(just ignore those logos at the bottom...)So...I just learned last night that Atsushi Wakabayashi is coming back to the Naruto TV series as the director, storyboarder, and animation director for episode 167 of Shippuden. With that in mind, the first thing one will probably ask is "and Norio Matsumoto? Is he back too?" Given how little he's done in the past year or so, I could only assume before that he's been working on another Naruto episode and the news that Wakabayashi is back has kinda confirmed this hunch of mine. Wakabayashi hasn't done a Naruto episode ever since the masterpiece that is episode 133 of the first series. He's been busy directing Guin Saga but he couldn't make his return at a better time.
The Toshiyuki Tsuru/Hirofumi Suzuki duo is doing episode 166. Their previous work together on a Naruto episode was ep. 123, which, while good, was kinda lackluster and slow to get off the ground in comparison to most of the other high quality Naruto episodes. However, they were in charge of episode 82, which is one of the best episodes I've seen in anime, and a lineup like this 2 episodes in a row is indicative that Pierrot is pulling out all the stops for this arc. Now the agonizing wait until these episodes air begins....