Nicholas Swain

Nicholas Swain and Chavez discuss the anime series Naruto and its various aspects. They talk about the meaning of Naruto and its popularity. They also rate the franchise, the rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto, the character Itachi, the relationship between Sakura and Sasuke, and the hate towards Sakura. They discuss the popularity of Naruto as a character, the underdog story of Rock Lee, the fights in Naruto, and the impact of the villain Orochimaru. They also rate Kakashi as a sensei for Team 7 and speculate on how Naruto would be received if it were released today. Hey anime fans, welcome to the podcast show, Rated Animation, where I rate and discuss topics of your favorite anime. I'm your host, Nicholas Swain, and I'm with anime expert, Chavez. Today we'll be discussing your anime series, Naruto, topics that are overrated, underrated, and properly rated. All right, Chavez, what does the anime Naruto mean to you? The anime Naruto to me means from zero to hero. It shows me that there is someone relatable to myself that can strive and achieve and do the things I want to, while also having relationships and bonds that teach them to be a better person. All right. Very, very, very popular. All right. How would you rate the popularity of the Naruto series? I would say properly rated, as it is, because a lot of people love it. One of the biggest anime of all time. All right. How would you rate the franchise of Naruto, considering that it went from the Naruto series to Naruto Shippuden to then the Baruto series? How would you rate the franchise within other anime franchises that have been going for this long? Starting with Naruto, I would say overrated. I'm not going to lie. Naruto Shippuden, I would definitely say underrated, the same as I would say Baruto. Actually, let me rephrase that. I would definitely say Baruto is properly rated, because it's pretty bad. I'm not going to lie. I've seen all of Baruto, all 293 episodes, but a lot of people are not going to sit through it one time because it's kind of bad. All right. I got you with that. All right. How would you rate the Sasuke and Naruto rivalry in terms of anime of other rivalries that we've seen, that we've watched over these years, like Goku and Vegeta? Oh, definitely properly rated for the rivalry between the two. I would definitely say it's very well received. We see a lot of people making parodies of them, as they are basically that sun and moon. We see them a lot. They revolve around each other. It's one of the most iconic anime rivalries to exist, besides like Vegeta and Goku. All right. Personally. How would you rate Itachi's character after, you know, first we look at him killing his own clan and telling his brother that he needs to get stronger in order for him to get back and kill him. And then later knowing after he dies, why he really killed his clan. So how would you rate Itachi's character? I'm going to go pre and post Us Finding Out. Pre Us Finding Out, I would definitely say Itachi is very underrated because a lot of people only hated Itachi because they didn't see the big brother in him and the mentor in him at all. They didn't see that at all. They just see a person that killed his family and now is evil and he wants his little brother to be strong. He was definitely runner up for worst brother of the year. Exactly. I would say that. But my older brother had to teach me about this. And he told me about this. He said, we can see that when Itachi killed his own people and left Sasuke by himself, he wanted him to get powerful. He was foreshadowing Sasuke becoming a powerful person that could stand by himself. Because he's going to be by himself in this world. Besides him. I'd like to post Us Knowing About Itachi properly rated because as soon as people found out why he did this in his books, and they've seen this in the games, and they've seen this in the anime, they understood why he had to do these things. And a lot of the things that people didn't understand about Itachi when it came out, they understood him. And made him one of the top five Naruto characters. I gotcha. That's a good set. Alright, how would you rate the relationship between Sakura and Sasuke? Speaking of that. Properly rated, it's pretty nervous. I'm not going to lie. My anger is pretty serious. My anger for that man has been crawling. It's not well received because a lot of people don't understand that Sasuke really liked Sakura. He did. It just didn't show a lot at all when they were younger. Because he wanted to hide his feelings and be away from people. Because he needed to push away from people to become stronger. He couldn't have her as an attachment to each other and do whatever he can't do. Leave her alone. And when she did, he had to fold. And that's why that gets on her. She even said this in the first episode, bro. Speaking of Sakura, how would you rate the Sakura hate that's been going on? Properly rated. I don't think that Sakura is as strong as Sasuke or Naruto. Honestly, I don't think she's as strong as Lee. I'm completely honest. But besides that, her character, I would say a lot of people hate her. They probably say this because of the things she said about Naruto when they were younger. And how she tried to flip from Sasuke to Naruto. When she thought that Naruto couldn't shake him. So they haven't really well received her. Regardless of how much she trained her and how good of a ninja she is. I would just say, wow. That's a character she's kind of written terribly though. I'm not going to lie. How would you rate Naruto in terms of popularity? Basically how popular it is. Properly rated. He's really popular. And we've seen his progression through the story. I would never say that he's underrated. Because a lot of people don't like him. Or overrated. He's a pretty good character. That and the series. How would you rate Naruto's series popularity? Properly rated. A lot of people love it. Mostly people in different countries have seen it. A lot of people have pondered over that. How would you rate the underdog story of Rock Lee? I would say underrated. Because a lot of people don't understand the struggles that Lee had to go through. Because he's literally a magicalist person. And a world full of magic. That's what I'd say. And his training. Becoming stronger. And using different kinds of weights. Really made people want to just become something that they are. And discipline themselves. The fact that he did all those pushes with the one arm made me want to train like in the gym every day. After I saw that, I was like... Bro, watching God take off those weights. They weighed a ton. Yes. They did. I don't know if y'all know how heavy a ton is. Exactly. This kid was... He was Asta before Asta. If y'all don't know what Black Cobra is. He was Asta before Asta. Anyways, how would you rate the Naruto fights? I wouldn't say properly rated. A lot of them are really, really good. The Fukura fight, the Zamasu fight, the Naruto vs Sasuke fight, the sound fight. I would say from their own. The Pain vs Naruto, Pain vs Jiraiya. Like, Naruto fights are peak fights in anime. With so many continuously developing and amazing fights. Alright, this was the main villain of the show. Orochimaru. How would you rate his villain plan in the show? And how much of a villain impact did he make on the show? Especially on the main character, Naruto. I would say that Orochimaru is one of the... When it comes to Naruto or OG Naruto, one of the best villains I've seen in that show. Yeah, exactly. To be completely honest. Bro, he took away Naruto's best friend. The person that he had with Naruto, that he wanted to be his sworn brother. He killed the third Hokage. That's an undeniable fact. He killed his teacher. He reanimated. And we had our first glimpse of Hashirama. The Hokage that split the tailed beast between villages. And Tobirama, one of the strongest ninjas of all time. Reanimated them and brought them back. And showed them how strong they were. And made the third fall. The third ultimately died. Causing an impact. Not only that. Him trying to become a snake sage. And getting Kabuto. Which is an amazing ninja. I've talked to a lot of people who think he's underrated personally. And understanding Kabuto and then coercing Kabuto to be one of his main lackeys. It was just an amalgamation. He also got the power. In quotes. For Sasuke to get and reach the person that he is now. Alright. How would you rate Kakashi as a sensei slash trainer slash mentor for Team 7 in Naruto? Underrated? A lot of the... I would say underrated because a lot of the popularity of people that think that since Kakashi only really trained them as they were kids. And when they were somewhat teenagers. They think they're not that good. A lot of people think that Jiraiya or Tsunade or Orochimaru are really good mentors. And Kakashi was for Naruto what they weren't. People really based off of Jiraiya. Mostly because he died. Because everyone still has feelings over that. But if we're looking at it real loud. Kakashi was really the best sensei for those guys. Honestly. Kakashi uses his experience with Obito to help train Naruto. Because Naruto and Obito are twins. Sasuke and Kakashi are almost identical when it comes to like backstories. And he was just like Sasuke I understand how you feel. But you have to articulate yourself so you can carry yourself on. Because you cannot fold. And you need to do the things you need to do. I understand that. But you also cannot lose that guidance you have. Even though he did... Not a lot. Sasuke definitely lost his guidance to a certain degree. Kakashi was another factor in bringing him back. Because most of them fight. That they see like the group 7. Team 7. Kakashi was there. He was like come on. If I have to fight you I will. I won't kill you. But if I have to fight you. I will fight you. Yeah. Makes sense. Also good. Kakashi. Seriously. I'm talking. That's the thing. I bring up Sasuke. I'm like why do you have eyes. My people have eyes. He's like yeah. I got it from my friend. Yeah. Alright. Alright. So if Naruto was to be dropped today. You've got to read this question. If Naruto was to be dropped today. In today's world. How do you think people would like. Like. Think of the show. Like with nothing from the past. Just right now. Just dropped right now in the show. OG Naruto. OG Naruto just dropped right now in this world. Would be. Not well received. Wow. I'm so serious. Even with the fights? Yeah. Dang. You said Naruto just dropped right now. Yep. If Naruto ran for like what? Two years? Yeah. Two and a half years? Two and a half years. Two and a half years. I would say. The cheating exams would destroy the internet. But other than that. A lot of people would not well see it. Because Naruto is a show. That is very memorable. Because a lot of people have seen. Naruto should come after it. So if we had Naruto. OG Naruto in 2023. And it just dropped. I don't think people would be well received at all. Unless you're a die hard fan. Because we already have Black Clover. And people would be like. Well why do we want ninjas with magic. And we have regular people with magic. And there's so many different isekais. And other shows to watch. So it's just like. Okay. If Tony wants to bring out Naruto. He can. He can. He can. He can. He can. He can. So it's just like. Okay. If Tony wants to bring out Naruto. Well what's Naruto. They're going to see it. Because it's Shonen Jump. But at the same time. It's just like. I don't know. Because Naruto was a show. That was flipped. Remember. A lot of people didn't like Naruto. When it first came out. And as. I would say 2012. 2011. 2013 came out. And everyone started watching anime. Naruto was one of the biggest anime. In 2023. There's so many anime out there. It would just be comic in the mix. Alright. How would you rate the character Garou. Because he's an interesting character. He's got a lot of personality. He's got a lot of personality. How would you rate the character Garou. Because he's an interesting character. To me. When I first heard of him. I ain't gonna lie. I love Garou. How would you rate him. Top 15. He is properly rated. He is amazingly rated. Really. First introduction to Garou. We see him being the. Psychopath. To a certain extent. Everyone is so scared of Garou. Because how he is. Because he murders people. Like. And it's understandable. Garou was Naruto. If you know what's grown up wrong. With Senpai. With Senpai powers. But Garou. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not. 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