Naruto

Naruto is a hit and miss with some people. You can hate or appreciate; that's how it works. Most people say that Naruto is a pretty bad anime, and in reality, it's not. While there are obvious shortcomings and issues, there are also some really good parts in this anime that probably anyone would enjoy. Of course, what is Naruto, really? Well, it's a story about a boy named Uzumaki Naruto, whose dream is to become the Hokage, or, top ninja. This is an incredible feat, of course, and only some one extraordinary could achieve such a feat. However, he is different. Naruto's path is (andwill) be very difficult, since an incident many years ago left him with a demon, the Kyuubi, sealed inside his body. The Kyuubi is a beast with exceptional power that nearly destroyed the Village of Konohagure, Naruto's village. His village disgraces him for his powers not because of the boy himself, but out of fear that the power will return one day. Naruto wants to prove the villagers wrong and become Hokage, and protect them. He will, of course, need special training in order to become so, and also the necessary training that all ninja trainees get in order to succeed. Will he? You will just have to watch. Now, what do I think about Naruto? Well, being a USA resident, I was first subjected to the dubbed version all those years ago. I had read The Shonen Jump pilot manga years ago, and with technology not being as advanced as now, watching subbed episodes without importing and learning Japanese was impossible, so I was subjected to watching the dubbed episodes. Of course, being a longtime anime fan, I was not impressed, compared to other anime's that I had watched prior (that were dubbed). My luck changed eventually, and subbing groups were formed and I had gotten what I wanted. The original, un-edited content and blood that the cut-dry dubbed version did not have. Alas, my opinion changed. I was left satisfied and it exceeded my expectations. Now, now. Naruto is not the greatest anime that I've ever seen. However, it does not suck. The character development goes at the speed you would expect it to, and Naruto does leave behind characters that you will remember (and ones that you will want to forget -- Sasuke, anyone?) The animation, amongst other things, is good, and battles in-depth (although it might take some time for the characters to move.. just to waste time, really). Now, the last part comes up to you. Naruto, like I said before, is a hit-or-miss. You either fall in love with the concept, or you hate it to the core. Personally, I don't. I like the ninja action and the plot development. You may not. That's the point - Naruto is what you make of it. It may be the best thing you ever see, or the worst. Now all you need to do is find out for yourself.

I began to browse through the reviews of Naruto, and realized something was horribly wrong. All the experienced anime watchers were giving it crappy reviews, and all the first-timers were giving it rave reviews, with reasons that every anime has to back them up. How could this be? Gee, I wonder. For some strange reason, Naruto has become the most popular and well-known anime series ever, and as such, it is usually the first anime seen by anime watchers alike. Why this is, I don't know. Maybe it appeals to a wide variety of young teenagers... When I was 13 years old, I remember watching andloving this anime. I had never seen any other anime shows, and I thought the concept was original and amazing. When I found out that others animes literally had all that Naruto had plus a lot more, I was... bored with all the fillers. At the time the anime was great, but it really does get old. Then again, the anime is not absolutely horrible. It has the essentials, with a somewhat unique story and art style. The characters are cliche, and enjoyment is there but short and sweet. What I truly love about Naruto is the great soundtrack. It seems that all the OP and ED are just fabulous, and the music just fits within the series. I would have liked a bit of a change over the course of the show, but hey, it almost never happens. All in all, it was a good show. Just good. So basically: Shame on those people who watch 10 episodes and immediately come here and write a review. Also shame on people who give this show all 1's because everyone else loves it. It's OK, but ive definitely seen better.

Naruto, yes Naruto. One of the series that has defined the cultural shonen’s of the last generation in the history of anime. This is a series that has changed significantly over the past decade. What I love bout naruto is the whole “Ninja aspect” of the show. Every technique had substance, quality and all of the training arcs really shown the defining elements of how ninjutsu worked within the naruto universe. These qualities are something I will soon not forget. I know alot of people complain about naruto being a half ass wit that can’t do nothing Or perhaps sakura being useless. But in awayI look at the series as being a little different, especially in the developing of characters. Kishimoto did not intend to create the story with a “bad ass” character right from the start, toppling villains one after the other, no. Naruto was set up in a way that much resembles an ordinary life and the tribulations and tests you must go through. Death is at every corner and naruto is a kid that is trying to fit in with the rest of the shinobi and be "recognized" I think that was one of the main defining elements of the original series. Kishi wanted to show here is a character that no one likes because he has a living breathing monster inside of him. You can only wonder what he is thinking, being in his predicament. Watching him grow up as a monster and trying to be known as a famous shinobi and protect his friends, but realizing that he is in a world fraught with danger at every corner. Watching his friends die before him or getting hurt. The degree of emotion in the series was something I really enjoyed. It was really powerful. I remember hearing people spout nonsense in the discussions boards "omg to much drama, get on with the fighting already" But I actually liked how naruto had that drama, it fit in with the entire theme of the series. It kind of brings a whole different realism to the show compared to other shonen series. I won’t state any names. One of the things that kishi really focused on in the original was friendship, and bonds. Thats one of the major theme's watching this team 7 grow up together, learning from kakashi and becoming great ninja in the process, learning the ways of the ninja world. This show explores themes of revenge, hate, bonds and sorrow to a very astounding degree. The characters in this series were in every sense of the word children, growing up in a world full of adults that were much more talented ninja's both skills and combat. That is not to say the show was made for children. Just that kishi wanted to show the younger generation as the main characters of the show and the older generation as the training shinobi. They had to learn the ropes of what being a ninja is like. After their pre training sessions, they were finally put to the test of just how grueling the world is and how they must use every ounce of there being to survive and also protect the people they love. 10 years ago people viewed naruto very different to how people view it today. I still consider naruto to be one of my favorite quality anime series, regardless of where it’s going. Perhaps maybe its because im very infatuated with ninja's and like the unique way that kishi has created this ninja world. Similar to how i really love pirates in the one piece world. Every arc is something new and fresh so kishi can develop on that and expand upon the show in various different ways. One piece had some of the greatest character back stories and cast I’ve seen in a series, but it did suffer from story progression a bit thankfully naruto does not. It has a pretty solid pace and some of the most ground breaking plot twists. I guess it’s all a matter of personal preference and what you like to see in a show. I my self im not a huge fan of typical shonene tropes that are used consistently, but i love how the original series gave us a much more powerful emotional impact to the show. In away it felt more humanized as apposed to the more generic super power elements of shipuuden.

I'm sure most, if not all, the people who end up reading this review have seen Naruto before and those who haven't are probably put off by the pure unadulterated hatred this and the more recent Shippuuden garner. Okay, I guess "unadulterated" is a strong word but I digress.. In any case, before starting this review I want to point out that I haven't read the manga so I'm unsure as to what was or wasn't changed during the process of animating this story and I guess it's time to get the show on the road. *Also, let it be known that the infamous "Filler Arc"is not part of this review. Naruto is the story of a group of rookie ninja from Konoha (Leaf) Village, with particular focus on our title character Naruto Uzumaki and his two friends Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. The story starts soon after the three of them graduate from there Ninja Academy and are put under the care of Kakashi Hatake who, for the most part, takes on the standard role of the "mentor" who teaches them the value of teamwork and all that jazz. The main characters can apparently be hit or miss, though I liked them for the most part. Naruto himself seems to follow in the footsteps of Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise, though I personally don't consider him anywhere near as dense and also don't consider him an "idiot" like most people tend to. Sakura seems to get the most flack from my experience because, for the most part she plays the "useless female" role. The thing is, she herself realizes that and actively tries to change herself which makes for some interesting scenes down the road. Sasuke is probably the most intriguing of the main characters, simply because he himself admits that he is only training to "kill a certain man" and he and Naruto clash quite a few times over their belief systems, particularly in the oh so excellent final arc. As far as Kakashi, there isn't a whole lot to say as he reveals very few nuggets of information about himself. He's a cool guy, but he's very much a supporting character during this series. But, to be honest, the thing that Naruto can be proud of is the excellent cast of supporting characters. From the intelligent, yet lethargic Shikamaru to the Bruce Lee wanna be Rock Lee it's pretty cool to see all these different characters, who usually have a very interesting and unique fighting style, clash with one another. It also should be mentioned that a certain villain, Orochimaru, who appears rather frequently is a scene stealer and takes part in some of the more memorable moments of this series. It's also when he appears that the show really takes off and gets interesting, as he is the instigator of some of the biggest plot points. His personality and his willingness to use any and all means to further himself and his power is interesting and very often disturbing. One thing that is important throughout the series is the running theme of revenge and human relations. Every one, from Gaara to Sasuke to Naruto himself has had some sort of bad experience during their childhood and it seems as though "friendship overcoming tragedy" is maybe the predominate theme throughout the show. Now this series being a shounen, it's obvious it has pacing flaws here and there. For example, many of the fight scenes are dragged out to an annoying degree. And this is very apparent in the first arc when the characters go through two separate fight scenes that both take at the very least three or four episodes each, which isn't a huge problem if you marathon the series like I did. But, it still deserves mentioning as it is annoying. The plus side is that most fight scenes, particularly during the Chuunin Exam arc and beyond, are very well animated and just overall well done. The aforementioned Shikamaru for example has some of the more noteworthy scenes because he uses his head, instead of any physical abilities, and his fight scenes are always damn good fun. But, this also highlights one of the issues I do have with the fight scenes and, even though this is a problem with shounen action anime in general, it's especially bothersome here. The characters have a habit of explaining everything they do to their enemy which would be time better spent actually defeating your opponent rather than telling them your skills. I know it's just so the mangaka can flex his thought process and the logic behind the attacks to the viewer but..it's still kind of tiresome and could certainly be implemented better. I think the music bears mentioning as I thought it was either great, such as most of the music used during the dramatic scenes and some battle scenes, or forgettable, which is pretty much the rest of the fight scene music. The Japanese voice actors did a great job imo, especially during some of the more serious scenes. But, I especially got to shout out to the multiple voices for Orochimaru. Of which almost all of them are suitably creepy and, even though they sound different, they still manage to pull off the basic speech patterns. In Summary: Story: 7 It takes a while for things to really get going, but once it does you'll notice it. Unfortunately for some, the pacing can sometimes be broken by the short training arcs which are actually pretty entertaining and in many cases are segued in nicely with the story arcs. Also, there is only one short filler arc throughout the first 135 episodes. Art: 8 First off, it should be apparent from our protagonists conspicuous appearance that, in many ways these guys are ninjas in name only. Still, the appearances of the characters throughout the series are so varied that I, at the very least, didn't care. Animation does take a dip occasionally, however. Sound: 8 Orochimaru is a plus, no doubt about that. And most of the other cast members have good voice acting, though Rock Lee's can sometimes be grating.. The music is pretty good, though occasionally generic. Character: 8 Depending on how you take to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura this could be your favorite part of the series, which is the case for me, or your least favorite, and probably game breaking, aspect of the series as it does depend upon these three for the vast majority of the story . But, I'm sure most people will like the supporting characters as almost all of them are developed to a satisfying degree. Unfortunately, all of them fit the tragic past stereotype so...your mileage may vary. You may want to avoid this series if you aren't a fan of melodrama. Enjoyment: 9 Hell yeah, I enjoyed this series. I won't lie, I loved this series. But, it certainly isn't for everyone and I can understand quite a few people being frustrated by this shows some times slow, often times fast pacing and some of the more dragged out arcs even frustrated me at times. Also, as I said before, enjoyment largely hinges on whether or not you take to the three main characters or not. Overall: 8 To sum it up, don't go into Naruto expecting to see the tightest script ever written or anything thought provoking. Just go into it for a fun time and, maybe, you'll be surprised by the well developed characters like I was. Make no mistake, Naruto was a great experience for me..especially because I went into the series expecting it to be terrible and, by the time I realized it wasn't, I was enjoying the ride. *If you want to make any sort of comment, just drop by my profile. Criticism is welcome as this is my first review in quite a while and I went with a different style than I have in the past. Thanks for reading this review, I hope it helps anyone interested in this series.

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