Naruto Shippuden Episode 346
What They Say:
Obito watches in disbelief as Kakashi kills Rin. Unable to accept the harsh reality, Obito decides to carry out Madara’s dream so that he can create an ideal world where Rin still exists. Taking on the name Madara Uchiha, Obito sets out to find Nagato, who possesses the Rinnegan necessary to accomplish project Tsuki-no-me.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Bringing us the back story for Obito has certainly been interesting in general to watch as it reveals a lot of what’s been going on behind the scenes, at least in a formative way. And with why the Leaf village is bearing so much of the angst of it all since we see just how twisted Obito came because of the actions there. When we saw how Kakashi had to take down Rin for reasons previously explained, he ended up losing it and completely came over to Madara’s side after eliminating everyone there, excluding Kakashi who wasn’t aware of what was really going on at the time. Setting a long game kind of approach there in regards to an old friend, there’s potential for a lot of trouble down the line and even Madara sees that. But Obito definitely plays an interesting game in how he offhandedly talks about Kakashi and the new world that will be created.
Madara presents some interesting things in the past as we see the way he uses his jutsu and communicates the things he’s done to Obito so he’s aware of what’s been planned and what’s at stake. All of it is designed to make Obito the tool that he needs and can use in order to achieve his long gestating dream. One where, as we saw, Obito took on the role of Madara in order to execute it, which would cause confusion in and of itself. Seeing how, as Madara waits for his time to be revived, that Obito begins approaching those that he needs to orchestrate the larger vision is certainly fun to watch. Those we’d seen over the years fighting for him, including Nagato, makes for some disturbing moments because you know the manipulations that are in plan and how so much of it will go. Obito takes so well to the role after seeing Rin killed that he’ll do whatever is necessary in this new role that he’s taken on.
This turn of events with Nagato is fun to watch as we see him and his group as things expand and they work the field to build the ranks and expand on what they’re doing for Madara, even knowing that he’s not the Madara that’s actually known. All of this leads towards the creation of the Akatsuki of course, but it’s amusing to see how it’s all done with a sense of purpose, pride and hope for changing the world. That’s always been a bit of an undercurrent for the group, but it’s one that was also twisted and changed over the years because of the influences, inside and out, and some of the hidden plans within it. But there’s just such a sense of optimism and hope within it that it’s hard in some ways to reconcile it with what we’ve seen of the group in the later stories that follow as their appearances became more public and obviously more violent.
In Summary:
Naruto: Shippuden gives us some good back story material here as we get the origins of the Akatsuki, though a particular angle of course, and how Obito took on the role of Madara for Madara’s larger purpose. There’s definitely some good stuff here in how it unfolds and the revelations, while not hugely surprising considering other things that have happened recently, are nice to see play out. Part of it makes me want to have someone just re-edit the entire series in chronological order so that it can be viewed in that form which could change perceptions of characters in some intriguing ways. Regardless, we get a good episode here that clarifies and answers a few things and sets us moving forward a bit more with useful information as it gets closer to the present day storyline again.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.