It’s almost like we can call this One Naruto Piece with the ocean adventures.
What They Say:
Pirates living on an island resembling a battleship open fire on Naruto’s ship.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the diversionary arc continues with Naruto and a few others off on adventures that keeps Naruto out of the eyes of the Akatsuki, we get more time spent on a boat. Naruto on a boat. Hoo boy. After the last couple of stories that weren’t all that hot, though last weeks was definitely better than it should have been, there’s a certain sense of dread about these episodes because it is all about treading water. Putting the focus on just a few characters is a tried and true Naruto tactic and this one has some mild added fun in that Guy is with them and continues to be just utterly seasick. It’s a one trick gag, but it works well enough and keeps him off to the side.
This episode has the gang caught up in some rough weather and seas as their boat is thrust along the current with hopes that everything will work out right by putting them on the proper course when all is said and done. Where it goes really bad is when they get attacked when passing by a nearby island by a group of pirates who have huge cannons built into it there. What works in their favor though after this awkard encounter is that Yamato converts the boat into a submarine so they can hide out from everything. Of course, it works for only so long before they end up in an underground cavern of dead ruins. Where they make a hot spring to recover their chakra.
Seriously. This all leads to a little bit of a look at the past of the island and how the indigenous people there were crushed by the pirates while we see said pirates causing lots of trouble up above as they wait for Naruto and his group to surface. There’s the usual array of working together motifs that hit as they try to do right for those that were vanquished before and it all follows through in something that makes predictable look uncertain. Naruto’s sense of justice is one of those things that continually motivates him in general so his taking all of this seriously and everyone else getting on board with it is a no brainer that simply is.
In Summary:
Naruto’s Nautical Nuttiness continues here with no surprises and it’s kind of amusing how certain things really feels like direct homages to One Piece with how it unfolds. It’s not a bad episode in a way, but it’s the kind of filler material that’s at least better than having more flashbacks which is what salvages a lot of it and keeps me from savaging it. You know what to expect from this arc and this episode has all the hallmarks of it with a goofy plot, goofy actions, goofy new characters and plenty of eye rolling going on. But hey, it’s not a flashback to L’il Naruto so I’m happy.
Grade: C
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
