Naruto

Last year my roommate got me hooked on watching Naruto. I had never really been a big Anime fan. Shows like DBZ and Inuyasha never really appealed to me. I had seen a few episodes of Tri-Gun and found it rather interesting but the story of Naruto is what really drew me in. The quality with which it is written is very well done. And is not centered entirely around fighting, there actually is a plot here. The story is about 3 ninjas as they progress from genin level (beginning ninjas) onward to some rather high lvl battles and their hardships along the way. Each of these characters is well described with a rich background. And each character possesses unique abilities, none of which I have found boring or pointless so far. Currently I have read all the manga and have all the Anime downloaded. It is a truly excellent series. I fear that if they do bring it to the US. that sites that provide us with the anime may not be allowed to continue providing us with the show and if it comes to US television it will be edited because they will probably intend for kids to watch it and in it's original state it is entirely inappropriate and in no way should be compared to a Saturday morning cartoon show. The different jutsus are exciting to watch and well thought out. Battles can tend to last multiple episodes but to me that does not matter, the flashbacks just add to the storyline. The quality of the actual animation which can really be seen during the fight scenes is unbelievable. They truly have some very talented artists working for them. Lastly, the music is top notch. The intro's are extremely cool and the music in the actual show is also very well done.

Everyday after school I went to the store and bought a bottle of soda and some snacks, and watched Naruto when i came home. Some months later I was borderline obese. 10/10 would recommend.

I've seen a lot of anime throughout the years. I've seen what people call the 'good stuff', I've seen the 'bad stuff'. In time, I realized and accepted that not everyone is going to like something, or dislike it. No matter what the anime (or movie, or book, or game, etc.) it boils down to personal preference. So, how do you know if you'd like something you've never seen but heard so much about? When I first started Naruto, I saw the potential in it. From the first episode, they presented a distinct setting with distinct characters. Sure, archetypes were being followed (the boy dreaming of becoming big, the old grandfatherly figure, the teacher, the rival). The first episode showed emotion and depth to its main character and what he will struggle with, along with the dynamics of his interaction with other characters and their quirks.

Cut about ten episodes later, the plot arc currently being followed felt to me like it was not going to matter much to the main story. Some episodes had drawn out battles, and I got that feeling that the anime would be the type where they would go from different area to different area, developing their skills and learning moral lessons and such, but there would be no grand plot, no B story, that tied the series together. I also worried it would fall into mediocrity. Without giving anything away, by the end of that arc (about 19 episodes in), my mind was changed.

Having seen all of the series up to the current episodes, I can say at least for myself that at its best Naruto is a deeper anime than some give credit to, and can be quite addicting. A strong focus is on its characters as they develop throughout the series and there are moments of real emotion, tragedy, intensity and even just amusement. It's not perfect, as there are slow times in the series (and the cartoon suffers from tricks to get as many episodes out of the original story as they can), and I won't say everyone will end up liking it but I can say it had unexpectedly become one of my favorite anime.

A friend of mine introduced me to the Naruto series, and I have liked it from the first moment I saw Gaara of the Sand walk across the screen! I am now engaged with trying to watch all of the episodes starting with the very first one, and I am impressed beyond measure by it's storyline, which manages to combine action, adventure, humor, science fiction/fantasy, and coming-of-age elements all in one. I wouldn't recommend it for young children due to some very dark elements which surface and, of course, violence. However, the very dark elements succeed in intensifying the storyline, and in character building. All the characters are very unique, no cookie-cutter fill-ins here!, and the bad guys are especially well developed. This is a far cry from Skeletor and Cobra which were the villains of my youth (and oops, I've just dated myself). The only drawback I can think of are the excessively long battle scenes, which can take up several episodes. The number of episodes in proportion to the importance of the battle.

You're probably thinking: "well I could just skip the fillers by searching filler episode up." That's fine but that's not the only issue with the show. It's that even in nonfiller episodes it feels like they are buying a lot of time. If the show was compressed to maybe 90/100 episodes then it would be amazing. The hype moments really are hype and the ninja stuff is cool.