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Naruto
I have now finished reading the first 255 chapters of Naruto over the holidays. (Okay, I lie. I read the first twenty chapters a month ago. But the 235 others were all read over break.) As one might guess by the quantity and speed with which I consumed the manga, I enjoyed it greatly. Only stopped because that was all I *had*.
o Dude, the amount of time I spend wanting to yell at these characters and smack them upside the head is most of the time. Which, I suppose, is a sign of enjoyment. But, man. Also, vast amounts of time were spent going "Eek, no! Not [insert character fighting and losing here]!"
o Sasuke! I realize he's twelve or thirteen and therefore incredibly stupid, but. Following the advice of your obviously insane brother is not a good idea! Joining the forces of the creepy snake-dude who wants your pretty, pre-teen, virgin ass is not a good idea either! Even if he doesn't want to have sex with you, you still won't be able to be an avenger if you're possessed by Orochimaru.
o Naruto reads like a very typical manga/anime character, but I do like him. And there are so, so many other characters it was rare when I sat their going, "Okay, enough of Naruto fighting; let's get back to the characters I like better." So, good.
o Didn't like Sakura at first, but she's really grown on me. This is mostly because I think she herself has grown more mature and sees her teammates as *teammates* and not as the Loud, Annoying One and her One, True Love for Forever. I can't fault her too much for that thinking because I was much the same when I was twelve, as, I think, most of the other girls in my middle school were.
o I would be inordinately pleased if Sakura and Ino dropped their rivalry over Sasuke, seeing as how it was stupid in the first place. Also, he's been with Orochimaru now for a couple years. He's probably very different from the boy they both swooned over. (I have high hopes for when we get to see Ino and Sakura interact after the time jump but wouldn't be surprised if they still were rivals. Just, please, not rivals over Sasuke.)
o I really liked Shikamaru. Especially during the mission to retrieve Sasuke and after because, yeah. He may be lazy and wanting to avoid any sort of work if at all possible, but if the job's important or his comrades' lives are on the line, he'll do his damned best to make sure everything's a success.
o The friendship between Shikamaru and Chouji was awesome, since I wouldn't have thought them to be able to understand each other that well. But they do, and it's great. I mean, Shikamaru even goes to all the trouble of saying encouraging things to Chouji, which Chouji needs desperately.
o The arc with Lee's injuries and surgery nearly made me cry. Because, dude. His life's ambitions, the only thing he was ever truly good at (and he only got as good as he did by workingworkingworking constantly to improve himself, since he's one of the few in this thing that doesn't have a natural talent or advanded bloodline or whatever), and they're ripped away because he wanted to be a chuunin? It was just...really touching, I thought.
o Okay, I lied. Lee does have a natural talent for drunken boxing. He just never practices because he's underage and a lightweight. This amuses me.
o I wonder what would happen to Kiba if Akamaru ever died.
o Oh, how could I forget about Neji! He's another one who falls under the catergory of "For Someone Who's Supposed to Be Smart, You sure Can Be Dumb." (Joinging him are Sasuke and Itachi. Probably others too, but I can't think of them.) But! I don't get his outfit at *all*. I mean, I know it's anime/manga, and most oddnesses can be explained away by telling yourself that. But he wears a belt wrapped around his head. And the ends aren't even tied together. No, there's this buckle dangling down one side of his face and the other end of the belt on the other. What the heck? Thankfully, the belt disappears after the time jump.
o He also has the most annoying way to put your hair in a ponytail. I tried it like that, and whenever my hair flopped forward, it was all gappy and uncomfortable. I don't know why other anime characters (Momiji from Blue Seed is the one who immediately comes to my mind) wear their hair this way either. Sadly, Neji keeps the hair the same after the time jump.
o Darn it, I want to see what the other characters look like after the time jump.
o I had not expected to like Gaara as much as I did. But, yes. He's a freak and his special sand is soaked with the blood of people he's killed, but I like him. Would like to tell him that while his siblings are afraid of him, I do believe they actually cared for him, even while he was living solely so he could kill every other person alive.
o If the Konoha police was almost entirely made up of Uchihas, I wonder what effect that had on Konoha after Itachi killed all of 'em except Sasuke.
o Man, when Itachi comes back to Konoha and comes for Naruto instead of Sasuke, talk about your burns. Poor Sasuke. He's so angsty, and I want to just tell him to abandon his title of avenger and cheer up because Itachi's not really important. But I do understand why he feels the way he does. I can even understand why he joined Orochimaru, even though I think that's the stupidist decision he ever made.
o Did Itachi just snap under the pressure his father put on him or what?
o The Hyuuga clan is messed up. Also, Neji, if it's your destiny to protect the Main Family, then killing its heir is not the way to do it. (Again, for someone so smart, Neji can be incredibly stupid.)
o While I haven't mentioned them much, I do like the girls in this series. Ino, Temari, Sakura, Tsunade, Anko, Hinata, and Kurenai are all interesting in their own ways.
o Tsunade's boobs amuse me.
o The chuunin exam arc was, I think, my favorite because you got to see many different fighting styles. (Whenever Naruto and Sasuke go up against each other, it reads almost exactly the same just with differing power levels. Rather dull.) And, unlike the retrieve Sasuke mission, there wasn't as much tension when shit happened.
o I spent nearly all of the retrieve Sasuke mission going, "No, Chouji! Eeek, Neji! Ack, Kiba! And Akamaru! Oh no, Shikamaru!" Very stressful.
o Also, Naruto! Shikamaru's the brilliant strategist, so he knows damn well that since Chouji and Neji haven't shown up by know, something bad had to have happened during their respective battles. He'd appreciate if you'd stop shouting, "They'll join us any minute now!" because no, they won't. And you're only serving to remind him of how he's currently failing his team.
o So...why did no one grab Shino to help with the retrieve Sasuke mission? Was he on the can and they couldn't find him?
o The characters don't act like most twelve/thirteen-year-olds I know. Except when they do, which is disconcerting. But now, thanks to the time jump, they're all fourteen to seventeen potentially. Which is nice.
o And of course, because I'm a romance junkie at heart, I have pairings. Oh, do I ever have pairings. Some are even completely pulled out of my ass because I haven't a clue why I like them.
+ Sakura/Sasuke/Naruto is how that should end up. Because while Sasuke and Naruto are BFF (as demonstrated when Sasuke tried to kill Naruto) and have chemistry (the mission with the bridge builder helped me see where people got that idea), they'd spend their entire relationship either fighting or fucking or both at the same time. I think Sakura, assuming she's gotten over her teenage idealized crush, would be a good balance. Also, both boys do obviously care for her.
+ I consumed quite a lot of Kakashi/Iruka before ever reading the manga, and I still like them. Plus, they seem to be one of the more popular pairings, which is nice. (Ahh, my two OTPs no one will ever, ever write because I'm not skilled enough and I'm the only one fannish about their sources.)
+ I like Neji/Shikamaru, but I admit I pulled that one out my ass. They don't ever really interact in canon except during the retrieve Sasuke mission. But, I think they'd be nice in a very understated sort of way. Shikamaru could watch the clouds while Neji watched the birds.
+ I actually like Shikamaru with just about anyone. Except Ino.
+ And the reason why I don't like Ino/Shikamaru is because I think it should be Chouji/Ino. And this is where I really don't get my brain. Because they were all on the same team and they all worked well with each other, so theoretically one pairing should be just as appealing as the other. But no.
+ Ah, well. I never get too stressed about pairing even though I have prefences.
+ I'd also like good gen for the various genin teams. I may have to go searching for that.
I'm pretty sure I've misspelled some names in there, but I can't quite be bother to look them up. Sorry to anyone who reads my inane babblings and knows Naruto.
o Dude, the amount of time I spend wanting to yell at these characters and smack them upside the head is most of the time. Which, I suppose, is a sign of enjoyment. But, man. Also, vast amounts of time were spent going "Eek, no! Not [insert character fighting and losing here]!"
o Sasuke! I realize he's twelve or thirteen and therefore incredibly stupid, but. Following the advice of your obviously insane brother is not a good idea! Joining the forces of the creepy snake-dude who wants your pretty, pre-teen, virgin ass is not a good idea either! Even if he doesn't want to have sex with you, you still won't be able to be an avenger if you're possessed by Orochimaru.
o Naruto reads like a very typical manga/anime character, but I do like him. And there are so, so many other characters it was rare when I sat their going, "Okay, enough of Naruto fighting; let's get back to the characters I like better." So, good.
o Didn't like Sakura at first, but she's really grown on me. This is mostly because I think she herself has grown more mature and sees her teammates as *teammates* and not as the Loud, Annoying One and her One, True Love for Forever. I can't fault her too much for that thinking because I was much the same when I was twelve, as, I think, most of the other girls in my middle school were.
o I would be inordinately pleased if Sakura and Ino dropped their rivalry over Sasuke, seeing as how it was stupid in the first place. Also, he's been with Orochimaru now for a couple years. He's probably very different from the boy they both swooned over. (I have high hopes for when we get to see Ino and Sakura interact after the time jump but wouldn't be surprised if they still were rivals. Just, please, not rivals over Sasuke.)
o I really liked Shikamaru. Especially during the mission to retrieve Sasuke and after because, yeah. He may be lazy and wanting to avoid any sort of work if at all possible, but if the job's important or his comrades' lives are on the line, he'll do his damned best to make sure everything's a success.
o The friendship between Shikamaru and Chouji was awesome, since I wouldn't have thought them to be able to understand each other that well. But they do, and it's great. I mean, Shikamaru even goes to all the trouble of saying encouraging things to Chouji, which Chouji needs desperately.
o The arc with Lee's injuries and surgery nearly made me cry. Because, dude. His life's ambitions, the only thing he was ever truly good at (and he only got as good as he did by workingworkingworking constantly to improve himself, since he's one of the few in this thing that doesn't have a natural talent or advanded bloodline or whatever), and they're ripped away because he wanted to be a chuunin? It was just...really touching, I thought.
o Okay, I lied. Lee does have a natural talent for drunken boxing. He just never practices because he's underage and a lightweight. This amuses me.
o I wonder what would happen to Kiba if Akamaru ever died.
o Oh, how could I forget about Neji! He's another one who falls under the catergory of "For Someone Who's Supposed to Be Smart, You sure Can Be Dumb." (Joinging him are Sasuke and Itachi. Probably others too, but I can't think of them.) But! I don't get his outfit at *all*. I mean, I know it's anime/manga, and most oddnesses can be explained away by telling yourself that. But he wears a belt wrapped around his head. And the ends aren't even tied together. No, there's this buckle dangling down one side of his face and the other end of the belt on the other. What the heck? Thankfully, the belt disappears after the time jump.
o He also has the most annoying way to put your hair in a ponytail. I tried it like that, and whenever my hair flopped forward, it was all gappy and uncomfortable. I don't know why other anime characters (Momiji from Blue Seed is the one who immediately comes to my mind) wear their hair this way either. Sadly, Neji keeps the hair the same after the time jump.
o Darn it, I want to see what the other characters look like after the time jump.
o I had not expected to like Gaara as much as I did. But, yes. He's a freak and his special sand is soaked with the blood of people he's killed, but I like him. Would like to tell him that while his siblings are afraid of him, I do believe they actually cared for him, even while he was living solely so he could kill every other person alive.
o If the Konoha police was almost entirely made up of Uchihas, I wonder what effect that had on Konoha after Itachi killed all of 'em except Sasuke.
o Man, when Itachi comes back to Konoha and comes for Naruto instead of Sasuke, talk about your burns. Poor Sasuke. He's so angsty, and I want to just tell him to abandon his title of avenger and cheer up because Itachi's not really important. But I do understand why he feels the way he does. I can even understand why he joined Orochimaru, even though I think that's the stupidist decision he ever made.
o Did Itachi just snap under the pressure his father put on him or what?
o The Hyuuga clan is messed up. Also, Neji, if it's your destiny to protect the Main Family, then killing its heir is not the way to do it. (Again, for someone so smart, Neji can be incredibly stupid.)
o While I haven't mentioned them much, I do like the girls in this series. Ino, Temari, Sakura, Tsunade, Anko, Hinata, and Kurenai are all interesting in their own ways.
o Tsunade's boobs amuse me.
o The chuunin exam arc was, I think, my favorite because you got to see many different fighting styles. (Whenever Naruto and Sasuke go up against each other, it reads almost exactly the same just with differing power levels. Rather dull.) And, unlike the retrieve Sasuke mission, there wasn't as much tension when shit happened.
o I spent nearly all of the retrieve Sasuke mission going, "No, Chouji! Eeek, Neji! Ack, Kiba! And Akamaru! Oh no, Shikamaru!" Very stressful.
o Also, Naruto! Shikamaru's the brilliant strategist, so he knows damn well that since Chouji and Neji haven't shown up by know, something bad had to have happened during their respective battles. He'd appreciate if you'd stop shouting, "They'll join us any minute now!" because no, they won't. And you're only serving to remind him of how he's currently failing his team.
o So...why did no one grab Shino to help with the retrieve Sasuke mission? Was he on the can and they couldn't find him?
o The characters don't act like most twelve/thirteen-year-olds I know. Except when they do, which is disconcerting. But now, thanks to the time jump, they're all fourteen to seventeen potentially. Which is nice.
o And of course, because I'm a romance junkie at heart, I have pairings. Oh, do I ever have pairings. Some are even completely pulled out of my ass because I haven't a clue why I like them.
+ Sakura/Sasuke/Naruto is how that should end up. Because while Sasuke and Naruto are BFF (as demonstrated when Sasuke tried to kill Naruto) and have chemistry (the mission with the bridge builder helped me see where people got that idea), they'd spend their entire relationship either fighting or fucking or both at the same time. I think Sakura, assuming she's gotten over her teenage idealized crush, would be a good balance. Also, both boys do obviously care for her.
+ I consumed quite a lot of Kakashi/Iruka before ever reading the manga, and I still like them. Plus, they seem to be one of the more popular pairings, which is nice. (Ahh, my two OTPs no one will ever, ever write because I'm not skilled enough and I'm the only one fannish about their sources.)
+ I like Neji/Shikamaru, but I admit I pulled that one out my ass. They don't ever really interact in canon except during the retrieve Sasuke mission. But, I think they'd be nice in a very understated sort of way. Shikamaru could watch the clouds while Neji watched the birds.
+ I actually like Shikamaru with just about anyone. Except Ino.
+ And the reason why I don't like Ino/Shikamaru is because I think it should be Chouji/Ino. And this is where I really don't get my brain. Because they were all on the same team and they all worked well with each other, so theoretically one pairing should be just as appealing as the other. But no.
+ Ah, well. I never get too stressed about pairing even though I have prefences.
+ I'd also like good gen for the various genin teams. I may have to go searching for that.
I'm pretty sure I've misspelled some names in there, but I can't quite be bother to look them up. Sorry to anyone who reads my inane babblings and knows Naruto.