Retsgip’s Anime Blog

Naruto - 198 - ANBU’s Hopelessness! Naruto’s Memory!

Rating: 7/10

While I think this was a somewhat boring episode, I still enjoyed some of it and appreciated the fact that they’re trying to make a “real” filler story. I’m a little hesitant to get into the story though, because I have a very strange feeling it’s going to end in a retarded manner.

“Scooby-Dooby-Doo, Where Are You? We got some work to do now.” *continues to hum tune* Wait…what the hell is this? This isn’t Scooby Doo…Ahhhh hah! *points at screen* You almost got me Naruto, good thing I was paying attention.

Slightly disturbing fact: Scooby Doo’s IQ is most likely higher than Naruto’s.

So uh, enough of that nonsense. Concerning the story, I believe that they’ve left a few questions unanswered, and also have allowed for this to end in a multitude of ways. I’ll try and comment on this throughout, but I’ll probably forget some as I go.

I thought it was pretty interesting that they used a hypnotizing jutsu, although I don’t know how they would have hypnotized him otherwise, so maybe I’m stupid for being amazed by it. Either way, Naruto was hypnotized, so there. Naruto pretty much just wasted our time with his memories, most of them being used to disguise the clues they wanted to tell us. Unfortunately anyone over the age of 3 could have picked out the clues that showed up. Gennou is obviously an outsider since he didn’t know about Ichiraku Ramen, duh. Also, his had was cut by a “saw,” which in reality was most likely from some trap he made. Also, there should be some significance with the picture Gennou showed Naruto, and maybe something about “treasure hunts.” Who knows…

Sakura actually looks okay in this scene. Notice that her mouth is CLOSED for the most part. Also, there’s no tears streaming down her cheeks because Sasuke’s gone. Thank god she’s normal every now and then. Anyways, I thought it was hilarious that they operated on the man underneath a blanket. Like what, they can’t show a dead guy on Naruto because too many kids watch? Geez man.

Well, we learn that the body that was provided by the ANBU is not Gennou’s body because of two reasons: 1) His right hand has no scar on it (so hard to connect the dots omg), and 2) The body has never used chakra before. This just supports my theory that there are some ANBU involved in the whole scandal, and I have a hunch that one or more of them is at Naruto’s interview. If there are ANBU involved, then who knows what this might lead to. BTW where the HELL is Kakashi, is he injured still from Itachi? I don’t remember him ever leaving either. Maybe he’s behind this whole thing! Hell, he disappeared for 90 filler episodes and asked Gennou to test the Genins, omg? We so found you out. Mystery solved! Hey Scoob, toss me a Scooby snack!

Shizune wearing high-heels makes me wonder if she can still function as a Shinobi and I think Shikamaru needs to tighten his glutes

Shikamaru pretty much saved the episode with his speech during this scene. I always enjoyed his attitude as well as his ability to assess the situation. It shows some personality, which is more than i can say for some characters(e.g., tenten). Of course, what he said was true as well. Gennou is probably not dead, and he probably set the whole thing up so that their current actions are all going according to plan. The burn marks on the trees, which the ANBU mysteriously didn’t notice(wtf?), support Gennou being alive. All the remaining shinobi are out patrolling the possible attack while the home base is left undefended. Yet, there’s no attack on the village, so we’re going to have to wait and see the reason for that. It’s probably so he could escape in a different direction and not be followed.

The meaning of the papers at the end have yet to be revealed. So I guess next episode? Maybe not since the previews don’t look to be very promising. In fact, it looks like we’re going to get a filler inside of a filler. Wow. That’s genious, who’s hand can I shake.

There’s just way too much going on, and not enough trickery or deceit. We have no possible motives of anyone other than Gennou, which makes this a rather boring mystery. I think this whole story would have been 100x better if we had at least 5 suspects and each one had his/her own motives and actions that support them being the criminal. Right now, we know Gennou did it for sure, but instead we’re trying to find his true motives. There’s no real mystery other than where the maps are, and what will be done with them. Naturally, the whole filler story seems more like a “treasure hunt” than anything else, just “cleverly” disguised.

Well, lets just hope this doesn’t end in a disaster. They could easily try and go the comedic route, which could mean a number of things. I’d rather not see this end up a training exercise devised by Tsunade to keep people on their toes. That would be so utterly stupid, I’d cry. Seriously. I also don’t wan’t this to end like a Scooby Doo episode, where they unmask a mysterious shinobi who they think is Gennou, but it turns out to be some guy we’ve never seen before. Wow! That would be spectacular…I’m just praying that it will end in a normal way, and if all the hype lately is correct, then we can move on into the real story (or another filler). I’m already tired of overanalyzing a mystery designed for little kids. Scooby Doo, Where are you?!?!

*starts humming Scooby Doo Theme Song*

-Retsgip