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Long ago, there was a nine-tailed Demon Fox who was so powerful that one swing of his tail could cause mountains to crumble and tidal waves to form. To fight this Demon, the shinobis were formed. Finally, after a long and hard battle, the Demon was defeated by a shinobi, the Fourth Hokage, who sacrificed his life to do so.

Naruto is an orphaned delinquent who strives to be acknowledged by his village as the greatest ninja- to become a Hokage, but he’s already failed his final exam at the Ninja Academy twice! He has no friends and everyone in the village seems to hate him. Presumably, it is because he is a troublemaker, but the truth is that the Demon Fox was sealed within Naruto. The adults who were witnesses to the great battle with the Demon Fox hate Naruto for the destruction and deaths it caused, but were sworn not to let him find out that the Demon Fox is sealed inside of him.

Naruto fails to graduate once again, and while he is depressed, Mizuki-sensei (teacher Mizuki) tells him of a way to graduate. Mizuki-sensei advises him to steal the "Scroll of Seals," and if he learns a few techniques from it, then Iruka-sensei (Naruto’s teacher) will surely let him graduate! The villagers find out Naruto has stolen the sacred scroll that contains many forbidden techniques, and, afraid that there might be something in it to release the Demon Fox, goes out on a frenzied search for him. Iruka-sensei finds Naruto and finds out that Mizuki is the one who really wants the scroll for his own evil purposes.

Mizuki will kill anyone to get the scroll but fortunately, Naruto managed to master a technique from the scroll with which he defeats the teacher. (I hope I’m not spoiling the story too much for everyone. ^_^; this is just a basic summary of the first chapter!) When Iruka sees Naruto perform this higher-level Jutsu (technique), he lets the boy graduate.

Soon, Naruto is partnered up with Sakura, the crush who hates him, and Sasuke, who Sakura (and many other girls!) likes. The road to becoming a Hokage is long and Naruto is faced with many difficulties he must surpass to become a great ninja. As the story unfolds, Naruto goes on many adventures with Sasuke, Sakura and their teacher, Kakashi, and becomes a better person in the process.

The overall art of the Naruto manga is fantastic. The fight scenes are drawn very well, but sometimes the people look strange and it becomes hard to tell where the scenery ends and the people begin. The story is carefully planned to keep the reader wanting to read more. You get to learn more about the characters and new techniques and new characters are always being introduced as the story goes on. The characters were, for the most part, likable. While I sometimes found Naruto to be a bit arrogant and annoying, he is a very funny and pure-hearted character. The fantasy world in which Naruto is set in is very interesting, with different villages and countries that each have their own ninjas. The story is very imaginative and fun.

As for the anime, the animation is great, making the movements look crisp and smooth. The music was strange to me at first, but I grew to like it (or at least tolerate it) after a few episodes. The beginning sounds like some old rock song and is a bit boring. The ending is all in English and a bit strange and sad. The background music fits the scenes well and sets the right mood. The voice actors are great and sound just like how you would expect the characters to. They put a lot of emotion into the characters so the characters become more realistic.

Naruto, the manga, is by Kishimoto Masashi and published by Shueisha, where it runs in the weekly-serialized manga magazine, Weekly Jump. The anime first went on air on October 3, 2002. The animation is done by Studio Pierrot and aired on TV Tokyo every Thursday at 6:30pm. For now, the manga is licensed by Viz and runs in the monthly English Shonen Jump, starting from the second (Febuary 2003) issue.

Links:
Viz’s Shonen Jump’s Naruto page

Weekly Jump’s official Naruto website

Studio Pierrot’s official page

A comprehensive fan site on Naruto