Naruto VS Bleach

[jon_jinn]

Which manga do you think is better??? I've read up to about chapter 200 in Bleach and chapter 280 in Naruto and right now, I have to say that things are looking better for Bleach. Yes, Naruto may be good but it's losing it's touch. The entire Atkutsuki part was pretty pointless and wasn't a very good introduction after three years past. The art completely changed after those three years too. I liked the art before because the characters' facial expressions were more detailed and better expressed. I also think that Bleach is a much more original manga in terms of storyline and the fighting seems a lot more drawn out to me. Some of Naruto's fights are pretty boring (EX: Naruto VS Kimimaro) because one character's so much better than the other that he completely dominates and the other can't do anything. In Bleach, at least the fights ends quickly so you don't have to read very many chapters to get it over with. One problem I find annoying is that both mangakas don't really measure the characters strengths. In Naruto, Sakura and that one elder from the Sand village fought Sasori and beat him and Sasori was suppose to be strong enough to be the Kazekage and make him his puppet. That means that Sakura's like as strong as a Jounin but yet, she and Naruto could barely get the bells from Kakashi after all that fighting. In Bleach, Renji's practically immortal cause first, he gets almost killed by Ichigo, then he trains and gets beat by Kuchiki Byakuya whos attack was "SUPPOSE" to kill him and he survives and he's strong enough to carry Rukia on his back and run away and he's strong enough to fight Aizen and finally, he gets knocked out. Anyways, my point is that both mangakas need to start making the stories more interesting. Anyways, which manga do you think is better?...

[Myoti]

One Piece. There, problem solved. :p


How far have you read of Naruto? If you're with the recent ones, you should find that Akatsuki is not pointless:

[SPOILER]
-Orochimaru was apart of them and left for some unknown reason.
-They're hunting the Bijuu, which opens up a new can of worms in the series.
[/SPOILER]

Personally, I didn't find the Naruto vs. Kimimaro fight to be "boring" (actually, the whole length of the guys fight is one of my favorites).
Yes, some of them are getting that way, though, i.e. the Sasori Battle. It wasn't really that it was "dull" or "boring", as you had new stuff going on. Actually, that's probably the reason -- you kept having new stuff going on. One thing after another that just stretched out this fight for FAR too many chapters. At the same time, we had other things everyone wanted to get to, such as Gai's team's fights (which were pretty much skipped altogether) and the "fight" with Deidara.


I haven't seen much of Bleach yet, so I'm not sure how to compare... >_>

[jon_jinn]

Well, I meant the Atkutsuki part where they tried to take Gaara and Sakura and the elder from the sand village had to fight Sasori and such and such. Anyways, Masashi Kishimoto could've put most of that stuff into like ten chapters and skipped most of the fighting so that we'd know what there goal was but not had to read the boring fight and keep the story going. Or he could've just had them come after Naruto and have more of the minor characters from Konohagakure get involved and make another giant battle. Oh well.

[Myoti]

Ah. I thought you were referring to Akatsuki in general being pointless. Yeah, I get what you're saying.

[jon_jinn]

Yep. Well, we agree on one thing.

[uc pseudonym]

Initially, welcome to the forums. A friendly word of advice: break up your posts into paragraphs based on subject. It makes them far more readable and discussion more organized.

I am a fan of both series in question and therefore generally enjoy discussing them. Overall, I feel Bleach is the better series. It has struck me, from a writing sense, to be more planned and generally stronger. Not to say that both don't have their faults.

The entire Atkutsuki part was pretty pointless and wasn't a very good introduction after three years past.

Actually, I agree. In terms of reintroductions, that was poorly chosen. However, Akatsuki is currently almost all I feel really holds Naruto together as a coherent whole, so I hope they will be involved. If Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Akatsuki all become involved in the following arc, I will consider that an improvement. We could use some complexity after the relatively straightforward plots of late.

Much metaphorical ink has been wasted on the subject of relative strengths, but I think a limited response might be worthwhile in this setting. While I do feel the manga-ka have developing ideas of the strength of characters, I think that there is a certain degree of reason involved.

In Naruto, Sakura and that one elder from the Sand village fought Sasori and beat him and Sasori was suppose to be strong enough to be the Kazekage and make him his puppet. That means that Sakura's like as strong as a Jounin but yet, she and Naruto could barely get the bells from Kakashi after all that fighting.

I felt that Sasori lost only because the other two worked together so well (and that they already had an antidote for his poison, without which they would have been killed rather quickly). Also, note that he did manage to kill one of his opponents.

However, I'd take the Kakashi part of this to mean that he has improved his abilities closer to the level of Akatsuki. That would explain why Naruto and Sakura would have so much difficulty with his exercise.

[jon_jinn]

Agreed. I'll try to break up my posts next time if I right a really long post. Sorry if you couldn't understand it fully.

[Myoti]

I've started reading Bleach and from what I've heard (and seen) it looks as though this could indeed be the better one... must see more...

[jon_jinn]

How far are you? It starts off a little slow, but once you get to about chapter 50, it's gets pretty good.

[Myoti]

Okay... I've been reading more, and... the winner is Bleach.

Naruto is still good, but Bleach feels... better. It manages to do merge unique action and humor together quite well.

Naruto tends to feel like, well... kinda like it's humorous occasionally but once it gets "serious" it gets "overly" so. To me, anyways...

[Lady Macbeth]

I rather prefer Bleach all the way around. I like the characters better, the premise of the story better, the flow and pace of the story better and the plot twists and developments better.

[jon_jinn]

So, Myoti...how far are you in Bleach? Looks like so far, Bleach is winning.

[Myoti]

Chapter 10. And yes, it already seems to be better over all (reminds me alot of One Piece in how the action and humor are set-up).

Oh yes... Chad is awesome.

[Solid Ronin]

I have not read Bleach, though I plan too, so I'm afraid I can't comment on that. I can however give points to Naruto.

Now I haven't read much manga and this is saying quite a lot but I think Naruto to be the greatest action manga of all time!

In terms of Story Naruto is extremely simplistic: Bad guy here, Good guys there, Fight! But I think the real strength of it comes from the characters.

Kishimoto, Naruto's creator, does a great job of making me feel for the characters. Never have a felt bad for a bad guy until I read Gaaras' back story, nor have a felt moved by any character. (Naruto is the Rocky of ninjutsu)

In terms of action Naruto is fan-freaking-brilliant!

Let's face it fist, gun, and swords fights aren't meant for any type of non-motion media.

Naruto surpasses all this by making its battles more of a game of chess than round of Tekken. By making the fights more tactical I believe the reader gets more excited and feels more suspense than any other action based manga.

'Hope that brings something to the table.

[Myoti]

Yes, what you say is true, SR... for now. Whether it stays that way is yet to be seen (and a few us Naruto-fans seem to be getting a bit worried).

[jon_jinn]

I, myself, think that Naruto loses some of its touch after the three year time passing period when Naruto goes to train with Jaraiya (did I spell that right?)
My favorite part was the all out invasion when the sound and sand ninjas tried to invade Konoha and there was all that fighting. I wish Kakashi could've fought Kabuto. That would've been pretty awesome.

[Yeito]

I, personally, find them both interesting. They are similar and very different at the same time. But since they ARE pretty different, I, personally, find it a little pointless to compare them.

I also, personally, find threads like this to lead to nothing but trouble. -_- 90% of the time you have two people trying to state why they thing such and such in better than whatchyamacallit. BUT. That is just my personal two cents that I probably should not have stated, but did anyway.

Anyway, I say> I like them both. So. Yah. >P

[jon_jinn]

I respect your decision Yeito.

[MasterDias]

My opinion is similar to UCs. I'm a fan of both but I feel Bleach is superior currently.
I have been happy with several things post time-skip, but I still feel that Naruto's best arc was the Chuunin Exams.

One Piece. There, problem solved. :p

Bleach and Naruto have uber fanbases in the states. But sadly, One Piece gets left out.

[jon_jinn]

Agreed. Definately the most well-thought part of the series to me as well as the biggest part since it introduced a LOT of new characters that will play rolls later on in the series.

[uc pseudonym]

I, myself, think that Naruto loses some of its touch after the three year time passing period when Naruto goes to train with Jaraiya (did I spell that right?)

Actually, I think at this point several spellings are equally legitimate romanizations. In any case, I truly believe Naruto can improve: there are a number of good plot elements in play, I just wish they would be used in a more complicated manner. One at a time they're nothing to gape at.

Another thing I agree on is that the Chuunin arc is one of the best parts of the series. Once you get past character overload (probably not a good writing decision) the story becomes engaging and the action moves at a decent pace.

[Myoti]

Indeed. Chuunin Exam is one of, if not THE best part of the series, followed closely by the Sasuke Rescue Arc (well, to me it was, anyways :p ).

Bleach and Naruto have uber fanbases in the states. But sadly, One Piece gets left out.

Why must you remind me??? ;_;

[jon_jinn]

Yeah. I thought that the Sasuke part was pretty good except that it made it seem like all the Genins were so much better than the two Jounins that got beat earlier.

[Myoti]

Well... maybe they are... or...

...yeah, that was pretty wierd. Then again, it was one-on-one matches instead of four-on-two, so, maybe... >_>

[MasterDias]

I've always taken it as what Myoti said. It was four-on-two and the curse seal power took the two Jounins by surpise.

[spoiler]And really, Neji and Chouji barely won against the weakest two and ended up nearly dead.
Shikamaru and Kiba had basically lost and would have been killed had Gaara's team not come to their aid.[/spoiler]

[Solid Ronin]

It's also important to note that the two jonin were low on chakra, in fact one of them says it himself.

Adressing the 3 year gap.

I think it's best to view that gap like you would view Dragon Ball and
Dragon Ball Z. Time has past, and the characters you love have grown.

I personaly still love Naruto just as much as I did during the Chunin and Rescuse Sasuke Arc's.

[jon_jinn]

Well, yeah. I never realized that since it's been almost a year since read that part of Naruto. Anyways, that does make a lot of sense so I guess that's probably right.