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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
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