Naruto Shippuden: Konoha Gakuen - Special

Esta review también está en español. Konoha Gakuen Special is, basically, an extended version of the second Shippuden ending, narrated by Sakura, Ino and Hinata. This is an elseworld where the characters are students or professors of Konoha Gakuen, a prestigious high school. Here, Naruto is a transfer student, and immediately claims he's gonna be "the most important souban (Yakuza leader) in Japan". From there, at lightning speed, we'll see Naruto interacting with his new classmates... which mean, basically, challenge them to a fight. They're, among others, Kiba, Rock Lee (soccer's team captain), Chouji, Tenten, Neji (student council president, and martial arts specialist) and Sasuke... specially Sasuke. Akatsukiand Orochimaru appear too, but I will not tell you more (it's for your own good, people). Oh, and some shippers will be very happy n_n. There's not animation at all, just pictures in black and white (manga style) with a black background. About the sound, the only voices we hear are from Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke. The music did a good job with the ambientation, and it gives a little dynamism to all the static images. For closure, I must say this is an interesting special. It put the characters in a similar situation to the ones in Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel (but better done). People, these are eight minutes done for you to laugh, to see the characters in a nicer, less dramatic environment. Don't take this very seriously. Very, very recommendable for Naruto fans (and if you like it, I think there are tons of versions in Devianart). And I almost forgot, this special will tell you, once and for all... why Sakura cut her hair at the end. Watch and get the answer. -------- Konoha Gakuen Special es, a grandes rasgos, una versión extendida del segundo ending de Naruto Shippuden, narrado por Sakura, Ino y Hinata. Básicamente, es otra realidad, donde los personajes son estudiantes y profesores de Konoha Gakuen, una secundaria prestigiosa, donde Naruto es un estudiante nuevo y clama que quiere ser “el souban mas importante de Japón” (souban es un líder Yakuza). A partir de ahí, a la velocidad del rayo, vemos como Naruto interactúa con el resto de sus compañeros... lo que significa, básicamente, que los desafía a pelear para ver quién es más fuerte, entre ellos están Kiba, Rock Lee (capitán del equipo de futbol), Chouji, Tenten (que fue de las que menos ligo en este especial...), Neji (presidente del concejo estudiantil, y experto en artes marciales) y Sasuke... muy especialmente Sasuke. También hacen su aparición Akatsuki y Orochimaru, pero no voy a darles mas detalles. Ah, y ciertos shippers van a estar muy contentos n_n. La animación es inexistente. Solo son imágenes en blanco y negro (como las de un manga) con un fondo negro. En cuanto al sonido, solo se escuchan las voces de las narradoras, Naruto y Sasuke. La música se las arregla para darle un toque de dinamismo a tanta imagen estática. Para dar un cierre, este especial es interesante. Pone a los personajes en una situación similar a los de Evangelion en Girlfriend of Steel (pero sin la exageración de Gainax). Gente, estos son ochos minutos para que se rían, para que vean a los personajes en un ambiente más amable y menos dramático. No se lo tomen muy en serio. Muy, muy recomendable para los fans de Naruto (y si les gusta, creo que hay alrededor de mil versiones dando vuelta en Devianart). Ah, y en este especial se responde de una vez por todas, porque Sakura se corta el pelo al final!

A cute, clever way of recapping all the events leading up to Sasuke's defection. By using an alternate universe to retell the story, it becomes less tedious to watch again. Though by virtue of it being a summary, it retains a sense of repetitiveness and pretty much adds nothing new. But it's still fun to see what the Naruto world looks like as a high school anime, and it surprisingly works well as one. It has enough interesting characters and plot twists to make one heck of a contemporary school drama. It took a while for me to get used to the art style, and Iwish it were longer, but the viewing experience was still an interesting, entertaining one.

YES. I have been so turned off from Naruto recently, I mean come on, lets face it, the plot has become entirely convoluted - and that's without the perpetual interruption of fillers, and the characters... well.. and the art... and themes.. it's just.... well, when you look at all the other great anime out there, it's hard to come back to something like... this. BUT... THIS... THIS is what the staff of Naruto needed to do. Instead of ignoring their many... many many faults, and hiding behind poorly conceptualized filler episodes and the bloated popularity/notoriety of their franchise, they've managed to release something legitimately entertaining, which actuallydraws upon the faults of the series (that seriously, did you expect us to just ignore them...?) and parodies them. This special is an alternate universe parody of Naruto in a high-school setting in present-day Japan. It's delivered in manga format (so it's not animated or colored) and narrated by the seiyuus. Granted, it could have used a little more effort, but like most fast-paced, comedic, doujinshi-like omakes, it was a little rough around the edges (though I would think the Naruto budget is be big enough to compensate...) It seems like the staff of Naruto are finally learning a lesson or two from the other JUMP series' (which are rapidly gaining in the polls, probably for this reason... Go Gintama Go!!! show 'em how it's done! *cough*) and are taking a breather to slap themselves around a little! >:D I won't give any spoilers, I'm just going to tell you to watch it. It's very short, painless, and you don't have to be up to date at all, hell, you don't have to be familiar with an episode of Shippuden (oh wait, that's a lie, you should at least know who Sai is... but that's enough). Anyway, if you've become disenchanted/disappointed with Naruto, or hey, if you HATE it, even better - you'll get a kick out of this.