Life and SnK reviews

I’ve been away for a little while, and I can’t say a whole lot of blog-worthy material has been on my mind lately, but I wanted to drop at least a few lines here…
NARUTO Gaiden ended about a week or so ago, and the monthly chapter for SNK (Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan) came out last Thursday!!!
It was a good read and had some great Hanji moments.
Since I haven’t mentioned it before, I’ll take some time to talk about SNK.

Shingeki no Kyojin is amazing.

My family and I were living in Japan when it exploded into popularity (SnK was serialized in 2009, but didn’t become hugely popular until 2013 where it was the second highest selling manga series of the year, with 15,933,801 copies sold in a single year. O_o)
I wasn’t interested at first and originally thought it was ‘too dark’ and ‘pointless’ but in 2014 I decided to give it a second chance.  Definitely one of the best reading choices EVER.

I’m sure a lot of people have heard of Attack on Titan and (if you aren’t engrossed in it) you’re probably wondering what the big deal is anyway.  It’s just a bunch of huge naked humans eating regular humans, right?
Haha well, I thought that too at first…so let me share some interesting things about SnK that play a huge part in why I personally LOVE it.

**SNK is about humanity’s struggle to survive, but it’s not an endgame story.  There is actual hope in it and even though a lot of people die, it’s a story focused on overcoming inner weakness and outer challenges.

**George Wada, the anime’s producer, stated that the “Wall of Fear” was influenced by the isolated and enclosed nature of Japanese culture

**He also said that the inner feelings of every individual is one of the series’ main influences

**Many have analyzed Attack on Titan as representing “the hopelessness felt by young people in today’s society.”  (It’s basically about our generation and the things we are facing.  I would go into just how deep that is, but that would take up an entire book and require a lot of explanation of the Japanese mindset/culture…which a lot of foreigners can’t understand…)

I’m running short on time now, but I will cover more in future posts.  You can bet on it because I am very much invested in the story.
(Also, Hajime Isayama-san, the manga-ka for Shingeki no Kyojin has the same birthday as me…August 29th…)

Until next time then, I hope you’ll consider looking into reading Attack on Titan!!

First Post and…Batman?!

This is my first post! I honestly thought I would be talking about something anime or manga related, but I’m typing this as I watch the first episode of “Beware the Batman”, so I guess I’ll be talking about Batman!
So far, I think it’s really interesting. It’s about time we have a batman that does a lot of detective work instead of just fighting!!

Downsides:
~The opening doesn’t really seem like it fits all that well, but that’s just personal preference
~I miss Kevin Conroy’s voice as batman, this one’s voice seems really grumpy…again, a matter of preference, so this can’t really be counted as a downside
~Alfred has evolved from the gentleman butler we all loved him for and has turned into a beat-em-up ex-spy…WHYYYYY????!!!!
~The Villains aren’t any of the big names! This is a plus-minus benefit/downside, it’s nice to see new people from the rogues-gallery, but I wasn’t at all impressed with professor Pig and Mr. Toad
~Bruce and Alfred obviously argue a lot!
~Commissioner Gordon seems really grumpy
~It’s CG which makes it a little hard to watch
~All the voice actors have the same voice quality (The girls are the only ones that seem to have variety and even then, their voices are much the same)

Upsides:
-Batman is has a smaller build and doesn’t seem so bulky. This results in a more acrobatic Batman that looks [and is] a lot more maneuverable. YAY!!!
-Though he seems really grumpy, Bruce Wayne has some really good character developmental moments (especially at the end); at first he’s mad at Alfred for always trying to take care of Batman as well as Bruce, but in the end he admits that he doe need help.
-Batman does more detective work than most of the other animated series that exist
-There are a lot of criminology / psychology / forensic elements in there (They did their research!) and I find those elements really enjoyable!!
-Tatsu is an interesting addition
–The episode plots move quickly and thus you don’t get bored
-Despite the previously mentioned arguing of Alfred and Bruce, they are both good friends.
-Overall, this show is awesome!

Best Quotes:
“Oh didn’t I tell you? I’m the Butler” -Alfred

“Are you crazy? If we had still been in there, we would have died!!”
“Yes, You would have”
Stag and Batman’s “conversation”

Over all rating: WORTH WATCHING!!
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to watch a decent Batman show…at first I was skeptical, but with encouragement from my brother (a die-hard batman fan) I decided to give it a try.  I’m really glad I did too, if you love Batman, this is a MUST

-The MANGA Doctor

Chapter 6: Not Sasuke-kun..!!

(Notice on the cover, that the scroll beneath the one saying “Shinobi” says “Tora”, even though they’re doing the sign for Hitsuji.)

I don’t have any insights to share on this chapter, it runs fairly shallow in character development…though there are some fairly good moments as well.

I love how Kishimoto-sensei explains as he goes (and sometimes refreshes later). That was it’s easier to keep track of what you’re learning.

 

We get a small taste of Sasuke’s inner monologue on page 5…

[Right] I love Naruto’s face right here:  At this early point in the series, Kishimoto-sensei seems to be using these kind of “animated” faces a lot…as his style and story matures, you’ll start seeing less and less of them.

It’s amazing how optimistic Naruto is; (it comes from the Senju blood in his veins no doubt.) he seriously thought Kakashi dropped a bell because he was “desperate to escape”.
It is a wonder that Naruto didn’t bang his head on the tree when he was flopping around.  Most of us probably would have… 

In this chapter, we really see what Kakashi meant when he said that girls Sakura’s age are more interested in boys than Ninjutsu…this training exercise was nothing more than a chance to follow Sasuke around…

The training exercise chapters are the most boring for me; it could be because I’ve watched them a number of times and read them even more that that, I’m not sure.  As I’ve mentioned before, there isn’t that much character depth or background at all…

Best quote from this chapter (It’s been a few years since I last saw this episode with my siblings, and we still quote this part)
Kakashi: “A Shinobi must see the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings”
Naruto: “I get it!”
Kakashi: “No, I’m telling you this because you don’t get it. You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it…get it?”

 

Chapter 5: Carelessness is your worst enemy

 I love the cover for this chapter…punk Naruto; it’s a good look

 This chapter is a little slow on character development, we only really see Naruto’s affirmation of wanting to be acknowledged, but there are some pretty good moments.

 

 Kakashi didn’t go after Sakura  even when she shouted out where she was. Oh, well..at least he got her good later *wink*

“The only thing weird is your hair cut!” This one makes me laugh every time…such a great comeback (I wonder what Kakashi felt about it…)

1,000 years of death is just another jutsu that could have been done without…-_-*

Can Kakashi…not read those books?  It ruins his image…with all those shameful expressions *face-palm*…at least someone was being serious; well, 2 someones, but one of them was in the water at that point.

I really wonder how surprised Kakashi actually was by Naruto’s kage-bunshin sneak attack, it sure seemed to have surprised everyone else  Sasuke actually complemented Naruto on his “Nice plan”…but it wasn’t so nice in the end, was it? Ouch…that punch must have hurt.

As I said in the beginning; this chapter doesn’t really have that much character development or philosophy. 

Though I did notice one thing…

Does this raging blond remind you of a different raging blond?

  I thought so…

Chapter 4: Hatake Kakashi!

 This is another one of the “defining” chapters.  Not that the entire course of the story would have changed without Kakashi, but the feeling would be very different.  Kakashi is a rather special character.
This chapter cover is really cool, and it parallels the Sanin later.  Kishimoto-sensei really does plan ahead.

Let’s talk about graffiti for a moment…in the US, when you like someone you normally write something like “So-&-so likes so-&-so” but in Japan you normally write two names under an arrow pointing up (symbolizing a house) like this:
 Apparently Ken likes Unagi…whether the Unagi they’re talking about is Eel or a girl, I don’t know.  The kanji for ken is “Inu” [dog], but assuming it’s a boy’s name, it would be read “Ken”

Introductions…just as Sakura said, you really don’t learn anything about Kakashi, do you?  And then it was everyone else’s turn. I can’t help but feel that Naruto’s desire to be Hokage started off as a selfish reason (to be acknowledged by everyone) and then grew into something more outward in nature; like wanting to bring peace to the world of Shinobi and create his own Ninja way.
Let me get this strait…Sakura though Sasuke wanting to kill someone was… cool?? Kakashi said it best…”Girls her age are more interested in love than ninjutusu”.
Then there’s this panel:  Sasuke is blushing! See? he does have a clue (though apparently he looses this “clue”/sense later)…he looks really uncomfortable there…and poor Naruto, I though Sakura said she would be nice to him, but that was a confession of hate.

In Japan (at least where I am) the spring time and early summer is really windy, I think this carries into Konoha a lot, there almost always seems to be a breeze.

It seems laughable now, but if you think about it, the fact that the three of them could have been sent right back to the academy was a serious threat…at least to Naruto and Sasuke.

There’s really nothing to be said about the last few pages of this chapter, except that up until this point, Sasuke’s facial expression has pretty much remained the same (I suppose this is why people mistake him for emo?).  He was completely unimpressed by Kakashi until he stopped Naruto’s attack before he said “go” and then, we get to see this face: 
He looks so excited! Smug little brat isn’t he? but we love him

I wonder if, when Kishimoto-sensei wrote this chapter, he knew that the phrase Sasuke would speak during his introduction would later define the rest of the series.  “A certain someone I want to kill” At this point the readers were either thinking “This guy has serious issues” or  you were like Sakura and went “cool”.  If you consider the little things in this chapter, it has fairly big developmental value…like meeting Kakashi and seeing a little bit of the troubles behind O.L.B.B (Our Local Brooding Boy).

There aren’t many people who hated Kakashi on sight…quite the opposite, actually, he was/is quite popular and it’s easy to see why; he’s a very interesting character with a lot of quirks that all play into his back story.  One of the biggest ones is he’s always late…this seems like a flaw, but later, when you find out the reason for his constant tardiness you discover that he is late because he visits Obito’s grave every morning.
He has an easy-going personality and yet he is strong about what he firmly believes in (Teamwork and Protecting comrades)…

I’ll talk more about this in my next review: Chapter 5: Carelessness is your Worst enemy!!

 

Chapter 3: Uchiha Sasuke!!

I’m going to call this the chapter that changed everything…if it weren’t for Sasuke, Naruto wouldn’t have a rival and the series probably would not have gotten as far as it has.
This chapter doesn’t have that much character development/philosophy either, except for the conversation in front of the bench, so I’m just going to give the little tidbits of trivia that I gleaned.
I didn’t notice it the first time I read this chapter, but the little black bird in the cover that’s wearing a headband? It’s pretty cute!
Of course everyone saw the Masashi Kishimoto sign on page 4. Pretty hard to miss

Konoha’s grocery store must be an interesting place…given that there is an angry cow on Naruto’s milk carton.  It kind of looks like inner Sakura, doesn’t it?  

Sakura’s skirt was short in the manga, with her pants long.  I really liked the anime version better, with the shorts and longer skirt, it seems more balanced.

p. 7 Those 3 girls? Temari, Neji and Ino…it’s not, but that girl really looks like Neji…
For 12, Sasuke has a serious issues…no really, I love him to death, but he has problems.  (Deep problems, as you’ll find out later, but we’re not going to go into that yet).

I’m not going to go into the infamous scene too much since the whole thing is awkward, but that guy has a really strong elbow (and he’s completely clueless).

Is the balance on the teams a universal; “smart” “useless” and “so-so” Combo? [sorry Sakura] Because I kind of want to know how team 8 balanced out.  I don’t dislike Hinata, and I’m not trying to pick on her, but she was not that good in part one…whatever they did, it seemed to work out pretty well, the chemistry in the team was pretty good.

Page 14: Let me pick on Sasuke for a moment (since you all know that’s who I love to talk about)…if He’s so smart, how on earth did he fall for the simple rope trick?  Then again, it was an ambush…with shadow clones.  Speaking of which, a lot of Sasuke’s lines in the English dub are hilarious. For example; in the 3rd episode (the one corresponding with this chapter) when he and Naruto had their encounter in front of the bathroom, he counters Naruto’s use of Shadow clone Jutsu with a quite annoyed “Ugh, That Jutsu again?”…yes, sometimes Sasuke does act like the pre-teen he actually is.

 Does Sakura remember “Fake Sasuke” as “Real Sasuke”? because if she does…awkward…for both of them, even though Sasuke doesn’t know what happened, it’s still decidedly awkward.

When it comes to love, Naruto must be as dense as Sakura. She clearly DOES NOT LIKE HIM, and yet he STILL is going after her.  And this is Sakura we’re talking about…she’s known to be violent.

Sasuke actually went to tell the rest of his team that it was time to go, for a guy who was saying “that’s way too many people” several minutes ago, why did he even bother? that was the moment he could be like; if I go to class and they’re not there, maybe I’ll get advanced special training.  Does he think about that? Nope.

p.21 I think this scene was one of the major “Naruto and Sasuke Friendship” development moments…This is where Sasuke acknowledges the similarities between his and Naruto’s pain which results in Sakura deciding to change her attitude towards Naruto. (The anime scene goes into a little more conversation, but the manga makes sense.)  You could almost say it was the first step in team 7 uniting…or rather, the first thing that showed potential  of them uniting.

This concludes this weeks review, stay tuned for the next one (and the Konoha High School post that will be coming soon!)

-The Narutoologist

Chapter 2: Konohamaru

This seems to be one of the chapters that could be skipped, I consider it “omake” (Extra) and not really conducive to the story.  A brief synopsis of the chapter would go something like this: Some strange kid is trying to kill his grandpa, because he thinks that becoming Hokage is some kind of succession program.  Sorry Konohamaru…it’s not, and even if it was, you’re one generation too late…                                                                                      All of this being said, I’ll move on to the more trivial stuff!
If you notice, the buildings on top of the Hokage Monument, the one on top of the first Hokage looks like a hat…this isn’t important or really that funny…but I noticed.

As you go through NARUTO, you’ll notice that most of what Kishimoto-sensei puts in his story is a homage to the “future” [i.e.later chapters] A prime example of this is Naruto’s pseudo war paint of the first page….it looks a lot like his sennin [sage]-mode later.

I’m not going to pretend that I am a fan of Ebisu, I really think he’s weird, so this review will not be very kind to him…if he is half the ninja he claims to be, why can’t he stop Konohamaru?

Again we see Kishimoto Sensei’s insight when the 3rd Hokage is looking at the 4th Hokage’s statue before we even find out they were related.  I always had a suspicion that they were related, and then there was an “aha!” moment when the suspicion was confirmed.
According to Ebisu, you have to master 1000 jutsu before becoming Hokage…I do wonder if this is actually true or if it goes along with the rest of his lies.

The last 2 pages of the Manga are what make this chapter worth while.  Naruto is very deep for a 12 year old and it was moments like these that made me keep reading!

Chapter 1: UZUMAKI NARUTO

To start, I’m going to make a note about the fact that the first episode was titled “Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!” in english but in the Japanese it’s supposed to be Uzumaki Naruto, since in Japan the last name comes before the first name…this is common knowledge, but I just wanted to point it out just in case someone didn’t know.

If you haven’t read NARUTO yet then this chapter review is not for you.  This isn’t a synopsis, it is filled with small bits of trivia and comments that you will not be able to fully enjoy unless you have read or at least watched NARUTO

That being said, let’s move on to the real stuff…most of this is my observations from reading the chapter, later on when we know more about the Characters I will share my philosophies and theories and [sometimes] give character analysis.

According to the Shinobi who informed the 3rd Hokage that Naruto was painting the statues, the “little rascal” has done it before…everyday, in fact if you see page 5.  So when did he fit in all of his “training?” Did he just stay up really late every night? Or is the actual reason he started as a dunce was because he spent so much time on art instead of Jutsu…    
Here’s some more food for thought; they said that Naruto failed the last 2 graduations before the start of the series…so when did Sasuke graduate? Isn’t he better than Naruto?…Actually, I do wonder if the academy is set up in a way that everyone who graduated has to wait a certain period of time before they are assigned a sensei…because if I think about it, you don’t see any of the “Rookie 9” until the 3rd chapter where everyone has gathered in the classroom to await assignments…this isn’t really important to the story, so we’ll move on.

Naruto puts a LEAF on his head to concentrate before hitting us with the “Jutsu-that-should-not-be-named-or-remembered” I promise you will see this later! (Not the Jutsu…though unfortunately you will…I was talking about the leaf)

Naruto fails the graduation and feels like Iruka was picking on him (he really wasn’t…though as pointed out by the 3rd Hokage afterwards, he was probably holding a grudge against Naruto because of the whole Kyuubi thing).  So Mizuki tells Naruto all about this scroll that is top-secret and Naruto sneaks into the Hokage’s secret vault to steal it.  HOW?? apparently he took down the 3rd with his extreme pervy Jutsu…which is great and all (not) but the 3rd can live with the shame? How can he call himself Hokage after that one?

Konoha is supposed to be one of the greatest and strongest villages in the 5 great countries…this must be true, because they really don’t scramble to do anything…it took half a day for them to organize a proper group to search for the scroll (and Naruto).  What happened? was Kakashi SO crucial to this search that they had to wait for him? I can just image it; “He’s late again!!!” and then he’d show up and be like “Sorry I’m late…I seemed to have overslept” or something like that…=_=*

I really think Iruka is one of the best characters in the series, he had such a big heart, and he was willing to set aside his hate for the 9 tail fox and protect Naruto. He wad the first one to acknowledge Naruto in the series.  The scene where he jumps in front of Mizuki’s attack was one of the most touching in the manga, and when to told Mizuki that Naruto was his important student…I think if it wasn’t for his acceptance, Naruto would have become a totally different person…

“Yeah… the monster fox would do that… but Naruto is different. I’ve acknowledged him as… one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker… and he is clumsy and no one accepts him… but he already knows what it is to feel pain inside your heart. He isn’t the monster fox. He is a member of the Konohagakure. He’s Naruto Uzumaki!”  -Iruka

In this chapter we learn of the setting that NARUTO will be taking place, we learn of a basic structure and a little bit of history, government and ambitions.  There is a villain who is ultimately beaten by good, and we are introduced to Naruto’s soon to be signature “I’ll protect those who are my friends no matter what” and “My dream is to become Hokage! to be acknowledged by everyone instead of being looked down on!”  It’s really a wonderful dream Naruto…

I hope you enjoyed my first review, because we’re in for many more! NARUTO really is a great series, it’s become my life as I’ve grown to understand the characters more and more.  If you care to join me on my quest to share the philosophical and emotional deepness of NARUTO, please follow my blog and bring along your friends!