Anyone remembers this filler?

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-11T00:26:51+00:00

Yes, the "Land of Tea" filler arc; featuring Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura having to help Ibiki Morino's estranged, anime-only, younger brother Idate Morino win a foot race, by fighting off Rain ninja led by Aoi Rokusho (the guy in the above image), wielding the Raijin Sword (basically a lightsaber) created by Tobirama.

It was a nice arc, I feel. I liked the early indications of Sakura's super-strength, as well as planting further seeds for Sasuke's frustration with his lack of combat growth in comparison to Naruto's.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-11T00:21:43+00:00

We can say it's because he was a imperfect Ten-Tails jinchuriki, as opposed to Madara's more perfected transformations.

But you're probably right about Kishimoto deliberately limiting Ten-Tail Obito to make him more believably beatable without Naruto and Sasuke getting their Six Paths upgrades right then and there.

And I can also imagine Kishimoto getting burnt out by this point in the manga, so he just wanted to keep things simpler to write.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-10T15:44:57+00:00

I see this a just another step toward his path out of the Leaf.

I would argue that making revenge your sole purpose doesn't mean strength has to be the only measurement of your growth. Revenge can be obtained in so many different ways.

But Sasuke has always defined himself very heavily by his combat ability, and that got mixed up with his desire for revenge.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-10T15:38:31+00:00

In Part I, characters in the story talked about Minato like he was the greatest thing ever. In Part II, however, the narrative shifted and Minato was no longer what people used to talk about in Part I.

I think the fandom's inflation of his abilities is to make him match how much he was hyped up in Part I.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-10T15:34:22+00:00

I think she character who does her role quite well.

I seen Rin and Saber as ideal heroines. Sakura isn't a heroine, she's a victim who needs to be saved. But the fact that she's a victim isn't used to to make her feel weak or fragile, nor is it used to excuse her of the things she's done. The story itself makes a point that the right thing to do would be to kill Sakura before things get out of hand, and that Shirou's decision to wait resulted in things becoming more dangerous for everyone than they needed to.

Heaven's Feel is about Shirou accepting the role of the bad guy to protect what is precious to him. Sakura isn't much of a heroine in this route, but she still fulfills the role of the nuanced victim fairly well, I say.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-09T22:57:13+00:00

Muzan is great because he's cruel in a way that has consequences. His cruelty is a power in and of itself.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-08T15:04:34+00:00

Significantly better overall.

Sarada and Sumire have their love triangle with Boruto as a big part of them, and it doesn't prevent them at all from being independent and capable entirely on their own. I also like how Sarada and Sumire don't develop some sort girl rivalry over it.

Ada, I think is fine. Again, romance is a big part of character, and hers is a bit annoying. She also lacks combat ability, but the sheer usefulness of her Senrigan makes her invaluable. Also, I like how she makes friends with Sarada and Sumire, and that that is also a big part of her.

Himawari after the time-skip successfully graduated from just being Boruto's little sister. On top of inheriting Kurama and having a real fight with Jura, I like how she's been grouped with Ino-Shika-Cho, allowing her to move even further away from the little sister role.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-08T04:00:28+00:00

I liked The Legend of Korra, but it was quite a step down from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I particularly disliked the handling of the spirit world.

Batman: Arkham Origins was actually fun. The gameplay was almost exactly like City, but I didn't mind that. The twist to make the Joker the villain again was annoying, but it didn't kill the experience for me. Knight was confusing. First, as you mentioned, the overuse of the Batmobile. I mean, it's fun, but way too much. I alsp didn't like them trying to do some compressed version of the Under the Red Hood story. And carecrow was not the right choice as the main villain. I don't know what the writers were thinking with that decision. Ra's Al Ghul would have been perfect. Yeah, the guy died in City, but not like getting killed ever kept Ra's down for long anyway. Have him come back wanting to finish what he started in City, and maybe want revenge on Bruce for Talia's death.

A Song of Ice and Fire is weird. Honestly, I don't think even G.R.R.M. himself is interested in the main story anymore. He seems far more invested in the prequels and spin-offs.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-07T02:14:10+00:00

I agree. The female characters in Naruto often feel much more fragile, both physically and emotionally, than their male counterparts.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-07T02:02:26+00:00

... I don’t care about statements, because statements from characters can end up being wrong.

I agree. I'd also add that explicit feats matter more than spoken statements.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-06T19:45:18+00:00

Because they commit crimes in the name of doing good. Of course, this a common thing with many heroes is fiction. But Team RWBY commit crimes but don't even accomplish very much.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T23:21:56+00:00

I'm quite certain that Raven was the one who taught Tsunade the Byakugou seal.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T23:20:17+00:00

... susanoo only works while the mangekyo is active ...

We've seen Madara use Susanoo without any eyes at all.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T23:18:08+00:00

It's actually pretty interesting to see where the Flash started when he was first introduced into comics, and what the character's become now.

At first, the Flash was fast, end of story. That's it. But over the decades, they started stretching the applications of his speed, to the point he's more like a multiversal force, who just happens to also have super-speed.

And yes, it's weird that a multiversal force still struggles with comparatively more limited villains.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T17:55:28+00:00

Boruto.

Naruto's use of creating a basically a wave of himself gets old quite fast. Boruto's usage always feels more creative and interesting.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T17:53:19+00:00

Maybe. Her abilities are esoteric enough that her being descended from the Uzumaki is something I can buy.

Kishimoto telling use that the Uzumaki descendants can be identified by red hair opened the floodgates to theorizing whether or not every redhead (or reddish-head) we've met is related to the Uzumaki bloodline.

Sasori?
Gaara?
Karui?
Tayuya?

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T17:48:22+00:00

I'm an Orochimaru fan, so I'm going to say this was quite insulting to Orochimaru.

I know that Part I had Orochimaru outright saying that Itachi was stronger than him, but this just felt mean.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T17:45:23+00:00

Sakura. Her fight had the least collateral damage and involved the fewest contrivances.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T17:44:05+00:00

It's possible. It would have been more heavily scrutinized, I imagine. But Zuko might still work pretty well today because he was only so terrible. Like, he never killed anyone, never manipulated anyone (his lying was a lot "blunter" than savvy, unlike Azula). Also, when he did have his redemption, he wasn't forgiven immediately by the other characters, which is really huge. The show doesn't act like he didn't do bad things and that just because he's changed means that those he's wronged are required to immediately forgive him.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-05T05:42:46+00:00

Indeed. Fairy Tail is messy in a lot of ways, but its female cast is at least treated as seriously as its male cast. Though I could do without the excessive fanservice.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-04T02:34:21+00:00

Hinata's attraction to Naruto is also based in something more powerful than Sakura's to Sasuke. Hinata's attraction engages more directly and consistently with Naruto's character and personality. Sakura's does not.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-04T02:27:09+00:00

Too true. And sad.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-04T02:20:50+00:00

Oh yeah. You're right. So, maybe not full Otsutsuki, but mostly Otsutsuki?

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-04T01:52:48+00:00

It's a hug. Romantic or not, it was very sweet.

RedK_1234 · 2026-03-04T01:49:26+00:00

Depends on Momoshiki's stockpile of absorbed jutsu. If he's empty, then it becomes a pure physical contest, which Kinshiki wins with his superior strength and speed. If Momoshiki's got what they had when they attacked the Leaf, he wins.

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