English Dub Review: Naruto Shippuden “The Angelic Herald of Death”

So, I guess Konan isn’t useless after all! Get your recap after the jump!

Madara really knows how to execute a plan. He blows up the Five Kage Summit and throws that into a state of disarray, then he plays Sasuke like a fiddle to get rid of Madara. This man is a genius, and now he turns that genius to Amegakure to get the Rinnegan from a dead Nagato. However, Konan poses a surprising roadblock.

Spoilers!

Madara and Kabuto are discussing how plans have changed since they started the war. Madara tells Kabuto not to do anything until he returns, But you know Kabuto, something is about to happen. Madara is off to the Hidden Rain Village. Meanwhile, Konan has a flashback to when Yahiko, Nagato and herself were younger, and Jiraiya wore a frog costume. I think this was the first time Konan smiled in the series.

Madara arrives at the Hidden Rain Village, right in front of Konan. He wants to know where Nagato’s corpse is hidden, then Konan explodes into a thousand Post-It note butterflies. I’m sorry, but it all looks like Post-It notes, and I know it’s supposed to be origami. Madara is pissed that Nagato went against his orders, and he used the Rinne-Rebirth jutsu instead of saving it for Madara’s means. He still doesn’t know why Nagato changed his mind so quickly. Then, we get a recap of Naruto’s encounter with Nagato, and how Naruto quoted Jiraiya’s book to turn Nagato around to try and fix what he did. Naruto tells Nagato that there is still pain from what he’s gone though, but he won’t stray from the path Jiraiya set in front of him.

Madara doesn’t believe in this, but Konan thinks Yahiko started the Akatsuki, and that Nagato awakened the Rinnegan. However, Madara sets her straight, saying he was behind both. Konan then grew origami angel’s wings, and flies towards Madara, sending thousands of paper notes at Madara, mixing in paper bombs to catch Madara off guard. Another flashback to when the Akatsuki formed, and Nagato and Yahiko are talking about their next moves. Nagato wants to check out what’s going on, but Yahiko tells Nagato to rest because of his wounds. Konan wants Yahiko to be careful, but Yahiko tells her to save her worries for Nagato, because Nagato is the savior of the world. Yahiko goes off, but Nagato has his comrades behind him, and they all go off to follow Yahiko. Nagato says that Yahiko’s will is going to be the bridge that brings the world peace.

Back to real time, Madara is in pretty bad shape. Konan wants to know if Madara wants to know why Nagato and Konan betrayed the Akatsuki. Madara doesn’t care, because Naruto is just a naive child chasing a silly dream. Konan tells Madara anyway, of course. We go back to just after Nagato revived everyone in the Leaf, and Konan tells Naruto that Yahiko and Nagato meant the world to her. Both of their dreams were entrusted to Naruto, and Konan trust Naruto like Nagato had.  Naruto won’t give up, and Konan gives Naruto an origami bouquet of flowers. Back with Madara, Konan opens the seas, which was just an origami floor. And holy shit, that looked amazing.

Shows like Attack on Titan can take note on how to mix exposition and action. We don’t need all action to make a show good, nor do we need a brick of story to get the explanations across. Give us the important story bits, and the best action possible, and things will work. It’s a formula that’s worked for most shows.

The animation here was phenomenal. The end scene where Konan rips the floor of the sea open, revealing it to be her origami was awesome. There was a surprising amount of detail going into that, and I was fairly surprised at how well it turned out. The battle here was rather intense as well, because Konan has to put her life on the line to make sure Madara doesn’t defile Nagato’s body and take the Rinnegan. Konan starts out with a bang, literally, and catches Madara off guard. That doesn’t happen very often.

The story in this episode was told rather well. The writers made it quick and concise that Konan will stop at nothing to protect Nagato and Yahiko. We learn that she honestly will follow Nagato to the ends of the world and follow his dreams, because she believes in him. Konan inherits Nagato’s belief in Naruto, and she too believes that Naruto will bring true peace to the world. She will do everything she can, including killing herself, to take out whoever threatens Nagato and Yahiko’s legacy. It sets up Konan to be a great sacrificial martyr very soon. Come on, even you knew that. It’s Madara Uchiha she’s fighting, not Deidara.

Go onto Hulu now, and watch it,