NARTUO MANGA VOLUMES 32 – 34: THE SEARCH FOR SASUKE
February 19th 2010 20:41
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Story & Art by: Masashi Kishimoto
Translation: Mari Morimoto
English Adaptation: Deric A Hughes & Benjamin Raab
Touch up Art & Lettering: Sabrina Heep (Vol 32), Inori Fukuda Trant (Vol 33) & Gia Cam Luc (Vol 34)
Design: Sean Lee
Cost: AU$14.95/US $7.95
These three volumes of the Naruto saga focus on the title character’s efforts to save his friend, Sasuke Uchiha, from the clutches of the vile and serpentine Orochimaru, a former member of the Legendary Sannin and once a ninja of the Hidden Leaf village. Essentially for two years prior to the events that these volumes depict our maverick protagonist has been training his butt off with another member of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, the Toad Sage and former teacher of the Fourth Hokage as well as being a well known writer. The rational for all this training is to hone Naruto’s skill and abilities so that he can a) fend off the efforts of the sinister organisation Akatsuki and b) rescue his friend from the clutches of the leader of the Hidden Sound village; Orochimaru.
Being a canny manipulator Danzo knows that he cannot directly go against the Fifth Hokage or Naruto without alienating the village so he decides that the next best thing would be to have a man in the camp of his enemies, and there is no doubt that he perceives Lady Tsunade as an enemy. So via manipulation he manages to have an agent of his, a young man named Sai, placed in the ranks of Cell 7, Naruto’s team. The elders of the village concede Tsunade’s idea that it is best for Naruto to move about and engage in missions outside of the village as it makes him a harder target for the Akatsuki but they also demand that a captain be placed in charge of his team, someone from the ANBU Black Ops, the choice they leave in Tsunade’s hands.
So it seems that even though the Fifth Hokage has managed to keep Naruto active as a ninja of his village it seems to have come at a cost, a pyrrhic victory if you will. Meanwhile the subject of all this wrangling and manipulation is completely oblivious to what is going on, he’s combing the streets of Konoha looking for those who are able to help him and Sakura in their quest. As he does he meets several of his former comrades from his days as a student at the academy and when he was under the leadership of Kakashi Sensei in Cell 7 as a genin. Unfortunately all of these friends are all busy with their own roles and missions as ninja, so it seems as if Naruto is plumb out of luck. That is when he has a rather confrontation encounter with a mysterious Leaf ninja, a shinobi who is able to make the very drawings he creates come straight to life off of the page of a scroll.
Even though the efforts of Cell 7 are geared to tracking down Orochimaru and rescuing Sasuke this particular story arc seems focused on the deepening friendship between Sakura and Naruto, the emerging friendship that will form between these two and their two new team members, Captain Yamato and Sai along with the cost of power, namely the tremendous power that dwells inside Naruto in the form of the imprisoned Kyuubi. These are the key aspects of the story as they not only provide the impetus for the drama that unfolds but also enhance the character development of everyone concerned. Up until now Naruto has been able to channel the chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox spirit with some success and use it to aid him, but he has only been scratching the surface of the vast chakra reservoir that is the Kyuubi’s chakra.
His training with Jiraiya has allowed him to access that chakra more fully, to draw upon the vast reserves and become a devastating shinobi in his own right – but such power comes at a great cost. Where before he suffered no ill from the chakra; now it seems as if constantly tapping into that power he has placed himself at risk of slowly poisoning himself as well as eroding his own humanity in the process until he becomes the Kyuubi. Frightening stuff indeed, and what is even more frightening is that Naruto is willing to undergo this in order to save his friend Sasuke from Orochimaru, he will risk losing himself in order to rescue a friend. The Search for Sasuke has it all, action, humour, pathos, tragedy and potential heartbreak – well worth getting your hands on…Believe It!
| 6 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
