Naruto - Ultimate Reviews

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NARUTO

The original Naruto ran from 2002 to 2007 and it’s created from Part I of the manga, which was 27 volumes long. Naruto Uzumaki could be a 12 year old ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village who aspires to be the Hokage, the village’s leader.

Naruto is that the ultimate underdog story. Naruto Uzumaki is a total loser. He’s not the best or the foremost skilled ninja and he’s constantly scrutinized by nearly everyone. Not making things better is that the Nine-Tailed Fox that’s sealed within him, a demonic force of chakra that wreaked havoc upon the Hidden Leaf Village. However, through diligence and determination, Naruto pushes his way within the world and gains acknowledgement from his peers and teachers.

Like all ninja, Naruto is put into a team, called Team 7, with two other young ninja, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto’s competent, more popular rival, and Sakura Haruno, on whom Naruto contains a crush. These three are led by their sensei, Kakashi Hatake, who’s one in all the good characters within the series and who has one in every of the saddest back stories of the whole series (which is saying plenty since many characters have tragic back stories).

Sakura came off just like the third wheel of Team 7 while the boys pulled their weight. After an major escort mission to the Land Of Waves, Team 7 are enrolled into the Chunin Exams within the hopes of taking up more high-ranking missions.

This is easily one among the most effective arcs of the complete series and what made me love the Naruto series generally. It’s a tournament arc, which is one among the common tropes of shonen stories, but it’s common for a reason. It introduces new characters and potential rivals for the protagonists, it furthers development and shows reasoning for his or her actions, and that we get to determine what these characters are capable of. This explains why a number of the foremost beloved story arcs in anime and manga are tournament arcs and that’s no different here.

The first a part of the exams was a written test that’s more psychological in nature. The second part then was a survival exam where all of the genin are thrown into the Forest Of Death and this can be where shit gets real. This can be where we’re introduced to at least one of the foremost villains of the series, Orochimaru, who’s disguised collectively of the genin. Let me tell you, Orochimaru was one among the creepiest male characters within the series. His serpentine appearance and thirst for power made him a heavy threat, especially when he went up against Sasuke.

For fans, this is often Naruto at its peak. On one side, you've got Rock Lee, who can’t use ninjutsu, but is outstanding at taijutsu. On the opposite side, you've got Gaara of the Hidden Sand Village, whose sand protects him from every attack coming his way. Lee, although was out of the league in terms of power, he did keep going. Moreover, he became very serious and more powerful after removing those weights from his ankles. Despite the lose of the fight, Lee got our hearts. I wish we got more of those moments with the side characters through the series.

And while we’re on the topic, I enjoy nearly all the fights within the series. They utilize strategy and technique so well. Outsmarting the opponent is more important than simply overwhelming them with force.

And then there’s the music. Naruto has one among the simplest soundtracks out of any anime series. Every opening and ending song could be a hit and also the score always hits the most effective emotional notes, whether it’d be a cool action sequence or when things get dark or something more somber. There’s a track for each mood. My only issue with the fights is that they will be LONG. In between the action are stretches of dialogue where the characters discuss their strategy and/or explanations on their techniques. i do know it’s a standard shonen trope, but it really bugs me since it might affect the pacing of those scenes. Skipping ahead, more characters are introduced like Jiraiya, a perverted old sensei who takes Naruto under his apprenticeship, and Tsunade, a busty medical kunoichi who becomes the subsequent Hokage after the previous one’s death.

 Naruto Neon Sign - Anime Neon Sign - Polaris Sign

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

The story of Naruto continues within the sequel series Naruto Shippuden, which ran from 2007 to 2017 and is predicated on Part II, which covers the last 45 volumes.

Two and a half years later, Naruto, now an adolescent, has returned to the Hidden Leaf Village from training with Jiraiya. At the identical time, the Akatsuki are making a move in capturing the Tailed Beast hosts, including Naruto himself. About this point around, Naruto is older and more mature than within the original series and therefore the threats to the ninja world are much bigger and more serious. The missions this point around involves saving Gaara (who’s become the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand) from the Akatsuki and searching for Sasuke, who’s been training under Orochimaru within the hopes of avenging his clan. Speaking of, we finally see Sasuke go up against Itachi and at last get his revenge in an epic fight. This is the moment of truth about Itachi, that he massacred the Uchiha clan because he was ordered to by the elders of the Hidden Leaf to forestall a coup from happening while sparing his own brother. At that time, Sasuke goes full villain and joins the Akatsuki within the hopes to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village.

In the meanwhile, Jiraiya heads off to the Hidden Rain Village to analyze the Akatsuki where he’s confronted and killed by their leader Pain, who’s actually six corpses controlled by a person named Nagato. Pain makes a move against the Hidden Leaf where he’s confronted by Naruto in an exceedingly fight that’s considered one in every of the most highlighted plots of the complete series. See, a good villain isn't just someone who presents a physical challenge to the hero, but it’s also someone who’ll present a mental and philosophical challenge and that’s what Nagato/Pain is for Naruto.

Nagato/Pain grew up in an exceedingly war-torn country, so he has witnessed atrocities committed by the Hidden Leaf and other villages and has lost people near him. Therefore, he commits himself to form a world of peace through fear and terror. His philosophy makes Naruto consider a way to cater to the cycle of hatred within the ninja world. During this same fight, we see how far Naruto has progressed as a fighter, him going berzerk because of the Nine-Tailed Fox, and a revelation of his lineage that’s linked to the Hokage.

Him defeating Pain was one among the foremost satisfying moments within the whole series. Naruto was being ostracized and underestimated but he pushes his boundaries further and further, then becoming a hero for the Hidden Leaf. If the series ended there, i might say that was a decent conclusion. Nevertheless, there’s more story to develop. Shippuden is an example of a good-but-not-great sequel. It's all of the parts of the initial Naruto that made it great, but it also has the identical flaws in terms of pacing, filler, and side character development.  

With Naruto Shippuden, world-building is always emphasized, especially with the utilization of flashbacks, that the series loses focus. That’s something One Piece excels at. It is true that after Naruto defeating Pain and particularly the Fourth Great Ninja, the series just becomes a slogging mess. The War Arc was where I tuned out for ages. Then they brought within the ultimate mortal of the series, Madara Uchiha. Like Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Shippuden has been teasing Madara for an honest while and when he finally pops up within the Fourth Great Ninja War, he failed to disappoint.

 
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BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations can be a spin-off sequel to the Naruto series and it follows Boruto Uzumaki, the son of Naruto and Hinata, as he carves his own ninja way within the shadow of his father, who’s become the Seventh Hokage, along with his teammates Sarada Uchiha, the daughter of Sasuke and Sakura, and Mitsuki, the “son” of Orochimaru. This character made his debut within the ultimate chapter of the Naruto manga before getting his own movie (Boruto: Naruto The Movie), a manga series written by Ukyo Kodachi with art by Mikio Ikemoto, and an anime adaptation from Studio Pierrot. The movie was alright and also the manga wasn’t off to an honest start thanks to lackluster art and so the primary story arc being an adaptation of the movie. Now what about the anime? Well, I’ll better skip this and let people that think it's good to further write something.

The whole Naruto story has major pacing issues, inconsistent animation, a tendency of hypnotizing with filler and flashbacks, and poor development for the majority of its side characters. Yet, Naruto definitely delivers in the actions, emotions, character development when done right, and one amazing soundtrack that still bangs after all these years. It will always be one of my favorite anime series despite its flaws. If you have the time and patience, I think it’s worth checking out if you want to get into it. If not, you can just spend your time on the first series.