The Official Naruto series Thread

Originally posted by AuraAngel
This is precisely why shoving them in our faces would have been the wrong move for Kishimoto to make.

That's because many things in the ninja world were a mystery and the major villain of Part 1 showed up to kick the series in the pants. But honestly if you don't think the Chunin Exams drag a little then you are blinded by nostalgia lol. That arc(and the Invasion arc) totaled up to over a hundred chapters. It was by far the longest arc until the War, which is actually made of 3 smaller arcs apparently, and it is not as important as some of the smaller arcs. 😛

Favorite characters do not dictate a story. My favorite One Piece character is Marco Phoenix but an arc about him being forced into the main plot would be terrible for the pacing of a manga. A diverse cast should not take priority over the main plot and pacing(unless that is what you're going for, which Kishi clearly was not with the Chunin Exams).
You're asking for fight filler lol. Naruto has, for better or worse depending on the reader, always tried to make the fights important to the characters and their arcs. Kishimoto has always used fights to either show a character growing as a person, to set up plot points, or to introduce new characters. And he usually never sacrifices his pacing for anything. If Rock Lee had gotten to fight, say, Haku would that have been cool? Yeah. If Neji had gotten to fight his dad would that have been cool? Yeah. Would each of the characters getting a fight of, say, Chunin Exam worthy length have been awesome? Yeah.
It would also utterly cripple the pacing of an arc that is already 150+ chapters.

But did you need that fight to feel the impact of Neji's death? Is it, strictly, necessary to show Neji awakening a Magekyou Byakugan in a battle only to die in battle to make the audience feel sad?

Is Bleach the same as Naruto? Nope. Does Bleach have a snails pace compared to Naruto? Yep. Granted the most recent arc is not as bad but the Arrancar Saga went on for so long with everyone and their mother getting a fight that didn't matter. It was, in my humble opinion, tedious. But Kubo inherently comes to the table with a different goal in mind. He is less concerned about the plot and more about the characters.

This has been consistent though and this generation is stronger lol.

But a slower pace doesnt necessarily mean worse... Did you not enjoy seeing what characters like hisagi, gin, ikkaku grimmjow and ulquiorra were capable off. If its a war the least you could do is have character that have been introduced earlier fight. Especially if there about to die. You have to admit neji died rather anticlimactically. He created all these characters that the fans wanted expanded upon and failed to do so. Nobodys saying make neji or the other of the rookie 9 as strong as naruto or sasuke the least you could do show how theyve grown in the last two years. My point is there is no point in creating likeable characters people want to know more about if your not going to explore them.

Even shows like yu yu hakusho has shown the growth of side characters from the past.

lee shouldve had a rematch with kimmimaro and shown him how much he gained from his hard work alah Morning peacock

Originally posted by AuraAngel
That's because many things in the ninja world were a mystery and the major villain of Part 1 showed up to kick the series in the pants. But honestly if you don't think the Chunin Exams drag a little then you are blinded by nostalgia lol. That arc(and the Invasion arc) totaled up to over a hundred chapters. It was by far the longest arc until the War, which is actually made of 3 smaller arcs apparently, and it is not as important as some of the smaller arcs. 😛

I don't know, man, I really enjoyed the first 100 chapters of Naruto. Much much more so than the next 600,000 chapters.

It is amazing, really.

Originally posted by dadudemon
I don't know, man, I really enjoyed the first 100 chapters of Naruto. Much much more so than the next 600,000 chapters.

It is amazing, really.

yea those times were suspenseful and entertaining. The forest of death was crazy beacuse naruto and sasuke went threw some crazy hardhsip what with fighting the sound ninja and orochimaru.. Then come to find they would have to fight each other one on one tournament style with each ninja having exceptional skills and abilities. Heck even watching them cheat on the test in so many different ways was cool.

And now at this point im just waiting for naruto to be over just so i could know how it ends.

Originally posted by AuraAngel
That's because many things in the ninja world were a mystery and the major villain of Part 1 showed up to kick the series in the pants.

Those things should have remained a mystery. Kishi needed to have at least a bit more restrain.

Originally posted by AuraAngel
But honestly if you don't think the Chunin Exams drag a little then you are blinded by nostalgia lol. That arc(and the Invasion arc) totaled up to over a hundred chapters. It was by far the longest arc until the War, which is actually made of 3 smaller arcs apparently, and it is not as important as some of the smaller arcs. 😛

When things drag a little they can still remain overall good. I know at least 4 or 5 people who left Naruto after timeskip because they saw the direction they took didn't appeal to them. They still found the Chunin Exams to be pretty enjoyable, but for them in went nowhere/downhill from there.

I cannot say I fully disagree. There have been many good things since the Chunin Exams, but none comes close to it.

Originally posted by yungz22
yea those times were suspenseful and entertaining. The forest of death was crazy beacuse naruto and sasuke went threw some crazy hardhsip what with fighting the sound ninja and orochimaru.. Then come to find they would have to fight each other one on one tournament style with each ninja having exceptional skills and abilities. Heck even watching them cheat on the test in so many different ways was cool.

Yes, it was a much more heady manga back then.

And Orochimaru was a proper villain and Kishimoto did a great job of writing him. When Kakashi almost shit himself when Orochimaru showed up, that's when we got to know how truly powerful Oro was. If it was enough to make one of Konoha's legendary Jonin shit himself, that guy must be strong.

Also, Oro was just a sick **** then, too.

That type of build-up doesn't exist for villains anymore. 🙁

Originally posted by chasedown
But a slower pace doesnt necessarily mean worse... Did you not enjoy seeing what characters like hisagi, gin, ikkaku grimmjow and ulquiorra were capable off. If its a war the least you could do is have character that have been introduced earlier fight. Especially if there about to die. You have to admit neji died rather anticlimactically. He created all these characters that the fans wanted expanded upon and failed to do so. Nobodys saying make neji or the other of the rookie 9 as strong as naruto or sasuke the least you could do show how theyve grown in the last two years. My point is there is no point in creating likeable characters people want to know more about if your not going to explore them.

Nope. It just means an inherent lack of momentum. Which for action is not good. And no not really. Gin, Ulquiorra, and Grimmjow don't count as they're the villains. Did I need to see every character like Kira, Yumichika, Hinamori, Rangiku, Omaeda, and so on get fights? Taking personal preferences out of it that is, objectively, a ton of added stuff to the fights that overall doesn't really add to the story. None of the opponents they beat up ended up mattering. And nah I didn't find Neji's death anticlimactic. It was designed to be a sudden, jarring death that completely caught the readers off guard. And it was. And you want Neji to be explored...when there was literally nothing left to explore. His arc was complete.

Originally posted by dadudemon
I don't know, man, I really enjoyed the first 100 chapters of Naruto. Much much more so than the next 600,000 chapters.

It is amazing, really.

And that is fine. The arc is really really good. But I find people think it is good for the wrong reasons and when people complain about things going on too long in recent years they really are turning a blind eye to how long the golden age could go on and how much of a slog it could be.

Originally posted by yungz22
yea those times were suspenseful and entertaining. The forest of death was crazy beacuse naruto and sasuke went threw some crazy hardhsip what with fighting the sound ninja and orochimaru.. Then come to find they would have to fight each other one on one tournament style with each ninja having exceptional skills and abilities. Heck even watching them cheat on the test in so many different ways was cool.

What, essentially, came out of the Chunin Exams sections of this arc? The only character to become Chunin was Shikamaru. The rest...well it's not even like the story treated them like failures. They just kinda left the Exams by the wayside to deal with. The other stuff is more important to be sure but it leaves the Exams, what we'd been reading, as an afterthought.

Originally posted by Bentley
When things drag a little they can still remain overall good. I know at least 4 or 5 people who left Naruto after timeskip because they saw the direction they took didn't appeal to them. They still found the Chunin Exams to be pretty enjoyable, but for them in went nowhere/downhill from there.

I cannot say I fully disagree. There have been many good things since the Chunin Exams, but none comes close to it.

Indeed but the point remains that Part 1 Naruto was susceptible to dragging just as much as Part 2(which has the justification of having a battle designed to be exhausting).

Oh I agree. I think the Chunin Exams is the second best arc in Naruto behind the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. But I don't think any arc in Naruto is horrible. The closest, to me anyway, is the Invasion of Pain and that's because of the ending.

Originally posted by AuraAngel
But I don't think any arc in Naruto is horrible

Quit drugs ahah

Actually I suppose most arcs are half-decent by themselves, but if you read them in the light on how they betray your expectations from previous arcs, they are the very deffinition of disappointing.

Kishi didn't give two sh_ts about Pain, as far as tragic characters go, he's got the least depth in the series. To be fair, most villains in Naruto are quite poor when it comes to character, except Danzo who shall rule forever unopposed.

Just look at Obito he was a horrible villain. He turned evil because someone he loved died. Going by that logic almost everybody in the series has experienced the pain from the death of loved ones. Heck kakashi should be the most evil character in the show considering he lost his father, his best friend, he killed his second best friend whom he swore to protect. And he lost his beloved sensei. My point is that its just bad writing

Originally posted by yungz22
yea those times were suspenseful and entertaining. The forest of death was crazy beacuse naruto and sasuke went threw some crazy hardhsip what with fighting the sound ninja and orochimaru.. Then come to find they would have to fight each other one on one tournament style with each ninja having exceptional skills and abilities. Heck even watching them cheat on the test in so many different ways was cool.

Anyhow, dat Evening Elephant.

I was rooting for Gai so hard during the chapter I was close to nerdgasming. Never seen sweeter blood than Madara's spilling from that punch.

Originally posted by Damborgson
I was rooting for Gai so hard during the chapter I was close to nerdgasming. Never seen sweeter blood than Madara's spilling from that punch.

Gotta give Kishimoto props for writing such a douchy villain like Madara.*

We love seeing his blood spilled. 🙂

*Kishimoto-san, this doesn't mean we're friends. I still think you're a jerk for trolling me all the time.

Originally posted by dadudemon
Gotta give Kishimoto props for writing such a douchy villain like Madara.

We love seeing his blood spilled. 🙂

oh yeah.

Originally posted by Damborgson
oh yeah.

😆 😆 😆 💃 💃

Even the jinchurikki got no love. Only thing we know about each of them is the village they are form and what bijuu they hold... Once again characters that people would like to know about left in the dust.

Originally posted by Bentley
Quit drugs ahah

Actually I suppose most arcs are half-decent by themselves, but if you read them in the light on how they betray your expectations from previous arcs, they are the very deffinition of disappointing.

Kishi didn't give two sh_ts about Pain, as far as tragic characters go, he's got the least depth in the series. To be fair, most villains in Naruto are quite poor when it comes to character, except Danzo who shall rule forever unopposed.

Never!

You'll need to explain that idea better cause expectations is a hard thing to predict across the board. My expectations weren't disappointed from arc to arc. 😛

Yeah I dun care for Pain either.

Originally posted by chasedown
Just look at Obito he was a horrible villain. He turned evil because someone he loved died. Going by that logic almost everybody in the series has experienced the pain from the death of loved ones. Heck kakashi should be the most evil character in the show considering he lost his father, his best friend, he killed his second best friend whom he swore to protect. And he lost his beloved sensei. My point is that its just bad writing

Well I mean obviously Kishimoto could not be doing something there by having Kakashi's losses be much larger than Obito's. He clearly wants us to think that Obito has a leg to stand on in his argument. Because otherwise compared to Kakashi, Obito comes across as a horribly whiney person without the guts to face how cruel the world is and is just looking for an easy out.

Kishimoto obviously isn't aiming for making his villain look bad. I mean who does that? 😐

Originally posted by AuraAngel
Never!

You'll need to explain that idea better cause expectations is a hard thing to predict across the board. My expectations weren't disappointed from arc to arc. 😛

Yeah I dun care for Pain either.

Well I mean obviously Kishimoto could not be doing something there by having Kakashi's losses be much larger than Obito's. He clearly wants us to think that Obito has a leg to stand on in his argument. Because otherwise compared to Kakashi, Obito comes across as a horribly whiney person without the guts to face how cruel the world is and is just looking for an easy out.

Kishimoto obviously isn't aiming for making his villain look bad. I mean who does that? 😐

The point is he actually doesnt have a leg to stand on considering alot of characters experienced way more pain than he did. Therefore his reason for doing the things he did in the series is invalid. There are characters in the story that have experienced the same pain if not more than obito did. Sasuke, Gaara, Itachi, Kakashi,Gai, Tsunade, shika ino cho. Hell even neji grew up with alot of pain in his heart. They all lost loved ones and none of them decided mass killings and starting a world war was the answer.

shika ina cho? What happened to them?

Originally posted by Damborgson
shika ina cho? What happened to them?

they lost their sensei and two lost their parents. Even though its rather recent. The pain is still the same.