Naruto: "A Lesson Learned: The Iron Fist of Love" Review
April 1, 2008 - The previous episode of Naruto really wasn't that good. It suffered from the fact that the episode was just boring and didn't do a good job of getting us into the story. With this episode there was a hope that maybe we'd finally be interested in this mission. Sadly, the report is that this episode managed to remain somewhat stagnant. I guess it wasn't as boring, but there were still enough in this episode to somewhat ruin it.
When we last left Naruto and the rest of Team Guy, they were running to catch up with Rukosuke, the villager who went by himself to rescue his friend from his grave. The Kurosuke clan of course catches Rukosuke. Rukosuke must have had quite the lead on Naruto and the rest of the team, because when Naruto arrives at the village, it's always daylight and Rukosuke's funeral is almost about to start. When the team gets to the village, they notice that the villagers are being forced to dig in a cave for minerals that can be turned into gold. While it's obvious that the villagers are being mistreated, they're so scared of the Kurosuke that they'd rather work than do anything about it.
Looking for Karashi ended up being an easy task; actually it was a bit too easy. It wasn't really a big surprise when Rock Lee found Karashi, because the episode kept going to random shots of him throughout the episode, so it wasn't hard to figure out which one was Karashi. When Rock Lee finally finds Karashi, Karashi ends up sounding like a spoiled, whiny brat. Karashi doesn't seem like he's changed much since joining the Kurosuke and it's almost as if he just barely joined within the last couple of days. I'm also trying to figure out just how a bad fighter and how someone as whiny and scary as Karashi was able to become a member of the Kurosuke clan. It didn't take much for Rock Lee to convince Karashi that what he was doing was wrong; no really, it didn't take much at all.
We did get some action in this episode which was alright, but I became a bit disconnected after watching the Kurosuke Clan members spawn wolverine-like metal claws. It was also a bit disappointing how easily the team was able to take out the members. These are only Genin.
It's a shame that we still didn't get to see much chemistry amongst the Team Guy members and I think I'm going to have to say that this is probably all the chemistry they have. There's nothing that really tells you that they know each other very well, but then again Neji was pretty much an ass up until a certain point, so maybe that's why. All of them seem to have very different personalities. Neji's the serious one, Ten-Ten's the most normal and then Rock Lee is probably the weirdest. By the way, does Rock Lee's notebook contain all there is to know? It was funny watching him refer to the book at every scene and finding answers in it.
After dispatching the Kurosuke Clan, they chase after Raiga. When they reach him, Raiga casts the hidden mist jutsu. While the team seemed surprised by the attack, Naruto didn't seem to recollect when Zabuza used the same move; you would think he would know something about it. It was interesting though that Neji couldn't see through the mist using the Byakugan though. The team is now faced with quite a challenge in trying to hunt down someone that they can't see. Raiga really hasn't been too interesting of a villain; he comes off as more psychotic then evil. His obsession with funerals, giving fake tearful eulogies, and talking to something that's hidden in your coat is a bit scary, but it doesn't make him cool.
The animation was also not very good. Actually, it was some of the worst animation in quite a while. Most noticeable was when the group were viewing from the mountain and Ten-Ten and Rock Lee argued about Guy. The animation looked very cartoony and while they usually do that for comedic effect, it lasted maybe a bit too long or something. Other than that everything just looked pale and none of the colors really seemed to come off well.
This mission has been rather disappointing. From the preview from the next episode, it looks like this mission is going to be over rather fast. I guess that's for the better though. Either way we definitely have at the least one more episode to see whether Raiga really is as psychotic as he seems. Naruto has definitely missed the mark so far, but maybe they'll find something reminiscent of a good episode soon.
source: http://tv.ign.com/articles/863/863523p1.html
When we last left Naruto and the rest of Team Guy, they were running to catch up with Rukosuke, the villager who went by himself to rescue his friend from his grave. The Kurosuke clan of course catches Rukosuke. Rukosuke must have had quite the lead on Naruto and the rest of the team, because when Naruto arrives at the village, it's always daylight and Rukosuke's funeral is almost about to start. When the team gets to the village, they notice that the villagers are being forced to dig in a cave for minerals that can be turned into gold. While it's obvious that the villagers are being mistreated, they're so scared of the Kurosuke that they'd rather work than do anything about it.
Looking for Karashi ended up being an easy task; actually it was a bit too easy. It wasn't really a big surprise when Rock Lee found Karashi, because the episode kept going to random shots of him throughout the episode, so it wasn't hard to figure out which one was Karashi. When Rock Lee finally finds Karashi, Karashi ends up sounding like a spoiled, whiny brat. Karashi doesn't seem like he's changed much since joining the Kurosuke and it's almost as if he just barely joined within the last couple of days. I'm also trying to figure out just how a bad fighter and how someone as whiny and scary as Karashi was able to become a member of the Kurosuke clan. It didn't take much for Rock Lee to convince Karashi that what he was doing was wrong; no really, it didn't take much at all.
We did get some action in this episode which was alright, but I became a bit disconnected after watching the Kurosuke Clan members spawn wolverine-like metal claws. It was also a bit disappointing how easily the team was able to take out the members. These are only Genin.
It's a shame that we still didn't get to see much chemistry amongst the Team Guy members and I think I'm going to have to say that this is probably all the chemistry they have. There's nothing that really tells you that they know each other very well, but then again Neji was pretty much an ass up until a certain point, so maybe that's why. All of them seem to have very different personalities. Neji's the serious one, Ten-Ten's the most normal and then Rock Lee is probably the weirdest. By the way, does Rock Lee's notebook contain all there is to know? It was funny watching him refer to the book at every scene and finding answers in it.
The animation was also not very good. Actually, it was some of the worst animation in quite a while. Most noticeable was when the group were viewing from the mountain and Ten-Ten and Rock Lee argued about Guy. The animation looked very cartoony and while they usually do that for comedic effect, it lasted maybe a bit too long or something. Other than that everything just looked pale and none of the colors really seemed to come off well.
This mission has been rather disappointing. From the preview from the next episode, it looks like this mission is going to be over rather fast. I guess that's for the better though. Either way we definitely have at the least one more episode to see whether Raiga really is as psychotic as he seems. Naruto has definitely missed the mark so far, but maybe they'll find something reminiscent of a good episode soon.
source: http://tv.ign.com/articles/863/863523p1.html
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