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Naruto: Omnibus #23
Naruto (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 23
The epic ninja adventure that became a global phenomenon!
Naruto is a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He’s got a wild sense of humor, but Naruto is completely serious about his mission to be the world’s greatest ninja!
Obito does his best to break the spirit of the Shinobi Alliance, and he seems to be succeeding. But what is the limit of his power and can he control it? Naruto refuses to give in, and with all hands on deck, he attempts to overpower Obito’s formidable strength and blast through his shield. It’s a meeting of the swords and the minds in what looks to be a final showdown.
Naruto is a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He’s got a wild sense of humor, but Naruto is completely serious about his mission to be the world’s greatest ninja!
Obito does his best to break the spirit of the Shinobi Alliance, and he seems to be succeeding. But what is the limit of his power and can he control it? Naruto refuses to give in, and with all hands on deck, he attempts to overpower Obito’s formidable strength and blast through his shield. It’s a meeting of the swords and the minds in what looks to be a final showdown.
608 pages, Paperback
Published July 3, 2018
3 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Masashi Kishimoto
1,171 books3,938 followersMasashi Kishimoto (岸本斉史 Kishimoto Masashi) is a Japanese manga artist, well known for creating the manga series Naruto. His younger twin brother, Seishi Kishimoto, is also a manga artist and creator of the manga series O-Parts Hunter (666 Satan) and Blazer Drive. Two of his former assistants, Osamu Kajisa (Tattoo Hearts) and Yuuichi Itakura (Hand's), have also gone on to moderate success following their work on Naruto.
Kishimoto's first work as a manga artist was Karakuri (カラクリ?), which he submitted to Shueisha in 1995. This earned him the Weekly Shōnen Jump's monthly "Hop Step Award" in 1996, granted to promising new manga artists. This was followed in 1997 by a pilot version of Naruto (NARUTO－ナルト－), published in Akamaru Jump Summer. In 1998, Kishimoto premiered as a Weekly Shōnen Jump artist with a serialized version of Karakuri in Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it proved unpopular and was canceled soon after. In 1999, a serialized version of Naruto began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump and quickly became a hit.
Kishimoto's first work as a manga artist was Karakuri (カラクリ?), which he submitted to Shueisha in 1995. This earned him the Weekly Shōnen Jump's monthly "Hop Step Award" in 1996, granted to promising new manga artists. This was followed in 1997 by a pilot version of Naruto (NARUTO－ナルト－), published in Akamaru Jump Summer. In 1998, Kishimoto premiered as a Weekly Shōnen Jump artist with a serialized version of Karakuri in Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it proved unpopular and was canceled soon after. In 1999, a serialized version of Naruto began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump and quickly became a hit.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 15, 2020
This is a review of the entire series.
Once upon a time, the spirit of an evil Nine Tailed Fox wreaked havoc on Konohagakure; the Village Hidden in the Leaves, killing hundreds of honorable ninja in the skirmish and leaving many children without homes or parents. The Fourth Hokage (leader of the village) unleashes a forbidden jutsu (magic spell/ninja ability) to seal the spirit of the evil fox into the body of a newborn baby named Naruto at the cost of his own life. He did this in the hopes that the boy could one day learn to master the power of the demonic spirit and use it to protect the village and become a great hero of the people.
Unknown to the citizens of the Leaf, the Nine Tailed Fox was being controlled by an even more powerful adversary, a legendary rogue ninja that plans to wage war against the entire world from the shadows. The identity of the mysterious ninja that attacked the Leaf Village using the Nine Tails died with the Fourth Hokage, and he used what remained of his life to gift Naruto with the power of one day being able to stop this evil ninja and a clan of outlawed S-rank criminals called the Akatsuki from committing mass genocide against the many hidden villages and clans of the world.
Because of the evil spirit sealed inside him, Naruto grew up hated by the other children of the village because they believe him and the Nine Tails to be one and the same. They believe he’s a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, waiting for the perfect moment to kill them all just like the Nine Tails killed their parents and families. Shunned, dehumanized and treated like dirt, Naruto vows to become the greatest hokage the world has ever seen so that he can receive the love and acknowledgement he never got as a child.
On top of the Nine Tails power and the will to never quit, Naruto also possesses the uncanny ability to turn everyone he meets into a potential comrade. He brings out the best in his peers and tries his hardest to make his enemies see the errors of their ways. He disobeys the rules and ignores cultural traditions to try and make changes to the world and break the eternal cycle of war and hatred through his own methods. His determination is infectious to friend and foe alike. He earns himself the respect he deserves by overcoming one impossible obstacle at a time.
Naruto encounters many fascinating and terrifying ninja over the course of his journey to become hokage. Among them are Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto’s best friend and rival who is driven by the vengeful lust to murder his elder brother after he wiped out their own clan in cold blood. Sasuke warms up to Naruto, but his hatred and trauma are dangerous forces that threaten to break his moral code as a ninja and destroy his reputation among his peers.
Kakashi Hatake is a notorious copycat ninja that survived one of the most brutal and devastating wars in history as well as the Nine Tails attack on the Leaf Village. He becomes Naruto and Sasuke’s mentor and teaches them a great number of valuable lessons about surviving in the dangerous world of rogue ninja, bloodthirsty assassins and clans ruled by corruption.
Jiraiya is a perverted yet wise sage who taught the Fourth Hokage everything he knew and he’s regarded as a god among shinobi that’s famous for his heroic actions in the second great ninja war. He takes an interest in Naruto and raises him as a father figure to carry on the legacy of the Fourth Hokage to prepare him for the many dangerous people that want to use his power for their own nefarious purposes.
The Akatsuki is one such group of wicked ninja. Among them are Sasuke’s brother Itachi who murdered his clan and possesses many dangerous techniques involving illusions, psychological torture and elemental manipulation. Sasori who controls poisonous puppets with magical threads, Orochimaru who mastered the forbidden arts of reanimation and quasi-immortality, Deidara who fights from afar using detonating clay and many other deadly foes.
The entire series chronicles Naruto and his fellow ninja comrades growing through countless trials and tragedies. There are hundreds of unique jutsus, clans, and techniques which lead to some very intense, creative and strategic battles between skilled ninja with diverse abilities that don’t always match up evenly. There are clan based abilities such as the Aburame clan’s ability to control insects, the Yamanaka clan’s ability to jump into other people’s minds and control their bodies and the Inuzuka clan’s ability to bond with wolves that learn to mimic their master’s battle skills. Then there’s ocular genetic abilities such as the sharingan which allows the user to create psychological illusions, copy their enemy’s abilities and manipulate elemental energy. The byakugan allows the user to read their enemies vital points and detect their spiritual energy from faraway. The rinnegan grants control over space and gravity and so on.
On top of having countless unique abilities, nearly every character has a tragic backstory that makes them sympathetic and relatable, even the nastiest of the villains have well-explored reasons for following the paths they do and becoming the way they are. One of my favorite aspects of the series is how well it explores the physical, emotional and psychological effects war can have on society and culture as well as the survivors and future generations that are forced to live in them. How it breeds racism and cultural disputes, how it inspires hatred in orphaned children and war veterans robbed of their homes toward foreign nations, as well as how this eventually leads to further death, war, poverty and destruction. Learning to forgive the ones you hate to prevent further conflict and damaging the world for future generations even further is a major theme throughout the story.
Being a massive 700 chapter series, it’s not too surprising that there’s some plot holes and consistency issues. A rule might be stated regarding the requirements and usage of a certain jutsu or ability only for that rule to be repeatedly broken 400 chapters later. Sometimes the characters and rules contradict themselves, sometimes the chronology of certain events and historical facts don’t match up perfectly, the lore and general backstory go through several retcons that change the philosophy and power scaling of the characters and the scope of world-building; the final arc especially drags on and breaks a lot of the logic and rules that the story spent the whole series setting up, etc...
Naruto’s far from perfect, but I remember it very fondly for being one of the first series that introduced me to things like manga and Japanese entertainment in general. It was one of those childhood classics like Dragon Ball, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin. The series grew up with me and I can’t help but feel grateful to it for introducing me to hundreds of other franchises that I’m still a huge fan of to this day and I continue to find many new ones on the regular. Naruto's journey from a clownish, disrespected outcast into a talented, well-loved and admired hero is a memorable one.
Once upon a time, the spirit of an evil Nine Tailed Fox wreaked havoc on Konohagakure; the Village Hidden in the Leaves, killing hundreds of honorable ninja in the skirmish and leaving many children without homes or parents. The Fourth Hokage (leader of the village) unleashes a forbidden jutsu (magic spell/ninja ability) to seal the spirit of the evil fox into the body of a newborn baby named Naruto at the cost of his own life. He did this in the hopes that the boy could one day learn to master the power of the demonic spirit and use it to protect the village and become a great hero of the people.
Unknown to the citizens of the Leaf, the Nine Tailed Fox was being controlled by an even more powerful adversary, a legendary rogue ninja that plans to wage war against the entire world from the shadows. The identity of the mysterious ninja that attacked the Leaf Village using the Nine Tails died with the Fourth Hokage, and he used what remained of his life to gift Naruto with the power of one day being able to stop this evil ninja and a clan of outlawed S-rank criminals called the Akatsuki from committing mass genocide against the many hidden villages and clans of the world.
Because of the evil spirit sealed inside him, Naruto grew up hated by the other children of the village because they believe him and the Nine Tails to be one and the same. They believe he’s a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, waiting for the perfect moment to kill them all just like the Nine Tails killed their parents and families. Shunned, dehumanized and treated like dirt, Naruto vows to become the greatest hokage the world has ever seen so that he can receive the love and acknowledgement he never got as a child.
On top of the Nine Tails power and the will to never quit, Naruto also possesses the uncanny ability to turn everyone he meets into a potential comrade. He brings out the best in his peers and tries his hardest to make his enemies see the errors of their ways. He disobeys the rules and ignores cultural traditions to try and make changes to the world and break the eternal cycle of war and hatred through his own methods. His determination is infectious to friend and foe alike. He earns himself the respect he deserves by overcoming one impossible obstacle at a time.
Naruto encounters many fascinating and terrifying ninja over the course of his journey to become hokage. Among them are Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto’s best friend and rival who is driven by the vengeful lust to murder his elder brother after he wiped out their own clan in cold blood. Sasuke warms up to Naruto, but his hatred and trauma are dangerous forces that threaten to break his moral code as a ninja and destroy his reputation among his peers.
Kakashi Hatake is a notorious copycat ninja that survived one of the most brutal and devastating wars in history as well as the Nine Tails attack on the Leaf Village. He becomes Naruto and Sasuke’s mentor and teaches them a great number of valuable lessons about surviving in the dangerous world of rogue ninja, bloodthirsty assassins and clans ruled by corruption.
Jiraiya is a perverted yet wise sage who taught the Fourth Hokage everything he knew and he’s regarded as a god among shinobi that’s famous for his heroic actions in the second great ninja war. He takes an interest in Naruto and raises him as a father figure to carry on the legacy of the Fourth Hokage to prepare him for the many dangerous people that want to use his power for their own nefarious purposes.
The Akatsuki is one such group of wicked ninja. Among them are Sasuke’s brother Itachi who murdered his clan and possesses many dangerous techniques involving illusions, psychological torture and elemental manipulation. Sasori who controls poisonous puppets with magical threads, Orochimaru who mastered the forbidden arts of reanimation and quasi-immortality, Deidara who fights from afar using detonating clay and many other deadly foes.
The entire series chronicles Naruto and his fellow ninja comrades growing through countless trials and tragedies. There are hundreds of unique jutsus, clans, and techniques which lead to some very intense, creative and strategic battles between skilled ninja with diverse abilities that don’t always match up evenly. There are clan based abilities such as the Aburame clan’s ability to control insects, the Yamanaka clan’s ability to jump into other people’s minds and control their bodies and the Inuzuka clan’s ability to bond with wolves that learn to mimic their master’s battle skills. Then there’s ocular genetic abilities such as the sharingan which allows the user to create psychological illusions, copy their enemy’s abilities and manipulate elemental energy. The byakugan allows the user to read their enemies vital points and detect their spiritual energy from faraway. The rinnegan grants control over space and gravity and so on.
On top of having countless unique abilities, nearly every character has a tragic backstory that makes them sympathetic and relatable, even the nastiest of the villains have well-explored reasons for following the paths they do and becoming the way they are. One of my favorite aspects of the series is how well it explores the physical, emotional and psychological effects war can have on society and culture as well as the survivors and future generations that are forced to live in them. How it breeds racism and cultural disputes, how it inspires hatred in orphaned children and war veterans robbed of their homes toward foreign nations, as well as how this eventually leads to further death, war, poverty and destruction. Learning to forgive the ones you hate to prevent further conflict and damaging the world for future generations even further is a major theme throughout the story.
Being a massive 700 chapter series, it’s not too surprising that there’s some plot holes and consistency issues. A rule might be stated regarding the requirements and usage of a certain jutsu or ability only for that rule to be repeatedly broken 400 chapters later. Sometimes the characters and rules contradict themselves, sometimes the chronology of certain events and historical facts don’t match up perfectly, the lore and general backstory go through several retcons that change the philosophy and power scaling of the characters and the scope of world-building; the final arc especially drags on and breaks a lot of the logic and rules that the story spent the whole series setting up, etc...
Naruto’s far from perfect, but I remember it very fondly for being one of the first series that introduced me to things like manga and Japanese entertainment in general. It was one of those childhood classics like Dragon Ball, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin. The series grew up with me and I can’t help but feel grateful to it for introducing me to hundreds of other franchises that I’m still a huge fan of to this day and I continue to find many new ones on the regular. Naruto's journey from a clownish, disrespected outcast into a talented, well-loved and admired hero is a memorable one.
May 28, 2021
Alright, so I just finished the colossal 700 chapters of Naruto and here is how this is going to go. I will be breaking down my review for each, and yes, each arc of Naruto throughout it's run. I will be ignoring what volumes and I will be speaking with spoilers. So If you're at all interested in this story that ended six years ago. Please keep aware of this and only read the arcs you have finished.
That being said, this is a reread for me. I actually decided to reread them as the 3-in-1 volumes as they're much cheaper. I probably had 10 volumes already of the story so I didn't repurchase so my collection is a little incomplete. However, this reread was a lot of fun and I enjoyed a lot. I'll be doing this in a certain bullet point style because there's so much story to cover I really just want to point out my like's and Dislikes for each Arc. As well as Individual ratings.
Part One
Prologue - Land of Waves Arc - Chapter 1-33: Rating: 7/10
-So I love the land of waves arc. Anyone who says they weren't instantly hooked once they reached this point has got to be full of themselves. This arc does so much to set up the world, the themes, everything that Naruto would become.
-Unfortunately, what prequels this is absolute hot garbage.
-Now, I didn't think this when I began the reread because it has been over a decade since I've explored this section of the story. But let me tell you, these first 5 chapters are probably some of the worst in any shonen I've ever seen. To be fair, most first chapters in shonen usually aren't stand out. I've often expressed how they're really edited and refined to express the exact image that the magazine wants them to be. Once they actually get a chance to strut their stuff (if they sell well) then that's when we see most shonens come into their own.
-However, you would have to be younger than 5 to enjoy and find the slapstick comedy in the first five chapters to be digestible whatsoever. It's so cringeworthy I can't believe I ever was okay with it. Konohamaru is the worst character in creation. Most of the Naruto characters are pervs. Sasuke and Sakura's introductions are laughable at best. Well, they're not laughable. I WISH they had been, but nope.
-I love Naruto's power system. I may even go so far as to express I think it's actually my favorite power system pre-final arc. I love how thought out and detersive it is.
-Zabuza is a great antagonist. Gato is very easily hateable and Haku is great too.
-I really just am blown away how fast the pacing is. The tactics are clever and fun.
-Overall, the prologue really pulled this arc down for me. If you'd separate them. The prologue chapters would be a 4/10 and the Land of waves would be 10/10
Chunin Exams Arc - Chapter 34-114: Rating: 10/10
-10/10 arc. Nothing for me to say. Except that I personally would have liked to have seen the finale of the tournament. We didn't even get past the first round before everything kinda went haywire.
Konoha Invasion Arc - Chapter 115-138: Rating: 9/10
-I don't have a lot of bad to say outside of the sense that a lot of ninja's didn't really show their stuff. Primarily Kakashi, Jiraiya, etc. Because of this, the invasion really never felt like it would succeed. Sure, the Hokage's death was very expected and a tragedy. However, no one else we knew was wounded. The plan itself just really fell flat.
Search for Tsunade arc - Chapter 139-171: Rating: 7/10
-Yeah, this one surprised me.
-I remember this one being the most painful arc in part one. Not only is long, but it's also mostly a glorified training arc.
-With new eyes and a better appreciation for story and characters I have come away enjoying this arc much more.
-Tsunade is a phenomenal character and probably one of the only female characters in Naruto I can say that about.
-Naruto's journey to learning the Rasengan was also a lot more comprehensive now that I'm an adult. (and not reading scans)
-Also, Itachi was introduced in this arc and HOT DAMN THIS GUY WAS COOL
Sasuke Retrieval Arc - Chapter 172-238: Rating: 10/10
What can I say? 10/10 once again. Perhaps the Neji fight was a bit too long, but it never felt that way.
-The fights were all great. The themes were spot on and holy lawrd the emotion. *Chef's kiss.
Kakashi Gaiden - Chapter 239-244: Rating: 6/10
-Meh, I don't like this arc that much. I don't have a great reason. It's a flashback arc. But it came at such a weird point in the story. Like, no one was asking for it in this particular moment.
Part Two
Kazekage Rescue Arc - Chapter 245-281: Rating: 8/10
-This was another arc, like the Tsunade arc that I didn't enjoy. At this point, I was a weekly reader and It is a nearly 40 chapter arc. Maybe as a kid I felt like there was just too much talking and too much establishing what they were doing. Another key factor was that Naruto's growth, despite it only being roughly two and a half years was still rather unimpressive. I mean, he could do a big rasengan.
-What I neglected to understand was that this was mostly a reference point to show us just how much the kids have grown in less than 3 years time. The kids actually went from not being able to land a single attack on base Kakashi with no Sharingan, to with one less member, defeating Kakashi and completing the bell exam. That's tremendous progress. Another thing I neglected was just how much focus was put on Naruto mastering the nine-tails power. It was a pretty small feat as i read this as a teenager, but having reread the material back to back I noticed that far more emphasis was put on Naruto's lack of control. His ability to bring out some of Kurama's chakra was only enough to give him a short boost that put him above Neji. When facing Sasuke and he got a one tailed cloak, he actually succumbed to the 9 tails and lost himself. Now he's able to call upon three tails all by himself.
-The sasori fight is legendary. I love Chiyo as a character which before I just kinda was indifferent to her. This would also feature Team Guy and that was exciting as we hadn't seen those characters in some time. Though, really they didn't have much to do besides fight themselves in this.
-Overall, the arc loses points for me because of how centered around the Sasori fight it seemed. Yet, half the other events of the arc felt secondary when I compared them. Gaara's emotional climax and revelation was great. Naruto's growth was great. Learning about the sand was great. But this arc had to establish a lot and I just remember those chapters of them running through the forest and just text filling the pages from panel to panel. Not saying action was vital, just that we spent too much time talking about Jinchurki. It was clear that Kishimoto was now ready to establish these terms he set up. But I felt he could have presented it in a more organic fashion then just an info dump.
Sasuke and Sai Arc - Chapter 282-310: Rating: 6/10
-This arc is really conflicting. On one hand, it has probably one of the most hype conflicts in the entire series to this point. Naruto 4 tails vs Orochimaru was absolutley insane and it still holds up. The emotional tension of Naruto losing himself and not caring because it's orochimaru and he's spent so long hating this guy was fantastic.
-On the other hand...this arc also heavily features Sai. And et's just cut to the chase. Sai is probably my least favorite character in all of Naruto. I think he's just a really poorly written character. I understand his purpose. I understand what he was meant to imply and communicate with the reader, but I just really thought it was done in the most generic and boring way. I am not a fan of Sai. He really, really dragged this arc down for me.
Hidan and Kakuzu Arc - Chapter 311-342: Rating: 7.5/10
-Yet again another arc I thought I'd hate. Mainly because when I read them when they came out, I realized just how awful the scans were. Hidan and Kakuzu probably cussed more than any two characters in the scanlations. Not that it was awful, I just thought it didn't properly convey the information.
-I do think this is kind of the arc that kind of made me realize why I didn't love part 2 my first time around. Well, not as much as part 1 I should say. The expansion of the world and the lore take a heavy backseat in the last arc and this arc. We barely learn about the world in which these ninjas fight in. We don't even learn anything about the villages of our antagonists. Which I felt was a huge misstep.
-This was a training arc I really enjoyed as well. I felt like maybe I just didn't enjoy training arcs when I was younger because DBZ used them so heavily but this was done very well. Shikamaru's character growth in this was also fantastic.
-This arc loses points for not making Hidan and Kakuzu even remotely interesting characters as well as not expanding on the world. It DID expand on the power system which was great but still. This Arc had 3 beats. Battle where Asuma dies. Naruto's training. Battle where they beat the akatsuki. No other nuisance.
Itachi Pursuit Arc - Chapter 343-402: Rating: 9/10
-What can I say? fans were waiting for this conflict forever. And it did not disappoint.
-The reveal at the end was also fantastic.
-Where this arc loses points is everything to do with Naruto. Naruto's role, his mission with the other team to track Sasuke was...really not needed here. It felt extra. I would have rather had naruto be exempt or perhaps do something else. This was just a lot of wasted pages. I understand Itachi had to interact with Naruto to give him the crow, but this could have been done earlier in one of the previous arcs. Perhaps Kazekage when they actually fought his clone.
Pain Invasion Arc - Chapter 403-449: Rating: 10/10
-I gave this a 10/10 but I am still salty about the reviving everyone who died jutsu. I get it. I just personally would have preferred if the story didn't make that decision. It felt like Konoha just didn't really try hard to fight Pain. The anime made this feel coherent which is why I gave the arc in the manga a pass.
Five Kage Summit - Chapter 450-488: Rating: 5/10
-Well, that's a weird deal ain't it? This is probably my least favorite arc. Danzo is a poor villain. The Gokage are silly and at the end of the day this is just one big set up for the next arc. I felt like we should have met all the kage beforehand. I felt that the country of random not mentioned Samurai was weird. Why are Suigetsu and Jugo still around? It just really fell flat. the end was kinda cool, and it has probably my fabvorite moment where Sasuke goes coocoo banana's and stabs Karin, but still. It also teased another Naruto/Sasuke fight and didn't deliver. So boo.
Fourth Shinobi World War Arc - Chapter 489-700: Rating: 7/10
-Okay! Okay Okay! This arc has so many highs and so many lows.
-The ending is perfect imo. Everything after the seal Kaguya and have their final battle, the conclusion. all of it brought tears to my eyes. Loved it. Love love loved it.
-The first half of the war felt like a series of battles where no one died and no consequences were met outside of 40k random shinobi we never knew. This could have been done better.
-Naruto's training arc with Bee was painful. Taming the 9 tails was cool. I understand why it had to happen. But It just drags. I wish it would have been condensed.
-Naruto vs Obito is great.
-Madara arriving and fighting the Kage was great.
-God the Kabuto fight is too long. This fight is nearly two volumes long and Kabuto is just trash.
-So many things didn't make sense in this arc. Madara uses Susano'o with no eyes? Obito never dies? Kakashi's ghost double Mangekyo w/ perfect Susano'o????
-7/10 is probably really high for how many bad things. But so many good things happened I just gave it the general average. It could have been a lot better.
This was a really good time. I never looked at Naruto as a poorly written series like I did with Bleach so this was a blast from the past. Also, revisiting some of the older arcs I didn't enjoy as much and finding new enjoyment in them was really endearing.
That being said, this is a reread for me. I actually decided to reread them as the 3-in-1 volumes as they're much cheaper. I probably had 10 volumes already of the story so I didn't repurchase so my collection is a little incomplete. However, this reread was a lot of fun and I enjoyed a lot. I'll be doing this in a certain bullet point style because there's so much story to cover I really just want to point out my like's and Dislikes for each Arc. As well as Individual ratings.
Part One
Prologue - Land of Waves Arc - Chapter 1-33: Rating: 7/10
-So I love the land of waves arc. Anyone who says they weren't instantly hooked once they reached this point has got to be full of themselves. This arc does so much to set up the world, the themes, everything that Naruto would become.
-Unfortunately, what prequels this is absolute hot garbage.
-Now, I didn't think this when I began the reread because it has been over a decade since I've explored this section of the story. But let me tell you, these first 5 chapters are probably some of the worst in any shonen I've ever seen. To be fair, most first chapters in shonen usually aren't stand out. I've often expressed how they're really edited and refined to express the exact image that the magazine wants them to be. Once they actually get a chance to strut their stuff (if they sell well) then that's when we see most shonens come into their own.
-However, you would have to be younger than 5 to enjoy and find the slapstick comedy in the first five chapters to be digestible whatsoever. It's so cringeworthy I can't believe I ever was okay with it. Konohamaru is the worst character in creation. Most of the Naruto characters are pervs. Sasuke and Sakura's introductions are laughable at best. Well, they're not laughable. I WISH they had been, but nope.
-I love Naruto's power system. I may even go so far as to express I think it's actually my favorite power system pre-final arc. I love how thought out and detersive it is.
-Zabuza is a great antagonist. Gato is very easily hateable and Haku is great too.
-I really just am blown away how fast the pacing is. The tactics are clever and fun.
-Overall, the prologue really pulled this arc down for me. If you'd separate them. The prologue chapters would be a 4/10 and the Land of waves would be 10/10
Chunin Exams Arc - Chapter 34-114: Rating: 10/10
-10/10 arc. Nothing for me to say. Except that I personally would have liked to have seen the finale of the tournament. We didn't even get past the first round before everything kinda went haywire.
Konoha Invasion Arc - Chapter 115-138: Rating: 9/10
-I don't have a lot of bad to say outside of the sense that a lot of ninja's didn't really show their stuff. Primarily Kakashi, Jiraiya, etc. Because of this, the invasion really never felt like it would succeed. Sure, the Hokage's death was very expected and a tragedy. However, no one else we knew was wounded. The plan itself just really fell flat.
Search for Tsunade arc - Chapter 139-171: Rating: 7/10
-Yeah, this one surprised me.
-I remember this one being the most painful arc in part one. Not only is long, but it's also mostly a glorified training arc.
-With new eyes and a better appreciation for story and characters I have come away enjoying this arc much more.
-Tsunade is a phenomenal character and probably one of the only female characters in Naruto I can say that about.
-Naruto's journey to learning the Rasengan was also a lot more comprehensive now that I'm an adult. (and not reading scans)
-Also, Itachi was introduced in this arc and HOT DAMN THIS GUY WAS COOL
Sasuke Retrieval Arc - Chapter 172-238: Rating: 10/10
What can I say? 10/10 once again. Perhaps the Neji fight was a bit too long, but it never felt that way.
-The fights were all great. The themes were spot on and holy lawrd the emotion. *Chef's kiss.
Kakashi Gaiden - Chapter 239-244: Rating: 6/10
-Meh, I don't like this arc that much. I don't have a great reason. It's a flashback arc. But it came at such a weird point in the story. Like, no one was asking for it in this particular moment.
Part Two
Kazekage Rescue Arc - Chapter 245-281: Rating: 8/10
-This was another arc, like the Tsunade arc that I didn't enjoy. At this point, I was a weekly reader and It is a nearly 40 chapter arc. Maybe as a kid I felt like there was just too much talking and too much establishing what they were doing. Another key factor was that Naruto's growth, despite it only being roughly two and a half years was still rather unimpressive. I mean, he could do a big rasengan.
-What I neglected to understand was that this was mostly a reference point to show us just how much the kids have grown in less than 3 years time. The kids actually went from not being able to land a single attack on base Kakashi with no Sharingan, to with one less member, defeating Kakashi and completing the bell exam. That's tremendous progress. Another thing I neglected was just how much focus was put on Naruto mastering the nine-tails power. It was a pretty small feat as i read this as a teenager, but having reread the material back to back I noticed that far more emphasis was put on Naruto's lack of control. His ability to bring out some of Kurama's chakra was only enough to give him a short boost that put him above Neji. When facing Sasuke and he got a one tailed cloak, he actually succumbed to the 9 tails and lost himself. Now he's able to call upon three tails all by himself.
-The sasori fight is legendary. I love Chiyo as a character which before I just kinda was indifferent to her. This would also feature Team Guy and that was exciting as we hadn't seen those characters in some time. Though, really they didn't have much to do besides fight themselves in this.
-Overall, the arc loses points for me because of how centered around the Sasori fight it seemed. Yet, half the other events of the arc felt secondary when I compared them. Gaara's emotional climax and revelation was great. Naruto's growth was great. Learning about the sand was great. But this arc had to establish a lot and I just remember those chapters of them running through the forest and just text filling the pages from panel to panel. Not saying action was vital, just that we spent too much time talking about Jinchurki. It was clear that Kishimoto was now ready to establish these terms he set up. But I felt he could have presented it in a more organic fashion then just an info dump.
Sasuke and Sai Arc - Chapter 282-310: Rating: 6/10
-This arc is really conflicting. On one hand, it has probably one of the most hype conflicts in the entire series to this point. Naruto 4 tails vs Orochimaru was absolutley insane and it still holds up. The emotional tension of Naruto losing himself and not caring because it's orochimaru and he's spent so long hating this guy was fantastic.
-On the other hand...this arc also heavily features Sai. And et's just cut to the chase. Sai is probably my least favorite character in all of Naruto. I think he's just a really poorly written character. I understand his purpose. I understand what he was meant to imply and communicate with the reader, but I just really thought it was done in the most generic and boring way. I am not a fan of Sai. He really, really dragged this arc down for me.
Hidan and Kakuzu Arc - Chapter 311-342: Rating: 7.5/10
-Yet again another arc I thought I'd hate. Mainly because when I read them when they came out, I realized just how awful the scans were. Hidan and Kakuzu probably cussed more than any two characters in the scanlations. Not that it was awful, I just thought it didn't properly convey the information.
-I do think this is kind of the arc that kind of made me realize why I didn't love part 2 my first time around. Well, not as much as part 1 I should say. The expansion of the world and the lore take a heavy backseat in the last arc and this arc. We barely learn about the world in which these ninjas fight in. We don't even learn anything about the villages of our antagonists. Which I felt was a huge misstep.
-This was a training arc I really enjoyed as well. I felt like maybe I just didn't enjoy training arcs when I was younger because DBZ used them so heavily but this was done very well. Shikamaru's character growth in this was also fantastic.
-This arc loses points for not making Hidan and Kakuzu even remotely interesting characters as well as not expanding on the world. It DID expand on the power system which was great but still. This Arc had 3 beats. Battle where Asuma dies. Naruto's training. Battle where they beat the akatsuki. No other nuisance.
Itachi Pursuit Arc - Chapter 343-402: Rating: 9/10
-What can I say? fans were waiting for this conflict forever. And it did not disappoint.
-The reveal at the end was also fantastic.
-Where this arc loses points is everything to do with Naruto. Naruto's role, his mission with the other team to track Sasuke was...really not needed here. It felt extra. I would have rather had naruto be exempt or perhaps do something else. This was just a lot of wasted pages. I understand Itachi had to interact with Naruto to give him the crow, but this could have been done earlier in one of the previous arcs. Perhaps Kazekage when they actually fought his clone.
Pain Invasion Arc - Chapter 403-449: Rating: 10/10
-I gave this a 10/10 but I am still salty about the reviving everyone who died jutsu. I get it. I just personally would have preferred if the story didn't make that decision. It felt like Konoha just didn't really try hard to fight Pain. The anime made this feel coherent which is why I gave the arc in the manga a pass.
Five Kage Summit - Chapter 450-488: Rating: 5/10
-Well, that's a weird deal ain't it? This is probably my least favorite arc. Danzo is a poor villain. The Gokage are silly and at the end of the day this is just one big set up for the next arc. I felt like we should have met all the kage beforehand. I felt that the country of random not mentioned Samurai was weird. Why are Suigetsu and Jugo still around? It just really fell flat. the end was kinda cool, and it has probably my fabvorite moment where Sasuke goes coocoo banana's and stabs Karin, but still. It also teased another Naruto/Sasuke fight and didn't deliver. So boo.
Fourth Shinobi World War Arc - Chapter 489-700: Rating: 7/10
-Okay! Okay Okay! This arc has so many highs and so many lows.
-The ending is perfect imo. Everything after the seal Kaguya and have their final battle, the conclusion. all of it brought tears to my eyes. Loved it. Love love loved it.
-The first half of the war felt like a series of battles where no one died and no consequences were met outside of 40k random shinobi we never knew. This could have been done better.
-Naruto's training arc with Bee was painful. Taming the 9 tails was cool. I understand why it had to happen. But It just drags. I wish it would have been condensed.
-Naruto vs Obito is great.
-Madara arriving and fighting the Kage was great.
-God the Kabuto fight is too long. This fight is nearly two volumes long and Kabuto is just trash.
-So many things didn't make sense in this arc. Madara uses Susano'o with no eyes? Obito never dies? Kakashi's ghost double Mangekyo w/ perfect Susano'o????
-7/10 is probably really high for how many bad things. But so many good things happened I just gave it the general average. It could have been a lot better.
This was a really good time. I never looked at Naruto as a poorly written series like I did with Bleach so this was a blast from the past. Also, revisiting some of the older arcs I didn't enjoy as much and finding new enjoyment in them was really endearing.
August 3, 2020
Spoiler alert.
I'm kind of starting from the end here, and be warned these comments are in no way in chronological order. :)
It's wonderful that other characters get time to shine when Kurama has been taken from Naruto (which was horrible and that will be mentioned later). Guy really comes through in the end, and seeing the incredible powers that he has as well as a brief account of his backstory gives his character a much more dimensional character. We admire his persistence and get to find out how close he was with his father. We can also see how he tries to be to Lee what his father was to him. Seeing Guy and Kakashi fighting Madara shows that it's not just Naruto and Sasuke and Obito that have insane powers, and that even those who aren't crazy powerful have a role to play in the fight.
I haven't given this volume as high a rating as the rest because the fighting seemed a bit odd at points to me, and the power of friendship became just a little too exaggerated. There was one scene where the tailed beasts were slapping Madara with their tails and while I find that hilarious it kind of ruins the whole idea of a serious fight. Then there is also a constant reminder that friendship and camaraderie will get the through anything to raise the troops spirits, and while this has been happening throughout all of Naruto I personally think there was too much of it these volumes because of the constant troop morale raisers.
But the omnibus ended on a strong note with Guy's power-up, and I'm looking forward to the next (and I think final? :( ) omnibus.
I'm kind of starting from the end here, and be warned these comments are in no way in chronological order. :)
It's wonderful that other characters get time to shine when Kurama has been taken from Naruto (which was horrible and that will be mentioned later). Guy really comes through in the end, and seeing the incredible powers that he has as well as a brief account of his backstory gives his character a much more dimensional character. We admire his persistence and get to find out how close he was with his father. We can also see how he tries to be to Lee what his father was to him. Seeing Guy and Kakashi fighting Madara shows that it's not just Naruto and Sasuke and Obito that have insane powers, and that even those who aren't crazy powerful have a role to play in the fight.
I haven't given this volume as high a rating as the rest because the fighting seemed a bit odd at points to me, and the power of friendship became just a little too exaggerated. There was one scene where the tailed beasts were slapping Madara with their tails and while I find that hilarious it kind of ruins the whole idea of a serious fight. Then there is also a constant reminder that friendship and camaraderie will get the through anything to raise the troops spirits, and while this has been happening throughout all of Naruto I personally think there was too much of it these volumes because of the constant troop morale raisers.
But the omnibus ended on a strong note with Guy's power-up, and I'm looking forward to the next (and I think final? :( ) omnibus.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2018
Chú nhóc vẫn mang diện mạo giống cha mình với hai vết hằn (nhiều độc giả cho rằng đây là ria) trên má cùng tính cách nghịch ngợm, không sợ trời đất gì giống hệt Naruto lúc còn nhỏ. Không những thế, con gái của Sakura và Sasuke dường như cũng có cảm tình với chú nhóc, gợi ý đến một cuộc kết giao thông gia trong tương lai giữa bộ đôi Na-Sa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2018
The second last volume! Every thing is revealed. Madara shows his true six sage form! Naruto's biju been taken out! All the characters from past and present returns! Its one that I never thought the complication is too good, and yet worth reading! Hoping the ending is good!
September 16, 2022
good plot and story arc
November 13, 2018
La trama de Naruto crece exponencialmente al crecer sus personajes, hay muchos momentos donde sinceramente no tengo ninguna idea de cómo se va a desarrollar o solucionar los conflictos en los que se presentan. Hay muchas sorpresas y la historia se vuelve imprescindible.
September 8, 2024
Now this is a big finale! It is getting wild and I feel like there is still more to be revealed.
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