Naruto Information

Naruto is one of the best selling manga of all time having sold more than 113 million copies in Japan. Serialized in Viz's Shonen Jump magazine, Naruto has become one of the company's best-selling manga series. The English adaptation of the series has also appeared in the USA Today Booklist several times and volume 7 won the Quil Award in 2006. Reviewers from the series have praised the balance between fighting and comedy scenes, as well as the characters' personalities, but have criticized it for using standard shōnen plot elements.

Naruto

Naruto is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is based on a one-shot comic by Kishimoto that was published in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Currently, the manga is still being serialized; fifty-eight tankōbon volumes have been released so far. The manga was later adapted into an anime, which was produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animax on October 3, 2002. The first series lasted 220 episodes, while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, has been airing since February 15, 2007. In addition to the anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed eight movies for the series and several original video animations (OVAs). Other types of merchandise include light novels, video games and trading cards developed by several companies.

Viz Media has licensed the manga and anime for North American production. Viz has been publishing the series in their Shonen Jump magazine, and as well as the individual volumes. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The films, as well as most OVAs from the series, have also been released by Viz, with the first film premiering in cinemas. The first DVD volume of Naruto: Shippuden was released by Viz in North America on September 29, 2009, and it started broadcast on Disney XD in October of the same year.

Naruto

Naruto: Shippuden received good response from Activeanime's David C. Jones who commented on the new characters designs and the animation's improvement. Like Lawrence when reviewing the Part II manga, Jones also felt the series to be more serious and more dramatic. Agreeing with Jones, the series was noted by ANN to have a more serious tone, sometimes relatively more serious than Naruto, and it started recovering the balance between comedy and drama in the first original episodes made specifically for the TV series; unlike the panned fillers from Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden's have been praised thanks to its likable storylines and connection with the main plot. While the pacing for the first episodes has been criticized for being slow, the delivery and development in the interactions between the characters, both from Naruto newly introduced, has received positive comments. The animation was noted for being consisted most of the times, giving characters flexible movements and using more CGI than the prequel that are found amusing.