Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth is a comical spinoff of Naruto written by Kenji Taira. As the title suggests, the manga focuses on Rock Lee, the Hot Bloodedninja who solves problems using only his fists. Joining him are the other members of Team Guy: Neji Hyuga, the serious, intelligent prodigy; Tenten, the Chineseweapons user; and Might Guy, Rock Lee's incredibly boisteroussensei. Together, they solve problems and fight evil ninjas in incredibly hot-blooded and awesome ways.The manga is found in Saikyo Jump, the little brother to Shonen Jump that features similar shonen spinoff manga like Gourmet Gakuen Toriko, Chopperman!, and Dragon Ball SD. It also has an anime adaptation, which premiered in Japan on April 3, 2012, replacing Bleach.Those in the US who are interested can watch it on Crunchyroll, where it's titled Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals.
Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth contains incredibly youthful tropes, such as...
Adaptation Expansion: Tenten gets more character development and screentime here than she does in Naruto. Chapter 6 even has her as the main focus.
Ass Shove: The Thousand Years of Pain, Kakashi's ultimate attack. At one point, a mook straps sheet metal to his behind so he can block this. Might Gai, Lee, and Kakashi use their combined fingers to defeat him anyway.
In chapter 6, Gai is in the wrong end of a massive blade swarm done by Tenten. In chapter 10, Neji does it to Lee to crash into Shikamaru.
Hinata for the entirety of chapter 9. Everyone has the best of intentions of helping her. Somehow, she ends up being peed on by a large dog, swarmed with insects and fainting upon seeing her crush.
Tsunade was one in Chapter 6 (and its equivalent in episode 8-A). That's right, the leader of Konoha was crushed by enemies, knocked unconscious, and made bald in the span of one chapter. She had to be rescued by Tenten, for Pete's sake. Although it seems like most of the characters in the series become butt monkeys at one point or another.
Orochimaru, of all people, during his attempt to infltrate and attack Konoha, is made the Butt Monkey, and ends with him nursing his injuries and cursing those meddling kids.
Ignore the Fanservice: Double Subverted. Lee is distracted by Sakura's fanservice and ignores Tenten's.
Interactive Narrator: The preview for episode 9. Orochimaru also gives the camera a dirty look in episode 7 when the narrator mentions the Viewer Gender Confusion that sometimes comes up with him.
Korean Pop Music: Discussed in episode 2 when Lee is looking for tips on how to be cool. He, Tenten and Neji dress up as members of Not!AKB48 and fantasize over fictional K-pop idols.
Mega Manning: A recurring joke is that Lee does his best to imitate other ninjutsu, such as replicating Gaara's Sand Funeral by squeezing himself around the enemy or spinning his eyebrows around to make a Rasensuriken.
He even tops himself in Chapter 10 by using his eyebrows to imitate Shikamaru's Shadow Sewing.
Mundane Utility: At one point, when dueling Gai, Lee uses the Konoha Snack Takoyaki Flavor move (literally taking out a bag of snacks). Neji and Kakashi have to use their respective ocular powers to fully comprehend the snack's flavor and texture. It's that good.
Poor Communication Kills: After Lee overhears Guy saying that the only good ninjas are those who do ninjutsu, Lee decides to fake ninjutsu in an effort to please him. Another person was actually telling Guy this; Guy quickly beat him up for speaking such heresy.
Serial Escalation: After Lee sees Naruto prove himself to be better than Kakashi, he decides that he should strive to be better than Gai. So when Gai suggests running 500 laps around the village for training, Lee argues that they should run 500 million. Then 500,000,001. Then 500,000,002. And so on.
She's Got Legs: According to Lee, that is what drives a man.
Sick and Wrong: Naruto and Tenten say that about a certain technique in chapter 8.
No Sell: Sai and Neji have no reaction to the same scene.
, which premiered in Japan on April 3, 2012, replacing Bleach.Those in the US who are interested can watch it on Crunchyroll
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