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Posted by QUOTE (Smiter @ Feb 23 2005, 05:41 AM)
I mean, who knew that the bickering Ino and Sakura in Chapter 3 were actually best friends once? Kishi revealed the past between Sakura and Ino in the Chuunin Exam - we were in the fifties by then. The characters and relationships were slowly fleshed out in Part 1, so I expect the same with Part 2, especially where the missing years are concerned.
This is because Sakura was largely an object that could talk before Ino came along and gave her some history. We knew about Sasuke and Naruto from like, minute one. But Sakura had no characterization or history until Ino showed up and gave her some.
I still look at the first, what 20 or so episodes, what encapsulate the Wave Country Arc as Stand-Alone. I don't think that Kishimoto knew if his series would go on for any longer than one season. Most anime don't. Sometimes that's a good thing. *cough*Evangelion*cough*
But you can see a marked difference in the style between Part 1, the wave country and everything before it, and the real Part 2, the Chuunin exam and everything after it. Now we're entering Part 3, 2.5 Years Later.
The first season was fine on its own. It started, it ended with a concept, and it proved Naruto's way of thinking to be the right one, morally and ethically. It ended on a high-note, with all the characters walking across the bridge that was named in Naruto's honor.
That jilting ending that doesn't really end is very common in anime. Large things never get settled, evils aren't always fought. That's the way anime works. It's not as formula-driven as American media, and that's why I like it.
The Wave Country Arc was sweet and charming in a way that Naruto hasn't been since. I remember watching Orochimaru Mind Blast Sakura and Sasuke with images of their own grisly death and thinking 'Man, this sure took a dark turn.'
I point to the encapsulated concept by mentioning that in part 1, we had seven characters. Iruka, Konohamaru, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sandaime. Those were the main people representative of Naruto's world. You could count Inari, I guess, but he's not a main character and more of a plot device. Much as Zabuza and Haku were just sort of villians. They're not important in this comparison.
But as soon as the chuunin exam rolls around, we get nine more genin. The anime/manga even takes the time to stop and have Naruto voice-over a description of each rookie. That's the only time that's ever happened. My point is that Naruto goes from having the listed seven characters to more than tripling the cast of Konoha Ninja.
Part 1 didn't use the secondary characters like Chouji, Ino, Asuma, Shikamaru, Kiba and so forth because Kishimoto didn't expect to have time to flesh them out. Ever. But as soon as he gets the green-light to make more, the first thing he does is have a 'Tell everyone your name' session.
