The back and forth between Naruto and Nine-Tails only gets more intense but that’s just the prelude to what’s to come.
What They Say:
Inside his mind, Naruto continues his battle against Nine Tails to take control of its immense power.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
When it comes to battling something like the Nine-Tails, the show has to go in some interesting directions in order to express what it is it wants to do. Or, in some ways, it wants to try and look bigger and more complicated than it actually is by trying to be more self-important in a way, going in a philosophical and introspective direction. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as some shows can pull it off and we’ve seen Naruto excel at it at key times in the past. With his fight against Nine-Tails being as intense as it is as he tries to master it, it’s not all about him either which is good to see. Watching as Yamato and Killer Bee stand alongside him and watch as he nearly goes out of control adds the right element to it as they’re intense but not panicking.
In an interesting twist, one that does have you approcahing it with caution, the fight against Nine-Tails has him meeting up with his mother inside himself. Kushina’s definitely related to him when you get down to it, but it’s an amusing and heartwarming sequence of events as she introduces herself and he realizes who she truly is. And that she intends to help him in dealing with Nine-Tails. Kushina’s a character that’s had little to do with the series overall, less so than his father Minato, so getting the opportunity to have the two of them together in the episode is good. Especially the bit of hair envy that Naruto shows over her long, straight red hair. The episode even gives us a bit of childhood flashback material showing us when Kushina and Minato first met and that’s just adorable since it’s like a slightly different Naruto we get to see, one not saddled with the same problems.
Amusingly, Kushina’s red hair becomes a big part of the story here as she tells him about her past when she first came to the village and dealt with being such an outsider. The way she was treated about her hair and the otherness of it has a resonance with Naruto as she dealt with similar issues to what he did, but there are variations as well that made it just as difficult if different. But the other twist to the story about her chakra and the way it works being of interest to others has her being kidnapped at one point by a rival village. The story plays out predictably but well and it helps to flesh out a lot of stuff about Naruto’s mother and father that definitely makes them more interesting figures, the kind where you really wonder just how radically different his life would have been if they were involved daily in his life.
In Summary:
Naruto hits some very good material even if it is the dreaded flashback type. It works because it deals with a key part of Naruto’s past, his parents, and how they met. Without that instance nothing else would have happened and seeing the way they were when they were kids at the same kind of rough developmental time that this series worked with many, many years ago is instrumental in understanding Naruto himself. While this may not have been the episode people were expecting in a way, hoping for more physical/mental hands on stuff with Nine-Tails directly, it’s the episode that Naruto needed to have to further cement his heritage, who he really is and the kinds of things he’s fighting for. It’s the right kind of grounding he needs to feel truly connected to things and to ease out some of the concerns he’s had in his mind that could be taken advantage of. A very, very good episode even if it works familiar ideas from the series as a whole. And frankly, Kushina’s just a lot of fun to watch.
Grade: B+
Readers Rating: [ratings]
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.