English Dub Review: Naruto Shippuden “Parting”

Okay, I mean it this time. The last part of this flashback trip is finally here. Check out what I have to say about it after the jump.

Spoilers Below

Like I’ve been saying from the beginning of this quadrilogy of episodes, the fight between Naruto and Sasuke in the Valley of the End is the Naruto / Sasuke moment we really need to worry about. It single handedly set Naruto’s focus for all of Naruto Shippuden, and gave Sasuke the out to finally take down Itachi. Unfortunately, I can’t really say all that much that I haven’t repeated in the last three weeks.

“Parting” played out like a 23 minute version of a highlight you would see after a good UFC fight. We got to see a small smattering of the ancillary story that got us to the fight, and then we got the fight itself. Let’s go over what was skipped: Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, and Choji each taking on the Sound Ninja 4 in one on one fights. The writers also skipped out on the Sand siblings (Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro) saving Skikamaru and Kiba. Naruto then fought Kimimaro, and got tagged out by Lee, who in turn was saved by Gaara, who got saved by Kimimaro’s body finally giving out to a sickness.

Of course, Naruto makes it to the main event, and gives us the true final battle of Naruto. I can always go for a knockdown, drag out fight, and the Valley of the End delivered on every facet. It’s sad that almost all of the impact the fight had was dulled because of the forever and a half of the filler episodes that came after. Sasuke showed the first  glimpse of his powered up Curse Mark, and Naruto gave us the first look at the Demon Cloak he used through much of Shippuden. There was a lot to take away, and the writers gave us a great highlight reel. I would have liked to see more Demon Cloak / Curse Mark fighting, but there was only 20 or so minutes of content.

I can go into the same pile of shit I have been for the last three weeks, but I think that dead horse has been beaten enough. Thank god this trip down memory lane is over, because I don’t think I can take another week of this shit. Next week, we return to the present, and the road to war is in full effect!

You can catch “Parting” right here!