Mod Edit: This review may contain spoilers.

Coming up with precise numbers to essentially give a value to a series that spans 700 chapters and well over a decade in production is not an easy thing. Much has changed over the years of publication, but I guess overall I would give the series a "very good".

Like many other people, the Naruto anime was my introduction to the world of anime--something that literally changed the course of my life. The storyline of a young boy who had the courage (or more like the gall) to always stay confident and continue smiling despite growing up alone in a community that openly detested him is heartwarming to say the least. I liked that the series also introduced a wide range of characters--Kishimoto really succeeded in creating not just a village, but an entire world within his story.

STORYLINE:
As one would expect from a 700 chapter-long series, the series has its highs and its lows. For me, the peak was pretty early in the series throughout the Chunin exam arc, so it was a little bit of a disappointment that the series never really made it back to that high later on. Then again, the main trio of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke weren't nearly my favourite characters, so maybe my problem was that I didn't care about the people who mattered the most. Having said that, the fact that I was still interested enough to keep reading should speak for the story's quality. The chapters are relatively short (compared to monthly publications) and almost all of them end with some sort of cliffhanger, so I ended up stopping at points to save up for longer reading sessions.

CHARACTERS:
On the topic of characters, I would have to argue that they are far from perfect. He did a good job of creating diversity in his characters and strong, complex personalities in many, but there were many characters who were sadly quite shafted and remained static throughout the series (I'm looking at Tenten and Shino). I wouldn't say that ALL his female characters are always weak, submissive and useless, but the series is a far cry from gender-equal. In part I can accept that this is because the manga's intended audience was for young boys who probably don't care if there's gender equality and all that stuff, but still.

ART:
The art... is good. It's definitely improved over time from both experience and technological advancements. I like many of the character designs and I like that they change as the characters mature. Personally I cared more for the social interactions within the story than the fight scenes, so sometimes some chapters of endless fighting were a bit difficult to follow/envision.

ENDING: (contains no specific spoilers, but discussion of overall flow)
Personally I did not like the ending, but I didn't HATE it. When the whole shinobi war started to drag out and literally EVERY CHARACTER WHO WAS EVER SLIGHTLY SIGNIFICANT made an appearance even if they had to defy reality (AND DEATH) to do so, I started looking forward to an end. The ending I got wasn't everything that I wanted, but it was an end. I'm happy that Kishimoto had the guts to see his story to completion including establishing finality with his character relationships (rather than leaving things ambiguous and inconclusive as is the style of most Shonen manga), but I also feel like he crossed the line and forced the pairings too far. I'm also not a fan of the introduction of children (AT ALL.) to imply the relationship of the parents, but at the same time I can't imagine Kishimoto showing us the depth of their relationships in any other way (hand holding, hugging, walking together maybe. Beyond that? No, not even kissing). Regardless, I felt like I had to read the final chapter because "OCD, I have to finish this!" (not to mention my OTP), and did so knowing that I probably wouldn't like much of it. If you don't care for pairings or mentions of children, I'd recommend stopping at 699.

So there you have it, my review that took me 40 mins. I expect most people will have already tl;dr and left this massive review, but if you're still reading it, thank you =) It's a review for myself as much as for anyone else anyways because... it's done. It's over. Naruto's ended. My childhood just ended with it. Huh.

Time to move on with life and keep telling myself that I will NOT be reading the sequel about the children. I won't do it. I won't. (...The lies... I'll cave, I know it. >_>)