What They Say:
After the end of the Third Great Ninja War, the Leaf Village is divided over who should become the next Hokage. Minato Namikaze is soon appointed as the Fourth Hokage, much to the annoyance of Danzo and Orochimaru. Meanwhile, Kakashi is haunted by the deaths of Obito and Rin, causing him to lose focus on his missions.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Naruto: Shippuden taking a break from the currently storyline to get caught up a bit more and to let the source material progress just a bit further, the show has opted to spend February with a filler arc. Rather than just a series of drawn out side stories in the present though, we get to go back to the time after the Third Great Ninja War and deal with events from there, which includes some of what Kakashi had gone through at the time that shaped him and his personality. It ties in well to the present without feeling forced since it gives us a look at what Kakashi was struggling with after the death of Obito and Rin and how that left him in a state of shock that he has to work out. It also gives us some interesting moments in Hidden Leaf Village history as it starts the shift to the next Hokage.
While we haven’t had a lot of Young Kakashi stories, I’ve always enjoyed them since it presented the elder cast we have now in an interesting light and there are a lot of connections to the present that factor in with rivalries and other issues. Especially as some of those he calls friend have kids of their own that are aligned with Naruto and the like, making it fairly generational in a way. We also get more time spent with Danzo because of the Hokage issue, which has seemingly dogged him his whole life as he’s always felt that he was the one that was totally prepared to do what’s necessary in the role. He views it as a right because only he can properly lead in the tumultuous times ahead. Having just rewatched his fight with Sasuke in a recent DVD collection and getting more of him in the recent arc with how many pies he’s had his fingers in to orchestrate things, getting more time with his manipulations and frustrations is fun.
With Minato made into the Fourth Hokage, he moves quickly into the position with ease, though not the kind of intensity that you might get from Danzo who you suspect would rewrite just about everything should he have full, formal control. There are some nice moments in seeing Minato take on this role, seeing his wife’s reaction to it and dealing with Kakashi in sending him off on a mission in order to get him back on track after the losses he suffered. It’s interesting to see how he copes with it and how Minato sets things safely by putting Guy to watch him, keeping the rivalry that Guy always views that exists between the two of them. But for me, as much as I like seeing Young Kakashi, I’m more interested in seeing Minato as the Hokage at this point as it always feels like there’s so much less out there about him.
In Summary:
The focus on young Kakashi works pretty nicely here as we see the fallout from events that played out recently through Obito’s revelations. Having seen events from Obito’s point of view and having words about it previously from Kakashi, we now get to go through the events through his eyes, while also providing some interesting political and intrigue related bits with Danzo and the whole Fourth Hokage aspect that ended up going to Minato. It’s a pretty easy episode to get into with some good pacing, solid connection to the present day storyline and the flashbacks we just had and it puts us with characters that have been on the sidelines for a bit as well, which is definitely a plus. The start of this arc definitely sets the right tone and has me hopeful.
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.
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