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Note - This is an instant and impulsive review. As this wasn't pre planned or anything, please try to ignore or just point out the typos in it. Sorry for the trouble! Do inform me if you liked/hated my review for what so ever reason! :D


Ah! Naruto, how I look back fondly and remember all the great memories I shared with this manga. This was my first manga and it used to be very dear to me. Before Kishi went insane and ruined it b dragging it till the infinity and beyond!

The Begining -

Naruto started out as a shounen with a potential of ... being something special. It fulfiled it's potential in the initial arcs, by introducing host of interesting characters, even though the main 4 could be classified in the cliched shounen character type but they were building along well. Setting a benchmark in shounen industry with some nice fights between nice characters with nice powers and appropriate power ups, Naruto was going along well. Why? Because, A - the setting was good, a ninja trying to become hokage is as classy (some might call it stereotyped but oh! WTH) a setting as you'll get. His lonelyness and detachment did create an emotional attachment with many users, the nakama factor was well used at times, and Naruto's way of ninja was an inspiring thing for young readers (me included). Besides all the emotional exaggeration. The main character in itself was a treat to the eyes, right mix of stupidity and rashness. The number one surprising ninja of Konoha, always did something unthinkably stupid that would make you smile and keep your interest in the series. The mysterious sensei was a good card that Kishi played. Kakashi was one of the inspiring figures and turned out to be a fun read. And the other two main charactes even though bit archtyped provided few more dimensions to the team. Specialy the Naruto - Sasuke relationship which later became the main fulcrum of the series was a predictable, but good addition.

Then comes the side characters. Holy Jesus! The side characters! From Haku, Zabuza to Itachi, Jiraiya to Gaara, Lee and Shikamaru. Each character was well crafted and piqued my interest, their personality was such that you'd genuinely like to know more about them, to discover them and love/hate/appreciate them. Their powers were varying and interesting and provided for different tactical battles which often became quite interesting. These characters initial development didn't disapoint at all. In fact, one could wonder if these characters would have been properly explored.

The universe of Naruto, was also a huge plus point in the series. It provided great scope of world building as the main countries were fire, wind, thunder, water and earth countries with the hidden leaf, sand, cloud, mist and rock villages, imagination could have easily run wild on them and there was a lot to built. Even Konoha which was the home town of our protaganist was architectured well. With a hill showing faces of all previous and current village leaders standing tall upon a bit modern village provided a picturesque scenery. Even the head bands and symbols and costumes had and proved to be a great area for merchandizing with much too sale, not only the figurines.

The battles though weren't as tactical as maybe in LoGH but were still more mind consuming than battles in YYH or DB. The tactical play that ninja uses, manipulating environment into shinobi's own benefit provided huge space for creating interesting battles. Which did happen in the first half of manga's tenure (since it's still ongoin it is quite possible to say less than the first half). My favourite ones were between Gaara and Rock Lee ( a fast paced and exciting one) and Shikamaru vs Hidan (more tactical and fun). The battles kept up your attention since they rarely got reptitive, yes the nakama talk was there but it didn't become that forced initialy.

Now -

Now, Naruto is a huge pile of mess. Just a former shadow of it's glorious self. The two protaganist turned into emo douchenozzles with endless rants you'll find in any mediocre emo-punk band. The main fulcrum of the story i.e. relationship between two protaganists became streched out and wiery. In fact, it was turned into a huge pile of turd that completely over shadowed any chance of anything else happening on the side. The pacing became horrendous, good parts being rushed, bad parts are being enlongated to the extent of being cumbersome and mundane. In fact, now I have to force myself to complete one chapter. The pannels are wasted and something out of the blue and completely senseless keeps on happening. The characters death are given either too much time or no time at all that the impact completely vanishes.

The array of side characters (now including Kakashi and Sakura) lie forgotten in deep dark corners of Kishi's mind. The strenuous Naruto-Sasukke relationship has left little time for anything else to be centred around anyone but them or maybe the new baddy of the new arc. Side characters which could have become more supportive and intruging have only become extras in the manga with a rare chapter or two thrown at them in which microscopic level of characterization takes place. Even the two main guys are no good. Naruto who was an unpredictably fun and stupid ninja has become an all time bore, with billions of heart to heart talk and pseudo emotional crap. Sasuke on the other hand has garnered a rather apt treputation for being an all time whiner and ass. Most of the time these characters rant about their nakama or anti-nakam policy. The manga has turned from a battle shounen to a political debate between two very pathetic (in an i-have-got-nothing-new-to-say manner) and extremely stupid parties.

The battles. Oh My God them horrendous battles! They go out in one way and one way only now. Lots of DBZ like, landscape changing action where the super over powered villain fights over powered super heroes. At the end, Naruto, the messiah, sprinkles his few heartbraking ( rather heart-attacking) words of wisdom and the baddy's hear melt and he ends in giving up or killing himself. The tactical foray that Naruto (the manga), used to have scope for, lays all forgotten and dusted along the side of side characters.

The narutoverse, which as I previously explained, had great scope of world building. However, it has been utterly ignored by Kishi. (surprise! surprise!) Besides, since now Naruto paces everything up but battles, and battles of DBZ proportion mind you, the only thing left of the battle ground is barren wasteland. Any attempts to use ground for advantage, even thinking about it seems laughable.

Summarizing -
Naruto started as a great manga with lot of potential, which it fulfiled initialy. However it ended being a money generating machine for WSJ whose expiry date is long overdue but still WSJ is squeezing money out of it. Adios.

Ratings: 9.5/10
Genre: Psychological, Satire, Mystery.
Status: Complete
No. of Episodes: 13
Prequel/Sequel: None
Director: Satoshi Kon
Characters (10/10) :
Main element of any typical series is the story and how expertly it is told, but Paranoia Agent not being one of those typical series, was character centric rather than story centric. And that's why maybe, it was a notch above other series, as the story was made so that it can revolve around the characters and provide a satirical view on society, and boy was it carried out well. Each and every character had different and interesting personalities given to them, each of ... them were given proper time in screen and space in script so that they can develop well, and most importantly the characters were realistic, and believable, everyday life characters and IMO here is where Kon sensei excelled and made this anime legendary. Many a times series have very 'hi-fi' and cool characters which one can find impossible to relate with, many a times a series make characters so simple that they look shallow, the amazing depth of human mind is often sacrificed for panty shots, mindless comedy and hopeless fighting, but it's a Satoshi Kon anime, if he makes one, he nails it, and that's what he did with each and every character of the series, as they were simple, someone we can relate with, yet so different, complex and distant.

Story (9.5/10) :
As mentioned before, this series is a heavily character centric one, but this doesn't make the story of the anime a liability. No, no, no...the script is tightly and well written indeed with the sole purpose of giving you a mindfuck. But it isn't all serious, at least not all the time, induced with satire and comedy in the right places and the right time makes the story a treat to follow, specially the conclusion which neither gives you a clear cut answer nor does it left you confused, it sorts of weaves a path for you to find out answer thyself if you do a little thinking (at least it was for me ._.) . And combine that with Kon's amazing storytelling abilities and voilà you got a masterpiece. :D

Other Aspects (9/10):
The voice actors, BGM and OST are carefully chosen and wonderfully executed, specially the voice acting of the old man stands out.
The character anatomy is a job well done, as it is filled with well bodied characters and some comic ones, which some might find strange. But I think it was the part of the satirical theme of the anime.
As for animation, madhouse nails it again, will not go much into this since I am new to animated series, but at times object looked very realistic and the change of scenes was very lucid which added to the storytelling.

So all in all Paranoia Agent is a great and must watch for all psychological genre fans out there...

Random Quote:
"Life...Life isn't so bad. If you keep living, you will someday find something good. And maybe that's no consolation...because I think there are plenty of bad things in the world. But...I am sure happiness and kindness are hiding somewhere right nearby. If nothing else, morning comes same for everyone. It's up to you what you'll make from that."

Review:
So, why should one read vignettes about random people? I think maybe because one can relate them with real life, the stories depicted in this manga are not about happy endings, or some special people. It's about life, life of normal people, and these people ... resonate with you, their insecurities might be your insecurities, their life crisis might resemble yours. It might even be like seeing your life unfold in those pages. Asano Inio, targets people of all ages and sex, of different walks of life in these short stories of his, and the best part is that they are depicted beautifully. After these stories you feel compelled to think about the things you've done in your life until now, In some way, aren't you like those manga characters, hollow, incomplete and looking for something, anything to hold on to, that'll give meaning to life, aren't we all the same? This manga forces you, to face reality, and somehow after reading these stories, I became a wee bit more pragmatic, and a bit more closer to myself.