Naruto

I honestly don't know what to say about this one that hasn't been said countless times already, but I'll give it a shot.
Despite its anime adaptation's less than stellar reputation, this manga truly is something to marvel at. The story is incredibly well-crafted and captivating, often surprising me with revelations about their world 400+ chapters in that completely change how I view events that I've known to be a certain way for so long, and yet rarely does it ever feel forced or unnatural. Almost everything feels planned out perfectly. The only part where I feel the progression is a bit unnatural was the beginning of the very last story arc, since it kind of feels like Kishimoto had no idea how to defeat the main villain.
My only other notable complaint story-wise is the lead-up to the Fourth Great Ninja War, mostly because it introduces a barrage of new characters from all different villages a bit too quickly, and because neither Naruto nor Sasuke are present for a dozen chapters at a time to keep the character dramas pressing forward, causing the story to slow to a crawl for a bit. However, only having two complaints from 700 chapters of content more than speaks to the value of the writing.
The world building is absolutely fantastic as well. From the minute details of chakra (superpower life force of the week) control to the entire history of the shinobi (ninja), this world feels almost like a high fantasy in how incredibly rich and detailed it is. Any time a new piece of world building came up, I could barely tear my eyes away from the page.
While the overall plot is fairly simple (save the world X number of times), it's the characters that truly drive this story forward. While sometimes too simplistic in his ideals, Naruto himself has grown to be one of my favorite shounen protagonists, will his undying will and pursuit of his dream becoming damn-near awe-inspiring in the latter chapters. He also becomes the prototypical example of an outcast youth striving to prove himself and gain the acceptance of his peers, and watching his journey from orphaned punk to savior of the world was absolutely incredible. The pain that he felt at his absolute lowest moments is so palpable that I actually cried a little bit.
As for Sasuke, I've gained a huge appreciation for his character by switching from the anime to the manga, as the full weight of his incredibly dark and depressing situation is much more focused and poignant. His path to revenge is one paved with hate, deceit, and breaking of bonds, and his descent into darkness is quite compelling. I actually cared when he did the wrong thing and strayed from the noble path, and, at times, I almost agreed with his actions because of his motivations, even when those actions were rather horrendous. My body shivered at the absolute dread that he experienced through his years of suffering, unwanted revelations, and growing malice towards what destroyed his once happy life.
Because of how exceptionally well-crafted both Naruto and Sasuke are, the way they play off each other is just a tad shy of writing genius. Their conflicting ideals and differing backgrounds shape them into perfect foils for each other to grow off of and inspire surprisingly engrossing debates of what makes a true shinobi.
I could go on for days about the rest of the cast, but I think it will suffice to say that there isn't a single character that I adamantly dislike. I will say though that Kishimoto's genius does shine through in his foils and reflections of Squad 7 (Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura) through the generations of past shinobi (The Legendary Sannin, Kakashi's squad, and Pain's group in particular), and by slightly altering the events that happen to these characters, it creates drastically different outcomes for the same character archetype and spawns a character study that almost feels like an academic study of character development at times (in a very good way).
The artwork, while not the most richly detailed or awe-inspiring that I've seen, still manages to be not only consistent and pleasant to view, but also decisively unique amongst its shounen peers, from the different designs of eye jutsu (techniques) to the Tailed Beasts that terrorize the ninja world. Unfortunately, once again, I must complain about a shounen manga having unclear and cluttered action scenes. It doesn't happen all the time, and when it's clear what's happening, it's extremely compelling, but when the frame gets filled to the brim with different actions and jutsu, it's almost impossible to tell what's going on.
Overall, Naruto has been an absolutely fantastic read that I highly recommend. However, I also realize that I do have a lot of complaints about the series as a whole, and it caused me to question how high to score this series.
Then I asked myself: do I want to go back and reread it right now?
...
Yeah. I think I do.

Naruto is big part of my childhood as the manga is an anime is been running like for 15 years until now. The end of an era as Mashashi Kishimoto ended his manga.
What i love about Naruto is the excitement of the battle and some good storylines altough sometimes they ruined by some cliche,predictable and some loooong flashback that really take too long to rettell because in Naruto it's like they explained every single character backstory that you didnt really care in the end
The art is quite good because i see improvement from year to year,Mashashi do quite a good job explained the ''jutsu'' in his drawing style and the chara is draw very good although is not a masterpiece.
Now to enjoyment,first time i read this manga is that i love the idea,i love the chara,i curious evey single time the manga come out because they always a good and fun thing to read but as the manga gets old i can see how they play the stroy out,its become too predictable and i'm pretty sure you can guess what will happen next,and also that in some arc the story for me just doesnt make sense they feel like forced but i know that writing 700 chapter isnt easy so i gave Mashashi Kishimoto a big thanks for writing it until the end.

RECOMMENDED for those who have many free time in their life because they do take some time in your life.

Naruto was one of the first anime I ever watched, (I picked up the manga later) however it failed to take a place in my heart. There are many reasons for that.

Story=6
Disappointing. It was going great but the quality dropped steadly after Sasuke vs Danzo arc. The most boring story arc was the fourth shinobi war itself. The final acrs war far too dull. The introduction of Kaguya was never needed, but they just had to force her into the story. I'm surprised that Kishimoto never introduced Kaguya's other son.

Character=7
Many of the charcters were originally interesting, nearly none of them were developed strongly. Only Itachi and Naruto were evolved with effort. Kishimoto tried to make Sasuke similar to Lelouch but his character did not match him, nor was his character devaloped for that type. Kaguya was also a dull addition to the character list.

Art=6
Sometimes the art is amazing, other times I cannot understand what the hell is happening. However the fight between Sasuke and Naruto was beautifully done.

Enjoyment=7
Critically the series is not great but doesn't mean that I did not enjoy it even a little. There were just some moments though. I really did not like the 'bigger is better' type of fight scenes when the characters just kept on creating bigger and bigger jutsus.

Overall=6
nothing more is to be said.

Years and years ago a magazine called Shounen Jump came out in America. A lot of kids went wild over so many manga in one place, it was like a dream of sorts. Many interesting manga were in Shounen Jump like Yu-Gi-Oh and Dragon Ball Z which was put on air in America so there was some familiar faces and hopefully more to add to the memories. One manga that caught my eye was a little manga by the name of Naruto.

At first Naruto seemed like a very interesting manga. I mean what more could you want? It's got Ninjas! But as the story progressed I realized that not even ninjas could save a dieing storyline.

In the beginning Naruto had some promise of an interesting story. An ambitious ninja who wanted nothing more then to be the head of the village. It would be no easy walk in the park so he would have to train hard and learn lots of new moves to be on top of the game.

As the story progressed I noticed that the protagonist had really only learned a few basic moves after long periods of training. I also noticed that there were far more interesting characters who deserved spotlight. Rock Lee: A determined young martial artist who trained day in and out trying to keep up with a natural born genius of the Hyuuga clan who fought against what potently are magicians with his bare hands. How cool is that! Nara Shikamaru: A overall pure genius that is to lazy to give a damn that he is a genius. Aburame Shino: A mysterious young man who uses bugs to fight.

Just like in the manga and I quote "Your not the kind of person that could be the main character in a manga Naruto". They should have stuck with that in the rough draft of the story.

In my eyes story of Naruto tries to tell us to stay determined and if we work hard enough we can achieve anything. I do believe that is a good message, but all I have learned from the character Naruto is that if I tap into my dark side I won't have to do any real work.

The manga itself was good up until the naruto shippuden where things just started to get worse.

Not that I care for looks but the artwork did get somewhat less detailed later on in the story. To some this is a critical aspect of the manga.

The storyline from there only started to got sillier as the manga revolved around Naruto and Naruto alone.

I would like to say more but I want to make this a quick little review with as little spoilers as possible. Long story short: Naruto needs a new main character and more spotlight on the support characters.

overall rating
7/10

(just for the record, this is a slight alteration of my anime review)

Despite being one of the most famous shonen titles around, eventually Naruto doesn’t escape the pitfalls of its genre but it definitely does a better job than most in terms of complexity.

The artwork is definitely original in a way, as most areas, especially the ninja villages, are very cool looking in their design. Yet, it is full of anachronisms and irrelevant details. For instance, why are there ninjas in a world where everyone can simply use computers or machineguns? Or how can ninjas really be stealthy when most of them wear bright colored cloths and have tattoos that make them stand out in the crowd? Or head guards that identify their hidden village? Oh, sure, the characters all look cool, trendy macho kids that easily attract the eye. Yet, they are supposed to be ninjas; and the last time I checked, ninjas were nothing like them. They don’t look as such, nor do they behave that stealthy or serious. So, looking cool is good but looking like immature trendy nerds is not. Especially when they seem to have only one set of cloths. It wasn’t that weird to have such bizarre stuff in a series like Dragonball Z. But that series had no motif in its world, while Naruto is based on ninjas.

One would of course say this is fiction and that it is logical not to expect realism. One could easily say that in this world ninjas use illusions and body exchanges instead of stealth. Ok, let’s go with that. Those awesome hand seals and funky jutsus and amazing special effects gave a unique identity to the show by providing signature moves for every character. Yet, that made the series far less realistic than what it wanted to appear being. Everything was possible as long as you could make a copy or an illusion of yourself. I mean, how can you believe that the characters use strategy in battle, if they keep exchanging places with a log when they are hit or make water appear out of nowhere? It takes away any feeling of strategy if everything is just transformations to whatever you like. Plus, professionals would never be tricked by techniques they are using themselves for so many years yet in the series they are constantly fooled. So believe it or not, the Naruto ninjas are far less interesting than the classical ones in terms of warfare.

I understand that it is supposed to be eye-catchy for the younger audience but there are simply no connecting points of reference amongst everything you see. In fact, it feels like random ideas in random applications after awhile. Here is a computer, next to a ninja dog summoned with some hand seals. Sounds like the setting is blending technology and magic with absolutely no excuse. It looks eye catchy at first but quickly becomes so random that loses interest.

The story at first felt quite epic and mysterious but it quickly became lukewarm and clichéd. I give some credit for providing a feeling of progress in learning new techniques and explaining the way everything works with the chakras. But even that was just standard rpg fad and gave a terribly misleading image of what the 7 Hindu body chakra or the ninzitsu concentration hand seals really were. Half of the plot is about side stories or battles between secondary characters who don’t really affect the story. They do give a feeling of progress but in reality they could easily be left out without damaging the story at all. For you see, the story revolves around 10 people, while there are about 100 more, which don’t really do anything of importance. The name of the series alone means that it will focus on the protagonist and a few others, who will always survive and win in every situation. Makes it all too predictable.

The protagonist is Naruto, who is a complete idiot that yells “I will become the best in the world-dattebaiyo” every 5 minutes. When someone is in trouble, he changes his quote to “I will save him/her”. His motives are the most typical of most shonen leads. It was interesting at first when he was the unsecured little orphan nobody liked. He was striving for acceptance and thus everybody could identify with that. Later on he shifted his entire mission to just save his ex-rival Sasuke. That was no longer a personal drama to be fond of. Even later we find out he is the son of a very powerful man and that he is even the Chosen One to save the world. Ok, I officially don’t care about him after all this crappy turnaround. Everybody liked him when he was just a weak boy trying to be the leader of his village. Now he is an emo killing machine wasting his life trying to save an uncaring asshole, full of broken powers and constant Deus Ex Machina events that continually save him and make him nothing but a generic saviour stereotype.

The main rival is Sasuke, the grumpy emo who wants to revenge against his big brother. How original is that? Big brothers are always villains in shounen. He spends all his life trying to be strong just so he can kill people. And when he succeeds, he is not satisfied and kills some more. And then more. It was ok the first time but now he is just a hateful prick; his life has no meaning at all. At first most female fans of the show liked him for playing it hard to get but now he is nothing but a cold bastard working with thugs, and planning to commit genocide just because he has no idea what he is doing. Impossible to relate with.

How about Kakashi, whose only feature is his hidden face? What else did he offer to the story? Or maybe Sakura who just does nothing other than acting like a useless fan-girl most of the time? And to think that THESE are the main cast that affects the story; all the rest are there mostly for show. I won’t deny the fact that Orochimaru was an awesome villain or Shikamaru was a strategic mastermind or Hinata was the most moe thing ever. Still, all these characters were just dressing for the series. With the exception of Shikamaru none of these hundreds evolved as characters nor did they offer anything to the story.

A major problem with most shonen series is that they throw in a huge number of characters and then have no time (or talent) to develop them. They do a fine job colorizing them with personal tragedies and unique jutsus but they don’t really mature them in any real way. Just check the Soul Eater anime for example. It had far less secondary characters and thus far more time to develop them, without dragging the story with unimportant side stories, as Naruto did.

I do understand that most of the appeal the characters have is aesthetic and not actually about personalities. Naruto is the typical insecure boy who wants recognition from his peers. He ain’t smart of handsome, yet does his best to make a difference. He also likes a girl who ignores him and rivals a silent type pretty boy, who gets all the chicks for being a cold bastard. Plus there is a huge number of characters, each one with his or her own quirks just so anyone can pick their personal favourites. All these make a nice basic teen story that can appeal to most in the target group. But at the same time, the show does little with it. It even shifts its focus towards something far less interesting later on and wastes its quality away with a lot on funky battles and character quirks instead of actual character development.

There wouldn’t be dozens of millions of Narutards world-wide if it wasn’t famous. Still, you will skip a lot of stuff if you ever read it again. Too much blah, blah and flashbacks where nothing happens. It is good for a shounen series and does break the mold from time to time but it still remains pretty freaking clichéd, something that becomes more and more evident as the story goes on. And to be honest, most its good points are nothing but a rehash of Hunter X Hunter, a shonen show with much better strategy and character development (the story sucks though).

Despite the sheer stupidity of the series, I admit that it was very attention-absorbing. I really digged those funky jutsus and semi-serious strategies in battle and almost forgot to think how idiotic it all was. My enjoyment was high, up until Sasuke left the village. Afterwards entire arcs felt like there was nothing of importance going on.

Here is a brief look on all the current arcs of the show so far and what I think of them.

1) Wave Country arc. We got to know all the basic heroes. It was also the arc to tell us the basic use of the ninja villages and how cruel the powerful can be to the weak. It also featured two interesting villains who did NOT become allies or recurring opponents, thus becoming a major twist. It had drama, tension, comedy, all the good stuff. It was also dragging at a few points but nothing major. Overall, a very good arc. Mark: 8

2) Chuunin arc. We got to know all the secondary heroes. It was also the arc to show us all the secondary ninja villages and the frail truce amongst them which is maintained through the pleasing of the authorities of each major country through contests. There was also a major conspiracy which threatened the village and further revelation of past events which led to the present state. This part was full of skirmishes, most of which were irrelevant to the main story but still kinda worked as an introduction to the secondary cast. There was a tournament, which was based on cunningness and got out of control in the end, resulting to the death of a major character. That was some twist as well. It was overall another good arc. Mark: 8

3) Sasuke Retrieval arc. We got to know the past of the Uchiha clan and how its destruction turned Sasuke into a renegade in his quest of revenge. It also provides more info and background with the introduction of big shots like the Sannin and the Akatsuki. Unfortunately, it is still a half-interesting arc as the new information provided was hardly enough to excuse such a long duration. Besides the introduction of some interesting characters, most of it was a dragged out battle with lots of flashbacks which had little importance in overall. The new major adversaries, the Akatsuki, were only mentioned but never dealt with, while the minor ones, the Five Sounds, were barely interesting. Thus, not such a good arc. Mark: 6

4) Gaara Retrieval arc. We are re-introduced to the characters, now that they are older. Then they head to save a past opponent-turned-ally and face Akatsuki members. This part did flesh out a bit the past of the Sand village, but again the plot drags unnecessary. There wasn’t much new info keep you interested either and the main objective was almost the same as the one in the previous arc. Mark: 6

5) Azuma Avenge arc. We see Naruto getting even stronger and a rather important character dying and having to be avenged. The fleshing out of Shikamaru, a secondary character, was a very touchy point. Mark: 7

6) Itachi hunt arc. Sasuke goes on a killing spree, taking out various major villains and seemingly finally avenging the death of his family. Also we are presented with the past and life purpose of Jiraya and of his final battle. This was a rather interesting arc because of the major death toll. Mark: 7

7) Pein arc. The leader of the Akatsuki invades and pretty much kills most heroes. Naruto arrives and after a lame friendship speech, the villain resurrects everybody. Plus, he is no longer a simple boy who wants to become Hokage but the Chosen One and his father is Ninja Chuck Norris! What a pile of BS! They ruined all the drama with this nonsense. If they remained dead and kept Naruto as he was, this would be a great finale. Mark: 4

8) Danzo arc. Sasuke learns that there are more people responsible for the death of his family, thus he invades even the meeting of the five ninja leaders and keeps killing stuff. And that is pretty much all of it. Mark: 3

9) Ninja War arc. Apparently the final arc where everybody takes part in a major war. Including the dead who are resurrected just for the sake of selling more. At this point everything became random mambo jumbo regarding people we don’t care about and powers that work or are disabled any way the scriptwriter feels like at the moment. Mark: 3

After that I know from the manga that there is a war going on but it is completely retarded as there is absolutely no tension about it. The enemies are just resurrected villains and the heroes win all the time with zero casualties. Yeah, just like in the so-called Bleach war.

Bottom line, the show got ruined by turning to a ridiculous dragged out random pile of clichés.

Why shouldn't I write a review regarding the manga series known as Naruto? It's basically the biggest reason why I became heavily invested into anime and manga alike. Truth be told though, I didn't read the entire series and only began doing so when, at the time, I finally watched the latest episode and, due to curiosity, have to resort to reading the manga to know what's next for the story.

Now, six months since the end of the original series and three months since I snapped at the disbelief that Naruto ended, allow me to vent out my thoughts regarding, Naruto.

By now, Naruto is one the most overrated anime/manga series in the industry, along with the likes of One Piece and Bleach. But there's a reason why a lot of people still read and watch Naruto, because it's such a great presence in the anime/manga world that everywhere you turn you see Naruto in his orange suit, with a Rasengan in hand and a kunai at the other. Naruto is a big name, inside and outside of its origin country.

The story. Well, basically the story is simple on the surface, but once you get into it, the world of Naruto is vast and complex, tying Japanese culture into the mix, I mean, why not right? Despite its simple premise of the main character trying to persevere the hardships of a shinobi and eventually become the strongest, the presentation is, dare I say, top-notch. Fighting scenes are well-narrated and the plot twists are very much appreciated. Simply put, the story of Naruto is simply amazing.

The characters. The series has a diverse cast of characters, both heroes and villains. I can be forgiven for forgetting most of them but what really sets each character apart from one another is not the personality, but their respective jutsu and skillset. Once you get over it, you eventually see the character as a person and learn its personality and then you learn their past. Yada-yada-yada-yada, you get the point. Overall, the characters are memorable because of their skills shown and not mostly because of the personality, at least for me. I don't have a personal favorite if you're wondering.

The art. The best that I can describe the art of Naruto is that it's consistent, while at the same time improving on consequent chapters. Kishimoto's art style is very much recognizable and is worth of praise. The character's are well designed, backgrounds have full of detail, and the fight scenes are well presented, even in manga form. Overall, it's just good, nothing too fancy.

Verdict. Naruto will forever remain a hallmark of manga and I really enjoyed reading it. I may not be worthy of saying that it's the best out there, but to me, Naruto made my childhood and teenage-hood a bit fuller, and that's saying something. And now as I wait for the anime to end in a similar fashion while still watching all these fillers, I'll look forward to the next big thing that can be as good as or surpass in a series of this caliber.

I got hooked on this manga when I was 10. It had been recomended to me by some of my friends who liked it alot. Anyways, I thought that it was very detailed for a manga(it isnt really, BTW) I loved it when I first saw it. I was obsessed with it. I mean, I had never seen any kind of anime or manga before, so it was so great and original to me. I loved the series until I was around 12 and a half. Since then, I have been begining to discover that Naruto isnt all that great and many manga and anime have all that it has and more, and am only now begining to read different ones. Anyways, The concept of this show isn't that hard to follow. It's an alternate world where ninjas live. The ninjas fight by using various skills, and they have this power flowing inside of them called chakra. Chakra is used to perform powerful attacks which (usually) belongs to either of the five traditional elements of earth, fire, water, air and lightning. Of course, since they are ninjas, they fight with weapons like shuriken and kunai as well as hand-to-hand combat. As expected of this kind of world, there's evil people, having different goals and reasons behind their evil. The story follows Naruto, a ninja in training who carries the Kyuubi and hopes to earn the respect of the villagers some day. It was a concept that interested me, alot. But...the story wasent really as great as the concept. Sure, I felt for some of the characters, some of them had some really sad and well thought out backgrounds. But that started to annoy me when they kept repeated it over and over(like with Sasuke and his dream to kill Itachi). And then they didnt know what to do to keep the series going, so we were introduced to the world of filler. And they were the most ridiculous fillers. I mean, some animes can have good fillers but these were just stupid and pointless. And by now, Im starting to get a little disapointed.

Holy shit, it's finally over.

So, Naruto. One of the Big Three (joined by Bleach and One Piece), unless their status has changed. No matter, though. Anyway, I did use the word "finally," indicating that it's something I've waited for for some time now. It's true. Somewhere along the line, the sheer length and meandering pace got me turned off of Naruto, so it was a happy moment when I noticed that it had ended, since I'd give me a reason to pick it up again. Like running, it's easier to read when you have a goal. So, what about this ninja story, 15 years in the making?

Naruto is a good manga.

This'll have two parts - one with no to minimal spoilers, and a second, spoiler-filled part. First is intended for new readers and second for those who have completed the entire thing.

Having its start way back in 1999, Naruto is one of the modern successors of Dragon Ball, in the way it places its values and builds its story. Like Goku, Naruto starts out virtually alone. Naruto, though, is alone because of the fear the other villagers holds for him. You see, inside Naruto dwells a monster - A monstrous nine-tailed fox that nearly levelled the village before it was sealed into Naruto. Despite his social seclusion, Naruto has a dream: To become Hokage, recognised as the most powerful ninja in the village. And so starts the trials and tribulations of Naruto. He's quickly placed in a team with Sakura, a girl he's liked from a distance for a time; Sasuke, the sole surviving member in the village of the incredibly powerful ninja clan Uchiha; and Kakashi, a world-renowned ninja with an unorthodox teaching style. Together, they form Team 7 and go on missions and adventures together.

It's kind of hard to judge the story of Naruto at first, because it's kind of aimlessly chronicling the growth of Naruto into a more mature young man (he's not even a teenager when the manga starts). It's an interesting set-up for a shounen manga, considering it puts the characters in situations where they have to kill as they are just children. But the ninja world has not a care for your age, just your capability- is what I'd like to say, but good luck pushing out 700 chapters of a bleak, survivalist manga through Weekly Shounen Jump. Naruto instead falls into its oft-criticised "befriend them to death"-formula, where Naruto's sheer perseverance and good-heartedness lights a path to victory. Maybe it sounds like I'm dissing it, but I really like it - to a point. The first part is a very strong manga, thanks to some great character work and rather brave story-telling that you don't normally see in straight shounens.

To the characters, then. Surely the most important aspect of a long manga. Does Naruto succeed in creating memorable characters that keep you coming back? The answer is obviously yes, due to its enormous popularity, but in a very limited way. Hardly any characters except for the main quartet gets any real development, and one in the quartet itself is so poorly written it feels like an affront to manga in general.

"How's Naruto, then? Surely the main character is well written?" Yeah, I'd say so, and I'd say that Kishimoto succeeds in having the story led by Naruto's motivations and actions, rather than Naruto always being led around the nose. That said, he's uncompromising in a way that is endearing at first, but becomes ridiculous naivete as the manga grows older. Like with almost all other aspects of the story, Naruto's growth through the story doesn't work with the growth of the readers. Say you were 15 when Naruto started. You're 30 now. Still, the tone of the manga and the characters have hardly moved an inch. It's weird. I'm an adult now, but Naruto's still a kid with training-wheels. Harsh, yes, but so was reading the final act.

A lot of that can be simply attributed to the fact that Naruto is just a young man throughout the manga, even if he does grow up, to an extent. But his growth is made nearly void at times, with other characters having become leaps and bounds more mature and responsible. While he's still young, a lot of the focus of the manga is pointed at young ninjas having to grow up quick or die.

As far as the character itself, Naruto can be looked at quickly and have you say "he's just another stupid, strong lead character." Thing is, Naruto is about as far from that trope as you'll get in shounen manga, while still being forced into its trenches. He's brash, crude and very rash, yes, but he's also very intelligent and compassionate. He can both plan ahead and come up with tactics in a hurry, given him being very flexible. That's what makes it even more frustrating when Kishimoto makes him into a staunch redeemer who basically befriends people to death. Where's the Naruto that makes tough calls for the greater good (the greater good)? He sure isn't in this manga. Having been possessed by the Kyuubi since birth, you'd expect Naruto to be more pessimistic at least some of the time, and make some bad decisions out of old hatred. But we can't have darker character development, can we, Kishimoto? That's not to say that Naruto doesn't have his share of dark moments, but I feel it's an area that was sorely unexplored.

As for the other main characters:

Kakashi is the team leader, and the adult of the group. Having become a high-level ninja at a young age, he knows how to make tough decisions and has no great qualms about killing. As a teacher, he is strict, but loving, and comes to see his three trainees sort of as his children with time. He's calm and collected, nearly always finding time in battle to come up with a plan to strike. He's also obsessed with reading a certain romantic series that later becomes embraced as a running gag and story development. He's also got a special tool - one of his eyes house a special eye (kind of hard to explain, but special eyes basically make you able to use better ninja-techniques) that allows him to easily see his opponents' moves and intercept them with incredible speed. Being a high-level ninja, Kakashi is proficient in every sort of jutsu (technique, as in "ninjutsu" = ninja technique) around, and he seems to have virtually no weaknesses.

Sasuke is a pretty standard shounen cool-guy character. He's handsome, calm and collected, and of course he's incredibly talented. He's also got a bloodline limit (aka a power limited to those who share a specific bloodline) that is ridiculously powerful, and whose evolution throughout the series becomes even more and more far-fetched. I went from initially hating Sasuke, to actually kind of accepting him, and then hating him again. What's frustrating with Sasuke is that, like many other characters in the series, his rationale and actions are haphazardly altered to fit the story. This leads to some awful reasons for his actions and his constant switching between good and evil, which grows extremely tiresome. It's also hilariously predictable to see where he's going to end up, so most of his scenes become a drag.

Onto Sakura, the most frustrating part of the main cast. Is it because Sakura is a bad character? Well, duh. Sakura is this series' damsel in distress. That's not to say that she's absolutely useless, or that she doesn't have any redeeming qualities, because she does have some good moments. But it's all brought down due to her basically being a love-slave to Sasuke. Whether he tries to off her or is just being a standoffish douche-hat, Sakura is perpetually enamoured with him. Even as she grows up to be a (supposedly) more mature young lady, she still clings to this saddening pretence of what love's supposed to be. The subject of love in manga/anime is almost always a source of vitriol for me, as it's almost always written abominably bad. The Sakura-Sakuke dynamic is another one of those. At least the series' other major (major being arguable) romantic angle, Hinata being into Naruto, has some legs to stand on (despite how rarely Hinata has any meaningful part in the plot) as she actually gives reasons for being in love with our goofy lead man. Sakura's like a programmed woman, designed to submit herself whenever Sasuke shows up. It's kind of a slap in the face where Sakura ends up after having been given no deeper explanation during the series' 700 effin' chapter run. I think ladies reading Naruto will feel insulted, and with good reason. I'm not saying Kishimoto hates women, but I do think he's clueless as to how to write them.

Most of the supporting cast are what they need to be and are playing their simple roles. There's the gutsy ones, the comedy relief ones, the cool ones, the smart ones, and so on. It's very standard fare for shounen manga.

Finishing up with art: It's nice. Sorry, I'm not an artist. The initial art starts out very so-so, as Kishimoto is finding his style, and moves on to be quite sleek and very pretty. The backgrounds can be quite lazy, but it's not my biggest complaint, so no bother.

Finishing up the spoiler-free part, Naruto isn't really something I'd recommend for anyone else but someone who wants to read a big shounen adventure. Naruto might be right up your alley, or you might absolutely hate it. I've learned to tolerate it, and think there are enough redeeming qualities in it (I mean, I finished 700 chapters of this saga) to warrant a passing grade. Naruto uses a lot of build-up that ends up going nowhere and/or being shafted for more "acceptable" reading. I get the reasoning, but it's not for me any longer.

Alright, lads. Spoilers are on from now. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Naruto's main problem to me is the lack of a focus, as it just leads to five different plots at once. Naruto going off on his own and other characters given time as well. The second part of Naruto is the glaring example of this. After the time-skip, characters just haven't changed in general, which makes it pretty fucking meaningless.

Most arcs after the time-skip are sooooooo looooong, and the ninja war being the biggest offender. Everybody gets a mega level-up and are epic-ing their faces off at everything moving and it's just become so blasé at this point. The Akatsuki arc has a promising start, but loses traction very early and just spins it's wheels until Naruto shows up to pummel it to dust, with kindness. Sigh. Technically it lasts until the end, but nobody really thought of the ending as Naruto vs Akatsuki, did they? Thought so.

Also, how many training arcs are there? Man, Naruto stood on its own legs for a while, and then went complete Dragon ball with the characters' developments.

The final pairings are also a complete joke in some aspects. Sasuke and Sakura being married has to be the most abusive relationship ever. I'm okay with Kakashi being named Hokage, even if it didn't seem like a role he'd ever want to have. Others are just paired together due to fan demand, which I guess works.

Like many people, I think the series lost its way somewhere after the time-skip (even if the final arc before that was hilariously bad). The battles grew longer, and the characters became caricatures of themselves. The villains became dumber and dumber until the final big bad shows up for a trans-dimensional tour.

Alright, thanks for reading. Want to ask me something or just cuss at me? Hit me up. Ta~

The Naruto series gets alot of bad rep for how it went, especially after the time-skip/pain arc. I however find some people to honestly weigh too heavily on those faults.The debacle after the pain arc isn't really all that bad, especially when read from start to finish. There were some moments that were terrible and there were others that were fantastic.
The story is half decent, though it does have some minor bumps and hiccups that hurt the late game arcs, and over all it really does send a fairly positive message to the readers. I would have given this a 9, but after the war arc it just didn't seem right.
The art is pretty good though it starts to suffer sometime around the war. When kishi works however, he works, and I have too give him cred for his art when he does.
The weakness of Naruto is most present in its characters, which suffer various fates after the time skip. Many characters got thrown to the curb after the time skip, and slowly seemed to disappear. One of the biggest complaints of the war arc is that it didn't properly use its other characters. If you were not the main characters or the villain you were getting almost no screemtime. I never really cared much for the other rookies, so this didn't bother me as much as others.The villains after pain are also pretty annoying. Obito is a 5 villain, Madara is a 7 villain and she who must not be named is a 2. However, when Kishi does use other characters then team 7 and creates good villains, they do some great stuff.
I enjoyed this series greatly and find some of the reviews on here to be a little brash and uncaring, only focusing on negative aspects of the series.This is why I wanted to share my own opinion. Though this story has many cliche shounen characteristics, it honestly doesn't ruin the story all that much, what really hurts the show is the characters and the nasty late game story arcs. I would have given this a 6 in all honesty if the series had ended at chapter 690, but it gets in 7 for a great ending(at least for me.)
All in all, Naruto is a good series that has some wasted potential, some great shit and some poor to fantastic characters. I would really recommend it, but if you don't like the time skip, then you should stop there or cut to the last chapter.

Naruto Review (warning: contain some spoilers)

I still remember the time I first encounter when it was airing back on cartoon network. I was 5 then and I had no idea what anime was at the time. When I first started watching naruto, it completely blew my 5 year old mind. It had everything I wanted as a 5 year old. Action, adventure, drama, demons, ninjas, Naruto had it all. However, I am no longe 5 years old. My tastes in anime/manga have considerably change over the years and my interests have dwindle over the past few 300 or so chapters. Now that the series have ended, I want to at least leave my final thoughts since this was a big part of my childhood.

Story

Naruto starts off big and epic, but become more cliched and contrived as it drags on. Here’s a brief overlook of the major arcs. If you want to know about any specifics, leave a comment on my profile page.

Wave Country: In this arc, we get to learn a bit more about our main characters. Its also the arc we learn about the basics of the Ninja Villages and how cruel the strong can be to the weak.It also featured Haku and Zabuza, 2 relatively interesting villains, who don’t ecome allies or recurring opponents, which is a nice change from the usual shonen anime. It also have some good drama and twists to keep you invested. Overall, a good arc. Score: 8

Chuunin exams: This arc introduce us to the secondary cast. It also shows us the secondary villages and how frail the peace is between them. There is also a conspiracy that threatens the village, which lead to a major character death. there’s are a lot of minor battles that don’t affect the plot that much, but does a good job of fleshing out the secondary characters. The only gist with this arc is that it drags on for a bit too long, but other than that, another good arc. Score: 7

Sasuke retrieval: In this arc, we get to know more about the Uchiha and their demise. Sasuke goes rogue and out protagonists try get him back. There are some interesting info concerning the Akatsuki, but other than that its pretty boring. This arc last too long for its own good. And the new villains, the Akatsuki, are not dealt with and the secondary villains, the 5 Sounds, weren’t very interesting villains. Rather dry in comparison with the previous arcs. Score: 5

After a 3 year timeskip…..

Garra Retrieval: In this arc, we are reintroduced to our characters, now older, as they go out to rescue an old rival. This arc did fleshed out the sand village a bit more. However, the plot drags on too long and there isn’t that much to talk about this arc. The objective is pretty much the same as the last arc and there aren’t any major deaths. Score: 5

Introduction to Sai: In this arc, they introduced a new character into Naruto’s Team named Sai. Nothing much happens in this arc and Sai is a pretty boring character. Score:3

Azuma Avenge: In this arc we get to see Naruto learning a new improved rasengan and an important character needs to be avenged. It was nice how they fleshed out Shikamaru and team 10. But other than that, not too much to say about this arc. Score: 6

Pein Attack: This is where I think Naruto started to fall apart. The leader of the Akatsuki invades the Leaf and kills a bunch of people. Naruto beat villain and he resurrects everyone. Good job ruining all the drama for the entire arc. And also we learn that Naruto is the bloody messiha and that he will be humanity salvation. God damn it Naruto, this isn’t the bible. In the beginning, we were suppose to believe that Naruto got to where he is by his own strength, not some stupid prophecy. If Naruto remained a normal bloke and the people remain dead, this could of been a great finale. Guess I expected too much. Score: 4

Danzo Assassination: Sasuke finds out that some more people were involved of the killing of the Uchiha and set out kill people. Then he kills people….. thats it. Pretty much nothing else happens other than that. Score: 3

The 3rd ninja war: This is where Naruto completely fall apart. First of all, this ridiculously long war that drags out way too long. There are too many minor battles and flashbacks that don’t anything to the main plot. And the war doesn’t even feel like a war. It more like a bunch of skirmishes that are loosely tied together. And basically only one major character died in this huge war that lasted like 200 chapters. The villains for this arc are Obito, Madara, and Kagura. Obito is a lame villain and his motive basically boiled to him destroying the world because he got friendzoned. Mardara is a fun villain even though he is obviously one dimensional, he has enough camp to keep you entertained. Kagura is, though, a boring villain. He powers are pretty boring and lame. Teleporting portal holes in a universe where almost everyone can teleport? Really? Other dimensions? When did Naruto become Dr.Who? The conclusion is forced and pretty unnecessary if you think about it. Pretty bad arc. Score:2
Overall, story gets a 3.


Characters:

This manga has 2 main character. One of them is Naruto. He’s mostly your stereotypical shonen protagonist who “wants to be the best” and when he faces enemies, he throws out cheesy friendship speeches. At first I like him for his character motivation. He suppose to be an outcast and tries to gain acceptance from his peers, a motive anyone can relate to. But then halfway through, his character motive changed from being hokage to saving Sasuke, which makes less sense the more I think about how Naruto only knew him for a few weeks. And then he becomes the bloody messiah which is total BS. In the end, he degrade into another “chosen one” stereotype.

Sasuke is the other main character. He’s mostly a duck head, emo brute who like want to get to get revenge on his evil big brother and killing people…. a lot of people. At first it was ok since he had reasons for being dick he was since he did experience a mass genocide of his own clan by his own brother. But after a while it get quite tiresome and his character get stagnate after a while. And he is still being a bruting emo even after the war end and all the bad guys are dead. Sasuke, lay off all the revenge crap already and get a life.

The rest of the cast is a rather mixed bag. Some characters are really cool and interesting like Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Shikamaru. Others have almost complete rehashes of other characters like Sai and Obito. And others seems to have been victimised by the Piccolo effect and become mostly background characters (approximately half the secondary characters like .For the most part is mostly your standard shonen cast.

Artwork:

The artwork in Naruto is good to say the least. Its doesn’t have the attention to detail like Berserk, were every single detail can be seen, but its still good for a battle shonen. There is a lot of emphasis on making it look cool and unique, from the villages to the handsigns. The battles are nice and tactful since they implied basic tactics, well, for the most part. The problem mostly comes in the latter part in the series where try to make it look “flashy”. It degrade the battles into who could shoot the larger lazerbeam or bigger explosion.

Conclusion
Naruto is a shounen battle series that sometimes break the mold, but sadly falls apart like most other series. Its not a bad shonen by any extent, but it sure not a great one like many people claim.

Scores:
Story:3 ( starts out great but falls apart and become a total trainwreck)
Characters:5 ( mostly your typical shonen cast)
Art: 7( good but nothing impressive)
Enjoyment: 5 ( starts out loving it, but my interest diminished over time)
Score: 4/10
Recommendations:

FMA, Soul Eater, HxH, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho

I really love this manga/anime it is a really awesome series
pros
very great art work and detail
great storyline
very great plot

cons
it drags along
can be prevy but most manga/anime is (lol)

over all its really your choice to read it my friends think its really not all that great it all depends on if your into ninja/jutsu manga and if you are you should totally read it!

The story is at an alright level. It starts out with some basic humor to capture your attention and keep you reading. The idea of a demon vessel that dreams of one day becoming the village leader. Going through different missions, suffering from a traumatic childhood, betrayal, action, drama, humor, and adventure all thrown in. It sounds decent no, but not really.

Its more episodic in manga form. Parts of the story (side stories) were unnessacary, and took away from the main story. But it still manage to capture some interest so I continued. A little bit over after Naruto had turned older and went after Gaara, it started to loose its edge. Until finally it just became complete migrane to me, a few times I had to stop reading and force myself back into it. Sure the idea is good but the development of it just looses itself after awhile.

The art now. I have to say the mangaka's art was actually quite descent and fair to the story. It should fantastic detailing, a few that may need to be improved but good none the less. The scenary was alright in a beautiful way, though the character's images, sometimes it seemed they seemed a bit crossed eyed, marks a tad bit slanted, etc. But their bodies were actually good. I wouldn't put too much into the character as the background though. The backround though beautiful in its own right, didn't seemed as focused on as the character's were. Wether the mangaka wanted you to pay more attention to the characters rather then the background, I do not know. But I have to say it could do with a few minor improvements.

Now time for the characters. I already complaned about the art, now their development. I have to say it wasn't as good as I would have hoped it to be. I found the character's development a bit jagged, boring, and poorly done once again. Half the time I zoned out in what they were saying while reading, okay a long story telled past becoming boring when a character tells it, not good at all.

If it isn't the story, characters, or art for me, then it is the plan humor in it. Though I found it a bit unlogic at times, the humor was great and provided me with a good few laughs. So my enjoyment of it was quite high over the others.

Overall I would have to give it a six. The story may loose its edge farther along, lacking logic, and poorly written. But its fair to say it can proved good enjoyment occationly.

An abysmal horror. Been reading Naruto since I was a kid. Near the end the story went down the toilet and everything sucked but I felt an obligation to the manga because of nostalgia. The ending was the worst and brings me pain even to think about it. There really was no resolution to the core conflict. As the story progressed the characters became less likable and diluted. And the whole "new generation" characters of Naruto are even more diluted than their parents.

Still, I rated the art pretty high. When Masashi Kishimoto started out, his illustrations held a lot of emotion and love. Every time I went to read the Zabuza arc, I ended up crying when Haku died. Of course near the end, the art started to deteriorate (but I admit there were some very moving scenes). I felt that near the end of the series, Kishimoto was totally fed up with Naruto and wanted to end it as quickly as possible, leaving very large plot holes all over the place. And with his love of the series gone, the story became stale. Of course this sort of thing would happen after having to work on the same story for 15 years. There was probably 3% planning going in to the last arc of the manga. Also why did everyone get ugly.

I joined this site to vent on the fact that this is the touchstone of american fandom that I have available to me in real life. I have arguments with people born during the Carter administration about this series. I don't like that.

Want to be a fan of any Japanese comics or cartoons? Want to let people know that you are someone they can share that interest with? You are stuck with Naruto. It is the "vanilla" of the Neapolitan ice cream of the "big three" battle manga that have ruled jump in the post-dragonball era.

It has ninjas in it. And hadokens. And ramen! Oh em gee, that's so Japanese! Right everybody?

My girlfriend's fujoshi roommate loves it. The gutterpunk on his way to the Rainbow Gathering loves it, if only because he thinks he is totally getting to me, man. Like most people who read it- and don't really have any intention of diving into Manga or comics at all- he probably thinks somewhere there is a cool person (probably of the opposite sex) he can impress by having some enthusiasm for it.

But in a way, I am no better.

I hate this comic! I hate it for all the generic reasons I could parrot at you that I am supposed to hate it. I am a One Piece fanboy. I wait for jump to come out every week so I can read that and Beelzebub. I naturally love Hunter X Hunter, too. I am the shonen-reading adult male american snob stereotype, excluding everything that is naturally accessible to normal westerners, to young children.

I read Naruto just about every week, too. It isn't really more than a couple minutes out of my day, killing time; and then I can try and have a conversation later with all the people who show some little smidgen of interest in what interests me. Whom actually exist; at my job, at the mall, at the places in real life there are other people I am allowed to smalltalk at. Unlike all the things I "actually" like; all by myself, in my BBS-reinforced ivory tower.

If you are a curmudgeon of any kind, you will probably eventually dislike this series if you become familiar enough with it. If you have ever had the urge to say: "I'm getting too old for this crap." Well, that will apply here in spades. If you are a "hater"- this is a good series for you. To hate.

You might like it if you think DBZ is better than the earlier part of Dragonball where Goku is a little kid- no, not that part; the other part where he is a little kid. If you are a (romantically maladjusted) grown woman who reads (into) comics as "erotic entertainment", you already know you like Naruto. Shame on you for it. If you think Chipotle is "authentic", if you don't know who Edward Said is or why I am mentioning him here, if you think professional wrestling is real, if you like Evanescence or System of a Down, if you are reading this through a time machine from ten years ago, somewhere in the culturally deprived breadbasket of the USA: Naruto might be a good fit for you.

Oh well, it beats making smalltalk about football when I lost the ability to care about that entirely 15 years ago, or sports in general, or celebrity news. Keep on truckin', Kishi.

Lot's of people have already done a review on naruto, and i have noticed that more than half of them said it's bad! In my point of view naruto has an amazing plot, great characters and it's very well drawn! It's one of the manga's that you will never expect what would happen next! Everyone in the series is there for a reason (exception:tenten) and you'll find out in the middle of the series how the characters have these strong relations to each other! In the begining the story moves quite slow but after a few chapters you won't be able to stop reading!!! You can not live your life without reading naruto! even people who don't like it keep reading it! if you like anime and manga it is a MUST!
I advise you to read the manga because i find that the anime has too many episodes which have nothing to with the series.. *If you don't like long mangas i mean longuer than 100 chapters then this is not the manga for you >.

(May contain Spoilers) ----- IF Review is too long, skip to 'TLDR' at the bottom.



Naruto one of the legendary BIG 3 of it's era ( one piece, bleach, naruto), obviously with better shounens such as kuroko no basuke, magi, jojo's bizzare adventures , attack on titan, akame ga kill etc;

The KINGS of shounen weekly were soon to be surpassed with really 'One Piece' posing any real competition within the market. However, Naruto has definitely influenced millions of people globally and is arguably one of if not the most popular western shounen anime/manga in the history of it's conception. Which opened large windows of exposure for the anime/manga industry in general.

Regardless of this fact, my criteria for what is good and bad follows the CORE PHILOSOPHY that must always be pursued when undergoing any objective analysis of any form of media as a GOLDEN RULE. This is:

Popularity != Quality

If this rule did not apply, than by any logical standard Justin bieber would be considered one of the best artist's in the world. This obviously will never be true to anyone with ears but the example is there to establish my point as a CORE foundation within my criteria for analysis over any form media.

With that said, Naruto stems from the world of shounen orchestrated by the era of >>Yu Yu Hakusho >> hxh >>DBZ >> Naruto. (Big 3 ).

The predefined parameters that exist within each of these manga are ;

Protagonist has goal ( hokage) >>> meets motivator ( rivalry) >>>(sasuke )>>> ( sole purpose of this device is to establish power levels and strength disparity) >>> meets antagonist ( OP ) >>> Protagonist gets the dog shit beaten out of him with the first couple of confrontations>>> enters 'tsuyoku naritai' phase ( I want to get stronger) >>>> Gains new ability ( usually out of the ass i.e deus ex machina) >>> Protagonist beats antagonist >>> end of arc.

This is essentially the bread and butter of naruto except with a lot more plot holes, poor character development and execution.

Now because I do not want this review to exceed more than 500,000 words listing and going in depth about each contradiction within this series, I'll instead underline the major flaws within this manga.

1: Power levels within relation to context and timing
2: Lack of character development
3: And poor plot


Eg; This example ties in to both the 1st and 3rd flaw and we don't have to look too far for one, THE FIRST CHAPTER! Here the plot establishes Naruto as kid that isn't all that bright seeing as he has failed his graduation from the ninja academy due to not being able to perform the -- (bunshin no jutsu /clone technique) accurately as a final test , thus not able to receive the head band which signifies that 'x' student has finally become a shinobi .

He has also experienced large psychological and emotional scars from the village due to the obvious reason of a 9 tailed demon fox sealed within him. He is so psychologically fuked, that he hungers for attention and acknowledgement for his abilities that he's taken a habit of pranking the entire village to satisfy his craving.

After failing the graduation a 3rd time in a row, he is confronted with a known 'sensei' who asks him to steal a forbidden scroll in compensation for a graduation head band (obvious lie as he plans to take the scroll and kill naruto) . BUT
NOT ONLY does Naruto steal the scroll, he self teaches himself an advanced version of the technique he repetitively failed at executing >>> (kage-bunshin no jutsu / shadow clone jutsu) >>> due to the vast amount of 'chakra' ( energy) consumption this technique utilises it was written of as forbidden. However this kid not only manages to SELF TEACH himself the technique, he is able to replicate at least 50 within his first execution. ( I assume due to Naruto having an innate amount of chakra + Kyuubi (nine tails).

Now 2 things can be derived from this, either the teachers at the academy were dog shit and naruto is a ninja genius god OR Kishimotto is shit at constructing proper power levels. I'll side with the latter.

As we progress throughout the series, there is further evidence to suggest that I'm right! Why? Naruto wants to learn new techniques !? So instead of going back and self teaching himself 30 other techniques >> the story follows 100+ ch of him finding a perverted sage ( jiriya) who teaches him 2 techniques i.e(summoning tech and resengan)...


THIS example should spell that this series isn't built to last plot-wise . >> ( 1,3 flaw)


Now another eg of poor plot and character development is well... the main antagonist, ok so this character makes literally 0 sense and due to the nature of this character and how integral he is to the overall plot... saying one thing would essentially spoil the uhh....'story'....

but ye... to summarise, the main antagonist was pull right out of kishi's ass! PURE BULLSHIT!

To conclude, THIS SERIES IS BAD terrible cliche' plot, a lot of inconsistencies in power levels, death doesn't really mean shit in this universe and relationships between characters are transparent and redundant. I appreciate it's impact on the industry and that it's has made a lot of emotional ties between a large base BUT as a series... it is HORSE SHIT !

3/10



Tldr; Naruto is an overrated piece of garbage due to mediocre characters, terrible plot and inconsistency in character power levels . Unless you know that this manga is really just a makeshift dbz with ninjas DONT READ/WATCH IT!

Naruto had always been a chidhood staple of mine. It was the first anime that introduced me to this whole wide world that all of us here live in now. It was also the first manga that I ever read (due to getting impatient because of the filler). So I guess it's fitting that my first review would also be this one.

Story :
The story as a whole was good, maybe because the pacing wasn't hindered by endless filler as compared to the anime. But I did caught myself skipping several panels as I read through the chapters. This didn't affect my overall experience though as I was still able to follow along the story despite ignoring a few details. That could be good or bad, depending on who you ask, but to the casual reader, I guess it would help out a lot. The latter arcs was big moment after big moment and sometimes that didn't really resonate well with me. But there were some moments that I consider the best in the series.

Art :
The art was good and easy on the eyes. The battles and the flow of the scenes was easy to follow and understand. The art itself improved as the story continued especially the scenery during the battles was quite nice to look at. I don't really have any gripe with Kishimoto's art style as I feel it is quite polished and appropriate for the manga medium.

Characters :
The most developed character by the end of the series is Naruto. As the titular hero of the manga, that wasn't a shock. However, some of my fondest moments in Naruto were among the supporting group of cast. The early chapters were a great showcase of the world of Naruto and getting to know the stories of the other characters felt like we were experiencing a whole world. This sadly diminished as the story progressed, understandibly so, as the story started to highlight Naruto. But it was still disappointing to lose the spotlight on some of the lesser known characters I grew to love.

Enjoyment:
I will admit that most of my experiences watching/reading Naruto was when I was still a kid, so this might be more influenced by rose-colored glasses than anything else in tgis review. I doubt I will ever be able to mimic that experince if I decide to reread the series now. But I don't mind as I will always have an appreciation of Naruto no matter what.

Overall :
Overall the story of Naruto is one of the better stories I had experienced, it might not be everybody's cup of tea. But that is the appeal of manga in my eyes, as there is something for everyone. As my childhood was heavily influenced by Naruto, I have heaped a lot of praise on it. But I am aware it is not perfect. There are some aspects that could have been done differently and perhaps would have helped the story. But, without Naruto, I wouldn't have probably made this review in the first place.

I have read all of Naruto. I won't spoil major plot points. However, I will be talking about characters and certain events that will spoil some moments.

First up: Naruto seemed promising. A likable cast, interesting concepts, general good shounen-ey stuff. I was reading non-stop all the way through the first part of Naruto, before the timeskip. I was really liking most of the character development, like Sakura cutting her hair, Hinata and Neji, other aspects of teamwork and good fun integrated in. Although I did notice that Naruto loses a bit of his relatability early on. He goes from having no friends, no mentor, hating life, to suddenly a guy with multiple friends and a hidden power within him. Typical shounen, I know, but still. Kishimoto tried to play the relatability even when the loneliness was long over. But overall, I give the pre-time skip part a solid 7.5/10.

Then there was the time skip. I was excited to see the changes in characters. Then I realized that Naruto had only gotten marginally stronger over two long ass years. Then within a relatively short period, he gets a tactical nuke which may have to do with a certain spinny chakra ball. And then there the annoying abuse of a certain training technique that only Naruto can use because hidden power plot armor reasons.

Then came the killers; the double S. That's right. Sasuke and Sakura.

I'll deal with Sasuke first. He was good pre time skip. Internal struggle, curse mark thing, flip floppering, good stuff. Then he became Bitch-suke and shunned everyone, tried to kill some of the main cast, flip flopped ideals a few times, more power up shit. But I did appreciate the Sasuke and Itachi fight, especially because I have a brother and we have problems.

And then came the last 1.5 arcs. At this point, this series was a solid 5.5/10. Then the final series of events dropped it to a 2/10.
The thing about Naruto accepting himself never really hit home because he was a really linear and flat character. Sure, he thought about "what if I was bad", and things like that. This could seen as part of character, but that's a fallacy. He only talks about his feelings when the plot dictates, and he always has a stupid Hokage ass smile. Then he got literal cancer powerups. The Raikage moving at light speed? Come on. I know this is shounen, but the fact that Naruto dodges light speed stuff means he would literally be going back in time. And the Wage wof the wix waths. Kill me, this was so stupid. Madara was an exceedingly fleshed out character who brought a lot of power back to the series, bringing it back to a 7/10 for me. Then he was swapped for another ho for no reason other than the fate of the earth and and because it sets up a need for more powerups, and oh yeah, Sasuke, who also changes dreams. Again.

And finally. The moment of truth. Sakura. The worst god damn part of this series. She went from hair-cutting character development to having the stupidest inferiority complex in history. She knew she was weak, but she never did anything to really change the fact or develop her character more thoroughly. Sasuke's gone? I bet my good slav- I mean friend Naruto will help me get him back. Right? Because I'm too damn weak to do anything so instead I'm just gonna cry about it? Exactly. And this stupid crap is repeated, all the way through the time skip. She acts resolute to stand side by side with the literally the two most powerful characters in the series, and then thinks she's weak, when she's literally above Tsunade. Okay. That makes so much sense it makes my brain hurt.

I liked the first part. I really did, but Naruto crashed and burned pathetically later on. Sure, its popular, but popularity does not always equate to quality. There are people who rave about how good SAO is, but SAO is even worse than Naruto, and everyone has heard of SAO. That pretty sums it up, all of the power-ups, "development", and "deep struggle". Honestly, the fact that it is so popular just contributes to how NOT good it is. I see people cry tears of joy about the fantastic character development, when literally other manga have ten times the character development for one person compared to almost the entire cast of Naruto. cough cough Kaneki cough cough

But I will up the series to a 3 for Rock Lee, Gaara and Neji. They were undoubtedly the best characters in the series, plus madara without his demise.

In many ways this is the Dragonball Z of another generation. I have a hate-love relationship with this series, mainly because I was introduced to it when I first started getting into manga/anime.

Sadly, I hate it now however because like so many shonen manga, the story line is not only predictable, but each of the characters have powered up so much that the battles are beyond believable. What made it such an awesome series in the beginning was that battles were fought using tricks and strategy like "real" ninja, but now it is nothing but super huge energy blasts.

I hope it ends soon so I can finally have some closure on this part of my childhood.

Naruto is a work that creates a lot of hysteria both ways due to its popularity. Whether people like or dislike it, they all feel compelled to talk about it. While I think a lot of people can come to the casual, and really accurate conclusion, that the manga started out as a much more fun work than it has come to be, I do not think a lot of people understand exactly why, which is what I want to address. Some spoilers of course, since I cannot really talk about the problems of this manga without talking about Pain.

I felt like this was an 8/10 manga at the start (add in the 4/10 it has been for the last 200 chapters, and a 4/10). While there were MOUNDS of angst, a fairly typical "training arc" layout, and a fairly typical foundation for the type of cool characters (ninjas), there were a lot of positive factors that more than made up for any of those problems. Kakashi taunting his students with his erotic book and the exaggerated responses that come in return (ch.5 p.5) are a good example of the fun spirited nature at the beginning of this work. The aspiration that was evident for Naruto helped keep the story very lighthearted despite Naruto being a brat, Sasuke being a grim angsty boy, and Sakura being a typically feckless cling-on girl character. When you replace that aspiration with "I have to save my friends! Everything is so terrible!", the manga loses a certain amount of its fun spiritedness, and I think the people involved with making this never really thought that out properly.

Now I am not saying the start was perfect, for instance the lack of backgrounds all over the place (just look at say practically any page in chapter 23), but the side characters all have real personalities, the powers are mostly very well thought out, and the battle action is very cool indeed. Things that were lost in the anime like how striking Naruto looks when the nine-tails starts taking control are completely impressive and one of the reasons that reading this manga was so fun. The tournament was completely mainline shounen battle manga fun, and while it is not the most original storyline or even action ever, it was just as fun as any of those has ever been, a definite high point for the manga. There are certainly still good storylines and fights afterward, for instance I would say the puppet master fight is a relative high point, but a lot of problems started to become endemic.

I think it is pretty obvious that a lot of the reasons for the changes in Narutos were the trappings of its immense popularity. With pressure and popularity comes a need to make every character cooler, to appeal to broader audiences, and to simplify plot aspects. In this case it is also pretty evident that there became a real sense of needing to be taken seriously, so we get to slog through a lot of grim angst rather than fun spirited adventure or expressiveness, and it has been that way for something around 200 chapters. While there certainly are works that are grim and work, the people involved in Naruto unfortunately do not have the aptitude to write that sort of dialogue or draw that sort of art. As the villains had to become more powerful and the plot "more epic", the art simplified in shading and character forms, which has been a big disappointment for me. The overall construction of arcs weakened too, and the humor has been just basically completely lost (with the Bee and Naruto's interactions being a great example of just terribly executed gags).

None of the above was really enough of a breaking point for me to stop reading the manga, but Pain was. When you implement a plot copout like killing off a large portion of the characters that we are supposed to care about and then revive all of them, you have cheapened the plot in a way that a work can never really recover from. Pain's transformation to senseless hate to incredible generosity happens in such a short span of time that it is not really very compelling anyway. Even then I picked the manga back up, but what was enough to drop it for good was the recent spate of grim faced unhappiness (personified by Sai), overbold art style (a la Bleach too much ink), or bad attempts at introducing mind game oneupmanship (Danzou) wearing on me to the point that this manga just was not a fun read anymore. It has lost all the fun, and if you are attached enough to the characters then I guess it might still be worth a read, but I would honestly recommend that the end of the fights with Orochimaru is probably the best place to drop this manga if you start to feel like you have had enough. Feel free to stick with Naruto and Sakura trying to prove how adult they are while sobbing about Sasuke a lot though.