The Facts:
Title: Naruto
Author and artist: Masashi Kishimoto
First published in Japan by Shueisha in Tokyo on 21 September 1999
Series: Naruto (72 books), Boruto (16 books and continuing)
Plot summary:
Naruto follows the life of Uzumaki Naruto and how he achieves his goal of becoming the Hokage, the most respected and strongest ninja in the village. Having been an outcast due to housing the nine-tailed fox within, Naruto strives to be the Hokage to win his village’s respect. Throughout his journey, he meets new people and finds out who his parents are and what happened to them. The main plot point is his relationship with Sasuke a fellow classmate of his and the antagonist of this series.
Graphics:
I would rate the Naruto graphics a 9/10. They have a sharp edge and graphically depict the dynamic ninjutsu techniques. Having the characters essentially being wizards and their abilities ranging from summoning animals to creating fireballs, the artist needs to be able to draw a large variety of things and Kishimoto does it flawlessly, perfectly shading the fireball so you can almost feel the heat and adding tiny details to the summoning frogs so you can almost feel how slimy they are. The fantastical ideas fly off the page as if they were real.
Context in the Manga Universe:
Naruto is a large part of the Manga universe being crowned as one of the Big 3. The Big 3 is a fan term for the three most popular manga that have had the greatest worldwide success for Shonen Jump being; Naruto, One Piece and Bleach.
What I like most:
What I like most is the comedy that the prankster Naruto brings in. We meet him as he vandalises the sacred Hokage rock which looks a bit like Mt Rushmore but with Hokages instead of presidents. This kind of cheekiness frequently provides comic relief. I also enjoy the cool introduction of ninjutsu – casting spells by hand symbols. It is another world of wonder that Kishimoto brings to life. In the beginning, Naruto is terrible, but the reader learns along with him. He refuses to give up, demonstrating great perseverance, and through hard work and practice, he becomes the strongest and one of the greatest ninjutsu users in the Naruto universe.
What I like least:
One of the things that I like least is the plot of trying to save Sasuke. We get it, he’s bad and wants revenge but why do we need to read 50 books about why he is bad only for him to come back in the last few books and care about the village and want to protect it. Early on we can tell that this 12-year-old has something going on as he sits in corners brooding. He eventually goes to the evil side in pursuit of strength which makes sense. As readers, even though we need an antagonist, I wonder why we need to chase him for so long when in the end he just decides to help the village so that he can rule it.
Recommended for age:
The recommendation for this book is 11+ but I would say children aged 10+ because whilst the Naruto series can be violent and some of the male characters have questionable views on women, most of the time it conveys important messages to young children, about resilience, perseverance, that hard work always prevails and that your friends always have your back. So clearly the benefits of this book’s series outweigh the occasional blood and gore. In fact, the blood gore probably makes the moral messages more engaging for readers like me.
Interesting fact:
Naruto is the 4th best-selling manga in the world, only being surpassed by Dragonball, Golgo 13 and One Piece.
How to explain it to your parents/teacher:
Naruto is a passionate young boy who’s orphaned at birth and is bullied by his village for having the nine-tailed fox sealed within him. The story dives deeply into friendship and surpassing your abilities to prove others wrong.
Film/TV crossover:
Naruto has been made into 3 TV series “Naruto” which covers Naruto’s adolescent life, “Naruto Shippuden” which covers his teen life and “Boruto” which is about his son but also about Naruto’s life as a dad and the Hokage. The franchise also has 11 films as well as 58 cross-platform games and 4 crossover games where Naruto is a character.
In Bibliography:
Kishimoto, M. 2022, ‘Naruto Volume 1’, Viz [image] Available https://www.viz.com/read/manga/naruto-volume-1/product/91, Accessed 8 October 2022.
Ikemoto, M. 2022, ‘Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Volume 1’,Viz [image] Available https://www.viz.com/read/manga/boruto-naruto-next-generations-volume-1/product/5104, Accessed 8 October 2022.
AM-ZONE 