I liked what happened in the chapter, but the way it was executed was done poorly, in my opinion. I felt like it showed how lazy Kishimoto has gotten when it comes to this series, and that made me sad. I wrote about it in my blog:
If you enjoyed the chapter, don't read this. It will likely dampen your enjoyment of the chapter, and I don't want that to happen.
--Click here to view--Sakura looked like crap this chapter. That blast must have given her a lazy eye or something, cause she's looking off in two different directions at the same time. LOL. This chapter really showed just how lazy Kishimoto has gotten with this series:
1) His artwork was awful. Case and point, Sakura's panel.
2) Apparently, the Alliance now consists of 14 people. (Bottom panel:
http://www.mangahere...3/c629/10.html)3) Chouji and Hinata are the only Rookies important enough for screen time.
4) Obito already knew everything that happened to Rin, so Kakashi doesn't have to explain it to him...
It feels like Kishimoto is just going through the motions, or cutting corners, with this story in order to get to the finish line. I couldn't even enjoy the NaruSaku moment because of how badly this chapter was done. It had potential to be a great chapter, but the way Kishimoto executed it was terrible. If he was too lazy to draw the entire Alliance, why not have all of the Rookies jump in front of Naruto instead? That would go hand-in-hand with the, "Rely on your friends", theme that's been going on for the past two years - but no.
Instead, we'll have Chouji point out the obvious for one panel, shrink the Alliance to a group of 14 fodder-nin, have only Hinata and Sakura jump in to help Naruto, (which I actually really liked - but where is everyone else?), and make a bunch of fodder-nin all inspired to help save the day. Cool...
Then to top it all off, he made Obito aware of everything that happened to Rin. Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to have Kakashi explain all of that to Obito? Maybe he did it on purpose, but that's not the turn I wanted him to take with this. I'm getting really tired of unnecessary plot twists. It's just... The laziness of it all is too much for me to handle. I think I might be falling out of love with this series. I haven't been inspired to read it since Obito's flashbacks, and by "inspired", I mean excitedly seeking out the chapter to find out what happens next because I genuinely want to know. At the moment, I'm actually finding Bleach more interesting than Naruto, which is sad...
I might be falling out of love with pairings too. I'm just not as happy as I used to be looking at Naruto and Sakura together, not because I think they would be a bad couple, but because the quality of the series has plummeted. The plot, and particularly the way that Kishimoto is executing the plot, has gotten so bad that the only thing I care about is praying that nothing else will get messed up. Like this week, for example. Yeah, Sakura healing Naruto was nice, but I couldn't enjoy it because Kishimoto botched Sakura's face. And sure, he's finally letting Hinata act as a leader, but she's not even directing characters that are relevant to the story. Just fodder characters... *sigh* I just want Kishimoto to treat this series seriously until the end. Until that happens, I give up on pairings.
Yeah Slex I argee with you on the animation of Sakura being a bit off, but there has been much worse (My Pain is Much Greater than Yours!).
Anyways, this chapter did also open some possibilities like if the "remaining allaince" gets pummeled before Naruto, who will Naruto save in time? Well Sakura is right there and Hinata is out directly in front, this may be a set up for something bad for Hinata. All I know is, for once Sakura being a medical ninja could be in her favor right now, if Naruto bursts into his fire arua again, maybe Sakura will instantly be enveloped in it as well getting the chakra shroud again?
And please don't tell me bleach is more interesting, I'm still trying to process this whole thing with Ichigo and Uryuu basically being cousins, I mean the series has been kinda static for a while even though Kubo did say this would be the last arc, but this last arc is also the biggest. I still find it funny how he made Aizen say, "My zanpakto is so powerful" its Aizen himself just admitting he is the king of villainous trolls in any anime. I mean at least Orochimaru and the rest of the akaksuti have been knocked off their egotistic pedestals at least once and have issues to complain with. Heck, the "big 3" jump series all have their issues for now:
Naruto- Kishi's writing seems unorthodox, it had a good steady pace till around the 5 kage summit, but then things became confusing and then Naruto and Sasuke just keep getting power bolstered. Kishi's main problem is he sets himself up for a lot of potential to use his characters but then these need to be cut short due to story pacing and timing issues. I mean look at the main problem with Sakura and team 8, Sakura has always had oppoturnities for more fights like Sasori, a fight of her facing Kabuto back in the Sasuke and Sai arc, having a more activte role in the 7 swordsmen fight (kinda like in UNS3), or facing an edo chiyo would have been good development and moments for her (heck I think that if she faced edo chiyo with Gaara, it would have been perfect for Gaara to have teamed up with the one he almost killed and return the favor to chiyo and for both of them being present to show how her actions did not go to waste. Team 8 too, aside from Kiba, no one else really had a lasting role beyond the chunin exams, Kiba at least got one fight against Sakon and Ukon but we never saw their full abilities, heck kishi could have used the land of iron and had Sakura try to apprehend Sasuke with their help just to result in the same way (Sasuke beats them, Kakashi arrives, the rest run away with Karin, only Sakura returns to help face Sasuke and she tells them the reasons why, she goes, stops trying to kill Sasuke, Sasuke almost kills her, Naruto arrives, etc). The reunion could have played out the same way, just with the Kiba, Sai, and Lee not being present when Naruto was. As for Hinata and especially shino, Hinata had many opportunities in the downtime but again, kishi just bypassed her. Shino is practically non-existent yet he is one of the most skilled (figures why they make fun of him always being forgotten in more omakes than I can remember).
One Piece- I just need to say, One piece is a very good series, one of the most epic, I love how we see these crazy lands and I love the story, the sense of adventure, its like the only manga series I can see having the potential of bridging generations kinda like the Marvel and DC heroes, my own granduncle read the stuff when he was 10, he is over 80 now! and yet he loved the 2012 avengers movie, I can see one piece doing this (but within a span of 30 years compared to 70). Anyways, I feel Oda has a few issues of his own, first 15 plus years writing a manga can take its toll, he has more breaks than the others. Next, the aspect of dragging it out is a bit much, I mean we learn about some great stuff like the void century and vegapunk, yet its been 15 years and we still know nothing about it. Its at this point, I cannot see where it will actually be worth the ending when it gets there, yet I keep reading it because I love the cast, if he did anything right, he has a good cast of main characters, however each time he adds one, its more time to keep things going and the story still has the same cycle of: 1. Arrive at an island, 2. There is trouble, 3. Pummel the bad guys, 4. Win, party, head to the next destination. Some story plots are mixed in around the sides every now and then. I mean my favorite arc was Enies lobby but it was so long, each character got their own fight for a least 3-5 chapters it seemed, people can get tired of reading. I remember first reading one piece in 2003, I was 12 back then, now I'm 23 and reading this, its practically been half my life with very little having moved forward at this point. At this rate, it feels like the series would not end until 2025, its like one arc a year with small amounts of action just starting in the background.
Bleach- I seriously cannot follow Kubo, I mean ever since Aizen was beaten, I have not really figured his methods, the X-caution arc was decent but it just continued to go one way or another. Now we are on the final arc and its nice to see the zero division but I just cannot see what the overlying message is, I mean Naruto, its about bonds and friendship, One piece its the adventure, so what about Bleach? What is the message? Or is it just another DBZ just going for enjoyment and action till it ends? I still don't see an overarching story message for DBZ, it was just action for the sake of action in my opinion, and though enjoyable, kinda dull looking back at it I mean one reason I love Naruto and One piece above DBZ is how characters actually have different powers, not just super speed, strength, and flight and shooting energy just different colors and names.
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