What made pein ark so intense?

[salamander uchiha]

Personally Pain arc let down was Nagato reviving everybody.
Kakashi shouldn't have been killed but the others including Hinata should've died. Kakashi was needed to help Naruto overcome his grief at a later stage.
Pain being nerfed for the Naruto fight was also a let down Naruto should've suffered some serious irreversible damage. Hinata's confession and death could serve that function.
Hinata getting low diffed and surviving, Pain didn't go for a kill shot so it took away from his heart being in it. It kind of defeated the purpose of the message he was trying to convey.

Some of the let downs of the arc.

 

[Guardian of the Rain]

Are you complimenting or insulting Kishi?

 

[Deadmed]

It's because of rinne tensei, same reason everything after Frieza just wasn't as intense. Once you kill off a bunch of characters and then bring them all back to life with some deus ex machina plot device you ensure the audience "even if the heroes lose and everyone dies, I'll just invent some OP shit to magically bring them back to life!" which kills any sort of genuine dread or fear the audience feels because they know there will always be some kind of random plot magic to save the day.

Kakashi and everyone killed by Pain should have stayed dead and forced Naruto and company to ****ing deal with it, but Kishimoto buckled under the pressure of his editors who tell him "not in a shonen manga!".

 

[SenseiSama]

He was using jutsu that we never saw before and felt like he could really kill the MC, back then Akatsuki characters seemed godly but not overpowered caricatures of super saiyan Aizens. Their reliance on forbidden jutsu still made them feel like ninja but with a mystical edge, Hashirama cells and plot device ruined that.

 

[Umari Senju]

I think Pain gave off such a god like persona because it was the first time we’ve seen a fight at that power level. For the first time since Hiruzen, the cast were dying and quickly. Anyone who even managed to stave off a path usually was dead afterward or near it.

For the first time an imposing and overwhelming force brought real despair as another member put it. You didn’t know who was gonna die at this point. Pain’s theme song alone commanded such a godly aura.

The only time I felt that with Madara in the war was when he first appeared and took on the SA by himself. Right up until Susanoo appeared. Then it is as you say OP.

 

[Jinrou]

I was an anime only viewer when i got to the Pain arc. It didn't take a while from Naruto hearing the news about Jiraiya's death and going with fukasaku to Pain arriving at the village. There was genuine sense of dread as it was obvious the fact Jiraiya died at his hands meant Konoha was in big trouble.

His entrance, theme song and appearance made him godly as others have said. He and his paths wasted no time wrecking and killing as they moved around the village. It really set up the hype for his fight with Naruto too. Best arc ever tbh.

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[-Punk-]

Pain going to the village.

 

[Chikombo]

I think was a point where you faced someone who was immensly strong and Naruto got a serious power up, during the war arc everyone was already strong and you knew everything about the enemy etc.

 

[InfiniteMugen]

I'm not 100% sure but I think his editor left the team and then everything went down hill.

This is what happened, that and them rushing kishi to finish it

 

[Xawis]

It's the climax of the entire series.

 

[Livenojutsu]

Yes It was good and entertaining but I would have liked more if tsunade vs pain had occured

 

[Tyrance sasuke]

Pain arc had the one of the best sound effects and stuff which was on par with summit arc to me . The look and glamour of Pain as a character is exhilarating . Looked handsome yet intimidating , i think such a villain is a never-before-seen in anime community .

 

[NinjutsuSen]

I think everything I wanted to say is said. The whole arc probably was ment to be the climax of Naruto's story as a character. Finally getting aknowledged and the whole village trusting him now.

The most epic arc of Shippuden and also probably from the whole manga.

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

The Leaf Village had never really been threatened before. Orochimaru was pretty reasonably contained and it was never the actual gates, whereas Pain reduced the main (iconic) area to rubble in a wide-shot. That's how you leave an impression.

Kishi really drops the ball the second he's done with Konan and Nagato's flashback and almost ruins the entire arc from that point on. I'd argue the Kage Summit & Turtle Island arcs are just as strong, if not better.

 

[Reboryushon]

Lets not forget that Pain vs Naruto happens after the death of Jiraya, this fact alone contributes for the greatness of the character.

Pain Nindo was something else. He was such a great character and all of his speech was incredible. He looked liked he wasn't able to be defeated. Add the amazing soundtrack and all the intensity of the scenes and we have what probably was the best villain of Naruto Shippuuden. You have this misterious guy whacking the leaf Shinobis like it was nothing..

The Leaf Village had never really been threatened before. Orochimaru was pretty reasonably contained and it was never the actual gates, whereas Pain reduced the main (iconic) area to rubble in a wide-shot. That's how you leave an impression.

Kishi really drops the ball the second he's done with Konan and Nagato's flashback and almost ruins the entire arc from that point on. I'd argue the Kage Summit & Turtle Island arcs are just as strong, if not better.

The Kage Summit arc is serious business also.

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

Pain Nindo was something else. He was such a great character and all of his speech was incredible. He looked liked he wasn't able to be defeated. Add the amazing soundtrack and all the intensity of the scenes and we have what probably was the best villain of Naruto Shippuuden.



The Kage Summit arc is serious business also.

It's a gentler rest arc, but Turtle Island drops some huge bombs too. Kabuto's final Coffin, The 9 Tails attack is more intense than Pain, the tragic death of his parents, edo tensei in action and giant shark/Kyuubi battles.

 

[Bad Touch Yakushi]

Yes It was good and entertaining but I would have liked more if tsunade vs pain had occured

Agreed right here. Konoha is tested but only odd characters end up in actual battles. Konohamaru, Shizune, Ibiki, Kakashi and Chouza are the main fighters whilst the K11 are mostly off-screen, elsewhere or doing minor stuff.

 

[MightGai]

Cause in the war only fodder died (except neji, which coincidentally was one of the most stressful moments of the war), when in the pain arc Jiraiya died, Kakashi died, Konoha blew up, etc. Then Nagato collected all 7 dragon balls and undid everything he did.