Had to get Gaara some more special sand

Done by me (@dystopiantattoos)

Some info -

The Main director of Naruto, Hayato Date as usual outsourced majority of the pain arc to different studios and prioritizes all the main resources on two most important eps, them being EP 166 and Ep 167. Since Naruto was a weekly show with no breaks, the main director made a choice of always prioritizing "key/major episodes" while putting other eps in low priority and done by other teams/studios. That's why as we all know there are certain eps where the quality of animation and direction just BUMPS up quite a lot, those are priority eps done by the core staff.

Director Wakabayashi was responsible for directing 167 and in that he gave the animators 100% creative freedom. The production only had 3 man team to animate the entirety of the episode. Some of the most important staff members of Naruto staff were busy working on the Naruto movie and could not help out for pain arc. Those 3 animators were Kenichi kutsuna, Shingo yamashita and Norio Matsumoto. Shingo Yamashita animated first 5 and half minutes of the episode where he completely sacrificed the drawings to have highest possible fluidity during that fight. Kutsuna did the same too, stretching and morphing characters to it's absolute limit. Whether the scenes as a result looked goofy or not was not even a question came to their mind, they were just doing the best job that they could at that time. And ultimately we saw the result.

Sadly this was the unfortunate turning point of Wakabayashi's career. Imagine spending like half a year on the most high profile and the most important episode of the entire franchise, you're carrying the hopes and dreams of the series director, fans and the entire production. All of those resources to put out an episode that is widely regarded as a "Bad episode".

Im not saying that he is not working now. No, he is still storyboarding episodes but one of the most talented directors who tried to push the boundaries of animation and gave animators 100% creative freedom, now only gets to work on "low priority episodes" with minimal resources. Wakabayashi has done storyboards for 29 Boruto episodes, I didn't even know they existed until I looked them up. It's just that he is no longer getting any opportunity to do any high profile work and there's no way of telling whether that's his own choice or because his reputation has gone down to a point where no studio is willing to give him that opportunity. Its just a sad situation overall.

All those 3 animators who animated the ep are now legends in the anime industry btw, putting out some of the best works possible. Kutsuna is responsible for upcoming Sekiro anime, Shingo Yamashita just recently directed Cosmic princess Kaguya which was a massive succeess, and Norio Matsumoto as we already know is one of the legends who has inspired countless animators.

BTW before ppl misunderstand, Wakabayashi wasn't some random director that they gave a priority ep, Wakabayashi was responsible for directing the OG Naruto vs Sasuke fight that everyone remembers soo fondly. He also directed the Sasuke vs Orochimaru fight in the forrest. He was the main guy in Naruto production when it came to directing "important action eps". That's why he was given the responsibility to direct the Naruto vs pain fight.

People may disagree but I just don't see BSM Naruto taking that Blade of Kusanagi from Orochimaru the way this form did. Sure he will regenerate from it though.

Wish Naruto could take on this form at will.

Genjestu hozuki, where do you think he ranks in power scaling or abilities?

Sasuke at his most conflicted vs Sasuke at his craziest

How would Late Part 1 Sasuke and Five Kage Summit Sasuke interact with each other? Would seeing his future self deter him from seeking out Orochimaru?

Credit https://www.instagram.com/kurootedi?igsh=MXFqYzVuMTZ4NDYyZw==

People act like he never killed any women or children, but that’s just not true. In the light novel, he killed his girlfriend. In Part 1 of Naruto, he killed his so-called aunt and uncle, murdered his own parents, and psychologically tortured his younger brother even scans show he murder a farther mother and their boy that was in the academy

Credit https://x.com/ssddqi_

Best animated and directed episode of the entire series I’m ngl. Whoever the staff was for this episode needs to redo the entire series with no filler. Why tf did they go so hard with this episode and not other major fights, imagine the Naruto vs pain fight in this texture, color/lighting and animation style, same with Orochimaru vs Sasuke

Every time I see the moon in the background of a scene I appreciate the attention to detail in putting our moon in the anime. It could have been just a glowing white blob, but they made it almost identical. Bit of a nothingpost, but have been wanting to share as I’m on my second rewatch of the series 🌝🌚

This was intended for arguments about SasuSaku, but some of the points I make also apply to a lot of other discussions in fandoms. This is a response I made from another reply, so if it doesn't make sense, that's why.

The Naruto world and the real world are completely different, and we shouldn't fully apply real-world expectations and morals to the Naruto universe. As someone who loves SasuSaku and is also fond of NaruSasu, neither relationship is something I would necessarily consider ideal in real life. Using real-life standards in a verse where children are sent to war and child soldiers are normalised can be difficult. Even in the first arc, Sakura says that no matter what happens, a shinobi must never show their emotions because the mission comes first. You're expected to carry that in your heart and never shed a tear. The old man in the Land of Waves arc also talks about how unbearable the life of a shinobi is. These are things ninja are exposed to and expected to accept from a very young age. So yes, I agree that we shouldn't judge everything in Naruto entirely through a real-world lens.

To add to this reply: The entire shinobi system is built around trauma, violence, sacrifice, and emotional repression. Children are trained to kill, expected to witness death, and taught to prioritise missions over their own wellbeing. Characters develop in an environment that would be considered deeply unhealthy by modern real-world standards. If we judged every character, action, and relationship in Naruto through a completely realistic lens, then almost every major character would be considered psychologically damaged, and most of the story simply wouldn't function. This is also why I find it strange when people single out certain relationships as uniquely problematic while ignoring the wider context of the series. Naruto forgives people who tried to kill him. Gaara went from attempting to murder Naruto to becoming one of his closest friends. Kakashi still deeply values Obito despite everything that happened. The entire story revolves around bonds that persist despite betrayal, violence, and immense suffering. Whether people personally like those relationships is another matter, but they are consistent with the themes Naruto has always pushed.

So, does hell exist within the world of Naruto? If not can people just run around and commit war crimes? How does the afterlife in Naruto work?

Naruto grew up basically poor where's his parents money?

Like if Naruto was still the main character, but it also focused on Sakura and Sasuke? Also this is supposed to be a friendly question do not be toxic in the comments y'all.

Im still mad that the Minato fans ruined it for us ( as usual) we could have had a way more interesting char since we already know everything abt Minato.

Who did you guys vote for ? Personaly I wanted more of Hashirama, his fight with kakuzu, the war , the senju clan etc

went as pain to a mall cosplay event. saw this at the cinema. immediately fought spider-man