Manga Fans

True fans of manga take great interest in Naruto, the ongoing Japanese manga series. The manga series is written and illustrated by the Japanese artist Masashi Kishimoto. The plot reveals the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who continiously searches for recognition and aspires to become a Hokage, the ninja in his village that is recognized as the leader and the strongest of all. Naruto manga series is based on a one-shot comic by Kishimoto that was published in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump, a weekly shonen manga publication.

Naruto was first published by the Japanese publisher Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Currently, Naruto is still being serialized with forty-five tankobon (books) volumes having been released. The manga would be later adapted into an anime produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animax on October 3, 2002. The first series lasted 220 episodes, while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, has been airing since February 15, 2007. Apart from anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed five movies for the series and several original video animations (OVAs). Other types of merchandise include light novels, video games and trading cards developed by several companies.

Viz Media, an American company, has licensed the manga and anime version of Naruto for North American production. Viz Media has been publishing the series in their Shonen Jump magazine, and has also been releasing the volumes. The series aired in the United States and Canada in 2005, and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The films, as well as most OVAs from the series, have also been released by Viz, with the first film premiering on cinemas. Additionally, Naruto: Shippuden is scheduled to premier in 2009 in the United States. Serialized in Viz's Shonen Jump magazine, Naruto has become one of the company's best-selling manga series. Naruto has sold more than 71 million copies by volume 36. The English adaptation of the series has also appeared in the USA Today Booklist multiple times and volume 11 won the Quil Award in 2006. Reviewers from the series have acclaimed the balance between fighting and comedy scenes, as well as the characters' personalities. However, some critics have noted the series resembles concepts similar to other shonen series.

Naruto has translated well into the video game industry, offering manga fans even more fun. Most of the games are fighting games in which the player controls one of a select few characters directly based upon their counterparts in the Naruto anime and manga series. The majority of Naruto video games were released only in Japan and it wasn’t until 2006 that the first games reached North America. Naruto video games have been released for consoles of Nintendo Game Cube, Wii, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Play Station 2, Play Station 3, Play Station Portable, WanderSwan Color, and XBOX 360. Such a wide range of releases for different video game consoles reaches out to a large base of manga fans and video games players. The first video game was Naruto: Konoha Ninpouchou, released in March 2003. Naruto video games come in series of Naruto: Clash of Ninja, Naruto: Ninja Council, Naruto RPG, Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles, and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja. Each Naruto video game series features several games. Additionally, several single Naruto video games have been released.

Manga fans love the plot of Naruto, it’s a bit complicated and multi-faceted, but well worth to follow. Naruto Uzumaki is a young boy who has the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside him. Twelve years before the start of the series, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked the ninja village Konohagakure, killing masses of people. In response, the leader of Konohagakure – the Fourth Hokage – sacrificed his life to seal the demon inside Naruto when he was a newborn. Konohagakure, however, regarded Naruto as if he were the demon fox itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood. A decree made by the Third Hokage restricted anyone mention the attack of the demon fox to anyone. Many years later, Naruto was fooled by the renegade ninja Mizuki into stealing a forbidden scroll, but was stopped by his teacher, Iruka Umino. That encounter made Naruto realize he possessed the demon fox.

The main story follows Naruto and his friends' personal growth. Naruto befriends two comrades, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, who are assigned with him to form a trio under an experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Naruto also befriends many other characters that he encounters throughout the series. 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 Konohagakure. At first, there is great focus on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are the members of Team 7. Later on, Orochimaru, a criminal at the top of Konohagakure's most wanted list, attacks Konoha killing the Third Hokage as an act of revenge. This causes one of the three legendary ninja, Jiraiya to search for his partner Tsunade, to become the Fifth Hokage. During that search, it is revealed that Orochimaru also desires to acquire Sasuke Uchiha due to his powerful genetic heritage. Believing Orochimaru will be able to give him the strength needed to kill his brother Itachi, who destroyed all his clan, Sasuke goes to him. Naruto does not give up on Sasuke, leaving Konoha for two-and-a-half years of training to prepare himself for the next time he meets Sasuke.

After the training period, a mysterious organization called Akatsuki tries to capture the nine powerful tailed beasts including the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that is sealed inside of Naruto. Several ninjas from Konohagakure, including Team 7, battle the Akatsuki members and search for their teammate Sasuke. Sasuke, in the meantime betrays Orochimaru and faces Itachi to take revenge. Although Itachi dies, Sasuke is told by the Akatsuki founder Madara Uchiha that Itachi was ordered by Konohagakure's leadership to destroy his clan. Saddened with the revelation, Sasuke joins forces with Akatsuki to destroy Konohagakure. Meanwhile, as several Akatsuki members are defeated by the Konohagakure ninja, the leader, Pain, invades the village to capture Naruto.