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i-was-a-teenage-eldritch-horror · 3 years

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okay so how do u feel about how the main female characters were handled in 4.0

This is going to be loooooong.

Firstly, I want to say that the fanservice was just godawful. Pedophilic, hamfisted, gross, and just plain annoying. The only adult characters who were subjected to anything resembling the female pilot's treatment were Midori and Sakura (who are in their early 20s if my math checks out). None of the adult women were subjected to the same type of fanservice as the pilots. It raises the question of...well, who's the intended audience here? It's especially jarring since there was like, almost none in 3.33. So I won't be discussing the fanservice in each of the character sections. Just know that I hate it universally. Also, people who fervently deny that asuken and marishin were romantic in this movie are on nuclear levels of copium. Obviously you don't have to (and shouldn't, to be frank,) ship it, but it's clear that hetero endgames were intended.

1. Ritsuko

I don't have any complaints here. I guess I wish she had more screentime. I liked her scenes with Misato, but their conversations felt a bit more stilted that how you would think friends of 25 years would speak to each other. I liked that she got to shoot Gendo.

Her new VA wasn't much to write home about. It was still a good performance, but Mary Faber's rendition of Ritsuko wasn't as deep or womanly a voice as Sue Ulu or Colleen Clinkenbeard's were. It took some adjusting, but she's definitely growing on me.

2. Misato

Kaji junior, as a concept, was actually genius and makes perfect sense. Tons of parallels were drawn between her and Gendo even in the original series so it's apt that she would become a deadbeat parent like he was. It's tragic yet fitting. Her being devoted to Shinji over her own son sadly makes a lot of sense. Additionally, it fucking sends me to think that she was pregnant at the end of 2.22!

I don't like how she swapped back to her old hairstyle during the climax, though. It doesn't make a lick of sense.

Also, her turning into the Spear of Gaius was dumb and misogynistic as hell. It's the "boy gets rewarded with woman's body" trope taken to its logical extreme. Like Soul Eater if it was unimaginably, violently misogynistic.

3. Mari

For the most part, I liked Mari in Thrice Upon a Time. She was the closest to an actual 3D character as she's ever been, and I found myself really liking her and getting excited when she was on screen. Her fight in Paris at the beginning of the movie was exciting and fun, probably the best part of the movie.

VERY weird, however, that she knew Shinji when he was a baby and then became his love interest. Like genuinely what the hell was that. The reveal that her given name is Mary Iscariot was also weird, but honestly I liked it. It was cheesy and bad in a fun way, unlike the rest of the movie. Obviously her surname being "Iscariot" is a reference to Judas and how she betrayed Gendo and Fuyutsuki, but I looked it up and apparently Iscariot is an actual surname. However, according to one website I looked at, it's so rare that only four people in the entire world are documented as bearing it.

It's also funny that Mari being British is like, never explicitly confirmed or referenced in these movies. Outside of cursory references to British folklore (her first eva being a quadruped, wielding a jousting lance, and slaying a reptile-like creature), it literally doesn't matter and is never brought up. In 2.22 there's this scene where she's like "wow it's such a shame that I have to use these adults for my agenda," and it's like...girl, what's your agenda?!?! Explain!

4. Asuka

The asuken thing was offensive on every level. I would be able to buy that they were just buddies IF Asuka wasn't walking around naked in front of him and if he wasn't in the doll at the end. As it stands, though? The vibe is definitely shippy, and it's disgusting. I mean, swap out Kensuke for Mari in the doll scene and everyone would recognize it for what it is. Speaking of asumari...

The asumari bait in this movie is also gross. Not because it's asumari, but because it's bait. We have all these scenes of Asuka and a flirtatious Mari, and for what? For Marishin to be endgame? For Kensuke to be a pedophile? For Asuka to be alone at the train station at the end? Fuck, I don't even like asumari. It makes me feel like I'm losing my marbles. But still. They got done dirty in this movie.

Moving on, Asuka's death in this movie actually shook me a lot more than I thought it would. It's way spookier and eerie than her death in eoe. To be honest, I've always been a "Bardiel is in Asuka's eye, and that's why she has the eye patch" theory denier because, to be frank, I didn't have faith in these movies to actually make sense, so that was a pleasant surprise.

I liked the revelation that Asuka was actually also a clone series like Rei. It was unexpected yet made a lot of sense. Asuka clamoring to be loved, for the affection that's been denied to her because she's just another fly in the swarm; a military weapon, ultimately. However, I gotta say that like...Mari was out here giving Asuka the affection and love she explicitly admits to wanting in the movie. The scenes of her training in Germany were cool to watch. That's something I wish we'd seen in the original anime.

The reveal that Asuka's older than Shinji and was in her early 20s during 2.22 (she looks about 10 to be in the flashback with Gendo, Yui, and baby Shinji) was weird but after the Mari thing I didn't mind.

5. Rei

Firstly, I was super happy to see Amanda Winn Lee back!

This movie came so close yet still ended up missing the mark when it came to Rei. The concept isn't the issue at all. "Rei gets accepted into the village and learns to truly live" is amazing, actually! The problem is the cutesification of Rei. Here's a really good quote about why this is a problem. In 3.33 she was depicted pretty neutrally, all things considered, and a few scenes with her drifted into the familiar eerie, tragic territory of the original show. So this change is both deliberate and jarring.

Another issue is that Q!Rei's characterization, especially in this movie, has always seemed to me like that of a semi-verbal, high-support autistic person. That in and of itself isn't the problem at all. With very few exceptions, such as the Angelic Days manga, Rei has always been heavily autistic coded. Y'all know how I feel about this. The way the "camera," for lack of a better word, perceives Rei, how she's drawn, and how other characters react to her (cooing and giggling about how cute and naive she is), all rub me the wrong way when you take that into consideration. Autistic people are infantilized and cutesified in real life. This heavily contributes to the ableist abuse and neglect that we deal with as a population. In 2.22, Rei's seen reading Oscar Wilde, and in this movie she's reading a picture book for kids, even though she can read the esoteric technobabble in an eva's UI. She also gets Hikari's old school uniform as a hand-me-down, immediately codifying and signaling that she's eternally a cute little kid. Obviously the curse of eva still applies to the other pilots, but it's on a whole new level here. Her feelings for Shinji are fantastically mishandled as well.

I love the scene she shares with Asuka, because it's basically Asuka telling Rei that she's experiencing comphet -- these feelings are not organic, nor are they her own. They were planted by Gendo. In a better movie, this would've been a pivotal moment of questioning for Rei. Instead, she just says "whatever" and leaves. She even delegates the job of picking a new name to Shinji, not because she herself is incapable of it, but because she doesn't think she's fit to. Shinji is also just downright rude to her, not just in this movie, but in 3.33 too. That scene where she returned the walkman to him only for him to push it away would've been a great moment for her to be done with him. Also, Q!Rei even having a crush on Shinji at all in this movie came out of nowhere since in 3.33 there was nothing to suggest that.

Her past abuse and life at NERV are never brought up beyond vague mentions of "orders." Again, Rei's trauma isn't cute or sweet. It's tragic, harrowing, and uncomfortable. She asks what a cat is, why they shrunk a baby, and doesn't know what a bath is. Yes, logically, she might be confused about these things, given her past. But again, the decision to include those things specifically were deliberate. They're cute, easy to digest examples. It reminds me of questions a toddler would ask, excitedly going "mommy, what's that!" upon seeing a new animal at a park, tying yet again into the theme of brutal and gross infantilization. I don't know, I just think that learning that you were abused, neglected, and cloistered for your entire life should be disturbing, horrifying, existential, and a traumatic revelation in and of itself.

Her death didn't bother me that much, since it was foreshadowed in 2.22. In a weird way, I was happy that she died early on so she couldn't get butchered even further. Long-haired Rei was fine. She felt like 2.22 Rei and didn't do much except listen to Shinji. I thought her saying "neon genesis" was cool. Just like the Mary Iscariot thing, it was bad in a fun, goofy way. I like Rei's outfit at the train station at the end. I always knew she'd be a maxi skirt woman. Oh, and those boomer farmer women were great.

6. Hikari

Hikari was fine in this movie. I will say that it felt jarring to see her go from a high-powered, conscientious class representative to a SAHM. That's not a dig at SAHMs, either. Just saying it was weird. Fits with the natalist hell that is this movie, though. Seriously, even the quiverfull nutjobs would think this is too on the nose.

7. Midori & Sakura

Covering these two in the same section since they share most of their screentime. These two behave irrationally, and, forgive me for using a historically loaded term, hysterically. They monologue about their pain and loss while pointing their guns at Shinji, hesitate to shoot, and miss when they finally do. Then Misato tells them that Shinji's going to save them and they change their tune entirely to "zomg Shinji is our savior!" and this all happens within like, a minute and a half, at most?

#anon #anonymous #ask #answered #midori kitakami #sakura suzuhara #ritsuko akagi #misato katsuragi #mari makinami illustrious #asuka langley soryu #asuka langley shikinami #rei ayanami #hikari horaki

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myfandomrambles · 5 years

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Parenting and Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls most important ethos is that it’s the story of three generations of a family and the dynamics thereof. So important part is the parenting of Emily & Richard VS Lorelai and I guess Chris. Other characters also play into this like Ms Kim and others. But I’m going to focus on the main Gilmore for this.

Emily and Richard were hyper-controlling and emotionally abusive. They expected Lorelai to be exactly what they thought she should be at all times. Often tries to control things not only through emotional manipulation but also through direct acts. Emily continually tries to force Christopher into their lives unwanted, set up events for Rory without asking and assumes she should have a role in everything. Richard shows similarly manipulative behaviours with going behind their backs about Yale. They insulted her for her looks and behaviour many times over the course of the show. Explicitly making fun of her head and when she doesn’t fit in her coming out dress Emily tells her to go jog to fit in it. They made decisions Lorelai always resented and never thought about why she would. Over a decade after Rory was born they still talk about how ashamed they are of Lorelai for getting pregnant. Calling it a failure and that it ruined their lives. Richard even saying the only reason to defended her was how bad it made him look.

After the death of Richard Emily ignores Lorelai’s grief in favour of her own, telling Lorelai that she never loved her own dad. She always expects the apology first only ever admitting to being wrong a few times, and always assumes she can buy forgiveness. Richard's inability to show much affection and consistent absence through overwork putting a large gap of connection with Lorelai. Multiple times we see Lorelai be unable to remember usual childhood connections with her father even when she wants too. Lorelai is blamed for Christopher's lack of success and being a deadbeat father. She did, of course, refuse his marriage proposal, but never stopped him being there for Rory. Any time Rory struggles, or Chris doesn’t show up it’s on Lorelai.

This controlling and abusive behaviour shaped Lorelai into a rebel and over the top free spirit who also has control issues. Lorelai has a tendency to switch between hyper-confidence and an extreme lack of it. An internalized view her parents taught her. She works overtime to not be her parents, sometimes to an extreme. She wants independence so bad but also seeks deep connections. The extreme volatility in their parent/child relationship spilt over into all of Lorelai’s relationships.

Her relationship with Rory was codependent and Rory experienced some degree of being a parentifed child. Lorelai tried to let Rory be a free spirit and see her mother as much of a friend as a parent. In many ways this was good. Rory always felt loved and like she could be anything she wanted. Rory was able to have tight friends and a large support network. The gap her father left in her life never left her as hurt as others as Lorelai did her best to not let her feel like it was her fault. Lorelai also never subjected Rory when she was super young to a parade of partners who could have hurt her.

But there were downsides too. Rory didn’t always get some of the parenting she needed equally playing a role in the emotional and practical support of her mother. Even if they were more open about things then most parent and child Rory still felt a need to be self-sufficient and feard reaching out. She inherited her mother's terrible communication skills as well. Having to be the responsible one along with her mother I think fed into her trying to abdicate responsibility in college and fall into letting her grandparents run things. Being able to be laidback after facing failure was different from the hyper-responsible outlook she had growing up.

Lorelai, of course, tried to build Rory up after everyone in her childhood putting her down. This is good in Rory feeling like she can succeed and be loved, but also I think set her up to not handle failure. the expectation of success and lack of needed constructive criticism gave Rory Lorelai's fear of failure and caused her to be even more myopic in life as an adult then Lorelai ever was.

Emily and Richard I think did parent Rory in some ways. They, of course, did a lot of the same things to Rory namely being controlling and holding too many expectations over her head. However, I think they tended to be kinder and more overall supportive of Rory, which I think is what took Rory longer to recognize some of their more toxic behaviours. Rory didn’t really see this till Emily tried to treat Rory like a child when she was an adult. This behaviour I think was genuinely toxic from the start though, Emily and Richard saw Rory as almost a second chance to have a better Lorelai. Of course when they are kind and help Rory reach her goals that are good but it often slides into being manipulative.

In my opinion, of course, Lorelai was a better parent. She spent all of Rory’s childhood working her ass off to give her the best life. She spent so much time working sucky jobs and wanting to give Rory anything she could need. Lorelai made a lot of mistakes but was never abusive like her parents.

Lorelai is absolutely not worse than her parents. Like yes, Emily told her Rory she wasn't a mistake, but I don't think Rory grew up with the idea in her. Se, of course, new she was an accident in her conception but Lorelai always treated her as wanted and loved. When Rory wanted to leave school Richard did show empathy to Rory in a more overt way because he played into her emotions. I think Lorelai could have done this better, but what Rory chose to do was not the best course of action and then it turned into manipulation and we see they didn't really know Rory assuming she was a virgin when Lorelai really knew Rory inside and out.

Parenting in Gilmore Girls is honestly fascinating in that we get emotional and psychological abuse shown without the introduction of physical or sexual abuse to "prove" it's abuse. While I know many others don't read it as such, it is really and clearly that. We also see the trickle-down effects that pass through Lorelai too Rory through her own mistakes something I think is really important as well. Lorelai isn't abusive to Rory but even with that she still struggles to not pass down toxic ideas and messages. The deep love we see even with these struggles is very powerful as well.

So that’s a rant *shrugs*

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morganafata · 4 years

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Wow, so proud of myself, I finished Experimental Film by Gemma Files and The Deep by Alma Katsu this week. Of the two, Experimental Film was the better even if I had a hard time connecting with the main character as I was reading. I could sympathize with her situation and I found her quest to be very interesting but so many times while I was reading I kept thinking “Wow, you are a fucking disaster” and not in a fun way. Still, the book had some definite cool concepts and I’m always down with novels concerning haunted media so it was a good read.

The Deep, though, yeah that was rough. Which is ironic since I finished it way faster than I did Experimental Film (for whatever reason, I just kept putting that book down. But that probably has more to do with my attention span than anything else). The Deep, I finished in 3 days, which is a personal best for me these days so yay. But it’s not because the book itself was addictive but because it was a relatively fast read and I was plowing through it just to get it over with. Which is a shame because I really liked Alma Katsu’s other book, The Hunger and was so excited to read the Deep. But I found nearly the entire cast of characters to be absolutely insufferable. The only people I had any true sympathy for was the closeted boxer with the lousy boyfriend and the dead girlfriend who got screwed over by the other two people in her threesome, her own deadbeat boyfriend and their mutual girlfriend, the turn of the century version of an influencer. The book does try to make these two sympathetic and in Caroline’s case, is a bit more successful. But Mark Fletcher. What a fuckboy. What absolute garbage. I can’t even begin to see what Lillian or Caroline saw in him that they would throw away their own romance just to win over this POS. He gambles away his girlfriend’s savings, then when Caroline comes on the scene decides that while he still really likes fucking his hot, passionate working class girlfriend, the one who’s savings he gambled away (and who seems like a decent person not like a menacing Rebecca-type she’s built up to be), he’d also like to fuck her hot, easy going, super rich BFF. Then when his girlfriend kills herself because he’s a cheating asshole, he immediately marries hot, rich BFF and has the nerve to moan like a little bitch over his other hot dead girlfriend that he drove to kill herself. Oh, and then four years later, he helped sink the Britannica. Fuck you, man slut.

I will say though, figuring out the Lillian-Mark-Caroline polycule was the most interesting part of the book for me, not because of polyamory sexytimes (there isn’t any BTW, at least not explicitly. For a menage a trois, it is disappointingly vanilla) but more for “i wonder who is going to uselessly angst over who this time”. Which is a shame, because a ghost story involving the Titanic, Britannica, the open sea, and folk legend regarding sea folk should have had more going for it than three good looking, dumb people trying to figure who they’re eternally in love with at that moment. Oh and a lot of detail about boring rich people and their first world problems. It does get interesting towards the end and the maid, Annie does prove herself to be a heroine, after spending chapters pining over Mark (Ugh, seriously what are these ladies seeing in this shitbag. You*can*do*better!). But.....I was sort of relieved when it ended.

That being said, Alma Katsu’s The Hunger? That book is awesome and definitely worth a read.

#book thoughts #alma katsu #the deep #books #hopefully the next books i read will be more fun

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Meets New Characters And Rallies Around Rock Lee

Welcome back to the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! I'm Carolyn, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto. Last week, we covered episodes 43-49, and we continue this week with episodes 50-56.

Let's be honest, I like me some good pathos. While the exams are definitely one of my favorite arcs in this series, I can't help but be drawn into the aftermath of the one-on-one tournaments. Especially poor Rock Lee's physical devastation that he's still somehow determined to overcome. The gut-wrenching stuff is the stuff that really gets me. Anyway, enough of that.

Let's get on with what really matters... you. Or in this case, reader WiseJake237, with a good question about Rock Lee and chakra!

Yeah, the Rock Lee vs. Gaara fight is really cool, but one thing's got me confused. If Lee can only use Taijutsu, how is he able to master the forbidden art of opening the gates that control chakra flow? Doesn't controlling chakra fall under the category of Ninjutsu?

Nate: I think the difference is that Ninjutsu molds chakra to create something, like a spell--Sasuke molds chakra to do a fire jutsu, for example, while Lee is just actively releasing chakra in his body to power it up. He's not actively using it as much as he's channeling it, but that's just my take on it.

OK, let's see how the Crunchyroll Features team is holding up after this week's episodes!

Naruto has taken to saying his signature catchphrase “Believe it!" a bit less. Do you miss it?

Kara: He still -dattebayo’s a little at the end once in a while, but yeah. I wasn’t sure if it was just me noticing it less or if Naruto really was saying it less. I don’t really miss it so much, but that could be because it achieved joke status in my circles so quickly.

Joseph: I feel like he’s doing his little vocal tic just as much as ever, they just don’t always bother giving it the “believe it” flavor in the subs.

Peter: I didn’t even notice.

Paul: I think Naruto's still doing his “-dattebayo” speech affectation about as much as usual, but he has fewer lines in this batch of episodes, because they focus more on the supporting characters.

Jared: I feel like I still heard it here and there, but it wasn’t enough to make me think it wasn’t as frequent, so I guess I really didn’t miss it much.

Danni: It’s always felt like an awkward addition, so I don’t miss it, honestly.

Kevin: Honestly, since I’m watching this subbed, I only occasionally caught the “dattebayo” anyway, so him not saying it as much really doesn’t make a difference to me.

Naruto has come face-to-face with the Nine-Tailed Fox and that thing is terrifying. How do you think this event will change/shape Naruto’s journey to becoming Hokage?

Kara: This is seriously exciting! I’ve been waiting to see how that comes into play. So far, Naruto has had to learn to exert discipline over his own impulses and personality. He’s doing a lot better than he was but, you know… Naruto is still Naruto. Now he’s going to have to do the same with something that’s a lot bigger and scarier than anything about him personally. I’m interested to see how taming the Nine-Tailed Fox helps him discipline himself.

Joseph: This is a really big event, and while I don’t know that it was handled as expertly as it could have been, the Nine-Tailed Fox is an appropriately intimidating entity. Also, tick the box, because pushing Naruto in this direction is the first cool thing Jiraiya has done.

Peter: I always thought Kishimoto steamrolled what I thought would be a huge revelation for Naruto. He discovered the reason he was ostracized as a child was he had a literal demon sealed inside him and didn’t even bother investigating it? I suppose it changes nothing but it probably wouldn’t have taken too much effort to discover who his father was after that. He kind of doesn’t even interface with it despite going kyubi several times until the finale of this stretches final episode.

Paul: Personally, I think Megumi Hayashibara's turn as Hakumen no Mono in Ushio and Tora is the scariest incarnation of a nine-tailed fox that I've seen in anime, but Tessho Genda's take in Naruto is a close second. I love that Naruto's reaction is to belligerently demand that the fox fork over some Chakra, like he's a deadbeat roommate living in Naruto's body. As for the final question, Naruto becomes Hokage? OMG! Spoilers!

Jared: I’m real curious to see just how much of a power boost this gives him initially and how that’ll help him in the final bits of the chunin exams. I also liked how he just didn’t back down from it which earlier Naruto might have done.

Danni: I expected a multi-episode stretch where Naruto literally has to fight his inner demon to earn his power, so I was pleasantly surprised to find his inner demon is just kind of a deadbeat roommate finally forking over all the rent money he owes.

Kevin: *Looks ahead to Shippuden* Uhh… I plead the Fifth on the grounds that I legitimately don’t want to spoil what happens.

David: While I too know from experience how this plays out, I wanted to point out that its placement in the story is pretty perfect as a mirror or counter of sorts to Sasuke’s own internal power issues. It’s going to be interesting to see how differently they each handle their newly discovered powers.

So … we’ve met Jiraiya and he’s really something, isn’t he? If this is your first introduction to the Pervy Sage, what are your thoughts on him so far? If you know how Jiraiya turns out, how do you feel about this introduction?

Kara: So I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this before, but years ago I messed around with the old Billy vs. Snakeman game on Anime Cubed. That started out with Naruto one-offs but eventually brought in Bleach and Death Note and a lot of other stuff. So whenever I see a new character, I immediately think of their BvS counterpart—which means I only think of the comical view of them. It was really cool seeing that Jiraiya is actually kind of a badass, and but for one thing, I would 100% name him New Favorite Character.

Joseph: I have all the cool stuff he does later in my head, so I forgot what a dip Jiraiya was in the beginning. What a dopey introduction for a cool character. I thought Naruto already had pervy dudes in it but I guess they didn’t have the ultimate requisite perv sage yet.

Peter: I completely forgot how bad he was. I guess I didn’t think about it much back in high school when I first watched Naruto but man Jiraiya really sucks. Tsunade was the only good to come of that squad.

Paul: If I could go the rest of my life without encountering another example of the Shonen Jump “perv” character creeping on girls from the bushes, I would be able to die with no regrets, fist raised to the Heavens, Raoh from Fist of the North Star-style.

Jared: They really wanted to nail down and beat you over the head with the fact that Jiraiya is a skeevy dude and leers at women constantly. I hope what everyone’s saying that he becomes better is true because oof, that was a bad first impression.

Danni: He’s just Roshi for a new generation of Jump readers, and like Roshi the only thing about him I like is his big animal friend.

Kevin: I am part of the group that has seen the show before, and this introduction really doesn’t do Jiraiya service. He’s awesome and is actually really important to the overall backstory of the world, but this paints him as just a pervert who is experienced enough to teach Naruto, and seems to have a bit of backstory that we don’t know yet.

David: Jiraiya, as he is right now, isn’t a very likable character in my opinion. If I remember correctly, he does get more interesting and fun to watch later, but I wouldn’t blame anyone for coming out of this introduction with a bad taste in their mouths. Compare to Kakashi, who reads questionable material out in the open but isn’t quite such a creep.

Speaking of Pervy Sages, the Sexy Jutsu is back in full force. Is that killing this part of the story for you? It feels quite creepy seeing Jiraiya constantly ogling his underage student.

Kara: Yeah. That’s the one thing that stops me from naming him New Favorite Character. It doesn’t kill this part of the story, entirely, but it does shake me out of it temporarily. I understand it’s meant to be funny, but wow no. Stop. Please.

Joseph: It’s 100% clear that Jiraiya is like three bushes away from being concealed enough from the public eye to have sex with Naruto in Sexy Jutsu form. It’s a bad gag.

Peter: Oof.

Paul: Blargh. I like the idea of three legendary ninja that are so strong that they basically answer to no one except themselves. It reminds me of the Seven Warlords and the Four Emperors from One Piece, and how their presence (or absence) can completely tilt the political balance and set world-shaking events in motion. I just wish it wasn't wrapped up in a package like Jiraiya as he's currently presented.

Jared: Ban sexy jutsu and ban Jiraiya doing this.

Danni: I hate the frog man.

Kevin: Can’t say I disagree. Honestly, most of the time I’m not too upset about the Sexy Jutsu, since generally, it is either on screen for a short time or Naruto is using it in a surprisingly strategic way, but the scenes with Jiraiya are where it got legitimately uncomfortable at times, as the middle-aged man gets a nosebleed from someone he explicitly knows is a 12-year-old boy who just looks female (and decidedly not 12) for the moment.

David: The only blessing here is that there is a pretty large gap between times when Sexy Jutsu rears its ugly head.

Man, Rock Lee, you guys. Given how much everyone has loved him over the past couple weeks, how are you all holding up watching his brutal, emotional journey?

Kara: ROCK LEE DESERVES BETTER. That said, I was kind of surprised to see that the show didn’t immediately reward “hard work and guts,” but instead chose to show actual consequences for using a killer move.

Joseph: It’s a bummer of an ending to Rock Lee’s battle, but I kind of love that about it. Rather than giving him a victoriously explosive finale, Kishimoto totally ripped him up and put him back further than square one. With that said, please get well soon, Lee, we love you.

Peter: Sakura’s line at the end really killed the scene for me, kind of implying neither girl has even attempted to work as hard, not just Rock Lee, but any of the boys in the cast. I really like Rock. I’m not sure if he ever really gets a narrative pay-off but both Kishimoto and Pierrot love to show off his power so in that way he gets a lot more than similar characters like Chad.

Paul: If you'll pardon the pro-wrestling reference, Rock Lee is clearly the Mick Foley of Naruto, in that everybody loves him yet his most famous matches tend to involve him getting his ass royally kicked. I don't like to see Lee suffer like this, but I also know that, on the meta-textual level, there was no way in heck he was going to beat Gaara. That's just not how these kinds of story arcs are written.

Jared: The Rock Lee comeback tour starts now. I’m even more curious to see where they go with him as the guy who tried his hardest and still came up short, so where mentally does he go from here. Even if he wasn’t able to beat Gaara, he’s still a winner in my heart.

Danni: I really, really wanted him to win, but I’m at least satisfied with how he lost. He fought to the bitter end, past the brink of consciousness. I have a sneaking suspicion his ninja days aren’t over yet.

Kevin: This is largely why I think people love Lee so much. Sure, you got to see him grow in power immensely during his fight, but he really endears himself to the audience by not giving up on his dreams, even when literally everyone is telling him that there is no hope of achieving them.

David: Always, always a fan of when stories get you excited about a character, have them lose or fail in some way, yet manage to only leverage that to make you like them even more. Rock Lee is a huge winner in that area.

And on that note, the one-on-one battle portion of the exams was a popular arc. Is this new arc jarring? Is it a welcome change? How are you all adjusting to the post-exam arc?

Kara: I loved the battles so much, and I loved finally getting to meet a lot of these other characters. But after all that, I really am kind of ready to bring it back down to our protagonist again. Unlike the bit before the Chunin Exam, though, I feel like this period of time is letting us see the growth of the characters and letting those events take hold more permanently. Like, even Ino and Sakura are showing growth in their friendship.

Joseph: With just a couple post-battle episodes, I haven’t quite settled in yet. I’m completely fine with some downtime, though. Naruto is generally pretty good at its peaks and valleys.

Peter: I forgot they got an entire month. This is where my perception of time got really messed up because I felt like Sasuke Retrieval was right after Chunin Exams. Wasn’t even sure whether Naruto learned his super move before the last stretch. Seems like a huge amount of time considering there are supposed to be a ton of diplomats in town ready to watch the event.

Paul: After all of the intense combat of the Forest of Death and the preliminary matches, I liked that they took some time to focus on everyone training for The Final Test. I liked the idea that Naruto has been brute-forcing his away along while relying on his superhuman stamina, and I liked that the focus of his training involves Naruto learning how to manipulate his Chakra with finesse. We also get a glimpse at the bigger picture, with the various Villages plotting intrigues against one another. It's a welcome change of pace.

Jared: The way the show has been moving at such a rapid pace with the Forest of Death and all the fights, there needed to be some downtime. After coming off the highs of those last few fights, it did feel somewhat like the show slammed the brakes, but that hasn’t wavered my anticipation of the final parts of this arc.

Danni: It hasn’t been as jarring as I thought it might be. I tend to like one-on-one training arcs that really lean into a character’s strengths and weaknesses, teaching them how to make use of both. I didn’t think Naruto would ever use a summoning jutsu, so I’m eager to see him ride some big frogs in the future. Again, though, why Jiraiya???

Kevin: In short, I wish that the preliminaries hadn’t happened. Just cut out the prelims, change nothing else, and then add in the prelim fights as the first round of the main third Exam. This month of downtime is great for introducing new mentors and getting the Genin to have new abilities, but it really doesn’t work well when it comes between two sets of 1-on-1 fights with high emotional stakes.

David: Honestly, it mostly just seems weird that they would put such a huge gap in what’s essentially the middle of an exam. Imagine taking a test, you get two-thirds in, and then your professor tells everyone to go home and study some more for the last part. Bizarre.

As always, high points and low points. What you got?

Kara: High point, absolutely where we left off, with Naruto finally confronting the Nine-Tailed Fox. Close second being my perfect son Rock Lee still trying to train even while in multiple casts. Low point is any and all Sexy Jutsus, and this probably won’t change.

Joseph: Low point: Jiraiya’s introduction and almost every scene he’s in here. High point: Naruto’s attempts to use summoning jutsu resulting in increasingly less tiny frog children.

Peter: Low point was Jiraiya. High point Naruto confronting his inner demon. Pretty straightforward this time.

Paul: High point: Choji Akimichi finally getting to eat some BBQ, which is a welcome reward after he got completely punked in his preliminary match. Low point: Jiraiya.

Jared: Low point was all the sexy jutsu and Jiraiya being Jiraiya. High point would be Rock Lee continuing to be the best even when he’s hurt and Naruto finally facing off against the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Danni: High point was seeing everyone acknowledge Rock Lee even in his defeat. I don’t really have a low point this time around ha ha just kidding it’s Jiraiya.

Kevin: High Point: I know that it started in last week’s episodes, but I will always love Lee’s fight, and I absolutely adore the Eight Inner Gates as a concept. The only thing that can content with it for top moment is Lee doing push ups outside the hospital, due to the sheer emotional weight of the scene. Low Point: Worst moment is probably the first time that Jiraiya sees Naruto’s Sexy Jutsu, for reasons discussed above. Other Point: As for another moment I want to shout out: Everything to do with Naruto’s seal and chakra control. Sure, we’ve seen him as a screw up throughout much of the series, but when he is serious about training, he can honestly learn and grow very quickly. We’re also getting the first steps of controlling the Kyubei’s chakra, which will have major impacts to the latter part of the series.

David: Agreed with this set being straightforward. High point is Rock Lee’s everything, low point is Jiraiya’s poor introduction.

COUNTERS:

"I'm gonna be Hokage!" count: 2, 21 total

Bowls of ramen consumed: 26 bowls! 28 bowls, 3 cups total

Shadow Clones: 96, 216 total

And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched the original Naruto!

Here's our upcoming schedule!

-Next week, on MARCH 15th, EPISODES 57-63 will be hosted by DANNI WILMOTH!

-Then, on MARCH 22nd, NICOLE MEJIAS will host EPISODES 64-70!

-On MARCH 29th, DANIEL DOCKERY will dive into some Hokage fights in EPISODES 71-77!

Have any thoughts on this week's episodes? Let us know in the comments! Or ask us some questions for next week's installment on episodes 57-63!

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Carolyn Burke is a writer for Crunchyroll, Bunny Ears, and Cracked. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

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