Shonen Beam

[scanlation by Binktopia]

Tsuchi Tsuchi Tsuchi. Is everyone in the Tsuchikage’s group going to have Tsuchi in their name somewhere? Plus, combining themed names with color-related prefixes makes them sound like a sentai team.

Bench! is done, Kishimoto; draw proper noses again

It was bad enough that Deidara’s appearance was being reused; it’s considerably worse that his personality and consciousness have returned. Deidara was a pretty enjoyable character, but his time has come and gone. Reusing defeated characters cheapens both their final scenes and the current plot.

Pandaman! Oh, wait...

Bee playing Rock-Paper-Scissors against a crab is a great little joke.

I understand that Naruto is under the impression that he’s on an S-rank mission to study ecology, but I really don’t need to know about an armadillo’s private parts, thanks.

It’s nice to have confirmation that this isn’t the real Deidara, and that he really did die, but was that really an outstanding issue? I didn’t read this reappearance of “Deidara” as a shocking announcement of his survival, but rather a manipulation from Kabuto. It makes sense for the Tsuchikage to realize that he’s a fake, but spending more than one panel on this knowledge is a waste of time.

Manda lends credibility to just how powerful Kabuto is supposed to be, but it’s slightly unfortunate that Kabuto has to continue to rely on techniques and summons lifted from Orochimaru. Orochimaru was an excellent villain, but now that he is gone, Kabuto needs to stand out on his own merits.

The Six Million Dollar Snake?

Kishimoto has fallen in love with grand-scale attacks and artwork. The scene with the giant turtle being capsized would make for excellent animation, too.

The armadillo punchline is unnecessary and takes away from the seriousness of Kabuto’s first major action as an independent villain. Leave the blatant male nudity to Beelzebub, please.

The chapter ends with a fight poised to break out between fake Deidara and the Tsuchikage. This is immensely frustrating, as Deidara has already been defeated; any display of strength the Tsuchikage exhibits will mean significantly less against an already-fallen opponent. It shouldn’t have taken this long for the Tsuchikage to get in a serious fight, either.

Final Flash: Unfortunate treatment of Kabuto, inappropriate humor, and too much setup time for a useless fight.