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Naruto is my favorite manga and I believe it is massively underrated and treated unfairly in the anime/manga community. Here is my attempt at a review:

Story: Naruto is an epic story that covers a wide variety of themes including war, camaraderie, friendship, death, political tension, the ethics of genocide (I haven’t read or watched anything that actually gives such a neutral and unbiased exploration of this controversial topic), love, conspiracy, existentialism, the nature of identity and reality, etc. The battles in Naruto are some
of the most iconic in the genre, with a wide variety of techniques, tactics and weapons being used in well drawn and ... choreographed fights that get increasingly more intense as the series goes on. Naruto never feels slow, every arc and battle undertaken feels important to the plot and necessary. Everything culminates in an epic climax reminiscent of Revelations, and even when the manga reaches the final chapter you can rest assured your questions will be answered in the sequel to this manga titled Boruto which is also extremely underrated.

Art: Kishimoto’s artstyle is one of the best in the game. Even the most complicated battles are easy to follow and comprehend. He balances backgrounds and characters flawlessly without pages looking too cluttered (One Piece) or too simple (Bleach). It might not be on par with something like Berserk but it gets the job done with cool character designs and easy to follow action scenes.

Characters: The characters in Naruto are some of the most iconic and memorable characters in all of fiction. You have the titular Naruto, who is instantly relatable from chapter one struggling to find his place in the world but overcoming his situation as an outcast with sheer confidence and optimism. But where Naruto really shines in the character department is in the supporting cast. The world history in this manga is fascinating and dark, and we learn more about it through the countless tormented characters we meet as the plot thickens. Sasuke for example had his entire clan slaughtered by his own brother, and there is more to that story I won’t spoil but the darkness of that event haunts many of the characters in the story and realistically shapes events and the actions of the characters. Itachi, Sasuke’s brother, Jiraiya, another teacher of Naruto, Orochimaru, a weird Michael Jackson look alike that is a demonic snake man and is scary, the Akatsuki and their leader Pain, a man called Madara, Gaara, Rock Lee, Shikimaru, the list goes on, there are COUNTLESS characters in this manga that are unforgettable and iconic to this day.

Enjoyment: Obviously I enjoyed this manga and I am obsessed with it. I love Naruto and also Boruto, together they weave an epic, complex fantasy saga with amazing characters and deep themes. Compared to other Shonen I believe Naruto goes the deepest and weaves the most intricate, thought provoking story.

All in all Naruto is the greatest achievement in Japanese manga imo. It is a franchise that has a bright future still and it is not too late to get on the hype train. This manga and its sequel Boruto are underrated masterpieces that will give you something to think about and to get excited about. Out of all the popular manga this one is by far the most underrated and perhaps misunderstood. If you haven’t finished reading or watching Naruto please pick it back up and get to the end, it is a masterpiece of a fantasy epic even if it’s hardly about ninjas toward the end.

One Piece is the most overrated piece of fiction I’ve ever read. It’s mostly about a roaming crew of do-gooder clichés that travel the high seas. Each character has a dream (which they will never achieve because this cash cow will never end) and of course a tragic backstory to go with it. One Piece is somehow popular while having the worst character designs in anime, includes countless scenes of characters sobbing like crybabies, and will drag on to the point no one will care anymore. Honestly, if you want a shonen that doesn’t insult your intelligence and make you feel like you’re reading something ... written by a smarter than average 10 year old, then don’t pick this up.

Story: While there are some decent dramatic moments here and there, they’re almost always forced as much as possible and accompanied by over the top water faucet tears or something else as corny that makes you want to punch a hole in the wall. Not only that, but it’s the same thing each time.

Straw Hat crew arrives at an island, the people are friendly but something is wrong. We then meet the villain who is doing stereotypical villain things. Luffy hotheadedly decides he is gonna save the day and starts yelling. Luffy takes on the boss and his crew mates take on the underlings. They are stronger than expected, but through the power of friendship and encouragement from the people of the island they will themselves to victory with their new attacks they just invented. With everything said and done, celebration is had, and the Straw Hats leave as the citizens thank them and promise to always remember their kindness. Repeat for hundreds of chapters. If that sounds boring to you, then good, it’s very lame.

Let me add that people harp on about how great the world building is, but the world is just a nonsensical LSD theme park with clouds you can stand on and other magical stuff that never gets a good explanation and you’re just expected to eat it up and suspend your disbelief.

Art: Not much needs to be said here, One Piece’s art hardly looks like anime at all, but rather doodles from a 3rd grader’s math textbook.

Character: Characters are terribly developed and never really change. Usopp remains a cowardly person forever, Sanji remains a scrawny Johnny Bravo knock off that is impossible to take seriously, Luffy remains an unlikable annoying man child "who always stands up to the bad guy with no fear" (that's all his character amounts to though, lol and there is no originality), Zoro is your cookie cutter “badass” character, etc the characters are bad, have no actual depth, and are uninteresting.

Enjoyment: Clearly some people enjoy this, but I certainly didn’t. I read it in bursts, people kept trying to drill into my head how great it was so I kept going back, forced myself to read another 200 or so chapters, then got sick and put it back down. Now I write this review to tell you how lousy I think this comic is.

Overall: One Piece is poor. Yes, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Attack on Titan, Death Note, and many others are great shonen stories that I encourage people to read and enjoy.

Paranoia Agent starts off extremely strong, introducing a compelling, thought provoking, and creepy mystery about an anonymous young boy who rides roller skates and kills people with a metal bat called Shounen Bat. It definitely makes you want to watch the next episode to figure out what the hell is going on. You can make some good guesses based on the hints they drop, but as more of the secret is uncovered your previous preconceptions will be thrown out the window.

You're introduced to characters who's lives will eventually be connected to Shounen Bat an episode at a time. Each of their stories ... are very interesting and well written, my favorites being the story of a prostitute with multiple personality disorder, the story of a corrupt cop who's in debt to criminals and thus must cast away his moral barriers with the use of drugs to steal money from innocent people, and a young girl who discovers a dark secret about her beloved father. These stories are dark, disturbing, and pretty interesting. You want to see more about how their lives intertwine and see how their characters develop while the mystery unfolds. Unfortunately however, Paranoia Agent doesn't deliver.

The final couple episodes don't focus on these fascinating troubled characters, but instead get progressively surreal and hard to follow. The ending leaves questions about the apparently paranormal events that transpired, and instead leaves you with a symbolic explanation that I find hard to take seriously. If they had developed the great characters and crafted a story around them and their growth/interactions, this could have very well been a 9 or 10, but instead it forgot the characters and went the route of "wtf is going on" pretentiousness, something I believe Evangelion did with a lot more style. Thus it barely receives a 8, if only for the strong beginning.

Despite my gripes with this anime, it's still only 13 episodes, and is a one of a kind story across any medium. The first half is something anyone, even someone not that into anime, can appreciate, the final act however not so much. But if you enjoy stories that dip into schizophrenic insanity, then what are you waiting for, this is the show for you.

Naruto is my favorite anime series and manga series. I started reading the manga when I was a pre-teen but dropped it after a while, because certain story elements bothered me (such as Naruto's unrelenting love for his rival). However, when I was 17 I picked it up again because I was bored and had nothing to read, I was hooked all over again, part 2 starts slow but it picks up, and when I say that I mean it gets extremely epic and interesting. But this review is about Part 1, and the anime adaption of it.

Well, part 1 Naruto tells ... the story of a young Tom Sawyer-ish trouble maker kid who wants to be a ninja. It doesn't take long for him to graduate ninja school and begin his journey to become a legendary shinobi, however it's not just Naruto to watch this show for, the supporting cast and antagonists, especially in Part 1, are what make this story shine. Some of the most beautifully sad stories I've ever read/seen (in this case seen) are depicted within this anime, and it's just an amazing story that no one should miss. It enthralled me as a child, and astounded me as an adult, the level of thought, symbolism, and hidden details within this story could only be crafted by geniuses, which would be Kishimoto and his editors.

All the characters are interesting, have unique personalities, sometime horrific pasts and secrets, and a good lot of them are extremely likable, such as everyone's favorite teacher Kakashi or the goofy underdog with passion Rock Lee. Even some of the most menacing antagonists you'd never think you'd care about, suddenly show that even they are worth your empathy. There's a good reason this is the biggest hit anime series to sweep america, and that's due to the overwhelmingly strong story, characters, and masterfully orchestrated soundtrack.

Now, sure it's amazing, but there are negatives, most which are exclusive to the anime adaption and not the manga. While the anime adaption does a great job portraying the most important scenes, with fantastic animation and great music placement and sound, the entire thing isn't this way. This is because different directors and animation teams worked on different parts of the show, so one director could be brilliant, and one could have a lower budget and not be so brilliant, thus the art and execution are inconsistent in areas.

That's not the only negative however, this show has these annoying things called fillers, which are additional story arcs added on that weren't part of Kishimoto's original manga. These are pretty cheesy and badly written and should be skipped, except for a particular comedic episode about attempted to remove Kakashi's mask. If you want to enjoy the show to it's full potential these should be skipped, especially the huge lot of them towards the end.

Another thing is censorship. In the manga, there are some scenes that are just far to graphic for whatever timeslot the anime aired in Japan, such as a particular scene where a rogue shinobi is has naked corpses hung on the walls and is removing their limbs and dissecting them. Scenes like this are replaced with stuff that's less graphic but still sorta gets the point across.

It's a shame such a great anime with a strong soundtrack and legendary source material has such blaring issues, but that's what bumps it down to a 9, it isn't a perfect adaption, has inconsistent art (but great at times) and various other annoying changes or additions that hamper my enjoyment of the Naruto manga in motion.

I recommend skipping the fillers for the best viewing experience, but regardless, this is a story you won't forget, with characters you won't forget, moments you won't forget, and feelings you won't forget.

There's no score more appropriate for this show other than a 9/10.