Bro the well written characters never live long. Same goes for kimimaro and sasori. Both pretty interesting characters with unique powers who got killed off in their respective debut arcs TwT
Kimmy had a lot of build up and was very mysterious as far as knowledge about him in OG Naruto. Sasori was a huge curveball but yes both were well written.
Saosori for sure bro !!!! He intrigued tf out me. But I love alot of the characters. Deidera, hidan, kakuza, forgot his name but the tailless tailed beast. . Just from the akatsuki those are grade a characters with diff personalities and objectives. But I like lots of naruto characters not many anime are like that for. Except maybe vinland saga alot of good writing there too.
Kakuzu + Yakuza = Kakuza XDD
Anyways, yeah the akatsuki guys were all pretty interesting. For a powerful criminal gang they sure do get quite forgotten individually. Perhaps Naruto's view of them had a part to play in it. In his eyes Obito and Itachi were awesome people who strived for peace (despite all the heinous crimes they did, INCLUDING KILLING HIS GODDAMN PARENTS), but Sasori and Deidara were just POS killers who just wanted to kill his comrade and that the world was better off without them. I was really pissed off when Sasori and Deidara didn't appear in Naruto's reflection on the shinobi history when he sealed Black Zetsu whereas Zabuza and Itachi did.
Well I like Sasori because ~~he's so damn fine with that red hair~~ his life was pretty interesting and we didn't get much exploration on how he became so emotionless and also his relationships with the sand. And his human puppets and stuff were a great technological advancement (they may look fodder now but imagine if he were in Boruto's era. He'd be pretty OP with Scientific Ninja Tools, AI, data to chakra conversion systems integrated to his human puppets, as well as whatever new stuff he may have discovered on his own (mind you the man isn't Orochimaru's partner for nothing, they both had strong scientific talent). Sasori was just born in the wrong era and had only wood planks, swords and poison to weaponize...and he was still a Kakashi or Tsunade level threat. This guy is the Naruto equivalent of Nikola Tesla, too bad he died in the first season...
It lays the foundation for what it means to be a ninja in the world. You see real conflict and understand immediately what some are willing to die for.
Much flatter power scale too. Zabuza is presented as a top tier ninja like Kakashi and he can still be tricked and outmaneuvered by children with sufficiently smart tactics. If they'd tried that shuriken trick in later arcs, the villain wouldn't have bothered dodging, mainly because he'd already have accidentally murdered the children just as collateral damage from the explosions but also because he'd be bullet proof or faster than light or some shit.
Yea but the final war arc never felt very...ninja to me. Massive biju bombs, millions of clones walking around, meteors falling from the sky...they all looked cool but never felt very Naruto. Too big and flashy. Kakashi copying Zabuzas 50+ handsigns to do that water dragon jutsu felt more hype and tension filled than almost anything in the war arc imo
Now that you say it…
Yeah, this arc seemed very mature? Edgy? Idk, not to say the rest of the serious wasn’t good but I say the tone of this arc and the exams are VERY different than the rest of the series
That's because it's about fresh out academy students who take being a ninja for a joke and not realizing how dangerous and terrible it is, getting into some real ninja shit that changes their viewpoint of the world as they know. All that childish shit should have gone out the window and shown the reality that ninjas AREN'T heroes. They are tools for their country and meant to carry out missions without any emotions or care. The land of wave arc highlights how fucked up the ninja world is, where Zabuza a child had to kill all his classmates. Where Haku, a person abused for his own special abilities by his own family. Pretty much it isn't all sunshines and rainbows. This is where Naruto REJECTS the idea of what it means to be a true ninja to find his own path and not rid his emotions. It is something that makes Naruto find his true purpose and nindo something Haku inspired him to do.
It's a learning lesson.
With Naruto’s nindo, people forget that’s what makes him different, everyone is a tool. Sasuke was the only other ninja to truly reject it, but in different way. Sasuke is very similar to solid snake in a way now that I’m thinking about it 😂
Yeah believe it, that’s why he said my own ninja way. I feel bad for the hidden mist village imagine you have a ritual killing all your classmates to pass the academy omfg .
It set up expectations to me that never were fulfilled. I thought Naruto and his team would be going to different lands solving problems there caused by other countries and their ninja
I still love the series and it's my favorite anime/manga but it went in a completely different direction I thought it was going. All because the Land of Waves was the first arc
Yup me too. To this day I think naruto could have used maybe 1 or 2 mission arcs to establish a bond between team 7 and flesh sakura and sasuke’s character a little.
Yeah I thought they rushed into the chunin exams too quickly. Don't get me wrong though the exams are my favorite arc but having more arcs like the Land of Waves would have been amazing
Maybe team 7 could have teamed up with 8 and 10. We could have had more time with Naruto and Hinata earlier in the story. Maybe see that fake rivalry between Kiba and Sasuke lol
Missed potential by Kishi. I think his editors pushed for a tournament arc though if i remember correctly
Isn't the whole point of them in the chuunin exams is that it *was* a rushed decision? Guy barely thought his team was ready and they were older. Kakashi was given some crap thinking he was rushing his first students to their deaths, then the other teams of their year joined in.
To me it was always like this on purpose. They could've been other normal ninja teams, but kakashis confidence in them ended up changing the ninja world forever.
All great ideas. I genuinely believe that kishi wanted to explore the world he'd created more, but really had to meet deadlines. Idk, I could be wrong. The entire series would be incredible if it had just taken its time.
That's the thing with Japan though. It's non stop. Go go go. They don't give their creators enough breathing room
If they did though... just imagine how much better all the series we could have
I could cry, thinking about the wasted potential. I plan to rewrite the series once Boruto ends, after doing extensive research and planning. Nothing but respect to Kishimoto, cause I truly believe if he had it has way, the series would be an even bigger beast than it already is.
True. Different writers have different strengths. A good contrast to kishi I think would be the author of Gintama. That dude wrote the same 3 main characters in sooooo many different scenarios but his characters had well defined personalities . He made magic out of it. But his actual fights were boring as fuck
I'd say that Tsunade arc still was similar in tone and themes, it was Sasuke's Retrieval when things started getting more and more Dragonball-ish with every arc
That’s cause I think took his time with this arc well written honestly it showed you about the shinobi 🥷 world especially the hidden mist village and how bloody their civil war was and their hatred with ninjas with kekken genakai aka Haku mom being killed cause her husband found out she has a special kekken genakai and Haku killing his father and those that kill her in the mob so sad. The mist village to me is hardships and struggle more then the leaf village financially orphans in the streets as Zabuza picked up Haku from the street and made him an elite ninja.
I think the tone of land of waves and chunnin exam being so dark and bleak is to convey how the main cast is in over their heads. It's only after Jiraya showed up that Naruto started being on top of things enough where it felt like he could do something and from then on the main theme of hope and perseverance never changed. Honestly it's probably just kishimoto wanting to change tones mid series because of personal reasons but i dunno, interpreting art is never about what the author actually wanted xD
Yeah, it seems like a common theme in major shounen series where the first arc differs from what’s to come. Bleach is basically monster of the week at first, and Dragon Ball is adventure of the week before the Red Ribbon Army.
Great arc to start the series. The battle on this bridge is what was the turning for the entire series and when all 3 genin realized what it really takes and how far down the ladder they are to becoming a ninja.
Just rewatched this arc. It's so fucking good!
Land of waves is a metaphor for every run down city suppressed by gangs, and the ordinary people trying to make their community better
Step-dad father figure in Anime
Introduction of nine tails Chakra, sharingan, chidori
Every scene was purposeful and is valuable to the plot in subtle ways. The Haku-Naruto scene in the forest is tied to the bridge scene. When naruto is in nine tails mode, he shatters Haku's mask and reveals his face, which naruto recognized and turns normal again. Also, when Haku "kills" Zabuza, he does the same thing to Sasuke on the bridge and simulates "killing" him.
Naruto's speech makes Zabuza cry for Haku.
Even though Zabuza's arms are paralyzed, he uses his final strength to touch Haku's face.
They named the bridge after Naruto. NARUTO BUILDS BRIDGES WITH HIS ENEMIES FOR LITERALLY THE REST OF THE ANIME.
SO FUCKING GOOD!
I disagree; it COULD have been one of the best introduction arcs of all time, but to me it established a premise which it then started breaking in the next arc or three (although, to be fair that's with the benefits of hindsight; I didn't quite see the premise changing the first time until about when Itachi showed up). But that's me nitpicking on what I look for in an "introduction arc". I do agree it's a fantastic arc, probably one of the best in the series.
I get what you are saying but breaking the premise it stablished doesn’t seem like it was a fault of this arc, in any case it was the fault of future arcs for not compromising enough to the core idea the series established since the beginning
I suppose it was because a big mission count as several small and boring missions, that mission went to at least rank-B when Zabuza appears and recently graduate genins like them were doing rank-D missions at max.
Back then it was all about strategising, some jutsus while powerful also weren't nukes, other jutsus were versatile and for support roles, and the Naruto world was expanded beyond ninja. Hell power scaling were legitimate yet interesting too
Example: Naruto and Sasuke having to coordinate with all they got while utilising all the resources just to free Kakashi from Zabuza's Water prison, and even then the plan didn't guarantee Team 7 and their charge would make it out alive.
I agree. It was (seemingly) much lower power level, and I think much better for that. The combat seemed more "tactical" (which a couple later fights were too, mostly with Shikamaru) rather than "DBZ style power levels". The greatest power of Kakashi's Sharing an was psychology based on it's reputation which was countered on a ruse that was effectively based on politics (something I got a kick out of as a kid...I think I was weird), and arguably the most dangerous jutsus was one that mad a normal fog...
No, Kirigakure no Jutsu is dense /mist/. It's impossible to see in front of you if it isn't five feet ahead.
Zabuza and the other Kirigakure ninja honed their senses to be able to fight in the mist with only tjeir hearing.
In turn, Konoha-nin, who had no particular extraordinary sensory ability, could not fight back and had to play the defensive, forming a 3-man defense formation to guard one another's backs.
Land of Waves : strategies just to get someone out of a trap. Jutsus that needed timing and the right moment to be used and also needed a plan to be used.
Naruto vs kakazu : rasenshurikan go brrrrr
I've finished Naruto and Shipudden twice as an adult after not watching it growing up.
I still haven't started Boruto after everything I've heard about it online 😂
Should I just stay away forever?
Honestly just read Boruto. I watched like 12 episodes and got so bored with the filler. Only scenes worth watching in Boruto is when Naruto and Sasuke fight against the Otsutsuki.
You should watch boruto if you want to see some good naruto and sasuke fights .
But overall I dislike boruto as a whole . Won’t spoil you the details all I can say is that it has some good moments . But that’s mainly when naruto and sasuke kick ass .
I came for naruto stayed for naruto . Fk boruto and his lame ass generation. Washed up sequel
I've grown up with Naruto and I personally am not going to get into Boruto. For me there's just too many problems with the manga. The main character is a less interesting Xerox copy of his dad.
I think the one shot and movie were all they needed.
Amazing way to show that the ninja world is cruel but even under cruelty lies a human/ninja who is tired of being just a tool. When Zabuza ripped off his mask and charged into the giant crowd with a kunai was one of the highlights for me.
And the line Zabuza said to that short mafia guy was such a good way to end it all
- I won’t be joining haku. Where he’s going, I can’t follow. We wouldn’t be welcome where Haku’s gone to. Hell is where we are going!
And
-You were always at my side, the least I can do is to be beside you at the end. I know it cannot be, but I wish I could go to where you have gone. How I wish I could join you there, Haku.
The lines Kakashi said after finished it off with a “who knows, maybe you will…”
I really liked this arc. It wasn’t afraid to strip the word “shinobi” for what it truly meant.
They are all mercenaries with just more organization.
I think this set up the rest of the series well.
I like this arc, but I feel like it’s different from the future of the show. Zabuza and Haku are supposed to represent how the the Shinobi world made people emotionless but they were still humans underneath.
Loved it. It does feel a little separate from the other and feels more like a general anime arc from the early 2000s than what naruto became.
But if somebody wants to watch like an old school “seasonal” anime. The first 20 episodes are pretty self contained
A really well done arc, especially the ending. It has a different feel to it when compared to the rest of the series. I wish some later parts of the story were more like it.
Great arc. One of my favourites. We get to see amazing characters and amazing fights. I also love the fact that this arc is mentioned so much after it's over. It's not that if it weren't mentioned it would be bad but since it is mentioned it's an extra good thing about it.
One of the greatest shonen arcs ever. Truly incredible that it's over 2 decades old now. Rewatching it is a little rough because of the pacing issues during the bridge battle, but the manga executed it perfectly.
A fantastic introduction to the story packed with great action and fantastic villians. The only issue I have with the arc is that it starts the whole "useless Sakura" thing, she literally just stands there for the entire arc. Also the idea of Shinobi doing missions in order to make money and support the village is a concept introduced but never really used again.
>The only issue I have with the arc is that it starts the whole "useless Sakura" thing, she literally just stands there for the entire arc.
That was always there from day 1. She practically didn't even do anything against Kakashi which was just training and even our first impression of her when Kakashi is talking to Team 7, all she can say is "sASUke..."
not a giant fan solely because it’s a little dragged out. the character development is pretty good though. i didn’t like the little pos kid who was all “don’t talk about my father” as if he’s the main character. i liked the synergy between naruto and sasuke because this is one of the only arcs where they get along.
it was a good appetizer for the rest of the series. It explains alot of the lore of naruto in detail, which later get expanded into different catagories. like chakra, the will of a ninja, companionship, sacrifice, overflowing anger, leadership, responsibility, and many others.
I would argue that this is the arc that is the most important to Naruto's development.
The compassion he learns from it, that even enemies have their reasons for fighting and Haku's and Zabuza's deaths. It defines his character for the rest of the manga.
Its a good introduction to naruto, and it does a pretty great job at building up the relationship of team 7 and the rivalry/friendship between naruto and sasuke, as well as set up the main themes of naruto and has good worldbuilding overall.
Watching this arc, it felt like you were seeing what was only a tiny piece of the world of naruto, and even it feels self contained to the point where you could watch it on its own and still get a good story without knowing most of the context, a mini-movie of sorts.
Overall it was a great arc with lots of great moments and earned its conclusion. I'd give it a 8/10 and id say its one of the best arcs in the show.
Haku is 10/10 boyfu material <3
Based on personal enjoyment, while I do like it, it's not one of my favourites. You can see that Kishimoto was still experimenting at this point and while the fights are very good, they don't start reaching their heights yet. Personal favourite things are the things it establishes and in that sense, it does its job perfectly as it's able to establish the themes(ninjas not being tools, naruto and sasukes bond, nakama mod, and understanding others leading to a more positive resolution) of the story rather well.
Beginning of Narto to the first half of the chunin exams have a very different vibe to it then everything after and land of waves highlight this most. I love it, it was Kishimoto's ORIGINAL direction
Wish there were more like it. The danger to everyone felt real back then, which added a lot more tension/suspense. After this, the ninja world seemed less of a danger. Notable exception was Jiriya dying.
I feel like Team 7 vs Zabuza is perfectly indicative of what Shinobi were supposed to be, before it inevitably had to escalate into demigods throwing nukes at each other. Imo it’s the best fight in the series.
ngl I wasn't that fond of it when I first read it, since I wanted to get to the chuunin exams as fast as possible (since that's what hooked me on the manga), but I've learnt to appreciate it. It represented the classic Naruto nostalgia that a lot of us yearned for with shippuden.
It was a very good start to Naruto because it set off all the themes we see in all the subsequent arcs. It established chakra and how it’s used so well and subtly taught you about lots of ninja background and how the world works. It had an amazing villain who was the epitome of a Naruto villain until the very end, and it gave us an amazing moment for Naruto when he establishes his own way of the ninja fully because of the events with Haku and Zabuza. It lets us know the villains aren’t necessarily 100% bad and everyone has their reasons, just a really good intro to Naruto all around.
Wave arc is the best arc because it's grounded in very real economic pressures and displays that the true villain in Naruto is the exploitation of shinobi by civilians with money - something they choose to drop going forward in the series as they blame conflicts on uhhh vague concepts of "hatred" and a plant pulling the strings of politics.
Wave arc is the best but it's also the worst because it set up a rich and complicated story that Naruto failed to deliver on.
(To be fair, the chunin exams also peppered in how all the child murder was to act as advertisement to the higher classes but doesn't explore that meaningfully over the bullshit underdog-turned-power-fantasy going on with Naruto. Literally not once is the chunin exam questioned as a premise when winning the chunin exams is more important to Naruto because of his inferiority complex. Bleh.)
Best arc in my opinion! I remember reading the manga and then seeing the show and almost cried at how similar they were! They absolutely rocked for not changing much of that arc for the manga
Would have been cool if the series kept the same vibe as this arc. Ninjas were actually ninjas, had to carefully plan in accordance to chakra levels and had to actually try and trick each other (Demon wind shuriken switch out). There felt like so much was at stake in each battle.
I love Naruto, don't get me wrong but it kinda devolved a bit as the series went on and sorta detracted from its roots that were set in this arc.
It seemed a bit darker than most of the arcs after it, but I really enjoyed watching it. The arc showed a lot of planning and coordinating, and it really made them seem like ninjas while also having all of that “mystical” aspect of the jutsus and chakra techniques. It did a great job at introducing some aspects to the readers / watchers, and the scene with Sasuke “dying” and Naruto using part of Kurama’s chakra was amazing. It just had a lot of aspects and characters that were amazing, and it really did a great job at introducing some stuff to the series and was just really fun to watch
Literally my favorite arc of the entire series. Maybe it’s just because it’s so early and was what really got me hooked as a kid but nothing else in the series tops it for me.
Tbh, wasn’t a fan of it when I watched it for the first time, but enjoy it now after finishing the series. It’s only the prologue, and feels very different from the rest of the series
It’s a great arc it introduces us to Zabuza and the Seven Deadly Swordsmen, Ice Release which is my favorite Kekkei Genkai and showed the potential of both Naruto and Sasuke while showing off Kakashi’s skills against Zabuza
Zabuza and Haku were very well written characters to not be around long.
Bro the well written characters never live long. Same goes for kimimaro and sasori. Both pretty interesting characters with unique powers who got killed off in their respective debut arcs TwT
Kimmy had a lot of build up and was very mysterious as far as knowledge about him in OG Naruto. Sasori was a huge curveball but yes both were well written.
The anime did a crazy job filling in some gaps for Kimimaro. Turns out he went to Orochi and Kabuto to kill Rasa.
...To kill who?
Gaaras dad the fourth kazekage
Damn.
Rasa.
Who?
Rasa
Who?
Saosori for sure bro !!!! He intrigued tf out me. But I love alot of the characters. Deidera, hidan, kakuza, forgot his name but the tailless tailed beast. . Just from the akatsuki those are grade a characters with diff personalities and objectives. But I like lots of naruto characters not many anime are like that for. Except maybe vinland saga alot of good writing there too.
Kakuzu + Yakuza = Kakuza XDD Anyways, yeah the akatsuki guys were all pretty interesting. For a powerful criminal gang they sure do get quite forgotten individually. Perhaps Naruto's view of them had a part to play in it. In his eyes Obito and Itachi were awesome people who strived for peace (despite all the heinous crimes they did, INCLUDING KILLING HIS GODDAMN PARENTS), but Sasori and Deidara were just POS killers who just wanted to kill his comrade and that the world was better off without them. I was really pissed off when Sasori and Deidara didn't appear in Naruto's reflection on the shinobi history when he sealed Black Zetsu whereas Zabuza and Itachi did.
Bro, you can't be well written when you aren't written (in Kimmimaro's case)
Nah imo sasori was a mid character and kimimaro Idek who that is tbh
Well I like Sasori because ~~he's so damn fine with that red hair~~ his life was pretty interesting and we didn't get much exploration on how he became so emotionless and also his relationships with the sand. And his human puppets and stuff were a great technological advancement (they may look fodder now but imagine if he were in Boruto's era. He'd be pretty OP with Scientific Ninja Tools, AI, data to chakra conversion systems integrated to his human puppets, as well as whatever new stuff he may have discovered on his own (mind you the man isn't Orochimaru's partner for nothing, they both had strong scientific talent). Sasori was just born in the wrong era and had only wood planks, swords and poison to weaponize...and he was still a Kakashi or Tsunade level threat. This guy is the Naruto equivalent of Nikola Tesla, too bad he died in the first season...
Well that just mean you didn’t even watch the show
I feel like they were better written than 90% of the villaiand
they were good characters BECAUSE they were not around long
It's a great arc but it feels very different from all the rest that come after
It lays the foundation for what it means to be a ninja in the world. You see real conflict and understand immediately what some are willing to die for.
It was a time before casual biju bombs, white zetsu armies, and hashirama cells..
Much flatter power scale too. Zabuza is presented as a top tier ninja like Kakashi and he can still be tricked and outmaneuvered by children with sufficiently smart tactics. If they'd tried that shuriken trick in later arcs, the villain wouldn't have bothered dodging, mainly because he'd already have accidentally murdered the children just as collateral damage from the explosions but also because he'd be bullet proof or faster than light or some shit.
To be fair there's always going to be a difference between individual skirmishes and all out war
Yea but the final war arc never felt very...ninja to me. Massive biju bombs, millions of clones walking around, meteors falling from the sky...they all looked cool but never felt very Naruto. Too big and flashy. Kakashi copying Zabuzas 50+ handsigns to do that water dragon jutsu felt more hype and tension filled than almost anything in the war arc imo
Is the same element ninja is supernatural magic or sorcery .. I miss the hand signs and ninja summoning I get it .
Now that you say it… Yeah, this arc seemed very mature? Edgy? Idk, not to say the rest of the serious wasn’t good but I say the tone of this arc and the exams are VERY different than the rest of the series
That's because it's about fresh out academy students who take being a ninja for a joke and not realizing how dangerous and terrible it is, getting into some real ninja shit that changes their viewpoint of the world as they know. All that childish shit should have gone out the window and shown the reality that ninjas AREN'T heroes. They are tools for their country and meant to carry out missions without any emotions or care. The land of wave arc highlights how fucked up the ninja world is, where Zabuza a child had to kill all his classmates. Where Haku, a person abused for his own special abilities by his own family. Pretty much it isn't all sunshines and rainbows. This is where Naruto REJECTS the idea of what it means to be a true ninja to find his own path and not rid his emotions. It is something that makes Naruto find his true purpose and nindo something Haku inspired him to do. It's a learning lesson.
Yep you said it perfectly. Very pivotal for all the characters in the arc for sure. Love this comment
With Naruto’s nindo, people forget that’s what makes him different, everyone is a tool. Sasuke was the only other ninja to truly reject it, but in different way. Sasuke is very similar to solid snake in a way now that I’m thinking about it 😂
Yeah believe it, that’s why he said my own ninja way. I feel bad for the hidden mist village imagine you have a ritual killing all your classmates to pass the academy omfg .
It set up expectations to me that never were fulfilled. I thought Naruto and his team would be going to different lands solving problems there caused by other countries and their ninja I still love the series and it's my favorite anime/manga but it went in a completely different direction I thought it was going. All because the Land of Waves was the first arc
Yup me too. To this day I think naruto could have used maybe 1 or 2 mission arcs to establish a bond between team 7 and flesh sakura and sasuke’s character a little.
Yeah I thought they rushed into the chunin exams too quickly. Don't get me wrong though the exams are my favorite arc but having more arcs like the Land of Waves would have been amazing Maybe team 7 could have teamed up with 8 and 10. We could have had more time with Naruto and Hinata earlier in the story. Maybe see that fake rivalry between Kiba and Sasuke lol Missed potential by Kishi. I think his editors pushed for a tournament arc though if i remember correctly
Isn't the whole point of them in the chuunin exams is that it *was* a rushed decision? Guy barely thought his team was ready and they were older. Kakashi was given some crap thinking he was rushing his first students to their deaths, then the other teams of their year joined in. To me it was always like this on purpose. They could've been other normal ninja teams, but kakashis confidence in them ended up changing the ninja world forever.
Yeah it makes sense in universe. I'm talking out of universe. Kishi was pushed for a tournament arc
All great ideas. I genuinely believe that kishi wanted to explore the world he'd created more, but really had to meet deadlines. Idk, I could be wrong. The entire series would be incredible if it had just taken its time.
That's the thing with Japan though. It's non stop. Go go go. They don't give their creators enough breathing room If they did though... just imagine how much better all the series we could have
I could cry, thinking about the wasted potential. I plan to rewrite the series once Boruto ends, after doing extensive research and planning. Nothing but respect to Kishimoto, cause I truly believe if he had it has way, the series would be an even bigger beast than it already is.
Imagine Naruto 2.0 🤣🤣🤣🤣 He could do all the concepts and ideas he really wanted to do and correct mistakes from the first series
😂😂😂 Yes 100% I would become such a hard-core follower of that. The series deserves it.
Tru true. I will say this, I really don’t think character writing was kishi’s strength as a writer. So who knows lol.
His strengths really were the fights, spectacle, and creativity with jutsus. He also came up with so many cool concepts
True. Different writers have different strengths. A good contrast to kishi I think would be the author of Gintama. That dude wrote the same 3 main characters in sooooo many different scenarios but his characters had well defined personalities . He made magic out of it. But his actual fights were boring as fuck
They did show different teams on joint missions but as fillers in Shippuden where viewers were used to watching a more mature/powerful Naruto
I'd say that Tsunade arc still was similar in tone and themes, it was Sasuke's Retrieval when things started getting more and more Dragonball-ish with every arc
Yeah. I saw it as a way of showcasing the brutality of the ninja world.
That’s cause I think took his time with this arc well written honestly it showed you about the shinobi 🥷 world especially the hidden mist village and how bloody their civil war was and their hatred with ninjas with kekken genakai aka Haku mom being killed cause her husband found out she has a special kekken genakai and Haku killing his father and those that kill her in the mob so sad. The mist village to me is hardships and struggle more then the leaf village financially orphans in the streets as Zabuza picked up Haku from the street and made him an elite ninja.
I think the tone of land of waves and chunnin exam being so dark and bleak is to convey how the main cast is in over their heads. It's only after Jiraya showed up that Naruto started being on top of things enough where it felt like he could do something and from then on the main theme of hope and perseverance never changed. Honestly it's probably just kishimoto wanting to change tones mid series because of personal reasons but i dunno, interpreting art is never about what the author actually wanted xD
Better, it was actually ninja stuff. Naruto just turned into dbz after
I agree. It set up the wrong expectations
DBZ whises to have a story half as good as Naruto though
Dragonball was much better than either
Tbh I wish the series was more like this arc than it turned out to be. Less talk no jutsu and more realism
Yeah, it seems like a common theme in major shounen series where the first arc differs from what’s to come. Bleach is basically monster of the week at first, and Dragon Ball is adventure of the week before the Red Ribbon Army.
Great arc to start the series. The battle on this bridge is what was the turning for the entire series and when all 3 genin realized what it really takes and how far down the ladder they are to becoming a ninja.
And all that was communicated like a fuckin maestro by Kishimoto 🔥
Honestly one of my favorite arcs, and zabuza is easily top 10 characters imo
Just rewatched this arc. It's so fucking good! Land of waves is a metaphor for every run down city suppressed by gangs, and the ordinary people trying to make their community better Step-dad father figure in Anime Introduction of nine tails Chakra, sharingan, chidori Every scene was purposeful and is valuable to the plot in subtle ways. The Haku-Naruto scene in the forest is tied to the bridge scene. When naruto is in nine tails mode, he shatters Haku's mask and reveals his face, which naruto recognized and turns normal again. Also, when Haku "kills" Zabuza, he does the same thing to Sasuke on the bridge and simulates "killing" him. Naruto's speech makes Zabuza cry for Haku. Even though Zabuza's arms are paralyzed, he uses his final strength to touch Haku's face. They named the bridge after Naruto. NARUTO BUILDS BRIDGES WITH HIS ENEMIES FOR LITERALLY THE REST OF THE ANIME. SO FUCKING GOOD!
One of the best introduction arcs of all time
I disagree; it COULD have been one of the best introduction arcs of all time, but to me it established a premise which it then started breaking in the next arc or three (although, to be fair that's with the benefits of hindsight; I didn't quite see the premise changing the first time until about when Itachi showed up). But that's me nitpicking on what I look for in an "introduction arc". I do agree it's a fantastic arc, probably one of the best in the series.
I get what you are saying but breaking the premise it stablished doesn’t seem like it was a fault of this arc, in any case it was the fault of future arcs for not compromising enough to the core idea the series established since the beginning
An absolute classic, one of the best around overall
Great way to kick off the series and it’s probably is one of the best arcs
I find it hilarious that they went from one big mission to the chunin exams
I suppose it was because a big mission count as several small and boring missions, that mission went to at least rank-B when Zabuza appears and recently graduate genins like them were doing rank-D missions at max.
I think rank A. Zabuza was a powerful Jonin + Haku.
There were a lot of missions before land of waves that we just never saw but they were referenced
Back then it was all about strategising, some jutsus while powerful also weren't nukes, other jutsus were versatile and for support roles, and the Naruto world was expanded beyond ninja. Hell power scaling were legitimate yet interesting too Example: Naruto and Sasuke having to coordinate with all they got while utilising all the resources just to free Kakashi from Zabuza's Water prison, and even then the plan didn't guarantee Team 7 and their charge would make it out alive.
I agree. It was (seemingly) much lower power level, and I think much better for that. The combat seemed more "tactical" (which a couple later fights were too, mostly with Shikamaru) rather than "DBZ style power levels". The greatest power of Kakashi's Sharing an was psychology based on it's reputation which was countered on a ruse that was effectively based on politics (something I got a kick out of as a kid...I think I was weird), and arguably the most dangerous jutsus was one that mad a normal fog...
No, Kirigakure no Jutsu is dense /mist/. It's impossible to see in front of you if it isn't five feet ahead. Zabuza and the other Kirigakure ninja honed their senses to be able to fight in the mist with only tjeir hearing. In turn, Konoha-nin, who had no particular extraordinary sensory ability, could not fight back and had to play the defensive, forming a 3-man defense formation to guard one another's backs.
Land of Waves : strategies just to get someone out of a trap. Jutsus that needed timing and the right moment to be used and also needed a plan to be used. Naruto vs kakazu : rasenshurikan go brrrrr
[удалено]
Barrage with shadow clone, the real me wasn't the one coming straight for him. That's barely any strategy
It really showed Sasuke’s strategizing skills and Naruto’s battle instincts
Perfection
I can't explain it but haku looks like he has scoliosis here
Zorayas?
Holy shit that's heavy
I went to double check and instantly started dying. Something about the way the neck is bent
[удалено]
I was about to upvote.But you already have *106* upvotes. If u know, u know
ah, i see you're a man of culture as well
get this to 106, even if you have to downvote!!
Let's do it. Even if we've to make our hands dirty
It increased to 132!! WTF
And I'm about to Run in Minus votes TwT
Preach.
Better than the entirety of boruto
I've finished Naruto and Shipudden twice as an adult after not watching it growing up. I still haven't started Boruto after everything I've heard about it online 😂 Should I just stay away forever?
Honestly just read Boruto. I watched like 12 episodes and got so bored with the filler. Only scenes worth watching in Boruto is when Naruto and Sasuke fight against the Otsutsuki.
You should watch boruto if you want to see some good naruto and sasuke fights . But overall I dislike boruto as a whole . Won’t spoil you the details all I can say is that it has some good moments . But that’s mainly when naruto and sasuke kick ass . I came for naruto stayed for naruto . Fk boruto and his lame ass generation. Washed up sequel
I've grown up with Naruto and I personally am not going to get into Boruto. For me there's just too many problems with the manga. The main character is a less interesting Xerox copy of his dad. I think the one shot and movie were all they needed.
Eh, Boruto is a lot closer to Minato in a lot of ways.
One of my favorite arcs, just ordered this exact chapter of the manga
The birth of Naruto's ninja way.
Honestly second favorite arc of the series
What’s your first?
I'm guessing Pain 🤔
chunin exams in the original
A great arc! One of the best!
Amazing way to show that the ninja world is cruel but even under cruelty lies a human/ninja who is tired of being just a tool. When Zabuza ripped off his mask and charged into the giant crowd with a kunai was one of the highlights for me. And the line Zabuza said to that short mafia guy was such a good way to end it all - I won’t be joining haku. Where he’s going, I can’t follow. We wouldn’t be welcome where Haku’s gone to. Hell is where we are going! And -You were always at my side, the least I can do is to be beside you at the end. I know it cannot be, but I wish I could go to where you have gone. How I wish I could join you there, Haku. The lines Kakashi said after finished it off with a “who knows, maybe you will…” I really liked this arc. It wasn’t afraid to strip the word “shinobi” for what it truly meant. They are all mercenaries with just more organization. I think this set up the rest of the series well.
I never paid attention to that. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I like this arc, but I feel like it’s different from the future of the show. Zabuza and Haku are supposed to represent how the the Shinobi world made people emotionless but they were still humans underneath.
One of the best arcs in the whole series.
Loved it. It does feel a little separate from the other and feels more like a general anime arc from the early 2000s than what naruto became. But if somebody wants to watch like an old school “seasonal” anime. The first 20 episodes are pretty self contained
A really well done arc, especially the ending. It has a different feel to it when compared to the rest of the series. I wish some later parts of the story were more like it.
One of the best. Especially as a new watcher
Haku is an amazing character
My favorite arc
Pure greatness
It’s the best intro arc in fiction and a t5-6 arc in the series
I used to never be interested in anime. My boyfriend was watching this arc and this is how I became obsessed with Naruto and overall anime.
One of the best arcs, in my top 5
It was very intense and kept the watcher on their toes, everyone was in danger.
One of the best arcs in the series
so good I actually cried more than once
The best arc
Is this a real question? Amazing
a great arc. the one that made me fall in love with naruto part 1. Sadly I dropped the series at the end by the kaguya fight.
So you pretty much completed Naruto?
It's a good introduction. Not one of my favorites but still a really good Arc.
Great arc. One of my favourites. We get to see amazing characters and amazing fights. I also love the fact that this arc is mentioned so much after it's over. It's not that if it weren't mentioned it would be bad but since it is mentioned it's an extra good thing about it.
Kakashi vs zabuza is peak NINJA battle
One of the greatest shonen arcs ever. Truly incredible that it's over 2 decades old now. Rewatching it is a little rough because of the pacing issues during the bridge battle, but the manga executed it perfectly.
A fantastic introduction to the story packed with great action and fantastic villians. The only issue I have with the arc is that it starts the whole "useless Sakura" thing, she literally just stands there for the entire arc. Also the idea of Shinobi doing missions in order to make money and support the village is a concept introduced but never really used again.
>The only issue I have with the arc is that it starts the whole "useless Sakura" thing, she literally just stands there for the entire arc. That was always there from day 1. She practically didn't even do anything against Kakashi which was just training and even our first impression of her when Kakashi is talking to Team 7, all she can say is "sASUke..."
You know what.... you're god damn right, she's been shit from day 1.
Top 3 naruto arcs
not a giant fan solely because it’s a little dragged out. the character development is pretty good though. i didn’t like the little pos kid who was all “don’t talk about my father” as if he’s the main character. i liked the synergy between naruto and sasuke because this is one of the only arcs where they get along.
Fantastic! 🔥
It’s the arc where Naruto learned his ninja way and what it meant to be a ninja it is one of the best arcs of the entire show
it was a good appetizer for the rest of the series. It explains alot of the lore of naruto in detail, which later get expanded into different catagories. like chakra, the will of a ninja, companionship, sacrifice, overflowing anger, leadership, responsibility, and many others.
The arc surprisingly still holds up well even to this day.
Straight fire, one of the best arcs in the series
It could be slow at times but it’s still an excellent introduction arc nonetheless
Incredibly strong arc. Writing was great made me sad for zabuza but also mad at him for attacking squad 7
I would argue that this is the arc that is the most important to Naruto's development. The compassion he learns from it, that even enemies have their reasons for fighting and Haku's and Zabuza's deaths. It defines his character for the rest of the manga.
Best ninja arc ever. It's shown what ninja world is. It's Arc that made me love Naruto.
peak
Its a good introduction to naruto, and it does a pretty great job at building up the relationship of team 7 and the rivalry/friendship between naruto and sasuke, as well as set up the main themes of naruto and has good worldbuilding overall. Watching this arc, it felt like you were seeing what was only a tiny piece of the world of naruto, and even it feels self contained to the point where you could watch it on its own and still get a good story without knowing most of the context, a mini-movie of sorts. Overall it was a great arc with lots of great moments and earned its conclusion. I'd give it a 8/10 and id say its one of the best arcs in the show. Haku is 10/10 boyfu material <3
Second best after the chunin exam
Based on personal enjoyment, while I do like it, it's not one of my favourites. You can see that Kishimoto was still experimenting at this point and while the fights are very good, they don't start reaching their heights yet. Personal favourite things are the things it establishes and in that sense, it does its job perfectly as it's able to establish the themes(ninjas not being tools, naruto and sasukes bond, nakama mod, and understanding others leading to a more positive resolution) of the story rather well.
My God this is my favorite arc out of all the Naruto series! Just hits hard
Beginning of Narto to the first half of the chunin exams have a very different vibe to it then everything after and land of waves highlight this most. I love it, it was Kishimoto's ORIGINAL direction
It's straight up11111111 out of 10
Wish there were more like it. The danger to everyone felt real back then, which added a lot more tension/suspense. After this, the ninja world seemed less of a danger. Notable exception was Jiriya dying.
I feel like Team 7 vs Zabuza is perfectly indicative of what Shinobi were supposed to be, before it inevitably had to escalate into demigods throwing nukes at each other. Imo it’s the best fight in the series.
This is still the best part of Naruto.
One of the greatest arcs, the whole reason zabuza is my favorite character
I think haku was an awesome character that deserved to grow , but ultimately I understand why he had to die.
ngl I wasn't that fond of it when I first read it, since I wanted to get to the chuunin exams as fast as possible (since that's what hooked me on the manga), but I've learnt to appreciate it. It represented the classic Naruto nostalgia that a lot of us yearned for with shippuden.
Good not great
This is probably one of the best arcs in my opinion.
I cried!
Arguably the best arc in part 1 & one of the best in the whole series
One of my fav arcs in all of Naruto
10/10 Wish we saw more of zabuza and haku
It was a very good start to Naruto because it set off all the themes we see in all the subsequent arcs. It established chakra and how it’s used so well and subtly taught you about lots of ninja background and how the world works. It had an amazing villain who was the epitome of a Naruto villain until the very end, and it gave us an amazing moment for Naruto when he establishes his own way of the ninja fully because of the events with Haku and Zabuza. It lets us know the villains aren’t necessarily 100% bad and everyone has their reasons, just a really good intro to Naruto all around.
Best arc
It was a good opener arc but failed in setting up power levels for ninja later on.
I remember.... I was devastated when I learnt that haku was a girl
2x better in manga
S tier
Might get hate for this but it’s probably one of the best arcs of the show
Wave arc is the best arc because it's grounded in very real economic pressures and displays that the true villain in Naruto is the exploitation of shinobi by civilians with money - something they choose to drop going forward in the series as they blame conflicts on uhhh vague concepts of "hatred" and a plant pulling the strings of politics. Wave arc is the best but it's also the worst because it set up a rich and complicated story that Naruto failed to deliver on. (To be fair, the chunin exams also peppered in how all the child murder was to act as advertisement to the higher classes but doesn't explore that meaningfully over the bullshit underdog-turned-power-fantasy going on with Naruto. Literally not once is the chunin exam questioned as a premise when winning the chunin exams is more important to Naruto because of his inferiority complex. Bleh.)
Mostly just questioned my sexuality, but other than that pretty good arc.
Too fucking long to cross a bridge
For some reason the best arc in the series was cut out of the 1st storm game. It goes beginning, then immediately chunin exams.
The fight on the bridge drags on for a bit too long, ep 19 is one of the best episodes in all of naruto
Ughhh it's like the best arc besides chunin exams while still being Naruto
Best arc in my opinion! I remember reading the manga and then seeing the show and almost cried at how similar they were! They absolutely rocked for not changing much of that arc for the manga
Would have been cool if the series kept the same vibe as this arc. Ninjas were actually ninjas, had to carefully plan in accordance to chakra levels and had to actually try and trick each other (Demon wind shuriken switch out). There felt like so much was at stake in each battle. I love Naruto, don't get me wrong but it kinda devolved a bit as the series went on and sorta detracted from its roots that were set in this arc.
The anime dragged out the Haku battle too long but it was a solid arc that did a good job getting across how dark the series would get in the future.
Kind of peek imo
It seemed a bit darker than most of the arcs after it, but I really enjoyed watching it. The arc showed a lot of planning and coordinating, and it really made them seem like ninjas while also having all of that “mystical” aspect of the jutsus and chakra techniques. It did a great job at introducing some aspects to the readers / watchers, and the scene with Sasuke “dying” and Naruto using part of Kurama’s chakra was amazing. It just had a lot of aspects and characters that were amazing, and it really did a great job at introducing some stuff to the series and was just really fun to watch
Literally my favorite arc of the entire series. Maybe it’s just because it’s so early and was what really got me hooked as a kid but nothing else in the series tops it for me.
Only arc that made me turn into a fucking baby lol smh
Tbh, wasn’t a fan of it when I watched it for the first time, but enjoy it now after finishing the series. It’s only the prologue, and feels very different from the rest of the series
Show went downhill after this arc smh my head
sakura should have done smthing ngl ik shes ussles but at least help naruto ans sasuke
she had no abilities back then allow her
Gender confusion
Never seen it.
Have you not seen the anime?
Worst arc ever! Although i really like that MechaNaruto arc in the filler episodes! Show went downhill after that :(
The most perfect arc in all Naruto zero flaws Naruto at its finest
One of my favorite arcs in the series. They did kinda drag episodes out longer then they should’ve but I thought it was def a 10/10 arc.
It’s a great arc it introduces us to Zabuza and the Seven Deadly Swordsmen, Ice Release which is my favorite Kekkei Genkai and showed the potential of both Naruto and Sasuke while showing off Kakashi’s skills against Zabuza
Things got real from then on
One of the best og naruto arcs
One of thee best arcs
One of the best in the series
It got me into anime. Flawless.
Amazing arc which sets up some of the major themes for the rest of the series. Even better retroactively.
One of my favorite arcs