brb going to wallow in sadness over the lack of Double Arts forever
Satou-kun no Juunan Seikatsu 6
Forgot all about this series. I don't remember what a guardian spirit is in the context of this manga, but whatever, it's another reason for Skeleton dude to hate the MC.
Let me preface this all with the opinion headline and what not.
Now lets time travel.
I typed this 4 months ago on mangastream on the topic of what should happen after the end of Naruto/Madara Battle:
After the last two chapters of Naruto I've been pleasantly pleased with how they've allowed Madara to go ham basically. Sure the name of the manga is Naruto but really he is only relevant in terms of the 9 tailed fox in terms of strength vs. the main antagonist. Even with sage abilities or not without the fox Naruto tends to still be weaker/uninteresting compared to other deeper characters in the series. I noticed this with Gaara, Sasuke (before he turned emo), Itachi, Shino, Neji etc. So I always wanted to see the villain gain the upper hand and successfully snatch Naruto's main source of strength away (the 9 tails) and force Naruto to start from the bottom and earn the right to succeed. Ichigo faced a similar scenario with the last fight with Aizen. He was babied at first and then became more powerful by unlocking his potential (though he apparently has many potentials smh. New arc = New bloodline power...). Madara seemingly winning at the moment is a good move if they actually allow his plans to go through and let him win a little. Many of his ideologies about war haven't really been logically countered by the other characters and his strength and tactical genius have proven unmatched so far for this last battle. He's a pretty good villain.
Naruto has been running for a while though. I want it to end soon. I just want it to end strong and not weak (like say Gantz). I am part of the crew that thinks Bleach should have ended after the Aizen fight. I think Naruto should end after Madara. But I don't want the resolution to come quickly. That would suck tremendously and would not be as rewarding as say them fleshing the story out completely and giving the devout fans (at this point I'm just a bystander who follows the chapter drops habitually just to be there for the end). Hopefully I'm not stepping on peoples toes. I think it should be safe to that Naruto, like the majority of manga's, has had its ups and downs, it unnecessary filler and etc. As a casual fan I just hope it ends well.
Naruto 676. They finally did it. They let him win. I've been wanting that for at least 2 years now. They didn't "Bleach" him out! It's not over yet by any means and there are plenty of ways to screw this up but man to even have gotten this far is great.
When I hopped back into Naruto after the Itachi/Sasuke fight I always felt as if Itachi was the main protagonist of the story. The depth of his character always intrigued me way more than his brother or Naruto. He was strong, intelligent, calculative, and pretty much unstoppable. I appreciated his flaws and back story. Naruto in contrast always seemed simple in comparison. Many other characters usurp him to me in terms of history, motivations, and strength.
Since Itachi sacrificed himself twice I had to switch to another interesting character, which turned out to be Madara. Throughout the Ninja War his voiced motivations and internal monologues have set some very interesting questions into play. What if he succeeded? Would that be a bad thing? Who can stop him? Why should they stop him? etc. Yes. He is definitely an antagonist to the series and pretty crazy at that but looking at his history that was detailed by the recounting of his and Hashirama's, it made me like him even more. He isn't a chump and it would be disrespectful to just let Naruto go into a full blazed 9-tailed mode just to win. The guy is to many steps ahead and so ruthless with his intentions that he's driven to see its success no matter what. He has backup strats for backup strats upon one branch of backup strats. Overwhelming strength is not his only tactic nor should it be the tactic that facilitates his demise.
So ever since I began rooting for Madara to actually succeed. Not forever of course. But to give allowance for Naruto to actually prove his worth and right to be the titular character of the series. Without the Fox, Naruto becomes extremely negligible. Many characters have proven to more interesting and intriguing than him. Thankfully over the past 100 chapters he's grown into a fully developed Ninja who doesn't rely on the Fox as a crutch as much as he used to. But even still he doesn't match up very well to some of the other fighters still present.
I've always wanted to see Kishimoto actually give Naruto the moment in which he truly becomes the best in the series. Having Madara win and provide Naruto with the deepest despair and the inability to use his go-to cop out powers will force Naruto to reach deep and have his true Hero moment. Then I'll accept the name of the manga as Naruto. Until then it was either Itachi or now Madara.
Fake Edit-
For when I said "Bleach" him out:
Bleach left a supremely foul taste in my mouth after the Ichigo/Aizen fight (you know which one...) because of its handling. Ichigo powered up, as is modus operandi for the series, and "defeated" him yet not really. It disrespected both characters and passed up the opportunity to end the series on a good note. After skipping the full-bring stuff and hopping back for the beginning of the Stern-Ritter I couldn't take it anymore. Ichigo gets defeated to come back stronger because each bloodline within him is dormant and waiting to give him OP power for the moment until another enemy comes and stomps him down.
Only two series have taken that method of procedure and had it work, Dragon Ball Z (the Creator), and Kingdom Hearts
in terms of Sora being tied to so many hearts yet working for himself to not be a chump on his lones...even though he recognizes that his keyblade wielding status wasn't his destiny.
Everyone else tries real hard to emulate this, Bleach especially, and it has the adverse symptom of overstaying its welcome and driving the fanbase into boredom.
Naruto has had period like this as well. Thankfully (well hopefully...) they are taking steps to not follow that pattern or at least present it with a good foundation without disrespecting the characters and in turn, the readers. No one wants their intelligence insulted by seeing things come from a mile a way unless its fun and enjoyable the whole time. That way, when the climax comes it doesn't fall flat.
Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru. v1 (end) (light novel)
Only flaw of the series is that art, think it could have been much better. The tennis match was really good moment in reading form and all the references thrown around and Hikki's dialogue still made it really funny. Some of his comments are just perfect or capture the same feelings one may get from being around such people, then the ones hes around even.
Totsuka moments and Hikki being attracted to him is even at a higher level here, wanting to kiss him even. Based on the afterword I wonder if the writer did encounter such a situation in his time in school.
Basic escalation. Currently having the feeling that Maruo might push him hard enough that he has an injury midmatch and has to forfeit although he was (probably) going to win, leading to an internal crisis that he isn't good enough by Maruo.
Doesn't Sakamoto only have barely enough to fill 2 volumes? Weird to announce a localization so soon if it really is Sakamoto. That'd be good news if true however.
Anyone here pick up volume 69 of Naruto? With chapter 658 in it. I'm curious to see if they "corrected" the bit where Madara used Susanoo with no eyes.
