With that being said, this review will primarily be aimed at Itachi's two Shinden novels, which were quite enjoyable overall and something I didn't know I needed until reading them.
These novels allow for us to delve into Itachi's head. We're given explanations for his actions in the actual manga, but these books humanize him more and describe his struggle in greater depth - something that the anime arc in Naruto Shippuden did not do as well, whether it was because of time constraints, a lack of budget to animate everything, the difficulty in revealing the perspectives of such a reserved character in a show format, or a lack of urgency to flesh things out because most of the characters featured in the novel are deceased. Or, perhaps even because they deemed some material too complex or gruesome for a child audience.
In other words, the anime arc was fine, but not as good as it could have been. Characters like Fugaku, Shisui (yes, interesting story on how he awakened MS), and the Uchiha clan members (aside from Itachi and Izumi) were whitewashed and their dark sides watered down. Hiruzen/Danzo/Itachi were further demonized. And key moments between Itachi and his mother/father/Shisui/Izumi were cut out or changed entirely in favor of more moments with Sasuke (more than likely because of marketing reasons as he's the deuterogonist of the main series, so Studio Pierrot did not feel like keeping consistent with the novel's source material because they didn't deem it as profitable). I'd have loved to see a more faithful adaptation of the books.
With all of that being said, Itachi is one of the more fascinating characters from the Naruto series. I enjoyed reading about his hopes and dreams, how he became stronger, his interactions with Anbu like Kakashi, his relationship with the man that was his best friend, his relationship with the girl that was his good friend and love interest, his wish to take care of his parents, and how protective he was of Sasuke.
Takashi Yano has a good grasp of the characters on both sides. No character is 100% bad or good. Nope, not even Danzo- he's quite similar to Fugaku, ironically. Both quite misguided with the only major redeeming factor being their deaths. I find it impressive that while doing that, he also allowed for their to be a side that most could still consider more wrong than the other (one side resists negotiation, wants to instill some form of dictatorship set up where future Hokages are only from their clan for all eternity, their entire cause being questionable since there isn't real prejudice or discrimination from general villagers, and doesn't care if innocent people get caught in the conflict or if people from their own side are at risk from their actions... I don't think it's hard to know which side). The Uchiha clan has darkness while Konoha (and every ninja village) has hypocrisy.
The books represent a dark reality of the Naruto verse that is often swept under the rug. Not everyone can be stopped through talking nor is everyone who has talent and a kind heart (Itachi) guaranteed a bright future. Itachi gave up many dreams in order to preserve what he could. It was nice reading about what those were and how some shinobi must endure for what they believe and care about, even when a positive end is not guaranteed. Itachi grows up and loses his innocent views of the world, all while trudging on.
The fights and abilities characters have are ninja-esque, too. What I mean by that is it's not the typical overpowered explosive stuff for show, but kunai/katanas/etc. It's also nice to see how manipulation plays a role in NV (various characters think they have a sway with others but may or may not). It felt like an actual ninja story and was reminiscient of seinen material instead of shounen at certain sections.
I could continue on, but I don't think that'd do it justice. Go read the books and enjoy.
