and start No Spoilers right off the bat. But They did a now and then type of thing

Board of Command

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:45 AM

About the nine-tails, I wonder how that's going to be handled. Assuming that "Naruto" isn't the "series that doesn't eeeeeeeennnnnnnnd..." they're going to have to bring some kind of closure to this demon fox. I'm thinking Naruto is going to have to be without it, either by willingly getting rid of it somehow, or having the seal broken and the fox gaining control, or some other means. I'm hoping its something involving Negative effects of the kyuubi on Naruto causing him to have to get rid of it, and then fighting it, not necessarily alone.
Naruto will fight the Kyuubi inside his mind at the end of the series. He wins and becomes Hokage.

Uchiha Barles

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:52 AM

That..........................would suck...

Yukimura

Sun, 02-18-2007, 02:37 AM

What? Kakashi is the strongest Jounin in Konoha? That sucks for the leaf village then. I mean I he's all kinds of tough but he's full of weak points. His primary skills are major chakra hogs so if he doesn't finish quickly he's pretty much screwed. He's already admitted that he couldn't even touch Oro at the cost of his own life and Oro is afraid of Itachi, and possibly other Akatsuki members as well. If Kakashi is the best they've got they don't stand much of a chance against Akatsuki in a slug fest if something happens to Tsunade and Jiraya.

XanBcoo

Sun, 02-18-2007, 02:51 AM

Assassin

Sun, 02-18-2007, 02:52 AM

i dont think kakashi is the strongest jounin, but definately the most dangerous. but thats all due to his sharingan and its insane abilities. In terms of strength, theres lots of other jounins that are on the same level, such as gai or asuma, or the anbu captains....though out of all of them kakashi might still be just borderline better.

Not counting his sharingan hes most likely on eqal footing with some of the others. but with it he has a distinct advantage, though only temporarily.

Uchiha Barles

Sun, 02-18-2007, 02:55 AM

I'm not so sure about Gai because we haven't seen much of his skill set, but I guess we can extrapolate from what we've seen Rock Lee do. Kakashi though, I think he has the power to join Akatsuki if he wanted to. I'd be money that he could take kisame in a fight. That sharingan is nothing to scoff at. Besides the sharingan, Kakashi just has this aura of lowdown, no good, lying, dirty bastard about him. Makes no difference to him if he stabs you in the back, the front, the face, while you're awake, asleep, whatever. There's not that many characters that come across like that, and probably none to that level.

Kraco

Sun, 02-18-2007, 03:49 AM

Also, I don't like how kakashi has to get serious with people he could take on while reading a book just 2 years ago. What has he been doing all this time?? He is supposed to be one of the strongest jounin in the village.
The last thing Konoha needs would be Kakashi getting killed in a demonstration match because he didn't take his opponents seriously. Opponents that were instructed to attack him as if they were seriously trying to kill him. Rasengan already is a potentially deadly technique (though the fillers of course forgot this). And now Naruto has already lived with it for a few years, perfecting it, hopefully. And who knows what other attacks he has. And Sakura might possess the same kind of tricks Kabuto (and Tsunade) used in battles.

Also, I certainly don't want to see Naruto getting rid of the kyuubi at any point. Also, isn't the kyuubi like a force of nature that just appears sometimes, somewhere, with destructive powers, like some hurricane? So, I'm not all too sure you can get rid of it for good. Maybe Naruto could get it out of his body, but then the kyuubi would eventually again be free to roam the world. And I still say getting rid of it would be equal to Neji and Hinata getting rid of their eyes. Naruto probably can't transfer the kyuubi to his progeny, unless he does it manually by using the sealing technique (thus also deciding the end of his own life).

I guess the only question is what happens to the kyuubi if Naruto dies. Saying it would go with him could be a little simple, even if the way how it heals Naruto would suggest that. But I say that's a hasty conclusion. It could be the kyuubi would be freed, but it couldn't control when it would again return to the world and where. Thus it would be preferable to it to gain control over Naruto, because only that way it could easily and immediately continue the destruction of Konoha.

DarthEnderX

Sun, 02-18-2007, 03:51 AM

If Naruto's seal every breaks, I don't really think you'll have to worry about it "taking naruto over" because it'll be free. As in, it's a giant fucking fox.

DB_Hunter

Sun, 02-18-2007, 11:01 AM

Mizuchi

Sun, 02-18-2007, 12:09 PM

I guess the only question is what happens to the kyuubi if Naruto dies.

Naruto said somewhere in the series while he was talking to kyuubi that if he dies, the fox dies too.

Rhanfahl

Sun, 02-18-2007, 12:11 PM

Wow, its finally over. Naruto Z, this show has a completely different feel from the original. The music, dialogue, everything has definately become more "dramatic". I also, can't believe they showed what they did at the begining...they've never done anything like that before. Overall I think its pretty good, I don't know what I think about the new opening and closings though (how many were there through the fillers?).

Mr. Roboto

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:00 PM

One thing you have to keep in mind though is that, even though Naruto and Gaara are both bound to Tailed beasts, the method used for each of them is completely different. In Naruto's seal, the Kyuubi seems to spend most of it's time asleep inside him. It only effects Naruto when his rage overwhelms him, or he suffers a fatal injury. Other times it mostly leaves him in peace. Gaara's seal, on the other hand, is a constant torment for him. He can't even sleep without losing control of Shukaku. It's pretty obvious that the 4th's method is alot better for the host than the Sand's method is.

Gaara's demon was sealed for the purpose of being used as an ultimate weapon to strengthen the sand's power amongst the other villages. Naruto's demon was sealed to save the village and as a last resort to 'get rid of' the nine tail fox. In each instance the seal has performed their duty. The main difference is Gaara was always protected by his demon, even when assassins came for him as a child. If that had happened to Naruto the nine tailed fox would have been helpless to protect him. I consider Gaara's demon to be more of a parasite using Gaara as a host while Naruto's demon is actually imprisoned inside him.

i read a lot of people talking about naruto only releasing one of the tails. i never paid much attention to it but i can see where people might equate the number of tails released to an increase in power. would this be similar to when rock lee opened the gates during his battle with gaara?

Chouonsoku

Sun, 02-18-2007, 01:53 PM

i read a lot of people talking about naruto only releasing one of the tails. i never paid much attention to it but i can see where people might equate the number of tails released to an increase in power. would this be similar to when rock lee opened the gates during his battle with gaara?

Yeah, and Lee was also pretty damaged after unlocking just a few of the gates, much less all of them. I still don't think it could be good for Naruto's body to have that much chakra forcing out of him. Makes me think of DBZ and King Kai telling Goku not to use too much Kaioken for fear of it destroying his body.

darkshadow

Sun, 02-18-2007, 02:19 PM

Kakashi is the strongest, the databook states so, i think its databook 2, it also states he is the greatest technique user of konoha.
I think his "strongest" status comes from the fact that he is an ultra genius, has sharingan, and has copied "over a 1000" techniques as stated in on of the first eps ( ep 8 or so).

Cause you can't disregard the power of "the dads" they did some serious defending when the sand/sound attacked konoha, i think kakashi is the strongest at taking out someone 1 on 1.
As far as the other jounins go, they wouldn't be able to take on kakashi, just cause of his sharingan, Gai is prolly the only one who can best kakashi.

Also, don't forget, kakashi can open the gates too, like he did after the chuunin exam.

Assertn

Sun, 02-18-2007, 02:29 PM

Check out the ep from 29:30 to 29:45 (DB Ver). How do you guys think that affects the rankings debate?

Edit: As for the music, I really like the track that plays when Jiraiya and Naruto return to the village (about 14:16 in the DB ver I think)

I kinda disliked DB's translations of this episode....they took alot of things too literally or out of proper context. In that scene, Jiraiya does say that Naruto would be a force to reckon with, but not so much as "Naruto will crush you."

Narasho

Sun, 02-18-2007, 04:25 PM

Also, I don't like how kakashi has to get serious with people he could take on while reading a book just 2 years ago. What has he been doing all this time?? He is supposed to be one of the strongest jounin in the village.

Don't forget that those people he fought trained for 2 years with Sannin - who are considered among the strongest ninjas in existence. Naruto trained with Jiraiya, who even Itachi feared. I have a feeling Kakashi is alot stronger than he was before, but I also have a feeling that Naruto and Sakura gained even more power in that time. (Remember, Sakura is a chuunin now, so she has to have gained at least some useful combat/leadership abilities)

Naruto said somewhere in the series while he was talking to kyuubi that if he dies, the fox dies too.

I believe you are referring to when he was pushed off of the ledge by Jiraiya before the chuunin exam continuation. He said, "Hey stupid fox, since you are staying in my body give me your power as rent", and the fox said "You're saying that if you die, i'm going to die as well? You have guts blackmailing me like that." Then Naruto used the foxes power to summon Gamabunta and save himself.

Necromas

Sun, 02-18-2007, 06:20 PM

Did anyone else think Sasuke in the intro song looked different then the Sasuke in the first 8 minutes? He looked way too pale, like Orochimaru....

Inazuma

Sun, 02-18-2007, 06:39 PM

Episode Two ? In a week ? A month ?

Chouonsoku

Sun, 02-18-2007, 07:07 PM

Episode Two ? In a week ? A month ?

This coming Thursday, the 22nd.

fifafreak18

Sun, 02-18-2007, 07:09 PM

I think when Kyuubi said "lets show them our power" gave a little insight to what training narutos been doing. Im not a manga reader so this is just my opinion. I agree with most of you that the more he uses it, the less control he has. Maybe some of his training was trying to control some of the Kyuubi chakra, which is definetly possible with Jiraiyas help. Plus they always keep hinting to sakura having Tsunade-like strength, and she has new medical techniques. We all know naruto is better so it doesn't suprise me that kakashi has to take them seriously

Great Episode.

DB_Hunter

Sun, 02-18-2007, 07:31 PM

Guys I think we are missing the big picture here... this isn't a fight in the real sense between Kakashi and Naruto + Sakura. They just have to get the bells from Kakashi, not kill him. He has given them like 24 hours to do that.

In a straight up fight he would probably just chidori both of their asses.

JaySee

Sun, 02-18-2007, 07:36 PM

No one's saying they're equal to Kakashi. He's their prey and he won't fight back. At least he didn't the first time. Kakashi is at a disadvantage. Not only 2v1, but he's wearing bells and won't fight back.

The Adjective

Sun, 02-18-2007, 08:59 PM

Well, he won't fight back in the sense that he'll try to kill them. But I mean, he'll do what he can to disable them.

When they were team 7 Kakashi pulled Sasuke into the ground, he used a genjutsu on Sakura and smaked Naruto around alittle bit. I'd call that fighting back.

EpyonNext

Sun, 02-18-2007, 09:31 PM

This ep fucking rocked. First time since 133 that I watched an ep twice.

Deadfire

Sun, 02-18-2007, 11:39 PM

It's nice to finally see a Naruto EP discussion get to 14 pages.

They have hinted at Team 7 following to footsteps of the 3 Sannin and how they are now, gives us more hints to this effect.Hell I wouldn't be surprised if Sakura (other then finally do something) summons a Slug

However this anime would be quick to end of they were stronger then Kakashi. Kakashi is rated one of the best ninja ever..was it? The point being here that this test is just that a test, and Kakashi could still easily best them if he was really serious

Idealistic

Mon, 02-19-2007, 06:39 AM

This episode was awesome... It was perfect for a "get back into naruto" feeling. The animation was also very crisp and smooth and the new music was really nice as well.

On a side-note... Do you guys think Sasuke will ever come back to Konoha or will he remain an enemy/threat?

DB_Hunter

Mon, 02-19-2007, 07:17 AM

Well if the Sannin tradition is to be continued Naruto will never be able to rescue Sasuke, as Sasuke would be too evil to save. Then again things are different here it seems, as the original bond between Sasuke and Naruto seemed much stronger than the one between Jiraiya and Orochimaru. Also, Tsunade wasn't in to Oro like Sakura is to Sasuke.

Kraco

Mon, 02-19-2007, 08:19 AM

Also, as of yet the anime at least hasn't revealed if Sasuke has become a criminal. Who knows what happened during the time jump. Part of Sasuke's training could have included fell acts. And what will happen next is another, and as good, a question. If Sasuke becomes a real s-class criminal it would be hard to return to Konoha ever.

DB_Hunter

Mon, 02-19-2007, 09:30 AM

To be fair he hasn't actually commited a crime... hes just run away in angst and sought training.

XanBcoo

Mon, 02-19-2007, 11:41 AM

To be fair he hasn't actually commited a crime... hes just run away in angst and sought training.
I was under the impression that leaving your village as a rogue ninja was a crime. Sasuke became a Missing-nin the moment he left, just like Zabuza.

DB_Hunter

Mon, 02-19-2007, 11:46 AM

Hmm I actually forgot about that.. good point.

But that's not the impression that you seem to be getting is it? I mean usually in missing nin cases Hunter nin's are sent out to kill the shinobi in question. Here you are having team mates being sent out to get Sasuke back, and I don't think its for a trial or something.

fahoumh

Mon, 02-19-2007, 12:20 PM

Could Sasuke even really be considered an enemy of or threat to Konoha? I always saw it as him taking off to pursue his own quest for revenge against Itachi.

Assertn

Mon, 02-19-2007, 12:23 PM

I'm sure if it wasn't for people trying to bring Sasuke back alive, they'd probably send some nins to try to bring him back dead. In either case, Konoha can't afford to leave the sharingan in the hands of Oro

Kraco

Mon, 02-19-2007, 02:14 PM

Could Sasuke even really be considered an enemy of or threat to Konoha? I always saw it as him taking off to pursue his own quest for revenge against Itachi.

Yeah, like Assertn said, not a direct threat. But I'd deem it somewhat likely Sasuke wouldn't hesitate too long to fight against agents of Konoha if he considered it essential for his own growth. I doubt he would want to slaughter regular Konoha people, though, like his brother. After all, he hates Itachi for that very deed. Still, aside from the main factor Assertn already posted, limited skirmishes with Konoha ninja would most likely be ok for Sasuke, and that's a threat in itself. He works for a man who wants to destroy Konoha, after all.

mage

Mon, 02-19-2007, 02:54 PM

The problem lies in the fact that Orochimaru plans to take over his body and use the sharingan to destroy Konoha. At this point, they just want to get Sasuke back. I don't think Sasuke will be considered an enemy of Konoha until he kills someone from the village.

DB_Hunter

Mon, 02-19-2007, 03:26 PM

Maybe that's why they are going to send Naruto and Sakura after Sasuke. These two, apart from Kakashi, would have the best chance of persuading him to return if it is at all possible.

Edit: The third guy who is with Naruto and Sakura at the beginning... doesn't he look like Itachi a bit? And then there is the 4th guy that joins them afterwards...

KitKat

Mon, 02-19-2007, 03:37 PM

I was under the impression that leaving your village as a rogue ninja was a crime. Sasuke became a Missing-nin the moment he left, just like Zabuza.

Sasuke is still a kid though. Technically, he was more like a ninja-in-training. There needs to be some sort of criteria that qualifies you for missing-nin status, other than deserting the village, or else any kid that ran away would be a missing-nin.

darkshadow

Mon, 02-19-2007, 03:56 PM

Missing nin are any rank of ninja that have abandoned their village, just leaving the village won't make you a missing nin ( like jiraiya), sasuke however, abadoned konoha, meaning he is now a missing nin.

?igma

Mon, 02-19-2007, 04:14 PM

Finally real Naruto eps again!!!

JaySee

Mon, 02-19-2007, 05:01 PM

I think it has more to do with Konoha not having any ANBU to spare to go kill Sasuke. Also that Naruto would have a big hissy fit with the 5th if she ordered his death. If Naruto keeps failing though, she should just have him killed.

darkshadow

Mon, 02-19-2007, 05:15 PM

ANBU themself have little to do with missing nin, the ANBU consist of several different teams, like the interrogation team.
Not much is know of hunter nin's themself though, they are just a special group of ninja that have been through ANBU training at the least, kakashi mentioned this in the first few eps.
Hunter nin don't wear ANBU armor either ( i seem to recall this from kakashi's explanation).

DB_Hunter

Mon, 02-19-2007, 05:32 PM

Judging by their performance throughout the series ANBU were bigged up in the beginning but turned out to be a bit crap really in combat. So maybe that's why they are not being sent.

Munsu

Mon, 02-19-2007, 05:39 PM

I think the mangaka simply failed at developing any worthwhile ANBU character, so at the moment they are simply expendable foot soldiers.

XanBcoo

Mon, 02-19-2007, 05:40 PM

Judging by their performance throughout the series ANBU were bigged up in the beginning but turned out to be a bit crap really in combat. So maybe that's why they are not being sent.
Truly, they have become as dispensable as Storm Troopers. We know they are at least of Chuunin rank though, so perhaps the average ANBU just pales in comparison to the Chuunin-like strength of all the major characters.

In either case, Konoha can't afford to leave the sharingan in the hands of Oro
That alone makes me wonder why Tsunade hasn't done much more than send out a team of Genin to retrieve Sasuke. You'd think, like...that would take precedence over pretty much everything else Konoha has to deal with at this point.

There needs to be some sort of criteria that qualifies you for missing-nin status, other than deserting the village, or else any kid that ran away would be a missing-nin.
lol, I suppose one criterion would be "importance to the protection of the village's secrets", which would pretty much make Sasuke their prize treasure.

On the other hand, Jiraiya did say that Sasuke was of no use to Oro for at least 3 years. It just doesn't sit right with me that they're waiting until the last minute to do anything about it.

DB_Hunter

Mon, 02-19-2007, 06:25 PM

Maybe they think Oro hasn't actually told Sasuke why he is so eager to train him up, and that once Naruto and Sakura tell him that Oro is after his body he will freak and desert Oro?

Assertn

Mon, 02-19-2007, 07:04 PM

Sasuke already knows....Naruto told him back in the chase arc, and Sasuke didn't really care.

JaySee

Mon, 02-19-2007, 07:13 PM

ANBU became storm troopers in the FILLERS, not in manga episodes.

Yukimura

Mon, 02-19-2007, 07:58 PM

Jaysee is right, Konoha ANBU members have never been shown defeated by anyone less than jounin level from eps 1-135. As to their skills I think that they are more like the 'army' while the non ANBU ninjas are closer to civillians, though of course in a fight the non ANBU will be right there kicking ass, but you probably wouldn't send ANBU on a mission like guarding someone unimportant or on a peacekeeping mission.

Idealistic

Mon, 02-19-2007, 08:06 PM

That alone makes me wonder why Tsunade hasn't done much more than send out a team of Genin to retrieve Sasuke. You'd think, like...that would take precedence over pretty much everything else Konoha has to deal with at this point.

Yeah... There's always those possibilities when you start thinking technical in just about every show or movie... Such as why didn't so and so run away or why didn't so and so do this and that.

But it's what happens in the show that makes the show that good or that bad.

Plus... Maybe Tsunade believed that the 5 Genins could really retrieve Sasuke. And I think at one point they mentioned something about the Jounins being out on other missions already.

BananaFob

Mon, 02-19-2007, 08:42 PM

I'm pretty sure that they defined ANBU as the Hokage's Assassination Team, or an elite (and personal) army that the Hokage uses for serious situations, like the President of USA and his teams of CIA and FBI.

ANBU should be at Jounin level I think, because when Itachi virtually mastered the basics of Sharingan by eight years old, he became an ANBU squad captain at the age of 13 years old.

Since Kakashi has also virtually mastered Sharingan basics, he is at jounin level, so when Itachi joined ANBU, he should have been a jounin-level ninja already.

I think the mangaka simply failed at developing any worthwhile ANBU character, so at the moment they are simply expendable foot soldiers.

Itachi?

Necromas

Mon, 02-19-2007, 09:02 PM

Former ANBU members don't count (Itachi and Kakashi, that I know of).

I think there was originally going to be some backstory on that purple haired ANBU girl.

Necromas

Mon, 02-19-2007, 09:06 PM

Yeah, like Assertn said, not a direct threat. But I'd deem it somewhat likely Sasuke wouldn't hesitate too long to fight against agents of Konoha if he considered it essential for his own growth. I doubt he would want to slaughter regular Konoha people, though, like his brother. After all, he hates Itachi for that very deed. Still, aside from the main factor Assertn already posted, limited skirmishes with Konoha ninja would most likely be ok for Sasuke, and that's a threat in itself. He works for a man who wants to destroy Konoha, after all.

Sasuke is giving his body to Orochimaru to surpass Itachi.

Once Oro gets that kind of power, of course he's gonna attack Konoha again.

Super5

Tue, 02-20-2007, 12:32 AM

Words can not describe what I'm feeling right now... it was that good.

But on another note, why the hell did they skip ahead and show something that seems to be from the future? That doesn't make much sense to me, but since it kicked so much ass, I'll let it go.

Kraco

Tue, 02-20-2007, 02:32 AM

Sasuke is giving his body to Orochimaru to surpass Itachi.

Once Oro gets that kind of power, of course he's gonna attack Konoha again.

You seriously think Sasuke plans to hand over his body to Oro? Hmm... Until I see that happening with my own eyes, I keep thinking he just plans to get every technique he can from the master of techniques, and then hit the road before Oro steals his body. I mean, what kind of person would willingly give up his body? It means practically death, no matter what Oro said of the mind of the victim remaining there, in the background. And Sasuke has no guarantees Orochimaru would ever kill Itachi once he got the body. He's not actually somebody whose word you should count on...

Sure, Kimi planned to do that before he got the sickness, but that dude was brainwashed by Orochimaru ever since he was a little kid. Sasuke, however, hasn't been, and has developed quite a strong character, and he has a very good reason to remain who he is and live on.

kimbap629

Tue, 02-20-2007, 07:10 AM

You seriously think Sasuke plans to hand over his body to Oro? Hmm... Until I see that happening with my own eyes, I keep thinking he just plans to get every technique he can from the master of techniques, and then hit the road before Oro steals his body. I mean, what kind of person would willingly give up his body? It means practically death, no matter what Oro said of the mind of the victim remaining there, in the background. And Sasuke has no guarantees Orochimaru would ever kill Itachi once he got the body. He's not actually somebody whose word you should count on...

Sure, Kimi planned to do that before he got the sickness, but that dude was brainwashed by Orochimaru ever since he was a little kid. Sasuke, however, hasn't been, and has developed quite a strong character, and he has a very good reason to remain who he is and live on.

Yea I couldn't agree with you anymore. Heck, I even think that Kabuto will betray Orochimaru for good pretty soon. Maybe Sasuke and Kabuto will plan like an assassination soon?

I don't think Sasuke will give up his body because:

a. he's mainly going on a power-trip and getting whatever he can quickly
b. he probably still has the grudge against Itachi and probably still wants to kill him
c. he's probably finding out an alternative way to get Mangekyo Sharingan
SPOILERS REMOVED

Words can not describe what I'm feeling right now... it was that good.

But on another note, why the hell did they skip ahead and show something that seems to be from the future? That doesn't make much sense to me, but since it kicked so much ass, I'll let it go.

I think they did that because:

a. they realize how much junk they've been airing of Naruto (i.e. filler)
b. they're using that as a form of a teaser
c. they're hoping to keep their audience, or bring back those that "left" in disgust from the filler

I'm really getting sick of babysitting all your posts, kimbap###....
Go on a vacation for a while

DarthEnderX

Tue, 02-20-2007, 08:03 AM

It DOES seem contrary to everything we've been told that Sasuke isn't hunted by Konoha ninjas all the time.

Although, maybe he is. It's not just a matter of chasing him down, the fact is, nobody knows where he or Orochimaru ARE. You can't just run around the world at random hoping to run into a fugative.

Assertn

Tue, 02-20-2007, 11:52 AM

I think Kakashi put it best back before the chase arc where he said that those who follow the path of revenge find nothingness afterwards. I believe this to hold true for Sasuke as well. Sasuke doesn't care whether he lives or dies, or anything that happens to him. He only wants to accomplish his one goal, for Itachi to die by his hands. After that, he couldn't care less.

RyougaZell

Tue, 02-20-2007, 02:30 PM

Didn't Sasuke had a second goal? The revival of his clan.

About the previous discussion of ANBU's...
I was under the impression that they were a unit of Konoha, and that other countries had their own groups (un-named). For example the only 'Hunter Nin' we've ever since was an ex-mist, Haku.

The Purple Haired girl ANBU is called Uzuki Yuugao.

JaySee

Tue, 02-20-2007, 02:55 PM

Uhh... if Sasuke had that goal, he would've had sex with Sakura.

Terracosmo

Tue, 02-20-2007, 02:59 PM

Well since he's like 12 years old he probably figured that he'd finish the whole revenge thing first.

Deadfire

Tue, 02-20-2007, 03:31 PM

The Purple Haired girl ANBU is called Uzuki Yuugao.

Where is this said?

And I agree with terra, At 12 you wouldn't be really thinking about that when you want to kill someone first.

RyougaZell

Tue, 02-20-2007, 04:03 PM

Ive seen her name on sites which gather data from the databooks, like wikipedia or leafninja.

According to leaf ninja this is her personal data

Uzuki Yuugao

Personal Data
Registration ID: 0012161
Birthday: November 3rd
Blood Type: AB
Height: 169.2 cm
Weight: 50.5 kg

First Manga Appearance: Chapter 137
First Anime Appearance: Naruto Episode 54
Name Meaning: Uzuki=Fourth lunar calendar month, Yuugao=Bottle gourd or a moonflower
Hidden Village: Leaf Village
Rank: Unknown (Potential Jounin)
Age: 22

Yuugao serves as a member of the Leaf Village ANBU.

Yuugao was the girlfriend of the Leaf ninja Gekkou Hayate. When Hayate was killed, she and her fellow ANBU teamed swore to get vengeance for his death. After the Leaf invasion was over, she brought flowers to the marker honoring Hayate and the other ninja killed in battle. From her manner of speech towards Hatake Kakashi, it also appears she was a junior ANBU member while Kakashi served in the group.

About Sasuke... also from LeafNinja:

After that, Sasuke grew up with only two things in mind: First and foremost, vengeance against Itachi for the genocide. Secondly, the revival of that clan.

I believe he said something like that on the first season of the anime or the very first volumes of the manga.

DB_Hunter

Tue, 02-20-2007, 04:08 PM

Sasuke is clearly going be be a great dad...

Anyway, what if someone else kills Itachi? Then what?

Munsu

Tue, 02-20-2007, 04:20 PM

What if goes out jogging one night and a toad pisses on his feet and he slips breaking his neck? Then what?

Narasho

Tue, 02-20-2007, 06:50 PM

In the translation (Toriyama's World - which I have always considered to be good fansubbers) I have from the episode where Sasuke speaks of his ambitions, he states the "resurrection" of his clan, and definately to kill a certain man. I don't know Japanese so I can't say whether or not that translation is accurate, or overly literal. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Jaysee is right, Konoha ANBU members have never been shown defeated by anyone less than jounin level from eps 1-135. As to their skills I think that they are more like the 'army' while the non ANBU ninjas are closer to civillians

That isn't strictly true, unless the Sound Four were Jounins (While they didn't defeat Anbu persay, they did neutralize Anbu). Also, the only times Anbu did anything useful were saving Anko from those Lions during the Chuunin Exam, and the counter-attack on the Sand Village ninja during the invasion of Konoha.

DB_Hunter

Tue, 02-20-2007, 06:55 PM

What if goes out jogging one night and a toad pisses on his feet and he slips breaking his neck? Then what?

Then Naruto and Sakura get on with their lives and have other exciting adventures, thats what.

RyougaZell

Tue, 02-20-2007, 07:32 PM

That isn't strictly true, unless the Sound Four were Jounins (While they didn't defeat Anbu persay, they did neutralize Anbu). Also, the only times Anbu did anything useful were saving Anko from those Lions during the Chuunin Exam, and the counter-attack on the Sand Village ninja during the invasion of Konoha.

False. The Sound Four were Chuunin Level. Kimimaro probably was Jounin level though.

Their technique stopped the ANBU just because it burned them, but the technique persay is kinda useless if you are not guarding someone/something. You can not use it on battle.

They defeated Genma and the other guy (Aoba?) because the Jounins were tired from a mission, it was 4 on 2, and the Sound Four used their 2nd Lvl curse seal.

ANBU's aren't useless. They are simply ignored by Kishimoto. Its like saying every other nameless genin/chuunin/jounin/tokubetsu jounin are useless because they do not appear.

darkshadow

Tue, 02-20-2007, 07:43 PM

The sound 4 were jounin level in their curse seal lvl2 state, they managed to beat genma and raidou, 2 what can be considered as elite jounin.

DB_Hunter

Tue, 02-20-2007, 07:53 PM

That's crap, because that would imply that the Genin who went one on one with sound 4 were near Jounin level to beat them.

I think we are falling in to the trap of DBZ power levels here... that the person with the highest power level will win the battle. If someone is complacent or outnumbered they could still lose, despite individually being of higher quality than their opponents.

E.g. Naruto Vs Kabuto... Man Kabuto could have killed Naruto if he took him seriously, yet he ended up being battered half to death due to his own complacency.

Narasho

Tue, 02-20-2007, 08:00 PM

False. The Sound Four were Chuunin Level. Kimimaro probably was Jounin level though

I never said anything for or against them being Jounin. I said unless they were. My entire statement assumed they were not.

ANBU's aren't useless. They are simply ignored by Kishimoto. Its like saying every other nameless genin/chuunin/jounin/tokubetsu jounin are useless because they do not appear

Well, I suppose it is all hypothetical. How do we know if they are useful or not if the author ignores them?

It just seems logical to me that if he ignores them then they must not be that important. Maybe they are still useful, as behind-the-scenes sort of ninjas.

think we are falling in to the trap of DBZ power levels here... that the person with the highest power level will win the battle. If someone is complacent or outnumbered they could still lose, despite individually being of higher quality than their opponents.

I couldn't agree more. Winning a high level ninja battle requires more than just physical power, or even jutsu power. Strategy and decisiveness are also huge factors.

The sound 4 were jounin level in their curse seal lvl2 state, they managed to beat genma and raidou, 2 what can be considered as elite jounin.

I don't agree with your assesment of Genma and Raidou's skills. If they were elite Jounin, the battle against the sound-nin would have gone differently. I would put Kakashi and Gai in the "elite-jounin" category, and also Asuma. We haven't really seen very many other Jounin yet, so I may be way off on my placement of their skills.

JaySee

Tue, 02-20-2007, 08:02 PM

That sounds about right. Spider guy wasn't Jounin level, but the others maybe. Flute girl was taken out by fan girl after being weakened by Shikamaru. The twins were taken out by 2 people as well. Chouji had to go Super Saiyan to kill fatboy.

Hmm... what happened to my post in response to bud? It had a very good twist. =p

Here it is again:
What if Naruto kills Itachi and rubs it in Sasuke's face? What then?

XanBcoo

Tue, 02-20-2007, 08:07 PM

It just seems logical to me that if he ignores them then they must not be that important. Maybe they are still useful, as behind-the-scenes sort of ninjas.
I think RyougaZell meant "useless" in terms of skill level, not importance to the story.

Narasho

Tue, 02-20-2007, 08:09 PM

I think RyougaZell meant "useless" in terms of skill level, not importance to the story.

That's how I took it too. My whole thing on importance was meant to be a side point, though I admit I wasn't clear in separating my ideas.

Assertn

Tue, 02-20-2007, 08:20 PM

I don't agree with your assesment of Genma and Raidou's skills. If they were elite Jounin, the battle against the sound-nin would have gone differently. I would put Kakashi and Gai in the "elite-jounin" category, and also Asuma. We haven't really seen very many other Jounin yet, so I may be way off on my placement of their skills.

Raidou and Genma both seem highly respectable within the ranks in Konoha, and they even offered to go chase down the Sound 4 a second time after they recovered in the hospital, admitting that they only lost because they were caught off-guard by the enemy.

Damn guys, 2 more days till the next episode. ARE U PUMPED?

FullMetalAlchemist

Tue, 02-20-2007, 08:30 PM

The sound 4 guys in cursed stage 2 are jounin lvl. They beat genma and the other guy (for got his name) because they where weekened from comeing back from amission. But in fighting the two elite jounin the sound 4 became weak as well so in turn giving the konoha genin (which are more powerful then usual genin I:E byakkugan/most talented hyugga ever, kyubbi power, steroids pills & one of the smartest characters in the naruto universe) a better chance at victory. Note i didnt mention kiba because he would have been finished if it wasn't for konkaru. Shika would have lost also but he still did his shit in out smarting that chick.

Idealistic

Tue, 02-20-2007, 08:55 PM

What if goes out jogging one night and a toad pisses on his feet and he slips breaking his neck? Then what?

His sharingan can see the toad pissing and he will dodge it so fast nobody can even see it.

UChessmaster

Tue, 02-20-2007, 09:15 PM

Narasho

Tue, 02-20-2007, 09:28 PM

That sounds about right. Spider guy wasn't Jounin level, but the others maybe. Flute girl was taken out by fan girl after being weakened by Shikamaru. The twins were taken out by 2 people as well. Chouji had to go Super Saiyan to kill fatboy.

Kidomouro fought against Neji, who was the strongest of the Genin team, and barely lost. (if that, it was a pyrrhic victory at best for Neji) I would put him as the strongest of the Sound Four - though Sakon and Ukon may be stronger, the fat guy and that girl are alot weaker in my estimation.

darkshadow

Wed, 02-21-2007, 12:16 AM

Not only did Genma and radou comment that they were defeated cause they were caught off guard, but the sound 4 mentioned aswell that if they didn't turn on the lvl2 seal, they would've lost.

Assassin

Wed, 02-21-2007, 02:03 AM

Well, I suppose it is all hypothetical. How do we know if they are useful or not if the author ignores them?

It just seems logical to me that if he ignores them then they must not be that important. Maybe they are still useful, as behind-the-scenes sort of ninjas.

If he ignores them, it simply means they are not relavent to the story line. It doesn't imply that they are useless as ninja's.

Anyway, as for htis whole ANBU debate, this is how i see it:

chuunins --> security guards (not literally, but as a comparison)
jounins --> police
ANBU --> SWAT Team

In order to be part of the swat team you have to be a police officer, and not all police officers have what it takes to be part of the swat team. however, not every badass cop is required to join the swat team either.

Same thing with ANBU. to be part of the anbu squad, you must be a jounin. not every elite jounin (asuma or gai for example) has to be part of the anbu, but every anbu is probably an elite jounin (though not at the same level as kakashi/gai/asuma obviously)

JaySee

Wed, 02-21-2007, 02:27 AM

Spider-boy was more of a strategic fighter like Shikamaru than a powerful one. I guess you could rank him up there at Jounin level for his skill and strategy.

HyourinMaru-

Wed, 02-21-2007, 02:41 AM

yeah... but i dont think hes a Jounin Level... remember that they had to use thier lv. 2 curse seals just to fight two jounins who just came from a mission... he might fought well against Neji but thats because he got a curse seal.. if it wasnt for the curse seal i dont think theyd win against those two jounins. i think it would be a different story if the sound 4 were up against ANBU ....

XanBcoo

Wed, 02-21-2007, 02:46 AM

Anyway, as for htis whole ANBU debate, this is how i see it:

chuunins --> security guards (not literally, but as a comparison)
jounins --> police
ANBU --> SWAT Team

Just to make an amendment to your analogy, I think it goes more like this:

Genin --> security guards
Chuunin and average Jounin --> police
"Elite" Jounin --> FBI
ANBU --> SWAT Team

Considering how many Genin were not able to pass the Chuunin exam, I would imagine it's even harder to achieve Jounin rank. Genins handle basic stuff, Chuunin are stronger and have more responsibility, and are Jounin even stronger still. The unofficial rank of "Elite Jounin" is attributed to a handful of S-class ninja, and the ANBU are as you said, specialized.

As for the sound 4, the databook says they're Chuunin rank, but I take that with a grain of salt considering how they performed in their respective fights. In the end, though, I wouldn't lose any sleep over the issue. They're dead and it's a Shounen anime. Power levels over 9000, etc etc.

Kraco

Wed, 02-21-2007, 02:55 AM

chuunins --> security guards (not literally, but as a comparison)
jounins --> police
ANBU --> SWAT Team

In order to be part of the swat team you have to be a police officer, and not all police officers have what it takes to be part of the swat team. however, not every badass cop is required to join the swat team either.

Same thing with ANBU. to be part of the anbu squad, you must be a jounin. not every elite jounin (asuma or gai for example) has to be part of the anbu, but every anbu is probably an elite jounin (though not at the same level as kakashi/gai/asuma obviously)

I don't think it's necessary to be jounin to be an ANBU member. Most likely chuunin. ANBU seems to be a special unit operating in Konoha and nearby, in teams. People sent out of the village for various A or B class missions are facing far more dangerous tasks, like fighting S-class criminals alone or infiltrating enemy villages. ANBU members might need to be good, but not that good because they always have plenty of support nearby.

Also, if ANBU is tasked for finding and detaining enemy ninjas, own traitors, and other such nuisances, then they deal with the hardest domestic tasks. That would certainly allow the regular police to be far more relaxed duty, and I don't see why they would need to be jounin level. Even reliable genin fellows should suffice to deal with drunkards, thieves, muggers and such.

DarthEnderX

Wed, 02-21-2007, 08:58 AM

First of all, it's been stated officially in one of the databooks that the sound 4 were all chuunins and Kimimaru was a jounin.

Second, Jounin are higher than ANBU. Most anbu are chuunin.

RyougaZell

Wed, 02-21-2007, 09:43 AM

ANBU can't be counted on the 'normal' scale of genin - chuunin - jounin / tokubetsu jounin.

Like DarthEnder posted before, you don't need to be a Jounin, but I think they need to be at least Chuunin to enter.

Kakashi didn't go 'down' a rank when he quit ANBU.
Itachi most likely was selected because he, like Kakashi, were prodigy (sp?)

Anyway... in the end rank is just that... a rank... something used to determine what kind of missions are given to you and how you are paid.

Remember Haku for example? He was far above genin level... and most likely he wasn't even a genin. The Sound Four / Five most likely were genins, with chuunin level, or jounin in Kimimaro's case. How come? Unless they were deserters from other villages... Sound never had the chance to 'graduate' chuunins officially, since they were a new village. Unless you can become a Chuunin some other way apart from the exams... I mean... how many entered last one? and how many were 'graduated'? Just One.

Kraco

Wed, 02-21-2007, 09:57 AM

Sound never had the chance to 'graduate' chuunins officially, since they were a new village. Unless you can become a Chuunin some other way apart from the exams... I mean... how many entered last one? and how many were 'graduated'? Just One.

Those ranks would be of limited use for anything but internal use anyway. Even if a select number of places have standardized their ranking system by using the common exam. In that sense even knowing somebody's rank in battle has only suggestive value, if even that. To put in simply, like you said, they are convenient when dealing out missions and perhaps deciding troop compositions during wars. But they are useless when facing an unknown enemy.

In fact, Naruto himself demonstrated this perfectly: Simply because he hasn't been in the common shinobi pool for a couple of years, he has had absolutely no use for a rank. Now that he's back, it does pose a problem for him (because he has always wanted the hardest missions available, but the rank of a genin wouldn't theoretically allow that).

Munsu

Wed, 02-21-2007, 11:36 AM

I changed the thread title to reflect the first two episodes as many sources seem to agree that there were indeed two episodes last week. Next thread created should reflect episode 3.

RyougaZell

Wed, 02-21-2007, 12:02 PM

Exactly my point Kraco.
Ranks are quite useless on battle. They are a nice way to determine who leads who, who can teach, what missions you get and if you can teach.
We just need to remember how Shikamaru got to be a chuunin before Neji and Gaara. Now, three years later Shikamaru is still chuunin, Neji is a jounin and Gaara is Kazekage, although it is unknown what rank he had before becoming a Kage.

darkshadow

Wed, 02-21-2007, 02:15 PM

First of all, it's been stated officially in one of the databooks that the sound 4 were all chuunins and Kimimaru was a jounin.

Second, Jounin are higher than ANBU. Most anbu are chuunin.

This is not what we were debating, it's known that they were chuunin in their non curse seal state
It doesn't matter how strong a ninja gets that still has a chuunin rank in overall strength, they wouldn't be able to defeat Genma and Raidou if they didn't attain jounin rank strength after the CS transformation.

Also most ANBU are chuunin = false.
Chuunin do NOT deal with s-rank criminals, EVER, at max they do A-rank missions.
ANBU however do deal with s-rank's, meaning most are jounin, with the occasional chuunin in the team. Like kakashi said: "Chuunin are team leaders."

I'm also quite sure that the ANBU in the white robe at the Sandaime-Oro fight, was an elite jounin.

DarthEnderX

Wed, 02-21-2007, 03:43 PM

I don't think you actually HAVE to pass the chuunin exam to become a chuunin. And in fact lots of countries don't even participate in the exame. There were no Stone or Cloud or Mist ninjas in the chuunin exam and those are the other 3 major villages.

The "Chuunin exam" is only used by Konoha and it's allies to promote ninjas, and then only as a form of advertisement for the villages. But if the sound village wants to promote 4 of it's ninjas to chuunin, you can't really stop them.

Just like if Tsunade goes, "I'm just gonna promote Naruto because I feel like it" she can do that if she wants. She's hokage.

As far as the ANBU, they're just special forces. The ANBU can have both Chuunins and Jounins in them. Because as has been stated, ANBU is not a rank, it's just a special team designed for a special task. But those who aren't at leasts Chuunin probably won't become ANBU because there's a minimum amount of skill needed to be assigned to a special forces team like that.

darkshadow

Wed, 02-21-2007, 03:59 PM

I never said it was a rank, i said ANBU deal with s-rank missions/criminals.
Chuunin never do, a chuunin in a team of ANBU would be more of a strategist then an actual fighter, i however did not say its not possible for Chuunin to be in ANBU, this is why i said: "most ANBU are chuunin = false."

Assassin

Wed, 02-21-2007, 04:30 PM

i have to agree with DS. there seems to be alot of confusion about this, so let me clear this up.

ANBU IS NOT A RANK. THE ONLY RANKS ARE GENIN/CHUUNIN/JOUNIN. ANBU IS A SEPERATE DIVISION. (SANIN IS ALSO NOT A RANK)

Now, considering the type of missions the anbu squad does (ie: assasinations, black ops, search and destroy etc) its highly likely that one is required to be a jounin. However it has never been stated specifically, so its open discussions. Regardless, you're everyday chuunin is not qualified to be an anbu member, cuz that defeats the point of having a seperate anbu squad. whats so special about them if they're only as good as any old chuunin? Its entirely possible for highlevel chuunins to be part of the anbu squad, as long as they can handle thier own and are an asset to the team. Its just seems that most people who would be qualified to be part of anbu would already have passed the jounin exam.

DB_Hunter

Wed, 02-21-2007, 06:43 PM

What jounin exam?

Narasho

Wed, 02-21-2007, 06:46 PM

I don't think you actually HAVE to pass the chuunin exam to become a chuunin. And in fact lots of countries don't even participate in the exame. There were no Stone or Cloud or Mist ninjas in the chuunin exam and those are the other 3 major villages.

I would say that those villages may run their own chuunin exam for whatever reason. Maybe they aren't allied with Konoha. (though that seems unlikely) It's also possible that they don't send ninjas to the chuunin exam every time (I think they mentioned that it was run 4 times a year) due to being smaller villages and not having ninjas who are ready to take it. If I remember correctly, the only Sand village ninja who took the chuunin exam the time Naruto took it were Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. So it's a possibility at least.

As far as not having to pass the chuunin exam to become a chuunin, that's speculation and as far as I know there isn't any evidence to support that.

JaySee

Wed, 02-21-2007, 06:52 PM

I don't think the Hokage could just promote someone. There are elders to consider as well.

dragonrage

Wed, 02-21-2007, 07:39 PM

I would say that those villages may run their own chuunin exam for whatever reason. Maybe they aren't allied with Konoha. (though that seems unlikely) It's also possible that they don't send ninjas to the chuunin exam every time (I think they mentioned that it was run 4 times a year) due to being smaller villages and not having ninjas who are ready to take it. If I remember correctly, the only Sand village ninja who took the chuunin exam the time Naruto took it were Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. So it's a possibility at least.

As far as not having to pass the chuunin exam to become a chuunin, that's speculation and as far as I know there isn't any evidence to support that.

i think you should re watch the chunin exam episodes, all villages were represented ALL.

Possible reasons for only gara, temari and Kankuro, being the only sand ninjas that participated:

They were an essential part of the attack plan on Konoha.

The sand had to make higher quality ninjas since they were pratically crippled by the last war and the lords were cutting the resourses to the hidden village.

They didn't want to lose anymore ninjas to gara; remember he basically killed anyone that he faced, both back in his village and during the exam.

Maybe they need all the help they could spare since they were attacking Konoha; the more powerful of the five.

But the fact remains that all the villages were represented. I believe that there was an episode where this was explained and the "true" purpose of the chuunin exam was revealed, Both by Orichimaru's right hand man " whats his face" and the 3rd also explained it as well.

As for becoming a chuunin you don't have to be the last man standing to become one, this was also explained. All of the finalist could have become chuunin or non. It all depended on the higher ups.

Example: look at the case the situation now, neji is a jornin termari and kankuro as well. Poor naruto, still a genin, even though he knows jornin level techniques, also it is kinda fitting since he is "THE NUMBER ONE DROPOUT" (reffer back to one of the earlier episodes).

It's been a while since i watched those episodes(2 years possibly) but my memory is good.

Edit: Yes, i watched the first episode of the non filler with friends, it was a special moment *tear*. But I am still gonna wait a while until i watch the rest.

And it is two times a year that the chunnin exams are held.

man thinking about all these things reminds me exactly how much i use to actually like this anime.

Narasho

Wed, 02-21-2007, 07:54 PM

i think you should re watch the chunin exam episodes, all villages were represented ALL.

I wasn't the one who said that some villages weren't represented. I was responding to someone else a few posts up who said this.

They didn't want to lose anymore ninjas to gara; remember he basically killed anyone that he faced, both back in his village and during the exam.

That's a good point, I hadn't thought of that.

Assertn

Wed, 02-21-2007, 09:37 PM

so many inaccuracies....

1) Konoha is most definitely not allied with all the other villages. The ones that didn't participate in the chuunin exams are either neutral or enemies of Konoha. Why do you think Kakashi was in Zabuza's bingo book if Mist was allied with Konoha?

2) There were certainly more than just Gaara's team representing the sand. Rewatch the scene were Kabuto busts out his cards for the konoha kids. The ONLY village that had a single team participating was the sound village.

3) Chuunin exams only take place twice a year, not 4 times.

dragonrage

Wed, 02-21-2007, 10:20 PM

Yukimura

Wed, 02-21-2007, 10:46 PM

Maybe there should be a separate thread for this...it has very little to do with the episode and more to do with the state of the Naruto world.

Idealistic

Wed, 02-21-2007, 10:52 PM

Maybe there should be a separate thread for this...it has very little to do with the episode and more to do with the state of the Naruto world.

lol yeah no kidding... this episode had nothing to do with these discussions.

Deadfire

Wed, 02-21-2007, 10:58 PM

lol yeah no kidding... this episode had nothing to do with these discussions.

It's a classic case of "People are starved for naruto discussion"

Besides this thread be deserted as soon as the next ep comes out anyways. At that time if discussion continues on the matter then spliting it will happen (and possibly before that)

Besides all that Continue

Assertn

Wed, 02-21-2007, 11:19 PM

yep you were right there were more sand ninjas that took part, I apologies about that, but like i said before ALL hidden villages participated. you can see evidences of this in episode 23 9 minutes 15 seconds or so.
Dude...there's like, at least 20 hidden villages in the Naruto world.

Edit: Also, lols....the subtitles in the snapshot you put up contradicted your message within the SAME post

dragonrage

Wed, 02-21-2007, 11:45 PM

yeah i chose that one for a specific reason.

No, I stand firm that there are only 5 hidden villages. Even in the fillers it was mentioned.

Reason being is that the other countries don't have hidden villages that is why they hire ninjas from the 5 hidden villages.

It was explained early in the series that there were 5 hidden villages, the sound village was a newly formed hidden village that was under orichimaru control.

I also have a bone to pick with your statement about Zabuza and kakashi, but another time.

darkshadow

Wed, 02-21-2007, 11:49 PM

No, the 5 main villages are the ones that are the strongest, they are also the only 5 countries with a kage.

Edit:
"Of the countries scattered about the Naruto world, five are considered to be the most powerful and influential of them all. These are the Land of Earth, the Land of Fire, Land of Lightning, the Land of Water, and the Land of Wind. Each represents one of the five elements (earth, fire, lightning, water, and wind, respectively) and each is ruled by a Kage."

"Land of Fire, Land of Water, Land of Sound, Land of Earth, Land of Rain, Land of Grass, Land of the Waterfall, Land of Lightning, and the Land of Wind"

These 9 are mapped on the naruto map, and then we have the bazillion villages the filler introduced.

2nd edit: 25 countries, 14 villages.

dragonrage

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:02 AM

lol, you're no fun.

But yes there are other insignificant countries with there training school for security details and what not. But there are only 5 major and Recognizable ones. i.e. you don't have a kage your not a hidden ninja village. :p

edit: Once again my apologies DS, has shown me the light. I guess you can't really argue with a die hard fan. Sorry all.

darkshadow

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:09 AM

Orochimaru was otokage, but it wasn't recognized as by the 5 main countries, simply cause, there will always be only 5 kage. Representing the 5 elements.

HyourinMaru-

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:11 AM

No, I stand firm that there are only 5 hidden villages. Even in the fillers it was mentioned.

i think there are more than five hidden villages. even with akatsuki's 9 members, they represent a hidden village, right?

Orochimaru was otokage, but it wasn't recognized as by the 5 main countries, simply cause, there will always be only 5 kage. Representing the 5 elements.

was orochimaru a kage? i dont think so... coz if he was, then it would be simplier for konoha to take down orochimaru as he is in konohas bingo book for doing kinjutsu

darkshadow

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:31 AM

Konoha ( or any of the other villages ) wouldnt know who the "otokage" was, since it was a new village, also i looked it up, and it seems the fillers introduced another kage that wasn't recognized either "hoshikage", this seems to me that there are many other "unofficial" kage's.

dimitris127

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:43 AM

well what do you expect from fillers....anyway.....let's see what happens next...i really like this arc

Assertn

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:45 AM

Erm....I'd have the question the validity of that. There are only supposed to be 5 kages...
Other villages can have leaders, but they aren't technically kages

HyourinMaru-

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:50 AM

RyougaZell

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:54 AM

yep you were right there were more sand ninjas that took part, I apologies about that, but like i said before ALL hidden villages participated. you can see evidences of this in episode 23 9 minutes 15 seconds or so.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f342/Drage1/vlcsnap-1923310.png

Sand
Rain
Grass
Waterfall
Leaf
Sound

No Cloud, no Mist and no Rock

You fail my friendly Dumbass.

The DeadLast has spoken.

EDIT:

The five Kages:
Mizukage - Mist
Hokage - Leaf
Kazekage - Sand
Tsuchikage - Rock
Raikage - Cloud

Idealistic

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:56 AM

Isn't the sound village just a temporary thing so that Oro and his 3 ninjas could enter the Chuunin exams?

I don't think there is a sound village anymore? Or it has been abandoned by Oro.

Terracosmo

Thu, 02-22-2007, 01:04 AM

First off Hoshikage was filler so it doesn't really matter. Also I remember vaguelly that they were struggling to be seen as an equal to the other great villages. This might indicate that outside of the village nobody sees their leaders as hoshikage, similar to sound village where Oro isn't seen as an hokage in the eyes of the other big villages.

XanBcoo

Thu, 02-22-2007, 01:07 AM

similar to sound village where Oro isn't seen as an hokage in the eyes of the other big villages.
Makes sense. The sound village IS just a single mansion in the middle of nowhere...right?

:p

HyourinMaru-

Thu, 02-22-2007, 01:11 AM

But i guess, Orochimaru created the sound village just for konohas destruction purposes and nothing else. thats what i think about sound village

Assertn

Thu, 02-22-2007, 01:33 AM

yap saw that... that is in the hidden star village... in the star village arc fillers.. they called thier leader as hoshikage... so technically based on your research... there actually is an otokage as the leader of the sound village... thanks for the brilliant research..
What research might that be? Googling a fansite that's just as creditable as any other random viewer?

Nowhere has it ever been stated that Oro considered himself a kage. Not to mention, that when a person is given a kage title, the prefix of the title matches the country, not the village. Hence "hokage" because "ho" is fire, as in the Country of Fire. If there were a kage of the sound village, it wouldn't be otokage. If we go by the fillers, which I think claimed the sound village was in the bird country, he'd be the bird kage.

also.. note that in the earlier series... they only introduced the 5 great villages and so they named the 5 kages... but as what the third hokage has said that each village is led by a kage. so naturally, with regards to darkshadows research, Orochimaru is the Kage of the the sound village...

They acknowledged the existence of many hidden villages, but only 5 great villages that have kages, so naturally, in spite of what some ass-clown that updates narutosthebest.org says, this has absolutely nothing to do with Orochimaru.

JaySee

Thu, 02-22-2007, 02:20 AM

If you recall the crap star country filler, that annoying boy was trying to become Hoshikage and make his country strong so that the Hoshikage would be recognized as an official kage. So officially, there are only 5 kages.

Idealistic

Thu, 02-22-2007, 02:25 AM

Well the fillers have nothing to do with the story so the only "official" things are the things that happen in the story itself.

And no, the fillers can't be considered something they were doing during the 2 1/2 years because Naruto is in those fillers and we all know he left to go training with Jiraiya.

Kraco

Thu, 02-22-2007, 03:09 AM

Compared to the real world situation it seems likely the five kages and their countries are like the (permanent) UN security council members. So, there could be any number of other countries, villages and their ninja leaders, but it doesn't change the fact those five remain as the biggest players in the international theater. Possibly for some historical reasons.

As far as not having to pass the chuunin exam to become a chuunin, that's speculation and as far as I know there isn't any evidence to support that.
Again compared to the real world situation those ranks are like military ranks. While all well-established and civilized countries have quite strict education and exams for gaining certain military ranks, they are, in the end, all up to those individual countries. So, in some banana republic you could gain the Captain's rank just for being the nephew to some General. Still, those ranks would be totally valid. Even if that person wouldn't actually stand a chance against a Captain of some better country. Like I said earlier, they have little meaning outside of bureaucracy.

Well, what you said could be true for the five big countries. They could have regulations preventing summary promotions.

HyourinMaru-

Thu, 02-22-2007, 03:14 AM

And again I dont think those fillers just goes out to fill episodes, Yes they might be some annoying episodes that doesnt give Naruto any credit. but they also have some connection to story line. Only that those fillers are not whats in the Manga story... So basically, the author creates some stories which doesnt alter the whole story (the manga) and put it as fillers. so again.. the Hoshikage was an unofficial Title.

And also... what i meant by the otokage was not that the official thing.. and besides.. Orochimaru was the one who founded the sound village. So it will suffice to say that he had proclaimed himself as the kage for the sound. Just as the Shodai Hokage to the leaf village. Only that.. Otokage is also an unofficial title.

RyougaZell

Thu, 02-22-2007, 09:50 AM

Nowhere has it ever been stated that Oro considered himself a kage. Not to mention, that when a person is given a kage title, the prefix of the title matches the country, not the village. Hence "hokage" because "ho" is fire, as in the Country of Fire. If there were a kage of the sound village, it wouldn't be otokage. If we go by the fillers, which I think claimed the sound village was in the bird country, he'd be the bird kage.

Actually Rice Country. And I believe this part was canon... just can't remember where it was mentioned. Rice Kage... err...

Hyourinmaru... Kishimoto did not write anything about the fillers...

And continuing what Kraco was telling Narasho... the Chuunin exam can't be the only way to get the Chuunin Rank. Like I said before, not all the villages participate in one. The ones that do so are 'allies'. Remember Sand was an ally before they invaded, and Sound was a new village asking 'friendship' as a front to attack.
The old enemies of the Leaf, like Rock, didn't participate that time. So if the Chuunin Exam was the only way to go up a rank then Rock wouldn't get Chuunins that year.
Like Kraco said, every village must have its own way to do so. I mean... during the Exam we saw only one Genin became Chuunin, Shikamaru. Now three years later, everybody else in the Rookie 9, minus Naruto and Sasuke (unknown), plus team Gai and Gaara's team are Chuunin or higher.

darkshadow

Thu, 02-22-2007, 12:39 PM

/rant...

Ugh, that's pretty insulting, i don't google fansite -_-", neither did i do any brilliant research or whatever, and no it IS land of the sound not rice, or bird or whatever, oro renamed land of rice to sound when he took over, it is now officially land of sound.
And like i said, he is not a kage simply because:
1. there will be only 5 kage
2. he is a criminal

But technically he would be the Otokage, since the kage is simply the leader and the strongest ninja in the hidden village of a country.

Also about fillers, filler events, chars and jutsu's go into the databooks aswell, so they become official.

Assertn

Thu, 02-22-2007, 03:27 PM

Ugh, that's pretty insulting, i don't google fansite -_-", neither did i do any brilliant research or whatever, and no it IS land of the sound not rice, or bird or whatever, oro renamed land of rice to sound when he took over, it is now officially land of sound.
You say you're insulted for being accused of making groundless statements, then follow up with another groundless statement? If you're so insistant on the accuracy of your contributions, then why not list your references?

Nowhere does it say the sound village lies in "the land of sound," and just as ryougazell pointed out (in a creepy knows-too-much-about-the-fillers kinda way), the fillers specifically declared that the sound village lies in the country of rice in the first arc after the sasuke chase.

Also, how does oro being a criminal exclude him from a title like kage? "Criminal" is a very relative concept, because you could also consider the mizukage as a "criminal" from konoha's perspective, as they are opposing forces.

RyougaZell

Thu, 02-22-2007, 03:58 PM

Nowhere does it say the sound village lies in "the land of sound," and just as ryougazell pointed out (in a creepy knows-too-much-about-the-fillers kinda way), the fillers specifically declared that the sound village lies in the country of rice in the first arc after the sasuke chase.

Ouch. That kinda hurt.
I thought they mentioned it during the Chuunin Exams... but if they didn't then it was indeed the 2nd filler arc (1st was Ibiki's brother...) which confirmed it. And yes... its filler... but I think it became canon? or no? whatever...

Ep3 will be out in a few hours... I hope they mantain the ending omake a-la-bleach... but no more secret words please.

Idealistic

Thu, 02-22-2007, 04:44 PM

Are these so called Databooks even official? Like did Kishimoto make it or is it just made by a fan?

HyourinMaru-

Thu, 02-22-2007, 09:21 PM

If you'd ask me, i think these databooks are made by some supporter of Kishimoto or his subordinate.

Also, how does oro being a criminal exclude him from a title like kage? "Criminal" is a very relative concept, because you could also consider the mizukage as a "criminal" from konoha's perspective, as they are opposing forces.

1st. I dont consider mizukage as a criminal. let us put it this way, during the World War II. Japan and USA fought right? and Japan was considered as an enemy by the US... but they werent considered as a criminal. And the one who lead Japan at that time was thier prime minister (correct me if im wrong becoz im not sure how they call thier leader thier and im sure that its not a president.) So if the prime minister was the leader, then it would be in a same relation to the Mizukage. and I dont think the Mizukage has done a crime in Konoha. only that their country are not in good relations.

secondly, "Orochimaru, founder and leader of Otogakure, is also referred to as Otokage (音影, literally "Sound Shadow"?) by some fans, but this is not an official title" that is from wikipedia... and if you read more it is also stated thier that their village is from the Rice Country.

so basically my conclusion is Otokage is not an official name, Orochimaru could be refered to as the "Rice Shadow" also since he is creating that village in that country and it will still be unofficial. but since it is not officially recognized by the five great country.. then Otokage would be just okay...

BananaFob

Thu, 02-22-2007, 09:44 PM

Are these so called Databooks even official? Like did Kishimoto make it or is it just made by a fan?

What really hurt me the most was that Maito Gai's official name is "Might Guy". :(

yvliew

Thu, 02-22-2007, 10:11 PM

is something missing from the manga? What happened to Kakashi gaiden?

darkshadow

Thu, 02-22-2007, 11:34 PM

"narutofob"
"Country of Sound - Hidden Village of Sound - Orochimaru
The country and hidden village of sound is created and lead by Orochimaru. It's a relatively small country, but it's forces can't be considered weak. Orochimaru is a legendary Sannin, he's extremely powerful. Orochimaru killed the third Hokage and almost suceeded in destroying Konoha. He is also after Sasuke for his Sharingan. We've seen serveral sound ninjas in the Chuunin exam, including Kabuto disguised as a Konoha ninja."

"leafninja"
Guide to the Rice Field Country aka The Sound Country
"The current proper name of the country is unknown, citizens refer to it as the "Rice Field Country" while Sound ninja refer to it as the "Sound Country." The difference arising because of "Rice Field's" filler origin"

"naruto-kun"
"The recently formed Hidden Sound Village, located in the Sound Country. Ruled and created by Orochimaru, a very powerful and talented Missing-Nin from the Hidden Leaf Village."

"wikipedia"
"The Land of Sound (音の国, Oto no Kuni?) is a geographical feature in the Naruto anime and manga series. It was likely named after the Otogakure, which Orochimaru founded, and both refer to what could be considered as one political entity."
"Otogakure (音隠れの里, Otogakure no Sato?, literally "Village Hidden in Sound") was founded by Orochimaru as a part of the Land of Sound, and is run by him."

Is that enough "googling" fansites for you assertn? why would i even state something i didn't read about. Sheez.

DarthEnderX

Fri, 02-23-2007, 06:19 AM

Wow, they'res alot of stupidity in this thread.

1. The databooks ARE official, no matter how many people with 5 posts show up and argue they aren't.

2. Kishimoto has never stated anywhere what the Sound Village's country is called. darkshadow's "research" is an example of one site making shit up and the other sites copying it to have the "information". The first time the Sound's country is named is in filler, at which point it became official because Kishimoto has never produced anything that has stated otherwise.

3. Only the five biggest nations have Kages. The Leaf, the Sand, the Stone, the Cloud and the Mist. These are in the countries of Fire, Wind, Earth, Thunder and Water. You'll notices none of those villages are named the same as their countries.

4. There are however, many other countries, some of which have ninja villages, some don't. For example Wave Country has no ninja village. And then villages like Waterfall and Rain and Grass are all located in their own countries, none of which have been named. That doesn't mean that the Waterfall Village is in the Waterfall country and the Rain Village is in the Rain Country, it just means their countries weren't stated yet.

The same was true of the Sound Village up until they named the country Rice during the filler.

And no, Hoshikage was not a real kage. Not because it was in filler, because, guess what, no matter how much they suck fillers are still official once they come out. Hosikage was not a real kage because even in that filler arc they stated that the hoshikage was not recognized by the other countries as a kage.

i think you should re watch the chunin exam episodes, all villages were represented ALL.I realize this has since been explained already, even with your own screenshot, but the villages in the chuunin exam consist of only 2 of the 5 main villages(leaf and sand) and 4 lesser villages(waterfall, rain, grass and sound). That picture also does a good job of showing how all the lesser villages that participated are ones that border konoha. It still shows all the other 3 main countries though. The Earth country north of the rain and grass villages. And the thunder country northeast of Konoha. And then the water country is the big island out in the ocean.