Naruto Unleashed: Series 7 Part 1

Introduction

13 volumes of Naruto, that's 39 discs… no 42, as there were two movies and an OVA as well. One hundred and sixty nine episodes. I ought to get a medal or something, especially with this extended stretch of filler that I'm barely just embarking upon. People get awards for a whole lot less, like being a lollipop lady, or diving on grenades. I'm getting to that point where reluctance is beginning to war with apathy, resulting in an addled drooling state which is unpleasant to experience, and worse to behold. The worrying thing is that I'm getting an inkling that Manga Entertainment feel much the same way, as this release of Naruto isn't even up to their typically average treatment for the show. Re-energised and enthused, brimming with optimism and vigour, and overdosing on caffeine, I turn my attention to this next instalment of Naruto filler.

12 years previously, the Hidden Leaf village was plagued by the Nine-Tailed fox demon. The Fourth Hokage ninja sacrificed his life to defeat the menace, and sealed up the spirit in the body of a newborn child. That orphan grew up as Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous prankster with great ambition. Not only does he want to be a ninja, but he also wants to be the strongest ninja of them all and be granted the title Hokage. He has more than a little competition, the Hidden Leaf village is a community of ninja, and Naruto had great difficulty just passing his entrance exams to qualify as a lowly Genin. Even when he did manage to get his certification, he was assigned to undergo training by the demanding Kakashi, partnered with his rival Sasuke and Sakura, the girl on whom he has a crush. What makes things difficult is that few see him as Naruto, instead of the dreadful fox demon that was sealed inside him.


We're in the filler zone, which means that the story is on hold until the manga catches up to the anime, and the episodes here don't advance the overall story or develop the characters. Sasuke has joined Orochimaru, and Naruto needs to complete his training before he can try to redeem him once more. None of that will happen until the filler is past. Each filler story will get a quick description and the listing of episodes.

When last we left Naruto, he, Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee had journeyed to the Katabami Gold Mine, to free the slaves from their criminal overseers. That was one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, Raiga, and his orphan sidekick Ranmaru. They had managed to rescue and redeem Ranmaru, but returning to face Raiga, they found more than they could handle. Now Granny, Tenten, Ranmaru and Karashi race to the rescue with a pot of patented lifesaver curry. Only this batch has had an extra ingredient added.

157. Run! The Curry of Life!


Not all missions are dangerous and exciting, some are mundane and unglamorous. Naruto takes it the wrong way when he and his friends are drafted in to babysit the next class of ninja trainees as they take part in survival training. Naruto has to impart his knowledge to Team Konohamaru as they spend a night and two days, avoiding traps, enemy ninjas (the schoolteachers), and survive on their wits. But then a typhoon hits.

158. Follow My Lead! The Great Survival Challenge!


Kiba, Naruto and Hinata's next mission is to capture and retrieve a petty thief from the Land of Stone, but they get more than they bargained for when they enter the desert wasteland. They've entered the wrong Western style town, where going into a saloon and ordering milk is the wrong way to get information. Besides, Gosunkogi is far more than just a petty thief, he's a wanted murderer, and the ninja will have to compete with a bounty hunter to capture him. Only it turns out that sword-slinger Sazanami is a wanted man too.

159. The Bounty Hunter From The Wilderness
160. Hunt or be Hunted?! Showdown at the O.K. Temple


When Lee and Guy go off on a mission, it's a chance for a couple of opportunistic brothers to infiltrate the Hidden Leaf Village. But scrawny Mondai as Guy, and chubby Poccha as Lee are fooling no one, no one except Naruto that is.

161. The Appearance of Strange Visitors


It's a mission to the Land of Birds next, where a ghostly apparition is terrorising the populace. Naruto has no qualms about standing up to the living, but the dead is another matter, although no one else takes the story seriously. But messenger Chishima is desperate for help, and he manages to convince Lady Tsunade to send a team. Naruto joins Neji and Tenten in accompanying Chishima back to his home. But there is more than meets the eye to this. Lord Sagi, Chishima's childhood friend has only recently been made Lord of the Land, after his father died in mysterious circumstances. But it was after the death of his twin sister that Sagi became withdrawn and distant, practically secluding himself from the populace. Meanwhile the struggle for power continues between Sagi's trusted advisor Moso, and the Land of Birds' chief tactician Lord Komei. With the ghostly Cursed Warrior thrown into the mix, it's obvious something underhand is afoot.

162. The Cursed Warrior
163. The Tactician's Intent
164. Too Late For Help
165. The Death Of Naruto
166. When Time Stands Still
167. When Egrets Flap Their Wings


Taking some time off between missions, Naruto's looking to unwind with a bowl of Ramen from his favourite restaurant, but Ichiraku's is closed. Curiously, Choji's sense of smell can detect something divine bubbling away in the kitchen, but breaking in for a late night snack leads the ninja into trouble. Ichiraku's owner, Teuchi is desperately trying to perfect a recipe. His daughter Ayame's been kidnapped, and the ransom demands divine cuisine. She's in the hands of the ninja chefs, and it will take Naruto, Choji, and Sakura's culinary skills to rescue her. Now they have one night to learn how to cook.

168. Mix It! Stretch It! Boil it Up! Burn, Copper Pot! Burn!


Most of the Genin are off on missions, leaving Naruto at something of a loose end. It's a good thing then that Shino and Ino are in similar straits when a mission turns up from the Land of Sea. There is a Demon of the Ocean to be dealt with. It could be a sea monster, it could be nefarious ninja at work, and they will have to investigate to find out. Either way, shipping in the area is being affected, and cargo is being lost, not to mention relations being strained with neighbouring trading partners. Anko is put in charge of the mission, but she has demons of her own to face. Orochimaru left her with a Curse Mark, like Sasuke. She was his student, but when he betrayed the Leaf Village, he erased her memories of him to hide his plans. As they come to the Land of Sea, some of those memories are coming back.

169. Remembrance - The Last Page

Picture

Naruto gets a 4:3 regular transfer that is clear and sharp throughout. There are some minor compression artefacts that are only really noticeable during freeze frame. As you would expect from such a long running animation, it's best not to tire the animators out. Naruto is certainly less sophisticated than most anime released today, the character designs are simpler, and backgrounds not excessively defined. Yet in terms of quality, the animation is very effective, and certainly goes a step beyond older long running shows like Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon. However, with the advent of the filler, the quality of animation slips, and you can see it in some hideous character designs, and some lacklustre action sequences. There are times in this set where it looks like a completely different animation.

Sound

The DD 2.0 English and Japanese stereo is more than adequate in recreating the original experience, and given a little Prologic magic does offer a pleasant ambience and some discrete action. More new themes and as always they are memorable and suit the story well, while the incidental music is a little more generic, but definitely gives Naruto its own musical identity. I sampled the English dub and found it acceptable if unspectacular. It certainly isn't the worst I have heard, but some of the actors don't seem particularly suited to the characters. Episode 166 is where my favourite Naruto end theme of all debuts, Parade.

Extras

Wheeling out the same menus again, the only extras you'll find are the trailers on disc 1, Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, Bleach the Movie, and Naruto the Movie.

This is where I get the feeling that Manga don't care much anymore. The days of the first season, with its sponsor title cards, and translated credit reels are long behind us, with most of the subsequent sets just sticking the episodes on and nothing much else. However, the episodes were conveniently chaptered. Not for set 13, as now we only get two chapters per episode, with the break in the middle of the show. No longer can you skip credit sequences or previews, which is a nightmare if you're marathoning the show for a review.

Conclusion

Typical, after a lacklustre previous volume, I was getting all psyched up to deliver a review full of vitriol towards what would be the inevitable decline in quality, as the filler episodes continued a constant downward spiral. But nothing is constant in the world of Naruto, and the 13th instalment delivers 13 episodes that are entertaining and a great way to pass the time. This is filler that does not stink. Once you accept the fact that nothing is going to advance the overall story, and these episodes and arcs are strictly standalone, then it becomes clear that some of these episodes are really quite good. In this volume, there's really only one disappointment, which makes the first half of Season 7 pretty good value.


It is the first episode on this set that is the low point, concluding as it does a pretty dire storyline from the end of season six. The decline in animation quality and character design is evident across the filler, so that really isn't much of a complaint in this context. The writing and storytelling is though, with a story that recycles a trope visited twice already in the main Naruto storyline, that of lethal ninja picking up a protégé from the gutter and forging a bond of loyalty, all to have it fall apart when their nefarious plans come into contact with our orange kagouled hero. Here it is the clumsy mix of drama and comedy that hurts the story, with any emotional impact lost with a curry punchline. It does mean that we get to see Rock Lee's Drunken Fist again, and if the dismal animation from earlier in the arc was to save up funds to animate the Loopy Fist action, then it doesn't quite work. The animation is nowhere up to the quality it should be, and just as Neji's Gentle Fist technique looks static; Rock Lee still looks as if he is moving in slow motion.


For the rest of the set, Naruto wisely decides to keep the comedy and drama separate, and we get some serious arc storylines, separated by single episode slapstick interludes. Naruto and Konohamaru are always good value in this department, and Naruto lets his doofus side show when he mentors his young charges on a survival challenge. His inability to spot the blindingly obvious plays a part when a couple of poorly disguised infiltrators take the place of Guy and Rock Lee, and the whole of the Hidden Leaf Village decide to torment them, only Naruto mistakes it for advanced ninja training techniques. Finally there is the Ninja Chef cook-off, which sees some serious ninjutsu applied to the creation of the perfect ramen. This final comedy interlude sees a rare episode with Sakura in, and I must admit her split personality has been missed in this ocean of filler. She's always off training to be a medical ninja, while Naruto takes centre stage with various other Genin. Hopefully we'll see more of Sakura in subsequent volumes.


The first arc story on this set is the two-part Bounty Hunter tale, which advisedly cuts down on the humour and raises the drama. It lets Naruto have a little fun in a Western milieu, with dusty streets, ponchos, wide brimmed hats, and saloons not to be served milk in. It's a little bit of culture clash, the story is pretty pedestrian, but it's all entertaining enough.

It's the second arc story that is the peach of this three-disc collection, taking up six episodes. It's a mission to the Land of Birds that has more to it than meets the eye. There is a hint of a comedy emphasis at the start, with Naruto scared of ghosts, and their mission to track a spook down and get rid of it, but arriving at the Land of Birds and confronting the spectre is a more serious matter. It's made more complex by the politics involved. Behind it all is a power struggle for the position of Lord, with the current incumbent Sagi there, despite repeated tragedy in his family, succeeding to the throne after the mysterious death of his father, and then losing his twin sister as well. These are two suspicious deaths that have never been explained, and have obviously sparked thoughts of vengeance. The obvious suspect is the Chief Tactician Komei, but while Moso stands as trusted adviser to Lord Sagi, his pleasant demeanour masks a ruthless ambition. But the truth to this mystery is far more insidious. It's a more complex and layered story for Naruto, maybe even more so than the original manga arc, and the characters are interesting and not just one-dimensional stereotypes. While the animation is still filler quality, the story is definitely on a par with the Naruto feature films, if not the main arc. There is a spooky edge to it with the ghostly emphasis, and the story is certainly entertaining and fulfilling. It's easily the best of the filler yet.


We end the set with the first episode of another arc, and another storyline with supernatural elements. This time Naruto and friends are sent to deal with a Demon of the Ocean. The interesting dimension here is the character of Anko, who we met earlier in the Chunin exam arc, and was revealed to have a past with Orochimaru, and sported the same scar as the one that Sasuke received. There is some indication here that we'll see that past with Orochimaru explored, and her presence on the mission may be a double-edged sword. As usual, there is a guest character for Naruto to bond with, and in this case it is a bandaged diver, a girl who is ostracised by her society, as she was once spirited away. Naruto rescues her from a couple of thugs, although she appears not to trust any ninja. As the set concludes, we come to the prerequisite cliff-hanger, with the ninja crossing the ocean to a nearby island, only to be attacked by a couple of enemy ninja. Overwhelmed, Naruto is dragged to the bottom to drown, and the ninja return to the surface to finish off Ino, Shino and Anko. The last thing we see before the end credits roll is that diver girl reaching for Naruto.


It leaves me anticipating the next volume with a lot more eagerness than I was anticipating this one. If all that matters to you is the main storyline, and filler is anathema, then nothing I can say or do will commend this volume to you. Which is a shame, as while the main storyline may be stuck in idle for the next forty odd episodes, the thirteen episodes that we get here are entertaining in their own right. Good filler! Who would have thought?