Review: Naruto Shippuden Box Set 8

After the fantastic narrative of the previous box set it comes as little surprise that this release falls short of reaching the same heights, although that is often the case when one story arc ends and a new one begins.

The first episode quickly concludes the battle that the previous box set ended with. With the Akatsuki defeated and Naruto injured by his own new and powerful jutsu. The story focuses more on Orochimaru and Sasuke once again, both of which have been keeping a fairly low profile throughout the series so recently. As the time approaches for Orochimaru to make his transfer he hatches a plan to capture and manipulate the power of the Tailed Beasts for his own purposes, even though this would put him at odds with his former Akatsuka comrades.

We are soon introduced to Guren, who has a history with Orochimaru and she has an overwhelming commitment to him despite knowing that she is not the one next in line to become his vessel. Her loyalties seem stretched when she is given the duty to look after a mysterious young boy, Yukimaru. Meanwhile Kakashi and team 8 are sent out on a mission to investigate unusual activity on the outskirts of their territory which inevitably sets them on a collision course with Team Guren.

Considering this is a filler story arc it is showing little sign of being overly drawn out compared to some of the other stories, the characters are fairly original and have a bit of depth, although they seem to lacking in back story at the moment. From the episodes in this box set Sasuke only has a very brief appearance and seem to only be present to loosely link the ongoing narrative together, also very little is explained of why exactly Orochimaru is after the power of the three tailed beast, although this will hopefully come to light at some point as the story progresses in the next release.

After the relative seriousness of the previous box set it comes as some relief that there is some light-hearted comedy in the earlier episodes here. If you like knuckle-head Naruto then you will likely enjoy the episodes of him in training with Gamariki and his Toad summons, if Naruto’s stupidity annoys you then you will not enjoy these episodes so much although they do progress the story forward in equal bounds.

So far it seems that the Three-Tails story arc is shaping up to be fairly interesting providing the new characters get filled out a little more. There’s quite a bit of varying content here both in the quality of the storytelling and the types of episodes on offer. The appearance of Deidara and Tobi in the closing episodes hints that things will crank up a notch or two in the next volume as a third party gets involved in the action.

Ratings
Overall
With even doses of humour, action and progression this release starts a new story arc and introduces a host of new characters. Although a little shallow at the moments, here's hoping that the next release fills in some of the gaps. Overall the story plays it safe and takes few risks.