Introduction | Character Guide
| Episode Guide |
Shinobi Village Guide | Terms | Image Gallery
September, 13 2003 - Originally published in the pages of Weekly
Shonen Jump Japan in 1999, Naruto was created in Manga form by Masashi Kishimoto. The series
currently spans over 17+ Manga volumes and 40+ episodes. Currently airing in
Japan and being printed in the pages of Shonen Jump USA, Naruto has taken the
Otaku world by storm!
At its core, Naruto is a story about teamwork as 3 young diverse ninjas train
and grow up together. The story begins with
a 12 year old Naruto finding out the truth about his past: the destructive and
evil Nine Tailed Fox Demon was sealed into his navel at birth. He graduates from the Ninja
Academy and is teamed with Sasuke and Sakura, as they have to train together to
become more advance ninjas under master ninja Kakashi. With young characters
each having little backgrounds, Naruto's main draw is watching these characters
grow and progress as they go through the many difficult tasks in their path.
Much of the premises of Naruto is the similar to Dragonball as we see Naruto and
his teammates develop into something more extraordinary. But that's where the
similarities end.
The most important attribute in this series is
the main character himself: Naruto. Sure there are other interesting characters
and I like Sasuke, Sakura and my current favorite ninja bad-ass Kakashi. But
Naruto is the best character in the whole series as his personality and
ambitions are very admirable. Yes, Naruto can be a wuss sometimes and yes, he is
not the most efficient ninja on his team (well currently he's not) but he
is the most engaging character of the lot. The second most important attribute
are the many curious intangibles of the Naruto world (like the different kinds
of Jutsu that can be used and learned by a character or the many techniques used
in battle), giving the series lots of flavor. I love how Kakashi can give
opponents the illusion of being killed only to later find he swapped himself
with a log so he wouldn't get hit. It's very difficult to describe many of these
intangibles; your going to have to watch and read the series for yourself to see
what I mean. It's one of the more important attributes of the series. The third
most important attribute is the story. While not the best, it keeps me
interested. It's still way to early to truly judge the story since I've only
seen up to the anime episode 30, so I'll leave it at that for now. But without a
doubt the story is very addictive!
I find the quality of the manga to be very good;
Kishimoto art style is excellent as is the quality of his work. Strangely enough
after watching the anime, I found the Naruto manga's biggest drawback is not
being in color. All Shonen Jump manga is printed in black and white (minus the
few color pages periodically printed), plain and simple. However it's something
I noticed while comparing both. It doesn't detract from the quality of the
manga, but the anime in this respect has the advantage of fleshing out Naruto's
world in better detail. As for the anime, it's also well done. Once is a while
I'll find the animators having trouble following Kishimoto's style as the
characters sometimes look a little strange (which may have more to do with the
budget than the animators intention). It's rare, but it does happen. Other than
that, it's awesome! The
music and sound are also very good, with the voice actors doing a superb job.
Like many other popular manga title, Naruto's anime follows the manga fairly
accurately. I've seen some minor changes here and there with a few fillers, but
nothing out of character.
Conclusion: Naruto has become one of my
worst Otaku addictions! It's awesome style, solid characters and additive story
will keep you wanting more. I highly recommend it!
Data Specs
- Genre - Adventure, fighting, humor /
ninja theme
- Episodes/Chapters -
Anime: TV episodes - 49+ (still in production), TV specials - 1
Manga: graphic novels - 17+ (still in production)
- US Distributor -
R1 DVD: Unlicensed
Manga: Shonen Jump USA (weekly chapters - 17), (graphic novels - 1/17+)
- Coverage Status: Incomplete -
Anime: Raw TV series - (30/49+)
Manga: Shonen Jump USA weekly chapters - 17
Want more information? Below I have a few guides to the
Naruto Saga. I have tried my
best to make this guide spoiler free, but I was not able to accomplish this
totally. There are some mild spoilers in them so be forewarned!
