As of October 14, 2009, the orange-clad, loud-mouthed, and hyper ninja kid Uzumaki Naruto, together with his chakra-wielding comrades and enemies, earns the seventh spot in Yahoo’s popular searches.
Figure 1 The Naruto Shippuden (Part II) Series
There are so many reasons why this anime series is well-loved all over the world. In an objective point of view, one of the main factors that attract children, teenagers, young adults, and even older folks to the Naruto series is its element of uniqueness. From the character designs to the characters' personalities to how Naruto’s creator, Masashi Kishimoto, implemented the chakra concept and the ninja hand signs to produce jutsus (ninja techniques) available only in the story, there is nothing short of unique! Though I believe the funny-looking characters (I mean, Chouji, Kakashi, Deidara, and the pig Ton-ton are like laughing-stocks) and the slapstick comedy often emphasized in between character conversations, usually initiated by the fiery-haired protagonist himself, make the animẻ well-loved by kids and child-like grown-ups. In Naruto Shippuden, the second stretch of the Naruto story, Kishi added the five elements of wind, water, earth, fire, and lightning as determinants of jutsu strength and nature, each element having its subsequent advantages and disadvantages over the others.
Figure 2 I Love These Chibi Drawings!!!
The story plot, seen in macroperspective, may appear to have common themes on friendship, family, hatred (for the hateful Sasuke), and love (not to mention a love triangle, or in the case of Sakura and Naruto, unrequited love). Kishi collectively calls these themes as “bonds”. However, taking the details of the story piece by piece or according to respective arcs (there are many sub-plots in Naruto), the story is one heck of an adventure it sometimes makes a fanciful idiot like me yearn to be a swash-buckling Konohagakure ninja girl.
Figure 2 The Fighting Dreamers
The best jutsu for my temperament would be Naruto’s Rasengan and Rasen Shuriken. A blast of spinning wind on the face of my enemies – especially those who cannot seem to let go of their make-up kits and mirrors - would be enough to satisfy the devil in me. But speaking of the devil, no other move - not even those of the Akatsuki members - is more sinister than Gaara’s Sabaku Kyū or dessert coffin technique. How bloodcurdlingly sweet to see some rotten serial killer or big-time drug dealer get crushed under thick grains of sand, shaped after my hands. Seriously, that’s cruel. Even if Gaara is one of my favorite characters, I can’t understand why before Naruto infected him with his candid heroism he could always get away with murder, while the Akatsuki got black-listed in the ninja bingo book as S-ranked criminals, to be executed on the spot. (I haven’t any idea what S means, either. Superior-ranked criminals? Super-ranked? Really, no idea.)
Figure 3 The Cool Villains of Akatsuki
This guy may have a lousy technique (Shadow-Possesing jutsu? Oh, c’mon!) but I think of all the Naruto characters branded as genius, Shikamaru is the only one worthy of the name. I love all his fights, although during the Chuunin exams they were rather brief and his opponents were, to Shikamaru's misfortune, all women. The Sasuke Retrieval Arc also exhibited the genius of Shikamaru in terms of tactical operations and impromptu counter-attack strategies. Asuma said Shikamaru "has an IQ of 200 and is always a hundred moves ahead of his enemies," which is a tad bit exaggerated if it were said to real people. It is also hard to believe because Shikamaru had been deemed lazy for most of his ninja childhood. Whatever his real IQ score might be, Shikamaru's lack of combat skills is compensated by his high intelligence and quick, near-accurate judgments.
The Hidan-Kakuzu Arc in Shippuden was one of the best Naruto arcs ever. Despite personally feeling the pain of losing Asuma, I truly enjoyed the collaborative efforts of Kakashi and Shikamaru, (Ino and Chouji not being so helpful), which led to the final destruction of two of the grossest Akatsuki members. Hidan and Kakuzu made me laugh, I give them that. The former was a trash-talking immortal; the latter was a money-loving heart collector with 5 hearts. Still, it was very satisfying seeing Hidan fooled into cursing his own partner and blasted off into bits and pieces by Shikamaru’s ninja trap. Imagine, he orchestrated everything from beginning to end, where he was seen shoving dirt on Hidan’s talking decapitated head. Kakashi, on one hand, was saved by the back-up team, Team 7 and Naruto's home team. Naruto finished off the twice resurrected Kakuzu with his new move Rasen Shuriken at the cost of his own arm. This was also the arc where I began to doubt the genius of Kakashi and admired the knucklehead Naruto even more. Yeah, he’s still my favorite.
I like Kakashi the Copy Ninja but for me he’s not the genius Konohagakure made him out to be. If he really was, how could he easily get caught by Zabuza? (Because Kishi said so? LOL) Also, he died during the Invasion of Pain Arc without putting up a good fight. Anyway, he had a heart-to-heart talk with his father, The White Fang, so all’s well that ends well. I particularly wonder why he never removes his mask and why he loves Jiraiya’s lascivious books. He’s funny in that sense and I find his calm, composed character a good leverage to the brashness and loudness of Naruto and the one-sided competitiveness of Might Guy (who awfully reminds me of Coach Hines).
Sasuke was supposed to be the number one rookie in his batch but look at him! Not only did he become a common criminal, but he seemed incapable of any life goal or dream except for vengeance (I don’t even blame Orochimaru or the Uchiha clan for his stupidity). He did nothing but fight and look miserable with irrational and unfounded hatred. Moreover, he had no proper principles (first he hated Itachi, and when Tobi relayed to him his version of “the truth,” he believed him without verifying the truth somewhere else and immediately sought to annihilate Konoha and Danzo). His being number one in the latest Naruto favorite characters chart is really preposterous. Uchiha Sasuke is not the genius and dashing debonair fangirls should fall in love with (sorry, girls). I could never be a fangirl for that selfish, stupid Sasuke (which you might also acknowledge if you're not blinded by his looks and emo get-up).
Until Tsunade, I was prepared to give up on the female characters of Naruto who were often portrayed as weak if not whimpering. Although I admire Hinata more than Sakura or Ino or Ten-ten, she hardly gets any screen exposures. I prefer her over the other girls prior to the Tsunade Arc because she was the only one who did not go gaga over Sasuke. In the later chapters, when Naruto returned after two long years of training with Jiraiya, she fainted in his presence. A little cheesy maybe, but the fainting spell amuses me (I like implications and hate expositions). Thank goodness Naruto was too idiotic to notice her feelings. Hinata’s preference for Naruto is indicative of uniqueness and an inner strength that neither Sakura nor Ino had until Shippuden. Hands down, I will vie for the Naru-Hina loveteam! Hopefully, Kishi doesn’t settle on Sakura. I find her character somewhat bland and not even worth noting. I also love Temari when Kishi started pairing her with Shikamaru by introducing her whenever he’s around (except for the Five Kages Arc). She, according to Shikamaru, had spunk and coolness similar to Tsunade.
The worst case scenario: Naruto and Sasuke!!! (Whaaat? Yaoi again?!) I haven’t gotten over the implied yaoi-ness of HunterXHunter yet and now this? Well, with Naruto’s overrated obsession on bringing Sasuke back to Konoha despite the latter’s obvious resistance, it is easy to misunderstand the kind of bond they have.
This is the end of the line – for now. I’ve always been the spoiler type and can’t seem to help spoon-feeding some details contrary to my original intentions. The Naruto Shippuden series is definitely ongoing and tomorrow or later (depending on the timezone you belong to), episode 131 “Honored Sage Mode” will air on TV Tokyo Japan. In this episode, Naruto attempted to complete the unfinished legacy of Jiraiya, who died in the hands of his erstwhile pupil, Nagato a.k.a Deva Pain or the Rikudo Sage. This Deva Pain possessed the Rinnegan, the mother jutsu of the Sharingan and all other powerful jutsus. He could animate dead bodies by splitting then distributing his souls into them. He had six altogether which he called the “Six Paths of Pain.” It’s better to read the manga ahead so the filler episodes do not confuse one into thinking they are originally part of Naruto when they are not. The setback with reading the manga ahead, however, is the nagging feeling of disappointment whenever some scenes deviate from what was read. It usually happens but, oh well, que sera sera. As of recently, the Naruto Manga has stopped at Chapter 467: Declaration of War. In order to execute his Moon’s Eye Plan, Uchiha Madara a.k.a. Tobi declared a ninja war against the five Kages who had just beaten Sasuke to a pulp. His plan was as corny as his spiral face, though it requires enough energy to read why on earth it was corny in the first place. Ja.
Figure 4 8 of these people are my faves so I won't budge
P.S. - Just a quick list of my favorite characters:
1)Naruto
2)Shikamaru
3)Gaara
4)Kakashi
5)Neji
6)Jiraiya
7)Tsunade
8)Nagato/Pain (He’s like Gaara, spiritually transformed after meeting Naruto)
9)Itachi
10)Temari
11)Hinata
12)Sai
13)Sasori
14)Deidara
15)Suigetsu
