I started watching the Naruto anime years and years ago, but it went on for so long that I was never able to finish, let alone get into Shippuden. Then, Andrew started getting into more anime and manga stuff and agreed to watch the series with me. We just barely made it to the Shippuden anime series before the wonderful Chicago Public Library released the entire manga series on Overdrive. My local branch of the library doesn’t have a lot of manga, so I requested a volume or two once in a while, but didn’t get very far into the manga series, so this release was HUGE. I could read it on my computer and not have to deal with waiting a week for it to ship to my branch. At the same time, Andrew and I cancelled our CrunchyRoll subscription, so we didn’t have access to Shippuden anymore. So, he started reading the manga as well.

Without giving spoilers, I’m going to sum up my feelings of the series as a whole — all 72 volumes. It starts off as a bit of a fun story, with Naruto trying to become a ninja and being loudmouthed about how he’s going to be Hokage someday, but quickly takes a bit of a darker turn. They are, after all, ninja and are very often in real danger when they take on their missions. Kishimoto doesn’t hold back when he crafts the story — the battles and dangers are high-stakes and even at 11 years old, the characters fight for their lives. I enjoyed this, because being a ninja would be dangerous, so I appreciated that this series had that level of honesty and genuineness.

My favorite parts, however, are the characters. You can tell that Kishimoto loves what he does, because there’s a wonderful playfulness to the characters that drew me in and made me fall in love with them. Each character has their own flaws and personalities, but you see that they are generally good people who care about their friends and their families. They work hard to protect them and when there’s danger, they all come together to fight against it. The series shines when the characters are given a chance to go above and beyond for their comrades, and this series is, in the end, a series about what it means to be friends.

Though it’s a long series, I would say it’s worth it. It’s almost bittersweet that we’ve finished it. We spent the better part of the year reading the manga together, talking about new developments and following the characters in their journey. Unlike the anime, which dragged on with filler episodes, the manga is perfect. Some things drag on, but the pacing is overall great for the story. It’s made me laugh out loud and cry, sometimes both at once. And while everything isn’t over-explained in the final volume, all my questions were answered satisfactorily. I loved reading about Naruto’s story and his journey to becoming an adult. There’s a reason why this is such a popular series — it’s really, really good. If anything about it at all interests you even in the slightest, I’d highly recommend getting started on it.

All the hidden villages are united in a war against the Akatsuki, which means people from different villages are teamed up together and need to learn to work with each other. The teams find themselves fighting Kabuto's reanimated puppets, and some of the battles are bitter – for example, Sai must fight his brother, and Kakashi finds himself facing off against Zabuza and Haku. Meanwhile, Naruto is continuing to train with Killer Bee, unaware that all of this is going on.

I have less that 20 volumes to go before I'm done with this series. I've been reading it for so long that it feels like I need to make it to the finish line, but this volume made me wonder if I'm going to be able to manage it.

Part of the problem is that it's been so long since I read the volumes prior to this one. The result was confusion – so many characters I either didn't know or could barely remember. Personally, I think Kishimoto is better at depicting one-on-one battles than large-scale wars. I miss the days of reading extended battles that were really just an excuse to reveal characters' thoughts and emotions and to maybe throw in a flashback or two. It should have been a more emotional experience, seeing characters I knew and loved, like Haku and Zabuza, reanimated and forced against their will to fight. Instead, I had to struggle to feel anything. There was just too much going on.

I continued to dislike Killer Bee's efforts to rap all his lines. I can't wait until Naruto is finally done training with him, because I would like him to go away. Why does such an annoying character have to be so important?

I'll wrap this up with a quickie comment about the jutsu Kabuto used to reanimate people. We're told that it can't be broken, even with the caster's death, and yet

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

For the first twelve years of his life, Naruto Uzumaki had to live a life without parents and endure the apparent unsolicited hate from the villagers of Konohagakure, never knowing what it was like to be loved or have friends as a result. One day, however, he learns from the covert ninja Mizuki that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was sealed within him soon after his birth and is the reason he is alone in the world. After this, Naruto's fortunes begin to change. In addition to finding a father-figure in Iruka Umino after defeating Mizuki, Naruto achieves his dream by finally becoming a ninja, his ultimate desire being to become the greatest in Konoha, the Hokage. In doing so, Naruto is added to Team 7 along with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno under the leadership of Kakashi Hatake. To see whether or not the three are ready to become ninja, Kakashi administers a test to see if they have what it takes. Each fails independently, leading Kakashi to believe they will never become ninja.

What I think about this book is that is really funny and interesting because I really like the story conflict and the characters of the story.What I don't like is that why would Minato seal the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox on his son, I mean, I know that he sealed half of the Demon soul on him but at least he could have sealed it to Kushina because she will die, they thought Naruto will be presented as a hero but he it didn't. I don't really have any question about the manga because I already watched the series so I know everything.I would recommend this book and the others volumes too to people that like manga because I really like to read manga too, but I prefer watching the episodes of the series.

Tokyo ESP Vol. 1

Poor student Rinka Urushiba's life consists of riding long distances on her bike to save on the train fare, working part-time at a cafe, and battling the forces of evil with her new superpower.  Yep, that's right, this is a super hero manga.

One day while riding home Rinka sees a penguin flying through the air and decides to follow it, because if she can catch it perhaps she could sell it to Science and forget her money troubles.  Instead she finds herself swarmed by a school of partially invisible superpower giving fish.  They grant her the power of being able to pass through solid objects (think Kitty Pryde).  This leads to many fun situations where Rinka slides right out of her school uniform (though oddly not out of her bra and panties).  Yay fanservice.

Soon she's meeting up with other superpowered folks and having adventures that include a rivalry with a rich girl with the power of invisibility and a penchant for stealing, the yakuza and a mysterious force who seems to have something to do with the mysterious events taking place across Tokyo.

One of the funniest aspects of this manga are all the slightly random references to American super hero comics and pop culture.  Rinka's dad looks a lot like Wolverine and even at one point sports a weapon held between the fingers of his hands...a lot like claws.  There are further references including the Hulk, Kill Bill, Ghostbusters and the Matrix among others.

It's also a pretty thick volume clocking in at over 380 pages, so gird yourselves for a long read.

It's the End of a Manga Era, that's right Naruto is OVER!!

I have very fond memories of reading and watching the Naruto comics when I was in high school.  Both I and Naruto are now pretty old.  And it is the end.  The characters have fought many valiant battles, defeated the big baddies and the even bigger baddies and honed their skills to become the greatest shinobi in the land.  

Spoiler Alert!  Naruto does indeed become Hokage in the end.  And Sasuke a lone weirdo wandering the world in search of forgiveness, redemption, or just avoiding his nagging wife Sakura, one doesn't know.

I actually stopped liking Naruto a long time ago.  I kept reading because I was invested, but emotionally I've stopped being invested in the series after...well I can't remember it's been so long.

The problem with many battle manga came into play for Naruto, the story got too complicated, too many characters, too many powers, too many destroy the world plots, the thing got boring.  We all know the result will be that Naruto wins out in the end, so the journey had to stay fresh and interesting and after 72 volumes, it's a good thing it's over, because it hadn't been interesting since volume 30 or 40 at the latest.

That said, Naruto will always hold a special place in my heart.  I loved the first volumes, the story of a young boy, outcast by his village, who finally, through determination and hard work, won not only the fight for peace, but also the hearts of all who knew him.  

It's a long haul and truthfully, I'd probably only recommend reading up to the 30th volume or so.  In fact, all my favorite stuff happened in the first four volumes of the series, yet that has carried me all the way to volume 72, so I guess that says something...

Love at Fourteen continues to be sickeningly sweet as our 'mature' couple are forced to spend some time apart during the school sports festival.  They also go through a phase where they each choose inopportune days to wear the wrong seasonal uniform.  The creepy teacher/student thing is still going on...so that's weird.  Also another student is introduced who has just moved to the neighborhood and has started stalking an 30's something Office Lady who rides the bus.  So that's also a little weird.

Love at Fourteen...strange stuff.

An easy and quick read as well as my first manga. It was a little confusing at first reading in the opposite direction but its something you get used to pretty quickly. 

Naruto is training to become a ninja and is ready to graduate. Known as the class clown he has a darker past than his classmates know - an orphan and the fox spirit. Now all he wants is to become to new leader, Hokage. 

I know nothing of Japanese culture so this series may be easier to understand knowing certain things. But I still enjoyed it enough and liked the storyline. I can definitely see why teens are obsessed with manga. Its fast, you don't have to think much, and its fun. 

I will say I was a bit surprised by the language within as well as some of the nudity in pictures. Not something I'm used to when reading YA. 

I will be reading a few more of these, there are about 70 of them, not sure I'll make it that far but we'll see.