English Dub Review: Naruto Shippuden “Danger, Jinpachi and Kushimaru!”

Spoilers Below

Well, it seems we’re back to filler plot that actually has something to do with the Ninja War!  And it couldn’t come soon enough, because there’s only so much of Tsunade’s hemophobia I can take before I want to maul children. What makes this episode so much better than the previous episodes is two things:

1. More of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist

2. Kakashi using the Executioner’s Blade.

2-A. Guy and Kakashi teaming up again.

If you’ve been watching Naruto since Guy’s introduction, you know that Guy and Kakashi are two of the fiercest rivals in the Leaf Village. You would also know that Guy and Kakashi are one of the most powerful teams in Naruto. So, whenever these two team up, some serious shit is about to go down.

What makes this episode really special is that this is a team fight, and solely a team fight. Two teams enter, one leaves in a nod to Mad Max. What they do to convey some story is a really touching flashback between younger versions of Kakashi, Guy, and Rin. It was surprising to see her, because you don’t see her very often in the manga until later on in the war. Also, I thought Rin died soon after Obito got smashed in a rock sandwich. How the writers convey the Naruto timeline make this a lot more convoluted than it really needs to be, especially when it comes to filler episodes that have carte blanche in adding extra tidbits of story.

However, that flashback fit this fight rather well. It leans on how well Kakashi and Guy team up, even in the most adverse circumstances. To be honest, this ranks on the higher end of what a filler episode should be. It fit in the greater story, added a relevant backstory that led to the resolution of the episode, and was just a really well written episode. It looks like the writing staff learned from the 84 episode filler span at the end of Naruto. If I were none the wiser, I would say that this was a story from the manga.