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Naruto is a manga and anime TV series by Masashi Kishimoto about goals, friendship, loyalty, heroes, laughter, sorrow, and a loud, hyperactive teenage ninja by the name of Uzumaki Naruto who constantly searches for approval and recognition.
It was first published by Shueisha in Japan (in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine), and more recently Viz Communications have started publishing a translated version in the United States (in their own Shonen Jump, though they have so far only released five of the 27 volumes the manga currently stands at).
Plot
Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Nine-Tails Demon Fox -- or Kyubi (Kyūbi) -- attacked Konohagakure, the Village Hidden Among the Leaves. It was a mighty demon indeed; the flap of a single tail of the Nine-Tails would raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. It raised chaos and slaughtered the people, until the leader of Konoha -- the Fourth Hokage -- defeated it by sacrificing his own life to seal Kyubi inside a newborn child.
That child's name was Uzumaki Naruto.
The Fourth Hokage (Yondaime) was remembered as a hero for sealing the Nine-Tails away, and he wanted Naruto to be remembered as a hero as well, but the village he grew up in had nothing less than contempt for Naruto, for they viewed him as nothing more than the demon fox that had killed their families and almost destroyed their village.
Naruto grew up as an orphan, without friends or acknowledgment. He could not bring his parents back or force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgment the only way he knew -- by pranks and mischief. But that is soon to be changed. Naruto is about to face the ninja academy graduation exam -- a gateway to the events and people that will change and define his world and his ninja way for the rest of his life.
Naruto displays a balance between seriousness and drama on one side and comedy and frivolity on the other. The manga is currently quite large- at over 200 chapters- so the series has quite a way to go before it catches up (A new episode of the anime is aired weekly in TV Tokyo in Japan during Japan's Golden Time slot- equivalent of prime time in the US- each Wednesday night at 7:27PM. While new manga chapters are released weekly as well, an anime episode usually covers around two manga chapters). Generally speaking, the anime episodes tend to protract the manga chapters into great lengths with short bursts of energy-packed action. The anime is animated by Studio Pierrot.
The series has also spawned a movie by the name of "Naruto the Movie - Daikatsugeki! Yukihime Ninpocho Dattebayo!!" that takes place after the graduation of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura as genin and after the resolution of the chûnin exam arc, and touches upon the past of Hatake Kakashi.
Openings & Endings
Openings
- "R O C K S" by Hound Dog (Episodes #1-25)
- "Haruka Kanata" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation (Episodes #26-53)
- "Kanashimi wo Yasashisa Ni" by Tasuku (Episode #54-77)
- "GO!!!!" by FLOW (Episodes #78-103)
- "Seishun Kyosokyuku" by Sambomaster (Episodes #104-Current)
Endings
- "Wind" by Akeboshi (Episodes #1-25)
- "Harmonia" by Rhythem (Episodes #26-51)
- "Viva Rock Japanese Side" by Orange Range (Episodes #54-64)
- "Alive" by Raiko (Episodes #65-77)
- "Ima Made Nando Mo" by Masu Misairu (Episodes #78-89)
- "Ryuusei" by TiA (Episodes #90-103)
- "Mountain A Go Go Two" by Captain Stridum (Episodes #104-115)
- "The First Time I Spoke With You" by gagagaSP (Episodes #116-Current)
See also
External links
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