100%

Naruto is the anime that got me into anime. I was hooked from the first ep, and I’ve been following it religiously since then.

To describe Naruto’s greatness right off the bat without any explanation as to what the show is about would be a little hasty, so I’ll take it slow(read: prepare for Wall of Text)

Naruto is about a young(12-13 years old) boy of the same name who lives in Konoha, the Hidden Leaf village. Twelve years ago the Fourth Hokage - a "kage" is the leader of a great ninja village, and the Hokage is Konoha’s leader - sealed an attacking demon, the nine-tailed fox, into the newborn Naruto, saving the village but also sacrificing his own life in the process.

The Third Hokage had to come out of retirement, and the village is restored to peace, but Naruto, being an orphan (his mother apparently disappeared somehow, and if you can’t figure out who his father was on your own then you probably can after reading this parenthesis) and feared by the adults of the village who know about his inner demon, grows up to become a troublemaker and prankster, desperate to make others recognize his existance.

His plan to achieve this is by becoming the Hokage himself, but that means becoming the foremost ninja in the village.

On his path to greatness Naruto has to deal with his teammates, Sasuke (rival) and Sakura (love interest) as well as their new sensei Kakashi(awesome) and countless villains. Not to mention his own immaturity…

The show is great in that it mixes both a sense of overall continuity in Naruto’s quest to become Hokage, and the episodic sense of the subplots when the first major mission arrives. It gives a feeling of familiar ground without being repetitive.

You might think that a ninja would be stealthier than wearing an orange jumpsuit and yelling "I’m gonna be the Hokage!" at every turn, but Naruto’s determination to make his own "way of the ninja" is another charm point of the series. This is a character that never gives up, always pushing past boundaries and leaving both friend and foe speechless.

To anyone hoping for some romance in the series, seeing as Naruto has a love interest, I’m sorry but you’re going to be disappointed.

The only relationship that has any relevance to the plot is Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry, and Sakura is mostly an ineffectual character who pretty much never does anything. And when she does it usually doesn’t work out very well. Of course, given the nature of the show with its many fights, there are some quite touching scenes involving her whenever things go to hell, but in the end very little progress is made. There’s also Hinata (who in my own modest opinion is a much better match for Naruto), but most characters don’t even notice her most of the time.

Sasuke and Naruto, however, develop their rivalry in ways that later becomes the main focus of the show. I won’t say more for fear of spoiling too much.

I believe I mentioned fights? yeah, there are a lot of those in Naruto. Whether it be against villains or participating in a tournament.

The show comes off as extremely well balanced, and sometimes I wonder how the heck it does it when it is so fight-focused.

But then again, the fights are gorgeous, and it’s no slug-fest either. Most opponents are way tougher than Naruto’s team, and if Kakashi isn’t there to kick their asses(which he can totally do in most cases) then it’s up to teamwork, strategy, fast decisions and wacky pseudo-magical ninja techniques to save the day. Believe me(yes, me, not it, that is dub stupidity), Naruto fights are a spectacle you don’t want to miss.

I think I’ve praised the show enough now, so on to the bad points(which haven’t brought my rating for this show down at all).

The animation of Naruto is generally good, but at times later in the show you’ll see that it for some reason becomes a patchwork that changes style and is sometimes really bad. The artwork turns stale and ugly. This doesn’t last for long periods however, and important stuff is well animated.

Then there are the flashbacks. I have never, and I repeat, NEVER seen such a density of flashbacks in a show other than Naruto. They’re mostly fine in the beginning, but as time passes you begin to wonder if the producers assumed that we were all suffering from chronic amnesia. Good thing you can jump with the click of a mouse button, I say that if you get this series on DVD, watch it on your compluter unless your remote control skills are honed to the point of absolute, flawless perfection.

Then there’s filler. Now, I could say that Naruto has the worst filler ever, but I’d be lying. That’s Naruto Shippuuden(sequel). Now, past the events of the "Valley of the End", which I shall tell you nothing about, everything is filler. None of it is in the manga, it’s all made up by the studio and irrelevant to the plot.

Some of it is good though, and there are nice fights as well as laughs to be had. Just remember that any new techniques you see will never be used again…

So sit back and enjoy the flying kunai, the awesome techniques, the unexpected plot twists and the touching character development. This is a ride you don’t want to miss, and if you do then I say you shouldn’t..

Was this review helpful to you? Yes ( 22 ) No ( 3 )