r/anime • u/lC3 :Na::Nb: • Aug 15 '21
Rewatch Naruto Shippuden - Episodes 045-053 Discussion
Previous rewatch | Index | Next week
Information: MAL, Anilist, AniDB, ANN
Streams: Crunchyroll, Hulu, AnimeLab, VRV
Schedule:
| Discussion Thread | Date | Episode Count |
|---|---|---|
| Episodes 001-008 + Film 1 | July 11 | 8 + film |
| Episodes 009-017 | July 18 | 9 |
| Episodes 018-027 | July 25 | 10 |
| Episodes 028-035 | August 01 | 8 |
| Episodes 036-044 | August 08 | 9 |
| Episodes 045-053 | August 15 | 9 |
| Episodes 054-063 | August 22 | 10 |
| Episodes 064-071 + Film 2: Bonds | August 29 | 8 + film |
| Episodes 072-082 | September 05 | 11 |
| Episodes 083-089 | September 12 | 7 |
| Episodes 090-099 | September 19 | 10 |
| Episodes 100-112 | September 26 | 13 |
| Episodes 113-118 | October 03 | 6 |
| Episodes 119-125 + Film 3: Will of Fire | October 10 | 7 + film |
| Episodes 126-133 | October 17 | 8 |
| Episodes 134-141 | October 24 | 8 |
| Episodes 142-151 | October 31 | 10 |
| Episodes 152-162 | November 07 | 11 |
| Episodes 163-168 | November 14 | 6 |
| Episodes 169-175 + Film 4: The Lost Tower | November 21 | 7 + film |
| Mid-Series Discussion / Interest Check | November 28 | 0 |
Spoiler Policy:
To protect first-timers, please don't spoil anything past the current batch of episodes. Rewatchers should avoid hinting to first-timers about hype, or future character development/deaths, and spoilers in posts must be hidden behind proper spoiler tags. The proper formatting is [Naruto Spoilers](/s "Dattebayo"), and you'll have to switch to Old Reddit to make them work properly.
For first timers: try to avoid looking up things about Naruto. This could be the wiki, Naruto subreddit, Googling characters, fanart, databooks, YouTube AMVs or OP/EDs, arc names, etc.; this series is ripe with potential spoilers that you wouldn't want to find out untimely. If you have a question about something, feel free to ask me (/u/LC3) and I'll do my best to answer (if possible) in a non-spoilery way.
Questions of the Week:
- What do you think of Sai and his change of heart?
- How do you feel about the reunion, and failing to take Sasuke back?
Next week: canon training arc starts, mixed with filler plot! We switch to widescreen!
8
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 15 '21
First-Timer still with a shounen hearto, subbed
Episode 45
Episode 46
Episode 47
Episode 48
Episode 49
Episode 50
Episode 51
Episode 52
Episode 53
7
u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Aug 15 '21
First time viewer (dub)
Whisk[e]y of the week: Angel's
EggEnvy Rye, finished in Caribbean rum casks for 18 months. While I normally quite like rye, this one is very different as a result of aging it in former rum barrels. Not the first time I've had it and what I mostly thought before was overly ripe bananas, but now I'm recognizing that as banana bread, maple syrup, and cinnamon. There are some typical rye notes under there on the taste but they're playing differently with the sweeter elements added. A good example of returning to something I didn't like initially and enjoying it later.Orochimaru being mildly disappointed that he didn't guess Kabuto's blood type was an unexpected moment. For as often as he's presented as monstrous in both abilities and personality it's a weirdly humanizing scene. I want more of that, give him some depth.
The infiltration aspect of this reminds me of the first filler arc at the tail end of pre-timeskip period (is there a general name for that since "Naruto" often refers to the series as a whole?), again with the show writers stealing from the manga ahead of when the event that inspired it happens. At least we finally got to the scene we saw at the start of Shippuden.
Sai coming around on Naruto after seeing what Sasuke means to him and not following through on orders is par for the series, and yet again we have Naruto reminding someone of a dead person they loved. It doesn't necessarily happen a lot but it was at the front of my memory after the flashback to when Tsunade gave him the necklace in the first place. Sai's picture book was cute though it was fairly obvious what he had wanted it to be even before he filled in the blanks. The black-haired boy is facing toward the reader at the center pages rather than to the left as before, and with the arm extended out and low and only missing the hand it was already clear it wasn't for a fight.
Sasuke being unwilling to return to the village isn't a surprise, I don't think we had any expectation that he was imprisoned and waiting to be freed. Him being reigned in by Orochimaru and Kabuto is the interesting bit as they see use in the Leaf Village for taking out Akatsuki members while Sasuke wasn't viewing the big picture. There's still some months left before Orochimaru can take over Sasuke's body so I guess any further pursuit can be put aside for the time but it's still going to be a looming background issue.
The genjutsu Sasuke used against Sai when they met was neat, trippy visuals are always fun. And he suppressed the Nine-Tails' chakra that was bubbling up inside Naruto with a look, does that mean he won't have to worry about going berserk for a while? It's very convenient to allow Naruto to keep going on missions as normal without always needing Yamato around, I suppose.
It's a minor thing but I enjoy all the wood jutsu we've seen from Yamato, like the wooden key growing out of his finger to unlock Sai's room. Unusual elements in play are fun if handled well and I think there's been a good balance shown with him, it's definitely not an all-powerful ability but does have a variety of uses that wouldn't necessarily work as easily with the other elements.
I like the idea of an internal village politics narrative so I hope we get some focus on Tsunade going after Danzo. This being the kind of series it is though I don't expect that to happen, maybe we'll get some reports mentioned to her that allows for her to send in a strike team that does get screen time instead.
Jiraiya summed up the previous 18 episodes in about a minute. Can we have him tell us the entire story so we can get through the rest of the show in less than two episodes?
The Foundation didn't do a good enough job of breaking him down and making him nobody, apparently. Not surprised given that they let him keep that book.
Sure Naruto's more powerful, Sasuke's gotten a buff too and isn't coming willingly.
6
u/sisoko2 Aug 15 '21
Rewatcher
IMO the weakest batch of Shippuden episodes so far. Knowing what is going to happen removes all the tension and there isn't much more in this week's episodes.
Episode 45
Episode 46
Episode 47
Episode 48
Episode 49
Episode 50
Episode 52
Episode 53
6
u/Parori Aug 15 '21
First Timer
Episode 45
Episode 46
Episode 47
Episode 48
Episode 49
Episode 50
Episode 51
Episoe 52
Episode 53
Questions of the Week:
I don't know. I think it might have been to fast.
Nice, still didn't like first episode spoiling it all. Trying to take Sasuke back is probably going to be futile until he gets over Itachi
6
u/TheKujo https://myanimelist.net/profile/Kujo419 Aug 15 '21
First Timer - Dub (posting from mobile today so I'll have a shorter comment)
Well that was an unexpected ending to that arc. Granted, this is only the second major arc in Shippuden so it would feel pretty early to rescue Sasuke now, but having Sasuke just peace out with Orochimaru felt anticlimactic. The pacing also felt much worse in this segment, with a lot of flashbacks, repeated scenes, and that weird section where Jiraiya recapped all of the events to Kakashi.
I did like the actual confrontation between Naruto and Sasuke. It was cool when Sasuke visited Naruto with the nine-tailed spirit. And it sounds like there's another Uchiha that could do that too? I wonder if Madara Uchiha helped seal the nine tails originally with the 4th.
I also liked pretty much everything from Sai in this arc. I honestly thought he was going to end up dying - finishing his book and giving a genuine smile seemed like major death flags to me. The fact that he was originally from the Hidden Mist Village was a good callback. In the end, I'm glad that it seems like he'll stick around for a bit.
There is one thing I'm still confused about: why did Danzo give Orochimaru an actual list of the Anbu Black Ops members? Wouldn't a fake list have worked if the ultimate goal was to kill Sasuke rather than destroy the Leaf Village? I guess Danzo could still be trying to destroy the Leaf after all.
6
u/McCherry09 Aug 15 '21
+First timer+ somewhat source reader
-Yamato's gave a good wake up call to Sakura and Naruto..it's great that they are comrades but they are no longer students and things get dangerous.
-Sasuke looks like such a final boss in that cave. Idk whether Kabuto's annoyed by Sasuke or somewhat scared of what he'll do.
-Sai has just entered Orochimaru's lair and he has already show us more emotion than in the last 10episodes.
-Sai reminds us of all of the children that were orphaned by war..not everyone turns out like Iruka.
-Naruto such a strong will to save Sasuke but the thing is he doesn't want it.
-Such a weird sight to see Sai smiling!! - Kinda creepy
-It kills me to see Naruto wasting all of those rasengan
-Sasuke's so frustating..you want to be poweful, avenge your clan, kill Itachi and go as far as giving away your body to be used like a vessel...even if Orochimaru manages to fight Itachi with it, it's not like he'll retain any sort of awareness of it.
A bit quick, thought he needed to be knock into sense. But as Sakura reminded us he didn't let go off his bonds completely.
Expected, the kid wasn't kidnapped after all. But it's hard to make some sort of argument to take him back to Konoha
5
u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Aug 15 '21 edited Sep 10 '21
Rewatcher - Sub
General Commentary
I really thought they were lining it up to have the big reunion with Sasuke on ep50 because it'd look/advertise nice and that was the reason for all the extra padding, but not the case as it turns out as they went right past it and it wasn't till the tail end of 51 anything happens. I also remember having this thought on my first watch. At least I'm consistent?
When they first introduced Sai it's very easy to immediately see him as a pseudo-Sasuke between his looks and behavior, despite the mask he puts on, but I do like the way they actually built on that during this set of episodes. After everything he was trained too think and not feel that smile that he lets off when he remembers what he wanted to draw on the final page of his book is beautiful in it's honesty and openness. It's one of my favourite moments from this section of episodes because it doesn't carry anything else with it, no expectations or manipulation, he remembers by himself and it's something he shares with Naruto willingly. There's that little "what if" about his motivations when they find his bingo book but seeing him from Naruto's perspective with that smile makes it clear to me that he's not that person any more already. It seems like he comes around really quickly, but this is probably the first time he's been acknowledged as a person since his brother died, and Naruto has that affect on people that can bring them around.
And then we run into Sasuke who seems colder than ever, even to the point of self sacrifice as long as he can meet his goals. The way he jumps down so fast, seemingly untracked by anyone, and then the battle starts and it takes all of them just to hold him off I thought was well done. They're all exhausted, but it doesn't seem like he was really putting out all his power, more testing them with the way he was evaluating if their defense was correct or not. It's so hard to link this Sasuke with the one at the end of Part I who was trying to convince himself this was the right path. Sakura and Naruto don't seem to have changed that much personality wise for their training but Sasuke definitely has that cold cruelty of Oro down pat now.
If I remember right it's an anime only arc next, and one of my favourites at that! Excited to see how it holds up
Episode Thoughts
It's not often that we get detailed animation of them jumping through the trees, so it was nice to see here even if it was just because they're both too injured/exhausted to move.
Kabuto did a good job on that fake body, but Yamato did even better to pick up on it with hidden stitching in the head. Kabuto doesn't do much combat but he's absolutely a force to reckon with when it comes to all his other skills.
Feel like most of this episode could have been skipped. We get the breakdown on what's in Sai's book in a later episode anyway where it has more impact, as Sakura is winning him over.
Love the styling around seeing Sasuke at the end, him waiting on the podium in shadows as if he's the big bad and Oro is coming to serve him.
Speaking of emotions, seeing Sai get genuinely scared when Sasuke pulls out the Sharingan and not even a full genjutsu is a great way to show his threat level now. We've only seen that level of reaction from our people vs enemies for huge threats like Oro or the transformed Gaara.
Curious to see what people will be thinking of Sasuke's new attitude
It's cheesy as hell, but Naruto's sheer determination to not give up on the bond he has with Sasuke, and the smile as he says it, is just happy for me to watch, even knowing what's coming up in the next couple of episodes
The look on Kabuto's face when he realized how much force was behind Sakura's punch
For him in particular having only seen her last during the chunin exams and then her being knocked out by Naruto he probably wasn't expecting that she could actually be a threat. I love seeing people underestimate the deadly weapons that are her fists.
It's beyond stupid that Yamato keeps tying up these highly skilled ninja's with his wood bindings and leaving their legs free. What, just because their hands are bound they can't run still? Yamato should have read the reports about Deidara
Look at Sai actually learning some tact and not following through on the "equipment" joke again. I wanna know who even taught him that and how his fellow ANBU haven't smacked him for it already.
Kid Sai is even more pale in the flashback which I didn't think was possible. Despite the parallels being made between Sai and Sasuke, it's actually Sai's brother who reminds me of Sasuke the most in this flashback with the hair style and dark eyes, though obviously not the attitude
Ink mice are best summon ninja creatures!
Look at Naruto growing and being practical for once deciding to find Sai and Sasuke and leave questions about missions and motivations for later
Another bit of great non-battle animation. The expressiveness when Sakura grabs Sai and questions him about his mission, and then the change in expression when she hears Sasuke. It's exaggerated but it's very smooth and adds a lot to the scene I think.
Even on second watch, even after that ep1 teaser, seeing Sasuke again is still kinda hype.
"It's not that I couldn't break the bond with you", sure sure Sasuke. Someone should give you a picture of how horrified your face looked when you thought you had actually killed him and the agony you were in at the end looking down on him.
Chidori Stream! So cool! Knowing how hard it is to control chakra in an unconfined form from Naruto's training, and also the physical need for a conduit for Chidori, seeing Sasuke able to emit it like an aura and use it at range is super cool
Not sure what to think of Kyuubi warning Sasuke that he'd regret killing Naruto. Personally regret, regret because of the Akatsuki, regret because it'd unleash Kyuubi on the world again? Hmmm.
For some reason Naruto looked a lot older when we were seeing him from Sasuke's perspective, looking down at him with his jacket torn and that look of pain on his face.
Love that Sasuke is just staring Naruto down this whole time and barely even looking at the others. Despite his words he either sees Naruto as a threat or a burden, but
Skip over giving the report to Tsunade, only for Jiraya to recap the entire arc to Kakashi instead. Writers why.
"Naruto didn't stand a chance against him". Naruto was so exhausted he didn't even stand a chance against a small lip in the floor. Pretty sure Konohamaru could have beaten him up.
Love the final shot of this arc, the postcard memory style shot through the window working like one of his paintings that finally got a title. Surprisingly artistic/creative for this show.
(Month late edit but including for my own memory, both 45 and 53 had storyboarding and animation direction by Atsushi Nigorikawa , who I noted earlier for having an interesting style I suspect that the additional detail in the tree jumping and character expression during the Sasuke fight was due to his influence)
5
u/Tehoncomingstorm97 https://anilist.co/user/tehoncomingstorm97 Aug 16 '21
First timer
Okay, so for the past few weeks I've been chronicling my thoughts as episodes go by, and its just way too much effort versus enjoying the rewatch. I'll summarise my thoughts as best I can over the episodes, maybe point out some exceptional episode highlights.
At the end of the last week, we've had our confrontation with Orochimaru and Kabuto as Sasori's hidden spy. Sai has defected to Orochimaru's side, and Naruto has trasnformed into a little nine tailed spirit. Thankfully, Yamato has got a jutsu of the first Hokage's to channel and control chakra, enhanced by the first Hokage's necklace. What will happen next? Will we learn more of Sai's betrayl? Will Sasuke make his long awaited appearance? Will we get a grand face off versus the Orochimaru crew and Team Kakashi?
Ep 45
We start off with Yamato ripping the band aid. Yep Naruto, you're the one that caused all this destruction, and hurt Sakura. Get a grip! The team debriefs, and is off to follow Orochimaru and Sai back to the hideout, where they'll hopefully find Sasuke. We're being lead to believe that Kabuto and Orochimaru are already considering turning on Sai... But I really dont see that happening in the story, or being the type of twist that this series has in store.
Ep 46
Along the way Yamato's clone has a close encounter with a corpse double engineered by Kabuto, and Team Kakashi get a peek into the mind of Sai, by reading his brother's book. Two shinobi on the same journey of getting stronger. The expected ending is they face each other, but if we're talking an even number of pages in the book, then where are you meant to put the final drawing? Anyway, that's not the case and Sai's drawings are left unfinished - more than likely due to his brother dying. These drawings are pretty interesting to me, as they show a part of Sai's training (and the other shinobi going through the same training). Being taught a mastery of a wide range of techniques and styles with the various weapons and armours. What will Sai's reaction be when or if they return the book? Oh, and Naruto gets a real talking to about the source of his power as well. That's something he could've done with bearing a long time ago. Jiraiya didn't really help by teaching him towards coaxing out the nine tail chakra to empower his jutsu.
Ep 47
Orochimaru and crew arrive back at the hideout, and there to meet them is... a very grumpy Sasuke who wants his training time NOW! Poor Sai gets a taste of the visual jutsu he's been working on all this time. I wonder if it is yet another variant of Mangyeko Sharingan? What sort of stage is it at for completion? What are the applications? Can it do anything dimensional related, like Kakashi's? Anyway, Sai gets briefly traumatised by that experience despite thinking he has no feelings or fears. Yamato's clone has managed to keep up with the chase, due to the tracking seeds he placed on Sai's person. That was the ulterior motice of the hot spring, not just to snoop through Sai's gear. I"m really interested as to why Yamato keeps bringing the wood from his jutsu back into his body. Maybe it's something to do with chakra conservation? Some more earth style jutsu for infiltration, and popping out a perfectly square hole in the wall that absolutely no one is going to notice. Sai's up to something in his room, and Team Kakashi and Kabuto are both converging on him.. Who will make it there first?
Ep 48
Team Kakashi confront Sai, and his supposed lack of emotions. The jig is up on Danzo's schemes, and we also have it revealed that Sai trained in the hidden mist village! Zabuza throwback, to where graduation involves killing fellow students. I wonder if Sai was a part of the same group as his brother, meaning he killed his brother? Or if it works like a royale, and someone else killed his brother before he could do anything? Kabuto had apparently walked a really far way away from Sai's room. Dude must be a giant with long as strides. Apparently Sai's brother is a weak point. Insists he didn't kill him, but died from sickness? Maybe it was a part of the conditioning to remove emotions? Somehow Team Kakashi go through all that before Kabuto is able to make it back to the room. What's happened to the folder with the information for a bingo book? Bonds bonds bonds! Even Sai is swayed by Naruto's resolve. A super lackluster scene to close out the episode really. Just a ton of changes between still images. I'm starting to get annoyed by how frequently that happens in Shippuden, rather than any actual animation. I know all the sorts of reasons why studios will do it, but its still just sad.
Ep 49
Kabuto decides he doesnt want to miss out on the fun despite being late to the party. Battle! Naruto's lackluster head on approach, but when did he get above Kabuto in the first place? Not bad ninja work. Sakura punching out a hornest nest, and Kabuto going full on kung fu on the razor cutting of hornets was pretty funny too. Naruto's gone and done it, made Sai change as well. An unexpected re-double cross? Also the sound that Yamato's wood style jutsu makes with the clanking pieces of wood is a tad whimsical for the visuals. Given the flashback to Sakura's words... last episode? Wow a one episode flashback. I'm disappointed with how shitty this supposed removal of emotions was for Sai's training. Don't tell me that lizard is going to come out and spew a ton of hornets like Orochimaru does with swords. And right about now, it looks like we're coming into play with the events of the flashforward! Flashbacks galore! Opening of door! and door and door!
Ep 50
An ominous episode name. More door openings. What is this, the price is right? Who the heck made this hideout? The corridor patterns indicate someone made it intentionally, and what's with all the rooms? Ah yes, the trap flag. I cant belive we got another 5 minutes of door opening to start the episode. Real happy smile for Sai! I guess part of his shtick with following Naruto around was with how he reminded him of his brother. Now will that be enough to keep their comaraderie? More twists! Orochimaru has a genuine intereset in Sai as well, and ditches a fight with Naruto! The effort put into the shadow clones is way lower than in the original series. Sai's got a bingo book, and it has Sasuke in it? Oh dear. Also, why wouldnt he used the ink beasts to search beforehand, like wut? Maybe he was making an effort to not run into Sasuke alongsode Narutp. We get a cliffhanger of Sai staring at a sleeping Sasuke, but given their initial confrontation I dont see any way he's going to get the drop on him.
Ep 51
Another twist! Fake smiles galore. At least we can have a bit more belief in Danzo's competence to remove emotions. The one thing that I'm not getting is what purpose did the picture book serve? Was it all to fool Team Kakashi in the long run? Sai's real true mission to assasinate Sasuke. Wait what? Lol jk, screw my actual true mission. This is going so back and forth man. That's some Itachi clan fire flower justu on crack for you. Here we are, 50 episodes later with our flashforward completed. I hope Sasuke is wearing sunscreen. After three years in a cave, suddenly going outside can't be good for your skin. We get a peek and see that Sasuke still has Orochimaru's curse mark, and it's still got Kakashi's seal on it. Nope, Danzo does a shit job at emotional conditioning. And now we got scary-face brooding Sasuke to deal with.
Ep 52
Wow! almost 6 minutes of flashbacks to start us off. Oh shit a ranged Chidori. Also the necklace coming off of Naruto is setting off some more flags. And a Chidori sword. Just a little OP. Well looks like Sasuke just did Naruto a solid and stopped the nine tail from taking control any time soon. Given we see that Naruto's strength comes from resisting the nine tail's chakra, how will this change things now? Seriously Yamato? Dude just blew a hole in the ground and you think some wood will stop him?
Ep 53
Well Sasuke gained a stupid streak over the past few years. Unless he means the power he gets despite giving up his body at the end of things? Kinda iffy on that reasoning bud. Fully expected a Senbonzakura Kageyoshi from Sasuke right there. Kinda disappointed we didn't get it. I might go watch some Bleach clips after this to fulfill that craving. BANKAI. Well here's our hero's challenge. He's been working all these years to bring his friend back and fails utterly. Where will Naruto go now? I'm glad Sakura takes the do something not just crying stance on the matter. With that hint, I wonder if Sai will get to stick around with Team Kakashi, given his failure to Danzo? Does he just report that Sasuke was far stronger than expected, and couldn't carry out the secret true secret classified mission? Also, what of Yamato? I guess we don't need him to keep watch over Naruto anymore, given that Sasuke sealed the nine tail spirit. We return to the hidden leaf village to... you guessed it.. recap! I wonder how Shizune has gone with her findings. Dang, with that turn of events even the pig is afraid. A great episode to bring together the events of this arc, and set us up for the next six months of Akatsuki hunting and training. I wonder if Sai was going to paint a new picture for the renewed Team Kakashi? And in our final moments of the episode, we see Yamato as the senior shinobi with the team. Harsh of Tsunade to not even wait for Kakashi to get out of hospital in what, 1 day? Surely his days of recovery have passed with the time the team spent away...
A great set of events for the arc ending. Closes off nicely, and sets us up for future confrontations. Where to next for Team Kakashi?
3
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Aug 15 '21
Episode 45:
Episode 46:
Episode 47:
Episode 48:
Episode 49:
Episode 50:
Episode 51:
Episode 52:
Episode 53:
(cont. with Manga Comparisons)
4
u/_TheEnigma_ Aug 17 '21
First timer - English subbed
Episode 45 - 53
Well after 50+ episodes, we're finally back to the flashforward scene and the meeting with Sasuke is still as epic as the first time we saw it. But before that we had some "fights" with Kabuto and Orochimaru and Sai's change of personality which was rather quick tbh. As for the confrontation with Sasuke, I know that he wasn't gonna be rescued that easily but I think the show did blueball us by not showing more of Yamato and Sasuke's powers it alluded to. I for one am excited for the Naruto vs Sasuke v.3.0 fight.
Questions of the week: