Naruto Chapter 481 is online, Stay frosty. Spoilers

[gao828h-k.livejournal.com]

Naruto Chapter 481 out. Read it here.

Well, another interesting character bites the dust. And the name is not Karin.

Danzou as much of a bastard as he was, was still nonetheless what I would find to be one of the best characters as of late in this series. A master manipulator, a politician with blood on his hand and not to mention having a distinct lust for power but above all it seem he worked for the best. So, it's a shame he had to die right now even if it was suicide because I personally loved the machiavellian plots and 'ends justify the means' philosophy. Bout one of the more interesting character as of the last 50 chapters.

Now we've just got Sasuke who as we know has pretty much crossed the moral event horizon with killing Karin it seems 4chan has been obsessing over this. So, now the question is when is he finally getting the ass whooping he deserves?

PS: Before anyone asks about me supporting what Danzou did, I would like to note that I've supported a lot of odd ideologies in anime (Akainu, Kira)
 

Comments

[dark-moon-angel.livejournal.com]

I kind of feel bad for Danzo to be honest D: I mean his last thought made me go "awwwwwwww" And man Sasuke is EVIL! Can't believe he 'killed' Karin and he was so heartless about it!! I want more Naruto seriously, as much as I love him, enough of Sasuke! Hope team 7 knocks some sense into him ;x

[ilovenejihina.livejournal.com]

Who in the hell translated that?
But yes sasuke is officially a bastard

[gao828h-k.livejournal.com]

I'm just going to point the finger at FrankyHouse for thinking Raki from Claymore is 'Lucky'

[mochalatt3.livejournal.com]

FrankyHouse is so horrible. I think they also butcher Reborn along with another group that helps out. I looked at the credits once and they had four different translators listed. WTF. You should never need that many translators for a manga.

[gao828h-k.livejournal.com]

Well I don't know, FrankyHouse tends to do it good with their namesake One Piece for some reason.

Or maybe I didn't notice the errors.

[pikabot]

Yeah he worked so much for the best that he was conspiring with the military leader of another village to perform a coup d'etat.

Also SHIT'S ABOUT TO GET REAL lol what a translation.

[putana.livejournal.com]

I'm figuring that Sasuke and Tobi will just leave Karin for dead...so Sasuke mentally crosses a line. But...I figure we would have seen Karin's body fall at least if she was really dead. So, I'm in the 'dying' camp rather than dead. And she'll get rescued by Sakura & Co to at least have a proper death scene if not be healed.

But I think that scene is important for us to see Sasuke attack a comrade (again) to mentally push him across into the "bad" camp making though-out decisions to attack/kill 'innocent' people.

[putana.livejournal.com]

The possibility of her not being dead will allow Sasuke's actions to be excusable - to Sasuke fans or even for the author to have Sasuke go dark and then bring him "back". Personally I am glad he is showing some true bastard-like behaviour rather than toying with the grey-ish line and his behaviour being excusable given his screwed up history.

[anat-astarte.livejournal.com]

Actually, the part where Sasuke says "Don't move...Karin" in 480 may allow Sasuke's actions to be rationalized as his intent to use his Sharingan to make the strike precise enough to kill Danzou and decrease the chance of killing Karin.

On the other hand, Sasuke may have wanted her to stop squirming so Danzou could stop squirming and he could get a clear shot on the first try. XD

[putana.livejournal.com]

Your first point is what I always assumed his comment meant - the old 'shoot the victim' to take them out of the equation. Though someone else did say this is all unlikely since Karin is in the sphere where Danzou 'went off' so she would have been dragged to her death anyway?

[anat-astarte.livejournal.com]

I was speaking about interpretations for Sasuke's intentions XD
Sasuke either tried to avoid killing her or he didn't. What happened later with Danzou was Danzou's own doing.

[gabzillaz.livejournal.com]

I don't really care about Danzou, tbh. He was a coward and his character was leagues below Orochimaru at his best.

Better than Pain, though.

[jyusan.livejournal.com]

Ah, my thoughts exactly.
Orochimaru > Danzou > Pain
In matters of being an interesting character, anyway.

WHERE IS KABUTO?

[gabzillaz.livejournal.com]

KABUTO IS TOO GOOD FOR THIS MANGA.

[sweetcint.livejournal.com]

I can't stop staring at your Icon. Charlotte is <3

[oceanica.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'm just relieved Danzou's dead. The Machiavellian/"ends justify the means" aspect started out good, but layering that with an ass-ton of random powers just made me dislike him as a character.

I did like this chapter, I'll admit; it gave us a starting basis for Danzou that let us see where he started out at, to get to his current position, and the idea that he initially viewed himself as being Sarutobi's counterpart, rather than necessarily his enemy, intrigues me.

As far as Sasuke's concerned... well. I wonder if we'll see Naruto redeem him still. It occurs to me that a redemption equals death scenario might be the most meaningful way to redeem Sasuke at this point, although I question whether the Naruto manga's gotten or going to get quite dark enough to kill off a main like that.

Ultimately...we'll see.

[the-ramen-fiend.livejournal.com]

I'm really surprised Kishi did that. I was convinced it was troll, but no, he might well have killed her off. To me little Sasuke is practically past the point of no return. His change in character seems so sudden. Not too long ago he still seemed to value his little team (chapter 414). Since arriving at the Kage Summit he's simply lost hold of all his remaining scruples.

The future looks bleak for Mr. Uchiha. =/

But at least Danzou is finally out of the picture. He was such a nuisance.

[tasukigirl.livejournal.com]

I'm more amused by the fact that Kishi made him kind of gay in his final hours. It's only a matter of time before the Danzo x Sandaime pairing starts popping up.

I am also now convinced that the unofficial prereq for being hokage is having pale, spiky hair. Nidaime, sandaime, Jiraiya was supposed to be the fourth but he said no way and dragged in his teammate to take his place, and now Kakashi.

I'm sad about Karin though. I liked her. But I suppose she fits Sasuke better than Sakura does so she had to be eliminated. Or you know, just straight up victim of plot device.

[mochalatt3.livejournal.com]

Haha I was thinking that too. My shipping goggles are on pretty tight though lol

[tasukigirl.livejournal.com]

Ditto. But I'm still totally looking out for fanfic on this. Amazing really how easy it is to make rivals into failed lovers. I think Kishi secretly loves his fangirls.

[ckret2.livejournal.com]

Nah, Danzou wasn't officially voted in. (Because he doesn't have light spiky hair!) Looks like Kakashi's going to be the next Hokage.

[tasukigirl.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was the first hokage's evil ploy to keep the uchiha's out of the kage chair! Dun dun DUN!

Actually I wonder if this is just a quirk of Kishimoto's. Most of the hokage do seem to be descended from the same families though...

[tasukigirl.livejournal.com]

I think she could be dead. Kishi kills off his lovable albeit disposable characters. I'm pretty sure Asuma and Jiraiya are not coming back. The only fakeouts we have are the ones that needed to come back to play a role: namely Gaara and Kakashi. Unfortunately, Karin falls into the "disposable" pile. Many other characters don't actually die. They just get close and we're allowed to believe that they're a goner.

*snort* I think any woman in Kuroshitsuji has her days numbered except maybe the queen.

[gao828h-k.livejournal.com]

They haven't made fanfics about that already?

Though the last chapter with him in it probably could be interpreted the wrong way with yaoi goggles.

[tasukigirl.livejournal.com]

I haven't looked for any, but it's possible!

[ckret2.livejournal.com]

(Huzzah for a fellow Kira fan! Machiavellian ideologies always seem to be the most interesting ones.)

I'm still undecided on what I think Karin's fate is; at the end of last chapter, she could have lived or died. But after this chapter, she'll either die, or be saved via a very contrived and annoying plot device. Sigh. Not that I particularly want her to die, but I'd rather she die than be saved via ridiculousness. But considering that we've heard her tragic I've-been-betrayed last thoughts, I'm thinking she's really dead.

And way to go Danzou, making me a fan just in time for you to die. All along, beneath the level where he annoyed the living daylights out of me, there was the level where I liked what a perfectly shades-of-gray character he is. And then he had to go pull a roots/leaves metaphor, complete with a freaking yin-yang panel, and I was sold. As he died. Dangit. (... I tend to go for characters who pull out pretty metaphors.)

Obviously, Sasuke won't be getting his ass whooped until Naruto comes out of his Heroic BSOD. Next chapter, please. Please, next chapter. The fact that we saw Sai and Kakashi without Naruto is worrisome, but at least it means that main characters other than Sasuke are getting attention again.

[tasukigirl.livejournal.com]

It was the Leaves/Roots metaphor that sold me too and convinced me how gay he is. And really it makes perfect sense! Collaborates with Orochimaru, raises soldiers like Sai... the signs are everywhere.

[utahimelorelei.livejournal.com]

Danzou was an intriguing man. Even with all the "sharingan/shodai arm" events, his ideologies still made him more than interesting to me. He was the shadow of the tree of Konoha, the roots underneath--that, shrouded in darkness, made a stable base for the tree to grow upon. He resigned himself to be this (and he himself alludes to it in the yin-yang panel, making the metaphoric comparison between himself and Hiruzen to roots and leaves), and he worked for the village in covert ways--seeing a Konoha that needed power more than mercy. In a way, I see that Danzou is the face of the actual ideals of the rest of the Ninja World--the ideals that Konoha tried so hard to deny and turn away from. He believed that mercy, compassion and peace were something that would place people off guard, and get people killed--especially in a world where these traits are seldom seen--and for this, he worked to raise up in the shadows to hopefully "save" Konoha from itself, and the rest of the world, and in turn bring it to the glory he felt it deserved.

To protect Konoha, he did underhanded things (like the Uchiha massacre), because he knew the diplomatic peace Konoha normally used as it's modus operandi in such situations wouldn't work in all of them. It was as much for himself as it was for his love of the village.

I don't condone what he did, and maybe his ideology steered him off the path he should have been on--but hands down, I found him to be intriguing. And I'm sad to see him go--there's so much more Kishimoto could have done with him. He'll join the long line of characters that suffered that same fate; the death in obscurity with so much potential left unused. (In my mind, I see him sitting with such characters as Orochimaru, the Sound Five, and many of the Akatsuki.)

Karin. I concede that I've been getting more fond of her--since she's been breaking away from the "fangirl" mentality, and showing little glimpses of her own personality. I'm honestly a bit sad to see her go too--there are many things I wish Kishi had thought to do with her, instead of making her just a faceless fangirl, who just when she began to establish herself, was taken out because she was "useless" to Sasuke. I could go into the argument of sexism again--but we've all heard that argument before...and it's an established fact of Kishimoto's writing style, sad as it is.

I agree with what others have said--Sasuke won't be getting his ass kicked until Naruto is of a sound state to be able to beat the sense into him. Part of me, seeing Sakura, wonders if the ending is going to be a reprise of the Sannin Fight--only with Team 7 playing the parts they've already been so heavily alluded to inheriting? It would be interesting, to say the least. But, honestly, I'm more expecting a redux of 'Valley of the End'.

Still, I'd like to at least know what's happening with Naruto--he's kind of been laying face down in the snow for 7 chapters now, hasn't he?
I'm also holding out for Kabuto, wherever he may be.

[lamiah.livejournal.com]

I really hope Karin's alive now...somewhere in my heart I still hope for Uzumakianity or a miracle for Sasuke. Damn you Kishimoto. Damn you. And Sakura want to become a martyr.

[gao828h-k.livejournal.com]

I quit Uzumakianity as soon as Nagato pulled a face heel turn.

Tell me, would Hitler decide to suddenly let all the Jews go if a 15 year old told him too after dedicating 6 years to persecuting and exterminating them?

[lamiah.livejournal.com]

It's a bit an exaggeration making a similar example...We're talking about a manga and I'm a fangirl who loves the happy end with some fanservice...but if you want to put logic, obviously it won't work. XD
I was just daydreaming...^^"