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| So the Plot of Naruto wiki lists the Pain arc as ending here, and while I guess there's a little bit of ruminating from Madara about Pain and some info on the ability, the arc's been clearly done for awhile. Regardless, I'm going to talk about it now but real quick on the chapter itself, real glad to have Gaara back. That's about it. The Pain arc was not something I fully enjoyed. The unlike most of the commentators, my opinion on it increased as it went along, rather than decreased. And while I definitely note why to an extent in a previous thread, I feel now it should be stated that I went into this knowing certain spoilers, the main one being that all the deaths would be reversed (though on that note, it did cross my mind why Nagato didn't revive Yahiko with it). So while I was nowhere near as disappointed as most were with the revival's since I knew it was coming, it robbed the first half of the arc of any intensity. I felt the first half was a slog to get through with a few nice moments now and again, but nothing really interesting. But I think that's because so much of the beginning relies on the "holy shit" factor, stuff like Nagato destroying all of Konoha (which was the only part that worked for me since I didn't know that) and all the deaths, it would've been a lot more intense if I didn't know none of them stuck. But on the flipside, I don't get the letdown that they didn't stick. Will echo what Animalia said, it was weird that Hinata survived Pain's attack and didn't just die with the rest when everyone was going to be revived anyway. Reviving everyone that recently died is a technique that is almost inherently deflating so I don't blame everyone for being upset by that decision but honestly it didn't bother me. Obviously knowing ahead helps but also I think it worked well enough as a reflection of Nagato's changing ideology thanks to Naruto. All the damage done in that arc was in service of his philosophy, death, creating pain was the epicenter of how he intended on creating peace so the beginning of the arc hinges heavily on that idea. So having everyone killed in service of his reasoning after Naruto managed to convince him otherwise, felt like a fitting choice and the conditions for it were enough of a clear "this is a one time only thing" indicator that I thought it worked well enough. If there's a problem, it'd be that Nagato being convinced by Naruto felt a bit too easy for how staunchly rooted into his plan and thoughts that he seemed to be. Still though, it's not like Naruto convinced him through words alone, in fact, I'd argue it was more of Jiraiya that won him over. It was cheesy as hell, but the amount that Naruto mirrored him and how the way the book operated (with Naruto sharing the name of the main character while Nagato served as the basis for him), is enough to make me believable that Nagato would change, just not enough to make it emotionally effective for me. It's truly the memory of his time with Jiraiya that helps convert him over to Naruto. I often think the best antagonists are those that reflect the protagonists in some way, much like Gaara in the Chunin Exams and I'm glad that Kishimoto kept this with Nagato though admittedly, I don't think it was done as well. Using Jiraiya and this prophecy, I don't know, felt way more cheesy and a little more forced. He built it up fine but there's still a sense of overly- scripted destiny encounter that turns me off the story a bit, but regardless, I do think it worked for what he was going for. And despite feeling the connection with Naruto is a bit over-board, I do think Pain is one of the stronger villains in Nartuo. Naruto himself is, for the most part, the only one who really gets to do much of anything here. Konohamaru gets a nice little moment, Hinata gets an awesome little moment but this is Naruto's story through and through and while I prefer a wider cast, I think this was to the arc's benefit. For starters, Naruto has been a non-factor for quite some time. Most of the time-skip Naruto has just been training, with the story usually taking that time to focus either on Sasuke a lot or on Shikamaru briefly. So this was essentially Naruto's first real battle since that one with Sasuke a long time ago, and making this a big deal made sense. Even though most of the action didn't do much for me, Naruto's heroic save and immediately defeating one of those pain was cool (though I think the fight was kinda boring from that point until Naruto turned one of those Pain into a frog). But also because it lead to village honouring Naruto at the end as a hero, which was a pretty nice conclusion. OH and before I forgot, since I did mention before that I found the action to be a bit of a slog to get through, the very end of the fight with that Yahiko Pain was pretty fun. Naruto turning a bunch of Shadow Doppleganger into the rubble was classic Naruto, really enjoyed that. All in all, I can see why, besides the Chunin Exams, this arc is tended to look at as the peak of Naruto (though that is worrying considering there's like 250 chapters left). I personally preferred the Chunin Exams to it, and I don't even know if this is my second favorite arc but I definitely ended up enjoying the latter half a good deal so all and all, pretty good. |
| cool. we get a glimpse of tobi's plan |
 ManWild |
| The Pain Assault Arc is now over, and now it's pacing time. |
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