English Review: Naruto Shippuden “True Kindness”

If there is one thing that these war episodes are good at, it’s showing what drives each character, and puts a spotlight on some characters that you may not have cared about recently. This week, the spotlight shines on the chubby butterfly, everyone’s favorite slacker, and the runner up to Sakura to most useless female ninja. That’s right, kids! Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino all get some screen time.

I knew it was coming when zombie Asuma came up out of the water right before the fight at the shore began. The writers have kept the fights emotionally charged and interesting, even through the less interesting episodes. For obvious reasons, I have a soft spot for Choji, probably because he’s lovable chubster that got made fun of. We also have that same rage switch everytime someone tries to call us fatso. Then again, I don’t have butterfly wings, so that connection can only go so far.

In about 23 minutes, you got how deep the ties that Asuma has with his students go. These guys would go hell and back for Asuma, but Choji just can’t pull the trigger on hitting him. That was the center for most of this episode. Not only did the backstory go over how great the friendship is between Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, but it shows how much they respect Asuma. Choji respects Asuma, he can’t hit Asuma. Back in the present, Choji has the same problem.

I can’t really put my finger on why, but I really enjoyed this episode. There is a fine line between exposition and action, and Naruto: Shippuden manages to straddle that line. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have been watching a show, and it just goes off the rails when getting too deep into a story, or showing nothing but action sequences and fighting without reason.

Well, after the fight jumping, and the orphan filler episode for Road to Ninja, it seems like Naruto: Shippuden is back on track for great storytelling. “True Kindness” was a great Choji led episode, with the other members of Ino-Shika-Cho rounding out what was needed for this week. This was also a fantastic intro episode to what will undoubtedly be one of the most emotional fights in Naruto. So, before next week’s fight, check out “True Kindness” here.