About Naruto

About Naruto


Naruto is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, adolescent ninja, who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become a Hokage, the ninja in his village that is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is based on a one-shot comic by Kishimoto that was first published in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine Currently, the manga is still being serialized with forty-four 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 nine seasons, while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel of the series, aired its first episode on February 15, 2007 and is still airing. Apart from anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed five movies for the series and several original video animations (OVAs). Other pieces of merchanidise include light novels, video games and trading cards developed by several companies.

Viz Media has licensed the manga and anime for North American production. Viz 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. Naruto: Shippuden has also been announced 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. As of volume 36, the manga has sold over 71 million copies in Japan. The English adaptation of the series have also appeared in the USA Today Booklist several times and volume 11 won the Quil Award in 2006. Reviewers from the series have praised the balance between fights and comedy scenes, as well as the characters’ personalities. However, some of them have noted the series to have stereotypical shōnen concepts, which appear in several series.


Stories

Naruto Uzumaki is a young boy who has the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him. Twelve years before the start of the series, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked the ninja village Konohagakure, slaughtering many 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 forbade anyone mention the attack of the demon fox to anyone although Naruto soon realized about this. Years later, Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy by using his Shadow Clone Technique, a technique from a forbidden scroll that he was tricked into stealing, to save his teacher, Iruka Umino, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the demon fox.

The main story 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 Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-person team under an experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Naruto also befriends in other characters that he meets 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, emphasis is placed on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are the members of Team 7. Later, 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 attempts to capture the nine powerful tailed beasts including the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside of Naruto. Several ninjas from Konohagakure, including Team 7, fight against the Akatsuki members search for their teammate Sasuke. Sasuke, however, betrays Orochimaru and faces Itachi to take revenge. Although Itachi dies, Sasuke is told by the Akatsuki member 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, prepares to invade the village to kidnap Naruto.


Naruto Characters

Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto Uzumaki is the primary protagonist of the Naruto series. He was the first character created by Kishimoto during the conception of the series, and was designed with many traits from other shōnen characters, including Son Goku of the Dragon Ball series. In the series, Naruto has ambitions of becoming Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure. Because he is the host of the nine-tailed demon fox, a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, he is ostracized by the other villagers. He compensates for this with his cheerful and boisterous personality, and over the course of the series, manages to be-friend many foreign and Konohagakure ninja. He develops an especially close relationship with Sasuke Uchiha, one of his fellow ninja in Team 7, and treats him as his brother. Naruto’s seiyū in the original Japanese anime is Junko Takeuchi, and he is voiced by Maile Flanagan in the English adaptation.


Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke Uchiha is one of the members of Team 7. He was created to be a rival to Naruto, as well as a “cool genius”, which Kishimoto believed was an integral part of an ideal rivalry. He is one of the few remaining members of the Uchiha clan along with his brother, Itachi Uchiha, who killed the rest of their family. Due to this, Sasuke’s sole desire is to kill his brother, and he develops a cold and withdrawn personality. His interactions with his fellow teammates, especially Naruto Uzumaki, make him focus less on revenge at the start of the series. During an encounter with his brother in Part I, Sasuke is easily beaten, which leads him to leave the village to seek more power from the criminal Orochimaru. His teammates’ attempts to recover him from Orochimaru form a major component of the Part II plot. In the Japanese anime, Sasuke’s seiyū is Noriaki Sugiyama, and his English voice actor is Yuri Lowenthal.


Sakura Haruno

Sakura Haruno is the sole female member of Team 7. Kishimoto created her as the heroine of the series, although he has admitted that he has little perception of what an ideal heroine should be. As a child, Sakura was taunted by other children, particularly because of her large forehead, a feature Kishimoto has tried to emphasize in Sakura’s appearances. She was comforted by Ino Yamanaka. As the two continued to grow, however, they became increasingly distant due to their shared affection for Sasuke Uchiha. During most of Part I, Sakura is infatuated with Sasuke, and spurns the advances of Naruto Uzumaki. After Sasuke leaves the village, she resolves to become stronger by training with Tsunade. In Part II, she displays highly developed skills from her training, and a more open disposition towards Naruto.[23][24] In the Japanese anime, her seiyū is Chie Nakamura, and she is voiced by Kate Higgins in the English adaptation.


Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi Hatake is the leader of Team 7 and the sensei of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Kishimoto had originally intended for Kakashi to be introduced earlier in the series than he actually was, and created him as an easygoing person that would be able to keep the members of Team 7 in check. Kakashi treats his leadership position with a detached manner, and is consistently late to meetings as a result. In a gaiden on Kakashi’s past, this is shown to be the result of an incident in which he witnessed the death of one of his teammates, Obito Uchiha, who gave Kakashi his Sharingan eye and imparted many of his habits, including his tardiness. With Obito’s Sharingan, Kakashi has amassed a reputation as a skilled and powerful ninja, earning the moniker “Copy Ninja Kakashi”. Although he mentors all three members of Team 7 early in the series, he particularly concentrates on training Sasuke as the series continues, teaching him his Chidori technique; however, he is unable to prevent Sasuke from leaving the village to seek Orochimaru for greater power. Kakashi’s seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kazuhiko Inoue, and his English voice actor is Dave Wittenberg.