The Accidental Otaku (#7 07182010)
Naruto (Manga) (2000-present)
Creator - Masashi Kishimoto
Plot : ANN Encyclopedia "When Naruto was born the spirit of a evil nine-tailed fox was imprisoned within him, rendering him the hate of the villagers in the ninja-village of the Leaf who feared the demon in him. Countering this hate he grew into the role of the clown, trying to attract attention by making a fool of himself and his teachers. But within him dwells the dream of becoming Hokage, the strongest warrior of the village. When he graduates from the academy he’s placed in the same group as Sakura, the technician and the girl he loves and Sasuke, the strong, quiet guy and his rival for Sakura. Leader and teacher of the group are Kakashi, the strange and always late, though powerful ninja."
Opinion : Naruto is another basically devisive series due, for the most part, to the popularity it has garnered. Being part of the In-crowd, oddly enough, means generally that you end up liking things that only a select group of people have ever heard of. I, myself, adore Koko wa Greenwood for the acting and the accuracy of the translation. But how many people have actually seen it or even heard of it? Naruto is immensely popular, therefore, no one likes it. Unless you do like it, which I do.
The plot of the manga isn't overly complex, the anime even less so. However, it's well thought out and well explained to the reader. This could be one of the reasons behind the popularity, seeing as how many concepts that might elude the reader are explained to them. Naruto also, along with many other manga, dips into the mythological and legendary areas of Japanese culture. Quite possibly others too, but I'm having a hard time thinking of any. Another manga that does this heavily is Rumiko Takahashi's wildly popular manga, Inu Yasha. It could be that this basis in myth grasps the reader on some level, allowing him / her to "own" what they're reading on some level.
The one thing that the manga has going for it now is that it is long. Long. I mean, really long. Like 400 chapters plus kind of long. Getting into something that big is kind of daunting, especially if you don't know if you'll like it or not, which is kind of the reason behind these reviews. Ask yourself a few questions. Do you like ninjas? Do you like stories that allow the characters to grow and mature over the length of the story? Do you like fighting where the characters beat the cheese out of each other? If you answer yes to these, more than likely, you'd like Naruto. We find out all about the world of ninjas, however gradual that might be. All of the characters grow and mature in sometimes surprising ways. And there are fights where the characters beat the holy cheese out of each other.
The story is not continuous. There is a break just about chapter 315 or so wherein we get one chapter that explains a little of one of the more mysterious characters, but then, when we come back, three years have elapsed. Story-wise, I think it was a necessary reset, but it's still a little jarring. Of course, if you've read that far, you want to see how the characters have changed. Naruto is also not a completed story. It's still ongoing and several sites host translations, so it's not difficult to find it. The jury is still out whether Naruto is worth collecting, but it is certainly worth reading. Moreso for the ninjas than One Piece is for the pirates.
Creator - Masashi Kishimoto
Plot : ANN Encyclopedia "When Naruto was born the spirit of a evil nine-tailed fox was imprisoned within him, rendering him the hate of the villagers in the ninja-village of the Leaf who feared the demon in him. Countering this hate he grew into the role of the clown, trying to attract attention by making a fool of himself and his teachers. But within him dwells the dream of becoming Hokage, the strongest warrior of the village. When he graduates from the academy he’s placed in the same group as Sakura, the technician and the girl he loves and Sasuke, the strong, quiet guy and his rival for Sakura. Leader and teacher of the group are Kakashi, the strange and always late, though powerful ninja."
Opinion : Naruto is another basically devisive series due, for the most part, to the popularity it has garnered. Being part of the In-crowd, oddly enough, means generally that you end up liking things that only a select group of people have ever heard of. I, myself, adore Koko wa Greenwood for the acting and the accuracy of the translation. But how many people have actually seen it or even heard of it? Naruto is immensely popular, therefore, no one likes it. Unless you do like it, which I do.
The plot of the manga isn't overly complex, the anime even less so. However, it's well thought out and well explained to the reader. This could be one of the reasons behind the popularity, seeing as how many concepts that might elude the reader are explained to them. Naruto also, along with many other manga, dips into the mythological and legendary areas of Japanese culture. Quite possibly others too, but I'm having a hard time thinking of any. Another manga that does this heavily is Rumiko Takahashi's wildly popular manga, Inu Yasha. It could be that this basis in myth grasps the reader on some level, allowing him / her to "own" what they're reading on some level.
The one thing that the manga has going for it now is that it is long. Long. I mean, really long. Like 400 chapters plus kind of long. Getting into something that big is kind of daunting, especially if you don't know if you'll like it or not, which is kind of the reason behind these reviews. Ask yourself a few questions. Do you like ninjas? Do you like stories that allow the characters to grow and mature over the length of the story? Do you like fighting where the characters beat the cheese out of each other? If you answer yes to these, more than likely, you'd like Naruto. We find out all about the world of ninjas, however gradual that might be. All of the characters grow and mature in sometimes surprising ways. And there are fights where the characters beat the holy cheese out of each other.
The story is not continuous. There is a break just about chapter 315 or so wherein we get one chapter that explains a little of one of the more mysterious characters, but then, when we come back, three years have elapsed. Story-wise, I think it was a necessary reset, but it's still a little jarring. Of course, if you've read that far, you want to see how the characters have changed. Naruto is also not a completed story. It's still ongoing and several sites host translations, so it's not difficult to find it. The jury is still out whether Naruto is worth collecting, but it is certainly worth reading. Moreso for the ninjas than One Piece is for the pirates.