Started Strong But.......

Written by Ginji015 on September 6, 2011 at 2:41 PM

I've watched Naruto from the beginning and loved how the series developed all the characters. The action in the battles were astonishing and strategic between the characters, showing how fighters utilize their surroundings and abilities to their utmost potential. However the show has deviated from certain foundations that made it so intuitive and interesting.

The story has lost in flare in that now it just highlights the majority of everything from the perspective of one character (Naruto). Other characters such as Lee or Shikamaru barely get any showtime to express their views on the war that is taking place let alone some action time where they showcase some old skills and maybe 1 or 2 new techniques. When watching Naruto now it's like getting the same repetitive content: flashbacks, long conversations, and an argument here and there.

The fighting scenes have become stagnant. Once again there is barely in fighting now and when it does show itself, it is not that great. You'll get a few new jutsus and that's about it to hold until the next. Us Naruto fans are getting the bare minimum content now since the fillers and Shippudden series. Think about it, during the Kakashi and Zabuza fight, they battled it out using jutsus in creative ways while using the terrain to their advantage as well. Even during the Chunnin Exams with the Shikamaru vs the Fan girl I think terrain, positioning, and timing played a key role in that battles outcome. Now the battle scenes are all about Naruto's repetitive shadow clones and rasengan antics. OH WOW he made the ball bigger and razors......so what it's still the same technique with new design and a bigger blast radius. In essence I think the entertainment for the has just become average if not poor.

The animation is good and always has, so I have no complaints regarding it. When the battle scenes come, the animation holds true to deliver the impact.

The Shippuuden series is bare minimum work and I feel we are getting cheated out of some well deserved content. However if you like the long adventure type anime, then I'd recommend this for you.