Naruto, Volume 01: The Tests of the Ninja

I'm pretty much a die hard fan of this series, and now that it's done, I'm sad.

For the sake of my aching heart, I'm going to reread it again and revel in its moments of light-heartedness, its pain, its desperate hope.

Well, there was a bit of pain in the first volume, a lot of light-heartedness, and a taste of the promise to come. The nine-tailed demon fox is still far off on the horizon, but for now, we've got cute character exploration and distant goals. Pretty standard for most manga, really, but it's the heart in the series that keeps me coming back for more.

True heart. I always look for that in anything I read, and it doesn't matter one bit where I find it, as long as I find it.

The reason I keep coming back for this manga is because show more it never lost heart, including more and more until it fair burst upon the land. Huge effects and battles, the end of the world, you name it, it's here... but it's the characters that make it really shine. If you like your peeps to level up, then you'll love this series.

Volume one is but a tiny, tiny taste of some really great stuff, but it's how the people change and grow that brings me to my inevitable tears. show less

Several years ago, the Village Hidden in the Leaves was assaulted by a fearsome threat. A nine-tailed fox spirit took the lives of many people, including the village leader and the Hokage. Today, the village is peaceful, and a troublesome kid named Naruto is attempting to graduate from Ninja Academy. Although his goal is to become Hokage, his true destiny is much more complex. It's time for the adventure to begin!

The rating I gave here is quite generous.

Although the first chapter was interesting, it was slightly choppy, while the third chapter, with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke in ninja school, was simply dull. I had a hard time getting past Naruto's repetitive immaturity and inflated ego. Yes, wow, you have a specialty in doppelgängers, show more but you always act before you think, which is foolish. COME ON.

I'm going to keep reading the series because I know it gets better. The story has a lot of potential, and I'm hoping that Naruto's character will develop and mature as the series progresses. Despite its flaws, the series has a compelling plot and interesting characters that keep me engaged.

Overall, while the series has some flaws, it has the potential to improve and become more engaging as it progresses. show less

2.5

The story is rushed and underdeveloped, the art/choreography is at times confusing (at its worst nonsensical), and the exposition relies far too heavily on dialogue, often inserting lengthy explanations at awkward times, seriously hindering the pacing.

Despite all this, it's quite readable and occasionally amusing. It boggles the mind though to think that this is one of the most highly acclaimed mangas of all time.

A oggi sono fermo al 41.Sarà anche molto criticato da molta gente ma a me piace.
La parte iniziale è un po' "da ragazzini" e contiene molte banalità però la parte recente (diciamo da quando passano i 3 anni) mi tiene incollato. Boh, non so perché di preciso. Conterrà anche molti stereotipi o cose già viste, eppure non le sento. I disegni sono fatti molto bene. I combattimenti sono spettacolari. E la trama, come ho già detto, mi prende molto e mi appassiona.

a boy, who is training to become a ninja, finds out that his body is the holding vessel of a demon known as the 7 Tailed Fox. Naruto is a spoiled brat and I feel no sympathy for him at all.

I know that people will probably wanna lynch me for saying this but Naruto Has a crappy story!! It started good enough "a kid ninja that has a powerfool demon sealed inside him and so on.." but the sasuke thing has gone long enough. I thought this was a shonen manga but, judging from Naruto's obsession with Sasuke it's closer to Shonen Ai.

An ingenuous first issue that is charming but unsophisticated. The characters are entertaining and likeable. The simple plot contained just enough to hold my interest and I was eager to read the next issue. Some of the character illustrations are difficult to differentiate in this issue but this improved with later episodes.