Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Episode 75: The Old Monk's Prayer ]

The biggest surprise (for anime-only viewers) of the episode was seeing Kakashi use the Rasengan. When I first saw this I was confused since I always thought that the Rasengan wasn’t a jutsu to be copied since it didn’t use hand signs. On a lighter note, the omake was friggin’ hilarious! What Shikamaru said about Naruto not doing anything for a long time is so true that I had to roll around in my chair a bit. I can’t remember just how long Naruto will be out for but episode-wise it may go for as long as 10-15 episodes or so. Is that a good or bad thing? Well, he is the title character so….

Okay, one can easily tell they used this episode to stretch the arc even more. Nothing really happened besides a monk praying for Team Asuma’s sake. I have to say the scene at Ichiraku Ra… err… Tsukumen… Was funny at first, but it made me a little frustrated since it did feel too much like a filler episode rather than canon, and I can understand that 10 episodes ago, but the story is about to reach a very pivotal point and the last thing I care is if Naruto prefers Onions rings or French fries!

Kakashi using the Rasengan was pretty cool, and as I am NOT a manga reader (nothing against the manga, just prefer to watch the anime) I was speculating that he was taught by the fourth, since he was his sensei back when he was a genin for like… 3 days. Also, the omake at the end was pretty much one of the best ones. I like the fact the side characters are tired of Naruto having the screen time, and considering that all he is good at is whining or getting his ass kicked, it’s cool to know it’ll be more about Asuma and Shikamaru. That being said, it doesn’t save this episode from being a dud.

5.5/10