Naruto 622 Review: "Romeo and Juliet WTF?"

Written by: Eli

I think I'm at the end of my successful parkour title bending run for these chapter review, but this one right here was signed, sealed and delivered to me on a silver flippin' platter. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm actually enjoying this flashback within a flashback as I've mentioned in the previous review, but the whole hiding clan name thing is a bit too..I don't know Shakespearean? Where art thou, Where art thou O Hashirama?!

Or maybe we should be thinking a little more Suzanne Collinsean?

So first things first, WTF is up with the Uchiha clan hunting down and killing children or is this a case of older children hunting younger children...

Kishimoto, I get things were bad before the one village system, but dude, this is Hunger Games x Andre 1000.

All puns aside, we find out a bit more about the adolescent years of Madara and Hashirama, first beginning with the fact they would meet up every now and then at that specific location (Or are they changing locations every now and then? I mean wouldn't they be discovered?). Could you call those meetings "dates"? I don't know. I'll leave it to my resident Yaoi fanatics to twist a bond of friendship into a hyper novelty of sorts.

We meet Lord Hashirama Senior and his ugly ass attitude. After the Hashirama household bury the fallen shinobi of their branch of the Senju clan who have fallen to the advancing assaults of a newly introduced "Hagoromo" clan, whom have allied themselves with the Uchiha Clan. Among the casualties is one of the Senju children who Hashirama and his brothers knew (or was his one of his brothers?).

Hashirama goes on a philosophical debate with his father about how the clan should conduct itself in a wartime, which proves unwise as his father goes all bananas on him. Hashirama having embraced a different interpretation of the Senju philosophy of "Love" argues that if his father followed that code, if he was truly a purist Senju, he would change his approach in its light. His father replies that he follows a philosophy of love which takes the form of training his children and members of his clan to be great shinobi in order to defend themselves and those they love. 

All this Senju philosophy debate aside, we meet young Tobirama and his brother Itama. As soon as I saw Hashirama's third brother, I began to wonder to myself how he must have met a untimely demise. Lo and behold, I'd be saving my tired brain cells for other more worthy speculation involving one of Madara's siblings as the chapters that followed revealed how Itama died at the hands of enemy Uchiha clansmen (or clanboys as it would seem from a careful look. They seem to be around the age of Sasuke during the Fourth Ninja War.

This era in Hashirama's life were the genesis points on how he would form his philosophy and approach to the conflicts that affect Ninja world. He detested his fathers iron clad approach which inevitably would lead him in the opposite path and from our encounter with Tobirama, it would seem now we know where he got his stern demeanor from. He is his fathers son, and if Hashirama wasn't a depressed little kid as we've seen him called by Madara, the Ninja world would either have destroyed itself or we would have seen a radically different outcome. (Perhaps the destruction of the Uchiha clan).

For my speculation piece that I alluded to in the previous paragraph:

In the panel above and the one that follows it, Madara speaks of having 4 brothers who he lost to the conflict between the opposing clans. This is interesting since we know of Izuna. For a long time I had a theory that Izuna was either not a biological brother of Madara or even more fascinating, I theorized that Izuna was actually Madara's sister or "girlfriend" who took on the guise of a male Uchiha. I mean when was the last time we saw female Uchiha on the battlefield. Do they not fight or do they take the guise of male Uchiha or are they just indistinguishable to foreigners? Like say Dwarfs from Lord of the Rings...who convienently all have beards or so its believed since no outsider has claimed to have seen a female Dwarf.

It would seem we've completed one chapter in the tale of Madara and Hashirama, and Kishi or should I say the narrator in chief Hashirama is taking us to the next chapter in their story. Perhaps Hashirama will tell Madara which clan he belongs to or somehow they will be found out or etc. I'm actually looking forward to more of this flashback.

Overall, I give Naruto 622, 4 Badass Wannabe Sasukes out of 5. (4/5)

Do share your thoughts below as I'd like to to hear from you guys on what you think about my Izuna theory or the thoery of the 6th Sibling. Also from the comments below, If you guys suggest a title for next weeks chapter, I'll pick the one with the best ring to it. Cheers!

Eli:
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When he's not writing reviews on OtakuNuts, you can find Eli stalking artists on dA and failing at writing fanfics. When he's not being a level 30 creeper there, he's busily improving his mummery on tumblr. Ask him there and you shall receive. At least most of the time.