(no subject)

[timepiececlock]

::watches special double-episode 66-67 of Naruto::

Oh.

Crap.

This isn't going well at all.

DAMN I LOVE THIS SHOW!

Comments

Re:

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

you know... I saw your icon and didn't even notice the name until I just opened this post in my email... and I was gonna ask if you had changed your name!

I love deconstruction shows too... I already made a large post one time about how the childrend in Naruto resemble the children in the book Ender's Game.

I was fairly indifferent to him at first, but I really warmed to him after the fifth episode

I had no opinion at first either, except for thinking the mask was kinda silly, but I warmed to him after he took Naruto hostage and told Sakura to kill Sasuke, as a lesson, I think in ep 4 or 5. I remember blinking at my monitor and gaping. Then I kinda looked like Naruto when he says "He's so COOL!"

I keep getting fond of his habits of being late and reading porn, and his obvious fondness of the three of trio, but I'm equally fascinated by how he can turn cold and ruthless at the drop of a hat. The confrontation between him and Iruka when he nominated them for the Chuunin exams was wicked... "They're not your students, they're my soldiers" or whatever. It was neat because in some ways he does treat them the way that Zazuba treated Haku. I also noticed this because in the Chunnin preliminaries, he appolgizes to Gai for reprimanding him about teaching Rock Lee, a mere kid, the self-damaging technique, admitting that he would have done the same thing. Then he looks _right_at_Naruto. That scene almost gave me the creeps, because now we *know* that as much as Kakashi may like Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke... he would *totally* use them and manipulate them.

I like that Kakashi seems to have a very clear view, unclouded by naivete, of what it means to live that militaristic ninja lifestyle, and that this has definitely taken hold somewhat for team 7, as you can tell when Sakura has her epiphany during the 2nd half of the chuunin exam, and when Naruto tells Iruka not to understimate him. But Kakashi's cool because makes mistakes too, like overestimating his own strength in certain situations, like with Oro-what's-his-name and Sasuke.

Despite his popularity, he didn't even seem to have any close friends before Naruto and Sakura. His friendship with them seems to have done him well.

I like how that's been developing too. He might not think of them as "friends" but at least he recognizes them as valuable comerades now, and worthy of his consideration, at least. I loved the whole thing in the Forest of Death or whatever when tehy met Oro-what's-his-name, and Sasuke gave up the scroll and then was surprised by Naruto's reaction... and then that an Sakura's reprimand triggered Sasuke to grow and not think of himself for once. Plus, Naruto stopping that snake thing was tres awesome.

I also like Shikumaru and Rock Lee a lot. Lee is--well, when you first see him, he's this enormous dork with freaky eyebrows and haircut. But he grows on you. And Gai-sensei is hilarious. :)

I've grown to love Shikamaru too. And Ino, surprisingly. None of the characters are quite so one-dimensional as they seem at first... you'd think that Ino is going to be a ranty bitch who's story purpose is to contrast with Sakura... and it turns out that Ino is not that at all, and that Sakura started their rivalry. And Shikamaru seems boring, but he's actually so laid-back that you can't help but like him.

Rock Lee I was put-offf by at first... except that he's such a great comic character, that I learned to love him too. And you respect him just like Sakura and Naruto learn too. I love Gai-sensei, because the by-play between him and Lee is so funny, since they live in this exitable little deluded world together. Also is his "eternal rivalry" with Kakashi.

I noticed that it was with the exams that suddenly the story really moved beyond just Naruto, and into the whole village. It's been getting better and more interesting with that.

The icon lyrics are from the second opening theme, near the end. I loved that opening best (in terms of both music and animation), and I loved the first ending theme best.

Re:

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nepthys_/]

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<i<I keep getting fond of his habits of being late and reading porn, and his obvious fondness of the three of trio, but I'm equally fascinated by how he can turn cold and ruthless at the drop of a hat. </i>

Yep, he seems to be a good man, but one who can be very unsentimental and coldly practical at times. He wouldn't *like* using his students as tools, but he'd do it in a heartbeat.

<i>I also noticed this because in the Chunnin preliminaries, he appolgizes to Gai for reprimanding him about teaching Rock Lee, a mere kid, the self-damaging technique, admitting that he would have done the same thing. Then he looks _right_at_Naruto. </i>

Scenes like that make me nervous because Naruto is a show where a LOT is foreshadowed early on. Makes me wonder if we'll see him do something similar to Naruto later on.

<i>I've grown to love Shikamaru too. And Ino, surprisingly. None of the characters are quite so one-dimensional as they seem at first...</i>

I should admit that I didn't like Sakura much at first either, but she turned out to have far more depth than I had given her credit for. So, nowadays I try to wait a little before judging a character -- almost everyone seems to become more likeable/three-dimensional with time.

<i>And Shikamaru seems boring, but he's actually so laid-back that you can't help but like him.</i>

Yeah, he seemed a little bit of a chauvinist at first (he only fought because he didn't want to be beaten by a girl *g*) but he's a really nice, laid-back guy. I hope we see more of him.

<i>I noticed that it was with the exams that suddenly the story really moved beyond just Naruto, and into the whole village. It's been getting better and more interesting with that.</i>

*nods* There are only so many storylines you can do with just the trio. And Naruto has grown a lot as a result of interacting with all the new characters. It's like there's a lesson imparted with every character -- for example, Haku and Zabuza strengthened his resolve not to become an emotionless tool just because convention said so. Neiji was all about how there's no such thing as fate, you make your own destiny. And so on.

<i>The icon lyrics are from the second opening theme, near the end. I loved that opening best
(in terms of both music and animation), and I loved the first ending theme best.</i>

Yep, Naruto has an incredible soundtrack. "Sorrow and sadness" is especially beautiful, but I love all the theme songs and instrumental scores.