Are you a frustrated Naruto: Shippuden fan? This episode likely won’t help.
What They Say:
With many of the shinobi away serving in the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Leaf Village is left with just the mothers and children to protect it. Konohamaru is eager to guard the village but is quickly discouraged by the adults who tell him to just go about his day as usual. less
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I find myself in a strange position at this point when it comes to the war and these “filler” episodes that we get. During the seemingly endless journey across the sea to distract and hide Naruto, I wanted to see more of the lead up to the war and how various events would unfold. But I also realized that the kind of material I wanted isn’t what the original work focused on and it’s pretty apparent the writing team here doesn’t deal in that kind of material in the slightest. Even the actual war material has been pretty weak. So when we get side stories within the war, it’s the kind of material I wanted, but I wanted executed better than this. And not quite in such a dragged out fillerish way.
With a few episodes involving the White Zetsu having been the main focal point recently as we get to see some of the other main characters and what they’re involved in, the show shifts back to the Hidden Leaf Village with this episode. And as the episode summary says, it’s been left with a minimal rear guard to protect the women and children. Because this show has given us nothing but weak women needing protection, right? With its focus on Konohamaru, we get to see the younger set of up and coming ninjas dealing with the state of the village and what’s going on. In a way, it’s similar to how the series was at its very beginnings with the young Naruto going through his training to become a ninja, only this time it’s a less interesting group of characters and they’re dealing with war landing on their doorstep.
While there are these little threats that show up here and there, a lot of the episode devolves into simple fistfights that go on as Konohamaru does his best to stand tall and be an example. One fight goes so far as to have blades come out, but it’s all very, very manly. The whole thing sort of falls apart quickly when you get down to it as the warnings end up turning real with what the kids and the residents have to face, but it’s all the kind of done and over with thing that you want to forget. When a large group of sumo warriors comes out to take advantage of the situation – in a positively videogame like run across the screen, it just can’t be taken seriously. Having them smack the kids around is comical in a way, but the whole thing just turns to insulting when the “mom force” comes out with pots and pans in hand. Because, you know, that’s all women know how to use for weapons.
In Summary:
This episode is pretty insulting across the board.
Grade: D
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.
