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''Naruto'' is a Japanese
manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...
series written and illustrated by
Masashi Kishimoto is a Japanese manga artist. His manga series, '' Naruto'', which was in serialization from 1999 to 2014, has sold over 250 million copies worldwide in 46 countries as of May 2019. The series has been adapted into two anime and multiple films, v ...
. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young
ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...
who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two parts – the first set in Naruto's pre-teen years, and the second in his teens. The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: ''Karakuri'' (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...
's monthly ''Hop Step Award'' the following year, and ''Naruto'' (1997). ''Naruto'' was serialized in Shueisha's magazine, ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...
'' from 1999 to 2014, and released in ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' (book) form in 72 volumes. The manga was adapted into an
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series produced by Pierrot and Aniplex, which broadcast 220 episodes in Japan from 2002 to 2007; the English dub of the series aired on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
and YTV from 2005 to 2009. '' Naruto: Shippuden'', a sequel to the original series, premiered in Japan in 2007, and ended in 2017, after 500 episodes. The English dub was broadcast on Disney XD from 2009 to 2011, airing the first 98 episodes, and then switched over to
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
's Toonami programming block in January 2014, starting over from the first episode. The English dub is still airing weekly on Adult Swim to this day. Viz Media began streaming the anime series on their streaming service Neon Alley in December 2012 on 99 episodes, and ended in March 2016, after 338 episodes. Besides the anime series, Pierrot has developed eleven movies and twelve
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...
s (OVAs). Other ''Naruto''-related merchandise includes
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
s, video games, and trading cards developed by several companies.
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
licensed the manga and anime for North American production and serialized ''Naruto'' in their digital ''
Weekly Shonen Jump Weekly, The Weekly, or variations, may refer to: News media * ''Weekly'' (news magazine), an English-language national news magazine published in Mauritius *Weekly newspaper, any newspaper published on a weekly schedule *Alternative newspaper, als ...
'' magazine. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The films and most OVAs from the series were also released by Viz, with the first film premiering in movie theaters. The story of ''Naruto'' continues with Naruto's son,
Boruto Uzumaki is a fictional character created by Masashi Kishimoto who first appears in the finale of the manga series ''Naruto'' as the son of the protagonist Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Uzumaki. He later appears as the main protagonist in the 2015 anim ...
, in '' Boruto: Naruto Next Generations'': Boruto wishes to create his own ninja way instead of following his father's. ''Naruto'' is one of the
best-selling manga series The following is a list of the best-selling Japanese manga series to date in terms of the number of collected ''tankōbon'' volumes sold. All series in this list have at least 20 million copies in circulation. This list is limited to Japanese m ...
in history having million copies in circulation worldwide in 47 countries and regions, with 153 million copies in Japan alone and remaining 97 million copies elsewhere. It has become one of Viz Media's best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestseller list several times, and the seventh volume won a
Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-2007. It was a " consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was supp ...
in 2006. Reviewers praised the manga's character development, strong storylines, and well-executed fight scenes, though some felt the fight scenes slowed the story down. Critics noted that the manga, which has a
coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can be ...
theme, makes use of cultural references from
Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of ye ...
and
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
.


Plot


Part I

A powerful fox known as the Nine-Tails attacks Konoha, the hidden leaf village in the Land of Fire, one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries in the Ninja World. In response, the leader of Konoha and the Fourth Hokage,
Minato Namikaze The manga and anime series features an extensive cast of characters created by Masashi Kishimoto. The series takes place in a fictional universe where countries vie for power by employing ninja who can use superhuman abilities in combat. The ...
seals the fox inside the body of his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, making Naruto a host of the beast; this costs Naruto's father his life, and the Third Hokage returns from retirement to become the leader of Konoha again. Naruto is often scorned by Konoha's villagers for being the host of the Nine-Tails. Due to a decree by the Third Hokage forbidding any mention of these events, Naruto learns nothing about the Nine-Tails until 12 years later, when Mizuki, a renegade ninja, reveals the truth to Naruto. Naruto then defeats Mizuki in combat, earning the respect of his teacher, Iruka Umino. Shortly afterward, Naruto becomes a ninja and joins with Sasuke Uchiha, against whom he often competes, and Sakura Haruno, on whom he has a crush, to form
Team 7 ''Team 7'' is a comic book superhero team that appeared in titles published by Wildstorm Productions. The team has appeared in 3 self-titled miniseries: ''Team 7'', ''Team 7: Objective Hell'' and ''Team 7: Dead Reckoning''. The first 5-issue Ge ...
, under an experienced '' sensei'', the elite ninja
Kakashi Hatake is a fictional character in the ''Naruto'' manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the story, Kakashi is the teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sa ...
. Like all the ninja teams from every village, Team 7 completes missions requested by the villagers, ranging from doing chores and being bodyguards to performing assassinations. After several missions, including a major one in the Land of Waves, Kakashi allows Team 7 to take a ninja exam, enabling them to advance to a higher rank and take on more difficult missions, known as Chunin Exams. During the exams,
Orochimaru , featured in the Japanese folktale ''Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya''), is the archenemy of the ninja Jiraiya. He was once named and was one of Jiraiya's followers but was overtaken by serpent magic. Hav ...
, a wanted criminal, invades Konoha and kills the Third Hokage for revenge.
Jiraiya Jiraiya (自来也 or 児雷也, literally "Young Thunder"), originally known as Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki (尾形周馬寛行), is the toad-riding protagonist of the Japanese folk tale Katakiuchi Kidan Jiraiya Monogatari (報仇奇談自来也説話, " ...
, one of the three legendary ninjas, declines the title of Fifth Hokage and searches with Naruto for
Tsunade Tsunade (綱手), featured in the Japanese folktale '' Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari'' (児雷也豪傑物語, "The tale of the gallant Jiraiya"), was the classmate of the ninja Jiraiya. She mastered slug magic and was able to summon an enormous ...
whom he chooses to become Fifth Hokage instead. During the search, it is revealed that Orochimaru wishes to train Sasuke because of his powerful genetic heritage, the Sharingan. After Sasuke attempts and fails to kill his older brother Itachi, who had showed up in Konoha to kidnap Naruto, he joins Orochimaru, hoping to gain from him the strength needed to kill Itachi. The story takes a turn when Sasuke leaves the village: Tsunade sends a group of ninja, including Naruto, to retrieve Sasuke, but Naruto is unable to persuade or force him to come back. Naruto and Sakura do not give up on Sasuke; Naruto leaves Konoha to receive training from Jiraiya to prepare himself for the next time he encounters Sasuke, while Sakura becomes Tsunade's apprentice.


Part II

Two and a half years later, Naruto returns from his training with Jiraiya. The
Akatsuki may refer to: * Akatsuki (spacecraft), an uncrewed Venus orbiter * , any of three classes of destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy * , any of three destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy * ''Akatsuki'' (train), operated between Kyoto and N ...
starts kidnapping the hosts of the powerful Tailed Beasts. Team 7 and other Leaf ninja fight against them and search for their teammate Sasuke. The Akatsuki succeeds in capturing and extracting seven of the Tailed Beasts, killing all the hosts except Gaara, who is now the Kazekage. Meanwhile, Sasuke betrays Orochimaru and faces Itachi to take revenge. After Itachi dies in battle, Sasuke learns from the Akatsuki founder
Tobi ToBI (; an abbreviation of tones and break indices) is a set of conventions for transcribing and annotating the prosody of speech. The term "ToBI" is sometimes used to refer to the conventions used for describing American English specifically, whic ...
that Itachi had been ordered by Konoha's superiors to destroy his clan to prevent a coup; he accepted, on the condition that Sasuke would be spared. Devastated by this revelation, Sasuke joins the Akatsuki to destroy Konoha in revenge. As Konoha ninjas defeat several Akatsuki members, the Akatsuki figurehead leader, Nagato, kills Jiraiya and devastates Konoha, but Naruto defeats and redeems him, earning the village's respect and admiration. With Nagato's death, Tobi, disguised as
Madara Uchiha is a fictional manga and anime character in the ''Naruto'' series created by Masashi Kishimoto. He appears for the first time in "Part II" of the manga and the ''Shippuden'' anime adaptation, as a major antagonist. He, along with its first Hokag ...
(one of Konoha's founding fathers), announces that he wants to capture all nine Tailed Beasts to cast an illusion powerful enough to control all humanity and achieve world peace. The leaders of the five ninja villages refuse to help him and instead join forces to confront his faction and allies. That decision results in a Fourth Shinobi World War between the combined armies of the Five Great Countries (known as the Allied Shinobi Forces) and Akatsuki's forces of zombie-like ninjas. The Five Kage try to keep Naruto, unaware of the war, in a secret island turtle near Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village), but Naruto finds out and escapes from the island with Killer Bee, the host of the Eight-Tails. At that time, Naruto—along with the help of Killer Bee—gains control of his Tailed Beast and the two of them head for the battlefield. During the conflict, it is revealed that Tobi is Obito Uchiha and not Madara as he claimed. Obito is a former teammate of Kakashi's who was thought to be dead. The real Madara saved Obito's life, and they have since collaborated. As Sasuke learns the history of Konoha, including the circumstances that led to his clan's downfall, he decides to protect the village and rejoins Naruto and Sakura to thwart Madara and Obito's plans. However, Madara's body ends up possessed by Kaguya Otsutsuki, an ancient princess who intends to subdue all humanity. A reformed Obito sacrifices himself to help Team 7 stop her. Once Kaguya is sealed, Madara dies as well. Sasuke takes advantage of the situation and takes control of all the Tailed Beasts, as he reveals his goal of ending the current village system. Naruto confronts Sasuke to dissuade him from his plan, and after they almost kill each other in a final battle, Sasuke admits defeat and reforms. After the war, Kakashi becomes the Sixth Hokage and pardons Sasuke for his crimes. Years later, Kakashi steps down while Naruto marries
Hinata Hyuga is a fictional character in the anime and manga '' Naruto'', created by Masashi Kishimoto. Hinata is a kunoichi and the former heiress of the Hyūga clan from the fictional village of Konohagakure. She is also a member of Team 8, which co ...
and becomes the Seventh Hokage, raising the next generation.


Production


Development

In 1995, Shueisha released ''Karakuri'', a one-shot manga by Masashi Kishimoto that earned an honorable mention in the ''Hop Step Award'' in 1996. Kishimoto was unsatisfied with his subsequent drafts for a follow up, and decided to work on another project. The new project was originally going to feature Naruto as a chef, but this version never made it to print. Kishimoto originally wanted to make Naruto a child who could transform into a fox, so he created a one-shot of ''Naruto'' for the summer 1997 issue of ''Akamaru Jump'' based on the idea. Despite the positive feedback it received in a readers' poll, Kishimoto was unhappy with the art and the story, so he rewrote it as a story about ninjas. The first eight chapters of ''Naruto'' were planned before it appeared in ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...
'', and these chapters originally devoted many panels of intricate art to illustrating the Konoha village. By the time ''Naruto'' debuted, the background art was sparse, instead emphasizing the characters. Though Kishimoto had concerns that
chakra Chakras (, ; sa , text=चक्र , translit=cakra , translit-std=IAST , lit=wheel, circle; pi, cakka) are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or ...
(the energy source used by the ninjas in ''Naruto'') made the series too Japanese, he still believed it is an enjoyable read. Kishimoto is a fan of
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...
, and the tailed beasts mythology was introduced because Kishimoto wanted an excuse to draw monsters. He has said that the central theme in Part I of ''Naruto'' is how people accept each other, citing Naruto's development across the series as an example. For Part II of the manga, Kishimoto tried to keep the panel layouts and the plot easy for the reader to follow, and avoid "overdo ngthe typical manga-style". He considers that his drawing style has changed from "the classic manga look to something a bit more realistic." Because of wishing to end the arc involving Sasuke Uchiha's search for his brother, Itachi, in a single volume, Kishimoto decided that volume 43 should include more chapters than regular volumes. As a result, Kishimoto apologized to readers for this since volume 43 was more expensive than regular volumes.


Characters

When he created ''Naruto'', Kishimoto looked to other ''shōnen'' manga as influences for his work and tried to make his characters unique, while basing the story on Japanese culture. The separation of the characters into different teams was intended to give each group a particular flavor. Kishimoto wanted each member to have a high level of aptitude in one skill and be talentless in another. He found it difficult to write about romance, but emphasized it more in Part II of the manga, beginning with volume 28. He introduced villains into the story to have them act as a counterpoint to his characters' moral values and clearly illustrate their differences. As a result of how the younger characters were significantly weaker than the villains, Kishimoto made the
ellipsis The ellipsis (, also known informally as dot dot dot) is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. The plural is ellipses. The term origin ...
in order to have them age and become stronger during this time.


Setting

Kishimoto made use of the Chinese zodiac tradition, which had a long-standing presence in Japan; the zodiac hand signs originate from this. When Kishimoto was creating the primary setting of the ''Naruto'' manga, he concentrated initially on the designs for the village of Konoha. The idea of the setting came to him "pretty spontaneously without much thought", but admits that the scenery became based on his home in the Japanese prefecture of
Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...
. Since the storyline does not specify when it is set, he was able to include modern elements in the series such as convenience stores. He considered including automobiles, planes and simple computers, but excluded projectile weapons and vehicles from the plot.


Conclusion

Masashi Kishimoto's home was close to
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...
where his grandfather lived. He would often tell his grandson stories of war and how it was related to grudges. In retrospect, Kishimoto commented he could not criticize anyone as a result of the war based on it was built. Upon further researching, Kishimoto decided to create world war story arc for the manga's finale. However, unlike the stories he heard from his grandfather, Kishimoto wanted to give the war covered in ''Naruto'' a more hopeful feeling. Nagato's arc paved the way for the ending of ''Naruto'' to occur. Nagato stood out as a villain due to suffering war and killing Naruto's mentor Jiraiya. Understanding the fears of war, Naruto's characterization was made more complex for him to experience the Fourth Great Shinobi War. These events end with Naruto forgiving Sasuke as he had forgiven Nagato in the final battle. Due to unknown issues, the series' finale was delayed. Once volume 66 was released, Kishimoto commented he reached a moment from the narrative involving something he always wanted to draw. When serialization began, Kishimoto decided the ending would feature a fight between two characters: Naruto and Sasuke. However, the writer felt the two were not equals as the former was not a victim of war like the latter whose family was killed to stop a possible civil war. Kishimoto chose Hinata Hyuga as Naruto's romantic partner from the early stages of the manga, since Hinata had always respected and admired Naruto even before the series' beginning, and Kishimoto felt this meant the two of them could build a relationship. When Hinata first appeared, Kishimoto thought of expanding romantic plotlines. but decided to leave Naruto's maturation through romance as an idea for the film 2014 '' The Last: Naruto the Movie'' where he worked alongside screenwriter Maruo Kyozuka, a writer more skilled at the theme of romance. Similarly, the title character's relationship with his first son, Boruto, was explored furthermore in the 2015 film '' Boruto: Naruto the Movie'' to end Naruto's growth as the character had become an adult, but it was briefly shown in the manga's finale. Studio: Pierrot.


Media


Manga

Written and illustrated by
Masashi Kishimoto is a Japanese manga artist. His manga series, '' Naruto'', which was in serialization from 1999 to 2014, has sold over 250 million copies worldwide in 46 countries as of May 2019. The series has been adapted into two anime and multiple films, v ...
, ''Naruto'' was serialized for a fifteen-year run in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...
's magazine, ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...
'' from September 21, 1999, to November 10, 2014. Shueisha collected its chapters in 72 volumes—27 for Part I, and the rest for Part II; they were released between March 3, 2000, and February 4, 2015. The first 238 chapters are Part I and constitute the first section of the ''Naruto'' storyline. Chapters 239 to 244 include a '' gaiden'' (side-story) focusing on Kakashi Hatake's background. The remaining chapters (245 to 700) belong to Part II, which continues the story after a -year gap in the internal timeline. Shueisha have also released several ani-manga ''tankōbon'', each based on one of the ''Naruto'' movies, and has released the series in Japanese for cell-phone download on their website ''Shueisha Manga Capsule''. A miniseries titled , centered on the main characters' children, began serialization in the Japanese and English editions of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' on April 27, 2015, and ended after ten chapters on July 6 of the same year. ''Naruto'' was scanlated (translated by fans) and available online before a licensed version was released in North America; the rights were acquired by Viz Media, who began serializing ''Naruto'' in their anthology comic magazine '' Shonen Jump'', starting with the January 2003 issue. The schedule was accelerated at the end of 2007 to catch up with the Japanese version, and again in early 2009, with 11 volumes (from 34 to 44) appearing in three months, after which it returned to a quarterly schedule. All 27 volumes of Part I were released in a boxed set on November 13, 2007. On May 3, 2011, Viz started selling the manga in an omnibus format with each book containing three volumes. The franchise has been licensed in 90 countries, and the manga serialized in 35 countries. Madman Entertainment began publishing ''Naruto'' volumes in Australia and New Zealand in March 2008 after reaching a distribution deal with Viz Media.
Carlsen Comics Carlsen Verlag is a subsidiary of the homonymous Danish publishing house which in turn belongs to the Swedish media company Bonnier. The branch was founded on 25 April 1953 in Hamburg. The publisher's program focuses on books for children, i. ...
has licensed the series, through its regional divisions, and released the series in German and Danish. The series is also licensed for regional language releases in French and Dutch by
Kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters ( kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most ...
, in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica, in Russian by
Comix-ART Comix-ART (russian: Комикс-Арт, ''Komiks-Art'') is a comics imprint of Russian book publisher Domino. It serves as a translator and the licensor of graphic novels, manga, manhwa and original English-language manga. Comix-ART, founded ...
, in Finnish by Sangatsu Manga, in Swedish by
Bonnier Carlsen Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a privately held Swedish media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in 1804 by Gerhard Bonnier in Copenhagen, Denma ...
, and Italian by
Panini Comics Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectable stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hunga ...
.


Spin-offs

A spin-off comedy manga by Kenji Taira, titled , focuses on the character
Rock Lee is a fictional character in the anime and manga series ''Naruto'' created by Masashi Kishimoto. At first Masashi designed Lee to symbolize human strength. In the anime and manga, Lee is a ninja affiliated with the village of Konohagakure, and is ...
, a character who aspires to be strong as a ninja but has no magical ''jutsu'' abilities. It ran in Shueisha's ''
Saikyō Jump is a Japanese monthly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. The magazine was started on December 3, 2010 with three completely original titles and seven spin-off manga from series in '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' and ''V Jump''. Originally ...
'' magazine from December 3, 2010, to July 4, 2014, and was made into an
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series, produced by Studio Pierrot, and premiering on
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...
on April 3, 2012. Crunchyroll
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...
ed the series' premiere on their website and streamed the following episodes. Taira also wrote , which released on October 3, 2014, which runs in the same magazine and features Sasuke. A monthly sequel series titled '' Boruto: Naruto Next Generations'' began in the Japanese and English editions of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in early 2016, illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto and written by
Ukyō Kodachi is a Japanese novelist, manga artist, and screenwriter. He started out writing tabletop role-playing games, before debuting as a novelist in 2008 and a screenwriter in 2013. From 2016 to 2020, he worked on the '' Boruto: Naruto Next Generations' ...
, with supervision by Kishimoto. Ikemoto was Kishimoto's chief assistant during the run of the original ''Naruto'' series, and Kodachi was his writing partner for the '' Boruto: Naruto the Movie'' film screenplay. The monthly series was preceded by a one-shot written and illustrated by Kishimoto. The staff from Shueisha asked Kishimoto if he would write a sequel to ''Naruto''. However, Kishimoto refused the offer and offered his former assistant Mikio Ikemoto and writer Ukyō Kodachi write ''Boruto: Naruto Next Generations'' as the sequel to ''Naruto''.


Anime


Part I

The ''Naruto'' anime, directed by
Hayato Date is a Japanese animation director most known for the anime adaptations of '' Saiyuki'' and '' Naruto''. Filmography Films *'' Saiyuki: Requiem'' (2001) *劇場版 NARUTO-ナルト- 木ノ葉の里の大うん動会 (short, 2004) *'' Honō no Ch� ...
and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo, premiered in Japan on October 3, 2002, and concluded on February 8, 2007, after 220 episodes on TV Tokyo. The first 135 episodes were adapted from Part I of the manga; the remaining 85 episodes are original and use plot elements that are not in the manga. Tetsuya Nishio was the character designer for ''Naruto'' when the manga was adapted into an anime series; Kishimoto had requested that Nishio be given this role. Beginning on April 29, 2009, the original ''Naruto'' anime began a rerun on Wednesdays and Thursdays (until the fourth week of September 2009 when it changed to only Wednesdays). It was remastered in HD, with new 2D and 3D effects, under the name . Episodes from the series have been released on both VHS and DVD, and collected as boxed sets. Viz licensed the anime series for broadcast and distribution in the Region 1 market. The English dub of the anime began airing on September 10, 2005, and concluded on January 31, 2009, with 209 episodes aired on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
's Toonami in the United States. The episodes were also broadcast on YTV's Bionix (Canada),
Jetix Jetix (stylized as JETIX) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action/adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated from the ...
(United Kingdom) and SABC 2's (South Africa) programming blocks, and were released on DVD on March 28, 2006. On August 25, 2017,
Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz cons ...
announced that they would be offering episodes of the series for their Video on Demand service starting September 1, 2017. The first 26 volumes contain four episodes; later DVD volumes have five episodes. Uncut editions were released in DVD box sets, each containing 12–15 episodes, with some variation based on story arcs. In the American broadcast, references to alcohol,
Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ances ...
, sexual innuendo, and the appearance of blood and death were sometimes edited but remained in the DVD editions. One of the censored scenes was the accidental kiss between Naruto and Sasuke, fitting in the long trend of removing content that alludes to homosexual relationships. The series was also licensed to
Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...
,
Joost Joost () was an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa). During 2007–2008 Joost used peer-to-peer TV ( P2PTV) technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; i ...
, and
Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...
, which aired the episodes online with the original Japanese audio tracks and English subtitles. On June 1, 2017, it was announced that an HD remaster version of the original ''Naruto'' television anime series would debut on Japanese TV on June 24, starting with the show's first episode.


Part II

, developed by Studio Pierrot and directed by Hayato Date, is the sequel to the original ''Naruto'' anime; it corresponds to Part II of the manga. It debuted on Japanese TV on February 15, 2007, on TV Tokyo, and concluded on March 23, 2017. On January 8, 2009, TV Tokyo began broadcasting new episodes via
internet streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...
to monthly subscribers. Each streamed episode was available online within an hour of its Japanese release and includes English subtitles. Viz began streaming English subtitled episodes on January 2, 2009, on its series' website, including episodes that had already been released as well as new episodes from Japan. In the United States, the English dub of ''Naruto: Shippuden'' premiered weekly on Disney XD from October 28, 2009, up until episode 98 on November 5, 2011. Episodes 99 through 338 premiered uncut on the anime web channel Neon Alley until its shutdown on May 4, 2016. The anime started airing from the beginning on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
's Toonami programming block on January 5, 2014, where it continues to air on a weekly basis. The series was released on Region 2 DVD in Japan with four or five episodes per disk; there are four series of DVD releases divided by story arc. There was a special feature included with the seventh ''Naruto: Shippuden'' compilation DVD called ''Hurricane! "Konoha Academy" Chronicles''. was released on December 16, 2009; featuring episodes 119–120, the story revolves around Kakashi Hatake's childhood. The first North American DVD of the series was released on September 29, 2009. Only the first 53 episodes were made available in this format before it ended with the 12th volume on August 10, 2010. Subsequent episodes were released as part of DVD boxed sets, beginning with the first season on January 26, 2010. In the United Kingdom, the series was licensed by Manga Entertainment who released the first DVD collection on June 14, 2010.


Films

The series was adapted into eleven theatrical films and twelve
original video animations , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
(OVAs). The first three films correspond to the first anime series, and the remaining eight correspond to the second series. In July 2015, Lionsgate announced they were developing a live-action ''Naruto'' film with
Avi Arad Avi Arad (; he, אבי ארד; born 1948) is an Israeli-American film producer who became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, and the chairman, CEO, and founde ...
through his production company ''Arad Productions''. Michael Gracey will be directing, Jonathan Levine will be writing and Ari Arad, Brady Fujikawa, and James Myers will produce the film. On December 17, 2016, Kishimoto announced that he has been asked to help develop the movie.


Novels

Twenty-six ''Naruto''
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
s, the first nine written by Masatoshi Kusakabe, have been published in Japan. Of these, the first two have been released in English in North America. The first adapted novel, ''Naruto: Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood'' (2002), retells a Team 7 mission in which they encounter the assassins Zabuza and Haku; the second, ''Naruto: Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village!'' (2003) was based on the second OVA of the anime. Viz has also published 16 chapter books written by Tracey West with illustrations from the manga. Unlike the series, these books were aimed at children ages seven to ten. Thirteen original novels have appeared in Japan; eleven of these are part of a series, and the other two are independent novels unconnected to the series. The first independent novel, titled ''Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja'' (2009), is presented as an in-universe novel written by Naruto's master
Jiraiya Jiraiya (自来也 or 児雷也, literally "Young Thunder"), originally known as Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki (尾形周馬寛行), is the toad-riding protagonist of the Japanese folk tale Katakiuchi Kidan Jiraiya Monogatari (報仇奇談自来也説話, " ...
. It follows the adventures of a fictional ''shinobi'' named Naruto Musasabi, who served as Naruto's namesake. The other independent novel, ''Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf Howled'' (2012), is set shortly after Sasuke's fight with Itachi. ''Itachi Shinden'', which consists of two novels, and ''Sasuke Shinden'', a single novel, both appeared in 2015, and both were adapted into anime arcs in ''Naruto: Shippuden'' in 2016, titled ''Naruto Shippūden: Itachi Shinden-hen: Hikari to Yami'' and ''Book of Sunrise'' respectively. ''Hiden'' is a series of six light novels published in 2015 that explores the stories of various characters after the ending of the manga.


Music

Toshio Masuda composed and arranged the ''Naruto'' soundtracks. ''Naruto Original Soundtrack'' was released on April 3, 2003, and contains 22 tracks used during the first season of the anime. This was followed by ''Naruto Original Soundtrack II'', released on March 18, 2004, which includes 19 tracks. The third, ''Naruto Original Soundtrack III'', was released on April 27, 2005, with 23 tracks. Two soundtracks containing all the opening and ending themes of the series, titled ''Naruto: Best Hit Collection'' and ''Naruto: Best Hit Collection II'' were released on November 17, 2004, and August 2, 2006. Eight tracks from the series were selected and released on a CD called ''Naruto in Rock -The Very Best Hit Collection Instrumental Version-'' released on December 19, 2007. Soundtracks for the three movies based on the first anime series were available for sale near their release dates. On October 12, 2011, a CD collecting the themes from ''Naruto Shōnen Hen'' was released. Various CD series were released with voice actors performing original episodes. The soundtracks of ''Naruto: Shippuden'' were produced by Yasuharu Takanashi; they were titled ''Naruto Shippūden Original Soundtrack I'', ''II'', and ''III'', and were released in 2007, 2009, and 2016. ''Naruto All Stars'', released in 2008, consists of 10 original ''Naruto'' songs remixed and sung by characters from the series. Ten themes from the two anime series were collected in the DVD box ''Naruto Super Hits 2006–2008'', which appeared in 2008. Soundtracks from the ''Shippuden'' films have also been released, with the first one available in 2007. A final one composed of the series is set to be released in late 2017 with Aniplex having started a survey of all ''Naruto'' and ''Naruto Shippuden'' themes to be included in the CD.


Merchandise


Video games

''Naruto'' video games have been released on various consoles by
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...
,
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
, and
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
. The majority of them are
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining atta ...
s in which the player directly controls one of the characters from ''Naruto''. The player pits their character against another character controlled by the game's AI or by another player; the objective is to reduce the opponent's health to zero using basic attacks as well as special techniques unique to each character derived from techniques they use in the ''Naruto'' anime or manga. The first ''Naruto'' video game was ''Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō'', which was released in Japan on March 27, 2003, for the
WonderSwan Color The (ワンダースワン) is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. It was developed by Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory and Bandai, and was the last piece of hardware Yokoi developed before his death in 1997. Released ...
. Most ''Naruto'' video games have been released only in Japan. The first games released outside of Japan were the '' Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen'' series and the '' Naruto: Saikyou Ninja Daikesshu'' series, released in North America under the titles of ''Naruto: Clash of Ninja'' and ''Naruto: Ninja Council''. In March 2021,
Namco Bandai is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
announced that '' Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm'' series has sold units worldwide.


Art and guidebooks

Three official artbooks based on the ''Naruto'' series have been released. The first two, titled ''Art Collection: Uzumaki'', and ''Illustration Collection: Naruto'', were released in Japan in 2004 and 2009, with North American editions following in 2007 and 2010 respectively. The third artbook ''Illustration Collection: Naruto Uzumaki'', was published in 2015 in Japan and later the same year in North America; it contains artwork originally on ''Shonen Jump'' comic covers. It has no text except a brief commentary by Kishimoto about his favorite artworks. An interactive coloring book called ''Paint Jump: Art of Naruto'' was released in 2008. An unreleased artbook titled ''Naruto Exhibition Official Guest Book'' by Masashi Kishimoto was given to those who attended the ''Naruto'' art exhibition at the
Mori Art Museum The is a contemporary art museum founded by the real estate developer Minoru Mori (1934–2012) in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills complex both of which he built in Tokyo, Japan. The exterior architect of the museum's gall ...
on April 25, 2015. Four guidebooks titled ''First Official Data Book'' through ''Fourth Official Data Book'' have been released; the first two cover Part I of the manga, and were released in 2002 and 2005; the third and fourth volumes appeared in 2008 and 2014. These books contain character profiles, Jutsu guides, and drafts by Kishimoto. For the anime, a series of guidebooks called ''Naruto Anime Profiles'' was released. These books contain information about the production of the anime episodes and explanations of the characters' designs. A manga fan book titled ''Secret: Writings from the Warriors Official Fanbook'' appeared in 2002, and another fan book was released to commemorate the series' 10th anniversary, including illustrations of Naruto Uzumaki by other manga artists, a novel, Kishimoto's one-shot titled ''Karakuri,'' and an interview between Kishimoto and
Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several manga series in different genres during the past th ...
.


Collectible card game

Produced by Bandai, the ''Naruto Collectible Card Game'' was released in Japan in 2003, and in North America in 2006. The game is played between two players using a customized deck of fifty cards from the set, and a game mat. To win, a player must either earn ten "battle rewards" through their actions in the game or cause the other player to exhaust their deck. The cards were released in named sets called "series", in the form of four 50-card pre-constructed box sets. Each set includes a starter deck, the game mat, a turn-counter, and one stainless steel "Ninja Blade Coin". Extra cards are available in 10-card
booster pack In collectible card games, digital collectible card games and collectible miniature wargames, a booster pack is a sealed package of cards or figurines, designed to add to a player's collection. A box of multiple booster packs is referred to as a b ...
s, and deck sets. Four box sets sold in retailers are available for each series. Cards for each set are available in collectible tins, containing several booster packs and exclusive promotional cards in a metal box. By October 2006, seventeen series had been released in Japan with 417 unique cards. As of August 2008, ten of these series had been released in North America.


Reception


Manga

''Naruto'' won the 16th Spanish
Manga Barcelona Manga Barcelona, formerly known until 2018 as Saló del Manga de Barcelona ( es, Salón del Manga de Barcelona) is a Spanish anime and manga convention held annually in Barcelona, and is the largest anime convention in Spain and the second large ...
award for the shonen category in 2010. The manga won the
Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-2007. It was a " consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was supp ...
for
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
in 2006. It was nominated for Favorite Manga Series in '' Nickelodeon Magazine''s 2009 Comics Awards. In 2015, it was nominated for the 19th
Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Curre ...
. Kishimoto Masashi was the winner of Rookie of the Year for the series in the Japanese government's
Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ag ...
2014 Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Fine Arts Recommendation Awards. On
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150.000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, ''Naruto'' ranked #7. The manga has 250 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of the
best-selling manga series The following is a list of the best-selling Japanese manga series to date in terms of the number of collected ''tankōbon'' volumes sold. All series in this list have at least 20 million copies in circulation. This list is limited to Japanese m ...
in history. More than half of the total circulation were in Japan, with the remaining circulation from 46 countries and regions. It has become one of North American publisher Viz Media's best-selling manga series; their translation of the series appeared on ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestseller lists several times. It was included in the fiction section of ''Teacher Librarian'''s recommended list for 2008, and ''School Library Journal'' described it as an essential manga for school libraries. Volume 28 of the manga reached 17th place in the ''USA Today Booklist'' in its first week of release in March 2008, only two places short of the record for a manga, held by '' Fruits Basket''. The volume had one of the biggest debut weeks of any manga in years, becoming the top-selling manga volume of 2008 and the second best-selling book in North America. In 2010, Viz, the publisher, commented on the loyalty of readers, who reliably continued to buy the manga as the volume count went over 40. In April 2007, volume 14 earned Viz the Manga Trade Paperback of the Year Gem Award from
Diamond Comic Distributors Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. (often called Diamond Comics, DCD, or casually Diamond) is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels, as well as other po ...
. Responding to ''Naruto'' success, Kishimoto said in ''Naruto Collector Winter 2007/2008'' that he was "very glad that the American audience has accepted and understood ninja. It shows that the American audience has good taste  ..because it means they can accept something previously unfamiliar to them." Several reviewers commented on the balance between fight scenes and plot development; A. E. Sparrow of '' IGN'' and Casey Brienza of ''
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ...
'' felt that the result was a strong storyline, but Carl Kimlinger, also writing for the same website, suggested that there were too many fights, which slowed down the plot. Kimlinger liked the character designs, and approved of the fight scenes themselves which also drew positive comments from Rik Spanjers, who felt that the excitement of the scenes depends on Kishimoto's skill in depicting action. Javier Lugo, writing for Manga Life, agreed, describing the artwork as "dramatic, exciting, and just right for the story he's telling". Briana Lawrence from ''Mania Entertainment'' describes the growth of the characters gave Part II an adult feel. In a review of volume 28 Brienza also praised Part II's storyline and characterization, though she commented that not every volume reached a high level of quality. The fights across the Part II received praise, most notably Naruto's and Sasuke's, resulting in major changes into their character arcs. Meanwhile, the final battle between the two characters in the finale earned major praise for the choreography and art provided as well as how in depth the two's personalities were shown in the aftermath. Some writers criticized Kaguya being the least entertaining villain, making the showdown between Naruto and Sasuke more appealing as a result. The finale earned nearly perfect scores from both ''Anime News Network'' and ''Comic Book Bin'', with the latter acclaiming the popularity of the title character. Gō Itō, a professor in the manga department of Tokyo Polytechnic University, compared the series' development to the manga of ''
Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
'', saying that both manga present good illustrations of three-dimensional body movements that capture the characters' martial arts very well. Gō felt readers could empathize with the characters in ''Naruto'' via their inner monologue during battles. The series also influenced the movie '' Scott Pilgrim vs. The World'' with director
Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...
saying he was inspired by how whenever there is a "killer move" in the manga, there is an impact in the background following any technique's usage. When the manga ended, multiple authors from the magazine expressed congratulations to Kishimoto's work. The fight scenes in general earned acclaim for how well written they are, something game developer CyberConnect2 took into account when developing the ''Naruto'' games. Christel Hoolans, managing director director of
Kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters ( kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most ...
and Le Lombard, called ''Naruto'' the first long-running series after ''Dragon Ball'' to become a classic in France.


Anime

The ''Naruto'' anime was listed as the 38th best animated show in IGN's Top 100 Animated Series. In September 2005, Japanese television network
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
broadcast a popularity poll based on a nationwide survey in which ''Naruto'' placed 17th. Mike Hale of ''The New York Times'' described the series as much better than American animation aimed at children, but the animation received some criticism from both the '' THEM Anime Reviews'' critics: Christina Carpenter felt Kishimoto's artistic style translated poorly into animation, and Derrick Tucker was also negative, though he felt that at their best, the depictions "
eft A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aquat ...
little to be desired". As with the manga, some reviewers, such as Theron Martin of ''Anime News Network'', along with Tucker, felt there were too many fight scenes, though Justin Rich argued that the fight scenes were the most important and enjoyable element of the show. Carpenter also commented positively on the characters, though she felt that most were fairly typicals. Hiroshi Matsuyama further reflected the anime's 133rd episode to be one of his favorites not only for the action sequences between Naruto and Sasuke but also the emotional value displayed. In 2011, ''Naruto'' helped Viz Media generate in annual licensed merchandise sales. , Viz Media has sold more than ''Naruto'' anime
home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
units, while ''Naruto'' is also a top
digital streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
performer on Hulu. ''Naruto'' has been also the top-earning (gross profit) anime franchise for TV Tokyo (surpassed by ''
Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of what each of thos ...
'' in 2011 and '' Yo-kai Watch'' in 2015) due to strong overseas and domestic sales. In 2020, ''Naruto'' was the third most watched series in the United States. ''Naruto: Shippuden'' has been ranked several times as one of the most watched series in Japan. The first DVD compilation released by Viz received a nomination from the
American Anime Awards The American Anime Awards were a series of awards designed to recognize excellence in the release of anime and manga in North America. The first annual American Anime Awards balloting was supervised by Milton Griepp of industry website ICv2. Th ...
for Best Package Design. It was well-reviewed by Activeanime's David C. Jones who commented that the animation had improved. ''Anime News Network'' noted that the series has a more serious tone and a better balance between comedy and drama than the first anime series; with more interesting digressions from the main plot. Although the pacing for the first episodes was criticised as slow, the delivery and development of the interactions between the characters received positive comments. Writing for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'', Charles Solomon ranked ''Shippuden'' the third best anime on his "Top 10". In 2011, readers of '' Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition'' voted Naruto as the 29th-top video game character of all time.


Themes

Amy Plumb argues that Kishimoto's use of references to
Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of ye ...
in ''Naruto'' is intended to add further layers to the story. Kishimoto expects his readers to decode the references, which allows him to avoid direct explanations. One example is Itachi, who has three ninja techniques named after Shinto deities: Tsukiyomi,
Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the '' K ...
, and Susano-o. Plumb also cites Sasuke's clan's heraldic symbol, a fan known as an ''uchiwa''. These fans are used in Japanese myths to exorcise evil, by blowing it away; Sasuke discovers late in the series that he has the ability to "blow away" the influence of the Nine-Tailed Fox on Naruto. Foxes ( ''kitsune tsuki'') are tricksters in Japanese mythology, and in some stories, they take over human bodies; Plumb comments on the obvious similarities to the Nine-Tail sealed in Naruto, and the pranks Naruto plays. Christopher A. Born notes that the ''Naruto'' storyline contains traditional
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
values, and suggests that students who analyse manga such as ''Naruto'' and ''
Bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...
'' will learn more about Confucianism than they would from studying its abstract ideas. Norman Melchor Robles Jr. evaluated the portrayal of both positive and negative ideas in ''Naruto'' by counting words in the script which were associated with either violence or positive values; he found that a small majority of tagged words were violent, but commented that the portrayal of violence seemed organized to show how positive strategies on the part of the protagonists could overcome the violence. Sheuo Hui Gan considers the series to have a set of "traditional ethical values". She also compares the treatment of alienation in ''Naruto'', which Naruto overcomes by joining his society, to the portrayal of alienation in '' Akira'' and ''
Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion ...
'', where the main characters remain alienated. ''Naruto'' has been described by several critics as a
coming-of-age story In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or " coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or intern ...
. Psychologist Lawrence C. Rubin suggests that the storylines would appeal to readers of any age who have lost loved ones, or are having difficulty finding friends, or who are in other situations shown in the series. In
Yukari Fujimoto is a manga researcher and professor of global Japanese studies at Meiji University. She was born in Kumamoto Prefecture. She was an editor for Chikuma Shobō. She is a manga critic, gender theorist, family theorist, current events critic, author, ...
's view, as the characters mature, they show respect to the adults who have raised and taught them, making it a conservative storyline in comparison to other manga of the same time period such as ''
One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chap ...
'' and ''
Air Gear is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Oh! great, serialized in Kodansha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from November 2002 to May 2012, with its chapters collected in thirty-seven ''tankōbon'' volu ...
''. Rik Spanjers sees the difference between Sasuke (a loner) and Naruto (an optimist) as tragic, arguing that the contrast between the two protagonists' approach to the world is fundamental to the plot: "Naruto's strength grows as he gains more loved ones to protect, while Sasuke remains alone and is increasingly absorbed by his quest for revenge". Omote Tomoyuki points out that there are many comic moments in the story despite the difficulties Naruto finds himself in, but the comic elements diminish dramatically over time as Naruto grows into a teenager, particularly once Part II begins. ''Shōnen Jump'' began to carry comedies such as '' Gintama'' and '' Reborn!'' from 2003 onwards, and in Tomoyuki's view this is part of the reason for the change in emphasis: ''Naruto'' "was not supposed to provide laughter anymore". Fujimoto argues that the story has overly traditional gender roles, noting " ..its representations suggest that men are men and women are women and that they differ naturally regarding aptitude and vocation". For example, the girls initially outperform the boys in the Ninja Academy, but "once the boys get serious, the girls cannot keep pace". Fujimoto points out that this does not upset Sakura, who is now surpassed by Naruto. Character development based on female roles, when it does occur, again uses stereotypical roles: Tsunade, for example, a middle-aged woman with large breasts, is a clear mother figure, and when she teaches Sakura to be a medical ninja, which requires special skills possessed only by women, the story reinforces the idea that women only belong on the battlefield as healers. Tsunade herself, who is a figure of authority in ''Naruto'', is portrayed as ridiculous in a way that men in the same position are not. Fujimoto suggests this presentation of women may explain why the female characters are often the most disliked characters among readers of the manga.


''Naruto'' run

The ''Naruto'' run, or ninja run, is a running style based on the way the characters run leaning forward with their arms outstretched behind their backs. It became popular in 2017 when groups worldwide organized events to run like ''Naruto'' characters, especially on anniversaries of the series. On June 27, 2019, Matty Roberts posted a satirical event called "
Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us, also known as the Raid on Area 51 or simply the Area 51 Raid, was an American Facebook event and series of music festivals that took place on and around September 20, 2019, in the desert surrounding ...
" on
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where he wrote "We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry. If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Let's see them aliens." This quickly became an
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, resulting in nationwide alerts and warnings issued by Nevada law enforcement and the U.S. Air Force to not go to Area 51.


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Official TV Tokyo ''Naruto: Shippūden'' website
* {{Sister bar, display=''Naruto'', d=Q26971382, auto=yes 1999 manga 2002 anime television series debuts 2003 anime OVAs 2004 anime OVAs 2005 anime OVAs 2007 anime television series debuts 2009 anime OVAs 2014 comics endings Adventure anime and manga Anime series based on manga Aniplex Bandai brands Comedy anime and manga Coming-of-age anime and manga Fantasy anime and manga Fiction about shapeshifting Japanese mythology in anime and manga Japanese novels Madman Entertainment anime Madman Entertainment manga Manga adapted into films Martial arts anime and manga Martial arts television series Musicals based on anime and manga Mythopoeia Ninja in anime and manga Pierrot (company) Shueisha manga Shōnen manga TV Tokyo original programming Television censorship in the United States Toonami Viz Media anime Viz Media manga Viz Media novels