So I’ve been watching Naruto.
Like many people I first came across it on TV in its English
dub, and edited version. I kind of
hated….BELIEVE IT! God, I got so sick of that being literally
screamed at me, I kind just totally tuned out and went on to watch other
things.
Recently I came across the original series on Netflix, and
decided to give another go, making me quite the late comer. Well in Japanese/English subs it was pretty
tolerable, filled with all standard shonen tropes, but tolerable. Than something really weird began to
happen. I started to get invested. No, I certainly didn’t really understand why
our lead hero Naruto made friends everywhere, nor why Saskue was so cool, lots
of repeat animation/flashbacks to save cash and spread it out
artificially. Yet, it started to grow
on me. It’s kind of hard to say why,
maybe because there was some actual character growth as I watched it, perhaps
the stacks where pretty high, or just the idea of a world dominated by Ninja
nations. But I have to say, it wasn’t as
bad or infuriating as some people have said.
Some annoyances yes, but far from terrible. It’s quite interesting to see the clear
divide between fans and haters of this series.
Then came time to watch Naruto Shippuden on Crunchy
Roll. First a word on Crunchy Roll ad
supported version. It’s pretty great
watching Anime for free, and the Ads are pretty short and harmless, so that’s a
win win, Only small issue is a few video
error issues and sometimes keeping track of what I’ve been watching, but I can
live with it to save some coin.
Immediate Rating of $$$$.
As for the series, it basically starts off as a 3 years
later from the original series, with characters a bit older and wiser, and lot
more training montages under their belts. So blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda,
things kind of sort of progress, training goes by, than the slow burn suddenly
becomes a raging fire. Without spoiling
(its 2007, but I literally just started watching it) too much, by the time I
get to the Pain arc (starting at about episode 130) things get real, as long
time cast members start to drop. It’s
something I haven’t seen in too many shonen where core characters often have serious
story shields. But with some very
inglorious and quick deaths, it caught me a bit off guard and wondering who
would buy it next (or if they will find some way to reverse it later). And unlike Game of Thrones or Walking Dead
where someone dies, I just kind of go “well there’s another actors contract up,
hurray” I caught myself at one point
yelling at the TV “wait, no don’t kill…..”
So in my world that makes Naruto pretty good. It actually got me emotionally invested,
almost without me realizing it.
Reaching the episodes I’m watching right now, 168-69,
there’s a nice little sub-text (not really subtle though, so super-text?) questioning
the value of an eye for an eye, with a jab against the whole idea of a punitive
justice system. All brought together
with way over the top of fights that are beyond ridiculous and body counts
approaching Gotchaman (seriously another topic for another day) levels. Also throughout the series (and the original)
war orphans, generational hate, and of course the standard tropes of loyalty,
friendship, working hard, student/teacher relations are examined.
So yay, good stuff so far. I'll post once I reach the episode that may all change my outlook, damn Crunchy Roll ribbon giving me spoilers.....grrrr back by episode 175 or so.
Rating: V__V for first series, ^__^
for Shippuden.
Future Investment:
Putting off pretty much everything else to watch it, so yep.
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