Naruto Shippuden Box Set 2   Starring (voice): Junko Takeuchi, Chie Nakamura and Noriaki Sugiyama Manga Entertainment RRP: £24.99 MANG5151 Certificate: 12 Available 09 August 2010

Team Kakashi is joined by Team Guy in their pursuit of Gaara's kidnappers, Deidara and Sasori, but on their way to the Akatsuki hideout is fraught with familiar enemies and deadly traps...

Naruto Shippuden: Box Set 2 contains another 13 episodes (episodes 14-26) of this animated series which was first released in 2007.

Disc one contains episodes Naruto's Growth; The Secret Weapon is Called...; The Secret of Jinchuriki; The Death of Gaara!; Charge Tactic! Button Hook Entry!; Traps Activate! Team Guy's Enemies; and Hiroko Vs. Two Kunoichi!

Disc two contains episodes Sasori's Real Face; Chiyo's Secret Skills; Father and Mother; The Third Kazekage; Three Minutes Between Life and Death; and Puppet Fight: 10 vs.100!. Extras include Production Art and Trailers for other releases.

Basically these 13 episodes wrap up the battle between Team Guy and Kisame and then move onto Chiyo and Sakura who are facing the deadly puppet master Sasori. Meanwhile Deidara goes up against Naruto and Kakashi.

Unlike most "fight of the week" style animes, this series stretches the battles to breaking point, with fights stretching over way too many episodes. The battle between Chiyo and Sakura and Sakura just goes on and on and on and... well, you get the point.

What is interesting about this series are the segments after each episode. These help to flesh out the universe a little by offering interesting trivia information as well as the odd puzzle for viewers to solve.

I did find the American dub to be a little OTT. The acting is well below average and the comedy doesn't work quite as well as the original Japanese version. And while we're on the subject of the audio... the options are a little disappointing. You can either listen to a surround sound American dub, or a stereo Japanese soundtrack. Now if a surround sound version of the original Japanese had been available this would have been much more welcomed.

While the animation is of good quality, I couldn't help thinking that these 13 episodes could have been condensed into a handful of episodes without really losing anything.

5

Nick Smithson