The story has become increasingly complex compared to the original series. You still have the whole deal with Naruto wanting to become Hokage, but that is very overshadowed by many new plots. You have Akatsuki who's after all the Jinchuuriki, there's Sasuke and his quest for revenge, Naruto's struggle against the Kyuubi, Team 7's quest to get back Sasuke and Danzo's plot to take over Konoha. Yeah, there's a lot going on, and I enjoy that a lot - a plot-rich story is always fun to watch
But - and this is a big but - there's severe pacing problems. And by severe I mean excessively dragged out nonsense which could've been done in half the time... at least. The first arc took 30 episodes. It could've been finished in much less time, but they absolutely have to drag it out with endless nonsense fights. The Sasuke and Sai arc was fairly okay, though, but still a little slow on the pacing.
"But if they quicken the pace it, we'll get more fillers. Oh noes!" Yeah, some people think that. However, I'd rather have them quicken the pace and have more filler than getting my viewing experience ruined by a sluggish pace. Fillers can be good, you know.
The animation in Shippuuden is better. The new character deigns are great, and I find that the coloring is less dull than it was in the original series. It's becoming more flawless too, but it still struggles with small flaws here and there. However, it's still Naruto, and its animation has always been simple in my eyes. There are no big details to brag about, but sometimes simple works; it's mainly a matter of getting used to (and most people watching Shippuuden should've already watched the original series, which means that you've most likely gotten used to it).
The soundtrack so far in Shippuuden is fairly decent. I still haven't heard any remarkable themes, but none of them has been outright bad either, so I'm fine with it, but I wish they threw in some good themes. They do, however, fit right into the current events, which is a small plus. There's not much to say about the OPs an EDs so far; they've been very average.
As of episode 58, there have been low amounts of character development, and for 58 episodes that’s not really good. The reunion of the new Team 7 and Sasuke is pretty much the only traces of any character development so far, aside maybe Sai's interactions with the rest of the group, which is always funny to watch, and it's interesting to see if he'll ever learn how to properly interact with the others. The introduction of him and his actions is pretty much all that keeps my character rating on 7, because we've hardly seen any of the other characters, and the small amounts we've seen of them is nothing special, really; it's like most of them have just faded away. I'm still hoping that some good character development and all that will come though, seeing how Naruto will probably have to struggle with the Kyuubi inside of him, and not to mention getting Sasuke back; I'm hoping that it will provide us with some neat character development.
So far, I'm very "meh" about Shippuuden, but if it rids itself of the pacing problems I'm going to enjoy this much more than I'm currently doing now.
EDIT: Well, it has improved as of late (Dec '08), so I am upping the character and enjoyment ratings to 8
To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =)
