Dec 30, 2011
Here is my complete review of Naruto and what I feel is good an bad about the series.
Plot - Naruto is the story of a boy who is the container for a demon responsible for destroying his village who is despised by most the village afterward despite the request by the Hokage who died to seal away the demon asking he be a hero. Its obvious from the beginning Naruto is a very lonely kid and acts out to get attention of any sort just to have his existence acknowledged by the villagers he deeply wishes would accept him, so in response to that he
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decides to aim for Hokage and become acknowledged by everyone as a great ninja.
Theme - The show is very much themed around relationships, friends, family, and that everyone has feelings and wants to be acknowledged and respected. Its a very much similar to Dragonball in some sense which isn't a bad thing at all as in many ways its done better.
Art - I feel the art style is shonen fitting and does its duty to the manga and always displays what is really going on quite well. I have never felt something could've been better done in terms of the art. I don't feel it is nearly as busy as One Piece or as barren as Bleach. It also doesn't do much fan service which some find annoying like Fairy Tail with the anti-gravity boob women and constant almost hentai ecchi moments.
Characters - The characters are all pretty interesting and each have their quirks and things about them that make them noticeable. I feel everyone has personality and points interest. Naruto is a blast to watch grow as a character because he is in many ways the underdog story while at the same time is nostalgic to anyone who grew up with Goku. However I wouldn't call the characterization and development perfect in any way as some of the "Konoha 11" need more time in the spotlight to be called developed such as Shino an TenTen. Alot of the side characters especially are definitely characters who I feel need alot of attention an development compared to Naruto an Sasuke which are very well done. Sasuke is a character that has fans polarized on terms of love or hate. He is also the tragic character of the series and gets a good amount of focus in Part 2 and the end of Part 1. I feel his rise to villainy has been steady and well paced with a few over the top moments where its just over done. However I would say its a minor flaw in a wonderful enjoyable tale with good characters. I also feel the handling of the demon fox has been less than perfect in many cases for a show that is about friends an relationships I felt disappointed that the fox hasn't played a much bigger role. I also found the heroine Sakura to be unimportant, bland, and basically useless which I had hoped to see change at some point. However all an all I think the characterization has been done very well and continues to improve.
Enjoyment/Overall - I love the series alot and have found it to be one of the best mangas I've read. If you're looking for something shounen with a good plot. I'd say Naruto is for you, but its not perfect nor should you expect it to be. To me for a shounen manga this is a very well done one. Part 1 is very humorous an very much the start of the story while Part 2 really is more plot driven and mature without a few humorous moments thrown in now an then.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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