#so i mostly translate it as “you know” like shippuden does

[geekthefreakout]

The GaaNaru Letters (part 1 of ?)

AN: this might not be anything, but its been floating in my head. It's a tumblr post instead of going on Ao3 because it's lower commitment rn.

Dear Gaara,

Heh, it's weird calling you dear when we only kinda know each other. But Iruka-sensei said that's how letters are supposed to start. This is my first time writing to someone else- all my friends are in my village! Anyway, I just wanted to see how you are after that asswhooping I gave you! That's not me bragging, by the way. It's just. You seemed lonely. Like I told you back then, I know what that pain is like. I guess I want to help you with it. And I think you and me have something else in common, too. Do you know what I mean? Anyway, everyone knows that the Sand village only attacked the Leaf because Orochimaru-bastard was manipulating you, so I don't think we have to be enemies anymore. That snakey bastard killed the Third Hokage, but I heard he killed your Hokage too? I hope you get this and write back, maybe?

Love From, Uzumaki Naruto

Uzumaki Naruto,

I have been informed that honorifics are not required at the beginning of letters if one does not wish to include them. Unless this is one of the cultural differences between the Leaf and the Sand, you should not feel obliged to use "dear" for me. This is also my first time writing a letter to someone. I am not sure what to say, but I will answer your questions.

I think I do know what you mean, if you are referring to that red chakra that you summoned. Do you have a monster within you as well? It is difficult to imagine.

Orochimaru did indeed kill our kage, though the Sand Village has a Kazekage, rather than Hokage. Rather than in a great battle such as befell your leader, the Kazekage seems to have been murdered on the sly. That man was my father. I am told that most children mourn their fathers. I have not mourned anyone since Yas I was small, and I see no need to change that. Perhaps if my father did not try to assassinate me so often, I would feel differently. At any rate, my siblings are too afraid of me to press the issue.

You, however, are not afraid of me. Despite the damage I wrought on your friends and your village, you are still reaching out. I find myself wondering why? Perhaps we are not actively enemies, but we are not allies either. What use am I to you? Why should it matter to you that I am lonely?

Why did you weep for me, Uzumaki Naruto?

From,

Gaara of the Desert

Dear Gaara,

I already said- I know what your kind of loneliness is like, and I want to help! It's not some big complicated thing. You don't have to have a use to me, you know? Except maybe to talk about stuff.

Like the monster thing. This is kind of a secret so I probably shouldn't confirm or deny that I have a giant demon fox sealed inside me, but I want to tell you. I've never met anyone like me before, you know? Even if yours is different, with the sand and the crazy laughing and all. Mine doesn't laugh, he's just mean and grumpy and scary. When did you first know about yours? Have you always been able to use its power?

I'm sorry about your dad. Not that he's dead, but that he was an asshole! And I guess that he's dead too. I can see how that would be complicated. Did he try to kill you because of your demon? It's not how I would do things. I don't know who my parents are, or were, but I hope they wouldn't do that to me. I think parents are supposed to support their kids no matter what!

I guess it makes sense for your siblings to be scared of you when you do scary things, but I heard you apologize to them back then. So if you're trying to do better by them, they should give you a chance!

I'm going on a journey with Pervy Sage soon to look for our next Hokage-- whoever it is better meet my approval, because I'll be the next Hokage after that, believe it! And I want to get the job from someone awesome. Anyway, if I'm not in the village I'm not sure how to get mail so if I don't reply for a while it's cuz I'm out there being awesome!

Also- didn't forget what you did. You tried to hurt my friends, and that's not okay. But I kicked your ass about it already, so as far as I'm concerned it's all settled. So don't keep thinking there's something bad between us!

Sincerely (This is a new sign off I learned. It's nicer than From!), Uzumaki Naruto

PS: Iruka-sensei said you're right about the "dear" thing, but your name looked kinda naked if I didn't write it, so I'm gonna keep using it, OK?

Uzumaki Naruto,

Your answers leave me with more questions, but I will continue asking them as long as you are amenable.

My demon is the One-tail, Shukaku. He does laugh a lot, though it is not a pleasant sound. I have always known about him, for his voice has always been in the back of my mind. Furthermore, I was told outright when I had a strong enough grasp of language. Your question implies that you have not always known about yours. You called it a demon fox- could it be the Nine-tails? Is he truly so quiet that you could be unaware of him? As for tapping into Shukaku's abitilities, that has not always been conscious on my part. He is often eager to emerge and inflict is insanity upon others, so if I fall asleep he will take over on his own.

Needless to say, I am seldom allowed to sleep.

Shukaku is one reason my father tried to kill me. The other is that I killed my mother the day I was born. My existence has always been fueled by blood. I am not sure if I can change that. Can my siblings be blamed for resenting me?

Are genin often involved in the selection of political figures in the Leaf? Perhaps that is more efficient. In the Sand, it seems that the council just sits and talks in circles. My team's sensei, Baki, has taken a leadership position there, but has not assumed the title of Kazekage. I assume it is because the council wants him free to keep an eye on me. They are not sure what I will do. I am not sure either. For now, I have tried to appease them with silence. I do not wander at night, and I have not hurt anybody since our return from the Leaf. I have kept to myself. I can't say if it is doing any good. Temari and Kankuro speak gently to me, but I see the fear in their eyes if I move unexpectedly.

You keep saying that you "kicked my ass." No one has ever done that before. Yet I seem to recall you being unable to move at the end as well. Did I "kick your ass" too?

It is interesting that you view our fight as an instrument of peace between us two. Perhaps if I let Kankuro hit me, he will stop jumping whenever I speak.

I like your new sign off, so I will use it.

Sincerely,

Gaara of the Desert

TBC, possibly

PART 2

[panharmonium]

Hiii, you're back! I figured you were taking some time off tumblr :)

(I can’t really figure out how to format on desktop or how to quote things from your reply (and somehow there is a word limit on the desktop version), but I can’t wait to get to the part you mentioned you were thinking about!)

And about the reunion arc, I loved reading your take!! When I first watched it I remember thinking how I thought her love for Sasuke was a bit unrealistic given the circumstances, but I hadn’t looked at it that way yet. After reading what you said and thinking back on her internal struggle before the reunion, I think that what happened does indeed fit with her character and with how the story and its themes were set up. Looking back, I also appreciate her not being able to go through with killing him, as opposed to her killing her feelings and going through with it, and become someone else so to speak..?

I think the reason I felt conflicted was because back then after her assassination attempt failed and he tries to kill her, I’d hoped that she would finally realise that he wasn’t the same person anymore, and for him to no longer hold her back. That she could grow into her own person instead of chasing after this guy that doesn’t want or deserve her (at least from what I’ve seen up till now. Especially after seeing what Sasuke does to Karin after all they’d been through. That especially made it hard to empathise with Sasuke afterwards. And I remember thinking after he tries to kill Sakura, how can she still believe in him? But I guess by then she’s put her hope in Naruto because she believes he still has a chance at changing Sasuke). It also raised the questions, when are people beyond saving? And to what ends would someone realistically go to save a person? Which I keep thinking about when it comes to these three.

But after reading what you said, I think Sakura actually did try to do just that. I suppose it’s hard to stop loving someone.. (It just.. hurts to see her like that, because she really deserves better). And she and Naruto choosing to not give up on Sasuke does indeed fit with what Kakashi taught them at the beginning of the series and the overal theme (and the theme of people loving us better than we deserve that you mentioned, which I think is beautiful).

Do you think Kakashi thinks that Sasuke is too far gone at this point, after this reunion? Since he is ready to take Sasuke down to save the kids the pain of having to do that.

(And sidenote, I know you’ve mostly stayed away from the fandom, but I think Sakura gets wayy too much hate from the fandom :/ I mean agree that Kishimoto didn’t develop his female characters well back in part 1 (also, if I remember correctly Kakashi said that Sakura had an affinity for genjutsu waaaay back when they were learning to climb trees? But it was it was never mentioned again T_T. We were robbed😂🥲), but like you’ve mentioned somewhere before, I loove what they did with her in Shippuden (especially that first arc!!) :) )

(Ok I found that if I type it out on my laptop and then send it to my phone I can quote things🤔 How do you format your posts?😊)

I speak multiple languages, and while I love having that background, it does mean that I experience a special kind of angst when I’m working with a language I don’t have a working knowledge of and can’t just look up the source word being used in a given situation and understand the specific connotation/association behind it.  I prefer to do close readings of texts when I’m analyzing media, but that’s not remotely accurate when working with multiple translations that don’t always agree (eg, the dub, the sub, the manga), so I’ve had to just try to relax and let that frustration go. X)

Yeah! I speak multiple languages too, and I love to be able to look at the original text and look for subtleties and connotations that I might have otherwise missed (which is also one of the reasons I want to learn Japanese). Are you doing a literature related degree by any chance? :) And could I ask which languages you speak?

Of course!  My Naruto obsession is not fading anytime soon; you are welcome to come back and chat about it anytime! :D

I have so many thoughts on this series, and I’m still just so excited that there is a place to discuss it ^^! Thanks! (And I can’t wait until I’m done with my exams for this semester😞 Wanted to write back before I start cramming again.)

Is there an option to reply to posts by the way?

Hello again! :)  Yes, you’re right, I was offline for a couple weeks - back now, though!

Do you think Kakashi thinks that Sasuke is too far gone at this point, after this reunion? Since he is ready to take Sasuke down to save the kids the pain of having to do that.

I don’t think Kakashi has given up on Sasuke.  I do think Kakashi is more realistic about the situation than the kids have ever been - he’s always known that there’s a possibility that things won’t turn out okay in the end, and there’s a scene at the end of 179 where he specifically says to himself, “Sasuke...I guess it’s going to be my job to stop you,” which isn’t to indicate that fighting Sasuke is something he wants to do, but that he’s aware that things may eventually escalate to a point where he needs to act to protect others.  He’s been preparing himself for that possibility for much longer than either Naruto or Sakura has - it’s only immediately prior to this confrontation that Sakura admits to herself that Sasuke has changed, and Naruto doesn’t start to fully understand and accept it until after the confrontation in S10 happens.  But Kakashi has lived through too much to ignore the reality of the situation - he knows that sometimes you can try your hardest and still lose, and he knows that it’s possible that they’ll try their hardest to help Sasuke and fail.  (I wrote a little bit more about my thoughts on this here, if it helps explain better what I’m thinking - no spoilers to worry about; it was back when I was still pretty early on in the show.)

I don’t think Kakashi believes Sasuke is a lost cause, though.  Not during 214, not ever.  Everything Kakashi does during 214 is defensive, and he’s still trying to reach out to Sasuke even after Sasuke uses the Susanoo to try and incinerate him.  Kakashi is just trapped in an impossible situation at the end of their confrontation - he steels himself to potentially take Sasuke down because the alternatives are A) letting Sasuke murder other people (Sakura, Karin), or B) letting one of the kids try to kill Sasuke themselves (which, if they succeeded, would sentence them to the kind of agony Kakashi himself has been living with for years).  Neither of those options are things he can allow in good conscience, so he prepares to sacrifice his own soul instead, and probably his life - because I really think if Kakashi had had to kill one of his own kids it would have been the end for him.

But you can tell in the aftermath that neither he nor Naruto nor Sakura have fully given up on Sasuke yet - the little conversation they have up on the bridge where they’re like “Sasuke is Sasuke” was, for me, such a hopeful moment, in the sense that they’re beaten down and they’re sad and they failed to retrieve their friend yet again, but they’re still acknowledging that whatever Sasuke is going through right now, somewhere inside he’s still the person they know.  He’s still the first person who figured out the Bell Test’s true meaning, the first one who passed the survival exam, the first one who was willing to die for both Naruto and Sakura on separate occasions - that person is still in there.  Sasuke is Sasuke, and his friends haven’t given up on him yet.

Some of my feelings on this are influenced by things that happen beyond the point where you’re at now, so I won’t say anything about that stuff, but in general, while I think Kakashi has always been able to see the reality of the situation in a way that the kids aren’t initially able to do, I don’t think that Kakashi ever writes Sasuke off as a lost cause.

And sidenote, I know you’ve mostly stayed away from the fandom, but I think Sakura gets wayy too much hate from the fandom

Aha, yeah...obviously people are entitled to dislike whatever characters they want for whatever reasons, but I mostly mind my own business on my own blog because I don’t want to deal with it. X)  I love her and that’s that.

Are you doing a literature related degree by any chance? :) And could I ask which languages you speak?

I’m actually not in school anymore, but I did a literature-related degree back when I was a student, yes!  I got my undergrad degree in English :)  And my other two languages are Spanish and Arabic.  (My listening/reading skills are better than my speaking skills nowadays, particularly with Arabic...I used to be in a field that required me to use it constantly, but it’s been a number of years since then, so I’ve lost a lot of my proficiency).

Is there an option to reply to posts by the way?

Oh - on tumblr there’s an option you can select that makes it so that only blogs who’ve been following you for several weeks can reply to your posts, and I have that setting turned on.  After I started watching Naruto I unfortunately had to turn it on to prevent strangers from interacting with my posts in ways that weren’t consistent with the kind of positive and enjoyable fandom experience I wanted to have.  So you won’t be able to use the “reply” function unless you’ve been following me for a few weeks (which I assume you’re not, because of spoilers, heh - I was the same way while I was watching; I didn’t follow @dreamersscape for a long time even though we talked a lot, because she had finished the show before me).  You’re welcome to keep sending messages for now, though, or tag me if there’s something you’d like me to see! :)

[uzuma-take]

I don’t wanna be seem as I’m being rude and disrespecting anyone with this post. This is my opinion on some characters that where never confirmed nor denied being LGBTQ however they have had strong moments within there respective series that hints to them being LGBTQ. Let’s start with...

Joey ... I’ve been really into friends as of recently . And a lot of scenes with Joey make me think he’s either Gay or Bisexual. There’s a couple of moments that make stop and go oi that’s interesting. Let’s go through them

The biggest moment is Emma’s birthday episode when they are discussing the cake and Joey says something along the lines of “oi man I why did I like more as a penis.

Then there’s the gif below

Both him and chandler are enjoying that a bit too much for them to not like each other at least a little. Then there’s a bathroom scene I can remember it exactly but joey is very interested in seeing Chandler and Ross with no pants by looking over there stools.

Unfortunately back then TV shows weren’t a load to air any lgbtq stuff it would have been awesome to see joey in a loving relationship that didn’t seemed forced .

The next character is from friends too

Pheobe had more moments the Joey did flirting with the girls of the group she even had a massive falling out with Monica and Rachel when she picked Rachel as the person she’d date. There’s moments where she openly (unlike Joey accidentally) mentions how sexy some of the women are and mention there breast ect. However in the end she got married to Mike I think it was.

Lister and Rimmer what can I say I’ve shipped this for a while now . There is literally a Kiss scene albeit was a dream Lister had after rimmer left in season 7 but there have been other moments as recently as 9 April 2020 in the promised never land they had an extremely touching moment with Lister even stating the He was the sun the that was shining on Rimmers moon. “You can’t have Moonlight with out sunlight” that’s what a couple would say to someone the loved as it basically translates to I can live without you.

Oi he may be a science experiment but if you watch the show then you know he pretty much ignores Sarada unless she’s in danger it’s about his Sun Boruto the light that is guiding him I personally ship him and Chocho as I don’t think Boruto is into Mitsuki like that but I can see where people are going with it.

These two are my hardcore ship there is so much evidence even within Boruto / The novels. Out of every episode in shippuden there is only one ep I don’t consider canon and it doesn’t feature Kakashi or Gai. So my thoughts Kakashi is Bisexual cause of his heavy crush on the warden from his novel and Hanere .

Gai is at least Gay. I think the reason they didn’t get together at first is because after each of there traumatic experiences (Kakashi with Rin and Obito’s death . Gai with the eight inner gates) they pushed each other away Kakashi felt like he was gonna kill Gai and Gai being depressed not wanting to show Kakashi him being weak. (I feel he pushed Lee away for the same reason see the ep where he trains Metal Its heavily implied he hadn’t seen metal in a long time and Lee is very short with Gai later in the episode)

I also like to think that the movies are mostly canon unless stated otherwise (every ep unless stated) as we have had surprise confirmation from the manga and novels before . There’s a couple of moments in the third shippuden movie where they think Kakashi is implied to be gay . Near the end of the movie He actually makes a face of ‘well what did you think Naruto’ this causing Naruto to flee. Kakashi denies liking Naruto but not about liking other men . It’s also Lee who first points it out using Gai as an example stating “Gai sensei told me this was the spring time of youth” . Tenten replying with “I knew it” implying again Gai had that talk with Lee.

There’s also the whole Steam Ninja Scrolls arc where Kakashi literally gives Gai his food . The conversation at the end basically solidified the ship when Kakashi admitted that he’d make a dumbass move to save Gais leg even if it killed him . And we know for a fact he wouldn’t do that for anyone else at all. OK ENOUGH RAMBLING ABOUT MY FAVE SHIP... I need to talk about the last couples.

This is jus a shit posting ship but I think it’s cute so Toshi and Aizawa. Personally I don’t see any thing canon but it’s my personal fave ship in BHNA .

LOOK AT THEM . They are so cute yes Bakugou gets easily upset (but he does it with anyone) I DO NOT SHIP IZUBAKU OR DYNAKU (Dynamite x Deku) until recently that was a really abusive relationship. Kirishima was the only one Bakugou grabbed the hand of and Deku knew that. There’s been subtle hints but I unfortunately have the feeling if Bakugou ends up with anyone it’ll be Tsui as there’s been a lot of drawings with them together let’s hope KiriBaku wins tho.

Last one

These two are cute but it’s already been pretty much confirmed Deku and Uraraka will end up together

😭😞

[saladsandbolts]

And in the translations from the official translation on Crunchyroll, it says “He was like a brother to me”. 🥲

It was like an arrow to the heart. But at the same time, Sarada doesn’t have siblings so I guess she has no comparison to what romantic love and sibling love is. And she is young, only 12. She isn’t particularly keen on romance, like ChoCho. I don’t think she knows any better.

But I’m not totally tone deaf. 😅When something like this is written in the show/manga, it must mean that there is an intended information that the writers want the audience to understand. Maybe the writers did want us to think/know that Sarada and Boruto have a sibling bond. However, there is also an intended REACTION they want the fandom to experience.

They know the reaction the fandom would have when they added that particular line. Especially when the biggest ship in the fandom is Borusara. They are intentionally rocking the boat. Mind you, when I watched Shippuden years back, I was so sure Naruto and Sakura were going to end up together (coming from an unbiased perspective). If you remember Kushina said something along the lines of “Find a girl like me”. No doubt, Sakura resembles Kushina’s mannerisms and attitude more than Hinata. The Naruhina fandom then was also shaken and I’m sure they felt the same as we BSA fans are feeling rn. “Oh, I guess Naruto’s gonna end up with Sakura then.” What I’m trying to say is, sometimes the writers add something that intentionally mislead fans. Perhaps this is one of those times?

I wouldn’t say this ship is totally doomed. Far from it. Sarada’s reaction to Boruto “dying” this episode was absolutely heart wrenching. Experiencing something like that can change the perspective of a character. Maybe we will see Sarada start to look at Boruto in a different way after this episode.

In the future, I hope Sarada will be given siblings. This is something I’m really looking forward to in general as the Uchiha clan still needs restoring. And perhaps that could be a way for Sarada to experience what sibling love is. And if what she feels for Boruto is the same as that. Perhaps this is a chance for her to see the difference between romantic love and sibling love.

I will say though, (AOT SPOILERS HERE), I was made fun of and told I was delusional when I thought Eren and Mikasa from AOT had romantic feeling for each other. My friends said something along the lines of “why would you ship siblings?” They aren’t though. Mikasa was unofficially Eren’s adoptive sister. But just because you grow up with each other in this case, doesn’t naturally cement your relationship as siblings. But look how that turned out. Turns out they were in love with each other even though they would call each other “family”.

Another thing, if the writers actually want to go with the Sumire route. Please involve her more, start their development now. Because Boruto and Sarada are SOOOO much more developed as of now. And they will only continue to be! I will always be a BSA fan, but at least if they build up BSU nicely, I won’t have as much to complain about. Right now, Sarada’s character is invested and involved with Boruto’s character. Their paths are intertwined and they have so much room to grow. Let’s wait for the timeskip. Only then we can see clearer on how this will all turn out.

Remember, this is Anime Canon. It is still canon. We are waiting for the manga to catch up, so we can finally animate Manga Canon which can be argued as the “main structure” of the Boruto plot as a whole. Remember from the recent manga chapter when Mitsuki asked Sarada if she likes Boruto or not? And she replied something along the lines of “Why does it matter if I like him or not?”. Manga is mostly always animated. So I believe this particular scene will be. And after Mitsuki hearing Sarada say that Boruto is like a “brother” to her, it wouldn’t make sense for him to ask if she likes him in the future episode. 😌

We know that Mitsuki is more observant than most. He is able to see what other people can’t. Perhaps Mitsuki is onto something. 😏

That’s my little rant folks! Let’s not panic. Lets just enjoy the ride. The whole of it! The ups and the downs! Because I believe the end results will be worth it. 🥰

Meanwhile, enjoy these cute screenshots from EP 254! ❤️ Sarada’s reaction to seeing Boruto alive. We will take this as a win Borusaras!

When she said “we're practically family” I was a bit disappointed.

Hope somehow she does hint feelings for Boruto as seen in the manga page.

[arabic-langblr]

Hi! I just wanna say that I really love your blog and it helps me a lot with learning arabic but I was wondering if you could recommend me some songs in modern standard arabic to listen to

Hello, anon! Thank you for your kind words! I’m happy to hear that my blog was helpful!

Absolutely, here are some songs in MSA, I hope you’ll like them.

If you want the lyrics, you can find the lyrics to most of the songs on this website [link], this is the tag in the website for MSA, and if you want me to help you with the translation of a specific song in MSA send it here.

I. Original songs 

Lena Chamamyan - lamma bada yatathanna (this is the best version of this song) [link]

Lena Chamamyan - Awal Mousafer [link]

Um Kulthoom - Al Atlal [link] 

Abdul Haleem Hafez - Qaari’atul Finjaan [link]

Abdul Haleem Hafez - Habebaty Man Takon [link]

Kathem Alsaher- Kitaab Al Hubb [link]

Kathem Alsaher - Eid Al Asshaaq [link]

Kathem Alsaher- Shabaabul Iraq [link]

Other songs by Kathem Alshaer : Madrasatul-Hubb, Qooli Uhibbuka, Inni Khayyartuki, Al Mahkama, Haafiyatul Qadamayn.

Hamza Namira & Humood Al Khudr - Tasnaa’ul mustaheel [link]

Hmood Al Khudr - Qiyam [link]

Hmood Al Khudr - Kun Anta [link]

Hmood Al Khudr - Ha Ana tha [link]

Maher Zain (Islamic songs) - Ya Nabi Salaam Alayka [link]

Other Islamic songs by Maher Zain : Raqqat Aynayya Shawqan , Ramadan, Radhitu Billahi, Sanahya kiraaman.

Mohammed Moneer -Madad Ya rasoolal Allah (islamic song) [link]

Reem Banna - Shasul Hawa [link]

Reem Banna - Qalbi Yuhaddithunee [link]

Reem Banna - Intathirnee -[link]

Shahed Brumda- La yushtaraa w laa yubaa’ [link]

Majida Elroomi - Uhibbuka Jiddan [link]

Majida Elroomi- Wa’adtuka [link]

Majida Elroomi - Yaqool Anni imra’atun [link]

George Wassoof- Maryam [link]

Wael Kfoori - Alhubbu Funoon [link]

Asala Nassri - Eghdab [link]

Latifa - Ela Toghat Al Alaam (note : this song is originally a poem by the Tunisian poet Abu Al Qaasem AlShaabi) [link]

Carole Samaha -El Tefl Al Arabi [link]  

Carole Samaha - Ha Shaabouki (Christian Charol) [link]

Abeer Ne’ma - Kayfa lee An ushfaa mn hubbika [link]

Abeer Ne’ma - Ya Maryam Al Bikr (Christian Charol) [link]

Abdulrahman&Mohab Omar- Bi Roohi fataat [link]

Al Farabi Band - yaa adelan [link]

Al Farabi Band - Sa ooteeki arrida [link]

Al Farabi band - Wa Kullun yughanni ala laylaah [link]

Fairooz - Zahratal Madaa’en [link]

Mawtini (the original song), note this song is originally a poem by the Palestinian poet Ibrahim Tooqan [link]

Marcel Khaleefah - Inni Ikhtartuka ya watani (this song was originally a poem by the Palestinian poet Ali Fooda) [link]

Marcel Khaleefa - Ahinni ela Khubzi ummi (this song was originally a poem by the Palestinian poet Mahmood Darwish) [link]

Jaadaka Al Ghayth - Fairuz [link]

Hussain Al Jasmi - Assiraatal Mustaqeem (islamic song) [link]

Hamza Nimra - Law yashkul Qalbu  [link]

II. Poems recited 

Malhamatul Nabiy -Omar Abu Reesha (Islamic poem) [link]

Abu Al Qaasem Al Shaabi’s poem : Sa A’eeshu raghma Addaa’i wa a’daa’i [link]

Iliya Abu Maadi’s poem : Kam Tashtaki wa taqoolu annaka mu’damun [link]

Khalil Jibran’s poem : Kan Lee Bi amsi Qalbun fa qadhaa [link]

Al Mutanabbi’s poem : tajri arriyaahu b ma laa tashtahee assufunu (no mucis) [link]

Al Furaaqu baa’dal Hubb poem by : Abdul rafee’ al jawhari [link]

Shajaratul Qamar poem by Nazek Al Malaa’ika [link]

Kun Balsaman poem by : Iliya Abu Maadi [link]

For more poem recitations check out AbdoulkarimNati- PoetAuthor’s Channel on YouTube.

II. Songs dubbed into Arabic 

Kalamesque is a Channel on YouTube that dubs songs into Arabic and they use Modern Standard Arabic check out their songs : Crazy in love/ Ahwaak, Ya Leil, Careless whisper/ Burkaan thanbin, At last/ Hayhat , Break my heart/ Oudi ilay.

Emi Hetari dubs anime songs into Arabic on YouTube and she does a great job, some of the songs she dubbed are : erased (ending song), tokyo ghoul (unravel), fairy tail (masayume chasing), black butler (ending)

Dark Wingz also dub anime songs into Arabic,they’re really good and worth listening to :  : your lie in April,  Hunterxhunter 2011, Pandora Hearts, Bleach, Kimi ni todoke , Naruto Shippuden.

Recently, disney started dubbing in Modern Standard Arabic and redoing the old songs but the songs that I was able to find are the old ones dubbed into the Egyptian dialect, I was only able to find let it go from Frozen [link] and call me beep me (kim possible) [link].

Anime in Arabic are dubbed in Modern Standard Arabic, so naturally, the opening songs will also be in MSA as well and here are some of my favorite openings (links are added to every song): treasure island (takarajima),   grendaizer, Far longer than forever (swan princess), the unoffical one piece opening song, hunterxhunter 1999, Thunder jet (Hazeem Al Raa’d), Dragon ball Z, Tiger mask, pokemon, the jungle book, Ie naki ko (Remi) , Romeo’s blue skies (aka the purest and sweetest song ever),  the sound of music, Robin Hood,  Detective Conan, Batman , The Mask, Slam Dunk, Captain Tsubasa (part 5) , Captain Tsubasa part 3, Monster Rancher,  the secret of the cerulean sand, the secret garden, Journey to the Past (Anastasia) ,Once upon a december (Anastasia) , Digimon (1-4openings) , Digimon 3 ending, Digimon 4 ending,  Shin Hakkenden, Lets and go . (the names are avaialble but they’re mostly in Arabic, so if there’s a specific anime that you want me to find the arabic opening song for you let me know).

I hope this was helpful, anon! I tried to include a variety of songs and I hope you’ll be able to find something that you like in here. 

[kitto-toberu-sa]

Naruto Spectacular

Seating/Glasses

Second back row, almost right at the wall. Awful seating, but I could still see things clearly. Some people had binoculars ;; This year I decided not to go with the translator glasses – I’m sure they have a proper name, but they’re these cool glasses you wear when watching the performance and as the characters speak, subtitles come up. I believe they’re available in English and Chinese. Something like Naruto is easy for me to understand without subtitles, and last year I felt like only the main points were being subbed, instead of everything (maybe a fear people couldn’t read fast enough?) so I’d probably only recommend them if your Japanese is lacking. I’m not sure if they’d work properly sitting so far away either – maybe they’d overlap on the actors too much? I think they’re better if you use them up close tbh.

The Show I apologise for skipping between musical, spectacular, play, spectacle and show ;;; We start off with Konohamaru fighting bad guys. Personally I don’t care for him, and it was really an excuse to put an actor in the audience and for Naruto to look cool when he saved Konohamaru. Unnecessary scene, and from my spot, hard to see.

Essentially everything up to the ‘find Sasuke’ arc is ignored. So if you’re hoping for Sakura screen time, you’d best go back to the source material. In saying that, Sakura’s fight with Sasori is mentioned a few times, and she explains Sasori’s mannerisms to Yamato when they do the whole ‘Kabuto is Sasori’s spy’ scene. I can understand why they skipped it, as while it was hella cool to watch her kick ass, it’d be difficult to do in a stage play and you’d need to get the Suna Three back for such small scenes etc etc. Maybe if they do this play again next year, they can add that in. Tsunade gets a song as she kinda explains the mission, but honestly, you could give her lines to literally any other character. She’s not that influential. I think she looks like Tsunade, but her speaking voice feels too harsh to me.

Sai is golden. He looks fine, he looks like Sai, sounds like Sai. Like, y’all, I realise that’s what acting is, but not everyone can do it well. After the show, and in the break, numerous people went and bought Sai goods. (Also Itachi goods) He was a perfect Sai. When they’re finding Sasuke in Orochimaru’s lair, Naruto and Sai have a song and it’s pretty touching… until Sai tries to sing about Naruto’s dick. Naruto has the most perfect ‘dude, for real?’ look and I can’t wait to see it on dvd.

Speaking of new team 7 – Yamato’s scary face is done so so well! They end up putting it on a large screen behind him. It looks mostly like someone with a torch on their face, so it’s a little cheesy, but it works really well in the scenes it’s done in (two or three times?). Sakura also did her ‘meeting Sai’ scene, when she hits both Naruto and Sai, incredibly well. Not only is she insanely cute, she’s the perfect Sakura. Enough cool and enough cute. If they continue to do musicals until the completion of the show, I’m a little worried how Sasuke-obsessed they’ll make her, but so far it’s been toned down, which I appreciate.

Unfortunately Sai doesn’t try to capture Sasuke in his sleep. I can understand why (unnecessary stage props and all), but Sasuke being such a moody bitch when he wakes up that he blows up the base will forever be one of my favourite things. The whole meeting Naruto and co scene is kind of a let down too. It was nice, but considering how that’s how Shippuden opened and the build up to get there, the play didn’t have the same feel. This play was rushed a little, and this scene suffered for it.

Sasuke killing Orochimaru was great tho. Orochimaru’s voice will always be amazing, speaking or singing, so I’ll probably never say an Orochimaru scene is bad lol It was sufficiently creepy (though again, a little too fast) and gave Sasuke and Orochimaru equal voices.

Another scene that suffered was collecting Taka. This one I mostly grumble at due to my Taka-bias tho. Obviously they can’t spend episodes gathering the three of them, and to be fair, they did get a song. Karin was a little overly sexual, but considering they only showed her being ott twice? I won’t complain (especially in that outfit – she can honestly do what she wants and I’ll agree ;;;) Sometimes it was actually kind of cute. Another scene cut was finding Zabuza’s sword. Considering the time it took in the anime, and all the scene changes, it makes sense, but I enjoyed seeing Sasuke actually test his team – here, we have him just believing they’ll be suitable instead of confirming it. Juugo’s whole ‘male female’ scene was good too, and Karin egging Juugo on in his fight against Suigetsu was a good touch too.

In between scenes we often have Akatsuki stuff – Itachi generally barges in on Sasuke’s songs to tell him he’s weak af, and wherever Itachi goes, Kisame goes too. Naruto and Taka sometimes join as well, same for Deidara.

I really liked Deidara. Unfortunately his character was greatly reduced, but considering he isn’t insanely plot relevant, I guess it doesn’t make much of a difference… (Un?)fortunately, when he creates the giant Deidara, it’s a blow up. I was trying really hard not to cackle. It’s ridiculous. I lowkey hate it, lowkey love it’s cheesiness. Also, from where I was sitting, the tongue that is in his chest looks a little like something else. It just kinda… sprung free and I couldn’t take it seriously at all =.= I guess this scene was gold for all the wrong reasons lol

The search team is sent out for Sasuke and them running looks so stupid. I understand how hard it is to run around, since the space is so limited, but maybe instead of such a long running scene, have some of it just be talking? Maybe it looked good from the centre of the audience, but from my spot, it looked really lame. Kurenai’s team makes an appearance, but get a line or two each. Karin still gets Juugo to help her scatter Sasuke’s stuff, but I don’t believe it’s explicitly said what her plan is, so unless you’ve seen the show/read the manga (safe to say most audience members would – but sometimes people come to these things just because (shout out to the 80 year old couple at the Digimon play), or are accompanying a friend), you wouldn’t know what her plan was.

Next is the Itachi vs Sasuke scene and it was so good. Like, idk how to explain it. They had doubles for clones, it was spot on with lines and emotions. The audience got really involved in it, and it sucks that you know what’s coming because it hurts that much more… I’d say this is probably the highlight of the play. Obviously they’re two popular characters and their actions, since even before their introductions, have been the driving force of some plot incidents (Itachi killing the clan motivates Sasuke to be strong, goes to Orochimaru) and other character’s motivation (Sasuke’s abscence motivates Team 7), not to mention how emotional this scene is, so I think a lot of time and effort was placed into this scene. It worked really well and I wish I could explain it better ;;;

Taka becomes Hebi, and Tobi is done really well. Tobi interacts with Pein and Konan as well, but mostly with the Uchiha brothers. I’m biased toward Tobi as he ran up to us in the finale and I could high five him, but shush. Those gloves are real nice but in this heat I can’t imagine they’d be super comfortable… The ending song is the same (and I really hope we get a cast version soon – honestly last year’s Gaara/Oro duet part was ICONIC). Naruto also had some hella cool rad sticks and when he spun them, it made a Naruto face and stuff. Rad af.

In the comments, Sasuke just kept cackling, while Yamato and Sai were minor low key throwing shade at Deidara and Tobi who were actually speaking. They were dorks so there was plenty of time to laugh at them lol This team works together so well and you can see they’re good friends – sometimes you don’t feel that but in a series that is based on, partly at least, the power of friendship and love, that’s super important.

Honestly, while this year lacked the jumping around action of last year’s, I think it kinda showed how they characters matured? As soon as it ended I wanted to see it again! While I wanted to see last years again too, I was more serious about seeing this years again, but this late in the season makes it way too difficult  Guess I just have to wait for next year!

How does it compare to last year? I saw last year’s performance as well. Personally, I liked this year’s better. I am hugely Taka-biased tho. Even though my seats weren’t as good this year (were as bad as you could get tbh – last year I was in the second block, if I had been one row closer I could have high touched the actors), I feel more touched by this year’s performance – partly because it was more emotional to a lot of characters I guess? More interesting scenes too – the Lee/Naruto wake up scene last year was cute (and everything with InoShikaCho was amazing, and this musical didn’t have anything on that type of team bond/audience interaction feel, which was kinda sad), but this year had things like Orochimaru dying, so I guess it had less time for ‘filler’. Also, while I don’t hate Naruto, he’s not even in the top five of my fave Naruto characters ;; If anything, I felt like he was unnecessarily added in some scenes in this performance.

Also, while I didn’t talk to the fans (lots of people come by themselves, don’t want to talk to others and that’s ok! And I’m sure some of them are confused by the foreigner and worry about their English/my level of Japanese so don’t strike up a conversation and I’m too shy to do start one), when I was trying to organise the stupid amount of merch I bought, one girl offered to hold my coffee and someone else helped me when I dropped something. Also, the girls really brought their a-game this year and were splendidly dressed. I… wore a Naruto shirt and was underdressed in comparison ;;;

I felt like the girls around me were more emotional as well. Maybe some of the crowd last year had already seen the previous year’s performance and therefore knew what was coming, but more people were crying this year. This year felt a lot more fast paced, so everything happened faster and there were more intense moments, and I guess it was more than likely mostly Uchiha fans in the audience, which probably had something to do with it, but still, I think this audience was more involved than last year’s was.

There were some people waiting for the actors to leave (so they could wave them off in their taxis) but security practically pushed me out. Considering they weren’t doing the same to anyone else, I do feel it was race motivated – maybe they thought I wouldn’t fight back due to lacking Japanese, or something? Either way it was hella rude as I was getting my phone, train pass etc out of my bag and everyone was pretty far from where the taxis were going to be driving anyway. If someone spends 7000 yen on a ticket and then more than that on goods and preorders the bluray, while I don’t necessarily want respect, I think the least I deserve, the least type of customer service I should receive, is not being shoved.

I’d recommend the stage performances regardless. Seeing them live is so much more fun than watching them on a dvd! Obviously it isn’t realistic for everyone to do that, but try to at least support the official release in some way.

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Continues with Episodes 8-14!

Welcome to the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! I'm Kara Dennison, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto. Last week, we covered episodes 1-7, and we continue this week with episodes 8-14.

  This week, Team 7 pushes through on a bodyguard mission that is way above their pay grade. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei deal with a town living in fear, a ninja who's as pretty as he is deadly, and another who just refuses to die. And the new Genin continue their training with their toughest challenge to date: Chakra-assisted tree-climbing!

  Before we discuss these episodes, let's check out some questions and comments you had from our last installment!

    Several people asked if we would be doing a Dattebayo/Believe It count.

  Kevin: As the person actually doing the counts, I am totally willing to add another to the list. Admittedly, this one would be a bit more difficult, since I would need to actually pay attention to find all of the instances, instead of just noticing when there are multiple Narutos or a bowl of ramen on screen, made more difficult by the subs seeming to be inconsistent with how the phrase is translated. Someone who actually speaks Japanese might be a better choice since they’ll catch it more easily. Regardless of who though, if we’re adding it, the earlier the better so that the counter can go back and get the count for all previous weeks.

  We were also asked about doing reaction videos rather than write-ups. We'd love to do this! Unfortunately, the spread of our Features team across several time zones combined with how long it would take to assemble and edit videos like this means that we couldn't move at the speed we currently are! We hope you enjoy the write-ups as we go!

  Remember, you can leave us questions in the comments for the next set of episodes, and we'll answer them together in the next update!

  Now, let's see what the Crunchyroll Features team thought of this week's episodes!

    We’re into our second week of viewing. Has anything happened to change your early-stage feelings about the series last week? On the flip-side, has anything happened to cement early feelings?

Joseph: Despite the fact that this leg of the series introduces the whole “spend the first 10 minutes recapping what happened during the last 10 minutes of the previous episode,” Naruto is surprisingly fast-paced. In many ways it reshapes my previous feelings about this being a total shonen crawl, because Naruto and the team do manage to learn quite a bit in under a dozen eps.

  Paul: It's still too early for me to offer any specific criticisms about the show or its qualities. Naruto is still a shouty shonen protagonist, Sasuke is still the broody support character with the tragic backstory, and Sakura is, well, still the generic love interest. I hope she doesn't get left behind in terms of development and cool character moments. On the flip side, Naruto and Sasuke teaming up against Zabuza does cement my opinion that the fight scenes are pretty cool.

  Peter: I forgot how fantastic the early dynamic amongst Team 7 was, especially how Sakura was every bit the little piece of shit Naruto and Sasuke were. I’m actually afraid of new plot developments now since I can’t recall exactly how long this equilibrium lasted before… Well… Maybe that’s why One Piece and Black Clover make me feel so nostalgic, both have similar character chemistry but have stretched it out for their entire runs.

  Danni: This batch of episodes established some of the characterization that felt absent from the initial episodes. I like that we’re already seeing a friendly rivalry develop between Sasuke and Naruto rather than an antagonistic one. I’m looking forward to seeing that relationship grow.

  Carolyn: There were still many moments when I felt quite bored. I can’t say why exactly, but the show doesn’t fully capture my attention. That being said, I was glad to see a lot less Sexy Jutsu and for the most part less pining over Sasuke. It’s starting to become more of what I seemed to remember. I’m very impressed with how driven Naruto is and how much he dedicates himself to his goals. He’s a much better-written character than I realized the first time I watched the series.

  Jared: There was less of a pull on emotional storytelling in these episodes, although Inari’s backstory was a wild roller coaster. That continued the trend of this series really knowing when to make story bits impactful. I also liked Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry becoming more friendly than the two of them being jerks to each other.

  Noelle: These episodes are mostly refreshers for me, but it was nice to see Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry really start to form, instead of the short initial bursts we got in the first few episodes. Now it really feels like there’s more of a competition. On the flip side, well, it is still a shonen show, and all that comes with that.

  Nicole: Team 7 is really starting to come together. Naruto and Sasuke each have their desire to improve and be the best they can possibly be, but they won’t dare lose to one another! I wish Sakura did more though; yes, her control of chakra is exceptional, but I’d like to see her kick some ass too, please. Meanwhile, Kakashi remains my favorite character and I wonder if that’ll change as we watch the entire series.

  David: I’m glad that there is some thematic meat to this arc. Naruto’s story is still relatively basic for the genre, but the dynamics of the bridge builder Tazuna trying to help his community while fighting against the much more privileged shipping magnate Gato are genuinely interesting. Zabuza and Haku are the main combatants but they are sympathetic, essentially also being tragically used by the real villain Gato. I wish Naruto and company were more closely tied to the conflict, but as it stands I’m impressed.

    So we finished out the fight with Zabuza… and now we’re in the middle of the fight with Zabuza and Haku! What’s your take on the action in this batch of episodes?

Joseph: The first round of the Zabuza fight ends with what is probably the most exciting moment of the series so far: Naruto and Sasuke’s double-team trick attack that involves Naruto disguising himself as a massive shuriken to mount a sneak attack from behind. The physics implications alone send the mind reeling. I love this and some of the other key action beats, but I just have one beef: this early on, the move is too brilliant for Naruto. I just can’t even fathom that he came up with it knowing what we know about him at this point. It still kicks ass, though!

  Paul: What pleases me about the action sequences is not just the presentation of far-out effects from the Jutsus, but also the little bits of business such as Naruto and Sasuke sharing a smirk when their Shadow Shuriken plan comes together. That reversal of expectations – from success to failure back to success again – is a dramatic structure that Naruto does well.

  Kevin: In general, I quite liked the action. The end of Team 7 versus Zabuza showed off teamwork and ingenuity, Naruto versus Gato’s goons evolved the “Shadow Clones transformed into Shuriken” concept, and Sasuke versus Haku showed off 1-handed signs and Kekkei Genkai. The last one doesn’t necessarily have the most exciting action, but it develops the ninjutsu system nicely.

  Peter: I’m once again awestruck how easy Kishimoto made this adaptation. They pull so many dynamic layouts straight from the pages of the manga. Sasuke’s windmill shuriken reveal was every bit as peak goth as I remember. With a lot of Shippuden and Boruto’s action more clear in my mind, it’s really awesome how many details have carried throughout the series. Also I totally forgot how bad Haku seems to eat it every time he actually gets hit. Two blows to the face and each time you get this lovingly animated neck snap and flop over.

  Carolyn: I actually noticed a lot of thought processes going on that I found very interesting. Were those there last week and I just missed them? I enjoyed hearing Sasuke put pieces together to figure out what the course of action might be in the face of danger. Or Kakashi figuring out the fakeout death. I like that we get to see a little bit of the brains behind the brawn.

  Danni: It felt a bit more slow-paced this time, like every move required a set of reactions followed by a complete explanation of what just happened. That aside, I appreciate all the trickery that’s been going into the current battles. It engages me to a point where I’m watching every battle trying to predict the moves right along with them.

  Jared: These fights definitely ramped up the danger aspect compared to the first set of episodes. The teamwork shown from Naruto and Sasuke in the first Zabuza fight was great. I thought it was interesting that even though we’re still relatively early on, Haku’s jutsu was stuff that had never been seen before by even people like Kakashi, which I’d have figured would come later. Naruto and Sasuke both did get their moments of looking cool, so maybe Sakura will get hers soon? Hopefully?

  Noelle: Really, the shuriken bit from the first fight was pretty great. Yes, it was cool but what I most enjoyed about it was that it shows that Naruto’s still learning. He may be stubborn, but he’s pretty adaptable too! That makes the small victories that come with it feel a lot more earned. As for the second fight, it is dragging a bit.

  Nicole: That shuriken moment was totally brilliant, and the smirk both Sasuke and Naruto share as it catches Zabuza off-guard is gold! They worked seamlessly as a team, and this seems to be just the beginning of this beautiful teamwork. Getting to see their different styles is refreshing; Sasuke seems to do things in order, whereas Naruto is more of a experimental type of ninja. Sakura… well, we’ve yet to really see her in action, so can’t really say much about her. But getting to see how they work, how they think and how they’re learning as they go is pretty neat!

  David: Unlike the first batch of episodes, where the action seemed like it had potential but was held back by stilted animation for the most part, the fights here are all fluid and impressive. The Naruto-shuriken gambit is incredibly cool, but even the more basic hand-to-hand combat between Sasuke and Haku is just a joy to watch. They have magic powers, but the fights still manage to avoid the ‘floaty’ feeling shows with magic-infused combat sometimes fall into - hits always feel like they have a real weight to them.

    We also get a second viewpoint on the situation in the Land of Waves via Inari and his family’s history. How do we feel about that storyline?

Joseph: Episode 10 introduces one of my favorite low-key shonen tropes: the “jaded child who no longer believes in heroes”! I like the way this one plays out. Tazuna seems kind of shady when the squad first runs into him, but the story he presents about Inari and his family is really heartfelt, and cements this bridge as something worth fighting for.

  Paul: I know I'm not supposed to want to drop-kick the small child who has been repeatedly traumatized by bullying, poverty, and the murder of his adoptive father, but if they wanted Inari to be sympathetic, they shouldn't have given him that awful hat. It looks like at any moment he's going to try to sell me crypto-currency or hector me about how the workplace wage-gap is a myth.

  Kevin: The backstory was well constructed and made the characters’ motivations understandable, I just wish that I cared about Inari nearly as much as I do his dead foster dad. Did we really need a second kid for Naruto to impart wisdom on because the kid’s going down the same path as him? Wasn’t Konohamaru enough?

  Peter: I’m sure everyone on the team who watched MHA before Naruto is starting to make some connections with Inari. Mostly I am, and always have been, fascinated with the world that Kishimoto has created. I heard he grew up in a military town, but I’m curious about what personal experiences led to him developing this world with such a laser focus on how the prejudiced and violence of adults pass down to their children.

  Carolyn: This universe is not gentle to orphaned children, that’s for sure. It’s kind of sad how often they are treated badly for literally being traumatized. Also, screw that kid for throwing the puppy in the water.

  Danni: Listen, I’m on board for any storyline where a monopolistic corporate a-hole is the bad guy.

  Jared: I sure wasn’t expecting Inari’s backstory to feature attempted dog murder and then death by crucifixion and stabbing. Or the fact that this was going to be about class warfare. If anything though, maybe Inari will help bring the bucket hat back into style.

  Noelle: Inari comes as the second of ‘kids that Naruto relates to’, and it’s slightly different than Konohamaru. I admit I don’t really care deeply for Inari, even though I certainly feel bad for him because his dad’s murder is a lot more brutal than I remember. It’s also a lot more ‘greedy businessmen are bad’ than I remember, I was definitely more focused on ninja action than the ‘existing power structures will backstab you’ part as a kid.

  Nicole: So when are they gonna punch Gato? When is Gato gonna get his? I didn’t remember the Land of Waves being in such a dire situation. And I certainly didn’t remember Inari’s dad getting publicly executed! Yeah, Gato needs to go, ASAP.

  David: The hero of the people being literally crucified by the unrelenting capitalist overlord was a little on the nose, but considering the entire theming of the arc already surprised me with its thoughtfulness, I’m not really complaining.

    We’re also seeing lots of new moves! What’s been your favorite new Jutsu?

Joseph: My favorite Jutsu would have to be the way Naruto and Sasuke used the transformation move, which is something I’m sure was on a lot of minds during this batch. Beyond Jutsu, though, I gotta give a shout-out to some of the new concepts Kishimoto cooked up. I love the idea of tracker ninja and the notion of having to recover or destroy bodies before their ninja secrets can be revealed.

  Paul: I don't know if it counts as a Jutsu specifically, but Kakashi using his Sharingan to copy (and surpass) his enemies' techniques was pretty dope, if only for the imagery of dueling water dragons.

  Kevin: While it’s not technically a jutsu on its own I completely forgot about the “Shadow Clones turn into shuriken” combos, and I love seeing them. It’s a level of strategy that Naruto doesn’t normally employ, and I hope that there’s more stuff like it in the future.

  Nate: I'm always partial to Naruto's training, in this case something super basic (for a ninja) like running vertically up a tree--the series always does a great job breaking down a technique so the characters can fully understand it, which then means that we understand it. Later, when the characters use the technique, they don't need to explain anything and can just let the action do the talking.

  Peter: Naruto loves breaking its own rules. No sooner did they bother talking about hand seals than a character is introduced who can do it with 50% less hand. That said, some of the shit Sasuke pulls later on with seals is some of the most awesome fight choreography in anime. Also Kakashi’s use of sharingan is really bizarre at this point. I’m really curious what Kishimoto’s original plans for the doujutsu were before developing it (or not) later on.

  Danni: Does the sharingan count as a jutsu? I hope so, because that’s my favorite. It’s the shinobi equivalent of the kid at recess going “I just learned all your moves and can deflect all of them now.” It’s way too OP. I love it.

  Carolyn: So. Many. Clones. I don’t think it counts as jutsu but I am a definite fan of the pretend death needles.

  Jared: Haku’s hidden jutsu of ice mirrors is rad from the sense of a technique that could seem as if there’s no means of beating it, but also you could have a nice side business by having a portable house of mirrors.

  Noelle: It’s not really a jutsu, but I still love the sharingan. I also completely forgot about the shuriken transformation so that was great to see it again!

  Nicole: That would have to be that one scene of Zabuza doing the Water Style Water Dragon Jutsu and Kakashi copying all of it like it was nothing. It was so cool to see all the hand signs in motion like that for the first time!

  David: Haku’s ice mirrors genuinely frightened me as a child - I was completely convinced Sasuke was just going to die there back then. It’s still very cool now. Getting a hint of the more high-powered fights watching Zabuza and Kakashi go at it is also neat but I’m more impressed by the smaller powers I think.

    And of course, to close things out, what’s everyone’s personal high and low points of episodes 8-14?

Joseph: I think I’ve made my high point clear enough: LIVING. SHURIKEN! As for the lows, Sakura is still getting the short shrift. Naruto and Sasuke are constantly growing, yet she remains far from the spotlight. There’s one moment where she approaches Tazuna and says she’s in charge of guarding him while Naruto and Sasuke continue to practice climbing trees. I don’t really see how she can help; shouldn’t she be back there training, as well? At this point she seems like an afterthought that’s used more as a wedge to place between two characters who don’t really require any additional tension.

  Paul: Low point–Inari's mom being menaced by a pair of leering, sword-licking samurai goons. High point–Naruto delivering a righteous head-kicking to said goons. Sometimes the baddies just need to get roundhouse kicked into next Tuesday.

  Kevin: High Point- Naruto asking Sakura for tree climbing help. First, I’m a sucker for shonen training, so seeing the main characters get a week to practice a new skill is great on its own, especially since we see the start of Naruto and Sasuke being actual rivals. Even better though, the show builds on the previous idea of teamwork being more important than anything else by having Naruto realize that he can improve more quickly by asking a teammate for help instead of (in this case almost literally) running into a wall. Low Point- Sasuke in the Ice Mirrors. I know that he’s being pinned in and this is the first time that one of the kids is seriously in danger, but it’s also a problem that can be solved by covering your head and running in literally any direction to get out. Worst case scenario, you have a needle somewhere vital that it stopping you from bleeding out due to the needle being in the way.

  Peter: Once again my highs and lows are mixed. I’m really loving the interactions between Team 7 but you can already feel a growing disparity between the characters that indicate it won't last. The relationship between Sakura and Naruto specifically is super rewarding. You discover they have a lot in common and she softens on him once she realizes he isn’t 100% a troublemaker. Him showing humility and asking for help is also A+ shonen stuff. Loved the “I’m not telling.”

  Carolyn: I have been paying extra attention to the art style this week. I love the watercolor look of the backdrop and the occasional Ben-Day Dot style flashbacks. I also have been very much liking Naruto’s continued growth, being happy for Sakura’s success but still admitting his jealousy (emotionally mature in my book!) and coming to her for help. I continue to be surprised by how much depth he has when he isn’t being a punk. The low point, sadly, was still my girl Sakura. I swear I remembered her as being a stronger character but she just isn’t there, yet. She got much closer this week … when she had things to do. But then immediately followed that up by needing Sasuke’s approval before taking pride in her accomplishments.

  Danni: The lowest moments in these episodes are easily the all-too frequent flashbacks. I know, they’re an easy way of filling extra time, but as a viewer I feel insulted! Please, trust your audience to have a memory span longer than that of a goldfish! That aside, I can’t tell you how psyched I got at the shadow shuriken throw Naruto and Sasuke pulled off. I live for tech like that.

  Jared: This set of episode had to have at least 10-15% of them made up of flashbacks which felt like such a drag. Episode 14 is especially egregious with this since 10 minutes of it are just that for whatever reason. It didn’t help as well that the recap seemed to really nail what the series thinks of Sakura currently with that she just has the hots for Sasuke. Can Inari’s hat reminding me that I own a New Radicals CD be in between high and low moments? That said, the fights were a lot of fun, Haku proving that characters named that are cool and dangerous, and Naruto and Sasuke’s team up were all good moments.

  Noelle: The fights were fun! Even though Team 7 is made up of kids and one (relatively young) adult, it’s good to see that the kids aren’t entirely outclassed. Normally you’d expect the adult enemies to steamroll them, but the team is holding their own, and adapting to new situations. It’s good, not just something stagnant. As for the low points, boy there were a lot of flashbacks! It’s standard, I know, but it felt a lot like padding, if that makes sense. Trust your viewer to remember something that happened recently! Also Sakura’s treatment, but that is well, unfortunately a genre staple…

  Nicole: Low Point: Sakura not really doing anything. She is praised by Kakashi, but why hasn’t she really shown off what she can do? High Point: The overall growth of Team 7 as they trained and battled! Naruto asking Sakura for tips and then not sharing what she said with Sasuke was hilarious, but even in those moments of rivalry, they care for one another as a team.

  David: High point: Again, the Naruto-shuriken strategy is incredibly satisfying to watch unfold. It is the first time it really feels like the show has not only a solid understanding of its own mechanics but also the cleverness to utilize it for cool and exciting moments. Low point: kind of cheating, but the half-episode of recap in episode 14 isn’t just boring, it is also horrendously placed. Right before that, Sasuke is trapped by Haku, everyone is in peril, and Naruto appears to save the day at the very end of the episode! There can’t be a worse way to follow that up than by riding that excitement and suspense directly into a recap of the entire show so far.

  COUNTERS:

Ramen consumed so far: 2 bowls, 1 cup

"I'm gonna be Hokage!" count: 11

Number of Shadow Clones summoned: 52

And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched the original Naruto!

Here's our upcoming schedule!

-Next week, on FEBRUARY 1st, we discuss EPISODES 15-21, with KEVIN MATYI hosting! Not only do we start the Chunin Exam arc, but we get our first FILLER EPISODE! THIS IS THE ONLY INSTALLMENT WE'RE ACCEPTING QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR THIS WEEK!

-Then, on FEBRUARY 8th, we'll discuss EPISODES 22-28, with JARED CLEMONS as host! The Chunin Exam kicks into high gear!

-On FEBRUARY 15th, we'll discuss EPISODES 29-35, hosted by DANIEL DOCKERY as things heat up in the Forest of Death!

  Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

Have any comments or questions about episodes 8-14? What about our upcoming installment, featuring episodes 15-21?

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Kara Dennison is a writer, editor, and interviewer with bylines at VRV, We Are Cult, and many more. She is also the co-founder of Altrix Books and co-creator of the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. Kara blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com