Naruto

This article is about the manga and anime series. See also Naruto (disambiguation).

Naruto
File:Narutosplash.jpg Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke from left to right
Genre	Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Shōnen
Created by	Masashi Kishimoto
Manga
Written by	Masashi Kishimoto
Published by	Shueisha Tongli Rightman VIZ Media JPFantastica Kana Carlsen Comics Comics House Chuang Yi Glénat
Anime
Directed by	Hayato Date
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Related works
Naruto: Find the Crimson Four-leaf Clover! (OVA) Naruto: Battle at Hidden Falls. I am the Hero! (OVA) Finally a clash! Jōnin VS Genin!! Indiscriminate grand melee tournament meeting!! (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: Animal Panic on Crescent Moon Island (currently in production)

Naruto (ナルト) (romanized as NARUTO in Japan) is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto with an anime TV series adaptation. Its titular main character, Uzumaki Naruto, is a loud, hyperactive, knuckleheaded adolescent ninja who constantly searches for approval and recognition.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in Japan in the 43rd issue in 1999 of the Shonen Jump magazine. So far there have been 31 volumes of the manga series published in the country, with a total of 304 chapters written since its initial release in 1999. VIZ Media publishes a translated version in the American Shonen Jump, though there have been only 9 of the 31 volumes of manga released so far. It has become VIZ Media's best-selling manga series.

Viz also licensed the anime for North American production. Naruto debuted in Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block on 10 September 2005 at 9:00 PM Eastern time in the United States, and on YTV's Bionix on 16 September 2005 at 9:30 PM Eastern time, in Canada although the time has recently changed to 8:00 PM.

Growth and popularity

The series' length and popularity has been compared to those of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z, another popular action-oriented shōnen series derived from manga. Kishimoto cites Toriyama's Dragon Ball series and Katsuhiro Otomo, of the Akira fame, as some of his inspirations, though Naruto differs significantly in its execution, themes explored and overall premise.

As with any other popular television series, numerous fansites have been created with extensive information about the series and active forums. Some of the first and most popular sites targeted at English speaking audiences, such as NarutoFan or Naruto Chuushin, were established shortly after the first English manga volume was released in August of 2003.

Prior to the anime's North American debut in 2005, several scanlation and fansub groups translated the series and made it available for download on the internet. Although many such groups stop once a series has been licensed, there are some that have continued to translate new Naruto episodes. Many of the episodes subbed by the Dattebayo fansub group are downloaded over 100,000 times within the first week of their release, and several others have surpassed 200,000 downloads within their first months.

Manga and anime details

With weekly releases, save for holidays and other events, the manga currently has 304 chapters (only 90 of which have been released in North America). The anime currently has 182 aired episodes (of which 30 have been aired by Viz Media in North America). Although it debuted some time after the manga, the anime is quickly catching up since one anime episode usually covers around one and a half manga chapters. To prevent overlapping, the anime's producers tend to organize content from the manga chapters into long, uneventful sections followed by short bursts of energy-packed action, sometimes adding filler. However, the anime generally remains true to the manga.

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, Naruto the Movie: Yukihime Ninpōchō and Naruto the Movie 2: Maboroshi no Chiteiiseki. An announcement for Naruto the Movie 3 was made on August 6, 2005, just after the release of the second movie. It is expected to be released during the Summer of 2006.

Toonami and YTV broadcast

On September 10 2005, 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. The first episode of Naruto premiered in Canada on YTV on 16 September 2005.

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 to a TV-Y7 rating for broadcast in North America. Surprisingly, Naruto was aired with a TV-PG rating in the U.S. and a PG rating in Canada.

Many elements that were expected to be edited out of the broadcast version were surprisingly left intact, including references to alcoholism and mild sexual situations, Japanese cultural differences (including food and Japanese writing), mild language ("This sucks!", "You pervert!", and "That's bull!") and even blood and death were still evident (including some extreme violence, as seen in Episode 19). The uncut broadcast of Dragon Ball Z featured many of these same elements, but they are still rare among Toonami's other series. In addition, the opening music for the show was significantly changed but the background music during the episodes remained the same.

It also appears that Cartoon Network makes some extra edits in addition to those done by Viz Media, since some episodes aired on the Canadian YTV network had fewer alterations. For instance, during the Wave Country arc, all static blood was kept in on YTV as well as the needles lodged in Sasuke's neck, both of which were digitally reduced (though not completely removed) for the U.S. broadcast.

Naruto currently airs on Saturdays at 9:00pm EST on Cartoon Network, and Fridays at 8:00pm EST/PST and an encore presentation at 2:00am on Saturdays on YTV.

Naruto has been announced to be a part of Cartoon Network's new online broadband service called Toonami Jetstream. It is slated to begin July 17th.

Plot overview

File:UzumakiNaruto.jpg

Uzumaki Naruto

Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Kyūbi (Nine-Tails Demon Fox) attacked Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village. It was a powerful demon indeed; a swing of the tails of the Kyūbi would raise tsunamis 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 whose origins are yet unknown. That child's name was Uzumaki Naruto.

The Fourth Hokage was remembered as a hero for sealing the Kyūbi away, and he wanted Naruto to be remembered as a hero as well for being the vessel of containment for the 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, and there was nobody better to blame than Naruto.

A decree made by the 3rd Hokage made it so that the other villagers were forbidden to mention the event to anyone, even their own children. However, this did not stop them from 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, family or acknowledgment. He could not force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgment and attention the only way he knew – through pranks and mischief. But that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy by using his Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, or Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, to save his teacher, Umino Iruka, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the Kyubi, and that there was someone (Iruka initially) who actually cared about Naruto. His graduation opened a gateway to the events and people that would change and define his world and his way of the ninja for the rest of his life.

Naruto maintains a balance between drama and comedy, with plenty of action. 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 young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-man team under a very experienced sensei named Hatake Kakashi. Naruto also confides in other characters as well that he has met through the Chuunin Exam. 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.

Several major villains came into play as well. First, Orochimaru wanted to use Sasuke as his new body, since Orochimaru could switch bodies (achieving a semi-immortality), and wanted to get Naruto out of the way so Sasuke will easily come to Orochimaru. Second, an organization called the Akatsuki is after Naruto, or actually after the nine-tailled fox in Naruto.

A key point in Naruto was Sasuke's defection from Konoha. Constantly feeling inferior to his brother as well as Naruto, Sasuke decided to seek Orochimaru in his quest for power, effectively an act of betrayal against Konoha. However, en route, Sasuke was protected by the Sound Five, so it was extremely hard for Konoha to even try to persuade Sasuke to change his mind. A Jounin team was returning to Konoha after completing a misson when they encountered the Sound Five. They were no match for them and were left incapacitated. Konoha sent a Genin team to retrieve Sasuke, unaware that Sasuke had such powerful escorts, and despite the odds, they did alot more damage than the Jounins. The genin team was forced to split apart and take on the Sound Five one-on-one, and they would have been killed had it not been for the timely arrival of Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara. Naruto was the one who went after Sasuke, but Sasuke refused to return, and the two fought quite a dynamic battle. Though Naruto was unable to match the Cursed Seal level 2 on Sasuke, he was still able to shake Sasuke enough that Sasuke would not kill Naruto and attempt to acquire the Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke then vows that he will gain power in his own way, and not how his brother Itachi wants him to.

Naruto returned, having failed a mission, and promised Sakura that one day, he will bring Sasuke back.

Naruto vowed to train harder and get stronger, as does Sakura. Thus, they train under Jiraiya and Tsunade. Since Jiraiya is teaching Naruto, Tsunade is teaching Sakura, and Orochimaru is teaching Sasuke, it is very likely that Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke will be the next Legendary Sannin. After a three month period (in which the anime took the liberty of covering with a series of filler arcs) Naruto goes off to train with Jiraiya, supposedly away from civilization.

Naruto went off and trained for two and a half years under Jiraiya. Since nothing spectacular happened with Orochimaru, and the Akatsuki taking a three year break on the hunt for Jincuuriki (those with demons sealed inside of them. E.g Naruto), this period was not shown in the anime (yet) nor the manga, thus creating a time skip. After the time skip, the series goes on to explain how drastically the original characters have changed. The former genin are now older, stronger, and (except, of course, for the most part, Naruto) more mature.

Characters

Further information: Characters of Naruto

File:NarutoTeam7.jpg

Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto

Naruto has a large and colorful cast of characters, running a gamut of detailed histories and complex personalities and allowing many of them their fair share in the spotlight; they are also seen to grow and mature with the series, as it spans several years. Fittingly enough for a coming-of-age saga, Naruto's world constantly expands and thickens, and his social relations are no exception - during his introduction he has only his teacher and the village's leader for sympathetic figures, but as the story progresses, more and more people become a part of his story.

The students at the Ninja Academy, where the story begins, are split up into teams of three and assigned an experienced sensei. These core teams form a basis for the characters' interactions later in the series, where characters are chosen for missions for their team's strength and complementary skills; Naruto's Team 7 becomes the social frame where Naruto is acquainted with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, and their sensei Hatake Kakashi, forming the core of his world-in-the-making. The other three-man teams of his former classmates form another such layer, as Naruto connects with them to various degrees, learning of their motives, vulnerabilities and aspirations and often relating them to his own. This motif of threes is not limited to the comrades Naruto's age - groups in the story in general come in threes and multiples of three with very few exceptions.

Sensei-student relationships play a significant role in the series; Naruto has a number of mentors with whom he trains and learns, most notably Jiraiya and Hatake Kakashi, and there are often running threads of tradition and tutelage binding together several generations. These role models provide guidance for their students not only in the ninja arts but also in a number of Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideals. Techniques, ideals and mentalities noticably run in families, Naruto often being exposed to the abilities and traditions of generation-old clans in his village when friends from his own age group demonstrate them, or even achieve improvements of their own; it is poignantly noted that Naruto's generation is particularly talented and promising.

Many of the greater lingering mysteries of the series are questions of character motives and identity. The legacy of Naruto's parents, the goals that guide Yakushi Kabuto, the objective of the mysterious organization Akatsuki and the identity of its mysterious leader - these are only a few of the fundamental unanswered questions of "who", and by proxy, "why", currently at the core of the series. The story is remarkably character-driven; almost all of the important events taking place owe the majority of their eventuality to somebody having made a choice somewhere rather than to blind circumstance.

Naruto's romantic interest lies in Haruno Sakura. In the first part of the Manga, Sakura rejected him frequently, or scolded Naruto whenever he did something that didn't please her. While Naruto has a crush on Sakura, Sakura (as with most other girls of the academy) is deeply infatuated with Uchiha Sasuke. She later shows a change in attitude with Sasuke, and recognizes him as a good friend and a strong comrade. However, Sakura's feelings for Naruto slowly begin to change for the better, and Sakura becomes gentler and kinder with Naruto. Recent manga chapters show that Sakura seems to be developing feelings of love toward Naruto as well. Hyūga Hinata of Kurenai's Team 8 is deeply in love with Naruto; always blushing in his presence and going so far as to faint when she sees him again after two and a half years.

Character naming is consistent with traditional Japanese names, family name first (in the English anime the characters' names are reversed, so that the their personal names are first as common in most western societies). The names often borrow from Japanese myth and literature (such as the names borrowed from the folk-tale Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari), or are otherwise elaborate puns (see Hyūga Hinata); often there is a noticeable influence of the story behind the name shouldered by the character.

Story arcs

See also: List of Naruto episodes

The storyline can be divided into numerous story arcs, which are concerned with specific missions or events that occur. All occur in chronological order, with the exception of Kakashi Gaiden.

Part I

1. Exposition Arc: Episodes 1-5; Chapters 1-8, covers the introduction of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi, followed by the formation of Team 7.
2. Wave Country Arc: Episodes 6-19; Chapters 9-33, covers Team 7's first major mission of protecting an expert bridge builder from a shipping magnate whose oppressing financial stranglehold over the country would be broken if the bridge were to be completed.
3. Chūnin Exam Arc: Episodes 20-67; Chapters 34-115, covers Team 7's entrance to the Chūnin exam and the exposition of several key characters, such as Orochimaru, Yakushi Kabuto, Jiraiya and the "Rookie Nine" (Naruto's old classmates).
4. Invasion of Konoha Arc: Episodes 68-80; Chapters 116-138, covers the climax of Orochimaru's conspiracy to destroy Konoha, with a strong emphasis on the difference between fighting for one's own selfish ambitions as opposed to fighting for the sake of your important people. It is often grouped into the Chūnin exam arc.
5. Return of Itachi Arc: Episodes 81-85; Chapters 139-148, covers a short visit of Sasuke's older brother, Itachi (and his partner, Kisame) to Konoha, in search of Naruto. This arc serves as exposition for Akatsuki and their interest in the Bijū, and sheds some light on the relationship between Itachi and Sasuke.
6. Tsunade's Decision Arc: Episodes 86-100; Chapters 149-175, covers Naruto and Jiraiya's search for Tsunade, so they can offer her the role of Fifth Hokage. In the meantime, Orochimaru and Kabuto also look for her, so they can try and get her to heal Orochimaru's arms.
7. Unmask Kakashi: Episode 101; Special omake in the first Data Book, Team Kakashi try to see what is under Kakashi's mask.
8. Tea Country Race Arc: Episodes 102-106; (anime only), the first of the filler arcs, which covers a small stand-alone adventure where Team 7 help Morino Ibiki's younger brother, Morino Idate, win a race with very high stakes, and learn that he is more than the coward he thought he was.
9. Sasuke Retrieval Arc: Episodes 107-135; Chapters 176-238, covers Sasuke's decision to seek Orochimaru for more power so he can avenge his clan, and his flight from the Leaf Village. Most of the focus is on the team chasing Sasuke, consisting of Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Chōji, and Kiba and those helping them (Rock Lee, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro). This arc concludes Part 1 of the Naruto manga series.

Part I filler saga

These consecutive filler arcs fill in the four-month gap between Sasuke's departure and Naruto leaving with Jiraiya for two and a half years creating one "filler saga" of unknown lenght where Tsunade's biggest concern is keeping Naruto busy. None of these stories are in the manga, except for the occasional scene, and as such are considered anime canon only.

1. Infiltrating Orochimaru's Lair Arc: Episodes 136-141, covers Jiraiya, Naruto and Sakura following up on a lead which points to what is allegedly Orochimaru's lair.
2. Mizuki Strikes Back Arc: Episodes 142-147, covers the return of Mizuki - a minor villain from the very first episode - who is after Iruka and Naruto, who originally defeated him and foiled his plan to steal a crucial scroll from the village.
3. Bikōchū Arc: Episodes 148-151, covers a joint quest of Naruto and Team Kurenai in search of a legendary bug which should be able to locate Sasuke by the faintest scent he left behind.
4. Raiga Arc: Episodes 152-157, covers a mission Naruto and Team Gai go onto in an attempt to capture the manic Raiga, an alleged former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, who is terrorizing a small village and might have information on Akatsuki member Hoshigaki Kisame.
5. Survival Plan: Episode 158, Naruto, and the rest of Konoha's genin shinobi take groups of younger ninja students on a survival training mission. Naruto gets stuck with Konohamaru and his gang, and leads them astray.
6. Bounty Hunter Arc: Episodes 159-160, Naruto is unwillingly teamed up with Kiba and Hinata for a mission: they must capture a so-called common thief. However, a mysterious bounty hunter named Sazanami is also after the thief, which puts him and the Konoha shinobi at odds against each other.
7. Green Beasts: Episode 161, two outsiders sneak into the hidden village of Konoha by impersonating Lee and Gai, in an attempt learn its secrets (in order to impress the women of their village).
8. Bird Country Arc: Episodes 162-167, covers a trip to the Bird Country. Naruto, Neji and Tenten must solve the mystery of the ghost of Noroimusha. They soon get involved in Bird Country's inner conflicts.
9. Burning Pot: Episode 168, a one-shot episode involving Naruto, Sakura and Chōji helping out Ichiraku's owner in a cookoff against Ryōnin (aka ryōri-ninja, "cooking ninja") to rescue his daughter.
10. Sea Country Arc: Episode 169-173, Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, and Aburame Shino, led by Mitarashi Anko, go to the Sea Country to defeat what is said to be a sea monster.
11. Money Element vs. True Element: Episode 174, Naruto has been given a mission to play with Kunihisa, the highly spoiled son of a rich jeweler, along with some other minor missions.
12. Treasure Hunt Arc: Episode 175 & 176, Naruto is yet again teamed up with Kiba and Hinata for a mission to dig up a hidden treasure. However, if Naruto and crew fail this mission, they will be sent back to the academy.
13. Hotspring Village: Episode 177, Naruto finds Jiraiya in a hotspring village, struggling to finish his latest novel. Naruto decides to make his own manuscript, which he entrusts to a special Courier Ninja. However, it gets mixed up with a very important parcel. Naruto and Jiraiya have to retrieve the manuscript before it causes a war.
14. Hidden Star Village Arc: Episode 178-183, Naruto rejoins Team Gai on a mission to Hoshigakure to guard a special meteorite with a mysterious power. Here he meets Sumaru, a boy who, like Naruto, is determined to become a kage.

Intermission between parts I and II

1. Kakashi Gaiden: Chapters 239-244: As an intermission between "Naruto I" and Naruto II, this arc focuses on Hatake Kakashi and his history, more specifically, the origin of his Sharingan and the scar on his left eye.

Part II

1. Naruto Part II: Reintroduction: Chapters 245-247: Two and a half years later, an older and stronger Naruto returns to Konoha. This arc focuses on reintroducing the main characters, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, and displaying how much they have grown via the infamous bell test. Others reappearing in this segment include Jiraiya, Tsunade, Konohamaru, Iruka, Shikamaru, Gaara, and Temari.
2. Rescue Gaara Arc: Chapters 248-281: The Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, is kidnapped by the Akatsuki. Team Kakashi is sent to Suna as back-up. The mission turns into a rescue mission as Team Kakashi, with Chiyo of Suna and Team Gai as their back-up, chase after Gaara's kidnappers.
3. Naruto Part II Exposition: Chapters 282-284: Naruto runs off to find a substitute team member to intercept Sasori's spy. Naruto reunites with Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Chōji, and Ino. Team Kakashi temporarily gets two new team-members, Yamato (replacing Kakashi as leader) and Sai(replacing Sasuke). Meanwhile, Tsunade has to deal with distrust from the villager elders.
4. Grass Country Arc Part 1: Bridge of Heaven and Earth: Chapters 285-300: The new Team Kakashi follows up on some information received from Sasori about a meeting with a spy among Orochimaru's followers. The meeting fails, when the spy, Yakushi Kabuto, turns out to be still loyal to Orochimaru.
5. Grass Country Arc Part 2: Infiltrating Orochimaru's Base Arc: Chapters 301-: Team Kakashi invades Orochimaru's base in pursuit of Sai, who had betrayed the team at the end of the last arc on the orders of his 'Ne' superior, Danzō. Sasuke resurfaces, but has yet to reunite with his old teammates.

Criticism

When the Sasuke Retrieval Arc ended, the anime was at a point where it was quickly gaining on the manga, its source material. So at the conclusion of this arc, the anime immediately switched to anime only filler episodes. Many fans were disappointed (some even infuriated) by this, although most fans understood that had the anime overtaken the manga, the series would have completely differed from the original source (à la the Trigun and Fullmetal Alchemist anime series) or would have halted production of the anime series, such as Inuyasha. Meaning that it would probably never get to the next part of the manga adaption. After all, time was needed to further the manga, so that the show could be produced, whilst the manga stayed ahead a few arcs.

It is also rumored that Studio Pierrot has yet to acquire the License for animating Part 2. A note found on the official site seems to support this idea:

今後の展開: 新規ライセンシーを募集中です.

Translation: Future development: New licensee in acquiring process.

This could mean that the entire filler season's purpose is not only to give time to advance the manga, but also to buy time until the studio secures a new animation license. However, since this page relates to "Animation and Charactor (sic) Merchandising," it is likely that this text merely refers to a future licensee who will produce Naruto merchandise of some kind, under license from Studio Pierrot.

Associated media

For music, games and other media associated with Naruto, see: List of Naruto media

See also

• Kakashi Gaiden
• List of Naruto episodes
• Naruto Games
• Naruto OVAs
• Naruto Original Soundtrack

External links

Official sites / News

• The Naruto Web Store(USA)
• The Naruto Site
• Shonen Jump's Naruto page (USA)
• Cartoon Network's Naruto page (USA)
• Cartoon Network press release on Naruto
• Viz press release on Naruto anime licensing
• Uncut DVD Boxset announcment
• Anime News Network Naruto (TV) (Detailed cast listing and news)
• Anime DVD's announcement on Naruto's licensing by ShoPro Entertainment
• Just Watch Out for the Fox Demon in the Ninja's Body, the New York Times, January 15, 2006 (login and payment required to view full article)
• D3Publisher Official Site of the Naruto videogame publisher

Miscellaneous

• Naruto at IMDb
• Google Directory on Naruto
• Naruto Fever's Essential Naruto Fansite Directory Guide
• Naruto Gashapon Collections Comprehensive Reference to Licensed Naruto Gashapon Figures