It's business as usual in this latest Naruto Shippuden DVD set; there are still tons of reanimated legendary Ninja fighting for Kabuto, White Zetsu aplenty for Madara and the Allied Ninja Forces are only just starting to close the gap. Yet every victory only brings them closer to Kabuto's final gambit, which is already stirring in its coffin. Something's coming, something BIG, and it's about to change almost everything we thought we knew about the Great Ninja War, the Akatsuki, and even the events leading up to the current ninja world! Hold on to your headbands, young Genin!

Now I can't pretend that this set doesn't take its sweet time. Most of the episodes merely introduce additional reanimated loved ones for Kabuto to use against our heroes. The first tale, for instance, details Naruto's first meeting with a samurai warrior who would later fall in combat to Sasori. Another stars Shino's elder brother figure who'd fallen in battle for The Foundation's sake. Rock Lee finds an old man whose unique skill he'd previously failed to learn. And there's an entire three-parter dedicated to a childhood friend Naruto and the others forgot they'd made...one with the uncanny ability to control the weather!

I especially liked one that examined just how many “failures” Kabuto must have made while building his dead army. Having admitted that grave robbing wasn't exactly a precise art, it follows that he'd have a lot of low-ranking pawns on hand. Then there's the fact that he hasn't really tried to reclaim any of the more powerful ninja that the Allied Forces previously sealed. So rather than popping a new piece or two, Kabuto begins an episode by dumping a bag of sand onto on his little go-board to summon an army of civilians and weak Ninja to reclaim Kabuto's pawns through sheer force of numbers! (Side note: Holy cow has Kabuto been busy! Just how many graves did he rob?!)

We do also get some truly awesome fight sequences along the way; at one point Killer Bee and the Eight-Tails fight the previous Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. (Unfortunately for Bee, this guy's got an Eight-Tails horn acting as a Chakra battery, so he can transform even without hosting a Tailed Beast himself!) Glorious explosions follow when the real Eight-Tails clashes with his previous self!

BUT! All this is really just a big appetizer for the final two episodes. Holy Ninja Macaroni, does it get real! The tide of battle turns against Kabuto at last, and Madara is far away with his new Rinnegan and reanimated Jinchuriki posse in tow. Yet Kabuto, undaunted, opens one final coffin. This is the same coffin that he'd previously used to threaten the masked leader of Akatsuki himself: his true and final trump card!

After that...hoo boy. You get some of the most amazing fight sequences I've EVER seen in this show, and that's saying a lot. This blows even the Kage fights from the last volume out of the water; the special effects, the absolute nonchalance of their fighting style, the way they kill ninja after ninja with barely a gesture... We've met powerful foes who laughed off characters' strongest attacks, but this being doesn't even acknowledge they've been hit! You can just feel the Allies' realization about how bad things have gotten sink in now that this godlike foe has joined the fray! And that's even before they unleash Jutsu after Jutsu that alters the physical landscape of the entire battlefield!

The whole set of episodes are great, but the last couple episodes create a depth charge that carries the entire DVD set into must-have territory! Plus it'll only get more amazing from here now that the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place! Talk about saving the best for last...

You can watch the Fourth Great Ninja War explode by picking up DVD Set 25 available here! 

English & Japanese 2.0 Audio / English Subtitles
Episodes 310-322
Special Features: Storyboards, Art Gallery, Clean Opening/Ending, English Credits

by Chris Turner

©2002 MASASHI KISHIMOTO / 2007 SHIPPUDEN All Rights Reserved.