SacAnime Reviews
Naruto (Anime and Manga)

After hearing tons of "oohs" and "awes" about this, I finally downloaded it. I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. Naruto is about a young boy aspiring to be a ninja. Not just any ninja- he wants the title of the very best ninja in his village of ninjas- The Hokage.

Naruto didn't exactly get a good start in life. On the day he was born, a huge nine-tailed fox demon attacked the Leaf Village. Many of the village ninja were killed in the attempt to seal it away, including the Hokage of the time, the 4th. How did this affect Naruto, you ask? Well, they had to seal the demon somewhere- unfortunately for Naruto they sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon inside HIM. Poor kid.

They don't ever really say what happened to Naruto's parents- maybe they were killed by Nine-Tails. Whatever the case, he grew up without any parents. With no one who cared about him at all. No one ever told him he had an evil demon sealed into his stomach- maybe he though the pretty swirly design around his belly button was a birthmark. He grew up hated and feared by everyone in the village, even his classmates, never knowing why.

It's not as if he was a particularly skilled ninja either- he has a hard time with some of the simplest jutsu (techniques). Instead of the doing the "Henge no Jutsu" where you are supposed to take the appearance of someone else, he instead transforms into a naked, curvaceous blonde teenaged girl. This combined with his inability to create an accurate illusionary clone of himself saw to it that he did not graduate from Ninja School- for the third time.

This time is different- this time he really WANTED to graduate. He was heart-broken that he was unable to pass- the ONLY student who didn't pass. He thinks his teacher, Iruka-sensei, has it in for him. However the other teacher who was present at his exam, tells him this is not so- it's because Iruka wants Naruto to become genuinely strong. The other teacher, Mizuki, tells him he know a secret that will insure that he can pass- convincing Naruto to steal a forbidden scroll of jutsu.

As soon as the scroll is found missing, and who has stolen it is discovered, it causes a panic- everyone is afraid that at heart Naruto is still Nine-Tails, and that he'll use to the scroll to unseal himself and destroy the village again. Naruto meanwhile, only thinks that this is a great chance to learn new things that will help him reach his goal of becoming Hokage.

Deep down, Iruka-sensei is also worried that Nine-Tails will take over- he is very relieved when he finds Naruto in the forest only practicing his jutsu. Right then, Mizuki also finds them, and everything is revealed. He tells Naruto why everyone is afraid of him, and what no one ever told him- that Nine-Tails is sealed inside him. He also tells him that Nine-Tails killed Iruka-sensei's parents, and that even his teacher hates him. After a great deal of emotional manipulation, and a chase scene Naruto realizes the truth for himself- he had been tricked into stealing the scroll so that Mizuki could steal it from him in turn- and that it was Mizuki who hates him, not Iruka. He fights valiantly to save Iruka-sensei, who is the only parent has ever known, and the only person who cares about him. In order to win against Mizuki he uses the only Jutsu he was able to learn from the scroll before he was found: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, or Shadow Clone Technique.

He may not have been able to clone himself before, but he is more then successful now- he doesn't just split into one frail illusionary clone- he splits into more then 50 physical bodies, and beats the crap out of Mizuki. Everyone goes home happy (except Mizuki) and his teacher treats Naruto to ramen, after giving him the leaf head protector- the symbol that he managed to graduate after all.

This is just the first episode- after this he is put into a team of three with the girl he likes Sakura, and his rival, Sasuke. They are then put through the Genin exam- the first step to becoming REAL ninja. Their new teacher, Kakashi-sensei is a Jounin- the second highest level of ninja below Hokage (The highest level before Hokage is Senin- no one of that level shows up until volume 11 of the manga, and WAY past where the anime is now). Kakashi has NEVER passed a new group of new Genin.

The story continues, becoming slowly more involved. You watch Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura mature, slowly, gaining new skills, and learning about themselves. This series is full of one of my favorite elements- Character development. The development isn't quite on par with something like Hikaru no Go, but it's pretty darn close.

I love this series. Believe me when is say that when I first ran out of episodes to watch, I immediately began digging for whatever of the manga I could find, reading all the way up to Volume 19. However the manga has been commercially licensed, and is currently being released in Shounen Jump by Viz. That means no new scanlations.

That also tells me that there is a high chance of the Naruto anime being licensed. But, it's going to be a while- I doubt anyone is going to license it before it's finished it's run on Japanese TV, and from the looks of things, it's going to be a LONG run, probably at least three or four seasons, possibly even five. It's currently in the middle of its second season. The anime is being fasubbed by Toriyama World, and through a joint venture between ANBU and AnimeOne. I highly recommend the Toriyama World subs over the other- Toriyama's also translated the Naruto Manga, so they have a much better feel for things. Plus this is the only series they fansub, and therefore put tons of love into every episode. They don't release them as quickly, but it's worth it. Check 'em out at www.toriyamaworld.com.