July 4th saw the release of the first Naruto Anime Profiles book. This book saw release in Japan several years ago. It’s been translated and brought over for English consumption.

Pros: The book features nice full glossy images from the anime. The book itself is nearly twice as big as its Japanese counterpart, but the pictures don’t suffer from it. The included foldout poster probably benefits most from the enlargement, and it’s suitable to remove and hang-up. It includes very good translations of the original Japanese with some of the American dub personality thrown in. (i.e. a couple of “Believe it!” jokes) It features very brief profiles over the characters and the episodes (1-37) themselves. It also features some nice pre-production artwork.

Cons: The book is edited for content. Any pictures using animation frames edited from the American broadcast have been replaced with the editted version. This doesn’t really harm the book but it’s noticeable if you’re looking for it. Such things as the kunai stab, and various nose blood spurts from Sexy Jutsu and Gai hitting Lee have been changed to resemble broadcast. The book also does not feature the plastic dust jacket cover found on the original Japanese release. Also the book has been flipped versus the original Japanese version. While some of the content makes sense, the book is laid out to be read from front to back, but some pages are clearly supposed to be read right to left. The art itself isn’t flipped though, which makes this change palatable.

The Cool: Did you know there was another Sound team participating in the second test of the Chuunin Exam? Get the team leader’s name and the leader names for all the teams particpating in the Second test. Even learn what scrolls they had. This is one of the neat tidbits included inside.

Final Verdict: This is a good buy at around $15 U.S.. While the bios and episode guides might not be too extensive, they provide a handy resource when your internet connection is down and you can’t reach us. 😉

8/10

The following areas have new or updated content:

New

+ Anime Guide: Season Two
+ Ninjutsu: Shisha Kuu’utsu
+ Bio: Sasori Underling (Unnamed), Fuuma Clan Member (Unnamed), Teguse, Shodai Kazekage, Nidaime Kazekage, Jantou, Dengaku

Updated

+ Bio: Fuuma Jigumo, Fuuma Arashi, Fuuma Kamakiri, Fuuma Sasame, Sasori, Chiyo, Name meanings for “G” and “H”
+ Akatsuki Guide

Chapter 267 has been released today. Sasori’s deadliest puppet has been revealed, what tricks does it hold?…

Click For Chapter 267 Spoiler Preview Image:

Sakura on the defensive

You can view my comments and discuss this latest chapter in our forums! Click here to view the discussion! Caution, there are spoilers present! If you are a new user and have yet to register to post on the forum, click here.

Update: Added Chapter 267 summary to the Volume 30 manga guide.

Episode 142 has aired in Japan. The new filler arc begins, does someone from Naruto’s past want revenge?… Episode 142 is titled Three Bad Guys of the Stricitly Guarded Facility.

Click For Episode 142 Spoiler Preview Image:

Kotetsu’s bad day

You can view my comments and discuss this latest episode in our forums! Click here to view the discussion! Caution, there are spoilers present! If you are a new user and have yet to register to post on the forum, click here.

This episode also marks the start of the new Ending animation and song, a rather unique bit of animation from previous efforts seen in the series.