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Hello Mangahelpers! It was a sunny afternoon and I hurried after uni to check the latest chapter, and what do I find? I think it’s safe to say, and it is just a confirmation, that the chapter is better than the spoilers. Details do count, and this time it gave the chapter a nice load of emotions and dynamic development. Even in the spoilers, Gaara’s speech was thrilling, but seeing the facial expressions and the reactions to the speech was just phenomenal.
Leaving my worked up self behind a bit, let’s start the review with presenting the whole course of action that led us here to this point.
The title is pretty clear, and I think everybody agrees. Before a great battle a speech is absolutely necessary, and even so in this world where today’s comrades were yesterday’s enemies, so an unifying will must be present.
This speech can be considered as a milestone, from multiple points of view. First is that it declares the start of the 4th Great Shinobi War, which this time is not between nations, but between entities that transcend this notion. As it was expressed at the Kage meeting, and if I’m not mistaken, then it was the same Gaara, this war is a war for survival of the world, so personal gains should be put aside.
Another reason for which this is a milestone, is from plot construction point of view. In previous chapters we’ve had slow plot development, some fights, which at most can be called exchanges of threatening talk, little movement here and there. We can call it the calm before the storm, but those events really left a print on the chapters as well. We had Naruto playing dumb, finishing an “S” ranked mission, Tsuchikage and Deidara cursing one another, and in the end, we had Yamato being kidnapped, which can be called the peak of the action.
The last chapter continued the same trend, with no serious plot development, nor character development. The action lacked, and we were shown the army composition of both sides, which instead of offering vital information, just raised a lot of questions. I’m not going to dwelve into the possible matchups, or strategies, because I think some are pretty obvious, and some will be, when we see the abilities that will compatible with each other.
What’s I’m trying to talk about here is the development of the story, it’s pace, and the slight chaotic feeling that the chapters transmitted so far, in opposition to the answers, fast pace, and the beginning of real action, that were beautifully compressed in this chapter
This week Akatsuki is shown first, which is somehow a logical continuation of last week’s chapter, but the pieces are starting to fall into their places. I don’t know if it is a surprise or not, but Kabuto is the one who is organizing the squads. But this time it’s no so complex as it was when the Alliance was presented. Akatsuki has Deidara and Sasori as the ambushing squad, quite a logical decision, because as we’ve seen in the past, the speciality of these two is exactly ambushing.
I mentioned that this chapter offers lots of answers. At this point in the chapter, the first one is revealed, and that is the rematch between Kankuro and Sasori. Also the fact that the opposing side has also chosen puppets as ambush I think it’s pretty safe to say that the primary purpose of puppets is this. Though not like the whole fighting style reeks of this obvious fact.
The second special squad is comprised of some unknown characters, the shinobi from the Mist being referred to as Chuukichi. The other is a former Root member, who will act as sensor, with Chuukichi as backup. This shows the second matchup, while the other side is represented by Ao and Inoichi. The only thing to be noted here is that probably we shouldn’t expect direct fighting from these people, as they serve as the intelligence agencies of their respective organization. So a probable conflict that should occur is each other finding out the other’s tactics, being able to anticipate one another, navigating the forces correctly. I think if it will work like this, then it will be a very interesting matchup, and a very original one, since we haven’t seen such a battle before.
What Akatsuki lacks is a medical specialist, but even if Kabuto can fill that position in, the regeneration of the Edo Tensei shinobi renders this position quite useless.
As all these troops head out, we have some interesting interaction between certain people. The first and most entertaining one is definitely the one between Deidara and Sasori. The perpetual conflict of their arts, even after death is amazing, it really shows that art is eternal. Sasori shown disappointment after seeing the current composition of Akatsuki, but he is quickly countered by Deidara, who calls him “master true art is beauty that endures eternally”. That was really funny, but what Deidara hasn’t noticed is that even though they are dead, they are still influencing the flow of history in Narutoverse, so actually Sasori’s definition works quite well this time.
We have other interactions as well, but this time the tone is more serious. Zabuza, Haku and the shinobi from Iwa(I’m not sure) are traveling in a separate group, which I’m not really sure if it’s based on the abilities they have or not. But nonetheless, accompanied by others as well, they realize that they are dead, and were resurrected as tools of war. Zabuza’s remark is interesting, and shows that he has no intention to fight, and he despises Kabuto for not letting them rest in the netherworld.
The other talkative group is group Konoha, with Asuma, Hizashi and Dan. Dan is the one who has a vague idea of what the situation is, but I think even if Asuma doesn’t know about Edo Tensei, he was able to deduce that the conflict with Akatsuki escalated, and this time is a full-scale conflict.
I’m trying to guess the reason of these group compositions, but everything is really vague here. I don’t know if I can categorize shinobi at this level into certain areas of combat(close range,midrange, long range). And as explained by Kabuto, I think he aims for the emotional impact for the opponents rather than the specific abilities that made these shinobi famous. So Konoha group is quite obvious, but Zabuza’s group is not so much, or at least the possible match ups for these people are various.
I think what this whole situation lacked is the interactions or thoughts of the really big guns, starting from Hanzou, Itachi and ultimately Nagato, but I guess we will find out about these people when the correct moment will come.
Kabuto also presents the possibility of leaving the personalities for some shinobi and stripping others completely. That’s why I think that people like Nagato, Itachi and Hanzou will have their personalities erased completely when they will enter their respective battles, because the possibility of rebellion is quite high, and their power can influence the tides of battle. So the lesser groups like the ones presented earlier, will have retain their personalities to inflict the necessary emotional damage.
Time for the Zetsus to make their move as well, and I think we should abandon the idea that they are puppets that are in need of control to perform on the battlefield. Now whether they were somehow programmed with a certain type of behaviou, which is probable, but I don’t think it’s the case. I think they are pure copies of White Zetsu, which means that the alliegance to Madara is as the same as with the original Zetsu. We were also told by Kabuto that even with Edo Tensei controlling many shinobi at once is quite difficult, so I think it would be the same with all these Zetsus as well. 1k people would be even more difficult to control, if we consider the most logical medium for this, which is only one person, the original Zetsu.
Besides that we are told that Black&White will remain with Sasuke, and guard him until his sight will be perfect, but this also serves the purpose of not letting Kabuto kidnap Zetsu. I think this is a correct move from Madara, and I think this is the first sign of resistance that he actualy shows against Kabuto. It’s not very impressive, but in the same time it shows that Madara probably has his own plan figured out, and that he can easily act as an ally.
What occurred to me was that Sasuke actually need babysitting. It could be that Madara actually needs him to awaken a pair of full-powered EMS, but the possibility of having Sasuke not interfering in the war, is high as well. Madara knows that Sasuke is not a real ally, and in the tides of war, he might die, or he might turn on him, so in order to keep him safe, and in the same time to be able to exploit him as much as he can, he keeps him home under the pretext that his eyes are not fully recovered, yet.
Another interesting tactic, which will probably be picked up by the sensors of the Alliance, is the underground movement of the Zetsus. I think there’s little chance that these clones are able to show the same ability as the original, which is being undetected, but still the surprise element is guaranteed and it will create an opening for Akatsuki to strike.
Parts of these scenes are witnessed by the spy team from Konoha. This is were we get small taste of the first battle of this war. As the front line moves out, Anko orders her teamates to withdraw and to transmit their information to the Alliance. This shows great confidence in her fighting ability. Why fighting ability? Because her hiding was rendered useless from the moment Kabuto left the trail of bodies. When Kabuto did that, it showed that he had knowledge of the fact that he was being followed, and Anko should know that. So that’s why I think that Anko is very confident that she can at least give time for her teamates to escape, so we should be witnessing a very interesting fight in the following chapters.
Another side of this fight is that they are both products of the Great White Snake Orochimaru, so similar snake abilities, accompanied by different fighting styles should be entertaining. Nonetheless, judging from plot point of view, or just the huge difference in power, now that Kabuto transformed, Anko should meet her end here, or at least to be another source of information for Akatsuki.
It's very good to see Kabuto being the same old Kabuto in terms of personality. I'm refering to the Konoha invasion back when the manga was in its early days. There is a noticable similarity between the two situations, then and now. Kabuto tells the entire plan, lets his enemies know every tiny information, and then he strikes to eliminate them, or he has somebody to do it. This time though he confronts an enemy directly, but I think that's just for the sake of old times with Orochimaru. He showed this exact same quality when he let himself be tracked by Tuchikage and later when let himself get caught. The ability to find the moment to strike back is amazing, and always proved successful.
Unfortunately for Anko's teamates, they are also spotted, and this time by the air division of the bad guys. This also seems promising, because we might see the Hyuuga with most powerful eye fight, and seeing the importance of Doujutsu in this world he should show us interesting abilities, maybe pitting him against Hizashi who is in the vicinity.
With both the Alliance and Akatsuki forces being introduced in a detailed way, we arrive at the milestone of the arc and the chapter as mentioned before.
Very impressive cover page with Gaara who is obviously the protagonist of the chapter. While we can recognize the trademark hand position for handling his jutsu, we can also interpret this gesture as stopping the spread of hatred that has been engulfing the shinobi world for ages.
The words that describe him are fantastic, I must admit, that this short sentences that describe coverpage characters are always inspiring and precise.
A man who navigated the raging rapids of the shinobi world to find himself leading a massive force. Gaara, Commander General of the Joint Shinobi Army!
The first part of the sentence is basically Gaara's entire life. He was born in hatred and as a result of the hatred, and led his entire life true to this belief, until he met Naruto and managed to climb back from the darkness of being a Jinchuuriki.
In not these exact words, but with similar meaning, Gaara interrupts the conflict that occurs between a Sand shinobi and a Stone shinobi. The latter still holds grudge for the loss of his father thanks to the Hidden Sand, so getting along is pretty difficult, as noticed by both Hinata and Neji. Kishimoto chose these scene because it involves a shinobi from the Sand, but I'm sure that this conflict is a representative for many other ninjas in the Joint Shinobi army.
What comes after this is just amazing and we see the Gaara letting his emotions free for the first time. The facial expressions that follow his entire speech are spot on, and it really raises the emotional impact of his words.
The main idea behind his speech is the parallel between the hate that engulfed the nations, and its results, the Jinchuuriki, culminating with the rise of Akatsuki, and his relationship to Naruto who is one of the main reasons that this war is actually happening.
Slowly, but steadily the shinobi in the army change their facial expressions, as noted by Kakashi, as a sign that they are understanding the message that their leader is trying to transmit. Even the individual leaders of the separate army groups are serious and show sign of great respect towards the charm and first signs of great leadership from Gaara.
This moment apart from its important meaning, and serious message, can be understood as another answer to the questions that were raised by readers last week, and by the shinobi this week. Why Gaara?
The first and most important reason in my eyes is the fact that he is young. This adheres to one of the most basic truths in the shinobi world: the younger generation will surpass the older. Assigning a young leader, of course with a serious backup, means that the young generation that had no war experience will be able to communicate and relate to the leader in an easier way. So Gaara serves as representative of the younger generation, and serves as help for them.
Also being a Kage for a fair amount of time, he has the ability to coordinate the movements of a large organization, and the quick rise in strength of his village after the failed Konoha invasion is a proof of that.
Another reason is given in this chapter, via the speech. The general reason for this war is stopping the hatred that is represented by Akatsuki. Though in the minds of the shinobi this explanation is probably missing, we the readers have been pointed out several times, that Akatsuki is the climax of the hatred gathered in the world.
A more tangible reason, but in strong relation to the above mentioned, is that this war is thanks to the existence of Jinchuuriki. Therefore Gaara a former Jinchuuriki, a person who was able to withstand the difficulties of being one and has risen as a magnificent leader of one of the Great Five Nations is the perfect bridge which connects the old world, where the hatred bred Jinchuurikis, to the new world, where Jinchuurikis won't be necessary.
Gaara admits that many people think, that he is still young for such a leadership position. But as a shinobi, who fights for the survival of his world, positions are not that important as it serves as guide for better coordination. Therefore the bottom line of this speech is unity, and that will only be fulfilled, when every shinobi who is taking a part in the fight to remain united, to trust and fight alongside each other.
The scene reminds me of Saruman giving the war speech to the Uruk-Hai, but the context is slightly different. The similarities are great though, the reaction, the hand gesture, but most importantly the charisma of each character is impressive, and moves the reader, viewer and raises the level of excitement.
Quoting Temari, indeed Gaara was impressive, and this speech will go down in Naruto history in my opinion. It marks the beginning of the war, but it also puts an end to the chaotic and stalling chapters that were until now in this arc. The pace suddenly improved with the movement of all forces, we also have a main idea of how the war will look like, and even the action became more serious and deadly.
Another important thing that I think we should notice is the difference between the mentality of the opposing forces. Akatsuki has slaves, people who are not fighting willingly, they bet their success on the emotional impact of the resurrected shinobi, while in the Alliance, the key word is unity, and the strong bond that unites all the 5 nations. Considering that in part 2 the manga really underlined the meaning of bonds, it is a very pleasant surprise to see it manifested once again.
Though there's no significant screentime for our main hero in this chapter, right after Gaara's speech, Bee introduces us to the last part of Naruto's training.
The exact words are:It's gonna be sad, your gonna feel helpless, but don't get mad. Cuz it's time to start!
This raises the obvious question, what the hell is Bee talking about. I'm going to guess here, but the most probable development for this will be, Naruto's return to Kyuubi, and somehow trying to sync with him, feel its pain, and get it to work together. This was foreshadowed by Naruto, who actually intends to meet Kyuubi once again.
So the training until now was to get Naruto being used to the huge amount of chakra, so when the time will come to actually use Kyuubi, then the handling will be easier.
This is one scenario, and I'm basing my thoughts on the fact that Naruto will be mad, sad.
What could be another reason for Naruto to get mad? Well I think a pretty plausible scenario is when Bee tells him that there is a war out there, and everybody is fighting for his safety. That will definitely make Naruto rage. But Bee also says It's time to start!. So based on the earlier scenario, could that mean that Bee plans to involve himself and Naruto in the war, in secret? If that is the case, then it will be the greatest development in this arc. I'm thinking maybe they will try to rescue Yamato, or just try enter the war, when they are most needed.
So I think both scenarios are plausible, and they will offer great plot development, each in its own way. But the war will start with or without them, and there are no other panels than these to show how serious they are.
Great art, great tool to make the chapter more dynamic, and showing us that the war really started. It's really something many people were waiting for, since Madara announced it, so I think the excitement is only normal.
The whole scene is watched by the Kages, but surprisingly Mizukage is missing, for unknown reasons. Well I have an idea, and it's related to Inoichi's and Ao's actions, but I will let you guys guess it, or post your own thoughts about it.
Quick summary/Opinions:
Truly a chapter in its own league compared to previous ones, with the hope that Kishimoto will continue these excitement developements as it was now.
Great character development for Gaara, and finally the plot is starting to move, as the pace picked up. We had events from different scenes, and the short flashback was a good mean to tie past events, to the present.
The art was also pretty different, with lots of panels showing Gaara's greatness, culminating with that superb shot with Kabuto and Anko clashing.
My mark is a 9.5/10, as the action lacked a bit, but nevertheless superb. The last thing I want to mention is about the future battles of this war, and matchups. And I'm picking just one case, I don't know if it will be the same with other as well.
We have a pretty clear outline of the Kankuro vs. Sasori rematch, and probably the clash of the respective squads. But what is the purpose of actually forming ambush and distraction squads if they were to meet in battle. Their role would be ambushing the main army, and try to decimate their numbers, so I'm asking you if do you think that Kankuro will actually fight Sasori or not, and if yes, then what about Deidara?
Predictions/Want to happen:
As expected, this week the main topic was Gaara's speech. It was quite obvious in my opinion, and it is quite an ordinary event before a battle. But this chapter opened up possibilities for the next chapter, and a few of them would be Anko vs. Kabuto, Naruto's development, Hyuuga clash.
I think one or two of these events will be presented for sure, and I would really like Anko vs. Kabuto and Naruto's development. Though I count myself into those people who never gave up their expectations of the Hyuuga and Byakugan, I think compared to such events, such a fight would pale. But nevertheless I'm sure we will see that fight as well, but the details are more interesting in the other scenarios.
That's kinda it. I hope it wasn't a waste of time, and again, must apologize for the miss last week. I will try to keep my reviews coming at least every two weeks, but with such developments I might cut myself some slack and write one next week as well.
Feel free contradict me and my predictions, post your ideas about Mizukage's absence, or just thoughts about the chapter and the review. It was certainly a great chapter, and I was glad to present it to you, but this could never be done without the help of these guys.
So thanks to them, and thanks to you all who read this, let's hope we meet next week as well.
Mata ne!
Leaving my worked up self behind a bit, let’s start the review with presenting the whole course of action that led us here to this point.
The title is pretty clear, and I think everybody agrees. Before a great battle a speech is absolutely necessary, and even so in this world where today’s comrades were yesterday’s enemies, so an unifying will must be present.
This speech can be considered as a milestone, from multiple points of view. First is that it declares the start of the 4th Great Shinobi War, which this time is not between nations, but between entities that transcend this notion. As it was expressed at the Kage meeting, and if I’m not mistaken, then it was the same Gaara, this war is a war for survival of the world, so personal gains should be put aside.
Another reason for which this is a milestone, is from plot construction point of view. In previous chapters we’ve had slow plot development, some fights, which at most can be called exchanges of threatening talk, little movement here and there. We can call it the calm before the storm, but those events really left a print on the chapters as well. We had Naruto playing dumb, finishing an “S” ranked mission, Tsuchikage and Deidara cursing one another, and in the end, we had Yamato being kidnapped, which can be called the peak of the action.
The last chapter continued the same trend, with no serious plot development, nor character development. The action lacked, and we were shown the army composition of both sides, which instead of offering vital information, just raised a lot of questions. I’m not going to dwelve into the possible matchups, or strategies, because I think some are pretty obvious, and some will be, when we see the abilities that will compatible with each other.
What’s I’m trying to talk about here is the development of the story, it’s pace, and the slight chaotic feeling that the chapters transmitted so far, in opposition to the answers, fast pace, and the beginning of real action, that were beautifully compressed in this chapter
This week Akatsuki is shown first, which is somehow a logical continuation of last week’s chapter, but the pieces are starting to fall into their places. I don’t know if it is a surprise or not, but Kabuto is the one who is organizing the squads. But this time it’s no so complex as it was when the Alliance was presented. Akatsuki has Deidara and Sasori as the ambushing squad, quite a logical decision, because as we’ve seen in the past, the speciality of these two is exactly ambushing.
I mentioned that this chapter offers lots of answers. At this point in the chapter, the first one is revealed, and that is the rematch between Kankuro and Sasori. Also the fact that the opposing side has also chosen puppets as ambush I think it’s pretty safe to say that the primary purpose of puppets is this. Though not like the whole fighting style reeks of this obvious fact.
The second special squad is comprised of some unknown characters, the shinobi from the Mist being referred to as Chuukichi. The other is a former Root member, who will act as sensor, with Chuukichi as backup. This shows the second matchup, while the other side is represented by Ao and Inoichi. The only thing to be noted here is that probably we shouldn’t expect direct fighting from these people, as they serve as the intelligence agencies of their respective organization. So a probable conflict that should occur is each other finding out the other’s tactics, being able to anticipate one another, navigating the forces correctly. I think if it will work like this, then it will be a very interesting matchup, and a very original one, since we haven’t seen such a battle before.
What Akatsuki lacks is a medical specialist, but even if Kabuto can fill that position in, the regeneration of the Edo Tensei shinobi renders this position quite useless.
As all these troops head out, we have some interesting interaction between certain people. The first and most entertaining one is definitely the one between Deidara and Sasori. The perpetual conflict of their arts, even after death is amazing, it really shows that art is eternal
. Sasori shown disappointment after seeing the current composition of Akatsuki, but he is quickly countered by Deidara, who calls him “master true art is beauty that endures eternally”. That was really funny, but what Deidara hasn’t noticed is that even though they are dead, they are still influencing the flow of history in Narutoverse, so actually Sasori’s definition works quite well this time.We have other interactions as well, but this time the tone is more serious. Zabuza, Haku and the shinobi from Iwa(I’m not sure) are traveling in a separate group, which I’m not really sure if it’s based on the abilities they have or not. But nonetheless, accompanied by others as well, they realize that they are dead, and were resurrected as tools of war. Zabuza’s remark is interesting, and shows that he has no intention to fight, and he despises Kabuto for not letting them rest in the netherworld.
The other talkative group is group Konoha, with Asuma, Hizashi and Dan. Dan is the one who has a vague idea of what the situation is, but I think even if Asuma doesn’t know about Edo Tensei, he was able to deduce that the conflict with Akatsuki escalated, and this time is a full-scale conflict.
I’m trying to guess the reason of these group compositions, but everything is really vague here. I don’t know if I can categorize shinobi at this level into certain areas of combat(close range,midrange, long range). And as explained by Kabuto, I think he aims for the emotional impact for the opponents rather than the specific abilities that made these shinobi famous. So Konoha group is quite obvious, but Zabuza’s group is not so much, or at least the possible match ups for these people are various.
I think what this whole situation lacked is the interactions or thoughts of the really big guns, starting from Hanzou, Itachi and ultimately Nagato, but I guess we will find out about these people when the correct moment will come.
Kabuto also presents the possibility of leaving the personalities for some shinobi and stripping others completely. That’s why I think that people like Nagato, Itachi and Hanzou will have their personalities erased completely when they will enter their respective battles, because the possibility of rebellion is quite high, and their power can influence the tides of battle. So the lesser groups like the ones presented earlier, will have retain their personalities to inflict the necessary emotional damage.
Time for the Zetsus to make their move as well, and I think we should abandon the idea that they are puppets that are in need of control to perform on the battlefield. Now whether they were somehow programmed with a certain type of behaviou, which is probable, but I don’t think it’s the case. I think they are pure copies of White Zetsu, which means that the alliegance to Madara is as the same as with the original Zetsu. We were also told by Kabuto that even with Edo Tensei controlling many shinobi at once is quite difficult, so I think it would be the same with all these Zetsus as well. 1k people would be even more difficult to control, if we consider the most logical medium for this, which is only one person, the original Zetsu.
Besides that we are told that Black&White will remain with Sasuke, and guard him until his sight will be perfect, but this also serves the purpose of not letting Kabuto kidnap Zetsu. I think this is a correct move from Madara, and I think this is the first sign of resistance that he actualy shows against Kabuto. It’s not very impressive, but in the same time it shows that Madara probably has his own plan figured out, and that he can easily act as an ally.
What occurred to me was that Sasuke actually need babysitting. It could be that Madara actually needs him to awaken a pair of full-powered EMS, but the possibility of having Sasuke not interfering in the war, is high as well. Madara knows that Sasuke is not a real ally, and in the tides of war, he might die, or he might turn on him, so in order to keep him safe, and in the same time to be able to exploit him as much as he can, he keeps him home under the pretext that his eyes are not fully recovered, yet.
Another interesting tactic, which will probably be picked up by the sensors of the Alliance, is the underground movement of the Zetsus. I think there’s little chance that these clones are able to show the same ability as the original, which is being undetected, but still the surprise element is guaranteed and it will create an opening for Akatsuki to strike.
Parts of these scenes are witnessed by the spy team from Konoha. This is were we get small taste of the first battle of this war. As the front line moves out, Anko orders her teamates to withdraw and to transmit their information to the Alliance. This shows great confidence in her fighting ability. Why fighting ability? Because her hiding was rendered useless from the moment Kabuto left the trail of bodies. When Kabuto did that, it showed that he had knowledge of the fact that he was being followed, and Anko should know that. So that’s why I think that Anko is very confident that she can at least give time for her teamates to escape, so we should be witnessing a very interesting fight in the following chapters.
Another side of this fight is that they are both products of the Great White Snake Orochimaru, so similar snake abilities, accompanied by different fighting styles should be entertaining. Nonetheless, judging from plot point of view, or just the huge difference in power, now that Kabuto transformed, Anko should meet her end here, or at least to be another source of information for Akatsuki.
It's very good to see Kabuto being the same old Kabuto in terms of personality. I'm refering to the Konoha invasion back when the manga was in its early days. There is a noticable similarity between the two situations, then and now. Kabuto tells the entire plan, lets his enemies know every tiny information, and then he strikes to eliminate them, or he has somebody to do it. This time though he confronts an enemy directly, but I think that's just for the sake of old times with Orochimaru. He showed this exact same quality when he let himself be tracked by Tuchikage and later when let himself get caught. The ability to find the moment to strike back is amazing, and always proved successful.
Unfortunately for Anko's teamates, they are also spotted, and this time by the air division of the bad guys. This also seems promising, because we might see the Hyuuga with most powerful eye fight, and seeing the importance of Doujutsu in this world he should show us interesting abilities, maybe pitting him against Hizashi who is in the vicinity.
With both the Alliance and Akatsuki forces being introduced in a detailed way, we arrive at the milestone of the arc and the chapter as mentioned before.
Very impressive cover page with Gaara who is obviously the protagonist of the chapter. While we can recognize the trademark hand position for handling his jutsu, we can also interpret this gesture as stopping the spread of hatred that has been engulfing the shinobi world for ages.
The words that describe him are fantastic, I must admit, that this short sentences that describe coverpage characters are always inspiring and precise.
A man who navigated the raging rapids of the shinobi world to find himself leading a massive force. Gaara, Commander General of the Joint Shinobi Army!
The first part of the sentence is basically Gaara's entire life. He was born in hatred and as a result of the hatred, and led his entire life true to this belief, until he met Naruto and managed to climb back from the darkness of being a Jinchuuriki.
In not these exact words, but with similar meaning, Gaara interrupts the conflict that occurs between a Sand shinobi and a Stone shinobi. The latter still holds grudge for the loss of his father thanks to the Hidden Sand, so getting along is pretty difficult, as noticed by both Hinata and Neji. Kishimoto chose these scene because it involves a shinobi from the Sand, but I'm sure that this conflict is a representative for many other ninjas in the Joint Shinobi army.
What comes after this is just amazing and we see the Gaara letting his emotions free for the first time. The facial expressions that follow his entire speech are spot on, and it really raises the emotional impact of his words.
The main idea behind his speech is the parallel between the hate that engulfed the nations, and its results, the Jinchuuriki, culminating with the rise of Akatsuki, and his relationship to Naruto who is one of the main reasons that this war is actually happening.
Slowly, but steadily the shinobi in the army change their facial expressions, as noted by Kakashi, as a sign that they are understanding the message that their leader is trying to transmit. Even the individual leaders of the separate army groups are serious and show sign of great respect towards the charm and first signs of great leadership from Gaara.
This moment apart from its important meaning, and serious message, can be understood as another answer to the questions that were raised by readers last week, and by the shinobi this week. Why Gaara?
The first and most important reason in my eyes is the fact that he is young. This adheres to one of the most basic truths in the shinobi world: the younger generation will surpass the older. Assigning a young leader, of course with a serious backup, means that the young generation that had no war experience will be able to communicate and relate to the leader in an easier way. So Gaara serves as representative of the younger generation, and serves as help for them.
Also being a Kage for a fair amount of time, he has the ability to coordinate the movements of a large organization, and the quick rise in strength of his village after the failed Konoha invasion is a proof of that.
Another reason is given in this chapter, via the speech. The general reason for this war is stopping the hatred that is represented by Akatsuki. Though in the minds of the shinobi this explanation is probably missing, we the readers have been pointed out several times, that Akatsuki is the climax of the hatred gathered in the world.
A more tangible reason, but in strong relation to the above mentioned, is that this war is thanks to the existence of Jinchuuriki. Therefore Gaara a former Jinchuuriki, a person who was able to withstand the difficulties of being one and has risen as a magnificent leader of one of the Great Five Nations is the perfect bridge which connects the old world, where the hatred bred Jinchuurikis, to the new world, where Jinchuurikis won't be necessary.
Gaara admits that many people think, that he is still young for such a leadership position. But as a shinobi, who fights for the survival of his world, positions are not that important as it serves as guide for better coordination. Therefore the bottom line of this speech is unity, and that will only be fulfilled, when every shinobi who is taking a part in the fight to remain united, to trust and fight alongside each other.
The scene reminds me of Saruman giving the war speech to the Uruk-Hai, but the context is slightly different. The similarities are great though, the reaction, the hand gesture, but most importantly the charisma of each character is impressive, and moves the reader, viewer and raises the level of excitement.
Quoting Temari, indeed Gaara was impressive, and this speech will go down in Naruto history in my opinion. It marks the beginning of the war, but it also puts an end to the chaotic and stalling chapters that were until now in this arc. The pace suddenly improved with the movement of all forces, we also have a main idea of how the war will look like, and even the action became more serious and deadly.
Another important thing that I think we should notice is the difference between the mentality of the opposing forces. Akatsuki has slaves, people who are not fighting willingly, they bet their success on the emotional impact of the resurrected shinobi, while in the Alliance, the key word is unity, and the strong bond that unites all the 5 nations. Considering that in part 2 the manga really underlined the meaning of bonds, it is a very pleasant surprise to see it manifested once again.
Though there's no significant screentime for our main hero in this chapter, right after Gaara's speech, Bee introduces us to the last part of Naruto's training.
The exact words are:It's gonna be sad, your gonna feel helpless, but don't get mad. Cuz it's time to start!
This raises the obvious question, what the hell is Bee talking about. I'm going to guess here, but the most probable development for this will be, Naruto's return to Kyuubi, and somehow trying to sync with him, feel its pain, and get it to work together. This was foreshadowed by Naruto, who actually intends to meet Kyuubi once again.
So the training until now was to get Naruto being used to the huge amount of chakra, so when the time will come to actually use Kyuubi, then the handling will be easier.
This is one scenario, and I'm basing my thoughts on the fact that Naruto will be mad, sad.
What could be another reason for Naruto to get mad? Well I think a pretty plausible scenario is when Bee tells him that there is a war out there, and everybody is fighting for his safety. That will definitely make Naruto rage. But Bee also says It's time to start!. So based on the earlier scenario, could that mean that Bee plans to involve himself and Naruto in the war, in secret? If that is the case, then it will be the greatest development in this arc. I'm thinking maybe they will try to rescue Yamato, or just try enter the war, when they are most needed.
So I think both scenarios are plausible, and they will offer great plot development, each in its own way. But the war will start with or without them, and there are no other panels than these to show how serious they are.
Great art, great tool to make the chapter more dynamic, and showing us that the war really started. It's really something many people were waiting for, since Madara announced it, so I think the excitement is only normal.
The whole scene is watched by the Kages, but surprisingly Mizukage is missing, for unknown reasons. Well I have an idea, and it's related to Inoichi's and Ao's actions, but I will let you guys guess it, or post your own thoughts about it.
Quick summary/Opinions:
Truly a chapter in its own league compared to previous ones, with the hope that Kishimoto will continue these excitement developements as it was now.
Great character development for Gaara, and finally the plot is starting to move, as the pace picked up. We had events from different scenes, and the short flashback was a good mean to tie past events, to the present.
The art was also pretty different, with lots of panels showing Gaara's greatness, culminating with that superb shot with Kabuto and Anko clashing.
My mark is a 9.5/10, as the action lacked a bit, but nevertheless superb. The last thing I want to mention is about the future battles of this war, and matchups. And I'm picking just one case, I don't know if it will be the same with other as well.
We have a pretty clear outline of the Kankuro vs. Sasori rematch, and probably the clash of the respective squads. But what is the purpose of actually forming ambush and distraction squads if they were to meet in battle. Their role would be ambushing the main army, and try to decimate their numbers, so I'm asking you if do you think that Kankuro will actually fight Sasori or not, and if yes, then what about Deidara?
Predictions/Want to happen:
As expected, this week the main topic was Gaara's speech. It was quite obvious in my opinion, and it is quite an ordinary event before a battle. But this chapter opened up possibilities for the next chapter, and a few of them would be Anko vs. Kabuto, Naruto's development, Hyuuga clash.
I think one or two of these events will be presented for sure, and I would really like Anko vs. Kabuto and Naruto's development. Though I count myself into those people who never gave up their expectations of the Hyuuga and Byakugan, I think compared to such events, such a fight would pale. But nevertheless I'm sure we will see that fight as well, but the details are more interesting in the other scenarios.
That's kinda it. I hope it wasn't a waste of time, and again, must apologize for the miss last week. I will try to keep my reviews coming at least every two weeks, but with such developments I might cut myself some slack and write one next week as well.
Feel free contradict me and my predictions, post your ideas about Mizukage's absence, or just thoughts about the chapter and the review. It was certainly a great chapter, and I was glad to present it to you, but this could never be done without the help of these guys.
So thanks to them, and thanks to you all who read this, let's hope we meet next week as well.
Mata ne!
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