Naruto #599 - Obito Uchiha
In a Nutshell
Things done changed...
A near dialog-less about the many failings of Obito Uchiha with the reveal that he is indeed the person known as Tobi.
High Points
- The cat is out of the bag.
- The birth of the Kakashi vs. Gai
Low Points
- No dialog combined with the art just not being at a level to really sell that.
Rants and Raves
While I was "reading" this chapter, I found myself let down not so much by the lack of dialog, but by how utterly uninteresting this all was. The thing is though, this should have been awesome. The birth of Gai and Kakashi's rivalry. Obito's struggle to get better. All of this could have made for great drama but its execution just wasn't there. I think that a chapter primarily based around drama really has to sell the emotions and the art needs to get that across and in this chapter, it just couldn't draw me in. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be juvenile. The execution of it felt juvenile. Chapters like this remind me that while there are things that an adult can enjoy about Naruto, it is primarily aimed at children and young teens and the level of storytelling is essentially going to be locked at a Goosebumps or Diary of a Wimpy Kid level.
It also doesn't help that the title and first frame of the chapter totally spoils who Tobi is yet at the end, Tobi = Obito is presented as a big shocker. Additionally, I'm cynically interested in knowing the connection between Obito and Kisame. My memory may be a little off but I recall Tobi removing his mask in front of Kisame and him being shocked to discover that underneath the mask was a person he knew. It couldn't have been, "oh, you're that kid that got his ass beat by Gai in the woods!"
Despite being down on this chapter, I have a lot of anticipation in seeing this animated. Animation directors and storyboard artists usually get the most praise for their action sequences, but one benefit of having an amazing duo on an episode is thateverything gets filtered through their abilities of lightning, camera placement, mise-en-scene, and camera motion and the entire episode benefits from this. Obviously fights and things requiring lots of action and motion benefit the most, but episodes like Naruto coping with Jiraiya's death and the Kyuubi's words to Naruto during his battle against Pain are good examples of what these talents can bring even to scenes that are nothing but dialog. I would love to see that level of craftsmanship applied to the content within this chapter.
Grade
I'll have to give this chapter a C+. While I applaud the author for doing something different and telling a story without using dialog, I thought the execution of it was lackluster.
William Taylor is definitely a person and, rest assured, he does stuff in places as well. Unlock the mystery on Twitter@mrsickvisionz.
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