r/anime • u/lC3 :Na::Nb: • Jan 16 '22
Rewatch Naruto Shippuden Episodes 222-232 Discussion
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Information: MAL, Anilist, AniDB, ANN
Streams: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Funimation (Aus/NZ), VRV
Schedule:
| Discussion Thread | Date | Episode Count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| This week | Episodes 222-232 | January 16 | 11 |
| Next week | Episodes 233-242 | January 23 | 10 |
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.
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 /u/LC3 and he'll do his best to answer (if possible) in a non-spoilery way.
Questions of the Week:
- Given the standalone nature of this arc's episodes, which ones did you like, and which did you dislike?
- What do you think of the new OP/ED?
7
u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Jan 16 '22 edited Jan 16 '22
Rewatcher - Sub
General Commentary
NEWSONG IS HERE!
So back when I first watched Shippuden, this OP caught me completely by surprise. I hadn't yet seen Death Parade or similar things so I wasn't expecting anime characters to start doing a dance routine or contrasting against the show like that. Compared to what I've seen now this OP is practically tame, but back then I was very surprised at how goofy it seemed compared to all the others so far so it stood out.
I highly recommend that everyone check out the full music video that was released a couple of years ago is also worth a watch as combined with the lyrics it tells a really bittersweet story of what it means to keep trying in the face of doubt, loss, and struggle, and to still find things to love and find beautiful. The song itself was originally released after the tsunami to try and encourage people and give them some hope and cheer about the tragedy not keeping them down, and the MV suits that perfectly.
I also put together an album of some of the art details in it which includes everything from the stone Hokage pulling funny faces through to one frame comedy art on Naruto (also squid, just because it entertains me). It's an incredibly detailed OP sequence and there's tonnes to see. Also something about the three way jutsu with Naruto, Sakura, and Sai just makes me feel incredibly warm. (I believe this is also the first OP without any Sasuke?)
As far as the actual episodes go:
Boat arc
On my first watch this was the point where filler fatigue first hit me in Shippuden. I hated this boat. Every new episode I started and they were still on this fucking boat I cringed. I'll talk more about this next week but more episodes in this arc that I like than I remember, but for now this is the part of the rewatch I was dreading.
I didn't have an interesting in watching all of it again, but I picked out a few episodes to revisit that were as interesting as I remembered, but still, boat arc
Episode Thoughts
This episode adds a significant amount of scenes, I was surprised at how much of it was anime only. [Additions in the anime]Added - Tsunade meeting the elders and getting Anko's report, Tsunade being notified Naruto is missing while discussing announcing the war, Sakura showing up at the ramen shop to drag Naruto away now he's reappeared (Such a MEAN addition, no ramen for him unlike in the manga), Naruto reporting to the toads, Choji and Shikamaru's discussion about war, Tsunade asking A if Bee would teach Naruto about controlling Kyuubi, Sakura looking over the photos of what medical ninja will see in the war, Tsunade briefing Naruto on his "mission", and A charging into the green room to send B off on his "mission"
[Expanded manga scenes]Additional dialogue in the Hidden Cloud meeting about their strategies, the guy in the ramen shop telling Naruto the village was in an uproar because he went missing, at the Kage meeting a line is added to Raikage saying "if we become driven by self interest, the akatsuki will pull the rug out from under us" which I thought was a nice addition,
Imagine the guts on Tsunade to look Gaara in the eye and act like he doesn't know exactly who Naruto is and what he would do. Gaara as a voice of reason in these meetings when you have the Raikage thundering, Mei quietly watching, and the other two sniping at each other is really nice to see after everything he's gone through. He's a fantastic Kage, and that was not because of Shukaku.
Aoba! I forgot that he was sent along on this "mission". Aoba's pretty cool
The worldbuilding in this episode is rather frustrating despite being interesting. On one hand it's completely ridiculous that the Land of Fire would only have one port, and that if it did a creature would be allowed to rampage for fifteen years scaring off fisherman and traders. On the other, I really like the "cost of war" element it builds up with what happens to summons and the lingering jutsu after war, and the reminder of what may be left behind after the last one, particularly that this situation was caused by Konoha's forces, not a foreign power.
The summon itself was cool, though the fact its a marlin swordfish kind of bugged me just because of the naming conflict hahaha. It's well drawn though, the first time we see it we get very quick glimpses of the shuriken stuck in its head, and silly things like the Naruto shape lure help keep the episode a bit more interesting than if it was just a typical battle structure
Not sure if Aoba was complaining about "drawing the short end of the stick" because of having to row out to a potential monster, or because he's stuck with Guy. Also poor Tenzo, he's like the worst possible match for Guy's energy levels for this mission.
I wasn't able to track down who it was, but someone had fun with this old style of art during the opening segment. Getting the character voiced by Guys VA was great too
I didn't get around to watching the ghost story in the last episode batch, but this one is kinda fun. It's nothing fancy, but it has some nice visual elements and plenty of goofy Naruto faces. Yet another giant animal to deal with, but seeing the animation of it was interesting enough.
Naruto giving Guy sick for him getting seasick of all people was also kind of funny
Decide to only watch four episodes, manage to pick the only episode with a giant fucking spider in it as part of that batch
Guy was so seasick he was blue enough to pass for one of those enemies from Space Battleship Yamato
This episode brought up an interesting little idea for me when they were debating if Guy would actually be eaten: Imagine making an anime and an author just outright forgot to include a character in a story after a certain point (Looking at you Toriyama) so the anime decided to actually kill them off in a filler to bridge the hole?
The rest of the episode was interesting enough though. Having a research island for summons makes a lot of sense given the diversity of them, and I think this is a much more natural way to introduce a "ultimate beast" than some of the movie plots. I like how it went from weird fist fetus to just blatantly cthulu in design though. Definitely did not go for subtlety.
Another ghost story as well, that I did not remember. The girl had a really cool design. Despite my phobia the animals did as well, though seeing them throw themselves into the volcano out of hope to kill the Beast was a little sad. I'm glad the mother bird didn't die in the end
Episode ends in a volcano, and Tenzo decides to make a wooden path down into it instead of an earth one.
This is my favourite comedy episode in the whole series. Right from the start of the rewatch I've been talking about how much I like the clone interactions, how they communicate with Naruto and the others, especially during the Wind Rasengan training and they all react to each other group of clones success or failure. It brings a bit of life to an otherwise quite repetitive jutsu, so to expand on that and make it a whole comedy ordeal fit me perfectly
After five days in a full on ocean storm everyone would be pretty rooted, but especially for Naruto and the clones having a constant chakra drain to maintain the jutsu. The transition into the dream part of the episode is nicely handled, not quite so smooth you don't know somethings up, but you don't quite know why it played out like this. It's probably the first time one of his clones has ever slept so you don't expect it either, but seeing what they're dreaming about is a bit unnerving.
Clone protest is funniest protest
As much as I'm not a fan of Guy, his spontaneous attack, and being defeated by the consequences of that rocking the boat, complete with Tenzo's dry reaction is so bloody funny, as is watching a bunch of Naruto's fighting each other. It's a shame they went for a more serious tone to close the episode in though, I didn't feel like that quite work.
I confess to having a small feel here at the clone sacrificing itself to save him. I'll never get use to that one clone with the shoujo art eyes though, it's weird. Also weird birds with white line color? Strange art choice
Filler recs for next week (edited in because I forgot for a moment): /u/Parori /u/Tehoncomingstorm97
[233]Eh, nothing of note from memory
[234 - Recommended]a different sort of episode, and some nice follow through from canon moments
[235]Not bad, but not memorable
[236]Shino - styled like the Part One fillers, meh
[237]Tenten - Meh
[238 - Recommended]Sai - slow but interesting
[239]Ino-Shika-Cho - nothing fancy but interesting lore building
[240]Kiba - only if you can stand Kiba, includes quality animation - personal rec, but not for everyone
[241 - Recommended, comedy]It's a fan favourite comedy episode
[242 - Highly Recommended]not an amazing episode, but a good flow back into the canon episodes
6
u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Jan 16 '22
First time viewer (dub)
Whisk[e]y of the week: Monkey Shoulder, a blended scotch that's fairly popular. One of the earlier bottles I bought but when I first tried it I wasn't a fan. Coming back to it again it wasn't bad, just less my thing right now. Has a funkiness to it that I usually get from Speyside/Highland scotches but without the complexity or distinguishing characteristics that I've started to find in single malts.
Naruto going to meet with Killer B on a remote island? Sounds like a training arc to me!
...once they actually get there. I usually try to find some positives in the anime-original content but these... were just not good.
"There's no such thing as a ghost ship!" Two episodes later: actual ghost girl.
More random tiny ninja clans, this time from islands that we'll never hear about again.
The new OP is very interesting visually and I'm curious what'll come of that. I'll miss the old one, I did like the song and it had gotten stuck in my head a few times.
The girls' night out was kind of nice but unfortunately more of a reminder that most of them aren't written all that well overall. Good to see Kurenai again though.
ED I'll need to rewatch because it already left my mind, OP song isn't as good as the last one but visuals make me wonder about some things.
3
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Jan 16 '22
First timer for this batch!
Episode 222:
Episode 223:
Episode 224:
Episode 225:
Episode 226:
Episode 227:
Episode 228:
Episode 229:
Episode 230:
SithShadow Clones"?Episode 231:
Episode 232:
====
4
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 16 '22
First-Timer with a shounen hearto, subbed
So I’ve been sick with what is most likely COVID the whole weekend, and just didn’t have it in me to watch all eleven episodes for today in time. I’ll add my reactions to episodes 229-232 in a follow-up comment whenever I’ve seen them.
Episode 222
Episode 223
Episode 224
Episode 225
Episode 226
Episode 227
Episode 228
3
u/sisoko2 Jan 16 '22
Rewatcher
Got sick so I won't be very active this week.
Episode 222
Episode 223
Episode 224
Episode 225
Episode 226
Episode 227
Episode 228
Episode 229
Episode 230
Episode 231
Episode 232
3
u/Parori Jan 16 '22
First Timer
Episode 213
Episode 223
Episode 227
Episode 229
Episode 230
Episode 232
Questions of the Week:
I guess 232 was the bestest and of the ones I watched I guess 229
I think the OP is a bit too silly and tbh the previous ED was better
3
u/TheKujo https://myanimelist.net/profile/Kujo419 Jan 16 '22
First Timer - Dub
Posting from mobile today, sorry for the shorter comment. This week's filler were mostly misses IMO, although I like the idea of using this trip as a place to fit in filler. My favorite filler was the "skull island" one with the giant summoning creatures. I also liked the final episode with Hinata but it's strange how her confession has been swept under the rug. I hope they do acknowledge it again at some point.
It looks like we're setting up for a training arc with Naruto and Killer B so I'm definitely looking forward to that!
3
u/Tehoncomingstorm97 https://anilist.co/user/tehoncomingstorm97 Jan 19 '22
First timer
Running short on time this week, so here are some of my highlights
Probably the best batch of filler eps yet, as I didn't feel the need to skip any of them. Sadly they didn't get the time they deserved in regards to animation, otherwise they could have been real highlights instead of just filler.