What is Naruto and Why Should You Watch It?
By: Hrvoje Milakovic
Tags: Anime, Naruto Shippuden, Filler, Naruto

Naruto is an anime by Masashi Kishimoto with a Disney TV show remake. The main character is Naruto Uzumaki, a noisy, hyperactive adolescent ninja who constantly wants to be recognized and respected, just as he wants to become the Hokage, a person who is recognized as the leader and strongest ninja of his village.

Naruto manga was first published by publisher Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of the Japanese Shonen Jump magazine. Viz Media released a translated version in the American Shonen Jump and roughly translated a third of the series. Naruto became Viz Media’s best-selling manga series.

The Naruto anime series, produced by the Pierrot and Aniplex studios, were first shown across Japan on the Tokyo satellite TV network and on the Animax anime satellite television network on August 3, 2002, and is still running. The first part lasted nine seasons, while the second part began its first season on February 15, 2007.

Development and popularity

The duration of the series and its popularity are comparable to Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, another popular action-oriented shōnen manga. Since its inception, Naruto has spread to a large number of fansites that contain detailed information, guides, and active forums.

Some of the first and most popular pages, which targeted English-speaking audiences, were founded shortly after the release of the first manga volume in August 2002. Like many other manga and anime subtitles, Naruto has expanded into his own collector’s card game.

Anime details

Even though it came out sometime after the manga, the anime Naruto soon reached it, as one anime episode can cover up to 3 or 4 chapters of the manga.

To prevent them from overlapping with each other, anime producers tend to organize content from manga chapters into long excerpts with not so many events, followed by brief unexpected occurrences of action, and sometimes a filler would be added in between. By the time Sasuke’s rescue — part of the story ended in anime (episode 135), the series was at a point where they quickly approached the manga. By the end of that part of the story, the anime immediately switched to self-anime episodes to allow the manga to stretch the void once more. Most fillers are stories in themselves, and some of them extend to several episodes. If you don’t want to watch filler episodes, here you can find a list of all Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden filler episodes.

After the anime returned to the manga-adapted series, it was renamed Naruto Shippuden (疾風 伝, Naruto Shippūden, literally: Naruto-Hurricane Chronicles). The new episodes first aired on February 15, 2007.

Anime generally remains loyal to the manga, usually changing only minor details (causes of death, loss of body parts and other injuries, and wounds that were reduced in the anime) or enlarging and expanding the parts that were bypassed by the manga. Filler-stories, though not mentioned in the manga (preserved for a few insufficient scenes), agree with pauses between manga volumes, covering a short period before Sasuke’s rescue-part of the story and a few months before the time lag. Filler stories tend to cover supporting characters, occasionally giving us an understanding of an otherwise rarely seen character.

New episodes, animated by Pierrot Studios, are released weekly on TV Tokyo in Japan. As of August 5, 2006, they are shown on Thursday nights. The series has also expanded to 3 Naruto films and two 4th and 5th whose action takes place at the time of Naruto Shippuden. The first 3 films are available on DVD, and the 4th had its premiere on August 4, 2007.

What is Naruto about

12 years before the event the series focused on, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked the village of Konohagakure. He was a truly powerful demon; a single swing of the poor of his 9 tails could raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. He caused chaos and killed many people, until the leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves — the Fourth Hokage — defeated him by sacrificing his own life so that he could seal him in a newborn child, whose origins were hitherto unknown. The child’s name was Naruto Uzumaki.

The Fourth Hokage was celebrated as a hero for sealing demons. He wanted Naruto to be respected in a similar light because he was a tank containing a demonic fox. The village where he grew up, however, mostly avoided Naruto; they treated him as if he were a demonic fox himself and shunned him throughout most of his childhood.

The decision made by the Third Hokage made it impossible for other villagers to speak and mention the event to anyone, even their own children. However, that did not stop them from treating him like a traitor. Although their children did not specifically know why their parents treated Naruto the way they did, they learned through examples to despise that boy. As a result of all this, Naruto grew up as an orphan in a lonely atmosphere with no friends, family, or recognition.

He couldn’t make people his friends, so he tried to gain recognition and attention in the only way he knew how — through jokes and hoaxes. However, that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the ninja academy using the Multiple Shadow Clones technique to save his professor, Iruku Umin, from the ninja traitor Mizuki.

Using that skirmish, Naruto realized two things: that he contained a demonic fox within himself, and that there was someone else, besides the Third Hokage, who really cared about him. His graduation from the academy opened the way for him to events and people who would change and determine his world, along with his path of ninja for the rest of his life.

Naruto maintains a balance between drama and comedy, with quite a bit of shifted action. It follows Narut and his friends ’personal growth and development as ninjas, and highlights their mutual influences on each other and the influence of backgrounds on their traits.

Naruto found two friends, Sasuke Uchihu and Sakura Haruno, two young ninja assigned to form a team of three with him, led by a very experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Naruto also has confidence in other characters as well as those he has met through Chunin’s exams. They learn new skills, get to know each other and other villages better as well, and experience a one-way-to-maturity adventure where Naruto dreams of becoming the Leaf Village Hokage.

Naruto puts a strong emphasis on character development. Almost all outcomes are the result of decisions, characters, and traits; only a few things happened because of the opportunity. Initially, the highlight is placed on Naruta, Sasuke and Sakura, who are members of Team 7. However, other characters are also highlighted, such as Kakashi, Guy, and Jiraiya, as well as Naruto’s friends and opponents in other Genin teams and other villages.

Several major free agents also entered the game, the first being Zabuza Momochi, one Nukenin from Kirigakure village, and his partner, Haku. Later, at Chuna’s exam — part of the story, Orochimaru was presented as one Nukenin S-Class at the top of the Leaf Village list for the most wanted criminals. Later, a mysterious organization named Akatsuki begins to pursue Naruto with orders to take the demonic fox that is in him and gain her power.

Why Should You Watch Naruto?

Naruto is one of the best and the most popular anime TV shows of all time, and if you haven’t already watched it you really need to.

Characters are amazing, story and world building is one of the best seen, animations and sound effects are also great.

If you love anime then Narute is definitely something you need to watch.