Retsgip’s Anime Blog

Naruto - 193 - Biba Dojo Challenge! Youth is Explosive!

Rating: 7.9/10

Not a bad episode at all…for a filler episode. Although, I love anything that has either Lee or Gai in it. The way they act is just too amusing, I love it to death.

You might ask, well if you love Lee and Gai so much, why was this episode only a 7.9?? Well, I thought the plot was a little rough. They could have done a lot better job incorperating Lee and Gai’s personalities into the episode. I was almost disappointed when there was no male-bonding scene with the two of them crying together in the sunset or in front of some splashing waves. Would have brought back memories of the very first time we met these two crazy borederline lovebugs.

As for the actual content itself, sure, there was some good moments, and of course some bad ones. I’d like to just point out, that I absolutely LOVE when Gai or Lee cries, it cracks me up every time.

When Gai learns that while he was away, Lee was lonely and made a dojo so he could have someone to practice with, he bursts into tears. He’s even shivering with excitement, HA. It’s like classic Gai. This kinda stuff saves the episode for me. Gogo tears of joy!

I also thoroughly enjoyed his disguise. Maybe it’s just because I watched Yakitate!! Japan and his disguise is pretty close to Ken Matsushiro. If you watch the whole series, you might get a chuckle everytime you see a fro in anime like I do. I believe this could also be some sort of “pay back” or “tribute” to Yakitate!! Japan for featuring them in their Episode 59-60 special. Either way, I found it rather entertaining.

[Damn a huge spider just ran over my mouse and across my hand. Scared the shit outta me]

I thought it was a nice touch that they threw in the harem Sakura no Jutsu type thing. He doesn’t call it anything but lets just call it that. Lee’s reaction is quite similar to Gai’s earlier reaction, and tears flow out in unnecessary amounts. The only thing that could have made this part better was if Gai rushed in and hugged him and they cried happily together. I think I’m starting to like Sakura a little more than I used to. That kind of scares me. If Lee and Sakura ever get together I’d be happy. I think a date filler between those two would be quite an entertaining filler.

Anyways, the story kind of just…ends since its a filler. I was severly disappointed with how simple this plot was. Also, just a side note, I hate how they’ve downplayed Lee’s strength recently. They made him super strong in the Chuunin exam, and then completely ripped his credibility to shreds since then. Now he can’t even pound Naruto(who can barely do ANYTHING) without getting tired or smacked around a little. So sad. So very sad.

No male-bonding scene ruined it for me (unfortunately my old episodes are burned somewhere on dvd so I can’t screenshot an example). They needed more Lee-Gai interaction, there was practically none at all. Honestly, Naruto isn’t that funny of a character anymore(only sometimes) so they should rely on the side characters they’ve worked so hard to fluff the past 6000 episodes. Sigh. Is this anime trying to be like the simpsons or something? The comedy is just not strong enough to keep doing fillers like this. They need a good filler plot that lasts 10-15 episodes and can capture the audiences’ attention once again.