In the series, Naruto is a ninja affiliated with the fictional village of Konohagakure. The villagers ostracize Naruto because the nine-tailed demon fox, a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, is sealed within his body. As such, Naruto has ambitions of becoming the village’s leader, the Hokage in order make everybody respect him. However, Naruto maintains a cheerful and boisterous personality, allowing him to befriend several other Konoha ninja throughout the series, as well as ninja from other villages. He builds an especially close relationship with Team 7, the ninja team where he belongs, treating them as his family. Naruto appears in all of the series’ films, as well as in other media related to the franchise, including all video games and OVAs.

Several anime and manga publications have expressed acclaim and criticism of Naruto’s character. Some view him as a stereotypical manga and anime protagonist comparable to those in many other shōnen manga, while others have praised his personality as well as his development in the series. Nevertheless, Naruto has remained highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Naruto has also been released, including figurines and plush dolls.

Creation and conception

When Kishimoto created Naruto’s character, he incorporated a number of traits he felt made an ideal hero: a straightforward way of thinking, a mischievous side, and many of the attributes possessed by Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise. He also made sure to keep Naruto “simple and stupid.” Kishimoto did not model Naruto after anyone in particular, instead conceiving him as childlike with a dark side induced by his harsh past. Despite this, he is always optimistic, a trait Kishimoto says makes him unique. Naruto’s personality is, by and large, childish in nature. Kishimoto frequently tries to show this when illustrating Naruto, such as depicting him mimicking a turtle like a child might do on the manga cover of volume 10.

Naruto’s wardrobe is based on clothing Kishimoto wore when he was younger; according to Kishimoto, using a pre-existing design would not have made Naruto unique whereas something original would have made him stand out too much. The orange coloring of his costume is used to make Naruto “pop,” with blues often being used to complement the orange. Because Naruto is associated with spirals, swirl patterns are incorporated into his costume. Initial illustrations of Naruto had him wearing boots, but Kishimoto substituted these for sandals, because he enjoys drawing toes. The goggles that Naruto used to wear were also replaced with a hitai-ate, or shinobi headband, because the goggles themselves were too time consuming to draw.

Kishimoto said he is glad his character has blond hair and blue eyes. The editor of Shonen Jump in the United States added that he implied that the traits may have led the character to appeal to a Western audience. Kishimoto said that he most identifies with Naruto out of all of the Naruto characters. When asked why Naruto’s favorite food is ramen instead of kitsune udon Kishimoto said that he personally liked eating ramen. In the Naruto: Clash of Ninja video game series, Naruto is playable in various stages of the demon fox’s manifestation characterized by a red-colored chakra. Kishimoto took inspiration from the presentation of these forms, imitating one of them for the manga cover of volume 26. When designing Naruto for his Part II appearance, Kishimoto drew Naruto’s forehead protector wider to make his eyebrows easier to draw, something that had bothered him in his previous design. He also noted that Naruto’s pants made the character look childish. To remedy this, Kishimoto designed a portion of Naruto’s pants to roll up, giving the character a more mature appearance.

In the original Japanese versions of Naruto, Naruto often ends his sentences with the addendum “-ttebayo” (which achieves an effect similar to ending a sentence with “you know?”). Kishimoto wanted to give Naruto a childlike catch phrase, and “dattebayo” came to mind. Kishimoto believes the phrase complements Naruto’s character, and serves as a verbal tic that portrays him as somewhat of a brat. Throughout the beginning of the English version, the dub replaced “dattebayo” and “-ttebayo” with the phrase “Believe it!”, both to mirror the effect and to match the character’s lip movements. The producers of the English anime stated that, of all of the characters, Naruto was the most difficult character to cast for, adding that Maile Flanagan “has Naruto down, from the mischievous side, that precocious twelve year old we learn to love, to the serious side.

Personality

Naruto’s father, the Fourth Hokage, sealed the dangerous Nine-Tailed Demon Fox within Naruto’s body at the cost of his own life, leaving Naruto without a family. As a result of him being the demon fox’s container, the villagers of Konoha hold a strong animosity for Naruto. Thus, he never has a source of love or attention during his early childhood. Desiring what he lacks in his early life, Naruto dreams of becoming Hokage, the village’s leader, hoping that it will bring him the villagers’ recognition and respect. To assist him in gaining this title, Naruto possesses a fierce determination, always confident he can complete a given task with relative ease. Although he does not always complete his tasks, Naruto’s efforts prove successful as the series progresses; many characters reach the conclusion that Naruto will someday be an excellent Hokage. Since his childhood, Naruto has commonly made jokes to attract attention. He sometimes goes to the point of transforming into a naked woman to ridicule whoever may be bothering him. This even causes his pupil, Konohamaru Sarutobi, to emulate his techniques and jokes.

Occasionally, Naruto’s determination results in those around him adopting some of his traits, such that in Part II his teacher, Kakashi Hatake, notes this to be Naruto’s unique power. Gaara, after Naruto defeats him in battle, discovers that true strength is found in fighting for one’s friends, not for oneself. These character metamorphoses serve as the moral for the arcs they take place in, and subsequently become the creed for the particular character’s life.

Through his ability to change others, Naruto gains the friends he lacks during his childhood. Among the many friendships he forms, none are more prominent in the series than those he has with his two teammates: Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. With Sasuke, Naruto shares a highly competitive relationship which he likens to brotherhood. Though Sasuke betrays Naruto and the rest of Konoha at the end of Part I, Naruto maintains his attachment to Sasuke, readily lashing out at anyone who speaks poorly of him. Naruto possesses a deep dedication to Sakura, rooted in the crush he has had on her for years. Naruto’s commitment to Sakura is so strong that he will do anything to make her happy, vowing to someday return Sasuke to Konoha for her sake.

Abilities

Because of the demon fox sealed within him, Naruto has access to its great reserves of chakra, a form of energy which allows ninja to perform supernatural feats. This surplus of chakra allows him to perform ninja abilities that someone of his age would ordinarily be incapable of using. Though portions of the fox’s chakra constantly mix with Naruto’s own, Naruto can forcibly draw upon its reserves by either submitting to rage or by directly asking the fox for a donation of its strength. Once the demon fox chakra releases, a fox-shaped shroud envelops Naruto, with the number of tails, ranging from one to nine, indicating its current state of release. While each tail drastically increases his fighting strength, Naruto begins to lose his rationality as more tails appear, completely losing himself once the fourth tail appears. Because the demon fox’s power can quickly become a danger to those he cares for, Naruto has begun to limit his reliance on and usage of the power.

Naruto takes advantage of his expanded chakra reserves throughout the series. His first and most recurring example of this is the Shadow Clone Technique, which creates any number of physical copies of the user, but requires a large amount of chakra. Though most ninjas can create only a few shadow clones, Naruto’s vast chakra allows him to create hundreds of clones at once without worrying about tiring out. He finds a number of uses for these clones, among them overwhelming opponents, scouting large areas, and training in a short period of time. His ability to summon toads to aid him in battle also relies on the fox’s chakra, since he can only summon larger toads with the fox’s help. He also learns senjutsu, a power-enhancing ability derived from frogs and involving the gathering of natural energy.

Naruto favors the Rasengan, a concentrated ball of spinning chakra first created by his father. When performing the technique, Naruto creates shadow clones to help him manipulate the chakra into its proper shape. While capable of grinding into whatever it touches and causing great damage, Minato creates the Rasengan with the intention of infusing it with his own elemental chakra. Through repeated training with his shadow clones, Naruto infuses the Rasengan with his own wind chakra. This results in the creation of the Wind Style: Spiraling Shuriken (風遁・螺旋手裏剣, Fūton: Rasen Shuriken?), which damages anything it impacts on a cellular level, but also injures Naruto’s arm, though to a lesser extent.

Other Information

• Date of birth : October 10
• Notable relatives : Minato Namikaze (father, deceased), Kushina Uzumaki (mother, presumed deceased)
• Ninja rank Genin
• Ninja team Team 7

As a bonus, the short and non-canonical OVA Konoha Annual Sports Festival (木ノ葉運動会 Konoha Undōkai) was included with the Japanese release of the film. The ten minute opening short revolves around Naruto’s inability to use the bathroom while participating in a sports tournament. It is notable because virtually every character, living or dead, in the Naruto universe makes an appearance in it (most of them standing in a restroom-queue). The dead 4th Hokage also makes an appearance in the shot.

In America, the film was released as a one-day showing on June 6, 2007. Instead of the OVA included with the Japanese release, the American release included a short featurette entitled “World of Naruto”, as well as a behind the scenes featurette afterwards with interviews with the main English cast and select members of the main Japanese cast. The OVA will, however, appear in the U.S. DVD release. The DVD release is set for September 4, 2007. The movie premiered on Cartoon Network on September 8, 2007. The film also played at Cineplex Odeon and Empire Theatres cinemas in Canada, distributed via Bell TV to play the film at all cinemas at the same time. The film aired at the Great British Museum in London, U.K. on July 28, 2007 for a single showing. The film was also slated for one-day showings in Australia on October 14.

On November 13, 2007, a 3-Disc Deluxe Edition of Naruto the Movie was released in the United States. It has many extras and features that the standard U.S. DVD , released a few months earlier, did not include. It includes the ten-minute short “Konoha Annual Sports Festival” that was originally shown with the Japanese release of the film, the complete soundtrack to the movie, documentaries of the American voice recording of the movie, movie art postcards, and more.

Plot

The movie begins with a heroine previously unknown in the Naruto continuity: Princess Fuun (Princess Gale in the US version). Fuun’s nemesis, Mao, challenges her group with an army of undead soldiers. His dark intentions seem to prevail, that is, until Princess Gale and her cohorts, Shishimaru, Brit, and Tsukuyaku, unleash the power of the Seven-Color-Chakra upon him. They save the day, and Naruto, watching from afar, couldn’t be more elated.

As it turns out, Naruto is actually watching the scene in a movie, as is the rest of Team 7. But then, the audience of the movie starts to throw objects at the team for making so much noise while arguing with the cinema manager. Kakashi had sent them to watch it as preparation for their next mission: guarding Yukie Fujikaze, the actress who plays Princess Fuun, while she makes the next movie in the Land of Snow. As it turns out, Yukie is actually the princess of the Land of Snow, which was taken over by rogue ninja when she was a child. The leader of the rogue ninja, Doto Kazahana, wants Yukie’s crystal necklace to unlock the Land of Snow’s treasure, which Yukie’s father had hidden before being assassinated. After various battles between Team 7 and the rogue ninja, resulting in the defeat of all and the death of Nadare their leader, Doto succeeds in obtaining Yukie’s necklace, only to discover that the “treasure” of the Land of Snow is a generator designed to melt the snow and bring Spring to the country. Doto is then defeated by Naruto in a manner reminicient of Princess Fuun’s defeat of Mao, involving “rainbow chakra”.

With the rogue ninja all gone, Yukie has decided to resume her position as the princess of the Land of Snow, which will eventually become the Land of Spring after the technology behind the generator is perfected. Despite being a princess, Yukie intends to continue acting, and the next film she’s starring in is an adaptation of one of Jiraiya’s Icha Icha novels,(Makeout Paradise: The Movie) much to Kakashi’s delight, who says “That script! She’s perfect!” (This was actually seen on episode 101, Kakashi staring amazed at a billboard advertisement of the movie). Apparently, the autograph-wanting Naruto received an envelope from Sasuke afterwards, who got shocked looks from the other members of Team 7, including Naruto himself. Inside was a signed picture from Yukie. The picture was of a bandaged up (and apparently unconscious) Naruto in the hospital, receiving a kiss on the cheek from the actress. At the end of the credits, the crew that make the Princess Gale movie say cut and all cheer. At box office the movie was a huge hit, making $42,134,123 US.

Other Information

• Director Tensai Okamura
• Composer Toshio Masuda
• Studio Studio Pierrot

Links

• Wikipedia
• Naruto the Movie

Plot

The movie opens with a battle taking place at night on a desolate seaside beach between Sand Ninja and mysterious warriors wearing bulky suits of armor. Despite their best efforts, the Sand Ninja are slowly overwhelmed by the sheer strength of their mysterious opponents. The timely arrival of reinforcements led by Kankuro and Gaara turns the tide, with Kankuro slicing apart a suit of armor with his puppet, and Gaara dispatching a large number of enemies en mass with his signature Desert Imperial Funeral. However when Gaara orders the Sand Ninja to shine a flare at the retreating enemies, a large warship appears. The ship then opens fire with its guns, and Gaara’s sand armor barely manages to protect his comrades.

The movie stars Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, and Sakura Haruno as they deliver a lost pet to its village. However, a mysterious knight called Temujin intercepts them and they fight, causing both Temujin and Naruto to be knocked off a cliff. As Shikamaru and Sakura realize what has happened to Naruto, a giant ship appears.

Naruto wakes up to find himself bandaged and traveling in a caravan. He also finds Temujin asleep beside him. When Temujin awakens, the lost pet seems to be attracted to him. The caravan is part of a moving country.

Meanwhile Sakura and Shikamaru split up to search for Naruto. Shikamaru spies on the fortress and finds a lab with children in capsules. Two women with similar armor to what Temujin was wearing are talking about the Gelel Stone.

The movie revolves mostly around a special mineral called the Gelel Stone, which has a strong and mysterious power. There was once a clan that could control the stone’s powers (the traveling caravan and Temujin are part of this clan), but they were destroyed because of fights for the stone.

Temujin is working for his Lord, Master Haido, who has his group searching for the Stones of Gelel, so that he can create at ‘utopia’, a world free from war and strife. But he also tells his group that sacrifices are for the greater good.

Temujin learns that the leader of the caravan knows where the Stones of Gelel are, so Temujin kidnaps the elder and forces him to lead him to a cave where the stones are sealed away. Naruto follows him to try and stop him. But Haido also follows him to the cave. Once there Haido reveals that he has a piece of Gelel Stone which he uses to attack the leader of the caravan. Eventually Temujin defends the man which angers Haido. He then explains that he was the one that killed Temujin’s family. He then attacks Temujin and destroys his piece of Gelel Stone. At this point Naruto intervenes and attempts to defeat Haido. He manages to hit him with a rasengan but it has no effect. He then convinces Temujin to help him fight. With Temujin’s help Naruto creates two rasengans. (one from the Nine Tailed Fox’s chakra and another from Gelel) He then defeats Haido and escapes along with Temujin and the leader of the caravan. Temujin then leaves with the other children stating that he will end all war.

Other Information

• Director Hirotsugu Kawasaki
• Composer Toshio Masuda
• Studio Studio Pierrot
• Released August 6, 2005 (Japan)
• July 29, 2008 (US)
• August 5, 2008 (Canada)
• December 26, 2008 (UK)
• Runtime 96 Minutes and 23 seconds

Links

• Naruto the Movie 2

The first 100,000 people to see the movie in certain theaters were to receive a Naruto themed yo-yo. It has a picture of Naruto Uzumaki on it, and when spun it lights up, imitating the appearance of a Rasengan.

Cartoon Network has dropped Toonami effective on September 20, 2008, but the movie was still shown on Cartoon Network at its release date on November 8, 2008, at 9:00 P.M., as part of the Action Flicks programming block. After it aired on Cartoon Network, it was then released to DVD November 11, 2008. The movie was available for viewing via the Toonami Jetstream website until December 15, 2008.

Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, and Rock Lee are assigned to protect the prince of the Land of the Moon, Michiru, during his world trip; other escorts had been hired, but quit due to being treated poorly. The Land of the Moon is a very wealthy nation, so Michiru tends to buy whatever he wants, and has a very materialistic worldview. His son, Hikaru, also acts in much the same manner, annoying Naruto.

During the trip, the caravan stops at a circus. When Hikaru takes a liking to a rare sabertoothed tiger, Chamu, featured there, Michiru ends up purchasing not only it, but the whole circus as well, placing it under the team’s protection. Hikaru attempts to befriend the tiger, but finds that it dislikes humans. He loses interest in the circus and during a sea voyage, when a storm hits, he appears unconcerned about the animals’ well-being, causing Naruto to become disgusted at his lack of value for them. Upset by Naruto’s view of him, Hikaru goes out to help Chamu get to safety, and Naruto saves both of them after they wash overboard. The next day, Naruto and Hikaru become friends.

After returning to the Land of the Moon, the team finds that the country has been taken over by Shabadaba, one of the nobles, a former friend of Michiru. Having hired three powerful ninja to assist him, Shabadaba has disposed of the king and plans to do the same with Michiru and Hikaru, the remaining heirs to the throne. He orders the military forces to kill them all, but the team is able to escape with the help of some soldiers still loyal to the king.

Escaping to a hidden cave, Michiru finds that his father is still alive, but Sakura, although able to heal his petrified arm, is only able to keep him alive for a little while. The king revealed that he had suspected that something like this would happen, and arranged for the journey to keep Michiru out of harm’s way. Before dying, the king tells Michiru and Hikaru that people are truly important in life, not material goods. During an attempt to escape the country by boat, the three ninja hired by Shabadaba attack, disabling Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and Lee with sense-dulling poison that slows their reactions. The prince is captured, but the emergence of Naruto’s fox chakra allows him to repel the attacking ninja before the prince’s son can be taken.

At the castle, Shabadaba’s reasons for taking over the country are revealed to be purely material, the same things Michiru considers important, as he intends to use the nation’s wealth for himself rather than the people. Michiru is disgusted by Shadabada’s attitude, and realizes the truth of what his father had said. Shabadaba decides to put him to death, by a drawn-out hanging: he has Michiru balance on a board of wood not strong enough to support his weight while wearing a noose, ensuring that sooner or later he will fall and be hanged.

With the help of the circus Michiru purchased earlier, Kakashi’s team makes a rescue attempt with Hikaru and the rogue soldiers, infiltrating the palace by disguising as members of the circus. One by one, Kakashi and his team fight individual battles: Kakashi fights the many soldiers in the courtyard while each of the Genin fight one of the ninja. Lee wields a pair of nun-chuks that have the ability to connect to other staffs hidden in his leg weights, creating weapons such as a long staff and a chain whip. He defeats his opponent after some effort and by driving him down through the floor to the bottom level with a ferocious burst of punches from above. Sakura is able to dispatch her poison and genjutsu-using opponent by shattering a chandelier to locate her by watching where she moves and subsequently defeat her with one punch.

Naruto fights against Ishidate, the leader of the three ninja, while helping Hikaru reach his father. Hikaru shoots an arrow, severing the rope around Michiru’s neck, and Naruto’s shadow clones catch the prince and his father. Ishidate is enraged and attempts to kill Naruto, but Shadabada orders him to deal with Michiru. Ishidate then turns on Shadabada, petrifying him. In the penultimate scene, Naruto, his leg disabled by his opponent’s strange petrification jutsu, rides on Michiru’s back to attack with his Crescent Moon Rasengan which reflects the light of the moon in such a manner that it grows and takes on a crescent shape. He hits Ishidate with this attack, sending him flying and destroying Shadabada’s stone remains.

After Ishidate’s defeat, Michiru takes the throne of the country and promises to rule as his father did. As Kakashi is immobilized due to overuse of the Sharingan, his team decides to take a vacation in the Moon Country while he recovers.

Other Information

• Genre Comedy, Action
• Animated film
• Director Toshiyuki Tsuru
• Composer Toshio Masuda
• Studio Studio Pierrot
• Released :Japan August 5, 2006, United States November 8, 2008
• Actors: Naruto
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: English, Japanese
• Run Time: 135 minutes

Links

• Naruto the Movie 3 Official Website
• Naruto the Movie 3

Naruto Anime fans take note: Viz Media is taking Naruto online in an expansion of content.

One of the most popular Japanese animated and manga properties in the world, Naruto Shippuden, has officially arrived in America. Naruto was ranked #17 in Yahoo! Buzz top 20 overall searches. The series, by creator Kishimoto-sensei, depicts the adventures of a young boy who trains to become a ninja, and has sold more than 4 million copies of Naruto manga to date. The series also consistently ranks #1 across Cartoon Network’s Toonami programs each week.

Below are the new trailers trailer heralding the official new episodes airing in the US with English subtitles. Naruto is a huge hit for Cartoon Network as well.

Fans can catch up with past episodes at Naruto.com right now.

Viz Media negan their near-simultaneous Japan-U.S. release of new Naruto episodes on Naruto.com, (January 15th).

The latest episode (English-subtitled) animated series will be available for free viewing on the ultimate destination for anything Naruto – the official website, link, within days of its original airdate in Japan. A new English-subtitled episode will be added every Thursday thereafter.

Fans can also visit the site to see past episodes of the widely popular series for free courtesy of Viz Media–Eight uncut, English-subtitled episodes from the beginning of the series will stream here.

Each Friday thereafter there will be an additional eight uncut, English-subtitled episodes added on Naruto.com until the series eventually catches up to the current third season of the hit program.

All episodes on the site are authentic and authorized by Kisimoto-sensei with correct translations.

VIZ Media is a publishing, animation and licensing companies. Naruto has become one of VIZ Media’s most successful manga properties in terms of sales.

Naruto was also the first manga to ever win a noted Quill Award in 2006.

Cartoon Network’s Naruto Anime expands online