Once, a nine-tailed demon fox attacked Konoha, the Hidden Village of the Leaf. Many brave ninjas lost their lives defending their home. Finally, the demon was sealed by the Fourth Hokage into the body of a human boy. Several years later, that boy, Naruto Uzumaki, struggles to gain the acceptance and acknowledgement of the villagers, many of whom still hate him because of the demon inside him. So, Naruto strives to become the Hokage, the strongest ninja in the village, so that the villagers will acknowledge him. Along the way, he gains many new friends, and faces many life-threatening situations.
Synopsis: destati
Story & Playability
The story line is good, considering the vast amount of Ninja anime that are out there. Uzumaki Naruto, a 12-year old boy
who has just become a shinobi ninja at the lowest level, a gennin, has to learn to cope with teammates such as Haruno
Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto pines after Sakura, vowing to get her to go on a date with him eventually, although she is throughly obsessed
with her beloved Sasuke-kun. Sasuke, on the other hand, is obsessed with becoming stronger so he can defeat his brother,
Itachi, who murdered their entire family (excluding Sasuke), when Sasuke was seven.
The relationships between the characters change through out the series, such as Naruto's and Sakura's, sence
the blonde really tones down on his crush and starts to see Sakura as a friend, and not just a female.
Sakura, although she riddiculed Naruto and mocked him for being weaker at the beggining of the series, eventually starts
to see Naruto as a friend.
Sasuke and Naruto have an interesting relationship, since they have both lived alone for the majority of their lives.
They can relate with each other, and it is evident that they truely do care for each other in later episodes, such as
the Haku!Arc, or the Battle of Valleys End!Arc. They've become 'best friends,' and Naruto will stop at
nothing to keep Sasuke where he belongs, in Konoha.
Naruto has his own secrets and dark past, seeing as how the Kyuubi, or Nine Tailed Demon Fox was sealed within him at
birth by the Yondaime, or The Fourth Hokage. The Kyuubi has a vast about of chakra, which is an energy source that
ninja use to attack with either Ninjutsu, or Genjutsu (the third art, Taijutsu, doesn't require chakra, considering
that it's strictly physical), and loans it to Naruto on occasion.
The three, along with their teachers, and fellow ninja must learn to cope with the hardships of going through life as
nothing more than a tool, since that's really all ninja are. Although there are some filler episodes (almost every
anime has them, and at least it's not as bad as InuYasha), they're usually insightful on the personalities of
the other ninja, such as Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Sabuka no Gaara, and more.
There are no actual 'cannon' pairings, although Naruto has a crush on Sakura in the begging, Sakura crushes on
Sasuke, and Sasuke has an unhealthy obession with being stronger than Naruto. Many fans like the OT3 SasuNaruSaku, or
NaruSasuSaku, as though the team is a love triangle. NarutoxSakura doesn't seem like it would happen anytime soon,
since they have more of a brother/sister relationship, and SasukexSakura seems unlikely, since Sasuke seems to feel that
Sakura and Ino's fawning over him is annoying, and would much rather go train or spar with Naruto.
It appeals to all types of fans, wheather shounen, shoujo, shounen ai, or shoujo ai. NarutoxSasuke is almost cannon,
when you look at the dialouge between the characters in some episodes, as well as SakuraxIno.
Most het fans will go with the pairings of SasukexSakura, and NarutoxHinata, since Hinata has a crush on Naruto as
evident as Sakura's for Sasuke, althouth the blonde remains oblivious to it.
All in all, it has a very captivation plot line where almost everyone can relate to at least one of the many characters
in one way. A lot of the plot includes Japanese history, and can inadvertadly be educational, which is a plus since
it's still a great plot.
Rating: 8
Graphics
Although Kishimoto Masashi was an avid DragonBall fan in his youth, not that much of it is evident in his art. Some of
the characters are pretty, even for boys (coughSasukecough), and don't have the over-bulging musles that DB seems
so famous for.
The characters have mostly unique outfits compared to the other characters, and don't use ever fight as a chance to
rip their shirt off and and strike poses and make their hair blonder and spiker.
The fight scenes are entertaining as far as fight scenes go. Some people read manga for the fights, while others want
the plot and can't wait until they're over. Most of the scenes are the right length to appease both crowds,
although some can be drawn out, and others can be severly short.
Most manga-ka end up creating their characters to look the same, even if they don't mean to, such as Yuu Watase.
Kishimoto-sensei, on the other hand, has a wide variety of characters, without making them all look strikingly similar.
Rating: 7
Sound
Although the English dubbed version disappointed a lot of fans by casting a female for the voice actor of Naruto, some
of the characters aren't that bad, such as Inuzuka Kiba and Sabuka no Gaara. The original in Japanese is my
personal preferred way of watching the anime, since English dubs that aren't up to par aren't really my
thing.
Rating: 6
Fun
Humor is a big part of this series, since their job is to muder people, they need something to keep them sane. Although
it's not necessciarly a comedy, it has enough comedy to make you laugh at points, but it doesn't over do it,
trying to appear humourous when it's not. There's enough action, drama, and a very fine line of implied
romance to really keep everyone happy, although the romance fans are kept wanting more, which makes this a popular
fanfiction series.
It's a good series so far, with enough interesting Arcs, Missions, blood, and bonds to keep this otaku interested.
Rating: 9
Final Verdict
7.8333 (good)
Reviewed by DaitaiOtonashiiOokami, Jul 24, 2006