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Dub vs Sub WARNING DO NOT WATCH THE DUBBED VERSION!

For those of you who watch the English dubbed version... I would say stop right now. The English translation is so bad that it does not make sense. The difference is so night and day that I would that in the English version, powers are not explained well (lore), character motivations are lost to the point where you do not understand what is going on, and jokes do not land. There is also text that appears in the dub version that is not even translated when it should be.

Story: 7/10 ... The story is entertaining but not ground breaking. Like most Jonin most character devolve into stereotypes rather than people. Too many tropes. At least the main female character is not written to be overly stupid (That is always welcome).

Art Style: 7/10 Good enough.

Music: 8/10 Very hit or miss. To me I like it when I do not notice the music.

This pure slice of life, hardcore melodrama, and sentimental. This anime explores the emotional attachment each of the females characters for the man they love. The story really attempts to give substance/depth of 2-dimensional characters but barley manages to scratch the minuscule surface of these emotions. It is a very shallow SLICE-OF-LIFE tale. This film is very forgettable.

The art style and shifts in art throughout the story are very interesting and different.

To get ANY ENJOYMENT from this film I would suggest watching Tenchi Muyo the TV series to understand the character relationships and motivations.

There are ... not actions scenes or fighting so if that is your thing you might be disappointed.

The more I watch this anime… the more I hate it. BUT I AM GOING TO TRY TO BE FAIR AND BALANCED.

STORY: The story an adventurous tale of a crew of ever expanding pirates and the cast constantly expands throughout the series. The story is very character driven with lighthearted non-serious character moments. The problem with this anime is that all the characters are terrible. The characters have such contempt and disregard for each other… it makes me feel a range of apathy–hate for them.
NOT A SPOILER…. But the ANIME SPOILS ITSELF: The theme song actively will ... tell you when a character will end up joining the crew and ruins when an enemy will become an ally. Nothing is left as a surprise.

BATTLES: They are usually quick and mindless themed around gaining new abilities or spotting obvious weaknesses. It is not done in the intelligent way that Naruto did. Sometimes battles are so lazy and boring where an enemy, that previously beated Luffy, will go down in 1 hit instead of being something interesting. The worst part of any action series is when the some of the fights are cut out of the show and impaled to have happened off-screen because that is lazy and happened a few too many times.

HUMOR: Basically the characters will all speak at the same time, saying the same thing in unison, as a joke… and it gets really old… really fast. Other humor is derived from the one-dimensional character traits that feel so stereotypical and bland. Luffy is stupid, random, and hungry so there I just gave you 75% of the jokes. Hope you laughed… I did not. Everyone is in love with the red head female cast member who is selfish, greedy, and actively tries to hurts her own teammates. The liar in the group is very entertainingly funny. The rest of the humor is heavy based in character moments that tend to get repetitive.

SICK OF REUSED FOOTAGE: The ending 1-3 mins of footage, from the previous episode, is often re-used at the beginning of the next episode so you will watch repeated footage constantly... This gets worst and worst at the series goes on. This is always an unacceptable practice.

ART: It has its own style is easy to appreciate and comes off as original, fresh, and cartoonishly lighthearted. If the world was its own character it would be the best character of the series. All the design chooses compliment the environment and story. The outfit character’s ware is a reprobation of their one-dimensional personality and it works.

CHARACTER: The characters are mindless stereotypes that have no depth until the story randomly demands it and then quickly forgets it. Luffy, as a main character is so dumb that it makes me hate this entire anime. Luffy is so one-dimential: gluttioness (hungry all the time so the humor falls flat), oblivious to the obvious, unintelligent (very gullible) and is someone I could never respect as a leader. Luffy makes so many reckless mistakes it is hard to respect his character. The thing I hate the most about the anime is that Luffy will randomly take illogical counterintuitive actions like quitting in the middle of journey so he can give a speech that is supposed to come off as pensive/thoughtful but feels forced and out of place whenever these moments arrive. It is like the writer is trying to give depth to characters by making them act out of character and it does not really work. Luffy is the make OR break character you either LOVE him OR HATE him with no grey area.


MUSIC: Every sound fits the tone and nothing it out of place OR got too annoying.

OVERALL:
OVERALL: YOU WILL LIKE THIS IF: You want something thoughtlessly light-hearted, episodically adventurous, like cartoon pirates with hearts of gold, OR enjoy the anime fool tropes.

SPOILER-FREE- No taking about specific characters OR specific events.
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SUMMARY
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This is trash anime at its finest. It is as sexiest as much as it is well written and entertaining. Panty shots & fan service galore (which normally I HATE) ! Well written, animated, and tense! It is a MUST WATCH!!!!
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CHARACTERS
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The best part of the show is the diverse interesting set of characters who each have elaborated back stories. You have enemies you really come to hate and heroes that you really come to like. The women in this are not stupid objects relying on the main hero. ... Everyone is fighting to survive and you are rooting for them all on their journey.
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STORY
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My only real problem with this anime is that is leaves off unfinished. The group makes very logical dangerous decisions to survive. Each have their own useful abilities (sword OR guns), personalities, and perspective. This is not a typical predictable story.

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GRAPHICS/SOUNDS
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Personally, graphics and sound are not important to me unless I get annoyed by something outstandingly bad (I am a story/character person) . The animation is clear, eye-catching and entertaining. There are some boob-jiggling-physics that I will never forget and I very gay male and still impressed. The music fits with the action. When there is no music, it adds a suspenseful effect that forces you to realize that you are in a world that of zombie-infested wasteland of a city.

VOICE ACTING
WARNING: I only watched the DUBBED English version. This time I did not have access to both. Very voice fits with the personality of the character.

SPOILER-FREE- No taking about specific characters OR specific events.

CHARACTERS: The best part of the show is the diverse interesting set of characters. I would argue that I love them more than the main character in many ways. Everyone has interesting traits and each characters grows and changes during the series. The Japanese voices are the best in terms of how they are acted. However later in the series it gets to the point where there are too many to keep track of so I made a link to 2 character maps for you for later in the series.

STORY: ... This is a story about more than ninjas. It is about community, fighting for your dreams, overcoming prejudice, learning from the regrets of the past, learning to overcome hatred and fighting for a better future for all. It gets convoluted and difficult to keep track of every character at times. Every character is developed as the series goes on and has a back story that makes you understand even the worst characters. The tone of the show ranges from fun & childish to dark. It all does comes together nicely and is well rounded by the different tones.

On the downside, there are too many flashbacks that represent more of an emotional state rather than ones that give context to the story so I can forgive those. The Filler is also beyond bad; however I enjoyed the filler during the great ninja war. Because of excess of characters it is too easy to become lost and that becomes even worst during the filler episodes.

GRAPHICS/SOUNDS: It is not important to me (I am a story/character person) so it is best to go to other reviewers. I mean I love the theme and how it fits. I love the animation and the sound track… even after 400+ episodes I never started to hate it.

VOICE ACTING: Watch the sub version ONLY. Never watch the English version because the translation and voice acting is terrible. “Believe it” and believe me.

THE BEST PART: I feel like this is a piece of art that makes my soul grow/glow warm. I really care about these characters and the story makes me think about life. This is a series all about growing up and the change it brings.

WARNING: You have to watch the original Naruto Series First. I HIGHLY suggest you only watch the sub version. The English actors are the worst of the worst. It is so poorly translated that it will make you HATE this anime. Also Skip every, and I MEAN EVERY, filler series. As much of a fan I am I HATE the filler and they are not important to the main story.

SKIP THE FILLER EPISODES WHICH ARE: 57-70, 90-111, 144-151, 170 & 171, 223-242, 258-260, 279-281, 284-295, 303-320, 347-361, 376-377, 389-390, 391-393, 394 – 413, 416 – 417, 419, 422-423, 427-I WILL UPDATE.
I am the type of person that likes to see everything so when I tell you to skip it, you know you can trust me when I say it is stupid, bad, and full of contradictions/plot holes. I HATE the filler. My rating of the show with the filler is like a 6.5. Do not watch it… just do NOT do that to yourself. I personally found enjoyment in watching the fillers in the great ninja war but the problem is you get lost because you forget characters and get lost. I will fill in the fillers I liked later.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This is one of the best amines I have ever seen. Seriously skip the filler and watch the SUB version only.

CHARACTER MAPS:
After all AKATSUKI Revealed: http://safrika.deviantart.com/art/Naruto-Complete-Character-Tree-119003764

Start of the war: http://penjualkomik.blogspot.com/2010/10/salasilah-komik-naruto-naruto-family.html

[Spoiler Free]

SPOILER-FREE
This is an anime where the concept is more powerful than the actual execution. I could not enjoy it and I really really wanted/tried too. I am the type of person that needs story.

CHARACTERS: The characters were too dumb and unrealistic. Their character motives were only alluded too but never explained. They ALL needed more development that never seem to comes and I really waited for it. The main character is very whinny and angst-y the entire time [Think of a less deep , one-Dimensional Shinji (from Neon Genesis Evangelion) Type]. The acting was VERY well ... done [In English and Japanese]

STORY: The plot in the beginning is amazing. But the end leaves you with so many unanswered questions… it is like the writers gave up in the middle and too much was left unanswered. I found myself getting angrier at how illogical it all was and how the writers could have done a better job. Nothing the characters did made sense in terms of long-term motivations... The ending just kind of happens and leaves you empty and with too many questions. So many interesting characters were introduced but never explained… The key word here is plot holes.

ART & SOUND: It was beautifully animated and a skeptical to watch. This would be the key reason you would want to watch this anime is for the action.

THE BEST PART: The battles were the best part of the series. They were amazing! That is the only plus and it is not enough for me. The music was really great, and it was well animated. If you want something mature and do not like to think too much… this show is for you!