A lot of character introductions (notably Gaara) and plot reveals (the spies, Sasuke's Sharingan with the curse). Nothing incredibly meaningful or provocative, just the plot moving along to prepare for the next volume.

The fight in this wasn't even that intense, just some novice trio facing our heroes.

Key Takeaways:
-Nothing really. ( )

More introductions of solid, long-term characters, the explosion of Sasuke's curse, and the fulfillment of part two of the Chunin exams. Pretty standard stuff, some of it a lot more interesting than others. Basically, the first half of this volume was pretty awesome, with the second half being mostly dull except for the bit with Gaara, which really amped up the ongoing threat. This guy is simply too powerful, and it shows right from the get go. (It's also more and more of a pleasure to read, knowing what I already know about him and his development.) ( )

Gaara.
Enough said.


But also, there's just a lot of cool stuff in this volume. Have to agree with some other reviewers about fights sometimes being difficult to follow, but that's a downside of shonen manga in general. Samurai Deeper Kyo is the only one I've read where I never once got lost trying to figure out what was happening in an action sequence. But that's my favorite manga so I might be a little biased. ( )

Some great comedy moments, one I keep quoting to my best friend, and Sakura finally being more than just the “smart girl” and having flashes of boy crush, made the reading of this volume enjoyable. I have so many more of these volumes to add to my LibraryThing and to write about that I read over the holidays but one thing I do know is that I will keep reading even if I only have time to write sort one paragraph reviews for them.

C. ( )

Best read in its place in the series. ( )