Naruto is a part of the "Big Three" that dominated the shonen industry for several decades. The series written by Masashi Kishimoto proved to be an inspiration for many other manga writers. Some newer shonen writers have paid their respect to Kishimoto through their own series. The series finished serializing in November 2014, but it is still popular to this day. Naruto remains a good choice for any new manga/anime fan.
The series has a great cast of characters, and most of them follow a certain path because of their beliefs. They are driven by their ideas and often when two characters come face to face, it leads to a clash of fists and personalities. The series also boasts of some of the most amazing fights in recent shonen history. There are many people who haven't read or watched the series, and, without any information, this leads to the question— what is Naruto about?
What Is Naruto?
Naruto is the story of a young boy, who dreams of becoming the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. Naruto's journey is not easy as he has to overcome numerous obstacles to accomplish his dream. The story is divided into two parts— Naruto and NarutoShippuden.
The first part of the story is more focused on the early life of Naruto as he tries to find his feet in a place where he is shunned by almost the entire village. Naruto makes new friends and enemies, which provide him invaluable experience that shapes him as a person.
NarutoShippuden follows a grown-up Naruto, who tries to keep his promise to Sakura. As the series continues, the obstacles in Naruto's paths get more difficult. The stakes get higher, and it leads to a great war that engulfs the entire world. Naruto needs to overcome his demons in order to save the world from being destroyed. NarutoShippuden shows Naruto's growth as a character, and it brings an end to his epic story.
Where Can You Watch It?
Naruto started to air in 2002 and the first part ran until 2007. After the conclusion of the first part, the anime moved on to NarutoShippuden, which started to air in 2007 and finished airing in 2017. The anime was produced by Studio Pierrot, and it is fair to say that they did an outstanding job at animating the show, especially the fights.
Due to its immense popularity, Naruto has eleven movies under its belt, all of which have original stories. Naruto also has sequel series; Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, which is based on the manga written by Ikemoto. The sequel follows Naruto's son and the next generation of ninjas. The anime is available to watch on Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Funimation, Amazon Prime Video, and VRV.
Where Can You Read It?
The manga started serializing in the WeeklyShonenJump back in September 1999. It continued to be published for more than a decade, and it came to an end in 2014. Most people prefer the manga over the anime because of the huge number of fillers, and Naruto is infamous for its high filler content. Due to the vast cast of characters, there are many characters who have a light novel, which focused on them. There are a total of twenty-six light novels, and each of them has unique stories. Some famous light novels are—Itachi Shinden, Sasuke Shinden, Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf Howled, and Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja.
Naruto has also received several spin-offs, which include Naruto SD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden, and Uchiha Sasuke no Sharingan Den. Rock Lee's spin-off has also received an anime adaptation, while Sasuke's spin-off is able for reading on Viz. The manga for Naruto can be read on the official Shonen Jump app, MANGA Plus, and Viz. It is also possible to buy hard copies of the manga, and they can be found on Amazon.