Rock’s secret jutsu is the ability to overhear only a portion of what’s truly going on.
What They Say:
Fewer children in the Hidden Leaf Village are choosing to become ninjas. Lee goes to talk to Guy-sensei about the issue, only to overhear his idol say “Ninjutsu is the most important part of being a ninja! On his way to visit a hospitalized Guy-sensei, Lee hears Tsunade say he “doesn’t have much time left.” Can Lee whip up a curry dish that’s spicy enough to save his teacher’s life?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Rock Lee had some fun in its previous episode in giving us a new training test for the gang that pushed Rock in a few ways when it came to how he dealt with Guy. The two have an interesting relationship to be sure and though it may not have been completely intentional, guy was trying to get Rock to not emulate him so much that he misses out on the special things that he can do. With his long desire to be a ninja even though he has no jutsus, Rock is definitely the kind of simplistic inspiration that can work really well. Though he has his own challenges as well, especially when he hears Guy saying that all you really need to be a ninja is a jutsu.
And that comes at a time when the village is seeing less and less kids turning to become ninjas and instead are looking for more stable jobs and paths for their lives. This gets Rock to try and start figuring out a jutsu of his own on the chance that he can pull something off, but he ends up with all sorts of other things instead, such as ventriloquism masquerading as a jutsu. Rock is just so earnest that you have to feel for him, even when you know he’s just misunderstood what it is that Guy was talking about when he overheard it. Rock’s desire to please Guy and to be the best ninja he can be is what drives him, but he’s also a character that can change on a whim in order to do so. There’s a lot of fun as his teammates try to help him some and as Guy gets directly involved.
Rock’s inability to hear a proper conversation is a big part of his faults here, and that comes into play in the second half as well as when Guy is hospitalized, he hears a key phrase that puts him in a panic over losing his mentor. While even Tsunade says he just needs some time to rest and will be okay, hearing later on that guy only has a little time left puts him in the wrong mindset. When Guy doesn’t recover, Rock takes his secret request to heart to get him the best kind of curry he can to light a fire in his belly. Of course, Guy’s problems are all of his own making, but Rock will do anything he can to help his master. This leads to its own silliness and it goes kind of off track in a weird way as it spends some bedside time with Guy under the lights which is amusing in its own way, especially as it’s all in effort to get Guy the curry he craves.
In Summary:
Misunderstandings abound in the latest episode of Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals and it works pretty well, though not with any big laugh out loud moments. The show has found its groove well by now and does have some inspired moments along the way, but it also feels like it’s playing things a bit safe at the moment. Rock’s ability to misunderstand situations is key and he goes through a couple of different responses to what he hears this time around. Of course, with all of it related to Guy it takes on even more significance, and Rock runs with it as you’d expect. Hopefully after two Guy-centric story based episodes, the series will shift its focus elsewhere for a bit going forward.
Grade: B
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.
