Naruto

Naruto
File:Narutoshonen.jpg From left to right: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke.
Genre	Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Shōnen
Manga
Written by	Masashi Kishimoto
Published by	Shueisha Tongli Rightman VIZ Media Daiwon C.I. JPFantastica Kana Carlsen Comics Panini Comics Comics House Chuang Yi (Chinese) Glénat Elex Media Komputindo Schibsted Forlagene
Anime
Directed by	Hayato Date
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Related works
Jump Festa 2003: Find the Crimson Four-Leaf Clover (OVA) Jump Festa 2004: Battle at Hidden Falls. I am the Hero! (OVA) Finally a clash! Jōnin VS Genin!! Indiscriminate grand melee tournament meeting!! (OVA) Naruto the Movie: Snow Princess' Book of Ninja Arts Naruto the Movie 2: The Illusionary Ruins at the Depths of the Earth Naruto the Movie 3: Animal Panic on Crescent Moon Island (in production)

This article is about the manga and anime series. For other uses, see Naruto (disambiguation).

Naruto (ナルト) (romanized as NARUTO in Japan) is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto with an anime TV series adaptation. Its titular main character, Uzumaki Naruto (うずまきナルト), is a loud, hyperactive, adolescent ninja who constantly searches for approval and recognition.

The manga was first published in Japan, by Shueisha, in the 43rd issue of the Shonen Jump magazine in 1999. So far, there have been 33 volumes of the manga series published in the country, with a total of 312 chapters written since its initial release in 1999. VIZ Media publishes a translated version in the American Shonen Jump, though only 10 of the 33 volumes of manga have been released so far. It has become VIZ Media's best-selling manga series.

Viz also licensed the anime for North American production. Naruto debuted on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block on September 10, 2005, at 9:00 p.m. EST in the United States, and on YTV's Bionix on September 16, 2005, at 9:30 p.m. EST (since changed to 8:00 p.m.) in Canada. Starting July 22, 2006, Jetix will show the first 26 episodes of Naruto in the UK at 5.00 p.m., according to the latest Sky / Sky kids magazine. Starting on June 12, 2006, Cartoon Network is showing Naruto at 9:00 p.m. EST, Monday through Thursday, starting with the first episode.

Growth and popularity

The series' length and popularity (especially in Japan) is comparable to that of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z, another popular action-oriented shōnen series derived from a manga. Kishimoto cites Toriyama's Dragon Ball series and Katsuhiro Otomo, of the Akira fame, as some of his inspirations, though Naruto differs significantly in its execution, themes explored, and overall premise.

Naruto has spawned a large number of fansites that contain detailed information, guides, and active forums. Some of the first and most popular sites targeted at English speaking audiences were established shortly after the first English manga volume was released in August 2003.

Prior to the anime's North American debut in 2005, several scanlation and fansub groups translated the series and made it available for free download on the internet. Although many such groups stop once a series has been licensed, there are some that have continued to translate new Naruto episodes due to the extremely large gap between the English and Japanese versions. Many of the episodes subbed by the Dattebayo fansub group are downloaded over 100,000 times within the first week of their release, and several others have surpassed 200,000 downloads within their first months, a testament to their popularity.

Manga and anime details

See also: List of Naruto media.

With weekly releases, save for holidays and other events, the manga has 312 chapters as of June 22, 2006 (only 96 of which have been released in North America). As of June 21, 2006, the anime has 190 aired episodes (of which 39 have been aired by Viz Media in North America). Although it debuted some time after the manga, the anime quickly caught up, since one anime episode usually covers around one and a half manga chapters. To prevent overlapping, the anime's producers tend to organize content from the manga chapters into long, uneventful sections followed by short bursts of action, sometimes adding filler content.

The anime generally remains true to the manga, usually changing only minor details (causes of death, loss of limbs, and other injures have been lessened in the anime) or expanding on parts skipped by the manga, such as the fight between Tenten and Temari. The filler arcs, though unreferenced in the manga (save for a few scant scenes), deal with the breaks between manga volumes, which covers a short period before the Sasuke Retrieval arc and several months before the timeskip. The filler arcs mostly cover the supporting characters, giving insight into an otherwise rarely-seen character. Though these arcs are only present in the anime, it is likely that their events will hold true in the manga, since continuity issues would be created if they were ignored. Regardless of this, most fans tend to consider any difference in the anime non-canon material.

New episodes, animated by Studio Pierrot, air weekly on TV Tokyo in Japan during the Golden Time slot (Japan's equivalent of prime time in the US) each Wednesday night at 7:27PM. The series has also spawned two movies, Naruto the Movie: Yukihime Ninpōchō and Naruto the Movie 2: Maboroshi no Chiteiiseki. An announcement for Naruto the Movie 3 was made on August 6, 2005, just after the release of the second movie. It is expected to be released sometime in August 2006.

Criticism of anime adaptation

When the Sasuke Retrieval arc ended, the anime was at a point where it was quickly gaining on the manga, its source material. At the conclusion of this arc, the anime immediately switched to anime-only filler episodes to allow the manga to broaden the gap once more. Many fans were disappointed because of a lack of plot development in the filler saga; however, had the anime overtaken the manga, the series could have completely differed from the intended plot of the manga, or have been cancelled completely, both of which have happened to several other manga-adapted anime series.

The Japanese manga version of Naruto has yet to be finished. Therefore, Cartoon Network has announced that when they run out of episodes they will restart the series from the beginning, possibly at a different time; however, they have assured fans in at least three press releases that as long as the show maintains high viewer levels, it will continue to be aired on Toonami. However, since there are nearly 200 episodes of Naruto, many of which have yet to be dubbed by Viz Media, this will not occur any time soon.

Toonami and YTV broadcast

On September 10, 2005, Naruto had its hour-long premiere in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's Toonami. The first and second episodes were shown from 9:00 - 10:00 p.m., and an hour-long encore was shown from 10:00 - 11:00 p.m. The first episode of Naruto premiered in Canada on YTV on September 16, 2005. Naruto currently airs on Saturdays at 9:00 p.m. EST on Cartoon Network. On YTV it airs Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST/PST and an encore presentation at 2:00 a.m. on Saturdays.

The show has been announced to be a part of Cartoon Network's new online broadband service called Toonami Jetstream. It is slated to begin on July 17, 2006.

Naruto reruns will now be aired at 9:00 p.m. EST, Monday thru Thursday, on Cartoon Network beginning June 12, 2006.

Censorship reaction

Leading up to the series' English-language premiere, a number of fans expressed fears that it would receive a treatment similar to that of One Piece, which was heavily edited and Americanized to a TV-Y7 rating for broadcast in North America. Surprisingly, Naruto was aired with a TV-PG rating in the US and a PG rating in Canada.

Many elements that were expected to be edited out of the broadcast version were left intact, including references to alcoholism and mild sexual situations, Japanese cultural differences (including food and Japanese writing), mild language ("This sucks!", "You pervert!", and "That's bull!") and even blood and death were still evident (including some extreme violence, as seen in the 19th and 34th episodes). The uncut broadcast of Dragon Ball Z featured these same elements, but they are still rare among Toonami's other series. In addition, the opening music for the show was significantly changed but the background music during the episodes remained the same. However, it should be noted when the uncut DVDs come out, they will include the original Japanese openings and endings.

Cartoon Network also made some extra edits in addition to those done by Viz Media, which is evident of the fact that Canada's YTV network contained fewer alterations. These are fairly minor, mostly toning down the amount of blood and other injuries. The accidental kiss between Sasuke and Naruto was also censored (though it is made clear that it happened), but later shown during a flashback during the Wave Country arc.

Plot overview

File:Naruto5.jpg

Uzumaki Naruto, the main character of Naruto.

See also: Plot of Naruto and Plot of Naruto II.

Template:Spoiler Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Kyūbi (nine-tailed demon fox) attacked the Hidden Leaf Village. It was a powerful demon indeed; a single swing of its nine tails would raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. It raised chaos and slaughtered many people, until the leader of the Leaf Village –- the Fourth Hokage –- defeated it by sacrificing his own life to seal the demon inside a newly-born child, whose origins are as yet unknown. That child's name was Uzumaki Naruto.

The Fourth Hokage was celebrated as a hero for sealing the Kyūbi away. He wanted Naruto to be respected in a similar light by being the containment vessel for the demon fox. The village he grew up in, however, mostly shunned Naruto; they regarded him as if he were the demon fox itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood.

A decree made by the Third Hokage made it so that the other villagers were forbidden to mention the event to anyone, even to their own children. However, this did not stop them from treating Naruto like an outcast. Although their children did not specifically know why their parents treated Naruto the way they did, they learned through example to despise the boy. As a result, Naruto grew up as an orphan in a lonesome atmosphere without friends, family, or acknowledgment. He could not force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgment and attention the only way he knew –- through pranks and mischief. However, that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy by using his Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, or Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, to save his teacher, Umino Iruka, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the Kyūbi, and that there was someone (Iruka and the Third Hokage, initially) who actually cared about Naruto. His graduation opened a gateway to the events and people that would change and define his world and his way of the ninja for the rest of his life.

Naruto maintains a balance between drama and comedy, with plenty of action interspersed. It follows Naruto and his friends' personal growth and development as ninja, and emphasizes their interactions with each other and the influence of their backgrounds on their personalities. Naruto finds two friends and comrades in Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-man team under a very experienced sensei named Hatake Kakashi. Naruto also confides in other characters as well that he has met through the Chūnin Exam. They learn new abilities, get to know each other and other villagers better, and experience a coming-of-age journey as Naruto dreams of becoming the Hokage of the Leaf Village.

Naruto places strong emphasis on character development. Almost all outcomes are a result of decisions, character, and personality; very few things happen just because of chance. At first, emphasis is placed on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are the members of Team 7. However, other characters are developed, such as Kakashi, Guy, and Jiraiya, as well as Naruto's peers, such as the other Genin teams.

Several major villains came into play as well, the first being Momochi Zabuza, a missing-nin from the Hidden Mist Village, and his partner Haku. Later, in the Chūnin Exam arc, Orochimaru is introduced as an S-Class missing-nin at the top of the Leaf Village's most wanted list. Also, a mysterious organization called Akatsuki begins to pursue Naruto for the Kyūbi inside him. Template:Endspoiler

Characters

File:Team7-Naruto.jpg

Hatake Kakashi (top), Uchiha Sasuke (left), Haruno Sakura (middle), and Uzumaki Naruto (right).

Main article: List of characters in Naruto

Naruto has a large and colorful cast of characters, running a gamut of detailed histories and complex personalities and allowing many of them their fair share in the spotlight; they are also seen to grow and mature with the series, as it spans several years. Fittingly enough for a coming-of-age saga, Naruto's world constantly expands and thickens, and his social relations are no exception -- during his introduction he has only his teacher and the village's leader for sympathetic figures, but as the story progresses, more and more people become a part of his story.

The students at the Ninja Academy, where the story begins, are split up into teams of three after their graduation and become Genin, or low-class ninjas. Each team is assigned an experienced sensei, or teacher. These core teams form a basis for the characters' interactions later in the series, where characters are chosen for missions for their team's strength and complementary skills; Naruto's Team 7 becomes the social frame where Naruto is acquainted with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, and their sensei Hatake Kakashi, also called the "copy ninja" for copying over thousands of ninja techniques with the Sharingan, forming the core of his world-in-the-making. The other three-man teams of his former classmates form another such layer, as Naruto connects with them to various degrees, learning of their motives, vulnerabilities and aspirations and often relating them to his own. The groups of threes is not limited to the comrades Naruto's age -- groups in the story in general come in threes and multiples of three with very few exceptions.

Sensei-student relationships play a significant role in the series; Naruto has a number of mentors with whom he trains and learns, most notably Jiraiya and Hatake Kakashi, and there are often running threads of tradition and tutelage binding together several generations. These role models provide guidance for their students not only in the ninja arts but also in a number of Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideals. Techniques, ideals, and mentalities noticeably run in families, Naruto often being exposed to the abilities and traditions of generation-old clans in his village when friends from his own age group demonstrate them, or even achieve improvements of their own; it is poignantly noted that Naruto's generation is particularly talented.

Many of the greater lingering mysteries of the series are questions of character motives and identity. The legacy of Naruto's parents, the goals that guide Yakushi Kabuto, the objective of the mysterious organization Akatsuki and the identity of its mysterious leader -- these are only a few of the fundamental unanswered questions of "who" and, by proxy, "why" currently at the core of the series. The story is remarkably character-driven; the theme of causality runs inherently throughout the series as characters reciprocate for their past actions and relationships. In this respect, characters respective destinies are very much intertwined, and large emphasis is placed on comradeship and 'bonds' between the community or individual.

Character naming is consistent with traditional Japanese names, family name first (in the English anime the characters' names are reversed, so that the their personal names are first as common in most western societies). The names often borrow from Japanese myth and literature (such as the names borrowed from the folk-tale Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari), or are otherwise elaborate puns (see Hyūga Hinata); often there is a noticeable influence of the story behind the name shouldered by the character. Template:Endspoiler

External links

• The Naruto web store (USA).
• Shonen Jump's Naruto page (USA).
• Cartoon Network's Naruto page (USA).
• Anime News Network Naruto (TV) (detailed cast listing and news).
• Naruto at IMDb
• Naruto Fever's Essential Naruto Fansite Directory Guide