Series: Naruto Shippuden Box Set 4
Release date: 27th December 2010
Certificate: 12
Running time: 206 mins
Director: Hayato Date
Starring: Chie Nakamura, Junko Takeuchi, Noriaki Sugiyama, Akira Ishida, Hideo Ishikawa
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
One of Japan’s most prolific manga serials, Naruto is a saga that has begotten an empire. Spawning novels, movies, soundtrack CDs, fluffy dolls, games, action figures, cards, cosplay garb and the obligatory fanboy t-shirt, Masashi Kishimoto’s creation is now a multi-tentacled merchandising entity. This, the second TV series based on the property, is still being broadcast, screening weekly in Japan. Thus far, it’s a never-ending story – with the 200th episode scheduled to be aired in February 2011. Joining our heroes mid-quest, this whopping compendium delivers a plethora of distinctively Japanese pleasures. A teen-oriented yarn starring mystical ninjas, the show chronicles one boy’s quest to become Hokage – the baddest of the best.
It’s a tale of nine tails; that is, of the fox demon, which lurks inside our hero, Naruto. Unbeknownst to the plucky shinobi, he’s host to a malign spirit, or ‘chakra’, of devastating potency.
As episode 40 commences, Naruto is embroiled in a tense standoff with reptilian overlord Orochimaru. Attempting to liberate his erstwhile ally, Sasuke, from the auspices of evil, the hot-headed lad pursues his foe to a treacherous mountain pass. Battling across a pendulous rope bridge, Naruto’s anger overwhelms him, rousing the beast within. Stirred from its slumber, will the apparition aid our protagonist, or lure him to his doom?
Debuting with a thrill-primed set-up, Naruto progressively stifles its early promise. Shame, because the symbolic backdrop of the bridge (will Naruto be tempted across to the ‘dark side’?) suggests an action-laden spectacle, propped up by a thoughtful psychological subtext. As the fox-spirit envelops our hero, imagery assumes a garish surrealism; a stylistic tangent later marginalised. Engulfed in bubbling orange heat-haze, Naruto resembles the half-digested victim of a carnivorous lava lamp. Entering inky limbo, this entrapment is presented via teasingly oblique montage, and the awesome, Godzilla-like powers of the nine-tails set a precedent for opulent, OTT carnage. Regrettably, these visceral stopovers in Hades are short-lived, leaving the chakra as a subdued MacGuffin which reprises a familiar theme. ‘With great pow…err…with kick-ass demons comes great responsibility.” So far, so Spider-Man.
Regrettably, the cast are equally generic, comprised of instantly familiar archetypes. Consider Team 7, the elite ninja brigade. There’s Naruto: young, impetuous, and super-powered. A moody teen with supernatural PMT. Sakura: token caring female, a pink-haired dead-ringer for Lazytown’s Stephanie. Lastly, the group’s leader, Yamato: the sage, martially artistic paterfamilias. Plus: the opposition. Two very bad guys. And (ambivalence, at last!): Sai, who could be allied with either side. Or both.
Mulling over friendship and destiny, Naruto’s concerns are clearly relevant to its youthful audience, but are ill served by arthritic rendering. So vast is the series, plot mechanics have stalled. The unwieldy machine that remains blithely meanders on, fuelled by regurgitated mythos. Frequently resorting to flashbacks, plot developments escape in the form of tacky reveals. Invariably, these are heralded with incredulous melodrama: a theatrical gasp, and mandatory close-up of widening eyeballs. Sustaining a meagre drip-drip of back-story to keep an audience thirsty is a common tactic, familiar from long-running series such as Heroes and Lost – but not without risks. Continued indulgence in Byzantine recollect vectors the narrative arc backwards, sacrificing urgency to retrospective detail.
Regrettably, the episodic format of the show enhances the sensation of inertia. Designed in weekly instalments, each episode begins with a comprehensive recap of the previous instalment. Consumed sequentially, this becomes a superfluous bore, with several minutes of each story lost in a pointless, Groundhog Day-like reprise. Ironically, episodes conclude with a parodic trivia quiz, in which our heroes are tested on their knowledge of Naruto lore. Comic blunders mischievously suggest that the intimidating sprawl of this fantasy world may have over-extended itself into obscurity. Such an expansive canvas will enthral the cult in-crowd, but its narcissistic tendencies may well baffle new viewers seeking a foothold.
Visually, the austere, functional appearance of characters and backdrops hints at further limitations. Understandably constrained by deadlines and budget, flat textures and recycled backgrounds tether the fantastical in the moribund. Musical themes also suffer from repetitious overuse. Whilst initially effective – particularly a brooding, monastic chant – any ambiance has expired after their umpteenth recycling. The brash, pop-punk theme – ‘You Are My Friend’ – has a similarly ear grating propensity, and will rapidly instil a Pavlovian chapter-skip reflex in the spectator.
Naruto achieves partial redemption through its exotically outrageous action scenes – if and when they finally materialise. Both factions wield unexpected, visually stunning fighting styles which gratify the patient viewer. Summoning the power of ‘Wood Jutsu’, Yamato conjures uncanny clones, and theatrically sculpts timber into weapons. His nemesis, Orochimaru, counters with volleys of bayonet-tongued snakes, and, when injured, has the gruesome ability to shed his skin and ‘re-birth’. The fall-out from this apocalyptic hocus-pocus is equally spectacular – with the battleground reduced to a vast, Tunguska-like crater in the aftermath of Naruto’s nine-tails duelling Orcohimaru. A mysterious splice of sci-fi mysticism, the show concocts a domain in which magic is a tangible force, but co-exists with advanced technology. Despite modernist trappings, it’s a world largely in thrall to the arcane – reflected by its dialogue. When, in the midst of battle, characters pause to utter such risible invocations as “ninja super beast scroll!” it seems very much in keeping with an absurdly whimsical lineage stretching back to Monty Python, and that most lethal of relics, the Holy Hand Grenade.
Naruto is a coming of age tale that quickly grows old - but never matures. No significant milestones are reached within the duration of this set. Indeed, almost half (two hours!) of its running time is spent dawdling at the crevasse introduced in the premier episode. That this particular cycle begins, and anti-climatically halts mid-confrontation cements the impression of a non-linear, circuitous folly. Enlivened by periodic bouts of action, there’s insufficient visual adrenalin to reanimate the show’s cadaverous pace. Naruto’s sluggish lapping offers viewers the experience of driving a grand prix – at 15 miles per hour, lodged in the hay-scented slipstream of a puttering tractor. DJO
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