Title: Naruto
Volume: 1 (of 72)
Creator: Masashi Kishimoto
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: SHUEISHA Inc.
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 8/15/03
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1569319006
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (Teens)
Description: Naruto is a young ninja hoping to pass the difficult test to enter the Ninja Academy; deal with his rival, Konohamaru; and learn to get along with his new classmates, Sasuke and Sakura. Assigned to a three-person team, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura must survive a brutal test against their upper-level ninja instructor, Kakashi. Only two can pass — will Naruto be one of them?
Contains Chapters 1-7:
-Number 1: Uzumaki Naruto!
-Number 2: Konohamaru
-Number 3: Enter Sasuke!
-Number 4: Hatake Kakashi!!
-Number 5: Pride Goeth Before A Fall
-Number 6: Not Sasuke!
-Number 7: Kakashi’s Decision
Review:
Cover Art: The Shonen Jump line of Mangas did something a little strange. Some Mangas kept their original covers, while others got a horrible facelift. As for Naruto, luckily it was left pretty much unchanged. The cover has a pic of Naruto, standing on the heads of two frogs. On his back are two brushes. He has a scroll in his mouth, as he prepares himself to do a Ninjutsu Technique. Under the pic is the original Naruto Logo, followed by the Mangaka’s name and the Volume number.
The Spine has the Shonen Jump Logo (an orange and white SJ), the manga title (again it is original), the Volume number, The Mangaka, and the same pic that was used on the cover of Naruto, followed by the VIZ logo.
The back has a pic of Naruto, walking through mist. The top of the cover is black, with the Shonen Jump Logo. Underneath is the Naruto Logo again. Underneath that is a short description of the Volume, followed by the Volume number, and a warning telling people that the book reads from right to left.
Honestly now, do you need the Volume number, title, and the Shonen Jump title at every corner of the cover. It gets a little irritating. Speaking of how they announced in the Shonen Jump Magazine that there is no brainwashing material. All in all, the Cover is nice, just slim down on a lot of the “Shonen Jump Graphic Novel” series stuff.
Artwork: The Artwork of Naruto is fairly new. The series is not all that old, so it has a lot of clean and crisp images. One thing I do like about this Manga Volume is it has early concept art of characters. You can see how the Mangaka originally had the characters of Naruto planned out before he actually started the story.
Translation: The translation of Naruto is pretty dead on to the Original Japanese Manga. The only problem I have is the Sound Effects. All the Sound Effects are dubbed to make them Americanized. Instead of seeing the usual Hiragana and Kata Kana letters that are in a lot of Mangas, we get the words “Whoosh” and “Splash.” Not only is this irritating, but it also takes away from the art of the manga.
Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): I have been reading Naruto for quite some time now, so when I saw the Manga come out, I had to buy it. Naruto is a great series for new anime fans to start on. It has a basic plot, well driven characters, and a lot of action.
Naruto begins with a legend. There was once a demon fox that destroyed anything in its path. The strongest ninjas in the world fought against it, but only the strongest, a powerful Hokage, managed to seal the fox up, into the body of a small baby boy. The Hokage died in the process, and the baby grew up being an orphan and a loner. He was shunned from society, as people believed that one day the demon would be released and destroy the world once and for all.
Several years later, Naruto grows up into a mischievous preteen. On the day he is supposed to graduate from his Genin Ninja level, he fails his test of making a replica version of himself. He is the only one that does not graduate.
Naruto is bummed that he did not graduate, so one of his teachers tells Naruto of a scroll that will give him all the knowledge of the most powerful Ninjutsu. All Naruto has to do is steal it, which he does. All the ninjas of his village, Konoha, begin a search for Naruto. When Naruto’s instructor, Iruka, finds him, Naruto has already read part of the scroll. The teacher that tells Naruto about the scroll wants the scroll for himself. So, a battle is fought for the scroll. Naruto wins by using the attack he learned from reading the school, which he creates thousands of copies of himself. Because of the attack, Iruka lets Naruto graduate.
Since Naruto finished his Genin training, now he must go on missions. But before he can do that, he must first go through a training process. Naruto is hooked up with two other young ninjas, a female, Sakura, and an arrogant rival, Sasuke. They are assigned a new teacher, Kakashi. Kakashi makes the ninjas introduce themselves, and then they go through a survival training the following day.
Kakashi proposes to them that they can not eat until they grab one of the bells that he has. Kakashi only has 2 Bells, so one of them will not be eating. All three Genins work together to try to get the Bells from Kakashi. Kakashi however has many tricks up his sleeves and manages to outsmart all of them. In the end, none of the ninjas manage to get a bell, but because Naruto snuck off and tried to steal the food while Sakura and Sasuke were dealing with Kakashi, Naruto doesn’t get the food, and Kakashi tells them that they will never be Shinobis.
Objectionable Content:
-Language: No
-Violence: Yes
-Nudity: No
-Sexual Situations: No
Overall Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Where Purchased: Borders
Original Review Date: 11/07/03
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