*disclaimer: I am no where near done with Naruto.
In this new segment for my blog, which will be quite short (or long…probably long for me since ya know…I write too much…) I will be writing about a show that I just can’t stop thinking about because it’s so darn good…by amusing myself with the five Ws…
Who, what, when, where and why.
More specifically…I formulated my own W questions based on the show. They all start with one of the 5 W questions. It won’t be hard to follow along, I promise.
I absolutely loved doing essays like this in school. The mixture of research and the yearning for writing my opinions out on paper served for a nice two-paged paper…when I was supposed to write a paragraph. So why not implement something like this to my own blog when it was so joyous? After all, there’s no limit to how much I can write. (I mean, page-wise, that is.)
I am planning on doing these every month or so when the desire to write about something I’m watching strikes me. I am just getting into watching TV as something that’s fun, so I have a list of things to check out on my phone. To kick this segment off, I want to talk about that hugely popular anime concerning the kid with the yellow hair, blue eyes and always wearing orange…
Now…on to the good stuff.
Show: Naruto (I’m still in progress of watching it.)
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Language: Japanese (I prefer subbed over dubbed…thank you very much.)
who stars in this show?
This is a long list, but I’d be happy to give you the main four people you’ll probably be seeing all the time: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake.
You’ll also see a handful of characters with interesting backstories. You’ll hate some of them or love them to the point you don’t want them to get hurt like they’re your own child. Or maybe that’s just me.
Look. It’s a lot going on this anime’s first 3 seasons. This will be one long post if I talk about everyone except these four. If you’re interested in any of these people, you can easily Google them.
what is this show about?
The first three seasons are about the young ninjas learning how to be stronger and more skilled. However, lots of things get in the way of this. Sasuke, a handsome, super genius thirteen-year-old, is haunted by the killing of his entire family by his older brother and desperately wants to kill him in seek for revenge. He is also stalked by some dude with a snake jutsu thing who looks like Michael Jackson who wants to wear his body.
Naruto and Sasuke totally have a bromance and are closeted best friends. They both hate and love each other. Naruto is painted as the black sheep of the Hidden Leaf Village in the beginning episodes because he seems to be very zealous and hot-tempered, and also feels like he can’t succeed at anything, deep down under his strong and too-arrogant façade. He also has no parents. However, we learn not to underestimate Naruto as he is, in my eyes, a better and way more powerful ninja than Sasuke. Sakura Haruno is pretty weak and useless at the start of this anime. However, she cuts her hair during a fight with one of Orochimaru’s minions and starts to get brave. She has a crush on Sasuke (for some reason all the girls think he’s cute) and also is a rival to Ino who also has a crush on Sasuke. (Sasuke couldn’t honestly care less about Sakura or anyone’s affections toward him.) Their teacher, Kakashi, is very mysterious. I want to know more about him especially how he looks behind that mask. All I know about him is that he enjoys reading these books written by Pervy Sage about girls apparently. And they’re nasty. Well…anyway…my mans can fight like nobody’s business. He is one of my favorite character thus far.
when did this show come out?
This anime was released in 2002. I didn’t start hearing about it until maybe…2005, though. Naruto has always been a part of my childhood. Having brothers, they watched anime day and night. Bleach, Inuyasha, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon all were shows they frequently watched. But me? I was distracted and couldn’t find anything to stick to. My attention span was so low, I couldn’t stay on something for ten seconds.
I remember watching Naruto on Cartoon Network, English dub, whenever it would come on. But again, there were only key characters I grew attached to, simply because they looked cool, like Kakashi (I just knew he was this weird dude with the mask) and I didn’t know anything else about them. Still, the characters of Naruto have always been somewhere in the background of my life in some way, shape or form.
where did I find this show?
My uncle, brothers, and cousin are anime likers. One time, when my brother came over along with my ex boyfriend, they all started watching Naruto and discussing it. This was about 3 years ago. The beginning episode was so confusing to me. I saw yellow haired lil’ dude do a shadow clone something and multiple people were all over the trees branches. So I immediately counted it out. (I actually want to go back and rewatch the beginning episodes again to catch anything I missed now since I actually like the anime. I am oddly very excited to do this.)
why do i like this show?
This anime is not only entertaining, funny and electrifying with all the bright colors and great voice actors, but the story line is superb. It’s so deep, well-written and thought out. It’s hard to stay away from and stop thinking about, it’s full of lore and plot twists (like Kabuto…we won’t talk about Kabuto…) and oh so easy to convince yourself that you’ll just watch “one more episode” before you start dosing off. But what happens next is you wake up at 4 in the morning, the word “SAMSUNG” is bouncing across your television, and you’re on episode 6 of season 8. Ugh. Have fun remembering which episode you fell asleep on. 😑
alright…i give in. favorite characters (so far) list:
For the sake of having a palatable article, I’ve decided to limit my favorite characters to five. Ok, not five. Seven. There’s no particular order.
#1: Kakashi Hatake
Kakashi has to be one of the smoothest and most powerful characters in this anime. He reads a *questionable* book while talking to people, but then he also is alert and on his feet when it comes to protecting his students, comrades and leaders. He’s like an all-around goof ball but he knows when to turn it off and on. I am not to the point where his past is discussed (I am very excited about this) but I can’t wait to see what his face looks like, if it’s ever shown.
#2: Shikamaru Nara
Shikamaru caught me off guard. His constant complaining made me immediately tune him out. But as I got more into him and saw his battle with the sound girl ninja (I don’t remember her name and I don’t feel like looking her up) during the last part of the Chunin exams, I knew there was something about him that screamed “I’m a genius! But I’m just choosing to be lazy.”
#3: Konohamaru Sarutobi
The grandson of the third hokage, Konohamaru wants to be taught by Naruto and looks up to him a lot. There’s not much of him in these seasons but whenever I see him it’s just so adorable.
#4: Gaara
Gaara wants to kill all day, all night. I don’t know exactly why yet, but I feel like there’s a slither of goodness in him. Hopefully Naruto can lecture him into being somewhat less killing-centered and more purposeful with killing bad guys.
#5: Iruka Umino
So far, I know that he cares a lot for Naruto, especially since he doesn’t have parents. Iruka understands because he doesn’t have parents either. He is a sweet teacher, and loves his students. *grabs remote to go watch the first episode again*
#6: Kabuto Yakashi
When I found out that Kabuto was Orochimaru’s right-hand man and was simply just pretending to be a weak and uber-excited student to take the Chunin exam (for the fourth time…totally not suspicious), I screamed. (Dramatic, yes. I know. Don’t judge me.) I thought he was so cute and genuine, but my thoughts were just that—thoughts and nothing based on the reality of who he was. I know he ends up doing worse things in the future (thanks to my cousin…again…) so I’m bracing myself for everything now.
#7: Jiraiya (Pervy Sage)
There’s so much to say about this character, because I was introduced to him through seeing him peep on young girls in the hot tub. My cousin always told me about Pervy Sage, but she never let me know he was this nasty. All I know so far is he writes those books Kakashi loves to read, which are about girls…and stuff… (which I’m guessing is just straight up—nevermind.) and he taught Naruto how to tap into his “red” chakra, or the chakra from the nine-tailed fox. To me, he’s comical and also very sex-obsessed. I am interested to know how he was as a youngin’ with his students.
Naruto is an anime about strength, endurance, and straight up clownery. So far, I’m enjoying it. The only downside I have about this show is it’s gonna be a while until I see everything, as the show is divided in two parts, and the first one is nine seasons long. Also, there’s Orochimaru. He’s ugly, and I am dreading whatever he tries to do to Sasuke. He’s already bitten him, and I think Sasuke really liked the power he felt. I can’t wait to see how the story unfolds.
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