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...the 1TrueSensei you see in the distance, walking out of the sunset? Yes, my friend. Yes it is. I actually have a chance to do some reviewing for a change, so I'll go ahead and jump all over the opportunity. I don't know when I'll next have a chance to review, so I'll just try to enjoy this one as best as I can. I don't think I'll be doing my normal reviewing template for this one so it'll be less fun to look at
. But as always, I hope the content carries the review. So, without any further ado...
The cover page is of Omoi, a character that we admittedly know little about. Yet I think I still got something out of this page about his personality, so I'll elaborate as much as I can. The caption calls him a worrier, worrying about many things including his master's safety. This is evident even in his picture, a slightly worried cast to his features. His almost obsessive, hypothetical musings that we've seen so far from him also seem to support this description of him. Yet, because of these personality traits I think that Omoi is going to be the person in the Cloud Team who Naruto reaches the easiest. His concerned lapses, despite how Kishi uses them for humorous purposes, show him to be a deep thinker about things. So once he finds out that Naruto is a Jinchuuriki like Killerbee, who despite having every reason to hate and fear Akatsuki would rather not kill any of them but find a way to achieve peace, will be strongly persuaded I think. So, you heard it here first! Clock another one for the almighty religion of Narutoism. All hail!!!
News of the kill order on Sasuke has been delivered, and as expected, Naruto and Sakura explode. While Kakashi tries to let level heads prevail, Naruto and Sakura are prepared to march into Danzou's office to give im a piece of their minds. One thing that I found funny was that right after saying, "How can I stay calm?!" he promises that he won't attack Danzou. Strangely enough, I believe that he won't attack Danzou at first. But with a certified bastard like Danzou who has 50-something years of experience manipulating others, I don't place much faith in Naruto's patience.
One surprising piece of info received this chapter was that the Daimyo doesn't have the absolute final say in choosing the Hokage. The jounins of the village must vote as well. This restores a bit of hope in the governmental procedures of the Land of Fire, cause the travesty shown in 450 was almost enough to make one cry. It makes sense that those most experienced as shinobi should have a say in the selection of the shinobi leader. It's possible that this is a tradition dating back to when Shodai established the system, as a way of limiting the Daimyo's power over shinobi sovreignty. Much like the three branches of government and its system of checks and balances in the US (middle school Social Studies FTW!
) Two, it may even be the reason why Danzou wasn't selected as Hokage in the past. In a war-time environment, the last thing the jounin would've wanted was a warhawk as Hokage. But these are just guesses.
Even though Naruto still wants to go off, Kakashi further breaks it down for him, listing the consequences if he keeps on pursuing his course of action. Now this brings up an issue that is kind of starting to bug me. Before, I had no problem with Naruto continually chasing Sasuke. It is a main motivator of the plot, and it shows Naruto's single-minded desire to save his friend. It's admirable, especially given the callousness of the world in which he grew up in. But what's getting exasperating is the fact that Sasuke is being used as such an effective lever against him. Everyone, from Pein to Danzou knows that the quickest way to get to him is through Sasuke. Even Kakashi only managed to persuade Naruto to be patient when he said he wouldn't be able to chase Sasuke from the inside of a jail cell. Once again, I understand why Kishi set up the plot in such a way, but it's starting to get to the point where it's being overplayed. This particular issue may need to be resolved soon after all, instead of waiting till later like I hoped it would.
Predictably, Danzou orders Sai to keep an eye on Naruto and monitor his movements. In true villain fashion he identifies Naruto as the threat to his popularity, and immediately takes steps to counteract him. Persuaded not to be as "soft" as Tsunade, Danzou is prepared to take whatever steps necessary to solidify his power.
As Sai wonders whether Danzou is making the right move, Naruto and Sakura catch up with him to milk him for info about his one-eyed, one-armed boss. Before Naruto and Sakura go megaton on him for withholding info, Sai shows them the curse seal on this tongue that stops him and every other Root member from telling sensitive information about Danzou. The seal, while not as serious as the Hyuuga CS which can kill, can pretty much make one wish they were dead if Danzou allows the effects to be permanent.
Furthermore, we soon see that Danzou failed to inform Sai of his decision to invoke the kill order on Sasuke, a piece of info that you think would be vital for Sai to know if he's supposed to monitor Naruto's movements. This leads the 1TS to believe that Danzou is fully aware of Naruto's effect on people, including Sai, and he kept him out of the loop purposefully so that Sai wouldn't do to Naruto what Kakashi did earlier in the chapter. Like the title of the lesson says: precautions. Danzou you sneaky SOB. You're going for Magnificent Bastard status, aren't you?*
Before the conversation can get much farther we see the sudden arrival of Omoi and Karui, the latter having her sword out pointed at Team 7 asking them about Sasuke. Now before I go further, the 1TrueSensei has to input this bit: I loved the composition of this page. I'm most definitely not an artist so I'm not the best judge, but the use of perspective on this page was very nice. Though the cleaning has taken away from the effect of some of the shading (trust me, it looks much better in its raw form), the angles look very well done. This is one aspect of Kishi's art that I absolutely love, and which I believe sets him apart from some of the other leading manga artists out there. Admittedly I'm not as well read as others in the manga department, but Kishi is unique in this aspect in the ones I've read. But I digress...
Before even Sai (most powerful of his generation my a**) has a chance to react (even though he noticed the Cloud nins first, shown by the exclamation mark at the end of page 9) Naruto has pulled out Sai's ninjato and knocked Karui's sword away. Then, as he follows it with an elbow to her face, Omoi comes into play by blocking the elbow with the end of his own sword hilt. Yet even as he's Omoi has blocked his thrust Naruto has gotten ready to create a Kage Bunshin even as Karui flips over her partner's back to prepare to attack Naruto while he's occupied.
Heeding Omoi's warning not to cut them, she flips her blade to its back end to prepare a slice only to see Naruto's KB waiting with arms outstretched to catch the blade with his bare freakin' hands *emits girly fanboyish squeal*
Sakura and Sai finally get their thumbs outta their you-know-whats to join the fight, only to get swiftly pwned by Omoi and Karui's excellent teamwork and coordination (especially in Sakura's case. Tsunade must be crying in her sleep; she'd be rolling in her grave if she was dead but she's not so...)
As the two teams separate Sakura finally registers the fact that they're Cloud ninjas. They in turn ask about Sasuke since he attacked their village, and eventually the bomb finally drops that Sasuke has joined Akatsuki. The Cloud nin continue on to say that now that they have approval from both the Raikage and the Hokage, they're going to kill him and have their revenge. The chapter ends on Naruto wondering exactly what Sasuke has gotten himself into, along with a promise for color pages next week (awesome, awesome indeed).
Lesson Review: Pay Attention (if you want to)
The plot is slowly building up to the Kage Summit, with a bit of Uchiha drama thrown in of course. Naruto is finding that Sasuke is even deeper in the darkness than he thought, and he is finding himself in the increasingly small category of people that truly care for him. On top of that, it seems to be something that only Naruto can deal with. "Neverending hatred...pain that never heals...that is war. Naruto, this is what you must face." Nagato's words are starting to prove true already. Naruto must deal with this and find a compromise that will satisfy everybody while still saving Sasuke. In a way, it is one of his first true tests as a leader.
Another thing I found pretty cool was the way that Kishi contrasts Naruto and Sakura to Omoi and Karui. Both have a connection to Sasuke, and both are completely opposite in their reactions towards him. One pair wants desparately to save him, while the other wants to kill him. The fact that the relationship between the two pairs is similar further emphasizes the parallels between these four, and I think that Kishi may do something with this. What it might be I don't yet know, but I have some faith in the guy.
Chapter Grade: A Liked the little bit of action in this chapter. It proved that Naruto is indeed worthy of being listed as one of the elites now, as he was the only person in his team who didn't have a problem with Team Cloud. Made my fanboy a very happy camper, I tell you what. Besides which, it was nice to see a bit more of the workings of Hokage election, and the revelation that Sasuke is in Akatsuki made this chapter an A in my book.
*reference-http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagnificentBastard
. But as always, I hope the content carries the review. So, without any further ado...Class is in Session! Naruto 452 Review
The cover page is of Omoi, a character that we admittedly know little about. Yet I think I still got something out of this page about his personality, so I'll elaborate as much as I can. The caption calls him a worrier, worrying about many things including his master's safety. This is evident even in his picture, a slightly worried cast to his features. His almost obsessive, hypothetical musings that we've seen so far from him also seem to support this description of him. Yet, because of these personality traits I think that Omoi is going to be the person in the Cloud Team who Naruto reaches the easiest. His concerned lapses, despite how Kishi uses them for humorous purposes, show him to be a deep thinker about things. So once he finds out that Naruto is a Jinchuuriki like Killerbee, who despite having every reason to hate and fear Akatsuki would rather not kill any of them but find a way to achieve peace, will be strongly persuaded I think. So, you heard it here first! Clock another one for the almighty religion of Narutoism. All hail!!!
Lesson 1: Fallout
News of the kill order on Sasuke has been delivered, and as expected, Naruto and Sakura explode. While Kakashi tries to let level heads prevail, Naruto and Sakura are prepared to march into Danzou's office to give im a piece of their minds. One thing that I found funny was that right after saying, "How can I stay calm?!" he promises that he won't attack Danzou. Strangely enough, I believe that he won't attack Danzou at first. But with a certified bastard like Danzou who has 50-something years of experience manipulating others, I don't place much faith in Naruto's patience.
One surprising piece of info received this chapter was that the Daimyo doesn't have the absolute final say in choosing the Hokage. The jounins of the village must vote as well. This restores a bit of hope in the governmental procedures of the Land of Fire, cause the travesty shown in 450 was almost enough to make one cry. It makes sense that those most experienced as shinobi should have a say in the selection of the shinobi leader. It's possible that this is a tradition dating back to when Shodai established the system, as a way of limiting the Daimyo's power over shinobi sovreignty. Much like the three branches of government and its system of checks and balances in the US (middle school Social Studies FTW!
) Two, it may even be the reason why Danzou wasn't selected as Hokage in the past. In a war-time environment, the last thing the jounin would've wanted was a warhawk as Hokage. But these are just guesses.
Even though Naruto still wants to go off, Kakashi further breaks it down for him, listing the consequences if he keeps on pursuing his course of action. Now this brings up an issue that is kind of starting to bug me. Before, I had no problem with Naruto continually chasing Sasuke. It is a main motivator of the plot, and it shows Naruto's single-minded desire to save his friend. It's admirable, especially given the callousness of the world in which he grew up in. But what's getting exasperating is the fact that Sasuke is being used as such an effective lever against him. Everyone, from Pein to Danzou knows that the quickest way to get to him is through Sasuke. Even Kakashi only managed to persuade Naruto to be patient when he said he wouldn't be able to chase Sasuke from the inside of a jail cell. Once again, I understand why Kishi set up the plot in such a way, but it's starting to get to the point where it's being overplayed. This particular issue may need to be resolved soon after all, instead of waiting till later like I hoped it would.
Lesson 2: Precautions
Predictably, Danzou orders Sai to keep an eye on Naruto and monitor his movements. In true villain fashion he identifies Naruto as the threat to his popularity, and immediately takes steps to counteract him. Persuaded not to be as "soft" as Tsunade, Danzou is prepared to take whatever steps necessary to solidify his power.
As Sai wonders whether Danzou is making the right move, Naruto and Sakura catch up with him to milk him for info about his one-eyed, one-armed boss. Before Naruto and Sakura go megaton on him for withholding info, Sai shows them the curse seal on this tongue that stops him and every other Root member from telling sensitive information about Danzou. The seal, while not as serious as the Hyuuga CS which can kill, can pretty much make one wish they were dead if Danzou allows the effects to be permanent.
Furthermore, we soon see that Danzou failed to inform Sai of his decision to invoke the kill order on Sasuke, a piece of info that you think would be vital for Sai to know if he's supposed to monitor Naruto's movements. This leads the 1TS to believe that Danzou is fully aware of Naruto's effect on people, including Sai, and he kept him out of the loop purposefully so that Sai wouldn't do to Naruto what Kakashi did earlier in the chapter. Like the title of the lesson says: precautions. Danzou you sneaky SOB. You're going for Magnificent Bastard status, aren't you?*
Lesson 3: Consequences
Before the conversation can get much farther we see the sudden arrival of Omoi and Karui, the latter having her sword out pointed at Team 7 asking them about Sasuke. Now before I go further, the 1TrueSensei has to input this bit: I loved the composition of this page. I'm most definitely not an artist so I'm not the best judge, but the use of perspective on this page was very nice. Though the cleaning has taken away from the effect of some of the shading (trust me, it looks much better in its raw form), the angles look very well done. This is one aspect of Kishi's art that I absolutely love, and which I believe sets him apart from some of the other leading manga artists out there. Admittedly I'm not as well read as others in the manga department, but Kishi is unique in this aspect in the ones I've read. But I digress...
Before even Sai (most powerful of his generation my a**) has a chance to react (even though he noticed the Cloud nins first, shown by the exclamation mark at the end of page 9) Naruto has pulled out Sai's ninjato and knocked Karui's sword away. Then, as he follows it with an elbow to her face, Omoi comes into play by blocking the elbow with the end of his own sword hilt. Yet even as he's Omoi has blocked his thrust Naruto has gotten ready to create a Kage Bunshin even as Karui flips over her partner's back to prepare to attack Naruto while he's occupied.
Heeding Omoi's warning not to cut them, she flips her blade to its back end to prepare a slice only to see Naruto's KB waiting with arms outstretched to catch the blade with his bare freakin' hands *emits girly fanboyish squeal*
Sakura and Sai finally get their thumbs outta their you-know-whats to join the fight, only to get swiftly pwned by Omoi and Karui's excellent teamwork and coordination (especially in Sakura's case. Tsunade must be crying in her sleep; she'd be rolling in her grave if she was dead but she's not so...)
As the two teams separate Sakura finally registers the fact that they're Cloud ninjas. They in turn ask about Sasuke since he attacked their village, and eventually the bomb finally drops that Sasuke has joined Akatsuki. The Cloud nin continue on to say that now that they have approval from both the Raikage and the Hokage, they're going to kill him and have their revenge. The chapter ends on Naruto wondering exactly what Sasuke has gotten himself into, along with a promise for color pages next week (awesome, awesome indeed).
Lesson Review: Pay Attention (if you want to)
The plot is slowly building up to the Kage Summit, with a bit of Uchiha drama thrown in of course. Naruto is finding that Sasuke is even deeper in the darkness than he thought, and he is finding himself in the increasingly small category of people that truly care for him. On top of that, it seems to be something that only Naruto can deal with. "Neverending hatred...pain that never heals...that is war. Naruto, this is what you must face." Nagato's words are starting to prove true already. Naruto must deal with this and find a compromise that will satisfy everybody while still saving Sasuke. In a way, it is one of his first true tests as a leader.
Another thing I found pretty cool was the way that Kishi contrasts Naruto and Sakura to Omoi and Karui. Both have a connection to Sasuke, and both are completely opposite in their reactions towards him. One pair wants desparately to save him, while the other wants to kill him. The fact that the relationship between the two pairs is similar further emphasizes the parallels between these four, and I think that Kishi may do something with this. What it might be I don't yet know, but I have some faith in the guy.
Chapter Grade: A Liked the little bit of action in this chapter. It proved that Naruto is indeed worthy of being listed as one of the elites now, as he was the only person in his team who didn't have a problem with Team Cloud. Made my fanboy a very happy camper, I tell you what. Besides which, it was nice to see a bit more of the workings of Hokage election, and the revelation that Sasuke is in Akatsuki made this chapter an A in my book.
*reference-http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagnificentBastard
