Naruto- MC

Second review of the day!

This time I’m reviewing the very popular NARUTO series, arguably one of the most famous series to make it to the West since... I don’t know... Astro Boy and Pokemon xD

NARUTO follows the story of a young boy ninja from one of the larger Ninja villages (Konoha) in some indefinable point of japanese history when Japan was divided into different nations but ninjas wore bright colours and watched TV.

Basically, the setting is an anything-goes fantasy which opens with a short history lesson. Konoha was attacked in it’s past by a demon fox which had laid waste to mountains and countries in its time. All the ninjas of Konoha were called to fight it with little hope, but then the young village leader managed to seal the spirit in a newborn child.

This child is the titled character, Naruto, and when the series starts he’s shown as an orphan delinquent, hated by everyone else in the village and with no regard for the rules. He can’t do any of the ninja techniques (which are a bit like magic...) and the only person with any control over him is his teacher.

When his teacher shows him a little kindness (buying him a meal and sitting with him) Naruto declares his ambition is to lead the village. This is the goal that drives him through most of the series.

The next day, however, he fails to graduate from school (on his third try) and faces open hostility from the villagers for having tried to take the test in the first place. When one of the older Ninjas offers him a way out... by stealing a forbidden technique from the village leader.

When his teacher (Iruka) finds him in the woods, Naruto proudly shows him one of the techniques that he has trained hard to learn, and Iruka realises that he was tricked into stealing the scroll. The older ninja tries to steal the scroll for his own gain but together Iruka and Naruto capture and arrest him.

But not before Naruto is told that the demon fox was sealed inside him, and the reason he is so hated is that all the adults in the village know about it, and those who lost loved ones to the demon see him as a human version of the fox.

After he talks to Iruka and the village leader, he graduates from school and is placed into a small ninja team with Sasuke- a prodigy who Naruto has always been jealous of, and Sakura- the girl Naruto’s had a crush on for years.

The series follows the three as they undertake missions and grow as people under the tutelage of the mysterious Kakashi. As the series progresses, Naruto’s abilities grow exponentially and he begins to rival Sasuke, who has ambitions of one day killing his brother.

Naruto begins to make friends and becomes a valued member of the village, and he overcomes adversity with an honest attitude and a heart of gold.

This used to be one of my favourite series, and to be honest I’d forgotten how good it was. There’s always a reason why something gets so popular, and Naruto’s endeavour to become the greatest ninja he can is long, and arduous, with the moral that hard work is always rewarded.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of toilet humour and the idea that every man is easily overcome by his need for sex (don’t ask me how it works in what is essentially a children’s series, but I honestly didn’t realise how odd it was for a long time).

The action is dramatic and overly accompanied by witty quips and goading, but it works.

Naruto, it has to be said, is almost a must-read. At least some of it. Very few will read the entire series but it’s still worth trying out.

MangaCat out!