Did making the Naruto chars older hurt the series?

[iMUSTbeTHEdevil]

No, not it did not

[Yukimura]

Feeling out your opponent is not as useful when your attacks are massive but one dimensional. If the enemy can block your giant death ball you're pretty much dead anyway so it's better to just try it. If they block it, you can't win and you run. If they just avoid it, then you know that all you have to do is find a way to catch them off guard and hit them with it. The longer you keep trying little stuff the longer you leave yourself open for whatever they might potentially do to you.

[Abdula]

Not necessarily but I see your point, I just wouldn't approach a battle that way.

[Assertn]

but, mentally, I haven't seen much progress with the characters personalities and minds. The amount of sheer force tactics going on is still absurd. "I'll just use my ultimate attack!"

I agree with Kraco.

The lack of "i'll just use my ultimate attack!" is why battles like Sasori's end up taking 6 episodes instead of 1 or 2.

[redcat]

they should have another time skip so i wont feel so bad about beating off to hentai based on the girls from the series.

[Animeniax]

These are very fundamental differences. If you can't comprehend this, then good luck with your ambition to understanding japanese art and culture.

That's a bit of a stretch you got there.

I could tolerate and even identify with young Naruto's antics. Seeing the older Naruto still acting dumb is unbearable. It's like any teenager who still acts like a kid, it's not something we tolerate in society.

Let's consider Bleach. Will they ever make it out of high school? I doubt it. Young adult Ichigo, Chado, Orihime, and Ishida, balancing their super hero responsibilities while trying to work day jobs and relationships? This isn't the best comparison either, since these 4 are all mature beyond their years, so they wouldn't act much different as older people.

[Kraco]

Young adult Ichigo, Chado, Orihime, and Ishida, balancing their super hero responsibilities while trying to work day jobs and relationships?

You forget the possibility of a university which would likely grant even more freedom (to roam around saving the world) than high schools, at least theoretically, though I suppose they would need to do their homework more dutifully.

[Animeniax]

You forget the possibility of a university which would likely grant even more freedom (to roam around saving the world) than high schools, at least theoretically, though I suppose they would need to do their homework more dutifully.

I think they're all 17, aren't they? And they never seemed like the most studious pupils, since they skip class so often. Besides, now that they know what's out there besides the normal, how could they go back to studies and day jobs?

[DarthEnderX]

If they just avoid it, then you know that all you have to do is find a way to catch them off guard and hit them with it.

Wouldn't using the attack directly just make it that much harder to catch them off guard with it?

If you knew you only had one straightforward, powerful attack, wouldn't it make more sense to try and catch them off guard to begin with, BEFORE they've seen your attack?

It's like in Sasuke vs. Gaara. Sasuke has Chidori, but he knew he'd never land the thing, so he waits until he's sure his opponent won't dodge it before he attacks.

If he'd just started the battle using Chidori, Gaara would have simply avoided it, and it would have been wasted.

[Animeniax]

If he'd just started the battle using Chidori, Gaara would have simply avoided it, and it would have been wasted.

That only applies with a technique like Chidori when used by an (relatively) unskilled fighter like Sasuke. Rasengan in the hands of someone like Naruto with his huge reserve of chakra could be used repeatedly to start, continue, and finish a fight.

[Abdula]

But that is just his normal Rasengan, I don't think anyone considers that to be an ultimate attack. Most ninja whether they have a large reserve of chakra or not their most powerful attacks usually consumes most of it, so if you miss not only has your opponent already seen your trump card but you have a severely depleted amount of chakra to continue fighting with.

[Animeniax]

Rasengan was watered down during fillers, but it is an ultimate attack. Only 3 people know how to use it, including Jiraiya, the 4th hokage, and Naruto.

I haven't been watching Naruto lately, but the super Rasengan definitely could be considered an ultimate attack. I imagine from your statement that there is some limitation to how many times Naruto can use it, even with the 9-tail's huge amount of chakra at his disposal?

[Kraco]

When he was learning the technique, he must have formed it dozens of times a day. So, it's somewhat safe to say the limit of how many he can make per day is more than he could possibly ever need to use in a single day.

[Abdula]

This is getting a bit spoilerish here... You're plenty vague about some of it, but don't reference events in the manga at all, if you can help it. Besides, your argument is moot being based on unrevealed manga facts, since the people you're debating with straight up don't have that info yet.

Verbal warning, just try not to tie in manga points in your arguments.


HOLY HELL. I was completely ignorant of this, guess that explains that. I should really pay more attention.

[Kraco]

For once I'd be happy if Naruto remained stubborn and didn't listen to those words. He should instead use the Kyuubi chakra as much as possible and perfect red rasengans.

Anyway, three per day sounds like a totally artificial limitation put in place simply because Sasuke (or Kakashi) can't use chidori too many times and thus it would be "unfair" if Naruto could use rasengan as much as he needed. What comes to the practice rasengans and their numbers, it doesn't really make sense. He was surely wasting a lot of energy with them, instead of them not, supposedly, being full power. It's not a raw force technique like chidori so the better he can do it, the less energy it should take for the same effect. It makes zero sense the poorly formed ones spent less energy and still shattered places.

[Assertn]

That's a bit of a stretch you got there.

Haha, well, whatever.

It felt pretty obvious to me back in the sasuke chase arc that the series really needed a time jump in order to really progress the story-line, given the fact that there were many distinguished limitations the characters had with their current levels of skill. Not to mention all the foreshadowing of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke having their training sessions with their respective sannin.

Bleach, however, shows no indications of a necessity to time jump. Of course, I am probably way too far behind in that series to see any hints suggesting otherwise.

[DarthEnderX]

Bleach doesn't need time skips because of the ridiculous progression rate the writer has given to Ichigo. Allowing him to learn things that takes others hundreds of years in 3 days. It's kinda stupid, and plot-devicey, but it definitely removes the need for time skips.


I actually agree with Ani about Naruto being able to throw Rasengan's around at will. Jirayai said that Rasengan is far more efficient in chakra usage than chidori. Combine that with the fact that Naruto has so much more chakra to begin with, and Naruto can pretty much throw them around whenever he can get the breathing room to form one.

[Abdula]

Okay yes, he can throw rasengans around at will no one is disputing that. Jiraiya can do it to, but the normal rasengan isn't much of a jutsu, not only is it easy to avoid but it doesn't do much damage so it won't mean anything against Akatsuki. The only person I even remember Naruto hitting with the normal rasengan and this is non-filler ofcourse is Kabuto and he took the hit on purpose so shut the hell up already. There is a reason Jiraiya doesn't use it in battle because its useless.

[Yukimura]

Why would Kabuto have taken that hit on purpose? Not to mention the fact that Naruto had grabbed his hand to keep him from escaping since that is a fairly weak point. Also Natuto hit the Itachi clone with a Rasengan albeit a larger than average normal one and it ended that clones life rather abruptly.

Anyway, you're certainly right about the Rasengan being relatively easy to avoid, however I can't see how you think it doesn't do much damage. If the demonstration of the Rasengan on the tree, Tsunade making Naruto drop an incomplete one into the ground outside the teahouse, and the destruction of the water tower on top of Konoha hospital are accurate depictions of the Rasengan's destructive power then a human body shouldn't survive being hit with one. Last I checked trees, rock, and metal were all harder than human flesh. Kabuto's excuse for surviving was his Deus Ex Machina cell regrowth ability which we must assume can regrow cells at nearly the rate that they'd be destroyed by the Rasengan tearing through a body.

[Abdula]

What Naruto used was the Odama Rasengan different technique. Kabuto took the hit because he knew he could regenerate and so he could have the opportunity to sever the flow of chakra around Naruto's heart or something like that to kill him, something he said was irreparable so Tsunade nor the Kyuubi could heal him but all she had to do was shed a tear and wow he was magically healed.

Last I checked trees, rock, and metal were all harder than human flesh.

You should check again because I can give you numerous examples of people sent flying through rocks and trees and even walls without much consequence. The rules of what can and can't be done in Naruto were never fully established and even those that were are subject to change at will.