A Beginner's Guide to Naruto: Believe it!

I have several friends that enjoy anime but have never tried some of the big titles -- markedly, some of my favorites.  Because of this, I wanted to make a brief (as brief as I ever am) blog to introduce my favorite anime, "Naruto".  "One Piece" is a hair's breadth from being a tie for favorite, so I'll have to write another for it following this.  It's not a guide; it's not a review; it's just a what to expect when you begin the series.

N.B.  The original series, "Naruto" is available streaming from Netflix; and it can be viewed online in many places from Hulu to YouTube.  The sequel series, "Naruto Shippuden" ("Naruto: The Hurricane Chronicles") are available as disks from Netflix, but they can also be found free online from Hulu to YouTube.  I prefer to watch on Hulu though, since they don't have the time limits of the torrent sites and don't have all of the false videos that they have on YouTube.

Overview: 
The world of "Naruto" is fantasy world set in Japan, combining a mishmash of different eras, from the Feudal era to use of wireless headsets.  The explanation of such things was considered low priority in creation, with Kishimoto focusing more on characters and story.  Most nations support a ninja village, which is used as both a military force and to carry out missions (which range from locating the Lord's family cat to defending against assassins and other invading forces).  The series focuses on Konohagakure (or The Village Hidden in the Leaves) in The Land of Fire. 

The main character, of course, is Naruto.  Twelve years before the start of the series, a nine tailed fox demon (from Wiki, "regarded as an age-old natural disaster, as a single swipe of one of its tails can raise tsunamis and flatten mountains") attacked Konohagakure.  In order to save the village, the demon was sealed inside the body of a newborn baby, Naruto Uzimaki.  The Fourth Hokage (the leader of the ninja village) forbade everyone from telling anyone -- Naruto included -- that the demon had been sealed inside him, and he asked that the villagers regard him as a hero.  Despite this, most villagers regarded him with hatred and resentment that was passed on to their children.  Because of this Naruto grew up with very little support (mainly from his school teacher, Iruka) and the constant scorn of the children and adults alike.

Growing from his experiences as a total outcast, Naruto made a vow that he would one day become the Hokage.  The series begins when Naruto is attempting to graduate the ninja academy. 

 

Characters and story:

The original series was over a hundred episodes, the second part -- "Shippuden"-- is just as long and growing.  The manga is into the 500s.  There are several movies.  The point is, there are a lot of characters.  The only anime/manga I can think of that has close to as many characters is "One Piece".  It can be intimidating when you first start; but just like starting a new school, you eventually figure out who is who, what is what, and the people you like and dislike.  With all of the characters come back stories that only make them more memorable.  They also each come with different abilities, but that is easy enough to follow, since Kishimoto takes the time to explain how each power works and usually why people did each step in combat.

The story has individual plot lines and some single episodes, but it is a long serial tale.  The story that started in "Naruto" episode one is still continuing in "Naruto Shippuden" the manga.  It can make things frustrating from time to time to know how far you have to go before something is accomplished, but I barely notice, with all there is to watch in the moment.  It's more like a life story than just a tale of ninjas.

 

 Timing:

Just like most anime, especially action based anime, combat moves slowly.  There is a lot of exposition, a lot of flashbacks, and a lot of explaining of how the battle has gone and is progressing.  I find this both interesting and helpful, especially if I am watching the anime on a weekly basis and may have forgotten some nuances.  This is, by far, no "Dragball Z" style, screaming for four episodes before anyone does anything; but it does take some time.  I don't see a problem with it, since this is where you get most of your revealing information. 

Death:

While there are many, many unrealistic things about "Naruto" there are many, many things that are.  One of the things you must know is that death happens.  You will be losing characters, characters will be injured to the point of death, and characters will be maimed.  Death happens.

English vs. Japanese with Subtitles:
If you can handle it, go with the subtitled.  As with most anime, the voice actors can kill many phrases and characters.  Especially Yomato and Hidan were mistreated with their English voice actors.  Phrases get changed, language is edited, and things are subtlety changed.  While the English voice actors can be great, it's just not the same. 

Slow to start?
Many people find the series to be very slow to start.  I started around episode fifteen, so I'm not a good judge of that; but this has been a frequent complaint.  The beginning of the series was also much more prone to that super distortion form of animation that is hated by many.  I swear, the nosebleeds almost go away after the first few episodes.  While it is distinctly "Naruto" from the first episode (Aaaaw... Iruka....), it doesn't really hit its full pace until they go on their first mission (starting around episode 5-6).  You should try to stick it out through the end of this storyline (around episodes 19-20), and if you don't like it after that, then a little piece of your soul must be dead -- I mean, then, the series is probably not for you.

Fillers: 
Anime filler episodes are the bane of the anime community.  A filler episode of an anime is essentially when a story is added to the serial, not taken from the manga (though some are based on one page fragments or one panel items) that has absolutely nothing to do with furthering the storyline.  It can be anything from one episode to a whole season.  Some series have great filler episodes that are almost as enjoyable to watch as the series (like "One Piece") and others are mind numbing (like "Bleach").  "Naruto" fillers are pretty hit or miss.  There is a lot of hit or miss though, since there are a lot of filler episodes.  They range from almost as good as the series to abysmal.  You can do what many do and get a guide, so you can skip the fillers altogether; or you can watch or skip them as you enjoy them.  Just know that they are there, and it should not be a reflection on the rest of the series. 

Episode "101" or "lol" is a famous filler episode.  It was based off a small extra in the manga where the kids are pondering what is behind Kakashi's mask.  In the anime episode, they concoct various schemes and discuss theories on what he could be hiding.  While this is happening, a ridiculously inept group of ninja attempt to get revenge on Kakashi for a minor slight.  The episode was intended to be a parody of the series, a complete joke.  It was called the worst and most ridiculous episode ever made, and it was intended to be.  It's one of those person to person things on whether it was hilarious or a black mark on the whole series

End notes:
This is, by far, not intended to be a guide to the series.  It's just a way of getting people to shake hands and know a little about the person.  If any "Naruto" viewers want to chime in, that's great.  If any new to "Naruto" viewers want to share anything, that's great too.

One thing I always loved about the series is that the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke is very similar to the relationship between me and my older sister (me being Naruto).  It's very similar from the beginning to the current relationship.  It's a sad state of affairs, but it has helped me to feel a little closer to the sister that barely exists in my world anymore.