Naruto Shippuden Review

Posted on July 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for one of the most well known anime of all time. This adapts most of the Naruto manga series after all which may be the second most iconic title of all time right after Dragon Ball Z. So the stakes were high and I’ve been watching this show for well over 10 years. Well, it definitely brings back a lot of good memories and it’s adapting a ton of amazing content. Unfortunately I would say that it has the absolute worst pacing and directing I’ve ever seen for a show. At times I would say it’s the kind of show you want to watch on AMV mode because of all the cutaways and stuff that are thrown in but I’ll get into that more later on. Basically though, it is a pretty good show either way.

The show starts by re-introducing us to Naruto who has returned to the Hidden Leaf village after nearly 3 years. He is now ready to help the village out and maybe they can even bring Sasuke back. The village refuses to acknowledge his hard work and they keep him in Genin status but he will prove them wrong. Together with Sakura and Kakashi he goes on his first mission which is to save his old friend Gaara. Gaara has been abducted by the Akatsuki and they aim to extract his tailed beast which will result in the guy’s death. They ultimately want all of the beasts which means that Naruto is in trouble as well but he is still ready to answer the call. Nobody’s going to get in his way!

Of course with 500 episodes you can bet that the plot is going to change a whole lot and this series does cover a very wide variety of arcs. A lot of them are even exclusive to the anime and were not featured in the manga so you should get excited for those….mayyyybe. They can be rather hit or miss but I’ll talk more about the arcs later on. At its core this is a series with a lot of combat action and adventure throughout. You learn valuable lessons about friendship and everything. It’s a series with quite a lot of good values spread throughout the title.

Of course in that time it will also make some slip ups. The series does have its occasional fanservice but it has always been better with this than other titles. It never gets too excessive so for the most part the series stays classy. With such a large amount of episodes, not all of them are perfect but the majority are good. There is of course some animal violence and other pitfalls here but if I was going to recommend an anime to someone, Naruto would be on the higher end since it feels relatively new user friendly despite the length.

Now despite all of this, why do I take shots at the pacing? Well lets look at a few random fights. Take Naruto and friends against Kaguya. The fight starts up and looks good…then we’re interrupted for several episodes for her really drawn out flashback. Okay, we’re back to the present for a few more punches. Then..back to Obito’s backstory. The fight gets interrupted so much. Then after the initial round with Madara we enter a filler season that lasts over 20 episodes and feels like it goes on forever. You’re just waiting for the show to return each time. It would help if the fillers were better but most of them weren’t all that great.

This happens consistently over and over. When the series doesn’t switch to a different plot point, it will usually instead have a scene get super dragged out. This especially happened in some of the earlier arcs like when Sai showed up. We have him and Naruto clashing kunai for such a long period of time that it makes Naruto look extremely wimpy. Instead of dominating the fight or even winning, it ends up being evenly matched which makes no sense. There are lots of zoom ins and reactions as the characters prepare to fight, etc.

Usually One Piece is the title people talk about in terms of something being drawn out but honestly I never had the same level of issues with that title. I would say it comes down to directing. Even when it’s drawn out, you don’t feel it quite as much as in Naruto. In Naruto it’s like everything just stalls and the added scenes don’t try to disguise themselves. So you’re just waiting for something to happen. A ton of episodes would get absolutely brutal with this. It’s why I say the series is lucky that it’s adapting a 9 star title because that hard carries the whole series. Without that, with the way everything is so delayed and such it would have a really hard time staying afloat.

Ultimately what helps to counter this is that the series does have a ton of nostalgia. I could turn it on to a random episode right now and I would have a good time. It does bring back memories and I do feel like they tried. The results may not have always been stellar but it’s not like the show was just phoning it in. The budget behind the show seemed reasonable. For example the animation is solid. There are some episodes that look absolutely top tier and to this day there are some fights that people say should be in the conversation for greatest of all time. Even for the fights that weren’t given the top of the line budget, I would say they looked good. This is a title that had strong fundamentals all the way through.

Then you have the soundtrack which really is excellent. There are a ton of great tracks all throughout the series and some new tunes that don’t even show up until the final saga. The fact that the show was still adding new tunes left and right like this was definitely impressive. I enjoy more tracks in the show than I can even count so you can bet that these definitely help to amp up the source material as well. Good music always goes a long way.

All right now lets dive into the story. So of course the first arc is about rescuing Gaara and it’s a fun way to kick things off. Deidara and Sasori get most of the screentime from the villains side of things. Yeah Itachi and Kisame show up but they’re more of a distraction than anything else. Don’t expect them to be getting any big character development just yet. Seeing Kakashi and Sakura fight was nice since it had been a while since we saw them. To date this might even be Sakura’s best fight as she really handles herself well against Sasori. Definitely a fun matchup while Kakashi doesn’t get to do as much this time. Deidara is a tough matchup for him since he’s always in the sky.

The stakes were high right off the bat and really the only complaint you would have here is that Naruto didn’t really get to look as strong as you might have expected. He’s the 9 Tailed Jinjuriki and after years of training with Jiraiya, he should be a true power hitter right? Well, surprisingly that just wasn’t really the case. He never felt quite as unstoppable as he should have which definitely left me puzzled. In a fair fight I see him losing to both Sasori and Deidara at this point in time which is absolutely crazy.

Naruto makes for a superb main character and the more I watch the show the more I appreciate him. I still have the battle crazy leads like Goku and Ichigo above him but Naruto is well above the average lead. He’s a surprisingly mature character by the end of his journey and he really learned his lessons instead of staying static. A lot of other leads could really look to him for guidance on this. He gives a lot of speeches and also knows when to stop talking and just start fighting. It’s this balance that makes him one of the greats.

Sakura also gets to look really good in Shippuden. Gone are the days where she would have to run away or duck a fight. Now she can fight alongside Naruto and the others. Her strength is really impressive and she gets some really fun fights in the series. Having the ability to heal her own wounds as well is definitely a massive plus on top of all that.

Kakashi is the ever reliable leader as well and definitely looks good here. The whole running out of chakra thing may be a bit of a running gag but jokes aside, he does take care of business. Without him they would have been absolutely doomed more than once. He may not always win, but you can definitely count on him to show up when the chips are down. He is a Sharingan user after all and that is still one of the absolute best weapons in the series.

Might Guy’s always been a fun rival to Kakashi and you can make the case that he was actually significantly stronger than him for most of the series. The 8 inner gates are really no joke and it was great to finally get to see him use them by the end of the series. He jokes around a lot but at the end of the day he is a sensei and one of the stronger fighters in the leaf village. Without him the heroes would really be in trouble.

Tenten doesn’t get a lot to do in the series but she is always ready to be the voice of reason. I appreciated seeing her show up from time to time but I wish she could have gotten stronger. Rock Lee is the more disappointing character here because he had such great showings in the first series. Taking on fighters like Gaara and Kimimaro is still legendary but you can’t really point to any signature fights in part 2. The same goes for Neji who by all accounts is much stronger but he isn’t really given anyone to fight outside of fillers. I suppose again that does make the case for why filler can be really handy. This way you can give fights to the characters who ended up being skipped over.

Chiyo only showed up for the one arc at the beginning but she did well. She made the most out of her screentime and ended up being a really memorable character. Even nowadays people know her well. She really outshined Kankuro who used to be the best puppet user but got surpassed by an incredibly large margin. He never really gets many scenes to make up for this. In comparison Temari also doesn’t do much but is at least relevant for the final parts of the series thanks to her dynamic with Shikamaru.

Gaara has a lot of screentime here so he does well. I do miss the fiery spirit he used to have back when he was an antagonist but he definitely got a ton of character development so I can’t deny that. His sand abilities are absolutely lethal at this point and he became the ruler of a whole country which is no joke. He gets to meet up with Sasuke and is generally one of the most loyal allies to the leaf.

As for the Akatsuki, I always liked Deidara quite a bit. His flair for the dramatic is handled really well. He’s an entertaining character who will keep you on your feet the whole time. His birds are also incredibly dangerous, the fact that he can use them to give fighters like Sasuke and Gaara a tough fight is super impressive. He’s the kind of guy who never gives up until the end so I can definitely respect that.

Sasori isn’t nearly as ambitious of a character but he is still a strong fighter who should not be underestimated. His poison daggers are tough to deal with since he has so many clones. I ended up liking his abilities more than the character itself but he’s decent. At the very least I will ay that he’s iconic, due in part to being in the first arc that everybody has ingrained into their heads.

Then the next arc has the big return of Sasuke which was hype! We’re introduced as Sai who tries to be Sasuke’s replacement but lets just say that he is absolutely not built for this. He’s not even close and falls far short of those high standards. Sasuke actually has been training over the last 3 years so the gap between him and Naruto was absolutely massive. It’s crazy that he could have finished them all off if he wanted to. The arc is fairly short but we got the big Naruto vs Orochimaru battle so that was pretty fun. Orochimaru was ultimately just soo slippery to really be put down for good. He was seriously just having fun in that match. You get the feeling that he would have crushed Naruto if he was really trying.

Sai is a character I never warmed up to. For sure he went through a lot and going through the Root program is crazy but he’s not my kind of character. He never gets all that emotional and his ability to draw anything is not a very offensive type power. It can be used well but for the most part you can never picture him scaling with the top tiers. Taking Naruto to a draw was absolutely a huge fluke and one that I would never expect to see again. He just got supremely lucky there.

Yamato is someone I’ve warmed up to a bit. I think he had a super rocky start but as the series went on he would get more and more emotional. He actually became someone who would defend Naruto so that was nice to see. He tends to be on the wrong side of almost every issue though so he’s not perfect. I will need to see a lot more improvement out of him.

Orochimaru has a lot to do here as you can probably guess. The guy is getting close to needing to switch bodies after all. He probably could have planned things out a bit better but he was dealing with an Uchiha prodigy so that’s not easy. His durability is still very impressive to me. The guy never really goes down. He definitely gets off way too easily in the series though. This guy is psychotic and a mass murderer. He should be in jail at the very least. That part kind of annoys me but ultimately he does deserve his spot as one of the most memorable characters in the series.

Kabuto still works well as the right hand man. He gets a surprising amount of power near the end which was definitely a very impressive power up. By the end he is one of the strongest fighters and while we knew he would be strong, I was still impressed. He is a really fun wild card. I don’t love the character but he absolutely made the final arc better. Without him bringing all of the old characters back it just wouldn’t have been intense.

Sasuke is one of the biggest characters in the series so naturally there is a whole lot to talk about with him. He goes on a journey into the darkness where he sinks further and further as the series goes on. Just when you think he might be getting heroic, something would happen that would send him back. It’s a really tough cycle to be sure but at the end of the day, it’s a mission that he was ready for. He has his share of points and that’s why the battle of ideologies between him and Naruto was really good. He wanted Revolution while Naruto was effectively fighting for the status quo. Both sides have pros and cons to them.

Their rivalry is still one of the best of all times for any series. It’s just super impressive by all accounts. Sasuke is also my favorite character in the series. There are none who are even close. His character is just so deep and you could talk about him for an entire article. He survived one of the toughest experiences imaginable and he didn’t let it break him. If nothing else, you definitely have to look at that amount of fortitude and be impressed. It was really something. Then throw in some of the best attacks and theme musics and it’s a wrap!

The first of the really big filler arcs involves Sora. He’s a kid who is constantly upset and yelling so get ready for that. What I liked about the arc was they constantly played the anger theme which works well for battles but that’s about it. It’s a relatively uninspired arc and one that goes on for too long. There were some cool ideas too like a widespread 3 Tailed Jinjuriki battle but that was not enough to save this one in the end. You can easily tell which arcs are filler or not based on the quality which is kind of crazy. Well maybe not too crazy since in theory the original author knows his characters best but you’d still expect it to be a little closer.

In the following big arc, we get to focus on two more Akatsuki members. Hidan and Kakuzu show up and destroy Asuma so now the Leaf have to avenge him. It’s one of the only times we see a real switch in the team rosters so that was pretty fun. Kakashi vs Kakuzu is a really underrated fight that had a lot of great choreography the whole time. I also liked Hidan vs Shikamaru even though I felt like the hero didn’t stand a chance in that matchup. Then Naruto has his big return which is always super hype. He really got a lot of the best return moments across the series. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised though, such is a hero’s job right?

Hidan is one of the most enjoyable Akatsuki members. He’s always laughing and messing around while destroying everyone. The guy is unhinged and that works really well for his character. Trust me, he’s just a blast and to this day I’m waiting for Jashin to show up. Hidan got his immortality from someone after all. This could really work like in a sequel series or something.

Kakuzu by contrast is much quieter and more of a serious fighter. He wants to complete the mission and that’s it. He’s not really thinking about anything else. His trait of having more than 1 heart is definitely super handy though and the guy can fight in hand to hand. He’s a very well balanced member of the Akatsuki and definitely would have been a tough fight for most of the heroes. I also liked the idea of someone who is immortal being teamed with someone who has multiple lives. I think the second layer to that is how Kakuzu would always murder all of his partners back in the day but there’s no chance of that now.

Ino and Choji are sort of along for the ride in this series. They don’t really get to do much of anything and don’t really have the skills to stay relevant either. They get their moments but don’t expect too much out of them. Asuma get some really solid moments before he goes out though. I always liked his chakra blades, they seem super practical as a weapon. Ultimately he just needed to be stronger to hang in there more but the guy fought well.

Shikamaru gets a super big role in the series. He is still the man with a plan no matter what happens. He may not have the strongest attacks but he can get people to the right spots. I liked him for most of the series although I’m not as big on the character once he starts working for the Hokage. It felt to me like he basically sold out by that point and began getting more and more corrupted. I know that someone has to watch the dark side but above all else you need to trust your Hokage and I don’t feel like Shikamaru did. At times he felt like he knew best which is a dangerous assumption.

The 3 Tails Guren gets a mini filler arc and it wasn’t half bad. I remember the main annoying thing being the heroes being slow to act while the villains would monologue over and over again. Sometimes you just have to break the anime rules and land a hit real quick. I think this arc would probably work better if released as a mini series outside of the main anime. That said, I know filler was necessary to keep the show on the air without further destroying the pacing so it is always worth it. While I may not be the most positive about these things, it’s not like it was terrible or anything.

After this we finally start getting to the big Sasuke arc. He first forms a team with a bunch of new quirky characters and then heads off to go and take down Itachi. It’s a fairly short arc in the grand scheme of things but it was a fun one. I enjoyed seeing the rematch after all this time and it was easily one of the best fights in the series. I also think Sasuke’s group Taka isn’t even that bad. They’re not all stars by any stretch of the imagination but they actually had some decent banter the whole time and contrast with Sasuke pretty well. Sasuke also got a super great theme in this arc which was really good stuff. I loved it whenever that theme would appear.

Itachi is definitely a massive characters. No worries if the backstory confuses you because you’re going to be seeing it a lot. To be direct on this, he is a villain and no matter how many times we see the flashback, he was definitely in the wrong there. He was murdering women and children in his massacre and should have worked with the Hokage to find another way. No matter how you slice it, he took the villainous path. Still, he makes for a solid wild card who really can change the whole direction of the battlefield. He’s one of the most interesting characters in the series and one of the most powerful. The fact that he couldn’t be controlled even by the mass reanimation jutsu was definitely a big point in his favor. He really had backup plans on top of backup plans.

Kisame is not quite as powerful. Despite being partners, I would say they probably had the biggest gap in ability between them. You always got the feeling that Kisame could be destroyed at any moment if Itachi willed it. That’s how powerful he was. Kisame’s true form was still impressive though and he definitely did a lot of damage. As a fast yet powerful fighter, it would be difficult for most heroes to stop him. That’s how it should be too, each member of the Akatsuki should be someone that it either takes an entire team to bring down, or some of the absolute top tier fighters. Anything less just would not match the hype that this villain group got when they showed up.

For example none of the junior fighters like Suigetsu should stand a chance here. I like his confidence and the guy is ready to pick a fight but he’s in a completely different league. A much smaller league if you will. Even the idea of him trying to take on Kisame is funny. I don’t know what Suigetsu would do without Sasuke. His water powers are handy though, he just lacks the physical stats to really make the most of them.

I like him more than Jugo though. Jugo is just a bit too quiet and serious. We already have enough of those characters so he doesn’t really end up adding much to the dynamic at all. I needed characters who could provide banter. I’m not a big fan of Karin either but at least she definitely delivers on that front. When she is around you can bet that there will be a good amount of tough talk at all times. She was all business all the time except when Sasuke was involved. In that case she would break down immediately which really held her back. That gag got old fast.

Then was the big arc that may still be the most iconic in all of Shippuden, the big Pain saga. Pain finally launches his invasion on the hidden leaf and immediately destroys a whole ton of people. The body count is super high and Naruto is basically the only one who can stand against him. It’s always a fun what if to imagine if Sasuke was in town at the time. I thin he would have done really well to put it mildly. Aside from all of the awesome fighting which is of course great, we also get the conclusion to the debate on the cycle of violence. It’s a really well written sequence of scenes with both characters making a true case and then we see how it plays out. Ultimately it’s not like the cycle will ever end, but you can at least hope for the best.

Pain is of course one of the big villains of the series and he’s great all around. From the character design to his skills, this guy was the real deal. Seeing him basically take on an entire village was crazy and to date he has some of the most memorable moments in the series. You never forgot any of Pain’s big moments because that’s how influential the guy was. Each of his different bodies had more and more abilities as well. It was hard to keep track of them all, much less counter each form. That would be near impossible. Definitely a great pick as the leader of the Akatsuki.

While she isn’t mentioned as much, Konan is definitely right up there as well. Her paper abilities are super handy and she almost took down Obito early on. To think that could have seriously changed the trajectory of the series. She may appear to be meek compared to some of the other fighters but once she is in the battle she definitely goes all out. This is also a decent point to mention Jiraiya. Unfortunately I have to say that I’m still not a big fan of the guy. He had a heroic death and all but he had too many character flaws in the end. Those definitely cost him big time.

We get a random flashback arc about the old days here. I suppose people were probably getting nostalgic so it’s not a bad idea but it does sort of wreck the flow a bit. You want to get to the next big adventures after all and this is the only thing left standing in your way. It has to be removed as soon as possible. The arc isn’t super long but it’s still fairly long so you definitely have to wait for a while.

After that we have the Kage Summit, another small arc but a real doozy. Sasuke decides to take on all of the Kages and he actually has them on the defensive. That is absolutely crazy when you think about it. His fight with Danzo was also awesome and this is really the arc where he goes full on villain. Before now he wouldn’t murder innocents or anything like that but now everyone is fair game. He has really changed a whole lot from the Sasuke that we once knew. We also got the big Team 7 reunion which was cool even if it maybe wasn’t quite as big as you might have expected. There is a cool fan animation that heavily extends the fight with Kakashi and Sasuke while one of the Ultimate Ninja Storm games officially extended Naruto’s fight with him. Regardless, it’s a top tier arc.

Danzo is one of those guys who was running around causing trouble for ages so it was nice to finally see him get taken down. Honestly he got away with way too much the whole time. The fact that the Lead Village would look the other way is rather disgraceful if we’re being honest. If Sasuke didn’t take him down I don’t know what would have happened and that’s annoying because it never should have come down to that. It doesn’t make any sense. His skills are the real deal so I will give him that though. The guy has masterful tactics and it makes sense how he could reach the level of Hokage.

The Raikage is another Kage who really earns his station. He is always ready to fight and doesn’t hide behind minions. His speed and power are both off the charts which makes him a top fighter. I like his personality and he is the kind of guy who is always ready to take charge. I may not have agreed with some of his decisions but he was usually on the right side. In fact, he had to be convinced to put Naruto on the shelf when originally he was planning on deploying him to the front lines. That would have been the best plan to take advantage of his abilities.

The Mitsukage gets less to do but she is around. Her lava abilities aren’t bad but I think her main problem is that the technique doesn’t feel as special. You can’t compare it to instant regen, new lives, or invincibility. Her power is just lava and I know that is lethal but it feels like a normal ninjutsu. I wish we could have seen more out of her. Then we have the Tsuchikage who has the cube style. His particle attacks are definitely super impressive so to balance him out, the guy has chronic back pain. Honestly that gag could get annoying sometimes but I get why they needed to nerf him. Now there is a really solid technique.

After that..it’s time for the big war. You could argue that the war itself had a bunch of mini arcs within it as well. Of course you have the long dream saga where each character imagines what the future could be like. Some are simple AUs while one extended one recaps the whole series. That one was unfortunately a bit too ambitious for its own good. With an arc as long as the war, it wasn’t always able to be consistent but there are a ton of super memorable moments to be found here. Madara finally making his move and of course seeing all of the reanimated shinobi was a lot of fun. All big Shonen titles should end with some kind of a huge war because it’s the perfect way to really show off your extended cast. Without that then it’s harder to bring everyone in. So the arc may be controversial but I still thought it was very good. The climax really makes it. You’re seeing the strongest shinobi of all time all going at it. Who can’t help but not get excited at such a prospect right? This is what we came here for, this is why we are Naruto fans.

Madara is a villain who was hyped up for the entire series and I’m glad to say that he absolutely lived up to it. He is a beast in battle and the kind of guy who loves fighting. You already know that would win me over right from the start. This is a villain who shook the entire world with just his name. Now that’s presence, I don’t think there is any other villain with that much aura. It’s a shame how his character ended up going out because he was absolutely cooking everyone. There’s definitely a whole lot more you could have done with the character. Still, he got so much screentime that I can’t complain much.

Then we have Obito who was also a really big threat. Perhaps not as strong as Madara but still a top tier within the verse. You definitely understand his motivations, not just because losing someone is something we can all sympathize with but because of the fact that we got to see Rin die like 100 times throughout the series. I felt bad for her because that flashback would never stop looping. It was absolutely crazy. I do think that Obito got off way too easily in terms of reputation though. I’m glad that the series deals with redemption arcs but this man did hurt a ton of people. Lets not forget that so easily.

Zetsu has a consistent role throughout the series and then he really turns up near the end. He’s actually a rather fun character with how tough he talks the whole time. The guy has a lot of good plans and while it may stretch disbelief at times, hey the guy is patient. He is the ultimate strategist who waits on the sidelines but technically can’t fight at a high level. If he could fight too then the world would really be finished.

Kushina has a solid role as Naruto’s Mom. She was a real fun character and a go getter. It’s a shame that her screentime was so low but she gave him good advice throughout and was a super solid parent. Then you have Minato who also looked really good. We actually got to see him fight a lot which was awesome. He always had a very cool air about him. The guy was also a top tier parent. He ends up being one of the better characters in the series and he definitely has the best reputation as the Yellow Flash. People knew not to mess with him.

The 3rd Hokage doesn’t do much here but I’ll just say that he’s annoying. Every time we get a new flashback, we see how more and more of the problems were all his fault. If he had just stood up and stopped at least one of the internal villains then things could have been very different. It’s hard to be as harsh on the 2nd Hokage since most of his actions were off screen. He seems to be a solid fighter but again we just don’t know a ton about him.

The 1st Hokage is easily the most impressive. You could make a decent case for him being the strongest character in the series. The guy’s abilities were super terrifying. Personally I still have Madara above him but the two were rivals for a good reason. It definitely wasn’t one sided in either direction. The scene where he powers up to freeze all of the Hokage and Sasuke was definitely a true flex and one of the biggest hype moments in the series. It’s hard to imagine him ever going down in the past.

Killer Bee is the only Tailed Beast holder aside from Naruto who gets a big role. He definitely makes the most of it as his debut appearance against Sasuke was definitely a really memorable one. It was nice to see an owner who actually bonded with the beast. Eventually Naruto would do this as well but it would take a long time. Killer Bee’s rapping gimmick also wasn’t that bad to be honest. Not really my thing but the execution was okay.

Hinata doesn’t do much for most of the series but she starts to get a role by the end so I should mention her. My main issue with Hinata is the same as with a bunch of other characters. She is too soft spoken the whole time and needs to assert herself more. This is what keeps me from becoming a big fan. I want to see a Hinata who gets really tough and just starts blasting the enemy. Still, I’d say her fans should be satisfied with her portrayal here.

Side note, it was cool seeing Zabuza and Haku return. They may have appeared super briefly but that was a lot of fun. One old character who shows up a bit is Iruka but I still don’t like the guy. He’s way too harsh on Naruto and wouldn’t even hear the guy out when his wedding day was approaching. I think some people find the dynamic charming with Iruka constantly bashing Naruto and apologizing for him since he assumes that the lead is up to no good. The problem for me is that this gag has the opposite effect. He should trust Naruto completely by now. It’s definitely a big L for Iruka.

The 9 Tails himself gets a ton of character development and it’s fun to see how far he has come. Gone are the days where he would just be yelling and trying to scare everybody. Now he is actually a rather reasonable person which is cool. He supports Naruto and really helps him to improve. It’s a superb dynamic and I like how they build each other up. No matter what, Naruto and the 9 Tails will always have each other as friends.

Finally we have Kaguya and unfortunately the anime does her a disservice. The extra scenes actually make her look worse instead of better which is crazy. She just appears to be too naive and slow on the uptake there. I would have liked her to have fought more and just messed over anyone in her way. She is Kaguya, one of the strongest people in the verse. That shouldn’t be asking for too much right? Great design and everything but the flashback definitely hurts.

After that, the series mainly starts to wind down. We get a quick mini arc for Shikamaru based on his novel, a Sasuke arc for his, a mini arc on picking out presents for Naruto, and episodes for some of the characters as kids. The anime really wanted to make sure you had time to see what the characters were doing in the present which is a nice touch. I mean personally I’m cool with just ending on the big fight but the longer you can extend a series the better and it was worth it to reach 500 episodes. That is an absolutely crazy amount that almost no show nowadays can ever hope to reach. It is simply too impressive.

Even with a review this long there are tons of characters and episodes I didn’t touch on. It’s why watching this show is a true saga. It’s an experience that you can’t complete in a few days. It would be literally impossible to do so. That’s the charm of the series after all. Even I would probably not remember everything if I gave it a re watch so in that way there is always a ton of replay value here. You can try to notice extra easter eggs and lore that you didn’t notice the first time. Then you will have made it to the level of grand Naruto scholar and you can use that as super bragging rights. Of course the next step will be to enter the world of Boruto at some point but that’s a discussion for another day. That is technically a separate series after all so it should be looked on separately as well.

Overall, Naruto Shippuden is one of those titles that I will never forget. It will always be very important to me because of all the memories and the experiences I had with the show. It was a title that lasted a long time and there are very few titles that can keep going for 500 episodes nowadays. It’s lucky for most to reach 100 after all. I would definitely recommend this to any action fan. For a long title like this, you are really given time to know all of the characters and get emotionally invested into the whole thing. That definitely goes a long way and at the end of the day watching this is like watching a big piece of anime history. You owe it to yourself to experience what this global phenomenon was all about. On an episode by episode battle it may not beat the higher tier shows but while those end every 12 episodes, this one will just keep on going and going.

Overall 7/10

Kaiju No. 8: B-Side Review

Posted on July 14, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a Kaiju No. 8 spinoff that lasted for a little while. Miniseries like this are always fun to flesh out the side characters with material that we never got to see in the main title. It’s a good idea and I think more manga should do this. I would have liked it to have been longer if anything, but we still got to see 3 different characters and their origins which was fun. They picked really solid characters to do this with. I guess at this point there are just 3 more that I would like to see a full prequel with. Captain Ashiro, and then both of Kikoru’s parents. Maybe someday though.

The first story is the origin for Hoshino. All his life he has trained in the ways of the sword but the problem is that this is seen as very ineffective against Kaiju nowadays. Most of them are just too large so the sword won’t pierce and even for the smaller ones, it seems a lot more efficient to just mow them down with a machine gun. Hoshino really wants to stick to the sword though, that has been his family legacy after all. Finally he is being given a chance by Captain Ashiro. Can he live up to her hopes or is he about to just doom his chances of ever being a true Kaiju hunter?

It’s definitely fun to see Hoshino in the old days and he already had great speed and ability. Honestly I never thought the series made a good case for why guns beat swords. The gun blasts vary based on how much power you can get out of the suit and the way I see it, almost nobody can get a reasonable amount of power out of the suit. So in that case, it ends up feeling like they’re just spinning their wheels there. It’s not a great long term approach at all. So if everyone had swords, at least they could stab into the Kaiju because the power of the suit won’t limit the sword as much as it would a gun. Maybe there are more reasons for not using swords though.

Either way Ashiro made a wise decision in picking Hoshino for her team. He has definitely proven himself a whole lot and he really did good against the Kaiju fighters in the first story. He would go on to consistently be one of the best characters in the series. Following him up would be a tough choice but the series went with Kikoru which makes sense. She is also a prodigy after all. In this case we already know her origin from the main series though so what would the story be about?

The title decides to show us how she ended up picking out her custom weapon. Her normal weapon wasn’t strong enough to pierce the armor of the Kaiju that she was up against in the training exercises so she grabbed an axe and then the rest was history. You could tell that the writer was a little more constrained with this character since we see her a lot in the main story but this was a smart way to get us some more fights and everything. It’s definitely much smaller scale than the first story with the stakes not being as large but it was satisfying to see her rise up to the top.

The Kaiju corp is definitely lucky to have so many prodigies on the team. In some ways it’s why the series reminds me of World Trigger because the heroes have so many different hype characters on the roster. They just keep on coming and so you’d think the enemies might be in a bad spot but fortunately for them, they have a lot of strong fighters too. If they had actually made a move before the heroes grew so powerful, it would probably be curtains by now.

Finally the last story is about Gen and how he was recruited. The guy started out as a…guess what…a huge prodigy! As a kid without a suit he was already powerful enough to take down some of the smaller Kaiju on his own. Mix in the Kaiju suit and now he was basically unstoppable. This guy has the special kaiju eye implants that can let him detect future attacks. So mix that in with his relentless training/ability and he is one of the strongest in the series. I dare say that he easily surpasses both Hoshina and Kikoru in skill. I’d like to see a quick story with a rivalry between those 3 characters to be honest. That would have been a fun way to finish up the series as a bonus story of sorts.

Ultimately I suppose the point of the series is to hype up the main one and get more readers on it. It does a good job with that as each chapter ends with a flash forward to the main series as everyone gets hyped to take on the Kaiju. The monsters don’t stand a chance against the combined might of human ingenuity! The art is definitely really high tier and holds its own with the main series. All of the action scenes are drawn really well and the villains are definitely very imposing. Of course this is before we got to the intelligent Kaiju so they’re basically just classic monsters but the designs are really good.

This is a rare example of an anthology where I liked all of the characters/stories. Usually in formats like this, there will always be at least one that holds the others back but this wasn’t the case here. I guess it goes to show how solid the cast is for the series. Kaiju No 8 has a very small cast of notable characters next to other titles but that’s probably a good thing in this case. It allows each one to stand out way more than they ever would have if they tried introducing too many characters. Still, like I said before there are some other characters around if they want to go and start working on those in another anthology spinoff.

Overall, All 3 stories were really good. The series was really a bunch of nonstop action scenes across the 3 leads which worked perfectly for this one. That’s why you are reading Kaiju No 8 after all. You’re here for all of the fights and the intrigue. The series never holds back on this. The art is still really solid and so this is a must read for any fan of the franchise. Even if you don’t read Kaiju No 8 this works as a solid jumping on point. Then if you enjoyed this prequel, you can jump into the main story right away. That’s a good way to handle things.

Overall 7/10

Mission: Yozakura Family

Posted on July 4, 2024 by dreager1

This series is another one that’s off to a fun start. I think the overall premise has a lot of potential right off the bat. The characters are likable and the art is good so at the end of the day that’s a great combo right there. We’ll se how long they’re able to keep the story fresh but at least for right now I would definitely recommend the title and look forward to reviewing it once the series has finished.

Overall 7/10

Sakamoto Holidays

Posted on July 4, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to return to the world of Sakamoto Days with this spinoff. It’s pretty cool to finally have a new comedic title to check out. So far the humor is handled well and it’s not going for the usual kind of cheap gags. I can definitely respect that and automatically that puts this one above the average title. It was a good read and hopefully they can keep this one going for a long while. I’ll have a review for the series once it ends.

Overall 7/10

Rurouni Kenshin (2023) Review

Posted on June 22, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for another great anime. The Kenshin manga was always top tier so it makes sense that the anime would follow suit. I thought everything about it was real solid. The fight scenes looked good, the sound track is on point, and of course the core story is really good. At the end of the day when you have all of that in your favor then you’re really in for a good time. There’s just nothing to hold it back.

The show starts by introducing us to Kenshin who used to be a powerful warrior that terrorized the land. There was a huge war back in the day with both sides fighting for their own justice. Kenshin’s side won and now they are the government but Kenshin has distanced himself from the group. He chooses to be a Rurouni instead now and no longer fights unless it is to protect someone. He wanders into a nice town where he meets Kaoru. She has a dojo and he decides to relax there and help her out for a while. Unfortunately, his days of being a pacifist are about to run into some turbulence. A bunch of villains are running around who all want to test their might against the legendary fighter. If Kenshin doesn’t fight back, they will end up hurting his new friends. What can he do?

At its core the series is really about Kenshin trying to hold onto his ideals through thick and thin. It’s a good message and the show handles it well. At times Kenshin may hold back a little too much and some villains make a good point that his morals are all well and good but if he lets his friends get hurt because of them then that’s not a worthy tradeoff. Kenshin does have to work on balancing these things which will likely continue to be a theme in the next season.

Right now Kenshin is still a top tier main character though. He’s easy to root for and he has a lot of serious skills. So he’s definitely one of those guys who is able to back up his own tough words far better than most of the others would be able to. When the going gets tough, Kenshin does revert into his violent mode which definitely tends to do the trick in situations like this. I like his overall confidence and good natured spirit. He’s always been one of the higher tier Jump protagonists.

Kaoru is a fairly good heroine although she doesn’t always get a lot to do. Relative to other heroines I would even say that her role is super small. She will usually be around to try and help get Kenshin back into his senses but that’s about it. She is otherwise not really able to fight with any of the big characters so she stays to watch but all in all she’s a nice person. Then there is Yahiko who actually does get some fights to himself. He’s only a kid so it’s not like he can fight all that well but I’ll give him some points for effort. He really does try hard. At times he can be on the annoying side though, especially when he tries to do something without telling Kenshin and then puts himself in a dangerous position for no reason.

As the first rival Sanosuke is a fun character. He very quickly gets power creeped by other characters who show up later but definitely works well as the opening boss. His punches can really land a lot of damage and he has some good battle instincts as well. I generally like him as a character. I feel like he does need a weapon though and not that super heavy one he used in the introduction arc. That thing’s just way too slow to be usable in real life situations. At least to me that seems to be the case. He helps to provide some balance to the team though because he’s much more aggressive and in your face compared to Kenshin.

I want to give a shoutout to Kenshin’s first real opponent. No, not the fake Battosai but Jin-E, a legendary assassin. What I like about this guy is that he was legitimately very skilled. He actually gave Kenshin a good fight and his ability to choke his opponents was really intense. That’s a super good ability to have in combat since your opponent could lose focus for a second and then you win. If not, you at least disrupt his movements which is also a really big deal This guy is mainly forgotten nowadays but to me he will always be the point where the series found its stride and became great.

Then we have Aoshi’s group which was a lot of fun. They all had a lot of loyalty and fairly good backgrounds. What makes them sympathetic is you can easily see how someone would turn out like that. When you’re trained to murder in combat and never learned any other skills then it makes sense that integrating back into society would not be so easy. In particular from the minions I would say Han’nya stood out the most. He really gave Kenshin a tough fight for a while there and even won in their first clash. Yes, it was a quick clash and he had a gimmick but I still remember thinking that was super impressive. Definitely a really solid way to kick off the arc as well.

Of course Aoshi was the main star here and he’s still one of my favorite characters in the series. His sword skills are second to none and he has a solid honor code. He has his objectives and completes them but always does things his way. He’s always willing to talk back to any other villain who is trying to boss him around. Nobody is going to try and exert influence over him. That’s just not how Aoshi operates and I definitely find that to be really admirable. He’s the kind of guy that you really want to be on your team.

Megumi joins the group after this arc as a main supporting character and she fits in really well. I dare say that she adds more to the dynamic than the main heroine at this point. She is always ready for banter and being a healer is really helpful since nobody else has those skills at the moment. It means that she is really irreplaceable within the team. She definitely has a rough background and wasn’t always a hero but considering the circumstances, it’s easy to trust her as a reliable hero now.

Finally as the show began to close we were introduced to Saito who is another all star character. This guy’s abilities are really solid to the point where he really had Kenshin backpedaling. He’s another villain with a good honor code who is willing to do whatever he needs to in order to keep his honor on good ground. I like this kind of character without a doubt. His fight is one of the best ones in the series as well so you aren’t likely to forget him. I’m definitely looking forward to him getting more fights in the upcoming seasons.

There are several other villains and supporting characters at the ready but these were the main ones. The show really covers a lot of ground in these 24 episodes. It always feels good to crack 20 right off the gate so even if you didn’t get a formal season 2, it feels like you had both. That being said, the next season is already confirmed so there are no worries there. In the manga the next segment was the best part of the series so most likely that will be the case here as well but we’ll see.

One thing I really like about the show is how most of the characters actually sound like they’re from the olden days. It reminds me of the old Hollywood kind of dialogue but the Japanese version. There are a lot of terms thrown around and everything relating back to the Bakumatsu period and then you also have all of the characters generally being polite to each other. Even if they naturally don’t mean it, it’s pretty nice to hear. It adds a very refined flavor to the show and it makes the whole experience feel that much more authentic.

Meanwhile the animation is really solid like I said. The fights are really flashy with a good amount of choreography in them. The fighters move fast and each battle feels very epic. I definitely have no complaints here so far and that’s a good thing since it’s a pretty action packed show. If the fights were not up to snuff then that would be a problem. I also give major thumbs up to the soundtrack. There are a number of really good battle themes spread throughout the anime. I had quite a few that I liked and again they fit the very dramatic style of the duels.

In Kenshin, there is a lot of explaining what each attack does in between the techniques which I like as it adds to the analytical part of the show. Both fighters are working on countering each attack as soon as they see it. The cat and mouse mind games are a ton of fun all around. Naturally the season ends with a big cliffhanger as well so you have a lot to look forward to for the next season. There are definitely going to be plenty of battles there and Kenshin will really have to steel his resolve.

Way I see it, since the show takes place in the days of a lot of rampant corruption, you do need to finish off your opponents sometimes. Kenshin has a tendency to spare his foes and hope they go over a new leaf but what’s more likely is they will wait until he is not around and then go take out his friends. That is the big issue for me. For example if Saito didn’t axe off his partners afterwards, they definitely might have tried getting some retaliation and since Kenshin would be out of town, things would have gotten very bad very quickly. In a nutshell, that tends to be my main problem here. Kenshin’s mentality only works when he’s alone but once he chose to make friends and hang out, that starts to put them all in lethal danger.

One last thing I’d add is I do appreciate the quick mini arcs about weak villains because these are chances for Kenshin to show just how crazy strong he is. Like the arc with Sanosuke’s friend who wanted to bomb the capital. We get to see Kenshin from the point of view of the average fighter and naturally he’s a monster. Kenshin doesn’t need to do much in order to stop that guy. I think it’s important to have these minibosses because since Kenshin tends to only fight the strongest warriors around, you can possibly forget just how far above most fighters he is. So seeing him dominate these guys is a good idea. When he takes too long or sandbags, then it also helps make the point of guys like Saito who say that Kenshin is being too soft. One of these mini arcs had a character effectively lose the use of his wrist, possibly for good because Kenshin didn’t go all out. I thought that was a very good callback that the show made use of later on. So you end up feeling like each episode is really important.

Overall, Rurouni Kenshin is a great story that has withstood the test of time. Each episode is a lot of fun and the quality of the episodes is always at a high level. I had a lot of fun going through the show and I’m definitely hyped for the next season. There are already a ton of great villains running around and that number is about to rise even further as we are introduced to the new group. So I’m definitely ready for all that. If you enjoy a good action title then I definitely recommend watching this one. It’s really got all of the fights and quality writing you could ask for.

Overall 8/10

Mashle: Magic and Muscles – The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc Review

Posted on June 22, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of Mashle. The first season was definitely great with a solid balance of action and comedy. This one follows it up pretty well with more of the same. We finally meet the big villains in this batch so you know that things are getting real. No problem though, the story still makes time for the humor and everything so the balance isn’t lost. In a lot of ways Mashle feels like a retro Shonen Jump title that could have stood in there with the classics like Naruto. It embraces the common Jump scenarios while also having a lot of fun with them.

After the events of the last season, everyone now knows that Mash has no magical abilities. This means that there are a lot of people who resent him and think he should not be allowed to take the Divine Visionary test. An appeal is made to the principal but fortunately Mash is allowed to stay on. The one catch is that the stakes have now been raised. If Mash doesn’t become the Divine Visionary then he will be murdered. There will be no escape for the guy. It’s a pretty tough situation to be in but then again, this only matters if he loses and Mash is confident in himself. We begin the next round of the tournament but of course the villains are also waiting around the corner.

The 12 episodes really go by very quickly here. It feels like the season ended as soon as it had began but I suppose that just talks to the quality of the show. As always Mash is a fun main character. I would say he is even better in this season because he has more tough dialogue with the villains. At one point he declares himself to be the strongest and in general he doesn’t shy away from any fight. It’s great to be strong but it’s even better to know that you’re strong and so I really liked the confidence there.

Innocent Zero is a pretty great villain right from the jump. The guy has big plans, big connections, and he is generally in control the whole time. That’s the kind of thing that you look for in a villain without a doubt. He also has the power to back his tough talk up as he is probably the strongest fighter in the series right now. His time abilities are super intense and then he gets another power up during the season. I was also glad to see him defend Mash during the early court hearing. It may not be for the right reasons but I’ll still take it. Innocent Zero is also a rare villain who may specialize in long distance attacks but can still hold his own against anyone in close quarters. Now that’s a perfect balance.

While we meet all of the visionaries, most of them haven’t had a chance to do anything yet. Ryoh leaves a great impression because he actually seems reasonable and defends Mash the whole time. Why would you possibly want to murder the kid who is you best hope against the villains? They’re all so brainwashed about the whole magic society part that they even go against their own best interests. Now that is a bad look if I’ve ever seen one. So some of the visionaries definitely get docked a bunch of point for this either for being against Mash or just being on the fence about this.

Wahlberg looks good in the fight but I still have to take points away for how he handled the Mash situation. Put it this way, he’s the principal and yet he is letting this whole debate go on. He should have rushed in there real quick and shut the whole thing down. All he has to say is that Mash will continue to be a student here and ask them what they want to do about that. He could likely beat most of them although if it’s a team battle it would probably be tricky. I just think he should have flexed his power a little more and actually tried to make a difference. Otherwise he’s really not using his position to his advantage. The guy’s way too passive which is my problem with him.

Orter is the biggest prosecutor in terms of trying to get Mash murdered. He wants that guy to be absolutely executed right away but fortunately there aren’t any other members who are quite as deranged as he is. This guy actively hires other villains to go and get Mash. You’re looking forward to someone taking him down at some point. Fortunately Rayne is one of the characters who is actually trying to defend Mash and he does a pretty good job of that. His abilities are really good and while I’m a bit surprised that he didn’t crush Margarette harder, I’d say it’s implied that Rayne is still stronger. He’s a divine visionary for a reason after all.

In some ways Kaldo likely seems to be the most impressive. He did really well when testing Mash to see just how good he was. The guy was holding his own with speed and apparently he was even holding back? Yeah that’s not an opponent to take lightly and his sword looks really cool. I definitely look forward to seeing more of him. Of course Mash’s usual friends are still around as well. Lemon actually has her big moment where she makes a big speech and defends Mash’s honor. Finn still does his best and he has a good durability moment where he stays conscious long enough for Mash to show up and save the day.

Lance and Dot take a more active role in helping out as they fight a bit. Dot doesn’t look super impressive but what else is new right? Lance does well at least and even manages to defeat an opponent while reverted to the body of a child. Now that’s a pretty good feat and definitely nothing that Dot could have matched. I still like Lance a lot as a rival even if Mash already left him in the dust big time. He’s never going to catch him at this rate.

For the villains, there were 4 main ones in this season. First up is Margarette who gets a lot of hype early on. In the first encounter with Mash, Mash actually does a big seismic toss throw to take Margarette down for the count but it doesn’t work. When you see Margarette get up without any injuries, that’s the exact moment where you realize that this is no ordinary opponent. It’s a fantastic way to generate some hype right out of the gate. The hype doesn’t stop from there and it’s a really good fight for the two episodes. I may not love Margarette as a character but you can’t deny this level of power.

Carpaccio is more of the twisted villain type. He likes inflicting pain and his ability is perfect for it since he automatically reflects all pain. Super handy, after all who wouldn’t want to be effectively invincible right? His match against Mash is definitely fun and you have to say that it’s probably the worst matchup for the guy. Mash is probably the only character who is crazy strong enough to take the damage each time and then return blows even harder. That would really be pretty much impossible for the rest of the character. I wonder if murdering Carpaccio would just get reversed before he dies or if that’s a way around the power. Either way it would be really risky to try that.

In general the villains have some rather broken abilities here. Sitter Baby is another one of them. He can turn his opponents into babies which dramatically reduces their stats. it’s a real intense power to be sure and all the guy needs to do is quickly smash his opponent or always have a partner. Either way I’d say the heroes basically got lucky here. It easily could have gone sideways very quickly for them here.

Finally you have Cell War who is a really fun villain. His ability itself isn’t quite as broken as the others but he makes up for this with very impressive physical abilities. You feel like anyone other than Mash would have a super hard time trying to block all of the rapid blows. This guy can shoot tons of spikes at you and also use them to make other kinds of weapons. It’s really an endless barrage that just keeps on coming. I thought he was a very impressive villain even if he couldn’t ultimately keep up. Few can keep up with Mash.

As always the soundtrack is super good for Mashle. I think this is one of those things that really helps the anime to keep on elevating things. It’s really cool to know you are always going to have a great track accompanying a great scene. It’s the way to go. The opening also gets real catchy this time and is a big step up over the season 1 theme song which never really caught on for me. The animation is also really solid here. They have fun with the chibi gags which hold up really well and then for the fights there is a whole lot to enjoy. The fights move quickly and have a lot of action to them. The movement is on point and it never slows down.

The technical elements do not betray the series by any means. So now you’ve got great characters, a great story, and the whole thing is completed with the solid humor all throughout the show. I’m definitely hyped for the next season to keep up this momentum. A lot of the upcoming villains already look cool from the brief look we got at them. Also due in part to how the show still lets us have a lot of slice of life moments and comedic scenes, you’re already use to all of the characters. So you want to see them continue to show up and really get some more fights in there. I really enjoyed the climax in the manga and so I bet it’s going to be extremely awesome in the anime as well.

I mentioned that the show goes very quickly and part of that is due to the really fast pacing. There’s always a fight going on or some kind of gag. You aren’t given much time to catch your breath with the fast paced nature of the show. It makes a lot of sense with how chaotic the school is in general. I do think this is a show where bad animation could have hurt it a lot since you do want the spectacle to show off what Mash can do since that is part of the fun. If he didn’t look impressive then it hurts the entire gimmick/concept.

Also, as strong as Mash is, he isn’t quite the strongest in the verse. So that’s another difference from One Punch Man, there are actually enemies who can take this guy down. Mash is given quite a bit of trouble in his fights in this season and can’t do anything against Innocent Zero. So no worries, there is still a lot of danger in this one. There is a bit of plot armor in regards to why the villains don’t just crush everybody right now though. It would have been a simple enough task and then there would have been nobody around to fight them off later on. Zero definitely fumbled the bag right there.

Overall, Mashle continues to ride all of the momentum from the first season to great effect here. It goes even farther than the first season did and I expect we will see similar success with the next season. At first glance you may figure this is just some kind of One Punch knock-off but I can assure you that it definitely has its own identity. As long as you like good action and humor then you should have a really good time here. Mash choking someone with a creampuff is probably the best gag in the series but in general the series is super funny and the jokes tend to really land. It’s a great all around title that does not really have any weaknesses. I’s all positive here.

Overall 8/10

The Day Naruto Became Hokage Review

Posted on June 5, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a piece of Naruto history that was always rather controversial. What if Naruto actually messed up on the biggest day of his life and didn’t make it to his own Hokage coronation ceremony? The thing that he has been striving for his whole life! Surely the reason he couldn’t make it must be absolutely massive like an alien invasion right?….hmmmm. Well it was definitely an intriguing decision that’s for sure. I get it, his fans wanted him to get a nice W here and seeing the biggest moment pulled up from under you is rough. So while I understand it..I’m not affected all that much because I found the reactions to this irl to be rather funny.

So the special starts with everyone getting ready to see Naruto. Hinata heads out for the dry cleaning and Naruto prepares to head out. He will be accompanied by Boruto, one of the biggest stars in the next gen world. That being said, they also need to bring Himawari around and that’s where things get tricky. She wants to bring an animal but Boruto knows she’s just going to make him carry it so he tries to stop her. Unfortunately Himawari doesn’t take this well and starts beating everyone up. It’s definitely emotional, I can see her being a lot of trouble as a kid.

Of course Naruto getting one shotted by her in the special is just for the gag. You see it used as a real feat here and there but lets be for real here. It shouldn’t have done anything to Naruto except maybe make him laugh. I didn’t buy any of this and it was a forced way to have him stay home. You know what I would have done if you needed him to miss the ceremony? Have Himawari say she cooked her first ever ramen so Boruto and Naruto stay home to try it out. That could have been wholesome and worked well.

But this is a special about the vibes and finally wrapping up the journey. I’d say it does a good job with this. It’s only several minutes long so it finishes quickly but you won’t forget the ceremony here. It’s always nice to see a main character reach the end game like Ash Ketchum. Of course I’d have been cool with seeing a big fight scene here but that was never likely. The animation looks good enough and so you’ll have a good time here.

Overall, This is a shorter review but the OVA itself is only like 10 minutes long so it’s not like there’s a whole lot to cover here. It’s a fun little short and that’s really all you need to say about it. If you watched the Naruto series then you owe it to yourself to check this out as a true finale of sorts. If you haven’t seen this yet then you haven’t really completed Naruto’s journey now have you? That’s what you really need to keep in mind here.

Overall 6/10

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Review

Posted on May 18, 2024 by dreager1

You know it’s actually a bit weird to think that Mashle only had 18 volumes. For some reason I figured it had around 30 or so. I guess it was shorter than I thought but it’s fine because the series was jam packed with tons of high quality moments. It hit way above its pay grade the whole time and you could even say it embraces the parody angle even more than One Punch Man did. Mash isn’t quite as invincible as Saitama was by any means but for the most part he still scaled above his opponents. This is definitely an excellent series that I absolutely recommend checking out. It’s a series where I recommend checking out the anime a lot as well since it did a great job of elevating the material even further. Yeah you’re definitely in a great position here.

The series starts off by introducing us to Mash who was born without magic for some reason. In this world it is seen as a curse to not have magic. Like you are not loved by the universe and it’s practically a crime to even exist. Fortunately he is adopted by a nice man who vows to keep him safe but the authorities find out about this. Mash must now enter a magic school and become one of the Divine Visionaries. Only by doing this can he keep his father safe and perhaps end this crazy discrimination against the magic-less users. Is he strong enough to pull this off though? Mash will be fighting the absolute cream of the crop, the strongest magic users to ever exist.

While the characters start coming around later on, most of them are unreasonable at first. It’s crazy how many people are basically jealous of Mash the whole time. They are rooting for his downfall and are no shy about it. They want to take him down for the count no matter what it takes. There are a lot of petty people here but I suppose that is almost to be expected at this point because most settings end up being filled with crazy people while the main character has to prove them wrong. Such is the fate of being the main character.

The artwork here is really good, in fact I would go as far as to say that it’s spectacular. The author absolutely nails both the comedic and action parts of the story. That’s what happens when you have a top tier artist like this at the ready. It holds its own with the upper echelon of Jump titles here. The fights are incredibly satisfying. It’s channeling the energy of the older Jump titles like Kenshin where you had everyone fighting the final boss one by one. They would all go down and then the next fighter would make a move. The fights are easy to follow while the abilities remain very creative and colorful the whole time.

I’d also say the pacing is good. Every chapter has something going for it. Again that could vary between a really hype action scene occurring or maybe it’s a really good gag. Either way the story never just pauses in the middle to leave you hanging. You can be reassured about that. Also while a lot of stories tend to have endings that aren’t all that great, I thought the ending here was pretty fun. It worked well with the themes of the series as being sort of serious if you zoom into the themes but comedic on its face. It’s definitely a fun way to do this.

There’s definitely quite a few arcs in this. The first main part of the story involves getting the stars needed to enter the big tournament coming up to set the stage for the visionaries. This pits Mash up against some steep competition like Dot and Lance at least they were tough back in the day as well as a whole cult group. He has to make sure not to lose himself during these battles either. If he lets his guard down too soon then it’ll all be over for him. Fortunately he’s not the kind of guy to stress about anything. He just eats some cream puffs and gets to work. Definitely one of the bravest fighters out there without a doubt and it helps to have the level of ability that he has. One punch is enough to usually win the day. Quite a few of the characters become main characters by this point and join the good side so a lot happens in the intro.

You may expect that the series gets more and more intense with stronger villains that it would get a lot more serious but that isn’t really the case. Right up through the end the series is still managing a really good balance between comedy and action which is definitely impressive. Most titles would not stand a chance at that or it would feel very weird with the tone but that’s never a problem here. That just shows how good Mash is. The Divine Visionary exams take up a very large part of the series so hopefully you like them but I don’t have many doubts about that.

Mashle does a great job of keeping every challenge fresh and it’s always a lot of fun. Then we jump into the big climax against Innocent Zero and his forces. Like I said before the climax is really great. We’re talking nonstop fights here with a lot of great appearances from everyone involved. Everyone has a part to play and they complete their roles flawlessly. Whether it’s a supporting character who has been around since chapter 1 or a very recent villain, everyone does something here. The whole montage of fighters is really impressive to be sure. One of the best climaxes I’ve read in a while. It makes full use of how many characters have been introduced and fleshed out over the years as well as the increasing power levels here.

At most you could say that it does highlight some power level issues in general though. For example, it feels like there should be no way that half of these characters can survive a single hit from Innocent Zero. At this point the amount of power we’re talking about it crazy after all. You’d expect that Mash himself would murder say Dot or Lance with a single hit if he’s serious and this guy is leagues stronger than Mash. So there may be a little plot armor occurring at different points here that you will have to try and ignore. This is something that happens to any series once the power levels are high enough though so it’s not like it’s a shock. It’s just the way that the ball bounces.

Now lets talk about the characters a bit. First up is Mash who is a very solid main character. He may not take things seriously all the time but he can fight well and ultimately wants to do his pops proud. He has his deep moments when avenging a friend where we see that he notices more than he lets on. So all in all he is definitely the guy you want to have on your side. I would say he balances out the serious and comedic parts of his personality really well. He ends up being funny without being annoying so there really aren’t any big downsides to his character.

Then you have Finn who is one of those really scared characters. For the most part he is not ready to deal with the big threats but eventually gets his man up moment. So naturally you know that I don’t really care for the character too much. I always appreciate it when he steps up as needed but that’s too little and too late to really bump him up the ranks for me. I would need to see that done on a consistent basis.

A better example of a flawed character who is still rather solid is Dot. Dot falls for all the traps and his weakness to girls is a really big one. At the same time he can still fight rather well and always talks tough. So he can actually back himself up and continues to get stronger as the series goes on. He may not be one of the strongest fighters out there but he is a consistent ally who always does his best and he is entertaining. So I give him a thumbs up there.

Lance is an even better fighter. This guy is the genius of the main characters and so he was able to master his craft at an early age. There are very few other fighters who could have managed that. His fighting style is also very direct. He plunges you into the ground with his gravity which is an ability that is really hard to block or dodge. You just have to be even stronger so that the gravity doesn’t affect you. The guy’s main quirk is a bit much so that can hold him back but otherwise he’s solid.

Lemon is the main heroine in a way but she gets a really small role next to her competitors. You can go through just about the whole series and only find a rare handful of moments where she really got something to do. She’s a super minor character all the way around and wasn’t that interesting. Wahlberg may not do much for a large chunk of the series but he is at least rather cool. I don’t think that he’s a great headmaster since he tends to take his time making the right choices. He will ask the other students for their input a little too much and tends to be rather passive. However, I can forgive just about all of this for one big reason, he is strong. At the end of the day, that helps a character overcome many obstacles. So by the end I would say that he was rather solid.

Rayne is one of the first divine visionaries to appear and get to fight. The one catch with that is he doesn’t get as much time to be mysterious and get a lot of hype. Still, his abilities are the real deal and I like him. He’s not quite as much of a stickler about the rules as some of the other characters which I can appreciate. He doesn’t lose sight of the forest for the trees while other characters lose sight of that immediately! My favorite visionary is easily Ryoh though. He’s the light visionary who is really cool and confident in his own abilities. He may brag a lot but that is rather deserved when you consider how strong he is. Why wouldn’t he brag right?

He gets some really good fights in the series as well an left a big impact. His screen time relative to some of the other characters may have been small but he was still a lot of fun. Tom is another fun character who doesn’t appear much. He wants Mash to join in the sports events and it’s easy to see why since Mash is a super athletic star. At the same time, this guy can’t fight so he is written out real quick. Definitely don’t expect much out of him.

Margarette is one of the big antagonists early on and is definitely powerful. I actually forget how close the fight with Mash was. The ability to use sound waves and then shape them into various objects is really impressive. Margarette leaves quite the impression even if I am not a big fan of the character. Carpaccio is someone who has even less of an impression. Cool character and definitely a lot of fun abilities but a very small role. One of those characters who really existed for Mash to beat up but otherwise didn’t have much to do.

Innocent Zero is easily one of the biggest villains in the series. It’s not surprising as he is introduced as the big bad fairly early into the series. His abilities are the real deal and they get more impressive as the climax hits. He’s a really solid villain. Although I feel like I tend to remember him more for his super powerful abilities than as a character. That’s the kind of figure that he is. You’re not thinking about a grand origin story and super ambitious goals but more of a classic final boss kind of figure. It works well enough with him though and he leaves more of an impact than most of the others.

An exception to this is Doom though. He’s the best villain in the series by far. The guy’s another crazy strong fighter but he has a good honor code and is also just a lot more interesting. His fight with Mash felt more personal and his impact on the story was bigger. He was the true benchmark for Mash to compare himself with and serves as the last main opponent before the final boss. Doom got to fight quite a few opponents during the series and always dominated in his matches. Yeah that guy was awesome.

By the end of the series we even get to see the god of the world show up which was certainly interesting. It was another chance for Mashle to showcase its unique form of humor and it felt like something out of One Punch Man. I wouldn’t be shocked if that series pulls off something similar at some point but in the meantime this is really a Mashle exclusive. The god here is fairly powerful to be sure, probably one of the strongest but he’s no Mash. Okay now lets circle back and look at some more of the characters.

Abel is one of the first big villains and he was a whole lot of fun. The guy’s role has aged well and he just makes for a very imposing figure. The series goes into the redemption arcs without too much thought into them which is fitting for a light hearted title. So you may be a bit dubious on everyone being cool with Abel but it is what it is. He’s a solid villain through and through. I also liked his right hand man Abyss a whole lot. That guy is super loyal and he was also a terrific fighter. He really gave Mash a tough run for his money during their initial encounter. I always value loyalty in a character.

They had a number of other fighters on their squad who showed up but for the most part they were all written out after they were dispatched. Back to the visionaries, Orter is another strong member but definitely the most fixated on the rules to becoming a borderline villain. The fact that he is always so eager to execute Mash reflects real poorly on him. Here’s the problem, Mash at the end of the day is someone who is actively working to fight the villains. So taking him down doesn’t help at all except to restore the status quo. It’s my big problem with a character like this who completely loses perspective. So he’s okay as a villain but I wouldn’t acknowledge him as a hero.

Kaldo is a lot more interesting. He doesn’t necessarily approve of Mash in any way but he gives him some advice. Kaldo recognizes the benefit in having another strong fighter on board which immediately makes him a whole lot more interesting. I also like the sword that he uses. I wish he could have appeared a little earlier on so that he could get more fights but he still made the most of his screen time.

Brad is one of those bullies who quickly turned over a new leaf and it’s a good thing that he did or Mash would have really gave him some trouble. He ends up being a reasonably entertaining character in the background but he definitely never gets much of a serious role. Same goes for Regro who did a good job of raising Mash but after that he is really written out. There just isn’t anything for him to really do at that point.

Not all of the visionaries get a ton to do though so I’ll go through a few of these quickly. Renatus is one of those guys who is rather tough with a psychotic streak. He’s definitely interesting but I would have liked to have seen more of him. I can’t say that I liked Agito at all. The guy definitely doesn’t stack up with the others and his being quirky doesn’t end up really being a positive.

I can’t say I remember Sophina or Tsuara much at all to be honest even after refreshing myself on the wiki. So I’m going to list that as a demerit. If I don’t remember you very well then that means there is clearly a big problem here. It’s a shame but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

Meliadoul is an interesting character. She shows up really late to the whole thing but gets a solid role near the end. She’s actually rather tough and I admire her fiery resolve. She is the opposite of Ochoa who is one of the worst characters in the series. Right up through the end he proves himself to not be trustworthy at all and someone who will seek his own safety first. There’s definitely no room for a character like that in these ranks and I wish he could have been more likable. He was good for some of the gags but gets a thumbs down.

Cell War is a fairly cool villain and I definitely like the name. His spikes are hard to dodge and so he is a very powerful fighter all the way through. He’s rather twisted and evil but without overplaying that card. Everything about him is really memorable so you aren’t likely to forget about him anytime soon. Domina was another one of the more impressive villains. His water skills were really good and even by the end of the series he is one of the most powerful members. He is one of those guys where you might not buy into the redemption arc all that much though. You have to suspend a little disbelief there but it was definitely satisfying seeing him show up in the climax so that was cool.

Charles doesn’t quite have the same energy behind him. He’s also rather strong but not as impressive as the last few. I did like Levis a lot though. He’s another villain who is more on the crazy side and fights hard. His ending may not make him look super impressive but for the most part you can count on a tough fight from this guy. Famin is super strong and one of the more twisted villains. It seems like the clown/jester villains always have a bit of an edge to them right? Don’t let this guy’s quirkiness fool you, he’s as deadly as they come and really leaves an impact.

Epidem has one of the most memorable scenes later on because how much of a sucker he proves the heroes to be. The main thing to remember is that if a villain offers you food, you probably shouldn’t take it. That’s like the first lesson everyone learns right? Well, you would think that was the case at least. So his entire fight was really fun. Delisaster is another villain I’m drawing more of a blank on but the design is really solid. It’ll be fun to see all of these villains animated at some point. There are just so many great fights to be had.

Mashle is a series that has tremendous amounts of replay value though. There are so many great fights to be found throughout all of the arcs and like I said the humor is also really good. It takes you back to a nostalgic time in Shonen Jump and it really always keeps a good balance between action and humor. I’d have been cool for the series to have kept on going for a long time. This could have been the next Naruto in terms of impact.

Overall, Mashle is an absolutely elite title. One of the all time greats and definitely a story that you need to read. It’s not every day that we get another big action Shonen like this so you need to check it out right away. The character cast is fun and there are so many fun little references and easter eggs here. The world is really well fleshed out and so you are absolutely engaged in everything that is going on from start to finish. Also if you like cream puffs, this series will likely help you take that to the next level!

Overall 9/10

Slam Dunk Review

Posted on May 12, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the best all time Basketball stories out there and it’s one of the best sport titles in general as well. This one was absolutely huge in Japan and rightfully so. There are a ton of really great stories contained within this title and all of the characters get a lot to do. While I may have some issues with the ending, it is tough to have a perfect ending. Nothing will work for everyone after all but it is what it is as far as that’s concerned. The only sport titles I would have above this one are Kuroko’s Basketball, Prince of Tennis, and Blue Lock. I have Slam Dunk as the 4th best all time sports title.

The series follows a guy named Sakuragi who is basically a juvenile delinquent. He gets into a lot of fights in school and everyone absolutely fears him except for his posse and a girl at school named Haruko who treats him normally. He falls in love with her and turns away from his delinquent days. In fact, her brother is a big basketball player and she thinks Sakuragi could do well there. She is also in love with the new rookie Rukawa. All of these reasons cause Sakuragi to join the Basketball team so he can impress her and show the others up. That’s not so easy though and he quickly finds out that the sport is not so easily tamed. He’s a very stubborn kind of guy though and vows not to quit until he’s the best. What started initially as something to impress the girl he likes quickly becomes much more than that as he makes some rivals on the team and starts to really get invested. He really does want to be the best now and eventually score the famous Slam Dunk. Can he pull it off?

One thing that is impressive right out of the gate is how long the series is. There are over 30 volumes here and it’s almost hard to believe because the series goes by so quickly. Some games take a very long time to end after all which is also why the characters all have time to shine. In every big game the author tries to have all 5 starting players have a big role and often times even a few players off the bench will do big things. After all there are more than 5 big players on the team and that number grows as the series goes on.

Initially you really have 3 big players in Sakuragi, Rukawa, and Akagi. Sakuragi can barely play at all so you’ve really just got 2 big players. Then after that we have an ex delinquent show up and before you know it, other big players are jumping on. Then a few of the final years or behind the scenes players get to do their thing. So the team ends up being really well balanced which is nice to see and you get really invested here. You had to see them lose a lot of rounds before they made it to this stage in the game so this is like the big payoff. I will say that the school names tend to blend together though. Sakuragi’s team is Shohoku but other big teams also start with an S. So the best thing to do is memorize the main team’s name so you always know that any other team is their opponent.

The art style is fairly retro but definitely high tier all the way. It’s one of the cleaner art styles that I’ve seen and it has aged incredibly well. You really feel the intensity behind each of the battles. Slam Dunk is the kind of series that has some actual hand to hand battles in addition to what’s on the field so those moments are always fun as well. Sakuragi obviously has experience with his fists and one consistent thing throughout the series is that he is the absolute strongest. In a fight nobody can bring him down and I was glad that this proved to be true the whole way. The odds that there was another basketball player who was just as strong would have been a bit much. A lot of the others can fight and do their best to put up a fight but they’re no Sakuragi.

To make up for this, it takes a long while for Sakuragi to actually get good. If you’re worried about him getting good immediately, don’t be. He doesn’t actually turn the corner until the very end of the series. For a little bit there you’re even worried about just how much he will be able to contribute in the end. He still makes a lot of basic mistakes even by the end but you can absolutely see the progress. He starts by working on rebounds, then free throws, and then finally the ability to go for the slam dunk. You’re even invested enough where you get annoyed when he messes up a play or misses a shot because you are really rooting for his success. That’s the hallmark of a great character.

Now you might be wondering, why don’t I like the ending? Well, it’s virtually impossible to get into that without spoilers but it pulls the kind of ending that I’ve seen several other sport series pull and it never works. The kind of ending I want is a really satisfying one where the team leaves everything on the table. They still have a bright future and no real setbacks outside of a possible loss. I don’t mind the characters losing the big game or anything like that but you shouldn’t stockpile anything on top of that. Still, I can’t deny that it is a very tense climax all the way and one of the best Basketball games in the series.

You may be wondering, with 31 volumes, there has to be more to the plot right? Well, in a small scale yes, there is of course a lot of context and mini subplots going on here that I haven’t mentioned but in a large sense yeah this is the plot. Generally it is about all of the characters uniting to win the big tournament. Along the way there are a lot of different games and it’s not just one tournament. They get to play in all seasons so if they lose one tournament then they have a chance in the next one. Generally the only time limit is that they need to win something before the third years retire because otherwise they won’t get to see the big trophy at the end. Perhaps it is already too late for those guys but Sakuragi is going to do his best to win.

You don’t need much more than that for this kind of series. It’s the same for titles like Kuroko’s Basketball and Prince of Tennis. Playing the game and getting farther and farther is the whole point of the adventure so you don’t need anything more than that. It’s also why the volumes blend together because of the games continuing across them and a lot of them being in the same tournament. The games keep on getting longer and longer too in order to show off how intense the opponents are. In a few chapters you only really get one pass as the teams size each other up.

Okay lets talk about the characters now. There are certainly a good amount of them running around here. First up is Sakuragi and there’s not much more that I need to say about him. He’s a really fun character who always gives the team hope when they are down. He doesn’t scare easy and is the kind of person you want to have your back. He will absolutely defend you all the way. His basic understanding of the game means that he will mistakes and will fall for traps but he is always improving at a very fast rate. So give him time and he will be the best on the field at some point.

His romance plot is a little basic as he falls for Haruko right away and it almost feels like more of a gag than anything else. You can cut him some slack because clearly this isn’t a situation that he is used to and it is a big part of the series to be sure. I just wasn’t really behind the romance on this one. He needed to just focus on the game and the series barely has time for this plot for most of the duration. It’s the vehicle that got him to start Basketball but that’s pretty much the end of its use.

Haruko’s a good character though and she always does her best to be supportive. She does have Sakuragi’s back as a good friend and while she likes Rukawa, she doesn’t act really desperate about it. In fact, it’s easy to forget that she likes him at some points because it is never a really big deal here. It’s just a part of her character plot. Rukawa certainly has no time for any of that since he is busy trying to be the very best Basketball player in the world. Rukawa is a really good rival who can dish it out against anyone. Sakuragi is a very physical kind of guy after all and Rukawa responds in kind. I like his confidence and overwhelming skill.

That said, I do think that he tends to disappear a little here and there when the going gets tough. Towards the end we do have a subplot into that as he is reminded that if he wants to be the best then he should be able to defeat anyone who gets in his way. This does end up lighting a fire underneath Rukawa and he puts up one of his best performances. So while he was generally one of the most impressive players all the way, he really reached his potential by the end. He was definitely a great rival to keep Sakuragi honest the whole time.

Then you have Akagi who is basically the strong man of the group. He is always ready to land a good rebound and he is one of the only people that Sakuragi will always listen to. The lead has a lot of respect for the guy and it’s not just because he’s related to the main heroine. Akagi is a natural leader and while he may get down in the dumps once in a while, he usually keeps his head high and has good advice. He’s the cornerstone of the team and as long as he believes there is a chance, everyone fights really hard.

Of course you also have the coach but my hot take is that he’s not very good. Sure, he will show up every now and again with a good play but for the most part he leaves everyone to their devices. Not a bad idea by any means when you’ve got a lot of talent on your squad but it does mean that I don’t give him much credit when they win. After all he didn’t actually do much about that right? That’s the only way to see this. The assistant Ayako does a better job of making sure that each player has what they need. She does all of her duties smoothly and it shows. There’s also a romance plot with her going on but it’s even less of a focus than Sakuragi’s plot so you can safely ignore it.

Kogure is one of the quieter players on the team but he can still play as needed. The guy doesn’t stand out but what he does have on his side is a lot of experience. He keeps his cool under pressure and can get a few baskets in. He’s a solid example of a supporting character who would help out during crunch time even if he wasn’t an elite. The same is true for Yasuda as well. He always keeps his cool and doesn’t fall for the enemy’s mind games. So if the teams are getting fouled a lot then you can count on him to step in and save the day. Or at least buy some time, you’ll still need someone who can really score.

Mitsui is another fun member of the team who can actually fight pretty hard in real life as well as on the court. He was gone for a while at the start so the team has good reason to be annoyed with him but his skills are definitely the real deal. His three point shots get the team out of a lot of holes. It’s such a huge deal to be able to get those extra points as needed. He may not be the calmest guy and it’s pretty easy to egg him on but when you’re on a team with the wild card Sakuragi, it’s fine to have some attitude issues on the court. They will end up sorting themselves out after all.

Then you have Miyagi who is another solid player. He seems to think of himself as Sakuragi’s rival at times but I wouldn’t quite put him in the same weight class there. He is absolutely a good player and all but I never found him to be outstanding. Hey, you need a full team of 5 to go up against the opponents so he still filled in his spot really well. He was a solid guy to have on board. These are all of the big players on the main team. There are others who ride the bench and get a quick moment here and there but for the most part they won’t be making an impact in the actual game. Now it’s time to look at some of the other players on the rival teams.

First up we have one of the strongest teams in the series so you can bet that they have a stacked lineup. Their lead player is Maki who is basically the best all around player in the series. He can dunk, he can play defense, he has speed, he can do anything. I like his overall confidence and even by the end I don’t think that the rival actually surpassed him. There’s no shame in that though, this guy is seriously the real deal so that is to be expected. He’s not just some obstacle though, he gets a good amount of character beyond that. He’s actually a rather fun guy, he’s just naturally competitive on the court.

His coach Takato is also much better than the main coach although that’s true for all of them so I may as well say that now. This guy actually uses a lot of strategy and puts his team in the best position to win. Kiyota is another tough fighter who has confidence on the level of Sakuragi the whole time and this guy’s actually really good. Of course you can expect that Sakuragi will eventually be better than him but this guy is the more complete player at the moment.

Jin and Takato may not be all star players in the way that the others are but they are always put in to win at the right times. They have specific talents like the 3 point shot for example and the coach has them make a move when Sakuragi’s crew least expects it. Just another example of how important it is to have a great coach. A great coach can single handily change the way a match is going to play out. There’s no doubt of that.

Next up we have the team with Uozumi and Sendoh leading the charge. This was another great tag team. Uozumi really made for a rival to Akagi and had a lot of overall power. In a one on one he would tend to lose to our guy but one benefit of always losing is that you have more to work on down the road. So he kept up his game and now he is fully a match for Akagi, even taking the lead at some points. He’s not a dirty player or anything though and keeps everything above board which I respect. It’s easy to acknowledge him as a solid rival.

Meanwhile Sendoh was a rival for Rukawa and did well there. He does light a fire under Sakuragi as well at times but I would say that Rukawa is his main focus. This is another guy who has a case for being the best overall Basketball player. He puts a lot of effort into every part of his game and once he gets serious it is hard to beat him. His one weakness is that it takes time for him to get serious at some points but it does always happen eventually so that’s important. He’s so good it’s not like there is usually a reason for him to get serious early on.

The next team has Kawata and Fukatsu as the big two. Kawata is a really strong player who relies on his strength all the way. That’s not to say that he can’t make shots but this is his big strength to the point where it takes everything Sakuragi has to stop him. It makes for a great rivalry all the way and he’s definitely a player that you really have to account for. Fukatsu is more of the solid all around type. He calmly manages the ball and gets his whole team involved. Another player that really makes it difficult for the opponents to do much against him. This team is a bit weaker than the others in terms of the big two but it’s fairly relative at this point.

There are naturally a bunch of other players across the rest of the teams. This series has no shortage of them but these are the biggest characters that have a role in the series. They are guys that all left an impact and in general they were all good. There are no characters that I found to be super annoying or anything like that. They all had good roles and kept things interesting.

At no point in the series will you be even remotely bored either. Each of the matches are important and will have you on the edge of your sear. Sport series like this also remind you that victory is never guaranteed either so you really don’t know if they will win or not. It’s different from an action series where the characters have to win to an extent or the series is over. In this case that’s not what is happening. Sure, you can still pick up on trends and everything but it is all executed really well.

Overall, Slam Dunk is an excellent series and definitely one of those titles that you aren’t likely to forget. The games are all really great and the cast is very likable. With 30+ volumes you have plenty of time to get used to all of the characters and see what makes them tick. I would even say it probably has a stronger cast than Kuroko’s Basketball to be honest. So that’s one area where I have to give this one the edge. Whether you like Basketball or not I dare say that you can really appreciate the story. It’s just a great story about competitive nature and also what it means to really be a team.

Overall 9/10

Gintama Review

Posted on May 6, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the most iconic manga titles of all time. Gintama has long had a reputation for being one of the funniest titles of all time while simultaneously being known for its exceptional cast and storylines. I can safely say after completing the series that it really is an elite title and deserves to be treated as such. It’s really an excellent series and I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon. This is a monster to talk about with over 70 volumes but no time like the present right?

The basic plot revolves around Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi as the trio runs a little group that performs errands for people. They will do just about any task whether it be walking a dog or playing matchmaker. They’re in a good town for this because everybody has problems that need solving. Unfortunately Gintoki isn’t always the most efficient at handling these tasks and so he is often behind on the rent and the group has a ton of problems staying out of the red. They have a lot of wacky adventures for the first 500 chapters or so with the occasional action arc and then we transition into the saving the universe kind of stories. Once these come into play then things really end up changing.

One of the most impressive parts of the series is really how seamlessly it changes. The series was so exceptional as a comedy but there isn’t really a disconnect when it goes into the action phase. If anything it’s like the ultimate payoff because you know the characters so well by this point and are eager to see what happens to them. It gives you more reason to root for the characters and hope that they make it out of the situation. It reminds me of Reborn! in a way but to a much higher degree in terms of how long it takes. Don’t get me wrong, there are some action arc fairly early on in the manga as well but it’s only near the end where it makes the complete shift and doesn’t really look back.

Even in the action arcs there is always some comedy to be sure but the stakes stay high and characters can actually die. Gintama certainly wasn’t afraid to change the status quo when needed. The artwork for the series is incredibly good which helps as well since you could always count on really top tier action scenes the whole time in those fighting based arcs. The series can definitely hold its own with just about every title in terms of the artework. Some of the world’s lore is so detailed that I can’t say I always cared about it but it’s clear that the author was definitely passionate about the whole thing. There is a whole lot of lore here without a doubt.

There aren’t all that many series that crossed 70 volumes like this one did which also automatically puts this one at an advantage in terms of how much it could do. There was time to really do a bit of everything because it’s that much longer than the average manga. I would say the title’s reputation as being legendary is definitely deserved. As a comedic manga, naturally not every joke is going to land. It has its rough moments where you’ll be cringing at a joke, in fact that will be lots of them like that. The series still has the sheer length to outnumber those with constant jokes that are actually good. This is a series that definitely throws everything it has at you and is quite bold. I can certainly appreciate that.

There’s a lot of story to get through and a ton of characters so lets start going through them. Prepare for a very long write-up here which goes without saying for a series on this scale. I mostly won’t talk about too many of the comedic chapters/mini arcs in part because there would just be too many of them and also because there are numerous gags that were a blast. You just have to experience them in context, or even without and see how fun they are. As long as you like really creative/zany comedy moments then you’ll have a good time here. Apparently there are around 64 Gintama arcs but I’ll mainly be skipping any that are too short and talking about the biggest ones. I also won’t really be going in order on these in part because I’m not sure of the exact order for some of them and putting them in order would take a little while.

One fun mini arc is when Katsura, AKA the best character in the series infiltrates the Shinsengumi and quickly becomes trusted enough where he turns them against each other. It’s only 4 chapters which is an example of the kind of mini arc that is sort of around for a quick gag and then goes away but manages to be fun. The comedic arcs like this which are mainly just absurd tend to have a lot of great humor. You enjoy seeing Katsura mess with people which he does in most arcs. The fun part is that he’s really awful at it and yet he tends to be successful which is a nice contradiction. Nobody notices how he is stumbling over his words or contradicting his story in many instances. The arc also shows how wearing an afro can really change everyone’s view of you and works a bit like a disguise.

Another example of a really good absurd arc involves the character popularity poll because that is breaking the third wall to a historic degree. Basically some of the characters aren’t too pleased with how they placed so they start attacking and degrading other characters in order to have them drop in the polls. This way one of them can claim the #1 spot. Naturally this causes a battle between the popular and unpopular characters. Also this is Gintama, meaning you can’t trust anybody. People change allegiances and start fighting each other left and right. So if you’re not careful then you will just be the next victim. It’s another really short mini arc but one that really made the most of the concept.

Then we have an arc where Gintoki decides to make a lot of money with an anonymous confessional box. As you can probably guess, a ton of the complaints ended up being about him which wasn’t very fun for the guy and he begin hearing a lot of incriminating things. When this inevitably involves the shogun as well, Gintoki ends up being in a whole lot of trouble. The Shogun and his gags still tend to be some of the weakest parts of the series but I did like the story for this arc. It’s a really fun gag and it was nice see all of the characters show up to share their dark secrets. Gintoki may not have given good advice at any point but hey it’s the thought that counts.

Another quick arc revolves around Shinpachi getting a letter…from a girl! She seems to be opening the door to a long distance relationship but is he reading too much into it? Also, he is famously a big shot in a fanclub for a local celebrity girl so can he betray her like this? Getting into a relationship may not be the right move. He also makes the mistake of asking Gintoki for advice which isn’t always a great move. It’s one of those fun arcs that takes things to an absurd level but is fun because you can definitely picture the stress of answering a letter in the mail like this. You can’t really determine tone or anything from a letter which makes it really easy to overthink things.

Naturally this wouldn’t be a comedic series without at least one love potion arc right? This is another short one but you can imagine all of the gags that come into place when a love potion explodes across the whole town. It’s a fun enough mini arc and a reminder of why that would be such a dangerous ordeal if it were a real thing. Everyone suddenly having to confess their feelings and being put in the spotlight would be rough, especially once the effects wore off and you had to live with the aftermath. Although I’d argue for Gintoki and friends they are embarrassed so often that it shouldn’t be as big a deal compared to others.

Another romance based one involves a dating sim game that has been getting really big. Naturally Shinpachi falls into this game and this causes Gintoki and friends to get involved. Naturally it isn’t recommended to fall for your virtual girlfriend since the whole thing is still a game but for someone like Shinpachi who hasn’t had any luck in the real world it makes sense that this could end up getting tempting. It’s always nice to see Gintoki talk really tough and suddenly get involved as well, it’s part of what makes him a really entertaining main character. He always talks really tough and belittles everyone but when the chips are down you find that he’s quickly just as invested himself.

Then we have the body swapping arc which is another comedic classic. Kyubei has always been rather confused and acts like a guy so her big wish comes true and everyone switches genders. It’s a pretty entertaining arc and I have to say that living in this main town must get really confusing for everyone. Quite a few of the characters really take this in stride though. At the end of the day it’s not like their core personalities have changed after all, but of course they do have to get back to normal after that. It’s a fun arc while it lasts and is a natural climax to all of Kyubei’s inner doubts.

Kagura gets a fun little arc where the series remembers that she can’t handle the sunlight and it is deadly for her people. So she had gotten a bit lazy about this and ends up faking her own death with the sunlight but the problem now is how can she get out of this before they cremate her body? Additionally, some characters know the truth and are using this as an excuse to murder her. It’s going to be a tough situation to get out of and she has to choose between her life and her honor. This is a very short arc but definitely one of those absurd plots that is a lot of fun to read. you gotta be careful what kind of a gag you try to pull on your friends.

One extremely short arc was about Gintama breaking the clock that controls all of time by mistake. So now time is frozen and nobody can move on. In this world even clocks can spell disaster I suppose. There was also a quick little party where Gintoki and the other 3 members of the original 4 man squad try to remember a 5th person who invited them there but they have a hard time with it. You feel bad for the guy. It has to be rough having nobody remember you even when you were a big member.

There’s an arc that is mainly comedic but with some emotional undertones. One day when Ayame is trying to mess with Gintoki as always and get him to marry her, her glasses end up breaking. So Gintoki gets her some new ones but they don’t actually work for her. She decides to use them anyway since they were a gift but now she is messing up more than ever and a group of assassins are after her. So she has to learn to look out for herself and ditch the glasses even if they were a gift for Gintoki. It’s a good arc with a solid moral about looking out for yourself too. You may like someone a lot but if they give you something that doesn’t work or actively hurts you then you should just not use it. Ayame learns this the hard way.

Idol groups are a big deal apparently, so big that the galaxy’s strongest idol group shows up to take down the one on Gintoki’s planet. This battle has high stakes because the winner will effectively rule the universe after this. So losing is definitely not an ideal option. The main idol group isn’t bad but the galaxy’s strongest have a ton of dirty tricks up their sleeve to watch out for. This isn’t one of my favorite arcs and I’d say it’s because there aren’t too many gags you can use this one. The main gag that you have to keep on repeating is how all of the fans are pervs and nerds which doesn’t last very long as a funny gag.

A better arc involves the body switch between Hiijikata and Gintoki. Again, if there’s a comedy trope that you have heard of, it will appear in Gintama at least once. The seires was ready for anything and this was a really fun one. Naturally they have completely different leadership styles as Gintoki is super laidback and does whatever he wants while Hiijikata is super strict. So both groups have a lot of trouble getting behind this and it makes for a pretty fun story. I was definitely satisfied the whole way through.

There are a bunch of mini arcs that reference other series like Jojo’s, Hunter X Hunter, Bleach, the Saw movies, and more. So you can expect to see those and have some fun with them. Most are pretty short and I didn’t go into as much detail here but you know these are always a blast. Then there is the big scandal arc where Gintoki gets drunk on New Year’s and may have had several affairs. Unfortunately he doesn’t remember what happened and since this is Gintoki, he knows that it’s all possible. So this leads to a ton of misunderstandings and shenanigans as he tries to solve all of this. He will have to hurry or people will lose whatever respect they have left for him. Of course, nobody respects him anyway so that means there aren’t really any stakes here.

The mini arc involving a time skip was definitely some brilliant stuff. While Shinpachi thought the series just went on a 1 week break, 2 years had actually passed within Gintama. So everyone has new designs and even their personalities are a bit different. It’s all rather odd and he has fallen behind now which is really rough. The gags here were all on point and it was a great way to poke fun at the time skips. Gintama is definitely a series that absolutely masters the art of breaking the third wall. It does this extremely effective at all times so I was really impressed the whole time. It’s very short but still very funny.

Dragon Quest is so big that it has tons of references throughout the series but one big one is the Tama Quest mini arc. She gets a virus so the characters have to log in and get rid of it but the whole experience basically turns into a video game. That’s definitely a fun way to adapt how these things go, so I had a pretty good time here. Even the art style looks like an 8 bit video game which shows how much range the artist has. Seriously, it’s one of the best looking manga titles out there.

Now we’re mostly going to be getting into the more serious arcs. First up is an arc that shows us the first meeting between Sakamoto and Mutsu. As always Sakamoto was biting off more than he could chew with a big sales scam to some pirates. Ultimately he manages to turn on the charm and Mutsu likes how determined he is. Sakamoto ends up helping her out and she joins him as a permanent ally. He’s sure lucky to have someone like her who is super powerful by his side. She could easily crush him at any time but they have a solid amount of mutual respect going for them. It was nice to see how they first met and it would have been a shame if we never got to see that. Even without Gintoki getting to do much here, the arc holds up well.

Another serious arc is Okita’s introduction arc. He’s a very serious guy who generally just beats everyone up as he looks for a worthy opponent but he is very mellow when his sister is around. He acts like just a general nice guy and we find out that she’s super sick and her fiancé is evil. The arc is an example of how Gintama isn’t afraid to get really dark. There is no cure for her ailment and she just gets closer and closer to her death while Okita has to do his job and take the fiancé down. It’s a tough road for everyone involved but ultimately at least she got to see that Okita takes his job very seriously. Definitely not an arc that you really expect when reading Gintama but it worked well.

Okita has a big role in another arc where Gintoki had a sword get stuck in his backside. This presents a ton of obvious problems like even the basic action of sitting down but what’s even worse is that the sword works like a symbiote. If Gintoki isn’t careful then he will be taken over. The sword also has a wife and a rival/villain who also get stuck into different characters. Okita and Gintoki will have to fight to the death here but is there any way to get the swords out. This is one of those arcs that is mainly comedic and absurd but also has some serious moments with the sword’s backstory. Good luck taking it seriously though. I thought this was a pretty fun one that shows just how unique the series is.

Then we have one of those arcs that has to be Bleach inspired. A weather girl gets involved with demons and the supernatural so Gintoki and friends step in to help since they love her program. Gintoki makes sure to watch every day after all but can they handle supernatural menaces? Well, of course they can! The series also has soul reaper equivalents so it’s not like this is too crazy to deal with. It was nice to see the weather girl get involved because she is mentioned constantly in the series but rarely gets to take the center stage. So that was pretty fun.

Another short but key arc is when Otae and Shinpachi’s master shows up. The guy should have been dead for years but somehow he has survived and now he has a cool beam sword. Unfortunately Gintoki realizes that the guy is a double agent and has a powerful bomb within him. So he has to destroy the guy even if it means breaking the hearts of his closest friends. It’s a really emotional arc to be sure and also underscores Gintoki’s resolve. He may joke around a whole lot but when it comes to his friends, he will even be the villain if that’s what it takes to keep them safe. It’s a mindset that I can absolutely respect.

Then we get the introduction to Kagura’s father, Umibouzu. The guy is a beast in combat and easily one of the most powerful characters in the whole series. Still, he definitely has his silly side the whole time and I always like the rivalry between him and Gintoki with regard to being Kagura’s true father. It’s true that the biological father is always off planet while Gintoki has been the one actually raising her. I tend to be on his side when things are getting competitive to be honest. Umibouzu is still a good guy of course but Gintoki’s still better. This arc’s a fun way to meet the dad and learn more about Kagura at the same time.

After that we also have an arc with Kyubey showing up to try and win over Otae. Meanwhile Kondo is getting engaged to a gorilla and this won’t be the last time that happens. He likes Otae as well but can he really compete with Kyubey who is an absolute prodigy, good at just about everything and just a lot more impressive than Kondo can ever hope to be? It’s tough but there is a twist about Kyubey and how she’s actually a girl which is extremely lucky for Kondo. Kyubey would go on to be one of the more entertaining characters and this arc was definitely a lot of fun. It’s fairly low key but we get to see Otae a lot which is good since she’s generally more of a side character.

There’s also a fairly small but serious arc with a terrorist named Jiraia shows up to cause a lot of destruction and Gintoki has to take him out. This was a really good arc and has one of the best fights in the series. We really get to see Gintoki going the extra mile and fighting even when he has serious injuries. We would see more and more of this as the series goes on but it was one of the first times we could see exactly what Gintoki could do. It was definitely a masterful storyline.

An arc that is a bit of a cross between humor and action has the characters get taken to a turtle island which quickly becomes a save the world type of mission as they have to stop some cannons and start being transformed as well. It’s definitely a good bit of fun especially with Katsura being a main character. The heroes really have to try and surpass their limits in order to win here. It ended up being really memorable for me as a result even though the arc isn’t very long and is fairly early in the series.

As we approach the last big arc, we get different arcs that connect to the main storyline as every big villain is taken care of. One of these is for taking down Oboro, one of the more powerful fighters. It turns out that his past goes way back. He makes for a pretty good enemy, that’s for sure. Utsuro is really the big boss though and he’s the kind of guy that keeps coming back over and over again. You really have to respect how durable he is and the full nature of his plans. His backup plans have backup plans. One arc has him trigger a war between different planets in the universe, then he ends up attacking the planet, then he turns into a kid which causes a civil war among Gintoki and his allies, etc. The last few arcs are mostly a ton of nonstop fights in the middle of all of this.

The arcs are all really solid but the one part you don’t end up caring about much it eh Shogun plot in space. Unfortunately Katsura is stuck in that plot so you won’t actually get to see him fighting all that much there. It’s too bad since I felt like the series always hinted that he was actually the best fighter but it’s hard to prove without more evidence. The final arcs do a great job of involving just about every character who ever appeared into it. That’s super impressive and it feels like a true Shonen final arc. The final chapters even throw in an extra time skip with new designs and gimmicks as well to give some more closure. There is also an epilogue too that goes on surprisingly long during the arc. Gintama ended as it started, with a lot of troll moves that’s for sure.

Then the Shinsengumi also have quite a few arcs where they get to do a lot. Their arcs don’t tend to be the most interesting in part because Gintoki and friends tend to take a backseat. I know the arcs themselves are rather popular though and I wouldn’t say they’re bad or anything. I probably just have them a bit lower than most. One of these introduces the Mimawarigumi, which is basically a reverse group. They will show up a whole lot and the two groups are constantly battling it out. The group also aren’t a bunch of throwaways or anything like that. They are able to hold their own blow for blow against the main group and have a lot of real members. They even get their own origin stories and such later on so that was definitely impressive.

Then you have the big farewell arc as well. This one is really long and has both groups fighting a whole lot but most importantly it starts to tie into the final arcs with the cosmic villain showing up with his big shots. It’s one of those climaxes that just keeps going and is really hype. So ironically I like it more for the non Shinsengumi parts but it’s the same arc so it still counts. There are tons of mob fights here too so if that’s your thing then it’s a bonus. We get so many army against army fights that they will probably start to blend together after a while though. I would say that happened to me after a while as well, I tend to always prefer the direct battles. We do get plenty of those in this arc too though.

You’ve also got the Shogun arc which is also about the Shinsengumi a lot. The Shogun is still one of my least favorite characters though, no matter how much the series wanted to try and make him likable. Similar to the last arc, this one gets elevated by Kamui showing up later on as opposed to the Shinsengumi parts. The fights there are some of the best in the series so I was definitely impressed all the way. It’s absolutely an arc to keep your eye on and one of the turning points in the series in terms of going all the way into action.

So I didn’t quite throw in every arc but that was quite a lot of story to get into. There are also tons of one shot chapters that have running gags that keep on appearing so they are like mini arcs that aren’t connected. In particular one excellent one is when Gintoki visits a prison to help an aspiring manga author. That was always a really fun set of stories and it shows how Gintoki would really make time to help people. The gags were always a lot of fun. All right, deep breath now people because it’s time to talk about the characters and man does this series have a lot of them! Naturally I won’t be talking about every single character but I will be talking about a whole lot of them so prepare yourself.

First off we have to start with Gintoki of course and he’s an incredible lead. A top tier Shonen Jump protagonist all the way. He may not be the most heroic or anything like that but he does have a lot of convictions and will always protect his friends. He’s a lot like Kenshin when you think about it. Gintoki is trying to leave his dark past behind him and have a lot of fun but it always ends up catching up to him in time. He’s an extremely layered character who excels in both the comedic and serious stories. He’s one of the best characters in the series and has a ton of iconic moments. Definitely one of those characters you can be inspired by and even learn a few things from.

Shinpachi certainly doesn’t have Gintoki’s confidence and is often lagging behind when it comes time to fight. He just doesn’t have the skills needed to keep up with most of the characters but he tries hard. I tend to like him more in the comedic moments than in the serious situations since he adds a lot to the dynamic in the funny moments. He definitely does earn his spot among the main cast though, the series wouldn’t be the same without him. The straight man role in a joke is something that I’ll probably never really find the humor in but he has enough of his own gags to make up for this. There’s always a lot for him to do.

Kagura is naturally even funnier though and with her superhuman strength she is able to hold her own in the serious arcs too which I appreciate. She gets a lot of backstory which is actually rather tragic but she always keeps up a good spirit. She may give Gintoki a tough time but they have a good father/daughter bond throughout the series. All 3 members are definitely needed in order to make the series reach its full potential each time. Of course there is also the dog Sadaharu. He may not be able to talk but at the same time he has a reasonable role here since he has a lot of personality. He will actively attack Gintoki at times and surprisingly gets an extremely big role near the climax of the series. That really took me by surprise since I was not expecting that at all. We get to really see a lot into how strong the bonds between him and the rest of the characters are.

Tae is Shinpachi’s sister and her role is fairly big even if she isn’t usually important to the story of the arc. She is always around being the mature member while everyone else is messing around. Quite a few characters in the series like her as a result but in particular Kyubey and Kondo fight over her. She usually brushes them off fairly well and definitely has her violent side as well. Nobody better dare mess with her or it’s all over! She’s a fun enough side character for sure and usually understands quicker than the others why Gintoki does what he does when it’s time for a serious choice to be made.

As the landlord, Otose is always giving Gintoki a lot of grief because of how late he is with the payments. I definitely get it since that’s her livelihood and she needs that money in order to survive. That said, at the end of the day she does let him get away with a whole lot and is a very reasonable person. Catherine is a more mild supporting character who doesn’t appear very often towards the end. Her role is usually to get dunked on by everyone else for how ugly she is and how she looks like a cat. Definitely not a very flattering role to be sure but it’s hard to feel bad for her when she starts the fight a lot of the time.

Hiraga is a local inventor who helps out quite a bit. His role is never all that huge but he sticks around since near the beginning of the series so his appearances add up. He’s not amazing or anything but he’s not bad. It’s always good to have a mechanic on hand. He is able to help out Tama a lot who actually is a great character. Tama is a robot who may not know too much about human customs but learns a whole lot during her interactions with Gintoki and the crew. She has a lot of personality and also has some gadgets to fight with when things get serious. She’s always fun.

Now lets talk about the best character in the series. So Katsura is usually one of those gag characters who doesn’t take things too seriously but don’t let that fool you into thinking he is weak or anything like that. I would argue quite strongly that he is stronger than Gintoki and Shinsuke. My reasoning for that is when they were kids Katsura was always shown to be the best. He would consistently win and then in the present I would assume that things stayed the same. The difficult part is that he is often not on the front lines in the same way that the others are. It feels like most of the time he would end up on some kind of side quest that has nothing to do with anything. So that was a little disappointing but I guess it is what it is.

Regardless, he does have a big role in so many stories that I shouldn’t be too greedy. His gags were always a lot of fun. I like the idea of his being a super genius who just keeps himself entertained by messing around the whole time. Then he has his best friend Elizabeth which the series has a lot of fun with. We get a lot of twists about that character and you have to decide how many of them to take seriously. Elizabeth is definitely a really odd character all around but in the end the dynamic works rather well.

Shinsuke is the main villain for a good chunk of the series although he spends a lot of time in the shadows so once he does actually appear, there isn’t quite as much time for him. Still, he’s not the kind of villain that you are likely to forget, that’s for sure! He has a really good backstory that explains why he turned out the way that he did and you get it. It’s a really tragic origin story and he has a lot of people to blame for what happened. A main theme in the series is about growing up and moving on from the past though so he actually has quite a few deep conversations with Gintoki about things. He’s definitely a very layered villain and one who is always a threat.

He has a few subordinates but the biggest one by far has to be Bansai. Bansai has a really good intro and it seems like he can hold his own with the stronger characters but surprisingly his role always ends up staying rather small. He doesn’t get the big feature fights that you would expect to see out of him. I like the design though and I suppose not everyone has to have their big action moments. He’s still around for a bunch of the war scenes and everything.

Then we have the best villain, Kamui. He’s a solid wild card and whenever he shows up you know things are going to get bad for the heroes. His stats are out of this world to the point where Gintoki and the others can’t beat him in a fair fight. It’s safe to say that he is the single strongest character in the series except for the final boss. That guy still has him beat I suppose. So Kamui gets a lot of chances to dominate and he’s generally the kind of character who loves to fight and test his limits. I always love characters like that.

Of course there are several Shinsengumi characters who end up being big so lets go through them. First up is Kondo and for the first chunk of the series I would constantly mix him up with Hasegawa. In my defense, the two of them are way too similar. Seriously their personalities aren’t that far apart either. I can’t say that I ever liked Kondo much. He was always super desperate so he looked bad. He doesn’t stand up for himself and so his persona as being a big shot in the organization doesn’t work.

I actually preferred Hasegawa who at least made himself into a professional homeless person. That’s not easy and he had his own sense of pride the whole time. His parody moments would actually land rather well so I had to give him a lot of props. Not enough to say that he is a very good character or anything like that though. He just beats Kondo which isn’t a high bar. Then we have Yamazaki who can also be rather desperate but at least he knows what he is doing. He’s a good undercover agent who isn’t afraid to play the long game when tailing a target. Now that’s what I call skill and dedication.

Then we have Hiijikata who is a pretty fun character. His mayo gimmick is definitely fun and he actually acts as a foil to Gintoki at times. I never bought him being in the same level of power as the lead to be honest but he was still good to have around. His strict leadership style really isn’t bad at all and he made the group a force to be reckoned with. It wouldn’t be the same without Okita though who is a really good standout character. He’s another guy who likes to fight and never backs down from anything. Not all of his personality traits are great to be honest but he tends to be awesome more times than he is not. So I would give the guy a full thumbs up in the end.

Then we have the reverse group and they had two big members. The first one is Sasaki who does well to command his fighting troops. He’s a serious guy without a doubt and definitely not someone to be underestimated. I can’t say I loved his character but he made for a good villain. His right hand woman Nobume was a lot more intense though. Now she was a blast and a good rival for Okita. Honestly she was too good for that group the whole time and I would look forward to her scenes. It was always nice to get more star fighters.

The series definitely liked its duos though. Next up we have another one. Ayame is a ninja who is completely obsessed with Gintoki. She stalks him and does whatever she can in order to attract his attention. On one hand, her determination itself is admirable but the stalker kind of character is rarely my cup of tea. Her gags tend to be more annoying than funny and I couldn’t take her seriously in the power department. The same is true of her boss Hattori. He may have technically been one of the main 4 with Gintoki and friends in the past but he never seemed nearly as tough. The guy doesn’t have the same level of grit or determination either. Honestly the guy felt rather fraudulent the whole time. I never ended up liking him and he often had some of the weaker chapters although I did like that time Gintoki and friends dressed up as ninja. Wait a sec, half of that was for Sakamoto. Yeah these are two characters I absolutely mixed up all the time. They act the same and their dynamics with their partners are the same as well. Maybe this is the one weakness of the series because having multiple characters this easy to mix up is a little crazy.

One primary character in the main town is Tsukuyo. She’s sort of like a mafia gang member and she seems to like Gintoki but I wouldn’t expect that romance to go anywhere. She’s a tough heroine who can dish out damage with the best of them. It’s always fun to see her even if she rarely gets to step in during the serious arcs. Another good heroine is Kyubei. She may be confused for a while as to what her gender even is but at the end of the day she does have some serious fighting abilities. I was a little surprised that she didn’t show up more in the serious arcs but her gags were always rather fun. Ayumu could be a little more on the annoying side when he would try to look out for her though. He really just had that single gag.

Then we have the big villain, Utsuro. He is an extremely interesting character due in large part to the fact that the storyline really doesn’t go how you think it would. The origin story is extremely unique with more twists than you would expect. Ultimately, I thought the series did an excellent job with him. He felt like a true end game boss, the kind of guy you could never take down. In a lot of ways he really was invincible all the way through to the end which is what you would expect from a character like this. He just kept on coming back over and over again to great success.

The series is no stranger to good villains though. Jiraia is another intense villain who still has one of the most iconic fights in the series. I loved seeing Gintoki have to try and use all of his skills to try and repel the guy’s sheer speed. Definitely not something that just anyone could pull off, I can tell you that! Another reason why Gintoki is one of the all time greats but Jiraia is a villain you just don’t forget.

Another really solid villain is Housen. The guy is a super strong fighter who really gives Gintoki a tough time. You definitely must not underestimate him and while he’s not a recurring villain, he made his presence felt. Umibouzu isn’t a villain per say but he does go up against Gintoki and friends so I figured I’d mention him here. He’s actually fun when he’s being serious although he does goof off a lot. Now there are a bunch of other supporting characters but I’m going to end with one of my least favorite.

The Shogun. This guy is an absolute waste of time. In all of the comedic chapters his only role is to get humiliated over and over again with no end in sight. Really just an annoying character and by the time he is to get his serious moments, it’s just too late. I just can’t take him seriously. It’s rough since he has a lot of screen time and big emotional moments meant to make him go higher but they still didn’t win me over. I suppose at least I can say that his final scene actually was pretty emotional and I won’t forget it.

So that is the world of Gintama! Quite a lot to go through there. It may seem like an intimidating title to jump into but the best advice is to just jump into it straightaway. For the jokes, as long as you have a good sense of humor then you should have a blast here. Just remember that pretty much no joke is out of bounds here. You’ll have some fairly intense ones, suggestive jokes, crude jokes, etc. Every kind of joke is here and while I would say that way more of the jokes land than miss, not every joke will work for everyone. So just see what you think of the tone and work from there. Hopefully you also like the action scenes as well since those end up being super important.

You can also treat the series as educational to an extent. There are tons of themes in the show about bettering yourself as a person and remaining optimistic. Gintoki always saw the bright side of things no matter how bad things got. Yes the series can be really silly but in a way it’s always just a played up version of real things that people feel and experience. A ton of the mini arcs all focus on different trials and the serious ones of course have a lot of motivational moments as well. There is a lot more to the series than meets the eye and it was already elite before that point. Gintoki has more hype cliffhangers and rage modes than almost any other protagonist.

Overall, Gintama is definitely an elite title and one of the very best in Jump. It’s super impressive how long it kept on going for and it has a ton of replay value because of how many great stories were in here. By the time you finish the series you can absolutely go back to the start and enjoy the nostalgia of seeing the characters back in the happy days of the series. It works well as a really good loop. It’s really the kind of series that could have even kept going but that probably sounds a bit greedy after this long runtime. So I’ll just be content with what we got and I highly recommend reading this series. It’s not without its flaws, it probably makes just about every mistake possible at different points in the series. At the end of the day though, it was long enough to override all of those issues and manages to be really top tier. It’s why you can’t give up, even if you come across an underwhelming arc, the series can always rebound so long as it keeps on going. There is always a chance.

Overall 9/10

	thezofinfinity on Alien vs One Above All
	thezofinfinity on Why Mario Odyssey is better th…
	thezofinfinity on Why Mario Odyssey is better th…
	thezofinfinity on Sonic vs One Above All
	thezofinfinity on Sonic vs One Above All
	Anonymous on Invisible Woman vs Molecule…

DReager1.com

The Ultimate Fighting/Review Site

Tag Archives: Shonen Jump

Naruto Shippuden Review

Kaiju No. 8: B-Side Review

Mission: Yozakura Family

Sakamoto Holidays

Rurouni Kenshin (2023) Review

Mashle: Magic and Muscles – The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc Review

The Day Naruto Became Hokage Review

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Review

Slam Dunk Review

Gintama Review

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: