i just cant imagine: what is so good about this manga/anime?!
the art is not good, the plot is drawn-out,..
its just too overrated
and i don't say it without giving it a try
i read some chapters and even watched some episodes, but it was all the same. What i want to say it is, that it's not worth reading/watching

Reviewing Naruto is very hard, the reason: Something that's this popular is bound to have a lot of "Detractor's" or "Hater's" if you prefer. I'll say that when I first saw Naruto, was on Cartoon Network. It was very funny, and very good, i kept watching it, and until i got tired of waiting for new episodes every week, i watched all of the episodes online. Almost losing interest in the Fillers. But Soon found out it was average... Until... (Note: This is an unbiased review on a person that thought Naruto was nothing special.)

When i got around to reading the Manga, my perspective Changed. The anime that looked friendly and slowed down, was in the manga more intense. Naruto gets a bad rap for it's popularity, but it's very decent, and i'll tell you why.

Naruto goes from a story of a boy trying to find acceptance of the people that once called him a monster, to prove that he can be a person that people could depend and admire. Although it quickly turned into, A boy finding comfort in friends starts to feel better, and his bitter friend in his loneliness succumbs to darkness.
And eventually it escalates to boy turned man, looking for his friend turned enemy in a world where bitter men lead tragic lives, and revenge and hatred rains down and seeps through like radiation on their lives.

Naruto's characters are large and diverse. Sakura a strong willed girl. Hinata a nervous girl in love with naruto. Shikamaru a genius slacker. allot of good characters, and as the series goes on, you see growth, not only in the character models, but in their attitudes aswell, Shikamaru is a great example, Slacker becomes engrossed in a world where not all of his friends going into the same cave come out with him. That Cave is an obstacle, and Not everyone will leave Alive.

But what really shines is that Kishimoto Masashi has one really great talent, that talent has kept me reading every chapter each week. His talent is, he keeps each new chapter interesting. I just can't wait for the next one to come out, example: today i read 469, it was great!! A little action, with some emotional moments.

Not only that, but he made the Characters very poignant, like you really care about them. And the lore (History) in the world of Naruto is great too. The ninja world is a interesting one at that. Between the Kakashi story, and the Jiraya Story, they give a sense of emotion, like they failed their friends and apprentices, whether it's Kakashi's lost partners and pupil's disappearance, or Jiraya's pupil's coming to bad end, and never being able to truly be with the one he wants.

These story's are some of the reasons why this series shines gold in my eyes. It went from a kids manga, to one where a man wouldn't feel ashamed experiencing.
It teaches valuable lessons, that pain can be healed by the bond of a friend. And the main Character Naruto, who at first I didn't like, became my favorite Character because of his Determination, his Attitude and his Heart. He goes out of his way to protect his Ninja Way. His help toward Sakura and his friends have made him an adult character with a cool demeaner.

And lastly, Naruto's final journey doesn't end with Sasuke but begins with him, where he might lead a world where people will stop the wheel of Hatred and finally bring about a true peace.
Again this manga is a hoot, OVERATED My @$$, This unbelievably lives up to it's popularity, I would give this a higher score, but it's only limited to this number so i'll give it a
10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't underestimate it cause it's popular, it's very entertaining.

... Last updated on October 31st, 2009, 5:30am

The Good:
I have to say i read some of the comments posted and most are negative. I myself am a bit on both sides; I feel that at the beginning Naruto was very intrigueing. The art of the actual characters (what they wore accesories etc.) was very creative paleing in comparison to xxxholic of course,however, Naruto at the beinning of the manga and even the anime had a very creative start i mean it was based on a whole new take of the ninja. I stuck with the manga and I am still currently reading it I did find intresting concepts that dont usually revolve around a main protagonist, such as the one for Narutos struggle for 'acceptance' into his ninja society.

The Bad:
The anime however was a total flop compared to the manga the beginning started out very well but the fillers killed it most defintly. Also after the whole Exam Arc I felt that Naruto and all those close were too focused on the whole 'Sasuke' issue and i felt that it lost fans for Naruto. Even Sasuke addmited to Naruto that they spent too much time looking for him so what can you say? Even still as the manga continues they still try to find a way to bring Sasuke back even though the odds are built up heavily against bringing him back alive and him being accepted as before.

Overall:
I feel that i would recommend this to a person who is more into a mainstream manga. Hardcore manga fans (such as myself) would find lack of a plot line and repetitive.

Naruto is a pretty solid manga heavily focused on it's shounen roots. By that, I mean that Naruto is basically a stereotypic shounen manga, it has the over-simplistic good-vs-bad guys. The series is still so much more than that.

The series follows Naruto on his life and times, and is a very lengthy story with exceptional art to boot. The character drawings are near perfect, but the backgrounds are often plain.

The plot is good, with plenty of surprises, but there are also some very big issues with the plot. In the first, young Naruto(Not Shippuden), he is immature and clumsy and loves Sakura but hates Sasuke. After a while, he starts liking Sasuke better and better and he is also being accepted more and more by his friends and the people of Konoha.

My complaints about the plot are still many, though. For starters, it seems that every challenge thrown in Naruto's way is deemed impossible, and he eventually overcomes it. Also, Sakura, one of the main characters of the series and Naruto's love interest, is just a boring damsel in distress, wishy-washy girl. yes, she is the exact stereotype of the Japanese RPG female. Pretty, wishy, dumb, and weak. Also, after Sasuke's departure, Naruto's mind becomes balckened with "Sasuke". Yes, almost all plot events in Shippuden have something to do with him. I also laugh at how some battles can last 10 chapters, with over 90% of the scenes filled with dialogue.

Still, even after it's faults, the manga thrives. The magic of it is seeing Naruto grow and become who he is. There's no question that the manga is reaching a climax, and I hope so much that the ending will be fit and will not be rushed like to Love Ru's.

I've been reading Naruto since it was first published (pilot and all), and I still like this series very much. I'll be the first to admit that certain aspects of the Shippuuden series annoyed the crap out of me, but since the original flow of the story that I love so much is coming back into play, I couldn't be happier.

Naruto is a pretty good series and I'd recommend it to anyone.

... Last updated on December 17th, 2009, 7:46am

art: at vol 20-something it gets better, and then it went down again (and uglier than the beginning) lol - so i have to say, 3/10 for the art overall

story: The more it complicated the situation, the more stupid this manga has become. All the "we will definitely get Sasuke back the way he was like before the curse" just get more tired and boring and dull and stupid and blah blah, so 2/10 for the story since it kept me entertaining for about 10 first volumes (~1/5 of the story lol)

Overall: Please, save your time by reading something else and wait for naruto to finish and then re-read. You might find it more interesting than now.

and lol @ the comment of virusbluemage about Naruto is better than One Piece. There's just in no way that Naruto can even come near one piece. OP is very solid and the storyline is always cleared and focused, even arts are more detailed than Naruto. But i won't go further on comparing.
And yes, i totally agree with La Plume there're brilliant shounen mangas that no matter how old you are, you'll keep finding it interesting and will re-read it hundreds of times (HnG is my fav btw). And Naruto definitely not one of them

... Last updated on September 1st, 2009, 1:10pm

I find this manga rather dull.
At first it might seem interesting and attracts your attention. However, after a while you might find the repeatable pattern of "hero saves the day" to be tedious and unimaginative.
It seems to me that Naruto always gets injured in his battles, then finds his inner strengh and win at the last moment...
I am unsure why this manga became so popular. In my opinion there are many mangas that deserve a higher rating than this.
However, I am giving this a 7.5 since it kept my attention for sometime.

I re-read this manga (I dropped it at vol. forty-something), it got me tired...and I had to read it again because I wanted to feel something, I reread it...and well I felt it. the all believe in yourself, even if it's dangerous/impossible, just keep fighting never give up...I admire that.

And it's so slow it shows how much a hero has to go all the way to become a hero...and even if he's a hero he can make mistakes and be silly and stuff, you come to like all the characters, you get to have the feeling



You just get to LIKE all the characters...not Sakura she's a stupid useless chick ò__o and you know how the manga says: Naruto has this feeling of making everyone their friend (it's true everyone hated him...and..well)


read it if you want something slow...and be the hero growing up you'll like it. n_n<3

... Last updated on February 9th, 2011, 3:47pm

At the beginning of the series the artwork is poor. But certainly improved after that.
The story targeted for kids and pre teens.
O yeah, I don't like sakura, and why she always clings to sasuke and remain her unreasonable admiration for him... I don't think her feeling is true love or something near that.... For me, her feeling towards sasuke it's like a big fan or idolization.
I don't hate this series, i also follow it everyweek... because it's in top three. Definitely better than Bleach...

*Added after the ending..
The fight between Naruto and Sasuke is anti-climactic. After 15 years, their final fight is about too much talking and flashbacks of their school days. With punch fights like 5 secs ads in-between the talks and reminiscence. I'm glad this manga finally end and that i "didn't miss all the chapters i skipped" even after two years not reading this manga... when i decided to only read the last 7 chapters. (Except the part of neji, since he and hinata are my fav chars).
And I still hate sakura. The best part of final is when naruto and sasuke finally hold hands together. I can hear the disney's song play in my head "Ever ever after...".

Storybook endings, fairy tales coming true
Deep down inside we want to believe they still do
And a secret is taught, it's our favorite part of the story

Lol.

... Last updated on April 12th, 2015, 5:51am

I have never liked this manga.
I started reading it after Bleach started to get boring and the main character was no longer 'the main character' and i got into it a little. Then i got bored...and i gave up after about the first hundred or so chapters because it was the same old. same old.

I don't recommend it, its nothing special.