I think before we can judge Naruto, we need to ask ourselves one question: why did we ever start reading it? The answer is simple: it was a show about ninjas and cool fighting scenes. But that is why we started reading it, not why we kept reading it every week.

Naruto started with a very solid foundation, upon several intriguing characters and their past. It was really interesting seeing a rejected kid try hard to be accepted into society, to find a home, to find someone who deeply cares about him. And this wasn't only exclusive to Naruto himself, but also Sasuke and to some extent, Kakashi. Sure, the first chapters were goofs and jokes but the manga started to build a momentum toward a grand adventure, a journey filled with eclectic imagination of Masashi Kishimoto. I applaud Kishimoto for this grand tale of the Legendary ninja. Not only that the setting was well done, it was convincing and quite fitting to the themes of the story. But it gets quite difficult after that. Naruto made a bold statement in its infancy yet somewhere along its deacde long publication, it lost the values and its themes scattered. It's difficult to judge this 15 years of work as a whole because the content fluctuates greatly where it can be said that different authors wrote the manga. Sad, but the truth is this beloved series couldn't be distinguished anymore from other shounen mangas. You know, the main character continues a legacy while making friends and enemies and attains power to combat evil yet loses precious people in the process but through effort, triumphs the dark in the end. And in the latter chapters, if it wasn't for the setting, I wouldn't be able to tell if I was reading Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail or some other generic shounen. Yet the manga did have its moments, mainly the Pain Arc where the manga showed off the characters' maturity and importance. It was one of the very few arcs that highlighted what Naruto is: a tale about a gutsy ninja who desires to change the world for better and become the leader, the Hokage. And it was splendid how Kishimoto portrayed the strong bond between the characters and how some of their deaths influenced others.

Something else to note about the story is how philosophical it became over the years. Especially near the end, Naruto was tackling some of the biggest topics such as death, pain, suffering, human nature, and friendship. While it sounds grand, the author didn't provide much logic and effort to execute the probable ideas. It's sad how much potential turned to waste. Near the end, the characters' actions were justified by nonsense reasoning, their rage by incomplete monologues and the biggest questions of the series were answered in a rush.

As I stated earlier, Naruto built itself on its characters and their backgrounds. Naruto's loneliness due to the Fox, Sasuke's family tragedy, Kakashi's father's death, and Orochimaru's long past gave Naruto a great variety of characters. However, when we step out of past, Naruto characters are embodiment of most other shounen characters. You know, the rival, the girl, the sensei, the perverted old man, the weird guy, the powerful drunk lady, that villain and such. But it is worth mentioning that characters in Naruto mature and they develop to establish very memorable traits. And what I find amazing is Naruto maintaining his role throughout the series. Sometimes it was redundant, sometimes annoying but in the end, Naruto being himself, the determined and strong willed boy, kept the series together and preached some very thoughtful messages. The series had some characters, like Jiraiya and Itachi, who truly left a legacy and voice in the manga medium. Other characters, like Obito or even Sasuke, are example of how the series failed to establish solid resolutions for its characters. These characters' roles fluctuated greatly over the years. The rival of the series, Sasuke, could have become a grand villain or an eccentric anti-hero but the author took the shounen route and tried a happy ending for everyone. While it was satisfying as a Naruto fan, it did disappoint me to some extent.

As for art, it was quite good. Naruto's art was simpler than other mangas yet detailed. The style quite fits the story and the attacks are decently drawn. Sometimes the panels were bit messy and some character design were absurd, but, Naruto's characters (mainly women) were drawn more modestly than many other series. And I appreciate that aspect.

It's sad how long the story was dragged out, how redundant the messages were, how ridiculous the reasoning of characters became and how much potential the series ruined near the end. Some months, Naruto was plain boring and it wasn't enjoyable anymore. But when I read the last chapter, it was finally a relief that after over a decade, Naruto achieved his dreams and the story of the Legendary ninja came to end. The 700 chapter journey was a burden near the end but thankfully, it concluded half decently.

Most of us started to read Naruto because it seemed cool. But what kept many readers, including myself, to keep reading was to see Naruto succeed. The ninja raised his voice to change the world and despite his cursed fate, he brought himself to become a hero. Naruto is an inspiration, the mascot of Shounen Jump's motto "friendship, effort, victory."

Although the Naruto manga doesn't tell a great story, it does tell a tale about a great character, Naruto Uzumaki.