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THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Nears the Finish Line with Episodes 211-217

Welcome back once again faithful readers to the penultimate edition of the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! I’m Nicole Mejias, and It is hard to believe that we’ve nearly reached the end of these ninja adventures, and next week will be our final outing into the world of Naruto. Before we hang up our ninja headbands, though, we’ve still got a week’s worth of episodes to discuss!

Before we get started, I wanted to briefly mention how amazing this entire process has been. When we posed the idea of a group rewatch, I didn’t think it would evolve into something as fun as this was; to be honest I was kind of dreading going through all of these filler arcs, but doing it together has made this into a pretty fun experience! I hope you all at home enjoyed following along and watching with us, and stay tuned for any future adventures we might have!

That said, let’s get on to this week’s episodes and questions! We’ve got the end of one mission, the entirety of another one, and the beginning of the last one to tackle, so without further delay, let’s get to it!

Boy, am I glad that arc is over. What are your closing thoughts on the Gantetsu Escort Mission storyline?

Kevin: I mean, in theory I liked it. An impulsive police officer who wants nothing more than to kill the criminal he is escorting isn’t a story that we’ve seen in Naruto, as best I can remember. Unfortunately, then everything else happened, and it was all obvious and boring.

Paul: Gantetsu should have turned himself in at the end. He was penitent and prepared to accept death as punishment for his sins, but Todoroki not only let him go, but encouraged Gantetsu to continue acting as foster-father to Akio and the other children that the Ninja Dropouts left as orphans. That doesn't balance. There should have been serious karmic consequences, considering the severity of the Ninja Dropouts' crimes and the breach of Todoroki's duty.

Danni: Yeah, I agree with Paul. There are some weird inconsistencies in this arc. Gantetsu knew Akio had an older brother, but still effectively kidnapped him in the name of saving him? Plus I can’t get over the fact that all of the kids are super okay with the fact that Gantetsu effectively assisted in the murders. AND in the end Akio abandons the only family he has left to keep living with his kidnapper. It’s one thing to nitpick plotholes, but this is just plain bizarre.

Jared: It certainly happened. I feel like half the time it was going on I was just completely checked out and then it ends on some pretty baffling notes. Plus, Gantetsu and Todoroki just felt super one dimensional with their characters and everything around the plot was way too predictable.

Kara: Have you ever watched something and then afterwards had no idea whether you liked it or not? That was me. I have literally no discernable feeling on this storyline. I do remember watching it, though.

David: I usually love characters like Gantetsu and their arcs basically as a rule, but this was handled unbelievably poorly for reasons others have stated. I’m pretty disappointed.

Carolyn: I’m a little torn. The ending is a bit messy, for sure. But I did like seeing Rock Lee and Sakura trying to figure out how to handle adversaries who are literal children. (Although, aren’t they also technically children?) It’s just a different dynamic versus immediately jumping into a fight.

Noelle: It really just felt all over the place? It started out strong but then it really dissolved. It kind of felt like they didn’t want to commit to too dark a story, which seems strange considering some of the things they’ve thrown at us.

Joseph: I didn’t love the arc but I did love that it featured T. Hawk from Super Street Fighter II. Such an unexpected yet welcome cameo, and I knew he would turn out to be a good guy who fostered youth in the end.

Something that kind of bothered me as this show lurched on is that for all of the amazing things that Naruto and others can do: a lot of filler arcs have them acting weaker or sillier than the norm. What’s your take on that?

Kevin: Sillier can be amusing, actually. Please let me have a filler arc like the Ninja Chefs, where we see the gang using legendary ninja techniques to make really good ramen. It’s dumb, but at least its entertaining! Instead, we get a lot of arcs where the main cast is just being stupider than normal, and it’s just aggravating because we’ve all seen that these characters should be more competent.

Paul: My biggest complaint is that during the filler, they aren't introducing any variations on Naruto's training. He's still confronting every challenge with Shadow Clones and the Rasengan, and I lament the lack of creativity, because Naruto isn't learning anything, developing any new Jutsu, or polishing his skills as a shinobi. He doesn't feel so much “weak” as “static”, since his growth as a character is in suspended animation.

Danni: Sillier is fun, but too much of the filler has them acting weaker and dumber. The Rasengan has been so flippantly used in all of these arcs that I’ve effectively forgotten how powerful and novel it was when it was introduced. That being said, using it to make ramen was absolutely inspired.

Jared: I think silly can totally work, especially in filler, but sometimes the show really pushes it in the wrong direction. Such as having somewhat serious arcs end on something that makes it end up more as a joke. I get that they kind of can’t add a ton of new moves to everyone, but that doesn’t help the fact that everyone’s attacks and especially Naruto’s have gotten kind of stale due to that.

Kara: I don’t mind silly, but this seems like they’re regressing him to his early series “I’m gonna use Disguise Jutsu to embarrass Sasuke, also I need to potty” self. I think there’s a way to do that effectively with characters (late-era Phoenix Wright is a great example of someone who’s grown in skill but can still believably be a doofus sometimes). I don’t think that’s what is happening here. Also, I can’t be the only one noticing the literal Hanna-Barbera sound effects.

David: Well, it’s filler, they sort of can’t give them anything that would actually challenge them or make them grow without bumping heads with the inevitable return to the manga-adapted episodes. Or they can, and it turns out really messy. I’m reminded of a filler arc in Bleach where one character had used a technique in the previous arc that stripped him of his powers, so they had another character invent some nonsense plot device to “temporarily” give him his powers back so he could participate. That is worse to me than just not trying.

Carolyn: I don’t mind the occasional comedy and slapstick but I suspect downplaying the characters’ strengths is just a shortcut to keeping them from moving forward. We have to stall and overpowered ninja won’t let us do that.

Noelle: There isn’t anything wrong with comedy. Too serious for too long ends up being depressing. It really does feel that for the majority of the filler arcs, the characters end up reverting to elementary school level jokes. It’s not witty, it just feels lazy. I could really do with some more serious filler arcs.

Joseph: Echoing Paul, because the biggest downside to filler for me—besides the abysmal writing and lackluster animation—is that it restricts growth by design. Naruto is stuck in stasis for 100+ episodes and it totally kills the momentum and energy of the end of the main storyline.

This week we get to the small storyline of the Menma Memory Search Mission. I have to admit: I did not remember this arc at all, which is maybe ironic. How did y’all feel about it?

Kevin: For most of it, I didn’t care too much. It was basically a standard amnesia story for the most part. The ending reveals, basically from when Menma wakes up until the end of the episode, were actually engaging in my opinion though. We see him genuinely try to repent for what he’s done, and see that the opening scene wasn’t just showing that he was a bandit in a boring attempt to create suspense, but it also had another hidden moment that I legitimately did not think was coming (although admittedly if I had kept in mind that he showed up almost dead in a river, I might’ve seen it coming).

Paul: The key detail of the Menma storyline that didn't come across as boilerplate was the reveal that Menma had been faking his amnesia in order to manipulate Naruto into helping Menma to atone for his crimes. That added extra punch to the character and story dynamics. Naruto got played, and perhaps he'll eventually realize that he's not the keenest judge of character, and that not everyone with a kind face has pure intentions. Also, the principal villain, Shiin, is a palette-swapped Orochimaru, and Menma was voiced in the English dub by Wil Wheaton. Make of that what you will.

Danni: I honestly wasn’t that into it. The reveal that he always had his memory and his sacrifice at the end were both interesting points, as was Naruto’s silent decision to take Menma’s deception to the grave, but the ending kind of flew by. After getting bested by Shiin twice, suddenly Naruto is just finally able to beat him? Overall it felt like a really weak arc.

Jared: The end was perhaps the most interesting part, but even then it wasn’t as if it made it good. I was sort of surprised since it was basically another arc introduced by fire and something being ransacked, which didn’t give it the best start since we’d just saw that. Combining this with the end of the previous arc was a rough set of episodes to get through.

Kara: Naruto filler villains have like three modes: pushovers, not actually bad after all, or part of Orochimaru’s downline. None of those is necessarily bad on its own, but I’ve seen these plates go by on the conveyor belt over and over and over again. The “No one trusts a potential villain but Naruto just knows they’re good” shtick has been done fairly recently, even. I get that Naruto has heart and understands misunderstood people and that’s why he’s gonna be such a great Hokage someday, but never challenging that trope ever means every story is broadcast from the first episode and the eventual info-dumps come across as comical.

David: What really frustrates me is that in canon material, characters meant to be redeemed show some sort of connection or flash of goodness to Naruto that allows it to feel natural when he defends them later on. In filler he basically just guesses and is always right, or everyone except Naruto is clearly being irrational. There isn’t much if any attempt at convincing the viewer the conflict is meaningful at all, and Menma is a prime example of this issue.

Carolyn: A blonde guy who plays the ocarina and starts his story by waking up from a deep sleep? I think we all know his real name.

Noelle: I think that the ending was probably the best part. Like people said, it was a decent twist that exposed one of Naruto’s blind spots. At the same time, it felt like far little too late, as the rest wasn’t that enjoyable.

Joseph: I liked the ending, and it certainly wasn’t the worst of the stories, but I dunno, like, who cares at this point? Naruto has defeated me.

Something about filler arcs in anime that has always bothered me is how tenuous they are; Naruto mourns Menma’s death, but we know that will never come up again ever, and it feels like a wasted opportunity for character development. Naruto is roughly 40% filler, so do you feel all these arcs damage the overall series?

Kevin: If anything, I wish there was MORE damage to the overall series. Sure, a lot of filler Hell was boring or stupid, but there were also some legitimately interesting character moments and abilities. Imagine if Hinata had another three years to perfect her Protective Gentle Fist, or we saw Naruto take a moment after coming back to the Hidden Leaf at the beginning of Shippuden to mourn the people he’s lost while eating ramen next to the KIA stone, almost like a variation of Iroh’s Story from Avatar: The Last Airbender! Instead, it takes the likes of this massive Rewatch for even me, a longtime fan of the franchise who grew up watching it, to even know about those gems.

Paul: Now that we're near the end, I don't think the filler arcs are that damaging to the series overall, but I do lament certain missed opportunities. The arc where Anko regains her memories demonstrates that it's possible for filler to build proper character development, but it's a difficult task and I don't envy the show-runners that responsibility.

Danni: As much as I’ve liked some of these arcs, I think the filler is absolutely damaging, because a version of Naruto where we go straight from the Sasuke Retrieval arc to Shippuden definitely sounds better than one where you have to watch three full seasons of filler. I don’t normally recommend skipping filler sections in anime, but I will 100% cosign skipping filler when recommending Naruto.

Jared: It’s perhaps slightly damaging because it sure is a grind to watch all the way through. Maybe if it was tighter, had better written arcs as a whole, and was less episodes, it could be a lot better. With what was made though, I think there’s a few arcs that could be recommended to someone new, but going through all of the filler is tough because of how much of it will ultimately be meaningless.

Kara: I’ve never minded filler as a whole from a story standpoint. But I’m also used to watching shows where “filler” means “not progressing the main plot but still part of the intended experience” as opposed to “killing time until we have more main plot to adapt.” I think in a show where those side stories are there by design, or even with some minor degree of forethought, they can be really rewarding. Especially since then you do get those little callbacks, or the writer may bury a nugget of info for later amidst the “unimportant” stuff. But this is very obviously time-killing… and full disclosure, I am distracted a lot by my brain going “I wonder if these decisions are going to clash with the main plot when it starts up again.”

David: The filler isn’t damaging because it just washes over me. Once it’s over and we’ve written about it the details seem to magically leave my mind.

Carolyn: I definitely think it’s damaging. I had remembered the show as being a lot stronger than it is. I think I was mostly remembering the exams, to be honest.

Noelle: I think it’s a little bit of both. Plot-wise, it’s not really damaging, because filler lets characters that don’t do much in canon have some limelight, and it lets some new ideas get around. Audience experience-wise, it totally is, because there’s nothing in filler worth emotionally investing in, we’re just waiting for Kishimoto to push out more chapters and what a long wait that was.

Joseph: The filler fully turns this into an anime I can’t recommend beyond a certain point. It’s pretty bad when you have to tell someone to avoid around 100 episodes of a 220 episode show. I would recommend reading Masashi Kishimoto’s excellent manga and watching some highlights, or just watching the first 100-and-some-change eps.

Finally, we leave off this week midway through the Sunagakure Support Mission, which unlike the Menma arc, was almost entirely about Naruto, features a lot of the supporting cast in what seems like a last hurrah. Are there any supporting cast that you like more now than you did when the show started? I find I really grew to love Gaara a lot more than I did when he first appeared.

Kevin: I’m a bit spoiled on this one, because the arc is essentially giving us the characters’ Shippuden selves before going into Shippuden. As a result, I actually hold off from talking too much about the characters, for fear of spoiling stuff from the beginning of Shippuden. All I’ll say is that I really like the idea of Gaara actually trying to train and support a student.

Paul: Gaara is still a precious baby cinnamon roll, albeit one that is slightly less murder-flavored. I wish that the filler episodes had focused more on the Jonin characters. It's been so long since I've seen Kakashi that I almost cheered when he summoned his horde of ninja dogs. Anko and Kurenai got a chance to shine, so I'd like to see more of that. I'd even accept a Might Guy episode, especially if it reveals what makes him tick. There must be something tragic beneath his bluster. His eyes are filled with sadness now and then.

Danni: I liked Gaara from the start, but I think he’s shot up my list of favorite characters. Seeing him struggle to connect with his students really makes him more sympathetic of a character. Giving him someone that he wants to protect is exactly the kind of cathartic development that his backstory warrants. I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest of this arc.

Jared: I was actually thinking about this when watching these episodes since when Gaara first showed up I couldn’t stand him. Now, I’ve pretty much flipped all the way around on him. Probably the whole sand crew as well now that I’m thinking about it. Where’s the weird Naruto sports spin-off where Gaara is just the strange coach that has a good team, but no one understands how?

Kara: One of the things I’m enjoying about Naruto 200+ episodes in is that characters who were Rivals or Bad Guys are now allies and friends, or maybe rivals in a healthier sense. Really, it’s cool to see the Sand Kiddos being awesome and not feeling divided about it.

David: Most of the supporting cast is who I liked going in, so actually the character I have grown fond of over the course of this journey is Naruto himself.

Carolyn: My favorite side characters are still my favorites. I have found myself liking Naruto himself a lot more this time around, which I definitely did not on first watch.

Noelle: I think that my feelings on the characters maintained relatively the same from my first time watching the series when I was young. Gaara is still great, Itachi is still great. And Gaara is fun here! I do think overall, as an adult, I appreciate Rock Lee a whole lot more. I didn’t give him a chance when I was young but now? Fantastic.

Joseph: This was a decent little portion of this week’s batch. It’s just more “fighting in the same forest set” from before, but I enjoyed seeing a bunch of these long lost characters again. Felt more in line with Naruto proper.

For (almost) the last time: Highs and Lows from this week?

Kevin: High - Menma’s redemption. Especially in a show that loves to have its characters loudly proclaim what they’re doing, having a character who we’re not entirely sure if we can trust stand up and start helping build town defenses while barely able to stay conscious was a really good moment. Same goes for most everything else that followed.

Low - The reveal and resolution of the Ninja Dropouts. First, did none of the other Dropouts realize that Gantetsu kept disappearing after they attacked? Second, why didn’t Gantetsu mention any of this earlier, since it would’ve come out in trial as evidence to prove his innocence? Third, how is that thread stronger than steel, but a single drop of sweat noticeably loosens it? I have many other questions, but most are either the same logical fallacies or about how predictable and obvious the ending was.

Paul: My low point was the scene where Todoroki stumbles from the flames of his family home, having just witnessed what he assumes is his younger brother being horribly murdered, and the little bundle containing his books and that wooden fish key-chain that he keeps as a memento of Akio is trailing a cartoony streamer of smoke. It was visually dissonant, reading as comedy instead of tragedy. My high point is the pay-off of the Leaf Village kids helping the Sand Village kids in their pursuit of the Celestial Four. I know it’s filler and it doesn't really count, but I appreciate when story elements come full circle like that.

Danni: My low point is the moment I realized that Gantetsu is 100% just a kidnapper that the show tries to redeem. High point is everything in the Sand Village Assistance arc so far. It goes hand-in-hand with the Sasuke Retrieval arc so well that if you told me it was canon I would *ahem* believe it. Also, it seems like Shikamaru finally attended a gender studies class and realized that women are people too. Hooray!

Jared: High point would be the Sand Village trio returning and seeing Gaara try to be a teacher in his own way. Reintroducing them with how they showed up in the Sasuke retrieval arc made me remember just how dang good that was and also how good this show can be. Low point would be the other two arcs that just fell completely flat for me.

Kara: High point is the Avengers rollout to help the Sand Village trio. This is one of those cases where mirroring previous episodes works, because we have a one-to-one comparison for just how far they’ve come. It’s so cool to have these very obvious moments at which we can measure everyone’s growth. Low point is just straight up the existence of Todoroki in the Gantetsu Arc and his very Heavy Rain-y “Press X to Akio” behavior.

David: My high point was all the callbacks to the Sasuke Retrieval arc, including when Naruto outright asks if they’re going to do the line strategy Shikamaru implemented last time. Low point was slowly realizing no one in the Dropout Ninjas arc was going to understand how messed up the situation was.

Carolyn: Naruto dumping Menma off his back when he found out he was lying was great. I would have to agree with the kids’ weird dedication to Gantetsu being a low point. That’s just kind of sad.

Noelle: Gantetsu’s arc just seemed messy and confusing. It really felt like they weren’t committing to anything, so that’s my low point. High point, I think was seeing Gaara again! Gaara trying his best is genuinely good. What a great kid.

Joseph: The low point was the resentment building up within me for Pierrot producing so many bad episodes of an otherwise excellent show. Also, the whole Gantetsu storyline was weak, even though I love the idea of Ninja Dropouts. High goes to the return of Kakashi, Gaara, and some others I’ve sorely missed.

COUNTERS:

Ramen: 7 bowls + 3 cups Hokage: 0 Clones: 28

Total so far:

Bowls of Ramen: 208 bowls, 20 cups (Wow... that's a lot of ramen!)

“I'm Gonna be Hokage!”: 62

Shadow Clones Created: 940

And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

Here's our upcoming schedule:

- On August 23rd, CAYLA COATS will wrap up our GREAT NARUTO CRUNCHYROLL REWATCH!

CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 204-210: Escort Mission Time

Episodes 197-203: Solving a Mystery

Episodes 190-196: Matchmaking Gone Wrong

Episodes 183-189: No Laughter Allowed!

Episodes 176-182: Reach for the Stars!

Episodes 169-175: Anko’s Backstory At Sea

Episodes 162-168: The Tale of the Phantom Samurai

Episodes 155-161: Quickfire Curry

Episodes 148-154: The Forest is Abuzz With Ninjas

Episodes 141-147: Mizuki Strikes Back!

Episodes 134-140: The Climactic Clash

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! We hope that you'll join us next time as we conclude our Naruto rewatch adventure. Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!

Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 211-217? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

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Nicole is a features and a social video script writer for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

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