What They Say:
Obito completely absorbs the giant Ten Tails, undergoes a transformation and becomes the Ten Tails’ Jinchuriki.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Naruto: Shippuden left me pretty cool in general with the two part story that we got the last few weeks with it basically coming across a little better than a fanfic story in some ways. And not a good fanfic story. That said, the show seemingly gets back on track here as it works towards what’s going on in the present again, now particularly dangerous since Obito has managed to absorb the Ten Tails and shift into his new form. While it’s not as blatant as some of the new forms that we saw in shows of old like Dragon Ball Z, there’s certainly a good hint of it here. But this is mired in a dark and ominous feeling with what it means and what Naruto and the others have to fight against now.
As Naruto says, Obito looks even creepier now and there’s a real sense of power at hand with what’s going on here. Putting things together, the core group is figuring out what Obito and Madara are up to, to some degree, and there’s a sense that things are pretty much in a dire way here. Even Eight Tails makes it clear that this is not how things should be and there what Obito has transformed into may not even be the real final form that he can take. There’s a solid array of power being used against him in some tightly coordinated attacks, but it’s being made clear that now in this form, smaller and tighter, he’s more dangerous than he was in his larger form. As Eight Tails says here as well, in that larger form he was just flailing around with his power. Now, it’s more controlled and far, far more dangerous. It’s sending a wave of fear through most everyone that sees him, but that also reinforces that they must do something since he cannot be allowed to continue on.
Action naturally dominates a lot of the episode, though it does have its fair share of panning camera moments to make sure you know the atmosphere and tension that exists. For Madara, his chance to go up against Hashirama isn’t a surprise nor is it to see the kind of weird forms that Obito takes as he fights while trying to sync with what he’s become. There’s a familiar path being followed here of course as we see it going forward, and while that is all pretty interesting, the “fun” moments come in watching what Obito is going through internally as he tries to bring himself into a proper mental place so he can handle what he’s become. It’s a slow process, but with some good nods to his past, we see that transformation come to fruition here and, once again, it feels like the stakes have been raised significantly.
In Summary:
While we do get a little side material here in seeing what Madara is up to, the bulk of the episode is focused on Obito as he works through his latest part of the transformation by taking control of Ten Tails. It’s an interesting process overall and there’s some decent motivational stuff going on from his past that helps him to solidify in the end, though I still find it hard to care about the character in general considering his place in the series since the beginning. That said, there’s some great moments to be had here with the action and just setting up the tone and scale of what’s about to happen – if they really follow through on it. It’s a solid episode that has me hopeful, but as with all things Naruto, I’m a bit wary until after the fact.
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.
