Isn’t that a bit much?
Ordinarily, I’d say “yes.”
But if you’re laid out flat on your back with not much else to do, it’s a reasonable way to pass the time. And if you’re a couple years behind on a series, it’s a good way to catch up.I recently got into Naruto, which has been airing here since October of 2002. Coming into the series so late in its run, I had a lot of episodes to watch. Fortunately for me, the downloadable fansubs (fan-made subtitled episodes) for the whole run are readily available online. Since they’re up to episode #133, that’s about 20+ gigs of stuff to download.
Thank heavens for firewire hard drive and DVD-burners. ^.^
And thank heavens for Xbox Media Center too. I can burn about 25 episodes to one DVD-R, pop that into the Xbox and just lay in bed, hopping from one episode to the next. (Quite useful when walking across the room to change discs can be an exercise in pain.)
At first glance, the show is nothing special. A cartoon about a hidden village which exists to train ninjas, and the lives of the people in said village. Most of the characters are young – perfect for the viewing audience to identify with – and they’ve got really cool ninja powers.
That alone probably wouldn’t be enough to get me to watch it, but I’d be tempted.
And I was tempted, so I grabbed the download pack of the first 25 episodes. And you know what?
They were pretty good!
It’s a well-written show, with long, arcing plotlines, good character development, nice artwork and decent music. Any of which might make a show watchable, but put them all in the same program and you’ve really got something. Which is probably why the show’s lasted this long. It’s episodic tripe (although enjoyable tripe) like Pokémon. But there’s a big difference between the two:
Pokémon exists for the games and toys – Naruto exists for the story.
Yes, there’s Naruto merchandise, but it’s not like every episode introduces some new character/item/toy kids are going to beg their parents for. Hell, these are ninjas, for fuck’s sake. I wouldn’t expect many parents to rush out and buy shurikens for their kids just because they had a new one on the latest episode. Actually, there’s very little gimmicky stuff like that. Sure, there are new super-moves the characters use to lay waste to their enemies, but that sort of thing’s a bit tough to package and sell.
Which means it may not do too well when it hits the US later this year.
I kind of worry about what’ll happen when it gets to the US. I fear it’s going to be a very different show, as it’s got a lot of things that “just won’t do” for ‘toon programming in the US. Smoking, drinking, lecherous peeping toms (one character is often referred to as “Perverted Hermit”), blood, violence, sexually suggestive jokes, and characters who get killed off.
So if it sounds like it might be something you’d go for, get it while you can in it’s original form.Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the shows.
Only 15 more to go until I’m current! ^.^
PS – If you want an easier to manage, off-beat introduction to the series (which is how I got into it), check out The Narutrix Re-Ninja’d, a fan made remix video. It’s the audio track from the final Matrix Reloaded trailer laid over a batch of excellently edited together Naruto clips. Sounds odd, I know, but check it out. For added fun, watch the original Reloaded trailer first. That’ll give you an appreciation for just how much work went into making the remix. The guy who did it used clips found all throughout the first 80 or so episodes of the series. That’s a serious amount of video to sort through to get just the right bits!