Masashi Kishimoto Appreciation Thread (probably manga spoilers)

[BPD Renegade]

I stumbled upon Naruto over ten years ago. The first chapter I read was the 10th question, which was published in a random volume of Shonen Jump I picked up. I had no idea what was going on, but it seemed interesting enough. A while later, maybe 2003, a classmate brought it up. It was at that point my curiousity got the better of me, and I started reading Naruto from the beginning. I was hooked from the first chapter. For the better part of four or five years, I didn't care much for any manga (and later anime) other than Naruto. At one point, I could name every chapter, character info, jutsu and random trivia pertaining to the series.

My interest started waning around 2008, when I became too busy to keep up with the flood of new characters and the haphazard slew of jutsu they came with, as well as some disappointment with the storyline. Admittedly, there were a handful of times when I took half-year hiatuses from the manga. Still, it was the first manga that I became obsessed with, and it subsequently turned me from an anime-viewer into a manga-addict.

Though I have mixed feelings about Part Two, Part One will always be dear to me. Thank you, Kishimoto, for introducing me to the world of Shonen manga, for creating wonderful characters that I laughed and cried with, and for all these wonderful years.

[Alchemist007]

I started watching Naruto probably around 2005/6. There were plenty of episodes out and by the time I finished, the millions of episodes of fillers were over with the first series as well (thank god I didn't suffer through that week to week). I started reading the manga alongside the show at the start of the Shippuuden storyline, I switched to manga only after the devastation of quality that was the Pein fight in the anime.

I think it and Bleach filled in the shounen need that DBZ left behind. I'm going to miss Naruto (or maybe not too much if the 2015 manga series is catchy). Kishi provided me with lots of memories.

[Wandering Soul]

With Naruto finished it feels like a past of my childhood is gone too. It's going to feel sorta weird not having a new chapter each week anymore.

Thanks Kishi for this amazing manga. Naruto was one of my first animes I watched when I watched it dubbed. I started watching and reading ever since. It had it's up and downs but it was still a fun and amazing ride.

Once again thanks Kishi

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Thank you very much Kishi for making a masterpiece that is Naruto Part 1. It was a great example of action-shounen with themes of family, friendship and “never-give up” done right. Part 2/Shippuuden however, is a mixed bag at best. When it’s good, it’s really good (eg. Sasori’s fight, Pain Invasion minus the “reviving everyone”-part, Naruto meeting his mom, etc) but when it’s bad, it’s really bad (eg. the really-convoluted logic behind Tobi being Obito, ass-pull power-ups like what Obito did to Kakashi in the last fight against Kaguya, etc). But this is still a decent fighting-shounen manga which is on par with Dragon Ball for its time (heck, the way the overall quality degraded slowly but surely over time is also similar). I especially like the message of “It takes time to fulfill your dream, and sometimes it takes more than your life-time to realize your bigger dream. That’s why it’s important to do your best at raising the next generation so that you can entrust your big dreams to them in case you can’t fulfill it in your life-time”. I think this pseudo-parental and social message is really good for a long-running shounen manga which its readers might have become parents themselves (or near that point) by now. Not even Dragon Ball could achieve this. So again, thank you kishi for this epic saga and epic characters you gave us.

[homohominilupus]

I started reading Naruto a year ago after discovering manga again as a second manga to read (One Piece being first). I got hooked up imedatly and soon it became a part of my life. It is bit strange to not have a release every week anymore,but Naruto has been out for the time equaling my age so I have no complaints.
Kishi made a great job,presented us a wonderful story and ended it perfectly that I'll hold in memories forever so I can only say: thank you for everything Kishimoto
And this is my first post

[gundamdrawer]

Hmm where do I start?

I first encountered Naruto in it's anime form, around 2000-2001 I think, when it was first aired here in the Philippines. I quickly got hooked into it because of the ninja academy theme and that it was one of the first anime that I watched where the main character is not the cool and steong type.(my basis for this statement was DBZ, Yuyu Hakusho, flame of recca and rorouni kenshin). And I also liked that it was also somewhat darker than the regular anime that I have wathed that time with the whole Zabuza killing his fellow students and Uchiha massacre llot. So then yeah, like what I said I got hooked with this series and then eventually the network that was airing it ran out of episodes to air and that is when I discovered the manga. And since then, it became a habit of mine to wait for a chapter everyweek and this manga became my gateway to other manga series. So Naruto really holds a special llace in my heart.

For the bad part, I really got annoyed with the early part 2 stories when Naruto was chasing Sasuke so blindly and his somewhat tiring berserk stages. I almost dropped the manga, but for the sake of continuing the story, I decided not to. And then Jiraiya's death happened and the also the Pain arc. It reignited my interest in the story and Sasuke chasing toned down a bit(atleast for me).

So all in all, with the manga's end, I just want to thank Kishimoto sensei for a really really good story. It is definitely far from perfect but hey, it is not that east to write a good story for 15 years and he manage to do it excellently. It's been one hell of a ride reading this manga and I grew up with it(I am 26 btw so im quite old now). And with its final chapter showing Naruto all grown up, with a family of his own and hace achieved his dreams, part of my childhood really ended. I don't know if I'll be able to follow bolt and his adventures but one thing is for sure, when the time comes that I have a family of my own, I'll let my child read this manga as somewhat passing this great story to the next generation.

Kudos to Kishimoto Sensei.

[Kafriel]

I started watching Naruto way back in 2004 or so, I remember watching up to around ep.103, somewhere within a mini-filler arc. It was truly an amazing experience and I ran through them 100 episodes with my brother in a week thanks to that hype...then started the one-week wait, something that was, back then, completely new to me and it was followed by the massive filler stories that spanned for a couple of years.

Naruto: Shippuuden was a major letdown at first due to the extremely spaced out material that made each episode seem so hollow, but it did many characters justice and laid out a very interesting plot. Personally, I would have liked Naruto to end with a proper wrap-up after the Pain arc, because he was a great villain and I felt that the series had accomplished everything it could at that point - I still think it had. Anyway, on to a more specific structure!

Things I loved about Naruto:

- The good guys dying. Hiruzen, Azuma and Jiraiya all had their crowning moments of awesome as well as emotional deaths, each with a legacy left behind...it was pretty sad to see them go one after the other and Konoha's second destruction had this feeling of inevitable calamity that left little behind.

- Uchiha Sasuke. Unlike what most people might claim, he was a perfectly normal young boy who had the bad luck of growing up in a very messed up environment. I enjoyed watching him develop his own agenda and rally up a second team to call "home", even though it wasn't as deep as Team 7. Ultimately, I had wanted Sasuke to be the ultimate villain that Naruto would have to kill - as the final Uchiha, nobody would be left to take revenge on him, so Naruto would get a pass on the vicious vendetta that plagued the continent...oh well.

- The ninja tactics. Be it training, positioning, team creation or judgement on the field, there were a lot of cool moments where NARUTO used stealth, perception, insight, logic and awareness instead of chakra quality and "who has a matching element/superior jutsu" (although in some cases those two would mingle).

Things I disliked about Naruto:

- The VERY arbitrary use of kage bunshin that takes a very serious matter lightly.

- The 14 different rasengans and all the whacky jutsu combos that blew fights out of proportion, most memorable start being the fight versus Kakuzu.

- The element of resurrection. I usually prefer it when characters they stay dead (which is, in my opinoin, CLAMP's best decision).

- The origins of ninshuu. It just felt like a half-baked story that took too much attention from the world of NARUTO that we knew so far; it made the ninja population the center of the world, when it was, in essence, just a mechanism to get things moving.

- Uchiha Obito. His character really felt excess and occupied a LOT of time and space, just like his skills.

Final rating: 8.2/10. I've definitely read better manga (and although I shouldn't compare since it isn't from the same author, I liked Satan 666 better in the way it handled power levels), but Naruto is definitely a classic of the past decade that every action fan should have a go at. I've already gifted a few volumes to some friends, this stuff is worth spreading!

[Exaligatory]

I've been reading Naruto since Chuunin Exam Arc...
man...these past years...from middle school until i started my own family...

I've wait every week to read a chapter...and now every week feels ..empty
I guess not empty cuz like Naruto, i have my wife and my son waiting for me everyday at home...

Thankyou Naruto for these years, You finally find Happiness
Thanks Kishi

Spoiler for My Mind:

[DarkHollowIchigo]

Naruto, in my opinion will and always will be the most inspirational manga series. 

I thank you Masashi Kishimoto, for all those wonderful times you gave me.

[Da-nyan]

http://www.naruto.com/j/yosegaki/m-index.html
it's a project where you can post your massage to Naruto ^^

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Da-nyan

http://www.naruto.com/j/yosegaki/m-index.html
it's a project where you can post your massage to Naruto ^^

but then hinata would get jealous ...i'll see myself out