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"Where am I?"
- Obito Uchiha
This week's chapter of Naruto answers a couple of questions about Obito, but leaves quite a few of them unanswered. In fact, the majority of this chapter is devoted to a lengthy action sequence and there really isn't much plot progression. First, let's go over last review's poll. I asked you why you thought Kakashi killed Rin and the majority of you were split between your own unlisted theories or thinking that he was forced to. Surprisingly, quite a few of you also believed Rin was a traitor and slightly fewer believed she was being controlled. Now for the chapter review...
Naruto 605 Hell
The images in this review are credited to Mangastream.
Team Kakashi isn't reunited for very long as the chapter begins. Rin is released and collapses dead in the rain. Kakashi follows suit, fainting after his Mangekyo is awakened in response to Obito awakening his own. There are scores of Hidden Rain shinobi disappointed that Kakashi killed Rin just when they had obtained a mysterions 'it'. In full possession of both a Mangekyo and wood release jutsu, Obito makes his presence and wrath known to the Hidden Rain. The Hidden Rain ninja don't believe a reinforcement of one shinobi is enough to worry about. Obito proves them wrong.
Obito slips through their attacks. Shinobi and kunai alike slip through him. The hashirama cells in his genetically modified half activate and he sprouts wooden spikes. He cuts a bloody swath through the bloody mist, impaling countless masked shinobi on wooden stakes. As their attacks fail, the Hidden Mist try rushing Obito in large numbers to no avail, until finally, he slays the whole lot with a massive mokuton. The chapter ends with an agonized Obito bathing in their blood. What will he do next in his sorrow?
I'm glad I gave this one some time before throwing it up. Initially, I was pretty disappointed with this chapter's art, but the oddities that distracted me during my initial reading didn't completely take away from what was well drawn this chapter on subsequent readings.
I remain unconvinced by Obito's exoskeleton design. The shell and cloak combined make him look puffy and whenever his body appears in scale, the proportions seem a bit off. It didn't help that a couple of Obito's few facial expressions unmasked were ill executed. Nor did was the action this chapter, essentially its biggest selling point, was hard to parse initially, lacking in the clarity Kishimoto is usually good at.
Yet there was the brilliant bloodbath at the end that was perhaps the most violent image this series has produced. And we got a nifty page split between Kakashi and Obito's face, that zoomed closer and closer as the panels went on until the halves of their faces lined up with each other.
Aside Obito's repetitive questioning*, there was plenty to like about this chapter. The sheer number of Hidden Rain shinobi present hint at larger plots and I think the chapter kept a good balance between giving us enough info to comprehend what was happening but withholding enough to allow for some mystery. What exactly was the Hidden Rain trying to retrieve? Was Rin in possession of an artifact from Konoha they wanted? Did she have a bloodline ability they were looking for? Or she was the target of an experimental jutsu and her corpse was valuable in perfecting it? Then there's Obito's fighting ability to consider, which jumped a few levels due to his wrath.
*Seriously, how on the nose was that? There had to have been a better way to portray Obito's grief. If Kishimoto had cut all the 'Where am I?'s and left only the screaming and a 'This place is Hell' at the end, the chapter would be much improved.
However, Hell was light on plot progression and no questions were answered. Even among this much awaited for flashback, the most memorable moment was the level of violence and not the missing narrative being filled in. That's why I'm giving the chapter a...
3 out of 5.
Predictions
I still don't know what I believe happened to Rin, but it looks firmly like Madara wasn't involved in what went down. Was his assertion that Obito would return a general assumption based on the nature of the shinobi world or something he assumed by being connected to the Zetsu network? Whatever the case, I have a feeling we'll be seeing the Third Mizukage in a couple of weeks time.
One Line Reviews
- In One Piece 684 we get the beginning of Smoker and Vergo's excellent fight and a glimpse at the incident on Punk Hazard from four years ago.
- Tower of God S2 Ch35 formally wraps up Season 2's first mini arc and does so with aplomb. Baam's new team hatches a plan to reunite him with his friends, but a dangerous new foe lurks in the shadows. There's some excellent intrigue here that only makes me lament the lengthy month long wait until the new arc even more.
- Talk about fantastic. Bleach 511 is a moving, wonderfully drawn chapter that serves as a fitting coda for one of the series most fully fleshed out characters. For me, this was the clear standout for the week, so I'm giving Bleach my Pick of the Week
