Konoha Crush

In one corner: a teenage prodigy who only just recently learned how to not be a huge tool to everybody. In the other: Orochimaru's rudest gamer. Join us as we talk about fights desperate to find an emotional throughline, have our first brush with belief systems based on a twelve year old kicking your ass one time, and wonder what's up with spiders.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 115-117

It's Choji's time to shine! His big moment! His only big moment in the entire thing, I'm pretty sure. Will this be a big win for everybody's favorite kind and sweet boy? Or will we be left cold, wishing the show took the character as seriously as we're willing to?

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 113 and 114

Sasuke's gone, and Shikamaru assembles his team to pursue him! It's time for hopping through trees. It's time for some guys we definitely know about to get the shit kicked out of them. It's time for Sasuke dies (real) (not clickbait). Join us as we talk about grabbing some Sakura disrespect for the road, peer pressure, and the inability of any battle plan to hold up in the face of shonen arc structure.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 110-112

After stacking the poll in favor of shows we might enjoy more, we pivot from Sword Art Online to Ascendance of a Bookworm. Gone are all the gamer trappings, and in their place we find a much more subdued story of a girl aiming to reclaim her ideal life in a new world where she's obstructed by both structures of class and a potentially life threatening, debilitating illness. While watching just one season (adapting 3 of the 29 currently published light novel volumes) means we don't necessarily reach a resolution of that conflict, we have a productive time unraveling the variably compelling fantasies presented by the show and celebrating the fact that we've got actual characters, that we like, this time. What more could you want?

After stacking the poll in favor of shows we might enjoy more, we pivot from Sword Art Online to Ascendance of a Bookworm. Gone are all the gamer trappings, and in their place we find a much more subdued story of a girl aiming to reclaim her ideal life in a new world where she's obstructed by both structures of class and a potentially life threatening, debilitating illness. While watching just one season (adapting 3 of the 29 currently published light novel volumes) means we don't necessarily reach a resolution of that conflict, we have a productive time unraveling the variably compelling fantasies presented by the show and celebrating the fact that we've got actual characters, that we like, this time. What more could you want?

After a brief detour to discuss the Naruto anime’s 20th anniversary, we’re back in the Leaf, where everyone is sad! Dads are reaching their limits, rivalries escalate to a breaking point, and Sakura, having nothing to do but worry for the last 60 episodes, isn’t about to be freed from this curse now. 

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 107-109

Our time in the Land of Tea comes to a close! As Ruby gets entangled in dubious character parallels and underexplored villain motivations while questioning the very stakes of the arc, Gwen makes an impassioned and powerful statement about the potential for even awkward and imperfect art to move the audience.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 104-106

The Sasuke Retrieval Mission looms on the horizon, but before that its time to spend a couple weeks not talking about anything that happens in the manga. We take on the series most well known gag episode, and then head off to the Land of Tea to meet the torture guy’s secret brother and contemplate the moral weight the show places on child soldier hiring decisions.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 101-103

It's another week and we're back to the show and back to events that were in the manga! Sort of, anyway. As we return to the Leaf, the show undergoes some adventurous restructuring of the manga to focus on Rock Lee being sad (and some other stuff also). With all the setup for the next big arc kicked down the road a few weeks, the anime has room to build some all new connective tissue. How do we feel about it? Does any part of the story benefit from it? Theres a podcast you can listen to if you're really curious.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 98-100

Television anime? Thats bullshit! Its time to go to the theater as Naruto and the rest of Team 7 head off to the Land of Snow for an exciting new adventure full of extremely tenuous distinctions between good and bad kings, yelling at a girl until she completes her government ordered Naruto side-character arc, and, crucially, sick ass ninja shit. 

Covered this week: Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

We are granted a reprieve from our suffering as the action comes to a close and we return to a more normal level of 'totally fine'. After being (partially) freed from our burden of complaining, we talk about big animal battle strategies and punching guys really hard, as well as come to some conclusions about Shizune and the importance of making your own fun.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 95-97