Naruto Shippuuden

Episode 50: The picture book’s story

You’re not going to like this episode. No, really, you aren’t. NOTHING happens here! We don’t see Sasuke (at least not really) and there is little to no fighting. *sigh* Well, to start things off, Kabuto is still tied up, but making plans on escaping, Naruto and Sai are in one group looking and Yamato and Sakura are in another group. Naruto collapses out of exhaustion (and still injured from the Kyuubi fight) and Sai sits by until he wakes up. The two of them get talking and Sai talks about how Naruto is so much like Sai’s brother. At that moment, he remembers the face of his brother, and Sai finally finishes the picture book, and smiles sincerely. Just then Orochimaru shows up taunting Naruto. He plays with Naruto while Sai leaves to continue looking for Sasuke. Yamato and Sakura sense Naruto is fighting and they show up. Orochimaru leaves Naruto alone telling him to kill another member of Akatsuki. Just then Yamato sees a black book in Sai’s bag that he left behind. It was a boingo book (or book of people Sai is going to assasinate) and it has Sasuke in it!

Next week is the highly anticipated reunion of Naruto and Sasuke. How do I know? Well it’s a special double episode and the title’s are “Reunion” and “Uchiha’s Power”. So don’t ever question me again. This episode might have been a little over-hyped, but next week is the one we have all been waiting for!

Episode 51-52: Reunion, and The Power of Uchiha

I would separate these episodes out, but there is really not enough content to really delve into these episodes. If you remember the intro to the new series, you’ve pretty much seen the episode. For that reason I say that this episode is disappointing and horrible. There is literally as much flashbacks as there is new content (which really isn’t all that new since we’ve seen most of it in the intro).

So here is the summary. Sai finds Sasuke. Decides not to kill him, but to bring him back to Konoha because Naruto is just so awesome. Sasuke blows a hole in that base, then everyone is there. After just looking at each other for a solid 2 minutes, they get in a little sparring match. Yamato is stabbed, and then sasuke escapes to outside the hole. AND THAT’S IT. If you really think that there is more to this episode, I plead for you to correct me. Just remember that we’ve seen the intro, which is basically a quick version of this episode. *sigh*… Looks like we are going to have to wait until April 3rd for the next episode too…

Episode 53-54: Title, and Nightmare

These two episodes are, for the most part, follow up episodes to the mission of saving Sasuke. Orochimaru stops Sasuke from killing anybody saying that they could help kill off some of the members of Akatsuki. Sasuke reluctantly stops using some dangerous technique and leaves. Naruto is depressed because he failed again, but Sakura comforts him. They return and report to Tsunade who gets ticked off by Danzou having given out confidential information. Sai also requests to remain a part of the team.

Nightmare shows Naruto having a nightmare about his Kyuubi getting out of control. He wakes up with a stronger determination to train. Sai starts studying relationships learning that nick names is a good way to develop relationships. It pretty much acts as a source of comic relief for the episode as he continues to insult people with his names. Kakashi tells Naruto as well that he has a special sort of training for him, that only Naruto can perform.

Episode 55: Wind

This is a fantastic episode. No fighting happens but they explain some concepts of Ninjahood that is new. We find in this episode that there are five elements of Ninja chakra. Naruto happens to be a “wind” element. We also find out that Naruto has 4x the amount of Chakra that Kakashi has. He would have 100x if he didn’t have to contain the Kyuubi. With this huge reserve of chakra, he is able to create shadow clones and learn techniques significantly faster than anyone else. Shadow clones return their knowledge to the user, so using 1,000 clones let’s you learn 1,000 times faster. And with this training Naruto is learning to mold his chakra with an element to create new techniques and fighting styles. Cool stuff. We also learn you can combine elements (like earth and water to create wood elements-these are also called bloodline limits which we’ve learned about before).

Episode 56: Squirm

In this episode, Naruto continues his training as a wind-natured ninja. He learns, fairly quickly, how to start making tears in a leaf. He finds out from Kakashi that Asuma is also a wind element user. Naturally Naruto goes to get advice. Asuma tells him to imagine his chakra getting thin and sharp, and then demonstrates by throwing his chakra infused blade straight through a tree like it was nothing. You also learn that Asuma was the third’s son. He’s also dating Kureni. Not that that really matters in the story. Finally we see a new set of ninjas plotting to destroy Konoha. Nothing personal against Konoha, they’re just your typical ninjas trying to make living by taking over other villages. Give them a break!

Episode 57: Deprived of Eternal Sleep

Here Yamato and the team start heading out to the fire temple to check up on graves of some famous ninjas. Apparently a ninja can hold a lot of information in his body, even after death, which is valuable. On the way, they stumble across one of these graves with the body already stolen. Naruto and this boy (a new character) fight each other a bit, thinking that each other is the thief. Both Fire temple and Yamato’s team show up suddenly to stop the fight, and all head back to the Fire Temple (which happens to be the temple that Naruto saw in some nightmares). You can pretty much tell that this new Character, Sora, is going to be another one of those characters that Naruto hates at first, but then realizes that they have something in common (they were both rejected as children, most likely), Naruto shows off his awesomeness, they become best friends. It’s happened in the series several times now, it’s not really original anymore…

Episode 58: Loneliness

This episode builds on the relationship of Sora and Naruto. First we learn about the four bodies in the separate tombs and why they are important. They were part of 12 ninjas that protected the feudal lord, of which Asuma was a part of. After this knowledge is imparted to us, Naruto sees Sora practicing with the monks. He could tell that Sora was holding back so he taunts him into fighting more seriously. Of course they stop it before anything happens. However, Naruto notices that Sora is looked down on, much the same way that Naruto was looked at as a child. Later Naruto tries to make friends and notices Sora practicing some wind techniques. Suddenly news is spread that all four tombs have been robbed, and we finish the episode with the enemy ninjas taking off riding the stolen caskets (it doesn’t make sense how you ride a casket, but they did…)

As mentioned, and predicted, Sora and Naruto are starting to build that relationship that mirrors the Naruto Sasuke friendship. It’s kinda annoying really how they keep relying on the same story elements, over and over again. This happens in almost every episode, with almost every character. Maybe one day they will come up with something original…

Episode 59: A New Enemy

In this episode Naruto and friends take off after the caskets and enemy ninjas. They catch up to them in a vast open field and are confused why they are taken to such a place. They jump out to the middle and when there the enemy ninjas spring a massive trap. Using a huge Earth technique, they create an extensive labyrinth full of traps. With this technique, Yamato starts to suspect that the bodies in the tombs weren’t what the real target of these new enemies are. For now, however, the team is split up and dealing with new traps. But of course, all the action happens in the next episode….