“Naruto Uzumaki!!”
What They Say:
“I’ll be a better shinobi than Lord Hokage! Then all the villagers will have to acknowledge my existence at last!” True to his word, Naruto has walked his own path until there are none who do not recognize that he’s become a great shinobi and a hero who has saved the world. But what path will Naruto take now? How will the world of the shinobi change? This is the story of the boy who blew through the hearts of all like a “shippu,” an irresistible gale. This is the story of Naruto Uzumaki.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Naruto: Shippuden gets to the final chapter of the manga with its adaptation here and promptly does what it does best at the end; it punts. While we should get something resembling a finale next week that deals with the future side of things (i.e. Boruto) before delving into all sorts of other material to extend the run, a path I can totally understand and get behind in business terms, punting that last chapter adaptation to probably the spring based on how current arc layouts are being planned means fans looking for that bit of closure are being denied. And if there’s something that this series does, its ensure that the payoff is undermined at every goddamned step of the way. So, nobody should be surprised but eveyone should be quite disappointed once again.
That’s not to say that this is a bad episode because it does have some good moments after the extended flashback material the last time around that ended with our armless Naruto and Sasuke. Having Kakashi and Sakura get there and offer some form of comfort and to bring them together works nicely, as does the whole dream thing that everyone else was stuck in finally coming undone, allowing the vast cast from this series to resurface after being given some awful, awful, treatment during those dream sequences that were horrendously done. The early part of this does some nice epilogue material, an area I typically like, as it copes with some deaths along the way and paying proper respects there, and some of the general cleanup aspects as well in terms of righting what had gone done before shifting into the larger events here.
With Kakashi as hokage now and Tsunade providing plenty of assistance, things have settled well overall and the visiting entourages from other villages brings a good feeling as well, especially as we see some of them meeting with Naruto after all that has happened. Interest in Naruto is naturally high for obvious reasons and he’s actually coming across as fairly restrained at this point, which is nice. Of course, the show has to have some fun with the fact that he never completed the chunin exam and he has to study in order to become a jonin and that he has a ways to go before he can become hokage and actually lead some day. All understandable stuff to be sure and it’s played with some nice lightness and a few touches back to his childhood, providing the wrapup pieces that we need.
In Summary:
Naruto: Shippuden is about to go into its fall arc which is being called Boyhood as it explores his, well, boyhood. While I expect new stories to be told within it we’ve already seen far too much of his childhood and others, far too much flashback, for me to be interested in it. There’s a lot the show can explore in this epilogue period before it gets to the actual manga finale but they have to go to the well once again of L’il Naruto and I have absolutely no interest in that with how the creative team here abused the viewers during the last couple of years. While this episode largely plays well, especially the final sequence between Naruto and Sasuke, I can’t come back to this series until it actually gets to that final chapter adaptation that shifts it into the Boruto series that we all know is coming. It’s worn me down and abused me far too much to be able to do it and I hate that after reviewing almost 700 episodes worth of it. I’m out.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
