Naruto Shippuuden Episode 8-9

[DarthEnderX]

I've never liked Kankurou, from way back as a genin picking on Konohamaru, and even now as a chuunin.

He's a jounin.

[ASSpirine]

I've never liked Kankurou, from way back as a genin picking on Konohamaru, and even now as a chuunin. He's a pretty crappy ninja, with a gimmicky skill set and foolish look. He deserves to get beat down.

The Akatsuki may all be human, but they are also all S-class wanted criminal ninjas, making them some of the most dangerous ninja in the world. No chuunin will stand a chance against them. Even the legendary Sannin and some kages will have problems dealing with them. Unfortunately, not everyone in the Naruto world knows who the Akatsuki are or what they are capable of. So you can't really blame an idiot pig-headed Kankurou for thinking he could beat some guy, when he doesn't know what he is dealing with.

@Kraco, sorry dude, but he was conscious and able, and still looking to gain some advantage from his defeat. I can't say how the scrap of Sasori's face mask will help the Sand village's cause, but they elaborated enough on that scene so you know it means something.
So it's still pretty ridiculous for him to wonder how he was poisoned. It's also kind of crappy how Sasori didn't finish him off, falling into the cliched "bad guy leaves some crackpot scheme in place to finish off his adversary, instead of seeing to it himself".

@masamuneehs: Your comment about Baki doing well in this episode perplexes me. I was thinking the exact opposite, that he looked inept and incapable as a leader through most of the last 4 episodes. They have him posting orders well after the fact, like securing the village and checking for other attackers. Then he orders people around and they ignore his orders and get killed or hurt bad. And in the end, he takes a stroll to beg for help from the Sand village retirement community. I was thinking the entire time, maybe if he uncovered the other half his face, he'd use the other half of his brain too.

Kankurou is a jounin. But still, he's not good enough
The only genins that we know off that became Jounin are Kankurou, Temari and Neji. I think it was mentioned in the first ep.

[Animeniax]

Minor detail, he still sucks

[darkmetal505]

The thing is, the whole fight was actually made up. In the manga, it went straight from Sasori saying "I'll end this quickly" to Kankuro on the ground. Then Sasori explains they whole puppet ownership and such. Adding anything new to that would definitely make it weird, and it did. Kankuro was more than conscious enough through the fight, and him realizing five minutes later that the tail that had struck him had inserted poison inside of him was indeed awkward and out of character for a jounin.

[Animeniax]

So all of it was filler after all. It definitely tasted like filler, and poorly done at that. Well, enough bashing. Decent episode otherwise. The animation in the second half was better than in the first half. Some reiteration of ongoing themes occurred, which helped the story along.

Temari looks very babelicious for some reason, even with the weird hair and new full-body robe that she wears. Is it me, or did most of the Naruto characters get more modest as 15 year olds? Well, except for Sakura and Ino, they both dress a little skimpier that before. All the guys seem to wear more clothing anyway, with long sleeves.

[masamuneehs]

it's not Baki's fault that people ignored his orders. And he couldn't have possibly known about Sasori being with Deiadara, and once he found out he tried to order the pursuit team to disengage. I saw Baki as head and shoulders above the other Sand leaders in 8-9. While everybody else is discussing who will be the next Kazekage or other political bullshit, he's the one who is working on reconstructing the defenses, pursuing Akatsuki.

Also, it seemed obvious that Baki's going to Sasori's grandparent(s) was not something the other Sand leaders would have approved of, hence his keeping it a secret. Still, it looks like he'll get something valuable out of it, so I consider it to be a good move.

Do you really get a sense that anyone else in the Sand is more qualified to lead than he is? Maybe some of his orders are a little after the fact, but you really don't see anyone else giving orders worth two shits.

@ JaySee: I don't care if it was in the manga or not. Something's being in the manga doesn't necessarily make it good. Fucking every anime ever has the stupid cup or plate or heirloom breaking for no good reason as an omen... And who here honestly enjoys Naruto's emo rants and dramatics? Seriously, I want to know.

[Munsu]

Masa, you've got to put it in cultural context. All those things you complain about are part of the culture, just like how every anime has the "sneeze when someone is talking bad about you" bit. It's really nothing worth getting worked up about.

That it gets repititive and a bit annoying? Sure, but it's something you should expect by now, and simply ignore it when it happens.

[Assertn]

And who here honestly enjoys Naruto's emo rants and dramatics? Seriously, I want to know.

I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it even more when it was in the manga and it filled pretty much the whole chapter for that entire week too.

[DB_Hunter]

You are ignoring that probably a lot of emo kids watch it, so it is suited well to the target audience in the sense that they have something to identify with.

[?igma]

You are ignoring that probably a lot of emo kids watch it, so it is suited well to the target audience in the sense that they have something to identify with.

Gah how can you have positive rep ? youre not emo ? Im EMO! rep me goddamnit ;'(

Ye I like those kinds of scenes.

[masamuneehs]

guess i stepped on a beehive... one full of emos...

i guess I'm just the kind who'd rather have characters quietley deal with their own personal problems and emotions. I simply get pissed when Naruto rags on and on about how he was alienated as a child and how nobody should have to go through that. I sympathized with him, the first couple times he gave that speech, but all that sympathy's gone now. I do not like people vagging their emo problems all over the place... on the other hand, I did like his attitude towards Akatsuki targeting the demon spirits.

and Munsu, again, you're right. It's a cultural thing, and one I actually found cool/interesting the first couple times I saw it. I suppose my gripe with it was from the sheer number of times I see it used.

I'm going to shut up now.

[Board of Command]

I am 100% sure emo kids watch Naruto. Lots of characters in Naruto are emo/masochists who cut themselves and bite their thumbs.

[Assertn]

i guess I'm just the kind who'd rather have characters quietley deal with their own personal problems and emotions. I simply get pissed when Naruto rags on and on about how he was alienated as a child and how nobody should have to go through that. I sympathized with him, the first couple times he gave that speech, but all that sympathy's gone now. I do not like people vagging their emo problems all over the place... on the other hand, I did like his attitude towards Akatsuki targeting the demon spirits.

Did you even pay attention to that scene at all? The entire time Naruto wasn't complaining about his life....he was complaining that Gaara, despite being in the same situation as Naruto, always ends up being the one that suffers the most.

It was a totally selfless moment.

[?igma]

Did you even pay attention to that scene at all? The entire time Naruto wasn't complaining about his life....he was complaining that Gaara, despite being in the same situation as Naruto, always ends up being the one that suffers the most.

It was a totally selfless moment.

he said it.

[Terracosmo]

HAY GUSY DUN'T U KNOW THAT ALL SAD AND TRAGIK MOMENTS INVOLVING TEARS OR PERSONLA FEELINGZ MEANS UR EMO?

[Animeniax]

I prefer to bottle up my anger and frustration until it boils over and I explode. I'd like my anime heroes to do the same, so I can idolize them. Cause usually they have super powers, so when they explode, lots of people get hurt.

That's the first "breaking cup means omen" scene I've seen in the numerous anime and j-dramas I've watched. Maybe I need to watch more shoujo or yaoi anime?

[RyougaZell]

yaoi? you into boy-boy?

the biggest emo in this series ain't Naruto, but Sasuke.

[DB_Hunter]

OK enough about emo already...!

Anyone else notice the significance of that conversation near the end between Naruto and Jiraiya? It seems to be quite a U-turn in Jiraiya's style of training Naruto. First he was trying to get him to harness the power of Kyuubi, now he seems to be saying don't use it. Unless he is talking about some as of yet undisclosed power/technique, I think this has relevance to fight he was having with Sasuke at the beginning of ep 1. If he now able to fight without the power of Kyuubi and is independently strong, then Sasuke could be being lulled in to a fall sense of security by Naruto, as he just stood by and let him disperse the Kyuubi chakra.

[Animeniax]

Maybe Jiraiya saw some of the destructive power of the kyuubi during their training, and is now reluctant to have Naruto harness it's powers. Like the Force, maybe he fears Naruto can't control the dark side of his power, and it will take over and he'll do evil with it. If he trained him well enough to control his chakra and improve his own skills, then Naruto won't have to dip into the kyuubi pool of chakra.

That fight DB_Hunter mentions was all figurative wasn't it? Or was Sasuke actually inside Naruto's mind, using Sharingan? Freaky stuff. I'd like to see Sasuke unleash his emo side!

Oh yeah, no one mentioned the return of Inner Sakura!!!

[Assertn]

Yeah, I'd assume Sasuke was using a form of genjutsu to parallel himself with Naruto's subconscious. Not too much different than what kakashi was doing to Zabuza.