Naruto Chapter 495 – Hug Your Evil Twin

Post Author: Bob

Hi everyone, just read this week’s Naruto chapter. The trend continues from last week where we see more of Naruto training himself mentally to defeat his evil self, and again there is no action scenes to spice things up. However I found this week’s chapter a little better than that week’s, partly because it I was expecting more of the same so my expectations weren’t high to begin with, but it also had to do with some of KB’s lines used in this chapter.

Alright, I couldn’t find that much to really dig into this chapter so I’ll spare everyone my long rants and just give my initial impressions. Sappy. I think everyone knows what I’m talking about, right? Naruto is well known for defeating even his most hardened foes with words and the power of friendship, but he defeated his evil self so quickly and with no resistance that it felt kind of superficial. To top it off, the final blow is a hug… really? A hug? I really hope Naruto will not think of using this same tactic on Sasuke, that guy is strictly unhuggable — the very attempt of which will almost certainly end in the loss of one or multiple limbs. There wasn’t really any doubt Naruto will defeat his evil self there with his friendship speech, but I still think it was too fast and too easy of a solution. In my mind, Naruto has been festering this hate within himself since he was born. Being treated like a monster by the entire village leaves scars on a young child, deep scars… so you’d think overcoming that level of hate and anger would take a little more than a chat n’ hug. Well, the positive side of having Naruto defeat his other self so quickly is that we’re moving straight into the next phase of Naruto’s training — going toe to toe with the Kyuubi. Man, just the thought of that gives me goosebumps. I can understand now why Kishi rushed through the last few chapters; we’re finally getting to the cream of the story.

I really don’t have much else to comment on with the rest of this chapter. Yamoto pretty much spelled out word for word my exact thoughts on how I want Naruto and KB’s relationship to turn out: become friends and allies, learn cool powers, but please don’t let Naruto start rapping! The translators have been trying their hardest to give KB’s rhymes some meaning, but it usually just turns out weird. But I expect the original rap in Japanese was just as lame, so nothing gained or lost in the end. Only one of KB’s lines in this chapter actually had me crack up: page 15 of Mangastream’s scanlation. I’m pretty sure Shonen Jump wouldn’t allow something like ‘mothaf–ka’ in their magazine, so it’s really the translators having a little fun here or maybe it was just easier to go gansta than think up of more lame rhymes. Whatever the case, KB’s character is getting more and more interesting in my eyes. I used to think he was just a super powered prick who only cared about entertaining himself, but he’s turned out to be the complete opposite.

Next week I think the real fun will begin as Naruto will have to take on the Nine Tails in order to gain control of it. KB will certainly offer Naruto advice, but I think in the end it will come down to Naruto himself to take down the Kyuubi. From the weird architecture behind the waterfall, my guess is this test will be similar to the first in that it will be a test of will as well as strength. Any further guessing at what will happen next week is pure speculation so I’ll leave it at that and see you guys next time.