Review: Naruto Shippuden “Power: Episode 4”

I can’t say this enough about the Power Arc. It’s exactly like a Naruto movie. First, it was the quality of the animation, and the way the story falls into place. This week, “Power: Episode 4” gives us the unexplained appearance of Team Kurenai, Team Guy, and Team Asuma. Just like in every movie, the entire group shows up about half way through the movie when things look like they’re at their worst. Trust me when I say this, I’m not entirely sure I’m happy with the sudden arrival. At least it wasn’t near the end of the movie when it would have been too stereotypical. What’s next? An appearance from Tsunade like in Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison? I guess this is warranted by the Nine-Tails clone going full strength.

This isn’t to say that it wasn’t enjoyable. I thought the action was put together very well, and the fighting with the Nine-Tails clone was unique, because it hasn’t been done before, nor has how he gets more powerful by feeding on Naruto’s chakra. In the long run, the arrival of all of the other teams didn’t really do much except to really help except to get the townspeople to safety. Guy and Lee only made the Nine-Tails clone to feed of of Naruto, which only exacerbated things.

The action this week took about half of “Power: Episode 4.” The rest of the time was either Dokku and Naruto doing next to nothing while being held captive in Kabuto’s lair, or Shiseru remembering past conversations with Dokku, or how she slapped the taste out of Miina’s mouth. I am not really feeling this interlude, because there could have been a lot more going on. I mean, Naruto got freaking kidnapped, but everyone was just chilling in the village trying very hard to not do very much.

“Power: Episode 4” was more predictable than it should have been. There was a point near the end, when the group was going “where’s Disonasu?” Then, in the next scene, he’s shown walking into Kabuto’s chamber. His whole demeanor changed, because he isn’t the same polite person who detests violence anymore. He has a cold scowl on his face. Surprise, I guess?

I thoroughly enjoyed what was going on in the first half of “Power: Episode 4.” There was a lot of action, and the cloning of the Nine-Tails was something that actually hasn’t been seen before. On top of that, the clone has to feed off of Naruto’s / the Nine-Tails’s chakra to get more powerful. Again, this is kind of unique. However, “Power: Episode 4” falls very flat later on after the battle. I can get in on story and exposition, when it engages. But when it’s a bunch of flashbacks of scenes that we’ve seen so many times before, it makes me not want to watch. The predictability of Disonasu being in cahoots with Kabuto didn’t do anything for me, either. I was expecting a lot more this week, and was let down.