Thursday, June 21, 2007

Naruto, part 7


Team 7 returns to Konoha to continue with their lives as regular Genin. One day, whilst playing with Konohamaru and his friends, Naruto meets two of the three Genin from Sunagakure (Hidden Sand) - Gaara, Kankuro and Temari - and learns that they are in Konoha to participate in the Chunin Selection Exams. Meanwhile Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai all volunteer their teams for the exam also. Naruto is thrilled about the possibility of becoming a Chunin.

The first part of the exam is written, but it was not a test of knowledge as much as a test of information gathering and willpower. The first 9 questions were supposed to be cheated, where the Genin must use any techniques to find out the correct answer without being caught. Naruto, who did not realize this, went into a traumatic state in which he felt that he would cause his entire team to be eliminated, as he did not know the answer to any of the questions. Sasuke realizes that he, too, did not know the answers but immediately activates his Sharingan to copy someone else's answers. Sakura as a testament to her incredible intellect answers all of the questions quickly (a feat which the Examiner later said could not be accomplished at Genin level). The last question was do or die question: don't answer and your entire team fails the Chunin exams, answer and get it wrong and you stay a Genin forever. Naruto shows that he is not somebody who quits when he bursts out that he doesn't care if he stays a Genin forever, he will still become Hokage. The Genin who stayed behind all pass the first part of the Chunin exams (including Naruto, who didn't answer a single question on the exam but number 10.)

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Monday, June 18, 2007

Naruto, part 6


With the demon fox power that Naruto used, he proved to be too powerful for Haku. Seeing that he was unable to help Zabuza, Haku asked Naruto to kill him. Naruto protested and initially refused, but then decided to honor his request. However, Haku then noticed that Zabuza was in danger from Kakashi, so he stopped Naruto's attack and ran away to save Zabuza. Zabuza was being dominated by Kakashi, who used a Summoning Technique to immobilize him using his tracking dogs. As Kakashi was about to stab Zabuza with his Lightning Blade, Haku realized that Zabuza was in mortal danger and ran to save Zabuza by standing in front of him. Thus Kakashi stabbed Haku, Kakashi's hand going completely through Haku's heart. Everyone realizes now that Haku is dead. At first, Zabuza has no change in emotion and praises Haku as a good tool.

As the battle draws to an end, Gato arrives with his gang of hired thugs. He tells Zabuza that he never intended to pay him, even if Zabuza finished the mission. Gato then kicks Haku for breaking his arm earlier. This infuriates Naruto as he cries for Haku's death and says to Zabuza that Haku really cared about him and that he would die for him. Moved by his words, Zabuza confesses that he cared deeply about Haku and he begins to cry. With this realization, Zabuza asks Naruto if he can borrow one of his kunai. Naruto tosses one to him, and with the memories of Haku fresh in his mind, Zabuza grabs the kunai in his mouth and rushes to kill Gato. Gato runs behind his miniature army, but Zabuza rushes past all of them, killing many on the way, and eventually reaches Gato. Before he dies, Gato realizes that Zabuza really is worthy of the name "Demon of the Hidden Mist" as he sees a demonic silhouette of Zabuza. In the anime, Zabuza slashes Gato repeatedly and knocks him off the bridge and into the water below. In the manga, Zabuza decapitates him. Zabuza then stands still and gets stabbed in the back by the remaining henchmen. After a brief moment, Sasuke wakes up from the near death state Haku put him in. The shinobi gangs are then chased away, by Naruto & Kakashi producing many Shadow Clones and with the help of the villagers, who finally stand up for themselves. Zabuza's last request to Kakashi is to be buried next to Haku. After Naruto witnessed what happened to Haku and Zabuza, he decides to become a ninja in his own way, and defy the belief that ninja are merely tools of their villages.

After the team departs Tazuna decides to name the newly completed bridge the "Great Naruto Bridge"

Naruto, part 5


While genin are normally assigned D-Rank missions, Naruto insists on doing something more exciting and the Third Hokage agrees to send them on a C-Rank mission to escort Tazuna, a master bridge builder. During their mission, the team is attacked by two enemy Chunin, something that is not supposed to happen on C-Rank missions, and Naruto panics and freezes. Sasuke, however, deals with the attackers quite efficiently and rubs in his one-upping Naruto by calling him a "scaredy-cat." This name-calling, which Naruto would imitate many times later in the series, is a defining moment in the Naruto-Sasuke rivalry. After the attack, Naruto bleeds out the poison he received by stabbing his wound with a kunai and swears upon his pain to never freeze up and leave his friends to fend for themselves again. Kakashi then tells Naruto that if he looses any more blood, he'll die. Naruto starts panicking, but Kakashi tells Naruto to let him take a look at it. Kakashi is about to treat the wound when he sees that it's already healing. Kakashi then theorizes that this could be a power given to Naruto because of the Nine Tailed Fox.

Tazuna then explains the real mission: the Land of Waves has been taken over by a shipping magnate called Gato, and the only way to revitalize the economy is by building a bridge to the mainland that can bypass Gato's shipping monopoly. However, Gato does not want that to happen, and uses shinobi gangs to get what he wants. Thus Team 7's mission is to support and protect the bridge-building efforts that have been thwarted thus far.

Next, the team is challenged by Zabuza Momochi, who is one of the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist. Early in the battle, Kakashi is trapped in Zabuza's Water Prison Technique and unable to continue fighting. Left to fend for himself, Naruto attempts to run, but feels the pain in his left hand and remembers his earlier vow. In another defining point in Naruto and Team 7's development, Naruto conceives a plan to release Kakashi and Sasuke, with little apparent communication between the two, executes it perfectly. Kakashi, free again, demonstrates the abilities of the Sharingan, defeating Zabuza with both physical and psychological attacks. Though Zabuza should have met his end, he was saved by Haku, who was so skilled with needles that he made it seem as though Zabuza had died, and pretended to be a tracker ninja trying to kill Zabuza.

Team 7 undergoes chakra training, and this becomes another point of rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke, as they constantly challenge themselves to try to outdo each other, but instead end up helping and motivating each other to succeed. They also meet Inari, Tazuna's grandson, who is still brooding over the loss of Kaiza, whom he respected as his father and a local hero, but was killed by Gato.

Eventually, Zabuza and Haku return to make a do or die battle, with some experience as to how they should handle the Konoha ninjas. Haku reveals his Demonic Ice Mirrors jutsu, and completely overpowers Sasuke. Naruto joins the fight and through his own ignorance and impulsiveness gets himself trapped in Haku's jutsu, and is immediateley placed at Haku's mercy. During the course of the fight Sasuke awakens his Sharingan and saves Naruto by sacrificing himself. Naruto asks him why he did that and Sasuke just replied 'How should I know, my body just moved by itself' and then appears to die with 3 needles in his neck. Meanwhile, Zabuza is focused on finding a way to weaken Kakashi's Sharingan.

Naruto's "hidden power" is revealed after he believed Haku killed Sasuke. Naruto loses control and is consumed by the demon fox's chakra. Its power is so immense that the chakra is visible. All of Naruto's wounds heal near-instantaneously, and Naruto's appearance changes; his eyes become red and slitted like a cat, his "whiskers" deepen, his fingernails grow long like claws and his canine teeth become sharper. He completely overwhelms his enemy with this power and speed.

Naruto, part 4


In order to officially obtain the rank of Genin, Academy students must undergo a field evaluation administered by a Jonin, who will be their squad leader should they pass. Students are organized into groups of three Genin, with a Jonin-sensei assigned to each team. Teams are chosen to balance skills and abilities. As such, Naruto, being the worst student, was paired with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, with Sasuke being the brightest one and Sakura being the best at quizes and tests but not stong in subjects like stamina and taijutsu. The other teams (that would pass) were Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka in Team 8 and Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka in Team 10.

Team 7's initial group chemistry was terrible: Naruto was infatuated with Sakura and detested Sasuke, Sakura was infatuated with Sasuke and detested Naruto, and Sasuke was a lone wolf who detested the both of them. Unfortunately for them, their Jonin instructor was Kakashi Hatake, who emphasized teamwork above all else.

Kakashi's field evaluation, considered the strictest of its type, is simple but difficult; in fact, he hadn't passed anyone during his time as a Jonin. All the Genin have to do to pass is take a bell from him using any means necessary before noon. Aside from the fact that three Genin are taking on a Jonin, Kakashi only has two bells on his belt, ensuring that one of them will fail. On top of that, the students are tricked into skipping breakfast. Those who get the bells get to eat, while the one who doesn't is tied to a post. The main purpose is not to test the Genin's skill, but rather their teamwork. Team 7's performance during the exam was terrible: Naruto fell into every trap Kakashi set, not bothering to be at all stealthy about his attacks, Sakura did nothing to help, even getting tricked by Kakashi's Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique genjutsu, and Sasuke didn't bother to help either of them, instead attacking on his own because he believed they would slow him down. All three failed to get a bell.

After their failure, Kakashi berates all three for their lack of teamwork. He eventually explained to them the purpose of the exam, and allowed them to eat in preparation for a second try. Naruto, who had stumbled upon the lunches Kakashi prepared and attempted to eat them, is tied to the post. After he left, Sakura and Sasuke realized that they'll need Naruto in top-shape if they're to retrieve the bells, and decided to feed him against Kakashi's wishes. Kakashi, of course, was watching the whole time and appeared in a giant blast of smoke, appearing quite furious. The three Genin claim that they're a team, and as such one person. Quickly changing his attitude, Kakashi lets them pass for figuring out the purpose of the exam. He also recites the exact message he was trying to get across - "In the ninja world, those who don't follow the rules are trash. That is true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash."

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Naruto, part 3


Twelve years before the start of the story, the Nine-Tailed demon fox attacked Konohagakure. The Fourth Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure at the time, sacrificed his life to seal the spirit of the demon fox inside a newborn baby: Naruto Uzumaki, whose parents and origin are unknown.

Though the Fourth Hokage wanted Naruto to be viewed as a hero for such a burden, the villagers could not see him beyond the monster that destroyed their homes. The Third Hokage, who had taken over once more the Fourth died, made a decree preventing anyone from telling Naruto about the demon within him. Though Naruto found some friendship in children his age, even they came to ostracize him, following in their parents' example without even knowing anything about the fox-demon themselves.

Once Naruto was admitted into the Ninja Academy, he was befriended by his Chunin instructor, Iruka Umino. Iruka was the first person to believe in Naruto, and became a father-figure for him to look up to.

At the ninja academy, Naruto's reputation as a troublemaker earned him infamy among the teachers and students. Iruka, and the Third Hokage, were the only two positive influences on him. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Hinata Hyuga also thought very highly of him. Naruto failed the graduation exam twice, because he failed to properly perform the Replication Technique.

Mizuki, another Academy examiner tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals, a collection of forbidden techniques, claiming that Naruto would be automatically passed by simply learning a jutsu from the scroll. The Third soon realized the scroll was missing and gathered many ninja. As search parties were sent to find Naruto, Iruka goes out on his own and gets to him first.

Naruto had been training in the forest the entire time, ignorant of what he had done, and simply repeated to Iruka what Mizuki had told him earlier. Iruka realized what Mizuki wanted just as Mizuki himself showed up to attack them both. Mizuki then tried to kill Naruto with an oversized shuriken, but Iruka pushed him out of the way, saving his life. Mizuki tried to get Naruto to give him the scroll while Iruka tried to convince Naruto to do otherwise. Their argument led Mizuki to tell Naruto that he was the container of the demon fox that killed Iruka's parents.

Startled, Naruto runs off, leaving Iruka and Mizuki to fight amongst themselves. Naruto watched from a distance, eventually learning what Mizuki was after, as well as the true level of Iruka's devotion to him. Just before Mizuki could kill Iruka, Naruto attacked and defeated him using his newly learned Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Impressed that Naruto could master such a difficult technique, Iruka lets Naruto graduate, ironically fulfilling Mizuki's original promise.


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Naruto, part 2


Even though it debuted some time after the manga, the anime quickly caught up, since one anime episode usually covers one or two manga chapters. To prevent overlapping, the anime's producers tend to organize content from the manga chapters into long, uneventful sections followed by short bursts of action, sometimes adding filler content in between. By the time the Sasuke Retrieval arc ended in the anime (episode 135), the series was at a point where it was quickly gaining on the manga. At the conclusion of this arc, the anime immediately switched to anime-only filler episodes to allow the manga to broaden the gap once more. Most of the filler episodes are stand-alone stories, with a few being part of arcs that are several episodes long. The filler episodes lasted for 85 episodes, the duration of the first series. After the series moved back into manga-adapted episodes, it was renamed Naruto: Shippūden . The new series premiered on February 15, 2007.

The anime generally remains true to the manga, usually changing only minor details (causes of death, loss of limbs, and other injuries have been lessened in the anime) or expanding on parts skipped by the manga, such as the fight between Tenten and Temari. The filler arcs, though unreferenced in the manga (save for a few scant scenes), deal with the breaks between manga volumes, which covers a short period before the Sasuke Retrieval arc and several months before the time skip. The filler arcs tend to cover the supporting characters, occasionally giving insight into an otherwise rarely seen character.

New episodes, animated by Studio Pierrot, air weekly on TV Tokyo in Japan during the Golden Time slot (Japan's equivalent of prime time in the US). As of October 5, 2006, it shows on Thursday nights. The series has also spawned four movies, Naruto the Movie, Naruto the Movie 2, Naruto the Movie 3, and Naruto: Shippūden the Movie scheduled to premiere on August 4, 2007. The first three are available on DVD.

On September 10, 2005, Naruto had its hour-long premiere in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's Toonami. The first episode of Naruto premiered in Canada on YTV on September 16, 2005. In the United Kingdom, Naruto premiered on Jetix on July 22, 2006. In Australia and New Zealand it premiered on Cartoon Network on September 27, 2006. It also began showing on Toasted TV on January 12, 2007, in Australia.

In its English anime release, Naruto was aired with a TV-PG rating in the US and a PG rating in Canada. More explicit episodes, such as Jiraiya's debut and the battle with Zabuza, have been given a TV-PG-DS or a TV-PG-V rating. References to alcohol, Japanese cultural differences, mild language, mild sexual situations, and even blood and death remain in the English version, though reduced in some instances. Other networks make additional content edits apart from the edits done by Cartoon Network, such as Jetix's more strict censoring of blood, language, smoking and the like.


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Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Naruto, part 1


Naruto is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto with an anime TV series adaptation. Its main character, Naruto Uzumaki, is a loud, hyperactive, adolescent ninja who constantly searches for approval and recognition, as well as to become Hokage, acknowledged as the leader and strongest of all ninja in the village.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan's Shonen Jump magazine. As of volume 36, the manga has sold over 71 million copies in Japan. VIZ Media publishes a translated version in the American Shonen Jump magazine. Naruto has become VIZ's best-selling manga series. To date, the first fourteen volumes are available. In order to catch up to the translated anime, VIZ plans to release volumes 16 to 27 three at a time over the months of September to December 2007.

The anime series, produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex, premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animax on October 3, 2002, and is still being aired. Viz also licensed the anime for North American production. Naruto debuted in the United States on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block on September 10, 2005, and in Canada on YTV's Bionix on September 16, 2005. Naruto began showing in the UK on Jetix on July 22, 2006. It began showing on Toasted TV on January 12, 2007 in Australia, although it could be watched on Cartoon Network in 2006. The first series lasted nine seasons, while the second began its first on February 15, 2007.

The series' length and popularity is comparable to that of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, another popular action-oriented shōnen manga. Since its creation, Naruto has spawned a large number of fansites that contain detailed information, guides, and active forums. Some of the first and most popular sites targeted at English speaking audiences were established shortly after the first English manga volume was released in August 2003. Like many other manga and anime titles, Naruto has also spawned its own collectible card game.

Prior to the anime's North American debut in 2005, several scanlation and fansub groups translated the series and made it available for free download on the internet. Despite North American companies' perceived tendency to prosecute fansubbing groups more frequently than Japanese companies, there are some that have continued to translate new Naruto episodes due to the extremely large gap between the English and Japanese versions.

Volume 7 of the manga has recently won a Quill Award for best graphic novel in North America. In TV Asahi's latest top 100 Anime Ranking, Naruto ranked 17th on the list

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Friday, June 1, 2007

Beat Angel Escalayer


Beat Angel Escalayer is a hentai anime OVA and eroge series from 2002 created by Alice Soft and animated by Pink Pineapple.

Sayuka Kouenji is the guardian of the Earth and has the ability to transform into her alter ego Escalayer to protect the world from the evil forces of the Dielast. However, in order to transform into Escalayer she must recharge her power source, the Doki Doki Dynamo which can only be recharged through sexual excitement. This was previously achieved through lesbian sex with her android friend Madoka, however, this has become less effective and Madoka recruits the school playboy Kyohei Yanase who's vast sexual experience will help Sayuka transform.

This series is currently available in North America through Media Blasters under the Kitty Media label. The original hentai game has not been officially released in English.

http://www.animecubed.com/animegirls/anime/Escalayer/



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