Naruto Shippuden Episode 343
What They Say:
Kakashi is disturbed to discover a strange connection between the masked man’s Transportation Technique and his own Kamui Jutsu. Naruto throws everything he’s got against the masked man and succeeds in shattering his mask. The identity of the masked man is finally revealed!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As events have picked up well in the last couple of episodes as we get Naruto back in the picture and the fight against Madara taking center stage, we had a bit of a twist as well as the mystery man in the mask has shown up as well and is causing a bit of a problem with their plans to try and stop the carnage. As one can expect and based off of what we saw in the previous episode, Naruto, Guy and Kakashi are working towards a plan to try and do something with Guy and Kakashi putting their faith and belief in Naruto to do what needs being done. But as we see the fight play out in the first few minutes, there’s something that catches Kakashi’s eye when it comes to the masked man and that leads into a lengthy, lengthy flashback episode.
Taking us back to when Kakashi was a jonin himself and we see the kinds of things that were going on back then in terms of training and more, it’s enjoyable enough even if they do actually seem to avoid having dialogue for most of that first half. Bringing us to when we would see that particular group, who has plenty of stories and connections to the present as well, makes for some good times to be had in tying it all together. Of course, things are also going to be a bit blunt as we see part of the story told through Obito’s eyes, the classmate that had his own struggles at the time and during one of their early missions that went badly along the way. Bad enough that only Kakashi and Obito survived it. But instead of carrying on the mission like they were supposed to, Obito opts to try and save their comrades while Kakashi wants to finish the job.
We do get a bit of material in the present as Kakashi makes the realization that it is Obito behind the mask as it weaves the tale from the past, the danger that came about the tragedy that ensued from it. It’s not overly dramatic and it certainly hits the right notes, but it also just feels hollow for me. With so much curiosity about who is behind the mask, it doesn’t feel like there’s any real weight to this revelation, at least for me. They do make him an impressive opponent in terms of power and intensity here, and I do like that it’s a threat that goes back a long way as it should, but that doesn’t really do all that much for me as a strong and personal connection. At least we do finally get the reveal and now it feels like things can turn even further in the right direction.
In Summary:
While the bulk of the episode is flashback, and admittedly useful to remind people who the man behind the mask is, it just feels drawn out and doesn’t do much to really cement him for me. Some of the moments are good towards the end of the flashback as we see what happened way back when and the connection to Kakashi and Guy in general. But for one of the bigger villains of the series, there’s not a lot of material really there to make him compelling. Which makes me glad that Orochimaru is walking around again because that guy is a villain. Decent stuff overall but it’s just kind of hollow in some ways for me.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.