Thursday, October 23, 2014

NARUTO Chapter 697 Review : Naruto and Sasuke part 4

Written by : FrillyPhoenix

The "Naruto vs. Sasuke" fight is reaching its end.
You can feel the exhaustion of the two boys at this point !
I'm pretty sure their shirts must smell aweful by now...
Anyway, on to the serious stuff !

What's happening in this chapter ?

The fight between Naruto and Sasuke goes on. Naruto's "shurikens" and Sasuke's arrow (so nicely named after his ancestor Indra) collide and create a huuuge... err... explosion that casts thunder everywhere in the area. The blow is so impressive it reaches Kakashi and Sakura as well as the places were the mummified people are.

The "cocoons" moving in the wind cracked me up.


Sasuke and Naruto fall from the sky (some of their clothes have been destroyed during this last attack). And of course, they're both still alive and well **eye roll**. Naruto was protected by Kurama and Sasuke must have been protected by his Susano'o.
Sasuke tries to cast Amaterasu on Naruto (finally !) but it doesn't work since he's protected by Kurama's chakra. Both Naruto and Sasuke are starting to run out of chakra.

Sasuke realizes that he won't be able to keep using his Rinnegan, and Naruto chooses that moment to attack Sasuke with clones, but N&S just end up hitting each other.
Sasuke throws shurikens at the clones and intends to attack the real Naruto with Chidori, but he attacks the wrong one (thanks to the substitution jutsu I believe) and it gives Naruto and opportunity to attack Sasuke from behind.

They then try to use their signature attacks against each other but Sasuke runs out of chakra causing his Chidori to disappear. Naruto has the opportunity to Rasengan Sasuke but he blows it by... falling flat on his face...

Oh, look ! NaruHina is off to a great start, they've finally found what they have in common !
It took years, but they made it just on time to be canon **tears up from joy** ! 
(don't look at me like that, if you wanted an objective reviewer, you'd certainly not be reading these reviews)

Seeing a chance to take the initiative, Sasuke kicks Naruto in the stomach and starts punching Naruto's face Karui Style. Naruto headbutts Sasuke and gets up (damn, too many soccer references in this chapter). They both stand up and rush towards each other to fight with what little strength they have left (meaning, simple Taijutsu).

They then have a flashback about that time in academy when they were asked by Iruka to fight against each other and finish their fight with the "Seal of Reconciliation". A fight that stayed in Sakura's memory as a child and even up to today, as she FINALLY wakes up from Sasuke's Genjutsu (it seems that this flashback was also something she dreamt about). It's nighttime when she wakes up and the first thing she does is ask Kakashi about Sasuke and Naruto, to which Kakashi answers that they're fighting their last battle.

It looks like they're about to hug each other, it's sooo cute !

Back to Naruto and Sasuke, fighting in front of the headless statues of Hashirama and Madara.
Both are exhausted and can only exchange veeery weak attacks. They don't even have the strength to stand anymore. Kurama is doing his best to gather what is left of his chakra to give it to Naruto.
But Sasuke manages to suck this chakra out of Naruto in order to use what seems to be his last attack, a Chidori. With this, he intends to get rid of his "only" friend for good.
Will his attack work ? Find out next week !

My opinion on this chapter :

I really enjoyed it. To be honest, it felt like watching two drunk old men/Aberrant Titans fighting (choose the analogy you like best), it was kinda funny. But it was nice nonetheless to see them being that weak and tired. Somehow, this fight seemed more real than any other before, I guess it's due to the heavy use of Taijutsu. If Studio Pierrot doesn't mess up this part of the fight (lol, wishful thinking), then it should be very enjoyable to watch.
What's more is that my babe even woke up. I'm sure Kishimoto has one last thing in store for her and Kakashi, I just can't wait for the next chapters ! It's been a while since I've last been looking forward to the next chapter, so it's a good feeling for a NARUTO fan.
Now I just have to get used to jacketless Naruto/skirtless Sasuke **bRaiiN eRrOr : dOe$ nOt CoMpÜt€**.

Overall : This chapter deserves a good 4.5/5.

     Good things :
+ simple but nice fight : you don't need fancy jutsus to keep things interesting
+ the SasuNaruSasu (bro)feels
+ Sakura waking up

     Meh things :
• too little interaction between N&S : I wish they called each other stupid names during this funny fight

     Bad things : none

That's it for this week ! Thanks for reading ! See you next week ♪ !

FrillyPhoenix:  
This NaruSaku (wor)shipper has secretly sworn to take over the world with her fluffy kawaiiness. But since she's too lazy for that, she spends her time playing video games, promising herself that her dominion will start after she's done with this one game. 734853478h4538 games later, she's still in bed. You may find her in her own kingdom, the only place she has managed to conquer so far: deviantArt.

16 comments:

  1. Funny fight? Sounds like the reviewer strangely misunderstood the tone of the chapter. As for the "review" itself, I would recommend less summarising and more reflection. Did you notice that the monologues were (almost) all Sasuke's? What're your thoughts on this? Didn't you find it interesting that Naruto seemed primed to kill Sasuke with a massive Rasengan? And what about the return of nostalgic techniques such as the Uzumaki Barrage (a variation of it, anyway,) and Sasuke's shuriken mechanism? I'm really not trying to be mean, but there was nothing of value to take away from the article.

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    1. Oh ? So let me ask you then : what did I misunderstand ? what was the tone of this chapter :) ? you sound like you have a better grasp of the chapter than I do, so I'd like to hear your opinion.

      As for the whole nostalgic thing : why would I repeat it when Naruto mentioned it himself in the previous chapters ? Kishi is simply trying to give his readers a lot of feels by milking the nostalgia cow. I'm not really interested in that anymore since he's been doing that since Sasuke came back. I won't repeat it every chapter.

      As for Sasuke's inner monologues, it's true that I didn't give them much thought until now (because I consider them as the narration). If you wanna know what I think about them then I would say it's because Sasuke is more into analyzing stuff than Naruto AND he's trying to test his resolve and convince himself that what he's doing is the right decision (since he always fails to take the right one).
      About the Uzumaki Naruto Rendan, it's a technique he copied from Sasuke's Shishi Rendan. And Sasuke's shuriken technique is something he used against Itachi. Since Naruto is using a technique he copied from his "brother" and Sasuke is using the techinque he used against his own brother, I guess that's a way to acknowledge each other as "siblings".

      I can analyze stuff, but I simply don't do it because I consider it useless blaberring that isn't fun. I like useless blaberring when it's done with a humoristic tone.
      But everyone has their own theories, their own reading and their own interpretation of a chapter, and I don't really like to impose mine to other people as 1)they aren't straight facts 2)they aren't very fun to read 3)they take too much place in the review. I rarely do it in the "my opinion" part of the chapter, but I simply prefer to discuss that stuff with my friends otherwise, if I had to analyse every move, every panel and find its hidden meaning, then my review would be 35662886568451684653456 words long.
      What I did apologize in my previous review about the fact I had to describe all their moves (believe it's NOT fun) but if I didn't, the review would be empty. So I'd have to find a compromise between talking about the actual things that happen, sarcasm/humorous tone/bitching/whatever and analysis. It's a pain to bother yourself with so many things, so I just write whatever comes to my mind. Sometimes, I will look for a deeper meaning of one particular element, most of the time I won't because that's a pain in the ass.
      Sorry if my reviews are very interesting for you to read, then. I do have a recommendation to do if you're into "things of value" though : go to tumblr everytime a chapter comes out and search for "naruto chapter XXX". People post their far-fetched opinions, their baseless theories and all kind of "valuable things" for you to enjoy. I'm sure you're gonna like what you'll find there :).

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    2. Please, cry more.

      Or, in future, humbly accept constructive criticism. I would've been happy to debate opinions on the chapter (which is what a review is - an opinion), but clearly, you cannot do so without taking offense and turning the conversation into an argument.

      Tumblr? I'll check out Sawyer7mage and SuperKamiGuru9000 on Youtube instead, thanks. The reasons being:
      1. Their reviews offer interpretations, opinions and perspectives I wouldn't have considered. 2. They communicate these things in a professional manner.

      Consider your site to have one less visitor.

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    3. * (which is what a review is - an opinion, supported by facts)

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    4. Concrit is MORE than welcome when offered in a polite and/or friendly manner. You just can't leave a comment written in an unpleasant manner, call it "concrit" and come back complaining when OP answers in the same manner ;).
      And still, I find myself to be quite a patient person because I did answer to your question despite the way you talked to me.
      If you want to call my explanation "an arguement", that's fine by me.

      Now, yes, please return to Sawyer&co. If they offer you the opinions you want to hear, then good for you.

      And good riddance. As I like to say : "the sea does not notice when it's missing a fish".

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  2. Yo, after Naruto manga is finished or even before don't you wish to make reviews from Basilisk anime? Like one episode per week? Somethings tell me you would love it to reviewing that anime series! ;)

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    1. Hi !
      Actually, I didn't even know this anime ! I had to google it to see what it is about...
      Unfortunately, I don't think I continue to write weekly reviews when NARUTO is over, because my (future) professional life won't leave me time for that... Sorry (>人<) !

      However, you can ask our BLEACH reviewer, Kyle, to do that. I believe he writes reviews about anime (except that it won't be episode by episode, but the whole anime). I don't know if he still does that, but it doesn't hurt to ask !

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    2. Well, here's the first episode (english sub):

      http://www.animefreak.tv/watch/basilisk-episode-1-english-dubbed-online-free

      I thought it would be you, because first, it is a ninja anime, secondly it has some very nice romances and thirdly I believe that your sarcastic mode would be the best to reviewing it. Also, it's just 24 episode long! ;)

      Not mentioning that Kyle looks really slow and I'm not sure he would be interested in a historical ninja anime.

      Please, just watch the first 2-3 episodes and rethink about it! ;)

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    3. Mangekyo022 why does your profile pic and that used for anonymous look the same ?

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    4. Aww, well these are covincing arguments (especially the part where you praise my sarcasm *v*)...
      OK well, I promise you I will at least watch the first 3~5 eps when I'm done with the second season of Free!, and if I like it, then I'll try to review it. However, be aware that if I do, I'll review the anime as a whole, not ep by ep because of the reason I mentioned in my previous comment.

      Also, I just remembered something ! I should apologize to you for not believing you when you said there were only about 7 chapters left. You were right !

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    5. "OK well, I promise you I will at least watch the first 3~5 eps when I'm done with the second season of Free!, and if I like it, then I'll try to review it. However, be aware that if I do, I'll review the anime as a whole,"

      Ok, it would be great too! ;)

      "Also, I just remembered something ! I should apologize to you for not believing you when you said there were only about 7 chapters left. You were right !"

      Nah, you don't need ot apologize, becaue I confess, I hoped that you were right... but Kihsimoto just wanted to make a nonsense, boring, short NaruSasu fight within 5-6 chapters.

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  3. Alert to otakunuts : Please simplify your captchas. Its difficult to read, lol

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    1. The distorted letters I'm required to read and copy before I can publish my comment to prove that I'm not a robot. It is there when I'm anonymous, so I don't know if logging in through something will change things or not.

      Delete
    2. I'm not sure why the word verification is appearing for you. It's not supposed to. But blogger messes up once in a while.

      Delete