Naruto: Can be good for younger people and beginners to anime... except that endless tail of fillers

Written by Little_Wolf-18 on February 21, 2012 at 9:50 AM

---Note: Filler list at the review’s end---

Appeal to all Reviewers: Please respect your fellow watchers and reviewers… and if you flame, at least have the flame make sense. *coughs* Sorry, needed to be said.

It’s quite weird how most people who decide to watch Naruto get to either totally love or totally hate this anime. I don’t fall into any of these categories… And for the fan-war record, the same applies to Bleach.

Review? Of course.

Ninja stories by now may be clichéd, though I do think they weren’t when “Naruto” was first released. (*coughs*) The concept of this story, in regard to amount of time passed since then, is quite unique, and has both its good and bad moments. It’s not quite true to history or anything (I do believe ninjas did not use to run around in orange jumpsuits and pull pranks on their teachers) but an alternate and for that quite well thought-out universe. The original story, minus fillers, flows steadily and smoothly and is easy to follow, though it could be faster. It seems simplistic at some times but has its few twists and unpredictable happenings. Those do get predictable once you’re far enough in, but that goes far more for fillers than for the original story. Side stories are well incorporated into the main plot, without too obvious breaks. However, the amount of side plots makes it quite hard to keep track of the whole universe in detail, and the sheer amount of fillers at the end is quite annoying, since they also get choppy. My advice? Skip the fillers… Yes, they were needed so the manga could go on without Shippuuden being on its heels all the time; and I am quite glad they did not insert filler arcs into the midst of big-ass fights; but seeing as the series is now completed, and the fillers, in looking back, don’t contribute much to the plot other than stealing time, you can easily skip them.

The beginning of “Naruto” does seem a bit boring, but the story develops fine as long as its stays true to the manga. A downside besides the fillers are the flashbacks. I haven’t seen an anime with that many flashbacks in a while, and they get the story stuck. Sometimes, things are repeated that have been shown at the beginning of that very episode. Honestly, I do think you can count on watchers to keep that much attention.

There’s the common “good versus bad” concept, but the bad guys (minus the filler ones) do have their reasons and backgrounds, so the concept, though probably still too simplistic for older viewers (*sweatdrops at self*), doesn’t get too boring.

Genres include adventure/action, fantasy/supernatural, friendship, a touch of romance (kids’ crushes… it might depend on your interpretation), drama and comedy. There is emotionality, but similar to the comedy part in “Naruto”, it might appeal to younger viewers a lot more than to mature ones.

If you think a boy who’s a bit possessive of his friend due to past experiences is gay, you shouldn’t watch. Just saying. This anime doesn't focus on romance at all, except a few crushes which are definitely not same-sex - anything else depends on the viewer's interpretation.

This is a shounen anime, with its focus on fights, and humour that is mostly relatable to younger boys. (Don’t get me wrong; a few parts still had me – as a mature woman – laughing, but most of the comedy, though I could see where it should be, wasn’t relatable to me anymore.) However, if you dive into the universe a bit deeper, you have a quite deep story with some psychological stuff and everything (now everyone who tells me that being repelled by society for years as a kid doesn’t affect the psyche has no idea of psychology). Sometimes thus, I get a tad confused as to whom this anime should appeal to. An attempt at “creating an anime for all ages”? Well… that might be, though I’m not so sure how well that worked out.

Character-wise, I am quite sure the concept for the main characters has been done before, and it might get repetitive after a while. However, there’s a wide cast of characters, each an individual with a unique background (again, cut out the filler-exclusive characters). Different background stories are finely linked to the main plot. Though most battle techniques can theoretically be learned by anyone, each character has a unique power and focus in terms of fighting style; also, the different clans and groups focus on different overall styles. This makes for quite interesting effects in the beginning, but, if you don’t skip the fillers, quickly becomes a bit boring… Filler-only characters counted out, *most* characters are lovable in one way and hateable in another; even the original antagonists have some or another funny or understandable trait. There’s character development, even throughout the fillers, though those focus on side characters and totally neglect Naruto’s development. ^^° I do like, however, that this anime is not afraid to kill even originally “good” characters.

Naruto, the protagonist? The concept behind him surely has been done before: A mischievous orphan kid, neglected by society because of something everyone but him knows about. Energetic to hyperactive but pretty dumb. It makes for some jokes, but if you happen to like intelligent characters… you won’t like him. He isn’t too realistic in terms of self-confidence (an outcast for years and that big of a confidence and open-mindedness! Honestly, Gaara in all his cold and unsure demeanor is a more realistic example…) and ninja appearance (a ninja kid in an orange jumpsuit… apparently works in this universe, but a historical ninja looking like that would have been killed immediately). However, Naruto’s competitive nature might be relatable especially to young boys; his quest to be noticed and recognized through pretty wild pranks can be funny; and his background is based on an interesting concept. He is someone you’ll either love or hate throughout the entire series, but that depends entirely on your own preferences.

Sasuke? His story is interesting overall, and his background well incorporated into the main plot. Though a badass, he’s one of the most dynamic characters in the series… although his quest for revenge gets boring once it’s been mentioned often enough. (I’d spoiler if I said more…)

Sakura? I could do without her yelling for Sasuke every five minutes. Her powers don’t really develop until a good ways into the series, and her crush for Sasuke actually hinders her. She gets more developed in the “Shippuuden” series, but in the first season, she’s somehow flat and doesn’t really make for a good or relatable image of a young girl. The concept behind her did remind me somehow of Bella from “Twilight” (well, sorry to all Twilight fans, but Sakura’s infatuation with Sasuke and Bella drooling over Edward… Sakura’s more childish due to her lower age, but they do have something in common.) She probably won’t be relatable to most girls out there; and, carefully said, feminists won’t like her.

There’s a few messages probably relatable to young viewers. “Never give up”, “Protect what’s important to you”, “friendships are important” – typical for shounen animes, relatable especially for young boys, and most probably the explanation for the wide fan base. If you dive deeper into the story and interpret a bit more, there’s some subtler messages that can make you think about the world you live in; but that’s if you’re a mature viewer and have the patience to do so…

The dialogue is fluid, though rather off from time to time. It can be funny, but after a while gets strongly repetitive. Naruto has been made an utter idiot, which is noticeable in the way he speaks… and he talks a lot. The wide cast of characters can make for good dialogue with cheek humour – if they want. Sadly, they don’t seem to want so too often. Since this anime is mainly aimed at kids, the dialogue gets very childish and/or stereotypical every now and then. Childish behavior, name-calling, banter, sense of competition… what do you expect from a shounen anime…

There’s a lot of action in this series, and battles are easy to follow. The animation varies a lot, but its general style, compared to most stuff I’ve seen, is below average. Compared to the impression I got from a few looks into the manga, the anime has been pretty much censored for both blood and nudity.

The music fits the atmosphere. Opening and ending themes vary greatly from “voice doesn’t fit the lyrics” to “gets stuck in your ears”. For the voice acting, watch in Japanese… the English dubbing is just odd.

Entertainment-wise, the comedy is geared very much towards younger boys, and it can get repetitive. Some aspects of ninja life, such as bounty hunting, aren’t dwelt on at all, so for any historical facts, you should better check out Wikipedia than this anime. The story runs very much towards Sasuke, so in case you hate either him or Naruto, the whole anime might just get on your nerves. But as long as ninjas are your thing, you can deal with some childish characters/scenes, and like a long but overall fine plot, this might be worth your time minus the fillers. Kids, especially boys, just beginning to watch anime might want to throw a look at this as well.

BTW, sorry to be using this place as a discussion forum, but whilst combing the reviews, I read something along the lines “this anime makes you disrespect others”, and just wanted to say: that’s not true… actually, it should appeal to people to respect each other, and I can’t explain where all the fanatics come from, but they sure aren’t the anime’s fault… Though I do admit it would be helpful if a few Naruto fanatics who haven’t given any decent reviews in a while could stop their childish behavior. Not saying anything about Naruto, its watchers, or anime watchers in general.

---------------------------
As promised: List of Original and Filler Episodes…

001-005: Introduction, manga plot.
006-019: Zabuza arc, manga plot.
020-067: Chuunin Exam arc, manga plot.
068-080: Invasion of Konoha arc, manga plot.
081-100: Search for Tsunade arc, manga plot.
101-106: FILLER. Episode 101 may still be pretty funny (Team 7 trying to unmask Kakashi) but the rest can be neglected.
107-135: Sasuke Retrieval arc, manga plot.
136-220: FILLERS. A few episodes that might still be worth a watch are 161 and 193 (both centering around Rock Lee and Gai and just… hilarious), and episode 185 IMO (an invasion of fluffy animals XD) but the rest can be forgotten.
Thank you for once more reading an overly long review.