Naruto Chapter 609 - The End Review / Thoughts (ナルト)

                                             Naruto talking trash to Obito

I know it's been a while since my last review, but since this was a pretty important chapter I thought now was as good a time as any to try and start again! Anyway, on to chapter 609 itself!

I have to say this chapter was great, seriously, it's the first time in quite a while a chapter has left me feeling excited and wanting to see what happens next so much. Naruto himself was actually cool and pretty badass with the way he was speaking to Obito and basically telling him straight to his face that he was going to kick his ass. It's not often Naruto does something or behaves in a way that makes me like or respect him, but this time was definitely one of the occasions where he pulled it off and actually had me willing him on to live up to his words.

Another thing I liked about this chapter was that it was one of the few occasions where some kind of strategy was used instead of just either using brute strength to overwhelm someone or else just run head first in to them. Granted it was Kurama's idea to deliberately get Kakashi caught by Obito and be sucked in to the other dimension, but if anything that just goes to show that Kurama isn't just all about his power either, he can be a valuable asset in more ways than one. Some people will no doubt question why Kakashi didn't just Raikiri through Obito when he was sent to the other dimension and had the perfect opportunity to do so, however, who is to say that Kurama gave him that much chakra to begin with? Or even if he did have enough, I doubt he was thinking too clearly at the time what with everything that has been going on recently.

Lastly, of course I can't talk about the chapter without mentioning the end of it, yes, I am of course referring to the fact the Juubi has finally been revived! Ever since the plan was revealed about its' planned revival there have been questions about whether it would actually happen or not, but Kishi has indeed decided on bringing it in to things. Just how on earth anyone or anything is going to be able to stop it is a mystery, most of the guys on the side of the alliance will have used up the majority of their chakra already, and arguably the only one with any chance in the first place was Naruto. Madara obviously wants it to happen so he is going to be happy, Obito has been scheming to bring it back from the start and probably couldn't stop it now even if he wanted, so the only possible way I can think of is with whatever Sasuke and Orochimaru are up to.

Whoever Sasuke is going to meet could have the answer on how to stop it, or indeed whatever was in that scroll Suigetsu gave to him. Right now things are looking bad for the alliance and for the world, but this being Naruto and being a Shounen series we know things will work out in the end. At the moment my money has to be on Sasuke somehow being involved in stopping the Juubi, but please feel free to leave your thoughts on it in the comments below!

So yes, Naruto managed to get a really exciting and enjoyable chapter here with 609, and it makes me happy to see that Kishimoto is still able to write good quality chapters from time to time after fans have had to deal with so many disappointing ones. All I can really say is roll on next week!

Naruto Manga Reaching Its' Climax Says Masashi Kishimoto

In a recent article from the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has said that the Naruto Manga is now reaching its' climax.


Kishimoto added, "How the story will end has already been set in my mind, so the story is just 'racing headlong in that direction.'"


Of course with the type of arc this has been and with all the recent happenings, there was always a good chance this would be the last and that Naruto would be near the end. As for actual times, none have been given, but it does appear as if the end is finally in sight for the series.






*Credit to Anime News Network for the info*

Naruto Shippuden Episode 267 - The Brilliant Military Advisor of the Hidden Leaf - Review / Thoughts

So after taking a break last week, Shippuden is back this week with episode 267, but has it been worth the extra wait?

To be perfectly honest, no it hasn't. This episode was extremely slow paced, and almost the whole thing was spent talking strategy.

Don't get me wrong, it's obvious that strategy is needed in a war, but there was certainly no need to have to show all the viewers this. It's not like anything major or surprising was planned out, all the needless details used would have been far better being off screen, as I doubt too many fans find spending 20 minutes hearing battle strategy all that entertaining.

I guess it was kind of entertaining hearing the conversation between the former Kage who had been revived with Edo Tensei, but aside from that, this episode was so slow and so boring you could be forgiven for mistaking it for filler. Quite honestly, it was like a canon filler episode pretty much.

I know it's setting up for next week, and the next episode does look like it could be pretty awesome, but that doesn't change the fact that getting through this episode is some task. It's not as if this episode is super horrible or terrible, it's just so unnecessarily slow that it drags terribly, leaving the viewer to keep watching in the hopes of just something, anything at all to actually happen, but it never does.

There's no way I could honestly recommend this episode to someone, if you're a diehard Naruto fan who must watch all the episodes then you might be ok with it, but for the most part you wouldn't be missing out in any way if you completely skipped this episode. My advice would be to maybe watch the part with the Edo Kage, and the (roughly) one minute scene with Kabuto right at the start of the episode, and then skip the rest. Hopefully next week shall make up for this rather lacklustre and disappointing episode.