We return, and far too quickly, right back into the arms of filler-town. Naruto Shippuden Box Set 25 takes us right back out of the main story almost as quickly as we entered it, but is the filler contained within really as bad as its reputation and what about the visual quality upgrade we saw in the last box set?
If you’re wondering why Naruto Shippuden Box Set 25 appears to have skipped an episode, then fear not as there was an error on the disc and cover art of Box Set 24. This set sees us through a mostly filler-filled 13 episodes while retaining the same level of visual quality that came with the previous box set. For the most part, during the ever-ongoing Fourth Great Ninja War, we are introduced to a whole roster of new anime-only characters. The quality of the stories accompanying these new characters is surprisingly fairly high. Deepening some of the backgrounds of characters such as Rock Lee and Shino is never a bad thing. The second episode in this set is the “Prologue of Road to Ninja” (Manga UK’s Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals Part 1 also has a Road to Ninja episode) which should explain its randomness compared to other episodes.
“As the Fourth Great Ninja War rages on, the endless waves of Reanimated Shinobi take their toll as the Allied Shinobi Forces are forced to keep fighting their own fallen friends and comrades. Meanwhile, Naruto deepens his understanding of warfare, learning to sense the disguised White Zetsu sowing confusion and distrust among the Allied Forces. But all the effort and pain aren’t for nothing, as Gaara and Ohnoki draw closer than ever to discovering who is really behind this devastating conflict.” – Manga Entertainment
It’s a real shame that the Naruto Shippuden anime continues to insert random and unconnected filler at every turn. While the quality of the filler seems to be on the rise both visually and in terms of storytelling, more effort needs to be made to tie them in with the main storyline. Thankfully this set has achieved this near perfectly by creating stories around the reanimation jutsu used by Kabuto. Going forward, I just hope that when we get to the main storyline again, we can stay with it long enough to keep consistency.
This release features both English and Japanese audio tracks; again I’m sure by now you’ll know which you prefer. It wouldn’t be Naruto without a great selection of awesome opening and ending themes and this release is no different. “Niwaka Ame ni mo Makezu” by NICO Touches the Walls (a personal favourite) is used as the opening theme throughout the entirety of this release. “I Can Hear” by DISH// is our ending theme for the majority of the set until it’s replaced by “Yume o Idaite ~Hajimari no Crissroads~” by Rake.