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Naruto

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Naruto
File:Narutosplash.jpg
Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke from left to right
GenreAction, Adventure
Created byMasashi Kishimoto
Manga
Written byMasashi Kishimoto
Published byShueisha
Anime
Directed byHayato Date
StudioStudio Pierrot
Related works

Naruto: Find the Crimson Four-leaf Clover! (OVA)
Naruto: Battle at Hidden Falls. I am the Hero! (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 (currently in production)

Naruto (ナルト) is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto and its anime TV series adaptation about a loud, hyperactive teenage ninja by the name of Uzumaki Naruto who constantly searches for approval and recognition.

It was first published by Shueisha in Japan in the 43rd issue in 1999 of the Shonen Jump magazine. So far there have been 30 volumes of the manga series published in the country. VIZ Media publishes a translated version in the American Shonen Jump, though there have been only 7 of the 30 volumes manga released so far. Viz also recently licensed the anime for North American production. It has been announced that Naruto debuted in Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block on September 10th, 2005 at 9:00 PM Eastern time, in the United States, and in YTV's Bionix block on September 16th, 2005 at 9:30 PM Eastern time, in Canada.

Manga and anime details

With weekly releases, the manga has grown to 277 chapters (only 70 of which are out in the U.S.). The anime currently has 152 episodes. Although it debuted some time after the manga, the television series is quickly catching up since one episode usually covers roughly two manga chapters. To prevent overlapping, the episodes generally tend to protract the manga chapters into great lengths with short bursts of energy-packed action, and sometimes filler is added. The Naruto anime remains true to the manga for the most part.

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, (with a third one currently in production): Naruto the Movie: Yukihime Ninpōchō and Naruto the Movie 2: Maboroshi no Chiteiiseki. At the release of the second movie on August 6th, 2005, Naruto the Movie 3 was announced for the summer of 2006.

Naruto's popularity was highly fueled by people on the Internet translating the Naruto anime and manga (see scanlation and fansub for more information about those practices), making it famous even in countries where it was never imported in any fashion. Prior to the release of the English Anime and Manga, older fans of Naruto would often criticize younger readers for inexperience with various file sharing protocols to obtain manga scans, the most infamous of which was IRC. Such criticism has lead to the invention of the "Narutard", a portmanteau on the words "Naruto," and "retarded," which has now entered mainstream internet pop culture.

Among some older fans (usually detractors of the series), Naruto's length and popularity are often compared to those of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z, another manga turned wildly popular action-oriented shōnen series. Though Kishimoto cites the works of Akira Toriyama as one of his inspirations, the two series differ greatly in their execution, themes explored and overall premise.

Plot overview

Template:Spoiler Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-Tails Demon Fox) – attacked Konohagakure, the hidden village of leaf. It was a mighty demon indeed; the flap of a single tail of the Nine-Tails would raise tsunami and flatten mountains. It raised chaos and slaughtered the people, until the leader of Konoha – the Fourth Hokage – defeated it by sacrificing his own life to seal Kyūbi inside a newborn child.

That child's name was Uzumaki Naruto.

The Yondaime Hokage was remembered as a hero for sealing the Nine-Tails away, and he wanted Naruto to be remembered as a hero as well for being the vessel of containment for the Nine-Tail fox demon, but the village he grew up in had mostly contempt for Naruto, because of the tragedy that was brought to them by the same demon that's living inside Naruto.

The other villagers were forbidden to mention the event to anyone, even their own children. However, this did not stop them from still 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 result, Naruto grew up as an orphan in a lonesome atmosphere without friends or acknowledgment. He could not bring his parents back or force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgment and attention the only way he knew – through pranks and mischief. But that would soon change. Naruto is about to face the ninja academy graduation exam – a gateway to the events and people that will change and define his world and his way of the ninja for the rest of his life.

Naruto maintains a balance between seriousness and frivolity, drama and comedy. 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 ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-men team under a very experienced sensei named Hatake Kakashi. 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 next Hokage of Konoha.

Characters

Main article: Characters of Naruto Template:Spoiler

Team 7

Naruto's original Genin team. No longer an official "team" due to Sasuke's departure.

  • Hatake Kakashi - A calm and collected Jōnin level shinobi assigned to oversee Team 7 who is addicted to adult novels. He was originally a very "by the book" ninja that insisted on following the rules and regulations of shinobi, but after a tragedy involving the death of his friend, he now believes that teamwork is more important than following the rules. He is also known for his surgically implanted Sharingan eye and the skills he has acquired through it, which have earned him the title of "copy ninja".
    • Uzumaki Naruto - "The loud-mouthed, idiotic, hyperactive, number one ninja in surprising people", the one the Fourth Hokage sealed Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-Tails Demon Fox) within and the main character of the series. Naruto constantly strives for acknowledgement and dreams to one day become Hokage. He is a disciple of Jiraiya.
    • Uchiha Sasuke - Arrogant, even-minded survivor of the formerly powerful Uchiha clan, massacred by his own brother Itachi; Naruto's rival and best friend. His ambition is avenging and resurrecting his fallen clan, though the former has much higher priority for him than the latter. Sasuke is overall a very talented ninja and has even inherited the Uchiha's powerful bloodline limit, Sharingan, but his unrelenting fixation on gaining even more power to bridge the gap between his own ability and that of his incredibly capable brother has led him to leave his village in favor of training under its enemy, Orochimaru.
    • Haruno Sakura - Originally Naruto's crush mostly for purposes of comic relief, now his important friend (He still attempts romantic overtures to her every once in a while and though they generally tend to meet pronounced rejection, her reactions have varied as the series progressed and been ambiguous at times). Sakura is talented with Chakra control and Genjutsu, and has a huge crush on Sasuke. Sakura has become Tsunade's disciple in her quest to become a help to her important people rather than be a hindrance.

Team 8

One of the teams formed of the students in Naruto's year that successfully made Genin with him. Appears to specialize in tracking and survival.

  • Yūhi Kurenai - Relatively new Jōnin specializing in Genjutsu who was assigned to oversee Team 8 and cares a lot for her students. Seems to be romantically involved with her fellow Jōnin Asuma.
    • Aburame Shino - Cool, calm and mysterious member of the Aburame Clan, which uses swarms of bugs for attack and defense. He always wears sunglasses and seems to have a relatively keen strategic mind, rarely failing to think ahead. The anime capitalises on the arrogant and rigid sides of his personality, but in the manga he is merely stoic and matter-of-fact.
    • Hyūga Hinata - Kind, extremely shy, stuttering girl who was supposed to be the heir of the Hyūga clan, but was forsaken by her own father because she didn't have enough talent. Hinata has a gigantic crush on Naruto, whom she absolutely admires; however, often times her interaction with him consists mainly of comic blushing and stuttering as she is not the talkative type as it is, let alone in his presence.
    • Inuzuka Kiba - Wild member of the Inuzuka family who is always accompanied by his loyal dog, Akamaru. He is even louder than Naruto is and has many abilities associated with canines, such as a very powerful sense of smell. Kiba's clan has a tradition of giving nin-dogs to children at a young age.

Team 10

Another team formed of the students in Naruto's year. They were put in the same team because their fathers were also on the same team. Their teamwork is excellent.

  • Sarutobi Asuma - Jōnin who was assigned to oversee team 10. He uses trench knives as his weapon and is almost always seen smoking. Apparently romantically involved with his fellow Jōnin Kurenai.
    • Akimichi Chōji - "Pleasantly plump" member of the Akimichi clan, which specializes in turning body mass to their favor in battle, whether by throwing it around or converting it to chakra. Very loyal to his best friend, Shikamaru.
    • Nara Shikamaru - Lazy member of the Nara family, whose specialty jutsu can bind and even strangle people using shadows alone. Shikamaru is very lazy and lacks the motivation to do pretty much anything he doesn't deem important, but is a true genius with an IQ over 200 who will do everything possible for his comrades when push comes to shove.
    • Yamanaka Ino - Sakura's rival for Sasuke's affections and pretty much all other intents and purposes. She's from the Yamanaka family, which specializes in using their minds to confuse their opponents, or take over their bodies. She helps her mother run the family flower shop.

Team Gai

This team was originally assembled of Genin one year above Naruto's who took the Chūnin exam together with the three teams above (who were known as the "rookie nine"). It was one of the strongest teams to take the exam, if not the strongest.

  • Maito Gai - Kakashi's eternal rival, Gai is among the strongest Jōnin in Konoha owing to his amazing Taijutsu prowess, and is the one in charge of this team (its original number is unknown). He is very close to his student, Lee, and has even passed his quite odd hairstyle on to him.
    • Hyūga Neji - Member of the Hyūga clan, branch house; even though he is the strongest Hyūga of his generation, he cannot be the heir to the clan because he is the member of the branch house. He used to have a terrible grudge against the head house and believe that fate is predetermined and people cannot change, but his encounter with Naruto changed him and he now acknowledges the power of people to change their fate.
    • Rock Lee - A Taijutsu specialist and Gai's close student. Originally Lee was a sub par Ninja who could not perform Ninjutsu or Genjutsu at all, but under Gai's guidance he has become a very strong ninja. Lee seeks to make his path in life through hard work; he has mastered several forbidden jutsu that unlock normally hidden chakra but are essentially suicide attacks, and along with his natural mastery of Suiken it seems his efforts have indeed paid off. Lee's goal is to surpass his teammate Hyūga Neji.
    • Tenten - A ranged weapons specialist who looks up to her teammate, Neji. She is an amazing sharpshooter, able to hit a target in the bull's-eye 100 times out of 100; however, once her weapons are nullified she is pretty much out of attack options.

The Legendary Sannin

A Konoha three-ninja team who have trained under the Sandaime Hokage and gone on to become legends.

  • Jiraiya - Also known as the "Toad Hermit", he is a perverted old man who has great enthusiasm for anything and everything having to do with young women. He was the sensei of the fourth Hokage and more recently has become Naruto's personal teacher. Jiraiya has a contract with Gamabunta, the king of toads, and is the current owner of the scroll on which ninja must sign a blood pact in order to use the "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" summoning technique to summon toads of various sizes and powers. While Jiraiya is capable of summoning Gamabunta himself, he usually summons lesser toads who are easier to control.
  • Orochimaru - A twisted, manipulative man whose ultimate goal is to become the ultimate being by achieving knowledge of all jutsu. For this purpose he has achieved a form of immortality through the Fushi Tensei. Among his other goals are crushing Konoha completely and being the catalyst for a world war. Orochimaru has a special talent with snakes and can summon a variety, including the gigantic Manda.
  • Tsunade (Fifth Hokage) - A slug-tamer with legendary healing abilities and monstrous strength. The many tragedies in her life have caused her lifestyle to deteriorate and have made her a compulsive gambler (with notorious bad luck further earning her the nickname "The Legendary Sucker"), but after witnessing Naruto's aspiration to become Hokage whatever it takes she regained her faith in Konoha and agreed to become the fifth Hokage. She can summon the gigantic slug, Katsuyu. Currently she consistently uses a jutsu to maintain her appearance of an extremely busty and beautiful woman in her mid-twenties.

Sand Siblings

Children of the Fourth Kazekage. They attended the Chūnin exam the rookie nine and team Gai participated in.

  • Gaara (Sabaku no Gaara or "Gaara of the Desert" in the Japanese version, called "Gaara of the Sand" in the Viz translation) - Now the fifth Kazekage who lives to protect his village, his life story has been an even darker version of Naruto's; a demon was sealed within him as well, but nobody acknowledged him and the one person who he thought loved him, his uncle Yashamaru, tried to assassinate him out of hate. Gaara has the ability to control any sand, but his moves are the most powerful when he uses sand from a gourd he carries around all the time.
  • Temari - A keen analyst who carries a huge fan with her, which she uses for her brand of wind-based long-ranged combat. She seems to have a developing relationship with Shikamaru.
  • Kankurō - A master puppeteer who uses chakra strings to control his three combat puppets, Karasu, Kuroari and Sanshōuo. His face is covered with patterns of face paint.

English Cast List

This is the cast list as confirmed by VIZ. The dub is being done by Studiopolis in Los Angeles.


Toonami and YTV Broadcast

On Saturday, September 10, 2005 at 9:00PM EST, 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, and an hour-long encore was shown from 10:00 - 11:00PM. Leading up to the series' English-language premiere, many fans expressed fears that it would receive a treatment similar to that of One Piece, which was heavily edited and Americanized for broadcast in North America. The rating for the edited version of One Piece is TV-Y7, but the unedited version is TV-14. Surprisingly, though, Naruto was aired at the rating level of TV-PG rather than the TV-Y7 rating, which is normal for Toonami. Many elements that were expected to be edited out of the broadcast version were left in; many of these elements are not normal for a block aimed at pre-teens.

  • The Lord Hokage smokes a pipe. Both the pipe and the smoke are left intact (the pipe is not changed into a toothpick like in past shows).
  • Most kanji is present. A minimal amount of it is translated into English (mainly episode titles).
  • The Sexy no Jutsu technique is unedited. This technique enables the user to transform into a beautiful young woman who is naked, although covered by smoke.
  • A minimal amount of blood is shown.
  • Naruto says "This sucks," in the first episode.
  • All references to Japanese food are left in.
  • References to death and killing are present (although this is not new for Toonami, many past shows had the dialogue changed so the characters would "destroy" or "get" enemies).
  • Scenes of what would be considered innappropriate behavior are left intact (such as Naruto looking at a girlie magazine (although the girls are in bikinis, this is not an edit) and sneaking into a girls' locker room (the scene only consists of a shot of the locker room and the audio of the girls' screams).
  • Naruto's and Sasuke's accidental kiss scene was edited. Instead of showing the kiss outright, the shot of Sakura and the other girls of the class looking at the scene was lengthened with kiss sound effects added to imply that the kiss had happened.

It is expected that Cartoon Network will continue to take these risks, at least for the time being. This is not the first time the network has done this; the uncut broadcast of Dragon Ball Z features much of the same elements.

Although it was hoped that this would be seen as an acceptable level of editing (given both the time of its airing and the expected audience), a group of Naruto fans primarily consisting of those who saw the original version subtitled (see Fansubs) have seen fit to practically disown the US version of Naruto as rubbish. The primary complaint of fans is that of the choice of voice actors. Most older fans, and many newer fans, view the choice of voices as annoying and screechy, though there have been some voices which were met with much acceptance, such as Konohamaru and Ebisu. However, Sakura and Naruto's voices have been widely criticized. Though it should noted that Studio Pierrot has said that they prefer many of the English VAs to the Japanese cast. It seems those new to the series do not mind the change much at all, but many agree the original japanese voice actors provide for a more better and more emotional experience.

Also, the alteration of the opening and especially closing themes to loud, pop-heavy, and shortened themes annoys many loyal fans of the ever popular J-pop/J-rock Naruto soundtrack.

Also, like Rockman.exe before it, many claim that Naruto was dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment. However, unlike Rockman.exe's dub, where there were a number of edits and music changes, these claims are completely ridiculous in the context of Naruto's dub as are comparisons to One Piece's US Dub which was produced by 4Kids.

On Friday, September 16, 2005, at 9:30PM EST, the first episode of Naruto premiered in Canada on YTV. As YTV and Cartoon Network both air the same version, there aren't any differences in regards to editing. As in the U.S., Naruto aired in Canada with a PG rating. YTV also aired Naruto with an advisory stating that the show contained scenes of violence and was intended for an older youth audience.

Associated music

Opening sequences (Japanese version)

  1. R★O★C★K★S by HOUND DOG (Episodes 1-25)
  2. 遥か彼方 (Haruka Kanata, "Faraway") by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION (Episodes 26-53)
  3. 悲しみをやさしさに (Kanashimi o Yasashisa ni, "Sadness into kindness") by little by little (Episodes 54-77)
  4. GO!!! by FLOW (Episodes 78-103)
  5. 青春狂想曲 (Seishun Kyōsōkyoku, "Youth's Rhapsody") by サンボマスター (Sanbomasutā, "Sambomaster") (Episodes 104-128)
  6. ノーボーイ・ノークライ (Nō bōi - Nō kurai, "No Boy, No Cry") by STANCE PUNKS (Episodes 129-current)

Ending sequences (Japanese version)

  1. Wind(ワインド)(Wind (Waindo), "Wind") by 明星 (Akeboshi) (Episodes 1-25)
  2. ハルモニア (Harumonia, "Harmonia") by RYTHEM (Episodes 26-51)
  3. ビバ★ロック~japanese side~ (Biba★rokku~japanese side~, "Viva★rock ~Japanese side~") by ORANGE RANGE (Episodes 52-64)
  4. ALIVE by 雷鼓 (Raiko) (Episodes 65-77)
  5. 今まで何度も (Ima Made Nando Mo, "Many times up to now") by ザ・マスミサイル (Za Masumisairu, "The Massmissile") (Episodes 78-89)
  6. 流星 (Ryūsei, "Shooting Star") by TiA (Episodes 90-103)
  7. マウンテン・ア・ゴーゴー・ツー (Maunten-a-gōgō-tsū, "Mountain a go go two") by キャプテンストライダム (Kyaputen Sutoraidam, "Captain Stridum") (Episodes 104-115)
  8. はじめて君としゃべった (Hajimete kimi to shabetta, "The first time I spoke with you") by ガガガSP (GagagaSP) (Episodes 116-128)
  9. 失くした言葉 (Nakushita Kotoba, "Lost Words") by ノー・リグレット、ライフ (Nō-riguretto, raifu, "No Regret Life") (Episodes 129-141)
  10. スピード (Speed) by アナログフィッシュ(Analog Fish) (Episodes 142-current)

Movie Themes

  1. Home Sweet Home by YUKI (Naruto the Movie)
  2. Ding! Dong! Dang! by TUBE (Naruto the Movie 2)

OVAs

Movie List

See also

Volumes

English

  • Naruto Vol. 1 ISBN 1-56931-900-6 - 192 pages, 2003
  • Naruto Vol. 2 ISBN 1-59116-178-9 - 216 pages, 2003
  • Naruto Vol. 3 ISBN 1-59116-187-8
  • Naruto Vol. 4 ISBN 1-59116-358-7
  • Naruto Vol. 5 ISBN 1-59116-359-5 - 200 pages, 2004
  • Naruto Vol. 6 ISBN 1-59116-739-6 - 192 pages, 2005
  • Naruto Vol. 7 ISBN 1-59116-875-9

Japanese

  • Vol. 1 ISBN 4-08-872840-8 - 187 Pages, 2000
  • Vol. 2 ISBN 4-08-872878-5 - 205 Pages, 2000
  • Vol. 3 ISBN 4-08-872898-X - 203 Pages, 2000
  • Vol. 4 ISBN 4-08-873026-7 - 184 Pages, 2000
  • Vol. 5 ISBN 4-08-873050-X - 181 Pages, 2000
  • Vol. 6 ISBN 4-08-873089-5 - 183 Pages, 2001
  • Vol. 7 ISBN 4-08-873113-1 - 187 Pages, 2001
  • Vol. 8 ISBN 4-08-873147-6 - 183 Pages, 2001
  • Vol. 9 ISBN 4-08-873174-3 - 181 Pages, 2001
  • Vol. 10 ISBN 4-08-873197-2 - 175 Pages, 2001
  • Vol. 11 ISBN 4-08-873236-7 - 183 Pages, 2002
  • Vol. 12 ISBN 4-08-873259-6 - 185 Pages, 2002
  • Vol. 13 ISBN 4-08-873298-7 - 183 Pages, 2002
  • Vol. 14 ISBN 4-08-873341-X - 177 Pages, 2002
  • Vol. 15 ISBN 4-08-873368-1 - 183 Pages, 2002
  • Vol. 16 ISBN 4-08-873394-0 - 189 Pages, 2003
  • Vol. 17 ISBN 4-08-873420-3 - 185 Pages, 2003
  • Vol. 18 ISBN 4-08-873493-9 - 187 Pages, 2003
  • Vol. 19 ISBN 4-08-873523-4 - 185 Pages, 2003
  • Vol. 20 ISBN 4-08-873552-8 - 185 Pages, 2003
  • Vol. 21 ISBN 4-08-873573-0 - 209 Pages, 2004
  • Vol. 22 ISBN 4-08-873595-1 - 186 Pages, 2004
  • Vol. 23 ISBN 4-08-873639-7 - 185 Pages, 2004
  • Vol. 24 ISBN 4-08-873660-5 - 186 Pages, 2004
  • Vol. 25 ISBN 4-08-873679-6 - 186 Pages, 2004
  • Vol. 26 ISBN 4-08-873770-9 - 187 Pages, 2005
  • Vol. 27 ISBN 4-08-873791-1 - 185 Pages, 2005
  • Vol. 28 ISBN 4-08-873828-4 - 189 Pages, 2005
  • Vol. 29 ISBN 4-08-873849-7 - 182 Pages, 2005

Official sites/news

English

Japanese

Fan websites

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