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This was a fascinating and thought provoking tale.

It is one that demonstrates how humans are fickle. Human emotion and our circumstantial upbringing has great impact on our eventual outcome and actions. Hyakkimaru's story is one that says, without any senses, we'd be neutral beings with no thoughts or opinions. It is when you introduce senses that the world becomes much more vibrant. We begin to feel love for the things that bring us happiness, as well as hate and despair when those things are taken away. We are shaped by those around us, but we can also be reshaped, rehabilitated, corrupted.

In the midst ... of this story, there is much suffering caused by senseless war and conflict. Our protagonist had no idea so much beauty and pain existed in his world. After learning that he was born to be sacrificed like a human lightning rod for the suffering of the land, Hyakkimaru begins a determined quest to reclaim his humanity. With every demon slayed, he regains a part of himself, but his goal becomes more difficult as his human body is more fragile and less efficient at combat than his prosthetic blades.

Dororo is a young orphan who serves as a guide in this story. Introducing not just the viewer to Hyakkimaru, but Hyakkimaru to the world around him and the people they encounter.

A large theme of this story is morality. Not all is black and white. Being blind, Hyakkimaru sees much of the world around him in the form of spritual aura. Demons being a dark red and humans a grey fog. Some of the people he encounters who have gone to more questionable lengths to achieve their goals have a sprinkling of red in their aura. If demons represent pure evil, humans lie somewhere in the middle and have the potential to change and become like demons,

Now that Hyakkimaru started regaining his senses and learning about his identity, he's also started to develop a personality. No longer on autopilot in a neutral state of being, he's started to make more more emotional decisions. Before, he was just living unaware in self-defense. But now, he's taken the offensive against the demons, a personal war, and doesn't care about repercussions that may have on others.

A few times throughout the series, characters made the comment, "I will not let my feelings get in the way." It is possible for there to be multiple truths. Even when they feel conflicted in their decision and wish it did not have to be so, they understand why.

Is it right or wrong? There is often no clear answer to that question. Depending on who you ask, you will get a different response. I am reminded of the saying of the lion and the gazelle. One runs to eat and the other runs to not be eaten, but they both run to live. Who is wrong when each side truly believes in their heart that what they are doing is the right thing? Is it wrong to want to take back what was robbed from you? Is it wrong to want prosperity for yourself and those you care about? Is it selfish to not want to sacrifice oneself? Is it wrong to survive?

This season really made it clear that this isn't just a supernatural anime, this is about war.

I could feel the intensity in their desperation and fear as they faced their enemies, putting their lives on the line even when the felt they had no chance. Standing between them with seemingly nowhere to go, it was a no man's land.

I was surprised by much of the information revealed regarding
the origins of the titans, almost having you wishing for ignorance.

There are certainly Nazi overtones, but the addition of the titan powers creates a strange dynamic where they are literal demons. I wish the show would have ... spent more time elaborating on the reason for the conflict between the two groups. It's still treating the real origins like rumored fables.

Life and politics within the walls is as confusing and tense as ever. This season presented a lot of civil conflict and tough decisions.

Congrats to the english voice actor of Grisha for their performance. I really liked their voice during their narrative parts.

I am very much looking forward to another season.

Zero trial, immediate distrust. The leaf village was too quick to disregard Naruto as a criminal. They know him, and he had alibis. I don't buy the "it was a secret mission" excuse. Sounds like they're just trying to cover their own butts. That's not how you treat a comrade, fill them in. He could have died.

The prison concept was interesting in itself, never heard of prisons in Naruto. Would've been interesting to explore the concept of the prison through a new character, but it is Naruto's name in the title, of course he's gonna be there.

The film immediately broke the rules of the prison ... by allowing Naruto to create a clone on his first night, but I'll give it credit as a way to show Naruto's strength.

No explanation of where Naruto got shuriken to save himself from falling when he tried to escape.

Didn't like the one scene that has the villain walk underground and talk to himself for no reason other than to expose himself as the bad guy.

Never expected the word 'Transvestite' to come out of Naruto's mouth. Not mad, just surprised.

The box is like the Philosopher's stone of Fullmetal Alchemist, or the stone of gelel from a previous naruto film. It's a monkey's paw that is not worth it.

Not sure if it's a male prison or the agent is just the only female there. If it is a male prison, how did the agent get past the full body inspection?

No standard prison uniform. Everyone is wearing what they walked in with.

No explanation of the box's origin. I did appreciate the toad giving some background, but it wasn't much. Mostly reiterated that it's old and evil.

Most action I've ever seen from the toad.

A good time for a Fullmetal fan.

Although it is common for anime movies based on series to be inconsequential, this film was interesting due to the in-depth exploration of the political fued between nations and the family caught in the middle.

I can't remember why Ed and Al must clap their hands to use their transmutation powers. It would have been nice if they gave a quick explanation as a reminder because it bothered me to see others using powers without having to do so.

I liked the wolf chimeras. I don't remember if they were a part of the main series, but they are cool and ... fierce in this film. Their speed and strength is conveyed in well animated action sequences. Although they're powerful, it feels grounded, they're not just crushing through everything.

I liked how the featured characters of the film had differing interests after being separated for so long. When the guy assumed she would be happy and willing to follow him, he didn't take into account how her feelings and loyalties might have changed over time.

The train ride into the city was a great scene. I was confused at first with all the different factions coming into one place and couldn't tell who was working with who or what each of them desired. It was a crash course in the conflict our main protagonists were getting into.

The Bats and their uniforms were surprisingly sleek and advanced for what was supposed to be a group of slum rebels.

For a Naruto movie that tried to present an original concept, it's a shame how boring it felt.

Previous Naruto films felt like an alternate universe, but this one goes all the way even dabbling with time travel. I've never been a fan of time travel because it has way too many implications and undermines any sort of consequence or feeling of danger. It's like that feeling when the main character is in trouble, but you know nothing is going to happen because they're the main character and there are more episodes, but amplified. Amplified because this is a movie, which has even less impact on ... the series as a whole. You know these people are likely to never be mentioned again.

The villain was the boring, generic, power-hungry type, but he at least had a somewhat interesting way of obtaining that power and control.

As far as the landline goes, what the hell is it? Is there no other points like it in the world, this seemingly infinite geyser of chakra? It was similar to the first shippuden film with the priestess and her unique connection to the demon, but instead of one demon soul, for some reason this girl has a unique connection to this entire area of land and it's infinite source of power like an oil tycoon to an oil deposit. I can get behind lineages having unique powers within their families, but I don't like them having the unique ability to control things outside themselves.

The queen was a cut and paste character with no personality. She was there mostly to act as a guide for Naruto to figure out what to do next. How could she have never noticed puppet people, was she living under a rock? All she had to do was leave her tower once and talk to people and she would've caught on much sooner.

Chakra blades were neat, they're pretty much like Asuma's chakra knuckle blades. They should use those more often outside of this film.

Ultimate Supreme Rasengan. The creativity of that name sums up the film in my opinion.

A breath of fresh air in the series of Naruto films.

This movie had an original plot and an original threat to the village. Although I knew the characters would ultimately be safe, I was curious to see how they would get out of this dilemma.

Great mix of characters where everyone gets some screentime. You get to see essentially all of the leaf shinobi get in on some of the action.

The film posed a moral and ethical dilemma that caused the shinobi to question where their loyalties lie. It had hints of a civil war.

I didn't understand the immediate tension caused between nations. They see a ... big hologram in the sky and immediately point their ballistas at their neighbor? It's clear the leaf does not associate with that man.

In this film, Kakashi was like a second Sasuke. Another one of Naruto's friends under evil influence that he feels he must rescue when it feels like everyone else has given up on them.

I felt that the leaf village and Tsunade were too quick to give up Kakashi. Why send the man that the enemy desires straight to them? They should've been locking Kakashi up in that cell instead.

The villain was like a reenvisioned mashup of previous villains. They had Orochimaru's experimental hunger for power, and multiple abilities like Pain. Although the villain was interesting in concept, their motive fell short with the generic desire to be all powerful with no real plan if they were to get what they want.

The villain's defeat was cheap and coincidental. They made him too powerful, so he could only be defeated be breaking the logic they created.

The ending bit was too ridiculous, but funny. I know it was meant to be, but it's not like they could have seen through his mask and they were taking it a bit far. A stretch for a comedic relief.

These Naruto films are making me sleepy.

I've been binging the Naruto films and it's a shame how generic and lackluster they are. I feel this is my least favorite so far and that's partly due to the overabundance of films as a whole, It's wearing me down.

Bonds kind of tells an alternate universe story of what it could have been like for Naruto if he was betrayed by his master. The master and apprentice relationship is explored through new characters, one even sharing the same long white locks as Jiraiya.

I do appreciate this movie taking a different approach to the plot and not being an ... escort mission. It starts as a revenge from an old nation who have held a grudge for like 20 or 30 years. It's a bit out there, but realistic in my opinion. Lord knows politics can be long and ugly. I don't appreciate however, that what should have been a war between nations ends up hinging on a single man. Who even needs all the foot soldiers at that point?

The concept of the one tails was BS. If it posseses those with darkness in there hearts, it should have appeared and possessed Sasuke, or anyone else by now. There is no way no one hasn't felt despair until then. It just conveniently came into and out of existence within the span of this film.

The dude going super saiyan didn't even go all out. He said he could open all the gates of what you call it and didn't even open one. His combat was flashy, flailing Naruto around like a ragdoll, but he was either OP or powerless, there was no in-between.

I enjoyed this season, but I have to remember why. I either watched this series too slow or there wasn't much going on.

The plot of demons and angels is still vague to me but it serves up enough of a storyline to provide for some entertaining fights.

Meliodas and his demon past was being peeled back so slowly throughout the series that it felt old. I know it's a huge core component of the plot, but it gets referenced so much they're reminding the viewer about it every chance they get.

Elizabeth's transformation as a character, as little as it is, felt kind of sudden. ... All of a sudden she's more bold and displaying some sort eye power. I'm assuming that gets explored more in the following season.

As flashy as the combat was, it always felt one sided. They're always saying what someone's power level is like this is dragon ball and crushing their opponent or being supported by outside help to turn the tide. I can't remember any truly fought for victories that didn't just end in a crazy powerful final blow. With that kind of power, they were just buying time and could've ended it a long time ago. This may be stereotypical in anime, but maybe the long-haired muscle knights didn't execute it as well.

The best Naruto film so far, but not by far.

This film follows the formula of the escort mission, but actually follows through and doesn't evolve into something else.

Although the priestess had the stereotypical spoiled and bratty attitude, she got a decent amount of screentime and dialogue. She wasn't completely helpless and had somewhere important to be and the shinobi were there to ensure that happened. I thought her character design was similar to Hinata.

I struggled to understand her powers and relationship to the demon. Is the demon her father? Is her mother inside it? Does she even have powers or does it all come from ... that bell? The film didn't do a good job explaining the priestess's powers or her lineage. Why does she have such loyal followers, what does she do for them? What was with that magical girl change?

This film had much more action than the previous ones. There wasn't anything particularly flashy about the fights but it kind of reminded me of when Sasuke was being taken by Orochimaru's goons in that big basket and they fought in the forest.

There was more comedy in the film than usual. I'm not a fan of Sakura's threats as comedic relief. There was no reason for the goofy bits really.

Once again, a special movie-exclusive rasengan is born.

The ending was pretty abrupt and didn't have a satisfying pay off. They did their job and everyone's happy, but I'd like a little more closure. It went immediately from bad guy defeated, credits.

Naruto shouldn't be making empty promises to be a baby daddy.

Guardians of the Crescent moon was an ok watch, but was very similar to the first film.

The premise even started the same. What was initially an escort mission turns into what should be an international incident as they get involved in political affairs. A coup has taken place and instead of calling it quits as this is beyond the scope of what they were hired for, the ninja take the side of the prince.

The villain mercenary ninja are also the same as the first film. They are cut and paste, aside from their clothing. A guy, a girl, and a bigger guy. The big guy ... even has the same face. The other guy's glove is like the glove from the second film, replacing the blue gem with a glowing red eye.

I liked their summer outfits. It's always nice to see a change of clothing in a series where the characters wear literally the same thing every episode. I didn't realize Kakashi was about as white as Orochimaru. I also liked the outfits of the royal moon guards, it was like a modern swat team look.

The scene of the storm on the boat was cool. I could feel the sense of urgency as they scrambled to get the animals free from the cages, although I'm not sure how they were better off that way. Nonetheless, I thought the visuals of the water pushing everything back and forth were nice.

The hanging scene near the end felt anticlimactic. The man should have died under the weight of his own body. A broken neck bone or something. Not saying I wanted him to die, but in a movie with ninjas casting water dragons, that was unrealistic.

I guess the moonlight makes rasengans more powerful and glow purple. And how did Naruto's leg just go back to normal?

There were at least 10 pinky promises made and I don't think any of them are gonna be kept.

Apparently Gameboys are a thing in the Naruto universe.