English Dub Review: Naruto Shippuden “Golden Bonds”

Well, we get teased, yet again.

Spoilers Below

There is a lot that can be said about “Golden Bonds.” While it’s a transition episode, there was a lot going on. If you didn’t pay a whole lot of attention, you may have missed something. With that said, let’s go over some of the things that may have been glossed over this week.

The biggest thing that may have been missed is that Darui is a badass motherfucker, plain and simple. The guy exhausted a lot of his chakra last episode sealing away Ginkaku, and somehow manages an army of shadow clones that all have Benihisago, which will only drain his chakra even more. Oh, and let’s not forget the two shadow clones that just casually use Double Black Panther, because that probably takes little chakra. I do like how they animated the Double Black Panther, because it looked like it crackled like lightning. Somehow, black lightning looks amazing, and not so cheesy like it could have been.

Next, when was there a line of Shogi and Go references between Kakazu and Shikamaru? Did Kakuzu eat Asuma’s heart before they tried to sell him to the bingo book guy? Did he mysteriously gain the memories of Asuma? What the hell is going on? Why did the animators change who Kakuzu was killing? Was it necessary to show Kakuzu killing three Iwagakure ninja instead of one Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and a Konohagakure ninja? That seemed like it wasn’t a necessary change. My knowledge of the manga is almost encyclopedic, and I don’t remember this at all any of the references between the two. In fact, I remember most of the conflict was between Shikamaru and Hidan, with Kakuzu just wanting to kill them all.  When this scene came up in “Golden Bonds,” I was very confused, because this seemed out of nowhere. I have to go back and re-watch the first time Kakuzu met with Ino-Shika-Cho.

And speaking of which, where did all of this animosity come from when it comes to the younger generation of ninja? Last time I checked, it was a 15 year old who is taking down members of the Akatsuki like it was nothing, and protecting a village better than the adult ninja. So, you can see why I was taken back when the cloud ninja showed disappointment for the new Team Ina-Shika-Cho. Above all else, it’s reinforcements, so they should be happy. Let’s not forget that they have had a lifetime of team training from their family, who also happened to be  team Ino-Shika-Cho. What the hell is going on this week?

Finally, what is it going to take if Naruto loses control of the Nine-Tails? Kinkaku got burnt, drowned, and smashed in by various ninjutsu, and got two lightning panthers jolting his head. This guy only got the jinchuriki powers from eating the stomach of the Nine-Tails. He has more control over the cloak than Naruto right now. Naruto is still trying to learn how control the chakra, and Kinkaku is in control. And how long is it going to take Naruto to realize there’s a war right near the island? He noticed someone with the Nine-Tails chakra already, so it’s only a matter of time before he stops playing with his chakra balls, and goes to do what people expect him to: kick some ass. He has been absent for a while, and needs to be back in the forefront soon.

There were a lot of others I could have hit on, but how much could I touch on the irony of the ninja secretary? The end of the fight with Kinkaku was handled well, and the transition to Kakuzu, Dan, and Asuma was as smooth as it could be. It was almost like “Golden Bonds” could have been split, and put the beginning on the end of last week’s episode, with the end of this week going on the beginning of next week’s episode. I enjoyed how that was handled, and leads into what could be a real big feels episode. Would you expect anything less with Asuma having to fight his students? I don’t.

What I don’t understand, is how is season was doing so well telling a story, then moving on to the next. It seems like Gaara and his soldiers are waiting for their story while the beach front battle goes on. If these are supposed to be going on, I think it would have been better to cut between the two. But, as I’ve said before, the Game of Thrones way of telling a story has hit Naruto. Well, it hits when it’s convenient for the writers. Hopefully, they also go to Gaara, because Mu seems like he can be a problem. Hulu has “Golden Bonds” up now, so go take some time to watch a very good episode. Kinkaku with the Fox Demon Cloak is a good enough reason to watch.