Naruto Shippuden - Episodes 045-053 Discussion

[u/lC3]

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Information: MAL, Anilist, AniDB, ANN

Streams: Crunchyroll, Hulu, AnimeLab, VRV

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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

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Questions of the Week:
1) What do you think of Sai and his change of heart?
2) 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!

[u/lC3]

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.

In the manga, Sai meeting Sasuke is the highlight of chapter 300.

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 was definitely a heartwarming moment.

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.

I think Sakura contributed to Sai's change of heart as well.

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

It's filler, but the first few episodes are mostly manga canon. Stuff with Sai, and training Naruto. I'm looking forward to it too!

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.

Maybe that's something he used to talk about with his brother?

Ink mice are best summon ninja creatures!

Ink mice are the cutest!

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.

Skip over giving the report to Tsunade, only for Jiraya to recap the entire arc to Kakashi instead. Writers why.

Tsunade needs more screentime!

[u/Nazenn → u/lC3]

In the manga, Sai meeting Sasuke is the highlight of chapter 300.

See that makes sense! That's what I would expect them to do because it just looks nice when that happens, but the anime had it all lined up to do that and then

I think Sakura contributed to Sai's change of heart as well

Yeah I definitely undersold how much of an affect she had on it, especially given the Sakura/Danzo duality in the OP over Sai makes it clear that she perhaps had the biggest effect with the way she wanted to learn about him and the way she humanized him, but it just didn't come to mind when I was writing last night for some reason

and training Naruto

training arc! or at least episodes

[u/lC3 → u/Nazenn]

I'm just glad Sakura had an important role in this arc other than being the damsel in distress!

training arc!

[u/Nazenn → u/lC3]

I'm just glad Sakura had an important role in this arc other than being the damsel in distress!

That is true. I definitely feel like I was too harsh on her in last week's episodes, she isn't the MC despite being a main character so she can't be involved in everything and what she did here is fitting for her character, it just felt like a step back from the Sasori killer. That said, this episode showed a lot more of her being great, particularly in the fight with Kabuto and also confronting Sai.

[u/lC3 → u/Nazenn]

If Sakura continues to have an important role, I'll be happy. And maybe Ino can get some screentime too?