NARUTO: ANIME COLLECTION 10
June 21st 2009 22:34
Category: Videos, Television
Based on the Naruto manga by: Masashi Kishimoto
Director: Hayato Date
Producers: Tomoko Gushima (TV Tokyo) & Ken Hagino
Starring: Maile Flannigan (Naruto), Kari Wahlgren (Tayuya), Johnny Yong Bosch (Genma),Yuri Lowenthal (Sasuke), Liam O’Brien (Gaara), Steven Jay Blum (Orochimaru), Henry Dittman (Kabuto), Kyle Herbert (Kiba Inazuka), Tom Gibis (Shikamaru), Robbie Rist (Choji Akimichi), Brian Donovan (Rock Lee), Steve Staley (Neji Hyuga), Skip Stellrecht (Might Guy), Michael Lindsay (Kankuro) & Tara Platt (Temari)
Produced by: TV Tokyo & Studio Pierrot
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 325 minutes Rating: PG
And so we come to the apotheosis of the tragedy that has been foreshadowed within the Naruto saga, Sasuke Uchiha has taken up the offer of the Sound Ninja Four to join Lord Orochimaru in his lair within the territory of the Hidden Sound village lying somewhere in the Rice Field Country. Power and the former Sannin’s siren call have finally twisted Sasuke to such an extent that he is willing to abandon his friends, comrades, sensei and village all in order to fulfil the desire that has been burning in the deeps of his heart ever since the fateful day when his parents, his clan were all butchered by the one person he respected, his brother Itachi. It is vengeance that motivates this young prodigy and nothing will deter him from achieving the means to fulfil that goal, not friends or allies, not the words of his sensei or even the girl who loves him will prevent it. This is the tragedy in itself, the fact that Sasuke has become blinded by his desire that he cannot see how much pain it will cause not only others but himself, it is something that he cannot and will not consider.
Naturally the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade, is not to keen to let Sasuke fall into the hands of her former comrade and now mortal enemy; Orochimaru. Not only will it mean the Sharingan, the jutsu unique to the Uchiha clan, falling into the hands of her mortal foe but he will also gain the means by which he can continue to exist long in the world after she and her allies have passed into dust. Of course the team who are sent after the defecting Sasuke have no idea of these aspects to their mission, all that Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Choji and Naruto effectively know is that they are attempting one of their own from falling into the hands of a man who is the self proclaimed enemy of their village and all it stands for.
A mission like this though can have a terrible toll and already there have been casualties in the effort to rescue Sasuke from the Sound Ninja Four. Team members have been forced to engage opponents in order for the other members of the squad to be able to progress further onwards after their foes. Choji ends up collapsing after confronting Jirobu and Neji is mortally wounded in his fight with Kidomaru, the spider like member of the Sound Ninja Four. Neither of these two though realised just how skilled their opponents were though, both Choji and Neji were able to defeat their foes and allow the remaining three to continue on and hopefully confront Sakon and Tayuya who are carrying the barrel into which Sasuke has been placed.
Barrel I hear you say, what the heck is he doing in a barrel is your next thought. Well there is a very important reason that the young prodigy is within a barrel that is gradually being carried closer and closer to Orochimaru’s lair in the Rice Field Country. It all has to do with the curse mark that Orochimaru placed on Sasuke during the second phase of the Chunin Exam; you see at this point in time Sasuke has an imperfect control over his curse mark. If he keeps using it with his imperfect control it will eventually consume him, thus in order to more perfectly control this mark he must be placed into a near death state to allow his body to adapt. Thus taking a mind drug given to him by Sakon he falls into a coma and is placed into a barrel which is then sealed in order to prevent him from actually going mad and dying totally.
After much travail Naruto and his fellow team mates manage to grab the barrel only to then loose it when a far more dangerous opponent, Kimimaro arrives on the scene. Last scion of the long dead Kaguya clan, Kimimaro has a kekkei genkai (bloodline limit) that allows him to manipulate the bones of his body, increasing their density, their number and manipulating them as he wills. Such an ability makes him a truly formidable opponent as Naruto finds out upon catching him, even infused with the chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox and conjuring up a veritable horde of clones he is unable to land a single blow on the aloof and somewhat gruesome Kimimaro. Then suddenly the barrel in which Sasuke is in finally bursts open, his transformation is seemingly complete and without a word, other than to laugh evilly he speeds off in the direction of Orochimaru’s lair. Naruto attempts to pursue but Kimimaro closes in on him and readies a final blow…
It never falls, for out of nowhere Rock Lee, the Handsome Green Beast of the Leaf Village appears to block the deadly strike. He urges Naruto not to wait but to take off after Sasuke and try and complete the mission. And with a brief warning about Kimimaro he does just that. The opening stanzas of this collection of Naruto episodes are effectively wrapping up the conflict between the Sound Ninja Four and their pursuers, although they find themselves suddenly overwhelmed as their Leaf Village opponents suddenly receive aid from unexpected quarters – namely the three Sand Siblings, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro who have been asked by the Fifth Hokage to aid in the rescue of Sasuke. With this battle in its final stages the drama moves onto what is to be an epic confrontation between two fellow team members, a confrontation that in essence has been building since the very first moments of the Naruto saga – the clash between Naruto and Sasuke.
As we get to this point in the storyline there is an interesting point when after chasing Sasuke Naruto follows him into a cavern and there is confronted with a vision of his past life, his grief at being ostracised and the seemingly insoluble loneliness of his existence. He almost succumbs in that brief moment to despair, as if he has no hope of ever catching up to Sasuke, then he receives a vision of Neji telling him what he must do and his resolve suddenly strengthens. This particular incident reminded me of the moment in Empire Strikes Back when Luke Skywalker ventures into the cavern beneath a rather malevolent looking tree on Dagobah and confronts an image of Darth Vader that when struck down turns out to be him. In that case the vision was pointing to how Luke and Vader are related and that the potential exists for Luke to end up like his father if he is not careful, here in Naruto a similar concept is occurring although Naruto is realising that he and Sasuke are very much alike in how life’s travails have buffeted and bruised them, but in spite of this hope still exists.
Finally after passing through the darkness of his own despair Naruto catches up with the tragic survivor of the Uchiha clan at a river valley where stand to colossal statues, the statues of the founders of the Leaf Village, the First Hokage and the Leader of the Uchiha Clan. The image of the two stone colossi is reminiscent of the Argonath in the Fellowship of the Ring; there is a sense of history and gravitas as well as simply conveying the sheer scale of the surrounding area. And so the stage is set, the actors have appeared all that remains is for the resolution of what will happen between these two friends and rivals. When the dust does settle it is not all over, not by a long shot and in spite of what does occur, Naruto’s spirit and resolve remain even stronger than before. Naruto Anime Collection 10 is worth getting your hands on if you’re a fan of the series, or even if you’re not, it’s well crafted entertainment filled with action, drama, pathos, tragedy and humour…Believe it!
Director: Hayato Date
Producers: Tomoko Gushima (TV Tokyo) & Ken Hagino
Starring: Maile Flannigan (Naruto), Kari Wahlgren (Tayuya), Johnny Yong Bosch (Genma),Yuri Lowenthal (Sasuke), Liam O’Brien (Gaara), Steven Jay Blum (Orochimaru), Henry Dittman (Kabuto), Kyle Herbert (Kiba Inazuka), Tom Gibis (Shikamaru), Robbie Rist (Choji Akimichi), Brian Donovan (Rock Lee), Steve Staley (Neji Hyuga), Skip Stellrecht (Might Guy), Michael Lindsay (Kankuro) & Tara Platt (Temari)
Produced by: TV Tokyo & Studio Pierrot
Released by: Madman Entertainment
And so we come to the apotheosis of the tragedy that has been foreshadowed within the Naruto saga, Sasuke Uchiha has taken up the offer of the Sound Ninja Four to join Lord Orochimaru in his lair within the territory of the Hidden Sound village lying somewhere in the Rice Field Country. Power and the former Sannin’s siren call have finally twisted Sasuke to such an extent that he is willing to abandon his friends, comrades, sensei and village all in order to fulfil the desire that has been burning in the deeps of his heart ever since the fateful day when his parents, his clan were all butchered by the one person he respected, his brother Itachi. It is vengeance that motivates this young prodigy and nothing will deter him from achieving the means to fulfil that goal, not friends or allies, not the words of his sensei or even the girl who loves him will prevent it. This is the tragedy in itself, the fact that Sasuke has become blinded by his desire that he cannot see how much pain it will cause not only others but himself, it is something that he cannot and will not consider.
Naturally the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade, is not to keen to let Sasuke fall into the hands of her former comrade and now mortal enemy; Orochimaru. Not only will it mean the Sharingan, the jutsu unique to the Uchiha clan, falling into the hands of her mortal foe but he will also gain the means by which he can continue to exist long in the world after she and her allies have passed into dust. Of course the team who are sent after the defecting Sasuke have no idea of these aspects to their mission, all that Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Choji and Naruto effectively know is that they are attempting one of their own from falling into the hands of a man who is the self proclaimed enemy of their village and all it stands for.
Barrel I hear you say, what the heck is he doing in a barrel is your next thought. Well there is a very important reason that the young prodigy is within a barrel that is gradually being carried closer and closer to Orochimaru’s lair in the Rice Field Country. It all has to do with the curse mark that Orochimaru placed on Sasuke during the second phase of the Chunin Exam; you see at this point in time Sasuke has an imperfect control over his curse mark. If he keeps using it with his imperfect control it will eventually consume him, thus in order to more perfectly control this mark he must be placed into a near death state to allow his body to adapt. Thus taking a mind drug given to him by Sakon he falls into a coma and is placed into a barrel which is then sealed in order to prevent him from actually going mad and dying totally.
After much travail Naruto and his fellow team mates manage to grab the barrel only to then loose it when a far more dangerous opponent, Kimimaro arrives on the scene. Last scion of the long dead Kaguya clan, Kimimaro has a kekkei genkai (bloodline limit) that allows him to manipulate the bones of his body, increasing their density, their number and manipulating them as he wills. Such an ability makes him a truly formidable opponent as Naruto finds out upon catching him, even infused with the chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox and conjuring up a veritable horde of clones he is unable to land a single blow on the aloof and somewhat gruesome Kimimaro. Then suddenly the barrel in which Sasuke is in finally bursts open, his transformation is seemingly complete and without a word, other than to laugh evilly he speeds off in the direction of Orochimaru’s lair. Naruto attempts to pursue but Kimimaro closes in on him and readies a final blow…
It never falls, for out of nowhere Rock Lee, the Handsome Green Beast of the Leaf Village appears to block the deadly strike. He urges Naruto not to wait but to take off after Sasuke and try and complete the mission. And with a brief warning about Kimimaro he does just that. The opening stanzas of this collection of Naruto episodes are effectively wrapping up the conflict between the Sound Ninja Four and their pursuers, although they find themselves suddenly overwhelmed as their Leaf Village opponents suddenly receive aid from unexpected quarters – namely the three Sand Siblings, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro who have been asked by the Fifth Hokage to aid in the rescue of Sasuke. With this battle in its final stages the drama moves onto what is to be an epic confrontation between two fellow team members, a confrontation that in essence has been building since the very first moments of the Naruto saga – the clash between Naruto and Sasuke.
As we get to this point in the storyline there is an interesting point when after chasing Sasuke Naruto follows him into a cavern and there is confronted with a vision of his past life, his grief at being ostracised and the seemingly insoluble loneliness of his existence. He almost succumbs in that brief moment to despair, as if he has no hope of ever catching up to Sasuke, then he receives a vision of Neji telling him what he must do and his resolve suddenly strengthens. This particular incident reminded me of the moment in Empire Strikes Back when Luke Skywalker ventures into the cavern beneath a rather malevolent looking tree on Dagobah and confronts an image of Darth Vader that when struck down turns out to be him. In that case the vision was pointing to how Luke and Vader are related and that the potential exists for Luke to end up like his father if he is not careful, here in Naruto a similar concept is occurring although Naruto is realising that he and Sasuke are very much alike in how life’s travails have buffeted and bruised them, but in spite of this hope still exists.
Finally after passing through the darkness of his own despair Naruto catches up with the tragic survivor of the Uchiha clan at a river valley where stand to colossal statues, the statues of the founders of the Leaf Village, the First Hokage and the Leader of the Uchiha Clan. The image of the two stone colossi is reminiscent of the Argonath in the Fellowship of the Ring; there is a sense of history and gravitas as well as simply conveying the sheer scale of the surrounding area. And so the stage is set, the actors have appeared all that remains is for the resolution of what will happen between these two friends and rivals. When the dust does settle it is not all over, not by a long shot and in spite of what does occur, Naruto’s spirit and resolve remain even stronger than before. Naruto Anime Collection 10 is worth getting your hands on if you’re a fan of the series, or even if you’re not, it’s well crafted entertainment filled with action, drama, pathos, tragedy and humour…Believe it!
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