Konoha Crush

The test in the Forest of Death shambles to a conclusion like so many illusory slime clones, and in its wake our heroes get a brief moment of respite as a lot of people talk to each other in various rooms. We're not sleeping on the job though, this is basically what we're here for! Join us for a lively discussion of super mario boss fights, evil motivational speeches, and the state of espionage in the Hidden Leaf.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 36-38

Brought back down to earth in the absence of Atsushi Wakabayashi, we sit down to watch a more eclectic trio of episodes where Team 10 takes a stand, Team 8 has their own unrelated misadventure, and, several days later, Team 7 faces the ticking timer of their final day in the Forest of Death. Come along for the ride as we talk about what makes a ninja team seem capable, Gaara (fuck yes fuck yes fuck yes), and watching the dramatic tension evaporate.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 33-35

In a first for the podcast, Naruto is basically not in any of this weeks episodes! While he's unconscious, the show takes the time to shine the spotlight on a few other characters: Sasuke gets our coolest fight scene yet, Anko has a bad time, Rock Lee puts his beautiful ideals to the test, and... well... ostensibly there’s a Sakura focused episode in here somewhere.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 30-32

We're here at the forest of death, the second stage of the chunin exams where, as the name might suggest, children are allowed to kill each other. The show places more moving pieces than ever before on the table, and we find ourselves wondering about how well it can balance them in between musings about what exactly our place within the world of Naruto is and bewilderment over the show's attempt to introduce everybody's favorite funny little orange ninja to a new audience. 

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 26-29

This week sees us doubling up on bits of Naruto that linger in the minds of people who sort of remember watching the show on Cartoon Network: the one-two punch of Ninja Info Cards and the first stage of the chunin exams! Along the way we talk about properly meeting the rest of the rookie nine and putting torture experts in charge of children's education, but when it all comes down to it? This episode of the podcast is about how cool it is to cheat on tests.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 23-25

After the visual highs and dramatic peaks of last week, we return to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, where everything is once again very Normal... but how long can that be maintained in the face of an explosive growth in the size of the show's cast? The chunin exams are imminent, but before they start it’s time to talk about baby bullshit missions, ominous rude children, and your boy and mine: Rock Lee.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 20-22

The conclusion of the Land of Waves arc comes with Naruto's best episodes so far, with some great material in the extremely capable hands of Toshiyuki Tsuru and Hirofumi Suzuki! We've got a whole lot to cover here at the end of an arc, as we get real sad about haku, talk about the tension between two halves of a story that aren't pulling equal weight, and get excited about just how sick this show can look.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 17-19

The battle on the bridge begins, and you'd better believe its gonna keep going. Its time for four action packed episodes where perhaps a little less happens than we'd like, but most of it involves Haku so it works out pretty well for us in the end. True to the goals of the podcast, we give even the weakest of these episodes as fair of a shake as we can, all while finding time to talk about ninja bloodlines, the resolve to kill, and the beautiful bond between bros.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 13-16

Our heroes put weapons down to recover and train, but we can't relax when the downtime gives us this much to discuss. Ninja education! The political and economic situation in the Land of Waves! Gender! And of course, on top of it all, real and significant characters like Zori and Waraji. We just can't forget about those guys.

Covered this week: Naruto episodes 10-12

It’s all battle all the time as we get our first real taste of what it means to be covering a shonen action anime, which is to say "we're talking about one big fight scene all episode". Don't mistake that for us complaining though! We get to talk about Zabuza Momochi (the Demon of the Hidden Mist, maybe you've heard of him), cool ninja tricks, and dangerous mystery children as we watch the action unfold.

Covered this week: Naruto Episodes 7-9