#I really do want to see my boy dororo again tho

[yours-the-author]

I just realized something today.

Dororo's original name was Zeroro.

As in, zero.

His parents literally named him Nothing.

Ooouhgh

[mnkiss]

A quick list of animes I watched and don't want to forget 2:

Spoiler, duh

OG post here:

Corpse party - similar to Another: I watched it and forgot about it…kids being creepy and killing a lot (i think) (2/10)

Yuri on Ice - loved it for the romance and the soundtrack but couldn’t care less about the skating lol Cute anime tho, I recommend it (8/10)

Kimi no nawa - cute, I cried of course, but i really wish we could have learned about their relationships more. I wanted to see them falling in love slowly and helplessly, not just a montage haha. Maybe a 7/10. Wasn’t thaaaaat great.

Dororo - I’m not as a big fan as others, but it was an interesting journey on the historical side with a much less repetitive story than I expected. It’s an old tale, a myth, told by an old man about demons and humans, and two children’s (well, an adult-ish boy and a kid) fate and character development. The show shows war and all it’s gory, terrible reality so be ready for some depressing episodes… The message of the anime is very clear and heavy. This is a remake, there is supposed to be a much older version of the anime with not 12, but 48 demons and missing body parts, but I’m not really sure if I want to watch it again. (7/10)

Citrus - Yuri, cute, well-done, but 1) Yuzu is sooooooo ugh, she is nice and kind but so easy to influence jesus she really is not the sharpest tool in the shed and that got soo annoying around ep7. >< 2) The story is weirdly written, they introduce characters as they go and as it gets comfortable for the plot, which feels like a rookie mistake but ok. Only 12 eps, two sweet girls and lots of sexual tension between them. Btw some people have misconceptions about the manga/anime. There is no incest as they are both teens and strangers when they happen to become step-sisters, and sexual assault does not get romanticized because if somebody is uncomfortable they struggle and voice that they don’t feel comfortable. That being said “You should consider other people’s feelings” is a fucking stupid answer to “Hey I don’t want to have sex with somebody”. Also the silent treatment? AND always coming with the “I had a bad childhood” shit? I’m treating the kindest, dearest person on earth like shit just because I was rejected once? Really? Fucking Mei lol. Yuzu deserves better. Like Harumi. You know, somebody who actually cares about her. 5/10

Baccano! - Gory mafia stories are always amazing but this one is like… dude. Watch it. It’s beautiful, has an amazing opening, wonderful characters (Naaa Miriyaa!!!! Neee Isaccu!!!!) and weird ties to the supernatural. No tears only happy smiling even during the 13th episode. One of my favourite stories of all time. (Oh and if you're one of those weirdos who love it when animes use weird brand names instead of the real ones [like hollywood becomes woodland, daily mail becomes daily days, hersheys becomes baccano] then you’ll love the small details lol) (11/10)

Tower of God - S1 is only a prologue :/ I usually don’t care about isekai or isekai-like stuff but this story is pretty immersive. I loved that there is only a moderate amount of gore even though people dying is half the anime. All the supporting characters are easy to remember, have enough screen time and we learn their history so we do care about them, the main character has all the characteristics a shounen protagonist needs but the anime itself is not in the shounen category. The soundtrack is phenomenal except the opening (sorry stray kids). Yeah, go watch it and be ready for the webtoon, they say its super long but worth it (8/10)

Wolf’s Rain - i love animals/shapeshifters in animes, but this was boooring. I was hoping for a crazy adventure with ancient legends and animaguses and stuff instead I got bored cuz nothing actually happened. I got to 17 episodes and just stopped watching. The story had potential, the wolfish behavior was fun. Maybe I'll try watching it again...later...some day (5/10)

Cyberpunk Edgerunners - Found family? Check. Cute girl? Check. Worldbuilding, sexy superpowers, neon lights, awesome action, greedy capitalism? Check. But for 10 episodes you’ll have the feeling that something will happen and yes, that thing indeed will happen (8/10)

Jujutsu Kaisen - S1 only yet. I'm - again - more invested in the adult's story and scheming behind the scenes. Character development? It is there, baby, and it is not just thought-provoking/brooding all the time. Competent enemy? There it is, the menacing, cunning, sexy-sexy enemy. Bro time? There is some healthy, masculine bro time! (9/10)

Chainsaw Man - This is a Jujutsu Kaisen 2.0. Teen boy gets adopted to an organization that uses dark superpowers that come with a price and they kill demons but they also are too crazy for the world and die easily. Also 2 boys 1 girl, the girl is nonconvenional but looks cute, the black haired friend of main character is super cold on the outside but has a heart of butter and is like a strong brother for the MC... I'd also really love if they'd STOP FUCKING KILLING ALL THE CHARACTERS. Seriously what's up with that nowadays?? They show you how friendly and happy they are together, and the next episode is just filled with deaths. However the story is fun, I like the pacing, the artstyle, the enemies and the music sooo S2 when? (8/10)

Spy x Family - Superduper cute, feel good anime with some badass characters. Some second hand embarrassement is in order tho lol (9/10)

Sailor Moon (90's series) - It's. So. Good. Such a comfort show. It has it's problems (the combat seems very... repetitive, the girls forget about their new powers, SM doesnt do much except in the movies), but a) this show is gorgeous b) it has characters that you wish they were your friends c) it's long so the story is well paced. It has good humour, super powers, a long and immersive story, surprisingly well made character arcs, ammmmaazing opening (and overall the soundtrack is ICONIC), 90's aesthetics and lots of gay vibes. However, it's extremely romance-centered, so probably not the best choice if you are in search for an action anime (9/10)

Soul Eater - 51 episodes of a surprisingly good story with surprisingly bad characters. The ending was disappointing, and the most powerful or intriguing characters just... weren't used? The monologues made no sense? Guy who can't die literally only fought 2 times? Madness wasn't mad? Brave girl wasn't brave? Like what even happened in this show? (5/10)

[redxblueihateloveyou]

This is a personal opinion but from where I see it the Given movie and the anime itself definitely was... something that I would question because somethings just.. didn't make sense to me. The development of the Characters were either super fast or super slow and it made the pacing really really weird for me idk. But I do think that a huge reason so many people love the Given movie is because of the fact that when you compare Given to OTHER JP BL animes, there's very very slight improvement in terms of the story itself of Given. Is the story poorly executed? Fucking hell, who the hell is going to say no here. But is it better then some of the JP BLs out there? That's depended on how you view BL to be. For a lot of people things like Super Lovers or Hitorijime My Hero are super unbearable to watch because it's "problematic" (which honestly okay, you do you BB) which then leads them to look for BL animes that DON'T have such "themes." Leading them to actually liking things poorly executed but just "not problematic", Given for example.

Given is “not problematic”? Debatable.

Their first kiss was right after Mafuyu finally had a courage to sing a song about his ex who commited a suicide. ???

Problematic doesn’t only mean stuff like “he’s underage”. What about using someone to get over your grief or getting into a relationship with someone who is still not over his ex death and is vulnerable at the moment? Is this suddenly “not problematic” bc they’re same age and he haven’t pushed him into a wall in throws of passion?

To me it’s not even about the fact if it’s problematic or not (it’s rarely not tho, no matter what ppl think), it’s about whether its believable and feels genuine or not. It depends on many factors: situation, characters past, traumas, etc, etc. It depends on the story and how you write it.

Change some stuff and it’s gonna be a completely different thing. Make it like Uenoyama only hugged Mafuyu after the song, even tho he wanted to kiss him, but knows that it’s not the right moment. Make Mafuyu heal first, make Uenoyama be in his own angst that he loves Mafuyu so much for example, but cares about him recover more, so he doesn’t expect for it to go somewhere, then he tries to date someone and Mafuyu first starts getting out there, when he feels like he can start trying again. Someday he gets sick and Uenoyama cancels his date to take care of him even tho it’s nothing serious and then the realization comes. Make Mafuyu kiss him first and take the first step. This would’ve changed everything so much. He should’ve made the first step when he was ready, this would’ve felt so right. Uenoyama kissing him after that song is just.. it feels, I was like ehhhmmm.. weird?

Seeing someone saying that Given is a masterpiece is hilarious to me. The fact that it includes heavy themes like suicide, doesn’t make it a masterpiece, esp when it’s handled this badly. Once again, if you pick such thing as a base for a love story, do it right then, not in a “bibbidi bobbidi boo” kind of thing. 

BL or not BL, any relationships, it depends on whether you watch it and it feels plausable or not. 

For example, if Yuu says that he can’t live with Mika, my tongue won’t even twist to call it “unhealthy” or be like “dude why”. But if some high schooler in slice of life anime who has a caring family tried to end himself bc his two weeks friend left him, I would’ve yelled “bitch go see a doctor”. 

Depending on the story you can sell some feelings or not.

Nezumi and Shion are also problematic according to ppl’s logic these days. But I 100% believe they’re each other’s true loves. Only 11 episodes and it’s sold.

In Given I didn’t believe it. Bc it’s ridiculous, ok? It wasn’t the right place or time to start this relationship. It is not a new love story, it’s just a sad story. 

Given movie is slightly better compared to other japanese BL? Why would you offend Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, Uragiri wa boku no namae, No.6 and many others?

Also better where? They kept the same old “’stop, i don’t want to’, but he did it anyway” stuff AND on top of that the story sucks.

The way he used him knowing very well that he was unrequitedly in love with him for so long is so disgusting that it leaves a much grosser feeling than many yaois combined. You’re saying “it’s slightly better” bc they’re of age or don’t have an age difference? I don’t get it. It somehow makes everything better?

No, thanks. I’d rather watch Onodera sleep with Takano in high school with them being genuinely into each other and it going great than whatever happened in the Given movie. I don’t care if they’re both 18 there, it made me feel bad.

I didn’t feel bad, when Wei Wuxian thought “why the fuck didn't I have sex with Lan Zhan back when I was 15? I've really pissed away all my days, haven't I?”. I wonder why is that.

Like what you’re saying here is that their opinion on BL is so low that they automatically would give it 10 out of 10 bc it’s slightly better than smth that they find “unbearable” to watch? What kind of evaluation is that exactly? Maybe also let’s compare each anime to “boku no pico”, then everything will look like a masterpiece.

Like excuse me for the fact that when I watch some shonen-ai and yaoi, I judge it the same way I judge any other genre and any other relationships (hetero or gay) in animes. On a scale whether I care or don’t care, whether I believe that they love each other or don’t, whether it’s a good story or not. I don’t get what it means “it’s good for yaoi”. It’s just not good. This movie is trash, I mean, the relationship in it is trash. Who the fuck cares gay or not gay. Trash relationships are trash. Bad story is a bad story. Whether it’s a bad gay story or a bad hetero story, I don’t give a shit.

The reason I’m more into boy on boy ships is because I love the relationships there more than relationships in most heterosexual couples. My fav hetero ships are either “from hate/attraction to love” stories like “gone with the wind”, “anastasia” or “pride and prejudice” or stuff like “equals without pink goo, who only see each other and don’t need no one else and would die for each other, epic soulmates” like Richard and Kahlan. In anime 99% of those fit bromances, not romances. Like I don’t find Midoriya/Uraraka appealing at all for a reason that “she said ‘hi’, he blushed as a tomato, now they’re supposed to be each other’s romantic interests” is not what I find romantic. I find romantic the fact that Todoroki is forever devoted to Midoriya bc he knows he’s amazing and is not afraid to say it; and he’ll always be there for him when he needs him, no matter what it is, him just sitting there crying, some villain trying to kill him or if he’s too late out ther grossery shopping. Uraraka most of the times doesn’t even care where he is.

Most hetero romantic animes, I just find ridiculous, too cheesy and unrealistic and I’m not ready to watch 50 episodes for them to hold hands. I’m not in that age and I also never found things like this romantic before either. Stuff like Kisa/Yukine, when you meet someone, find him attractive, wanna fuck him, then fall in love accidentally.. yeah, that’s understandable to me. Stuff like Takano/Onodera “I was an naive idiot in high school, but now life made me a sassy bitch and I can’t open up to people as easily” also yes, relatable. 

When you’re turning into a tomato bc someone said “penis” and think holding hands will take your virginity or smth, that’s not my thing.

So when I watch BL, I expect more, not less. So if it’s bad, I just say it’s bad, I’m not gonna be like “hmm... unproblematic... then 10/10″ like what? 

1stly, even “little mermaid” and “cinderella” are problematic. 

2ndly everyone is so focused on purity these days, like storyline don’t matter at all. It’s like any great love story is automatically trash if they have age difference. Any trash love story is great, if they don’t?

Let’s then also rate “Dororo” as 1, bc it’s like 24 episodes of them falling for each other while she’s 11 and he’s 16. Wow, such gross relationships they have during the whole story. Doesn’t matter that she grew up at the end of the last episode, the whole anime she’s a child. And let’s rate Noragami 0, bc 2000 years old perverted Yato is into 15 year olds.

No one has to fuck asap (heck even in the same hella problematic “Super Lovers” you talk about, Haru refused to fuck Ren even tho he was 17 in s2 and wanted to fuck another guy) and the rule “you can only fall in love after 18″ doesn’t exist. Also underage is not BL thing, it’s all anime thing. It’s time to shut it already. There are zillions of age gap couples out there who are great. Hyakkimaru waited for Dororo to grow up, it’s fine, seriously, they love each other in the right way, he didn’t want to fuck her when she was 11, okay? They did love each other tho already then. Pls excuse them for that.

3rdly, some relationship that ppl here call unproblematic are 20 times more problematic, than what they call problematic.

4tly, why the heck it’s like couples who have an amazing character and relationship progression, who love each other to death and will do anything for each other, ppl go: “wow, at the very beginning, he grabbed his wrist, he needs to go to jail”. Meanwhile a relationship who has no base, no story, no logical progression, no anything are “yes, best love story in the world”. Yeah... who cares if it feels like it’s all been pulled out of an ass and doesn’t make sense, very healthy tho.

It sounds lately like if most ppl here had two stories in front of them and one would be about two men who just met and the next day one proposed and they lived happily ever after and 2nd would be some complicated incredible story with a natural progression of the relationship, but they yelled at each other once, they’d be like “1st is better”. Well, not to me, no.

[luo-not-lou]

Any Dororo headcanons? (The character, not just the series) Thanks! :D

Yes, why not uwu

Dororo General Headcanons||

Warnings: Dysphoria subjects, mentions of trauma

Dororo sometimes forgets she has a biological femenine body, so when she has her period she's like oh yeah i forgot that happens

She doesnt have her period often because of ✨ desnutrition ✨

Thats why she's so short being 12 Years old

She wants to identify and dress a boy when shes younger because that way she feels way safer, she's scared of being seen as a girl because she thinks people will see her rather useless. She associates being a young girl as being weak

She even wears clothes that arent meant to be for girls and since she spents a lot of time outdoors surrounded by males, she pees standing up like them, but doesnt let anyone see her because she knows she doesnt have a penis

Dororo doesnt play games often, but when she does, she is incredibly violent and competitive, not really understanding how to chill and have fun

Even though she doesnt understands games around kids her age, she enjoys playing Family

U know, that game when you pretend you have a Family and do stuff with toys

She mostly plays alone but sometimes brings Hyakkimaru to that, because he is family to her

Dororo is desperate for a maternal figure in her life. Whenever a mature or older woman Is with her, she'll be calmer than usual and smile a little more, trusting stranger women more than she should

Dororo doesnt understand the point in wearing complicated and long kimonos, she finds them annoying since you cant run or do anything that requiers a lot of movement. Not that she has worn one tho

Definitvly prefers Haoris

However, she likes to eat a lot of different foods at once, not finishing a plate, because u know, food

Once tried to learn Hyakkimaru's favourite food since she was in a good mood and wanted to be a good little sis

It didnt work out since he kept saying "anything you want to cook Is fine" and she lost her temper

She doesnt understand the concept of greed because she never felt it, thats why she let Itachi call the treasure "his" and didnt held grudge against him even if he tried to kill her and take advantage of her multiple times

Dororo on the surface is pretty much malicious and a problem kid who wants money to survive, however, a lot of people seem to forget that Dororo is still a CHILD and that she has a lot of trauma because of her past, thats just the surface of her

As she grew, she let the best side of her take control, the calmer, honest and in general better side of her

Even tho the first thing she did when she saw Hyakkimaru again was hitting him in the stomach and then proceed to scream at him "why did you left without saying something"

She then hugged him and cried

Adult Dororo will not doubt to punch anyone who makes fun of her height. Anyone, that includes Hyakkimaru

Now that she's older, she sometimes daydreams about what or how would her life been if she hadnt found and followed Hyakkimaru, it's seems so impossible but at the same time, she just had to stop following him at the beggining and that would be it.

She doesnt like to think to much tho, because it makes her head imagine scenarios where she just died, poor and alone.

She wants to have a kid but at the same time she doesnt. Because, her mother was her best role model in life, and she wants to be like her for her own kid, but having a kid is just too much responsability (and she needs a husband first), plus it's just not her thing, she cant imagine herself being a sweet, calm and caring, mom

She's just a really good crackhead

Hyakkimaru reasures her that she'll be an awesome mom at her own way

However, Dororo is still not ready

But someday she'll be ready, and when she has it, she will teach her kid to be gratefull for everything, even if it's just being alive another day, she doesnt want their kid to take things for granted and not fight for them. However, she doesnt want them to go not even trough half the trauma she did

She wants them to be happy, and grateful for life itself, to be humble and straightfoward, just like she is

Sorry if I took a little longer this time, this was a little bit harder but i wrote what came to my mind, I hope you like it

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Has a Large Hairy Son in Episodes 183-189

Welcome to THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! I’m Joseph Luster, back in record time, and I’ll be your host this week as we barrel on through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto anime adaptation. In last week's episodes 176-182, we spent most of our time in the Hidden Star Village, but that arc comes to a swift end this week. Even more filler lies beyond, though, including the start of the Peddlers Escort Mission arc in episodes 183-189.

  As you may be able to tell by the tone of some of these questions, I'm feeling a little deflated at this point. The filler can be overwhelming at times, but at least we have the occasional one-off to brighten our week. In this case, the highlight for me was most definitely the gag episode in which Naruto has to avoid laughing during a funeral despite every possible attempt to get him to crack. It might be the series' most successful attempt at straight-up comedy to date.

  The rest of the batch was mostly disappointing, but there were a few ups to go along with the downs. As Crunchyroll user OrichalcosTwin1 said in last week's comments, "I enjoyed the Hidden Star Village filler, though as you're about to find out this week, I feel it could've concluded sooner and stuck around longer than it should've." I couldn't agree more. Let's find out what everyone else thought! 

    Do you love Sumaru's Mom's Ghost and her two-hit multi-target attacks? Did the finale of the Star Guard arc surprise you in any way, or was its ending written in the stars from the beginning?

  Paul: It was good that the main resolution to the Star Village story involved the children and the other villagers rebelling against Akahoshi after he went Full Crazy-Eyes and freely confessed his evil plans to everyone within earshot, but for the ultimate confrontation, it should have been Sumaru receiving his mother's spiritual energy to deliver the final blow. This arc was Sumaru's story, and tacking Naruto onto the end like that feels like a missed opportunity.

  David: Agreed. Ending a village’s internal political strife by punching the bad guy is one thing, but letting Naruto do it instead of the character most closely affected by the whole thing is pretty lame.

  Jared: I basically laughed when Sumaru’s mom gave her power to Naruto instead of Sumaru. Way to bury the kid both figuratively and literally. Other than that, the arc ended basically how I expected with Akahoshi getting his comeuppance and being real dumb.

  Kevin: The ending was predictable, aside from the stuff that made no sense. Of course the star was going to be destroyed, that way no one can try to bring it up as a power source later. Also, apparently ghosts exist in Naruto. I guess Orochimaru could’ve had a shortcut in creating the Reanimation Jutsu.

  Danni: The whole thing just fell way off the rails, honestly. I’m so tired of evil villains in this show maniacally cackling about how evil they are while trying to kill a bunch of children.

  Kara: I realized right as we were closing out that the Village Hidden in the Stars was literally just Naruto’s excuse to have fairies, after which point I kind of gave up on it making sense at all.

  Noelle: It’s a very typical villain cliché, but I can’t say it doesn’t work. Some of that fantasy stuff sure did happen though.

  Carolyn: It was definitely… weird. I have to agree with the above, that giving Naruto the power was a very odd choice. It also just feels like really weird and awkward writing. I know we’re in the land of filler, but this series is backflipping over the shark at this point.

    It took putting Akamaru in great peril to make me realize nothing can ever happen to Kiba's sweet pee-spraying baby. Which Naruto characters would you defend with your life at this point? 

  Paul: The easy answer is Rock Lee, who is much more of a good boy than Akamaru. It's weird that Akamaru can have a full-on “An American Werewolf in Leaf Village” episode in which he severely injures numerous shinobi, including his own master, and yet he's allowed to continue his ninja-dog training like nothing happened. I figured they'd pull a trick where Akamaru wasn't infected and there was some other werewolf running around, but nope. Straight up Cujo.

  David: Over the course of all this filler I’ve gotten even more attached to Neji and Tenten. Maybe I should go back and rewatch some episodes of that Rock Lee spinoff…

  Jared: ROCK LEE. 

  Kevin: Anime, if you ever try to hurt my ninja son Rock Lee ever again, the Five Great Nations are going to become the Five Great Craters. 

  Danni: ROCK LEE DEFENSE FORCE, ASSEMBLE! [sfx: Kamen Rider transformation noises]

  Kara: Rock Lee, as the rest of the room says. And Hinata. Dear God, I can’t wait ‘til 50% of her lines aren’t “Naruto-kun…” She deserves better than she gets in pretty much any part of her life.

  Noelle: As with everyone else, Rock Lee protection squad unite.

  Carolyn: Hahaha, did we ever expect anything less than a giant chorus of people loudly cheering on good boy Rock Lee?

    The Hidden Leaf Legend episode about Onbu made me think about all the aspects of the Naruto world of which we're not aware yet. From legends to history and beyond, what are you most curious about, and what would you like to see expanded upon in future episodes?

  Paul: There should be an episode where Naruto and the other young ninja of Leaf Village get sent on a snipe hunt mission by Tsunade in search of the legendary tsuchinoko, only for Kakashi, Might Guy, and the other Jonin to prank the heck out of them. Then they actually find a real tsuchinoko during the third act, and it grows angry over them invading its territory, and hijinks ensue.

  David: I was and am still interested in essentially anything that doesn’t have to do with ninjas. How does the rest of the world operate on a day-to-day basis, and how much, if at all, are they even aware of these ninja villages that seem to constantly be at war with each other?

  Jared: I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been more backstory on the early Hokage, unless that’s being saved for later in Shippuden. Outside of that, I think it’d be good just to dive into character backstories or just go full slice-of-life at some points.

  Kevin: Honestly, I’m most curious about jutsu creation. We’ll get at least some insight into that later in Shippuden, but even then I’d still like to know a lot more.

  Danni: I just wanna know why everyone in the Hidden Leaf Village loves the SEGA Dreamcast so dang much.

  Kara: Considering weird ninja magic is essentially part of day-to-day life, I want to know what their escapist entertainment is like. What the heck do you read action comics about when you’re already halfway to a superhero? I’m guessing they have, like, Archiemaru or something where the escapism comes in the form of severe normality.

  Noelle: Even knowing some of the stuff that comes later, there’s a lot of things that aren’t really that expanded upon. The discrepancy between technology and how that clashes or interacts with ninjutsu is one, and how ninja society seems to be something both out in the open but not something that everyone can do is another. We might get to why ninjutsu happens later, but what of the people who aren’t ninja, in a world so heavily slated toward magical powers and how those with magic seem to rule society?

  Carolyn: We see villages with normal, non-ninja people fairly regularly, but we have no idea how they live. How do the government and ninja work together? Do they work together or do the ninja sort of work on their own laws/volition? Maybe that’s been answered, but I certainly don’t remember it. 

    As episode 186 reminds us, there's nothing more powerful than a forbidden laugh. Can you recall any particularly gut-busting "church laugh" moments in your life where you really lost it when you shouldn't have? 

  Paul: One time my sister got busted for accidentally cracking up during Christmas dinner because the decorative plates we were about to eat off of had a drawing of a little hobo Frosty the Snowman, complete with patches on his snow-suit. I guess the contrast of cloth patches on a suit made out of snow was too much for her, and she burst out laughing during what was supposed to be a solemn moment. She got grounded, and the Legend of the Hobo Snowman went down in Chapman family history.

  David: I don’t remember the details but I do recall actually being sent to the principal in elementary school for being unable to control my laughter one day.

  Jared: I can’t remember the specifics, but I’m pretty sure mine was an actual church laugh moment. Something must’ve made me have the giggles or I was just in a mood but I did that when I was going to church at the time and got in a bit of trouble for it.

  Kevin: I was watching Dororo, and one episode in particular had a guest animator who apparently is known for his… unique art style. Hyakkimaru “running” (ice skating) uphill between trees forced me to pause the video so that I could stop hysterically laughing.

  Danni: I have a rather subdued laugh usually, so I can’t think of any moments where laughing got me in trouble. However, a childhood spent watching a lot of America’s Funniest Home Videos has led to an adulthood full of instinctively laughing when people hurt themselves pratfalling.

  Kara: I was on a bus in Cardiff a few years ago and there was a guy who refused to sit down or hang on or anything. The driver braked and the dude went sliding comically. A few people snickered but I busted out laughing way too big and He Did Not Appreciate That. I got off at the next stop to avoid having my head punched down my own neck. (As an aside, I’ve gotta express my appreciation for Naruto basing an entire episode around the concept of the Giggle Loop from Coupling.)

  Noelle: Admittedly, I’m not the kind of person that bursts out laughing, even if emotions show on my face. My friends saying particularly wild things in public will always get me laughing, though.

  Carolyn: Actual laugh or defensive laugh? I worked as a ride operator at an amusement park as a teen and some kids tried to run on the ride AS IT WAS MOVING. I had to use the emergency shutdown and started laughing like a maniac. The kids' parents were very angry at me for that, but some co-workers and other customers assured them it was a nervous laugh, which it was. They could have gotten very, very hurt and I didn’t know how to react to that.

As for an actual “wow that was funny” laugh … well, this story is a bit mean but it got to me hard. Outside my apartment one day, I saw a kid that was about 11-13 riding a bike and just toppled over and started laughing immediately. It was the way the bike fell. Usually, you imagine some wobbling, the handlebars going back and forth as they lose control or something. This was literally straight up to straight down in one immediate motion. It caught me by surprise. Also, the kid was fine.

    That Brings Us to the Land of Gree— you know what? Forget these veggie peddlers, we're way beyond the point of no return in Filler Purgatory. I hardly remember what it was like when Naruto was good, and the writing is at an all time low for most of this batch. Could you ever recommend this show past episode 140 or so, and has this changed the way you feel about it as a whole?

  Paul: I'm a completionist, so if I'm going to recommend something, I'm going to recommend all of it. You don't get to skip the boring or mediocre bits if you want to claim you've experienced a work of entertainment. The filler hasn't broken my spirit yet, and there are individual parts of it that I find compelling, although I admit nothing we've seen here compares to Naruto at its apex moments.

  David: I’d just recommend skipping all of it, but if you’re gonna watch any of it, the second best thing is probably to skip the arcs and watch some of the one-off episodes instead. The best part about the filler has been the focus on some side characters who didn’t get much time before, and the mostly silly single-episode adventures get you that without having to sit through nonsense stories that just make you wish you were watching the actual story instead.

  Jared: I might not necessarily recommend watching all of the filler, but maybe some of the better parts if they wanted to check that stuff out. People will watch what they watch and I’m not their dad, but I don’t think it’s necessarily all terrible like some people will lead you to believe. It certainly hasn’t changed my overall opinion of the show, it just makes me want to get back to the actual story. Although, if you want a test of endurance, then yeah, people should watch all the filler.

  Kevin: The only way I can realistically recommend Naruto after Filler Purgatory started was if I was trying to talk about all of the interesting character interactions that come from unique team combinations. Unfortunately, even the filler arcs have turned into the same few teams on a loop, and the plots aren’t nearly interesting enough to carry 100 episodes. So in all honesty, unless you just want to full Naruto experience of waiting forever to get to Shippuden or REALLY want to know everything that happens, even if it’s filler, no, I can’t recommend watching past episode 140. 

  Danni: I refused to listen to anyone telling me to skip certain arcs of Dragon Ball since they were filler. I said that if I’m gonna watch it, I’m gonna watch all of it. That being said, I really wish I could just skip ahead to Shippuden right now.

  Kara: This week of episodes has just been a hot mess. Not gonna lie. I’d been coasting because at least I could joke about them. But between this weird double-bluff veggie ninja story and the episode about Naruto adopting the kind of mascot character they’d add to a cartoon adaptation of a live-action 80s sitcom, I’m feeling anywhere from weak to done.

  Noelle: I skipped over most of the filler in my original run of Naruto, and I’d say-- yeah, I’d still rather do that. Nothing here worth noting. 

  Carolyn: I don’t think I would recommend Naruto, as a whole or just cutting off the filler parts. There have been shows I couldn’t get into and people will say to wait for season 3 or 4. I just don’t understand highly recommending something that has so much not-good in it.

    Finally, let's wrap up with the HIGHS and LOWS for this week.

  Paul: My high point was everyone trying to make Naruto laugh, especially with how the humor-assassins would take one look at him and decide that anyone with such a foolish face would be an easy mark. I appreciate the low-grade shade that reminds us that Naruto is kind of a maroon. My low-point was the end of the Onbu episode, which concludes like a mash-up of the Tribbles episode of Star Trek and Gremlins. That joke didn't so much land as belly-flop.

  David: High point was the preview for next week’s first episode - I’m excited to see Hinata getting to handle a fight on her own; hope that’s as neat as it looks. Low point was the ending of the star village arc for the same reasons I said in the first question.

  Jared: High point for this week would probably be the end of the funeral episode with the ridiculous reveal, fake out, and then reveal of the dad being alive. It was probably one step away from going full “IT’S ME AUSTIN” in terms of that. Also, Shino just getting up in Naruto's face like NEVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS PLEASE. Low point would probably be basically everything else. Land of Greens is just not great and the other episodes were pretty much just there. Glad we finally get to meet Boruto though, even if I thought he came later on in the series.

  Kevin: 

High - The plan to take down the first of the enemy ninja in the Land of Greens. Sure, it’s a pretty short moment and not too difficult to figure out (he’s using his weapons as dowsing rods, so break the weapons and lure him to a place without water), but this is Filler Purgatory, and characters not being completely dumb is enough to be one of the better moments of the week.

Low - The Onbu episode. I like getting some worldbuilding, but like I said in my High, I also like characters not being excessively dumb, and practically every decision in the Onbu episode was some level of dumb.

  Danni: High point was the entire funeral episode. It was such a solid comedic concept and the payoffs all landed perfectly. It’s exactly the kind of stupid I want out of all this filler. Honorable mention to the Onba episode, which was maybe a tier below but still some good dumb fun. Low point would have to be watching another arc end with a villain maniacally cackling while trying to murder a bunch of children with a crossbow. Low LOW point was when that one kid’s dead mom became a ninja ghost who just kind of held Naruto in the air like a limp cat. 

  Kara: High point was honestly Magnet Ninja. Like seriously that’s one of the most resourceful Jutsu sets I’ve seen: just grab those headband nerds by the headband. Secondary high point was the puns in the funeral episode that didn’t get translated in the subtitles (as a former subtitle editor, though, I don’t blame them for not trying). Low point was the wrap-up of the Village Hidden in the Seelie Court.

  Noelle: High point, the funeral episode and how everything in it works pretty well. I wouldn’t say it’s all my kind of humor, but it’s functionally fairly solid. No complaints there. Low point… we’re just not going to address how fantasy elements in the afterlife are a thing now? No? Okay, I guess. 

  Carolyn: The uniforms and Naruto’s not-amused reaction to them were pretty great for me. The low point? I guess the weird ghost stuff. The last Scooby-Doo ghost episode was silly, but it also knew it was silly. They sort of took this seriously and that’s quite bizarre.

    COUNTERS:

  This Week:

Ramen: 11 bowls, 1 cup

Hokage: 4

Clones: 78

  Total So Far:

Ramen: 182 bowls, 13 cups

Hokage: 62

Clones: 789

  And that’s it for this week! Remember that you’re always welcome to watch along with the Rewatch, especially if you’ve never seen the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

  Here’s our upcoming schedule:

-Next week, KARA DENNISON returns to guide us through the end of the Peddlers Escort Mission!

-On August 2nd, NOELLE OGAWA shows us the formation of the Konoha 11!

-Finally, the mighty DANIEL DOCKERY returns to explore the mystery of Yakumo! 

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 176-182: Reach for the Stars!

Episodes 169-175: Anko’s Backstory At Sea

Episodes 162-168: The Tale of the Phantom Samurai

Episodes 155-161: Quickfire Curry

Episodes 148-154: The Forest is Abuzz With Ninjas

Episodes 141-147: Mizuki Strikes Back!

Episodes 134-140: The Climactic Clash

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

  Thank you for joining us for the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

  Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 183-189? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his webcomic, BIG DUMB FIGHTING IDIOTS at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com