Naruto Shippuden, S12 Ep281 – The Allied Mom Force!

We haven’t had a filler in a while, so I guess it was about time.  The true question is: Was it a good one?  Let me set the scene:  The majority of the Hidden Leaf’s ninja force is currently at war, leaving many citizens at home with little defense against potential threats.  This episode is focused on Konohamaru and how a nation at war has affected his life.  Basically, he’s bored.

Poor Ebisu can’t win.  Really, we’ve always regarded the shinobi instructor as a stick in the mud.  And now that he’s actually trying to do something positive for the village, his plan is shot out of the sky like a fleeing pheasant.  He’s only trying to raise the morale of the village.  At least they could have considered the idea.  However, this scene does show how Konohamaru has matured over the years.  I think back to how Konohamaru was always trying to escape the clutches of Ebisu’s training, but now he’s actually sympathizing with his old instructor’s feelings.  He’s maturing way faster than Naruto was at that age.  At this rate, maybe Naruto will have someone to reckon with in the form of Konohamaru… just kidding!  He’s a jinchÅ«riki, for heaven’s sake!  Sorry, Konohamaru.  Come back and talk to me when you’re pals with a tailed beast.

You’d think — being the grandson of the Third Hokage — Konohamaru would be able to find smarter friends.  Wrong.  How can you possibly mistake a bear on stilts for a tailed beast?  HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?  Maybe the genin are all tripping on sugar.  I think the academy should update its curriculum because the children are slightly dumb.  Moegi knows shinobi don’t normally travel by way of trapeze!  If you ask me, Konohamaru should keep an eye on the girl who told him about the giants/sumo wrestlers.  She’s future girlfriend material, mostly because she’s the only sign of intelligent life amongst kids his own age in the village.  She’s a keeper, bro.

Did anyone else think this episode was a bit sexist?  And by a bit, I mean a lot.  When the sumo wrestlers show up to pillage the village (hee, hee), their leader claims to know that the Hidden Leaf is defenseless because all of the husbands are at war.  Excuse me, sir!  There are plenty of female shinobi out there and they are all more than capable of handing your butt to you on a silver platter.  Hush up.

It gets so much worse than that, though.  After the sumo wrestler speaks with the words of a complete idiot, you expect the ladies to just completely annihilate him with the fury of any top notch ninja.  Some of these women are retired shinobi and they don’t showcase a single killer move.  They fight with… pans.  Pans?  Really?  We couldn’t do any better than kitchenware?  Absolutely ridiculous!  They show a few men of the Hidden Leaf during the episode, but it appears to be the case that mostly women stayed behind.  On top of the that, they provide them with terribly subpar villains.  The sumo wrestlers were slapping the children.  Come on now!  Are these the only brutes our women are capable of fighting?  Next time, give Shikamaru’s mom a set of kunai instead of a frying pan!

All in all, the episode was entertaining enough, full of fluff and bizarre antics.  Please don’t let this episode lead you to believe Hidden Leaf women are a force to be laughed at.  After all, they do have a female Hokage.  BOOM.