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R2 DVD Reviews
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Wednesday, 07 January 2009 00:00 |
 Here we go, with another batch of Naruto episodes, and the battle for Konoha village is well underway. Will Orochimaru win the day, or will he be lucky to get out of the village alive? Can Naruto help Gaara defeat the demon inside and learn to be, you know, normal? Will Jiraiya be successful in his quest to find a new Hokage? Will I be able to resist the urge to annoy Naruto fans by giving the release a kicking? :) Read on to find out...
Six discs and twenty-six episodes of Naruto - a big chunk by anyone's standards. The completion of the battle for Konoha Village is settled in the first two - from there, we're onto other things, including the appearance on the scene of Itachi Uchiha (Sasuke's older brother) and Kisame Hoshigaki and their efforts to capture Naruto, and the roadtrip undertaken by Jiraiya and Naruto as they search for Tsunade, the carefree sannin who's been unlucky enough to be chosen as the next Hokage. Let's take a look at each arc in turn before we reach a verdict, shall we?
When we left Naruto and Gaara at the end of the last volume, their battle had grown to frankly ridiculous proportions, with their proxy demons having taken over the show in a battle that you could have seen from many miles away. The key is that, in many ways, Gaara and Naruto aren't all that different, at least in terms of what they've had to live through - both have deadly creatures sealed inside them, both have had to deal with the power that gives them and the tendency it brings to make them outcasts. The difference is the direction in life they've taken as a result. Sure, the outcome of the battle is no real surprise, but the character work that goes on while that's playing out is worth watching. Not enough to make me feel any sympathy for Gaara, mind you (and I suspect you're meant to feel sorry for him), but enough to give me a better understanding of what makes him tick.
Likewise, the conclusion to the Orochimaru / Sarutobi fight had been clear for a while, and with no clear winner, Orochimaru lives to cause problems another day. He just may need to find someone else to do his dirty work for him. In some ways the outcome was a shame - I liked Sarutobi - but it's always a pleasant surprise when a series is willing to kill off key characters.
The second arc introduces Sasuke's big brother, persona-non-grata in the Leaf Village after killing his entire clan, excluding Sasuke, and very much turning to the Dark Side. Now he and the group he works with have realised the value of the Nine-Tailed Fox that's sealed within Naruto, and they've come to get their hands on that power - leading to both trouble for Naruto, and a chance for Sasuke to deal some revenge on his brother for all those killings. Big brother, of course, equals more powerful brother, and the sibling battle is short-lived, but the arc serves as a good introduction to yet another group that's going to cause problems down the line. Itachi and Kisame also have access to some high-level jutsu that delve into the psychological side of things, and these are used to create some very spooky and powerful scenes that are the highlights of the set. There seems to be an intimation that these guys have some connection with Orochimaru, but what that connection is we don't yet know - and aren't going to find out on this set.
Jiraiya's and Naruto's search for Tsunade takes up the largest chunk of the release. This is combined with more training for Naruto - which is an exceptionally dull passage of story, as boy wonder gets to play with balloons and rubber balls for three episodes - and also ties in with Orochimaru's search for someone who can help him regain the use of his abilities. With Tsunade being the best medical ninja in the show's world, you can see the inevitable coming together that brings us neatly to a point Tsunade has to choose between what's good for her and what's good for the village. There are events in her past that make her want to accept Orochimaru's offer - any possibility of bringing back to life the two people who meant the most to her is going to have a huge appeal, and that's what she's faced with here - but countering that is the knowledge that healing Orochimaru could well unleash an evil that would lead to much greater death and destruction in the future. On the one hand, it's an interesting dilemma - on the other hand, it takes her an awfully long time to work it out. After that the arc descends into a typically over-long Naruto battle, with the three sannin all summoning their giant avatars and letting the creatures duke it out. I quite enjoy ninja-on-ninja fighting, when it's kept short and sharp - but I've got very little time for snakes, slugs and toads that are several stories high. Bah. On the upside, Tsunade and Jiraiya are both characters that I have a lot of time for - being a sannin seems to require being a little unhinged, and while Orochimaru has tipped the wrong way with his obsessions, Jiraiya and Tsunade both tend more to the comedy side of things, and that makes them great fun to watch. Tsunade also has a wicked sense of humour about her that really sets off her personality nicely, as well as filling something of an eyecandy role. Just don't ask about her real age.
Finally, we move onto a new arc for the final three episodes of the set, which sees Naruto and his team accept a new mission, to be carried out for Jirochi from the Land of Tea (who we've seen before). Each year, the leadership of Jirochi's village is decided by a race between representatives of the Wasabi clan (that's Jirochi's clan) and the evil Wagarashi clan. The Wagarashi have been runing the village for a few years now, having decided that all's fair in the race while Jirochi's clan have tried to play fair - and kept losing as a result. This year's race is now upon the village, and Jirochi's still planning to play fair - but he's taking the precaution of calling in some help from the Leaf Village. Interestingly, the runner for the Wasabi clan is one Idate Morino, whose older brother is himself a Leaf Village ninja - and who Idate thought was dead. There's an interesting backstory around Idate and his family history, while the race format provides a few fighting setups that are a little more interesting than the usual fight scenes. They're also short and to-the-point, which is always a good thing.
Every new volume of Naruto is like a box of chocolates - you never know what, precisely, you're gonna get. </forrestgump> Yes, there'll be fights and comedy, but sometimes it's done in ways that are hugely entertaining, sometimes in ways that aren't. This set edges more onto the enjoyable side, despite a few tedious segments here and there. For Naruto fans it's going to be a gimme anyway - but even if you're not, there's enough here to keep you entertained. Worth a look.
For full episode summaries and screenshots, check our reviews of the original releases:
» Season Four #1
» Season Four #2
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