Oh Naruto, how you continue to disappoint me. What started of as a promising, yet cliche, shonen manga has since become a horrid Beast of terrible plot devices and unnecessary arcs, whose purpose isto keep the dying monster's heart moving. Oh, how you maintain your popularity through keeping people in wait, promising that the story will carry on, only to decieve them and continue on pointlessly.

As one can tell, I am no fan of this series. Once, I was someone who refused to read this manga, as my only justification was "It's popular, so it can't be good!" However, I quickly realized how foolish that was, and forced myself to read this gigantic piece of pop-culture. Initially, I was suprised at the depth that the manga could posess, developing many well-rounded, albiet, cliche, characters. However, it quickly became clear to me that this manga is just like every other shonen action/adventure, neverending. Yes, Naruto will most certaintly end, but expect a terribly executed, ambiguous ending where nothing's really solved, the characters remain the same, and you're no better off reading this manga than not. As you can see, I really dislike the story, and I give it a 3, for being cliche heavy and weighed down by pointless plot points and story archs.

There has, however, been a lot of work put into the art, which is good for an action-heavy shonen manga. The battles are clear, the characters are unique, and you can tell how the world progresses (or how it would progress, as the story does not). I gavbe it an 8.

The characters are cleverly disguised cliches, and have all been done before. A 4.

Initially, I really liked this manga, and had it at a 7, but now, the enjoyment is gone, so I'll settle with a 5.

Overall, this manga is mediocre. That is the perfect word to describe Naruto. Mediocre.