General comments: What more can be said about this show man! Love him, hate him, best show ever, worst show ever, you can't deny the impact of this show. In fact, it would probably be the dragonball of this word had dragonball not been created. (Or One Piece...) Why does it work? Ninjas. EVERYONE knows you either fall on the pirate side or the ninja side. After dabbling in AC4, I'd have to go pirates, BUT - Hidden Villages. Ninja techniques. High-octane martial arts action. Gravity-defying jumps and aerobics. Just, NINJAS.
Art: I like the art. Despite being a "new" show, it's ALL hand-drawn, and reflects the manga of which the show is based on very well. What more can you say, very traditional and timeless.
Sound: I actually didn't like the sound that much. Repititive yet unmemorable. Who knows, everyone is different, but the opening and ending changed every 20 or so episodes, and there was, like, little jingles when the mundane things came on where... Filler really, no important dialogue etc.
Character: Oh GOD. SO MANY. I'll do a brief bio of the main people.
Naruto: I can't believe, to this day, Naruto is the only shoujin main character who I actually really like! He's comical... In fact, funnily enough, he IS the comic relief character, but also the main guy. He's actually got the spirit of the nine-tails fox sealed inside him (ACTUAL Japanese folklore) , and, dunno, just awesome!
Sakura is Naruto's love interest, despite being in love with Sasuke (who I'll get too in a bit.) Oh, did I mention everyone is, like, 14?! Just throwing it out there. Unfortunately, Sakura fills the usual woman role. Apart from she's 10x more boring. Just, come on, make her do something otger than cook, heal and be a love interest! A story arc of herself would be awesome! Sasuke: Sasuke makes up the rag-tag team as the arrogant yet cool kid that everyone wanted to be at school. He gets pretty interesting around 30/40's episodes in, we learn about him, and he gets bit by the main baddy that essentially gives him this "disease" that allows him to go berserk, adding to his impressive ninja skills. Despite being arrogant and "that knob", I liked Sasuke!
Kakashi: Kakashi rounds this all off, as he is the teacher of the "squad" of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. He's like the teacher everyone wanted. He's so layed back (he reads while just casually hanging, from his feet, off a tree) and is both cool and cool-headed. He also has the Sharingan ability, as does Sasuke, which allows them both to essentially predict a future move and act accordingly. Kakashi is my favourite character.
Lee: Lee's special in that he can't concentrate his Chakra (ninja-power in essence) and so has to rely on martial arts. Because of this, however, many people IWIH ninja techniques can't touch him. He's fast, but strong. He's the character that shows *caring voice* everyone can achieve if they try! Excuse me while I go through up...
Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino essentially make up the "neo-Naruto" squad, Ino = Sakura, Shikamaru = Sasuke, and Chouji is just the fat kid. So in no way similar to Naruto, still... They're both wierd/odd? The Sound ninjas are the enemy village of Narutos village, and Orochimaru is essentially you're main baddie. If I've missed out so many, fan favourites even, but there's just TOO many characters. Many do just have a side-role anyway.
Verdict: So yeah, I bloody liked this show! Well, still do. It's basically mindless ninja fun (though, it's ninjas, so not completeley mindless) and just high-octane stuff. Really, if you haven't checked it out, why?! Where have you been? But, seriously, do - unfortunately, Naruto is like marmite, splits opinion, but if you love it, you're in for one hell of a ride. Just don't start Shippuden. It's like looking at a mirror through a mirror haha...
