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The next five episodes, IIRC. Episode 132 was the end of that arc. I dreaded it, but oddly, it made Itachi an interesting character to me for once. It wasn't a complete waste of my time to watch, I suppose.

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I just finished 129. I have up to 132.

Like in the manga, I enjoyed the confrontation between Itachi and the cops and his father.

I think I find Itachi more interesting when Sasuke's not invovled, or if he's just shunted off to the side, in a corner.

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Do you think that Kishimoto's ever going to redeem that little bastard? I never was a real fan of the character, I simply tolerated him, and was semi-interested in SasuSaku (not lately, though, because of his asshattery) ...but now? Pfft. Rot in hell.

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I think Sasuke probably will be redeemed eventually, much the way Gaara was, but I'm with you on the "rot in hell" thing. I think he will eventually because Naruto's philosophy of love & peace & everyone gets a second, third, and 50th chance is such a theme in the series so far.

I'd be interested to see if Naruto at 15-16 has a more realist view on the Sasuke situation than Naruto at 12-13 did, but somehow I doubt Kishimoto's going to take it in that direction. I imagine Naruto will be thinking he can redeem Sasuke for the rest of their lives.

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Is it just me, or does Chibi!Sasuke sound kind of like Lee?

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Somewhat. I was mostly taken aback that he sounded like a little boy for once.

On a related note, I dunno if I could ever watch the Bleach anime. The guy who voices Sasuke (Noriaki Sugiyama) does the voice for one of my favorite characters, Ishida. Yeah, that wouldn't go over too well.

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I watched two episodes of Bleach and was unimpressed.

I keep trying to get into the manga, but it's stops and starts and I have a powerful disinterest. It's weird, because it should be exactly the kind of show I'd like-- action, humor, supernatural stuff. But for some reason I don't like it and when I watch or read it I just keep seeing all these other series it looks like it ripped off. Like an amalgamation of imitations that, while it may be good as a whole, just bothers me for being too much like stuff I've already seen.

And... you totally didn't need a rant there, sorry.

One of these days I'll get further into the manga, probably. Maybe over the summer.

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The manga's beginning to confuse the hell out of me the last few chapters. Actually, it's pissing me off. Mostly, it's in relation to one character and how perfect and immaculate his "master plan" is. But my full rant wouldn't make sense without a frame of reference. :)

If you're not able to get into it now, I don't know how you're gonna handle 100 chapters of "The Longest Rescue Mission In The History of Rescue Missions". I've said it before and I'll say it again - if I kept with the domestic released, I'd have dropped that manga by about volume ... 8 or 9. And I was digging the series from the start.

It's weird because

authenticpoppy had a big discussion today about why she can't "get into" FMA like the rest of us and how, while I like to watch Ghost In The Shell, I'm not as invested in it as she is.

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while I like to watch Ghost In The Shell, I'm not as invested in it as she is.

I don't even "like to watch" it. I don't dislike it either. If it's on tv I might watch it, but I'm just as likely to totally ignore it. GitS just... does nothing for me. I didn't get irritated at it like I did at Bleach, I just find it kind of boring. And...cold. Remote. Vaguely off-putting.

I have only watched about 5 episodes though, all at different points in the show.

It is interesting what some people get into and others don't. For example, I couldn't stand Utena. I watched about 9 or 10 episodes of it and it just did nothing for me. And I had serious issues with the gender themes presented in those early episodes (though I'm told ultimately it's redeeming in that way), and I didn't like the animation.

And yet, lots of people on my flist love it.

Likewise, I adored FB, and some people don't get attached to that at all.

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GitS: SAC is one that I take an episode at a time. I love looking at the animation and the music is fantastic, plus, I can multi-task when I'm watching the DVD as the dub is excellent. Something I like to watch when I'm in the mood, but as for being as involved in the storyline and characters like FMA? Oh, hell no.

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I agree the music is quality. I especially like the ending theme song. I'm amazed by how Yoko Kanno is Japanese but she can write these songs in English with lyrics that sound like they're coming from someone who's not only fluent in English-- but poetically fluent. There's such a difference between understanding a foreign language and being able to write creatively with it.

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Mostly, it's in relation to one character and how perfect and immaculate his "master plan" is.

Heh. That made me think of Nakago from Fushigi Yuugi. He didn't irritate me at all-- I respected/hated his character much the way I respected/hated Envy on FMA's character-- but he did have very immaculate, flawless plans. Only it was scary instead of annoying because even when his plans went wrong he could adapt so easily and ruthlessly and he made no mistakes. He just didn't make them. Everything that did go wrong always happened because of outside influences that couldn't possibly have been accounted for, not because of any flaws in his plans.

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This goes far, far beyond anything Nakago did in FY. This guy's plan is so well done, he had not only his own moves planned out, but the moves of about 10 other characters that he didn't know from Adam. "Oh, I did this because I knew you couldn't go here and you'd have to go there. Then, I knew so and so would do this ..." That kind of stuff. It feels way too clean and precise, even for the Captain of a Division.

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oohh, I see the "I'm so clever I'm practically omnicient" villain. I hate it when characters go past believability like that.

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That'd be it. It was bad enough when he was just an asshat, now he's transcended shinigami to become a god!

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Sasuke, you little shithead. Usings that stupid wire & flame thing against my babyninja?! You little shithead.

That was my reaction, too. Really, that's my reaction to everything Sasuke does at this point. I was prepared to forgive Sasuke a lot of shithead behavior when he finally betrayed them, but hurting Naruto both physically and emotionally? No. That I cannot overlook so easily.

: I suppose next episode is gonna be all about chibiSasuke angst, isn't it? Maybe I'll skip it.

I wasn't looking forward to the chibiSasuke angst, either. But the episodes were well done, I thought. I was actually much more interested in it in the anime than I was when I read the manga. The funny thing was that they didn't change my feelings about Sasuke at all; I'm still just as annoyed with him now as I was when I got to this part in the manga. What the flashback episodes did was make me more interested in Itachi, which may or may not be a good thing. I'm really not sure if that's what they were supposed to do, but that was my reaction to them.

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Hurting Naruto emotionally doesn't bug me, since Sasuke's always done that... and Naruto doesn't see the mocking as anything new. But hurting Naruto physically, with such deliberateness... that's doing the kind of emotional damage that words never could. Sasuke's words have no effect on Naruto's attitude. But the idea that Sasuke would deliberately set out to harm his teammate--- that's the way to hurt Naruto's trust.

I also find myself more interested in Itachi watching this than I was in the manga. Especially the scene with the police. I'd like to know more about what triggered Itachi down the path of crazyness. Obviously it started when he joined the ANBU, or close to that time. Gotta wonder what exactly happened (or didn't happen) that started his new life philosophy of self improvement through patricide.

I'm halfway through 130 now. I might stop after this episode, and do 131 & 132 tomorrow.

Another thought in watching the anime: Sasuke's lucky he looks like his mom. Cause his dad's not that great and neither is Itachi.

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Another thought in watching the anime: Sasuke's lucky he looks like his mom. Cause his dad's not that great and neither is Itachi.

That struck me, too, how much Sasuke favors his mother.

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I don't remember noticing that in the manga... they probably emphasized it when doing the character design of his mother for the anime. It's just a nice bit of detail, artistically. I appreciate details like that.

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I never noticed it in the manga either. His mother is so ... nice. Obviously the boy took after her until the mass Clan slaughter. That mini-flashback arc (which seemed to last forever when it was in the manga - gah!) was the one time when I wanted to give that poor kid a big hug.

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Obviously the boy took after her until the mass Clan slaughter.

He certainly seemed to have a genuinely sweet disposition... until his family started to fall apart. Judging by the way he was acting at the Academy, it looks like the situation in their home was starting to affect Sasuke even before the mass slaughter.

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But hurting Naruto physically, with such deliberateness... that's doing the kind of emotional damage that words never could.

Yes, that's what I meant. I just put it badly. :)

Though, I do think the cruelest thing Sasuke has ever done was the whole "Naruto, I consider you my best friend. ...So I have to kill you" thing. That was just...so, so wrong. Because, Naruto, who spent almost all of his childhood alone, had never heard that from anyone. And Sasuke says it, and then turns it into something ugly. And that bothers me. A lot.

Especially the scene with the police. I'd like to know more about what triggered Itachi down the path of crazyness.

Yes, exactly! I want to know! I have lots of theories, but since we know so little about Itachi aside from what we've seen through Sasuke's eyes, it's hard to know how right any of them are.

Sasuke's lucky he looks like his mom. Cause his dad's not that great and neither is Itachi.

Hee! Yes. There's one image of Itachi in episode...131, I think it is...that I thought was really pretty (in an evil way). But overall he'd be prettier if he didn't have those weird lines on his face like his dad did.

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I have lots of theories, but since we know so little about Itachi aside from what we've seen through Sasuke's eyes, it's hard to know how right any of them are.

I'd love to see some of them. Have you posted any up yet?

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I posted this after watching episode 131

That's all I've posted in LJ. I've talked about some of my other theories in IM conversations with Kawy and a couple of others. I'm not sure if I saved them, though. I kind of hope I did, because it would have been stupid of me if I didn't.

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Thank you! I shall respond at another time, when I'm not so bloody tired. I have a few comments of my own I'd like to toss out there for the "newly interested in Itachi, who aren't squealing fangirls".

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Very cool. I'd love to read your comments and ideas about Itachi. It's nice not to be the only one on my friends list coming up with Itachi theories, because I really enjoy reading what others have to say about these things. Speculation is fun.

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Though, I do think the cruelest thing Sasuke has ever done was the whole "Naruto, I consider you my best friend. ...So I have to kill you" thing. That was just...so, so wrong. Because, Naruto, who spent almost all of his childhood alone, had never heard that from anyone. And Sasuke says it, and then turns it into something ugly. And that bothers me. A lot.

Yeah. That hurt. It's such a perversion of what true friendship is about.

And it's particularly cruel, as you said, because Naruto has never had that before.

I think

octopedingenue said something once when reading the manga, something like the whole betrayal hurts so badly because Sasuke doesn't understand that once he jumped in front of Naruto and "died" to save him on the bridge in Wave Country, at that moment Naruto loved Sasuke as a friend/comerade and would forever. That made Sasuke one of Naruto's "precious persons," and after that Naruto would go to the ends of the earth for him. Because Naruto hasn't had anyone do that for him before-- not another kid, one of his peers (Iruka jumped in front of a blade to save Naruto in episode 1, but Iruka is not Naruto's peer). Sasuke doesn't realize that he has Naruto's total loyalty for that one act, and he doesn't understand how powerful Naruto's loyalty is.

And Naruto doesn't understand how someone who could jump in front of dozens of deadly needles to save the life of a teammate could turn around and betray the whole concept of their team and throw away everything it means.

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Yeah. That hurt. It's such a perversion of what true friendship is about.

*nods* Yes, exactly.

And, yes. That's a good point about Sasuke not understanding the depth of Naruto's loyalty. And Naruto not understanding that someone could betray them all like Sasuke did. I don't know. There are times when I feel so, so bad for Sasuke and his complete lack of understanding of love and loyalty. But then, obviously, I get really angry at him, too. Because GAH! He was just so MEAN.

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I am now replying to your edits. :)

You know, hearing that Itachi graduated at age 7, could use the sharingan at age 8, became a chuunin at age 10, and an ANBU at 12...doesn't really seem right, if he'd only been an ANBU for a little while before things started to go downhill fast. At least not in terms of how they animated it. He looks about 15-16 in these flashbacks, maybe even 17.

Itachi was supposed to have been 13 when he killed his clan. I agree with you that he looked older, though. Especially in the anime. He looks a little closer to what his age is supposed to be in the manga, I think. But still...I was surprised to find out he was so young.

And, you know, chuunin with the sharingan at 10 is cool, but it's not as cool as chuunin at 6 without a sharingan.

Hah! That is so true!

Someone should sit Sasuke down and tell him how disappointed his dad would be in his recent life-changing decisions.

That's occurred to me, too. It's like someone needs to say to him, "You know that clan you want to avenge so bad? They would not like what you're doing right now."

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Itachi was supposed to have been 13 when he killed his clan.

Ahh. Well, that fits with the other stuff. Guess they just didn't really think it through very well when they did the animation.

That is so true!

Three random cheers for Kakashi coolness! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

...Sasuke doesn't appreciate how lucky he was to have Kakashi as his teacher and focusing on him especially.

"You know that clan you want to avenge so bad? They would not like what you're doing right now."

No kidding. His mom doesn't look like she'd approve of him hurting a fly, and his dad... well his dad told him expressly NOT to be like Itachi. And here goes Sasuke, following in his brother's footsteps.

What also sucks is that Sasuke seems to have lost his respect for the clan, as well. He obviously hates Itachi for killing them all, but part of Sasuke's obsession with passing Itachi is wrapped up in the assumption that some part of Itachi's theory that the clan was weak must have been right. Like, in Sasuke's eyes, the fact that Itachi *could* kill them all (and kill their noble, strong father) proves that Itachi was right after all.

And that's sad. To have Sasuke be brainwashed so much that he's not just willing to become evil to hunt evil, but that he's also fallen so far as to partly believe in the evil he's hunting.

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