What They Say:
Itachi Uchiha is inducted into Kakashi’s unit as the youngest member of the ANBU Black Ops. Itachi’s father, Fugaku, is pleased, thinking this will grant the Uchiha access to exclusive, top-secret Leaf intel. But Danzo, who wants intel on the Uchiha, orders Itachi to betray his family and clan by acting as a double agent.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the last batch of episodes of the anime-original portion of the season focusing on Tenzo and Kakashi, it had its interesting moments but like most of the original episodes, well, it just dragged on a bit and didn’t feel as tight as it should be. That segment was at least largely interesting with what it brought to the table as we go to know Tenzo and see some of Kakashi’s early days and his tim ein the Black ANBU unit. It was also fun because we once again got to see what kind of a person Danzo was as he and his Foundation plans continue to weave through many things, making him a long term planner that was continually stifled in many ways.
The focus is still on Kakashi here and his time in the ANBU, but it’s one that takes an interesting turn that some fans have long wanted to see as Itachi Uchiha has made his way there finally. With it being suggested by Danzo after recent events, it’s played as an effort to give Itachi more experience, something that certainly never hurts, but it’s also an interesting place to get it. There are certainly young members there, and Kakashi was one when he started as well, but Kakashi and the others came with some experience under their belts already. But as Kakashi sees as he introduces him to the group that’s not exactly keen on him being there, Itachi certainly has some skill and a bit of a calm and collected nature that allows him to get past the initial round of intimidation. Which is useful as he uses his skills to intimidate the rest of them into the position that he wants to take.
Not surprisingly, events that are going on here are all of Danzo’s manipulation as he wants to use Itachi to his own advantage in all of this in order to set things where he needs them to be against the Uchiha clan. We’ve seen the fallout from that in the future and we recently had some decent time with an older Itachi that talked with Sasuke a lot, so going back a young and kind of naive Itachi definitely has its moments. The slow push forward here is interesting and we get a bit of action of it that’s fun and nicely done, especially as it shows the way that Itachi can go with all of this, but also because we see some good if brief stuff with Kakashi and Tenzo as well. But there’s just a slow simmering of events going on here and it’s definitely neat to see the way that Itachi has so many shades that Sasuke would adopt as he gets older and dealt with the loss of so many.
In Summary:
Admittedly, I’ve been somewhat burned out for a long time on the whole Uchiha story if only because it’s gone on for so long and feels like it’s been dragged on the ground way too much. I do like that we’re getting a little more fleshing out here, especially after the recent time with had with Sasuke and Itachi, as it helps to fill in a few blanks for those that have obsessively followed it. For me, it’s just another piece of the larger puzzle that I forget how it all connects, so I can enjoy it on a superficial level and appreciate what it’s doing, but it’s not going to mean a whole lot to me. It’s executed well here and definitely has its fun moments, especially since it continues to make clear what kind of person Danzo is.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.