The Naruto series started when I was in a preschool age, and for 15 years it never stopped to surprise me. Though the journey was long (some might say too long) it was always exciting and brilliant. And I am really sorry if I get carried away by emotions, but true Naruto fans will understand – this is a tale, a unique and flawless tale, of nearly all of my life and now that I look back and see that little Naruto who used to be always alone, without parents, without friends, and I turn my look to who he became through these years – the Hero, who saved the world, Best Friend that was always there to help and to understand, and now – a husband… ah, I might cry. Seriously. Perfect ending. Naruto and Hinata deserve their piece of happiness. And though we did not see this in original manga series, I was really glad to be able to see that kind of and end in anime adaptation.
Now let’s get back to the show and analyze everything peace by peace.
I’ll start with the story. Indeed the plot, the fantastic world, all the jutsu techniques, all the creatures and characters, everything that we saw in Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden world is a creation of a mastermind – Kishimoto Masashi, and for that I bow to him to the ground. Just imagine how impossible it was to create such a wide universe with all of its own structure (villages, clans, fractions), its own history (all the clans and villages wars), its own beasts, beings and heroes etc; and how unimaginable was it to make this huge machine work. There is everything I love about the story and about how it is served to the viewer revealing its genius from all sides. It is groundbreaking in every way possible.
Now let us head to art style. Generally it is satisfying. Well, it is hard to make every episode look like Kimi no Na Wa (you can consider this a recommendation), especially when you have more than 700 episodes (Naruto + Shippuuden). But I can praise creators for really good special effects and the way they’ve made all ninjutsu types look like. And though I must admit that Naruto movies absolutely compensate lack of original shows’ drawing it does not make the original run look worse.
Unlike art styling – music really is the VERY strong side of the series. From top to bottom it is impeccable. Every opening, every ending, every song from the series is something breathtaking and mind blowing. I truly enjoy every track and I can sincerely call the Narutos’ OST one of the best of all time in anime industry. The openings like Hero’s Come Back (OP 1), Sign (OP 6), Toumei Datta Sekai (OP 7), Diver (OP 8), Shilhouette (OP 16) will fire you up and make your spirit riot; the endings like Shooting Star (ED 1), U can do it (ED 15), Dame Dame ga (ED 31), Spinning World (ED 32), Zetsu Zetsu (ED 40) will make you believe that you just witnessed a dream that you never want to end. I am not even mentioning stunning Hisou, Kikyou, Sengunbanba, Utsusemi tracks that appear at very exact lyrical moments and touch your soul in its deepest corners. The chorus tracks like Akatsuki and Pains’ theme songs make you feel goosebumps and your hair stand as you stare through the eyes of our heroes at fearless overwhelming enemy hordes. An incredible work by the composer – Yasuharu Takanashi.
The characters. Oh, there is so much to say. This is something galaxy lvl. Nearly 100 characters, each with their own temper, beliefs and credo, each of them is trying to make an impact at the world they live in. I will always remember characters like Madara, Itachi, Nagato, because their own vision of the world and the steel will they’ve shown to everyone is something worth of admiration and respect. All the heroes are versatile, unique and incomparable to each other. I am not mentioning the number of skills and techniques each character possesses and how multiform and complex they are. Worth mentioning are beasts like Tailed once. They are that destructive force everyone is trying to lay their hands on, but the author shows that they are something more than that – they have souls and feelings, and no one can see their good hearts under the scary masks.
The enjoyment that I personally got from this show is something outstanding. I enjoyed it to the core and absolutely adore it. Maybe that’s because I felt much the same as the main hero and ‘ve been a witness of many injustice things in this life, and the anime shows it very good. The human’s greed, the way we only think about our own sake, even the way kids treat someone who is not similar to them – it is a part of the masterpiece that Naruto is.
Colossal work by Date Hayato and everyone who worked to make this show to be this titanic and go on nonstop for 15 years. I personally bow to all of you and say: “Thank you for the best childhood memories, I will always carry them!” And again I want to congratulate Naruto and Hinata with wedding, and thus my beautiful dream is over, meaning that I grew up and it is time for me to let my childhood go.
