As you can see, my review for Shippuden episode 251 is a bit late this week as I have been rather busy, but nonetheless, this episode concluded Guy’s fight with Kisame and showed that someone who resembles a Shark can be one of the most human characters of all.
I found this episode to be better than the last one, as an Itachi fan it was great to see him again even if it was only in a flashback. One of Itachi’s best qualities is the fact he is extremely intelligent and understands more about how people work than probably anyone else in the series. But yes, my favourite part of the episode was definitely the part with Itachi and Kisame’s first meeting after Kisame agreed to join the Akatsuki.
Kisame naturally assumed that because both himself and Itachi both had the experience of killing their friends and comrades, they would both feel the same way. Of course Itachi doesn’t feel the same, knowing all too well (unbeknownst to Kisame or the Akatsuki of course) how painful it is to witness such events and how fragile humans and the world can be. His comments eventually anger Kisame who warns Itachi about how Sharks can turn on their friends / family, but Itachi activates his Mangekyo Sharingan and basically warns Kisame as well.
I liked the interaction between the two characters because as well as them both knowing how strong they were and basically warning each other not to betray them which was badass, but also because Itachi’s words clearly had an affect on Kisame. Kisame hardly came across as loyal or as someone who was misunderstood before, but this episode did a good job of portraying him that way. Kisame basically had to kill his friends and comrades for the sake of his village when deep down all he wanted was to find somewhere in the world that was calm and peaceful rather than being filled with lies and corruption.
Interestingly we get to see Madara in the flashback too who was manipulating the fourth Mizukage Yagura by using his Sharingan. Frustratingly though we only see the outline of him, so although the outline matched Madara’s old appearance (eg: His physical appearance during his fight with Hashirama) where his face was obscured there was no way of seeing if he still wore the mask back then or how injured he was from his battle with the first Hokage. Kisame gets to see him plain as day, but as the viewers of course we don’t get to see that much.
The episode was fairly enjoyable, it was good to see another side to Kisame, especially one many people probably wouldn’t have seen coming, and his flashbacks with his interactions with Itachi were very good. Of course for those who have seen the episode you will know that Kisame dies at the end which is a shame as it leaves only Tobi and Zetsu as members of the Akatsuki now (what with Konan leaving the group after Naruto defeated Pain). Next week should be awesome though, trust me when I say we are in for one hell of a battle, and Konan will leave you very impressed even if you’re not usually a fan of hers.
Posted by Tokyo Mao 
Tokyo Gazette 