Naruto

#-----> This review contains spoilers for Naruto <----
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Naruto is a great anime, in my opinion, and serves as a great beginning to get you accustomed to all the characters.

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Characters:

Naruto Uzumaki - the protagonist. An outcast in his village, because he contains the spirit of the Nine Tailed Fox, also known as Kurama. He knows a secret jutsu called Shadow Clone Jutsu and uses that as his main jutsu until he learns the Rasengan from mentor Jiraiya. He is later assigned to his ninja squad, Team 7. This is made up of Sasuke, Sakura, and their leader/master Kakashi. HIs drive is to try and become the Hokage, which is the leader of the Leaf Village. This prestige is normally given to the strongest Shinobi.

Sasuke Uchiha - The deuteragonist. Also a part of Team 7. His main drive in the show is to get revenge for his clan, who were all slaughtered by his brother Itachi. He later learns the Chidori from his master Kakashi. He has a Kekkai Genkai, which is a difference in his DNA from others which allows his to have special abilities. This ability he wields is called the Sharingan. It allows his to see through his enemy's attacks. He later leaves the village in search of Orochimaru, the villain of the show.

Sakura Haruno - The tritagonist (third in importance). She is on Team 7 too. She is infamously known for not having any specific powers like Naruto or Sasuke. She focuses on her jutsu. She was bullied a lot as a kid and she has a frenemies relationship with Ino, another Genin/Chunin. She chooses to train with Tsunade, the 5th hokage, because of Ino. This leads her into being a medical ninja.

Kakashi Hatake - The master of Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. He is the one who taught Sasuke the Chidori and he is very powerful. His friend is Might Guy, who has his own squad. Kakashi is known for being a fan favorite because of how laidback he is. He has a Kekkai Genkai which is the Sharingan. However, unlike Sasuke, he can only perform this in his left eye.

Other characters include:

The Legendary Sanin: (a group trained by the Third Hokage)

Tsunade - FIfth Hokage, Sakuras mentor
Orichimaru - The villain of the show, Sasuke's trainer
Jiraiya - Trained the Fourth Hokage, taught Naruto the Rasengan, Narutos mentor

The Sand Siblings:

Gaara
Temari
Kankuro

Team Guy:

Rock Lee - Might guy mini version
Tenten
Neji - Hinatas cousin? also has a Kekkai Genkai called the Byakugan

Team 8:

HInata Hyuuga - Has a crush on Naruto, has a Kekkai Genkai called the Byakugan
Kiba (and Akamaru? lol)
Shino

Other characters: Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kabuto

The characters are interesting in my opinion, my favorite being Naruto. He is mischievous yet brave. Sasuke is overconfident yet charming. Sakura is annoying at times but shes a fun character. The characters develop chemistry with each other over time, or we get to see some of their chemistry, such as Sakura and Ino. Some rivalries in the show such as Sasuke and Naruto or Gaara and Naruto (when they first met) and very interesting to see as well. Jiraiya is one of my favorites, not because of how he carries the fan service but because of how much more personality he gives the show. He’s more chill and goofy than Kakashi but he is still a smart and powerful Shinobi.

The Characters are all unique in their own way, which is why I give the characters

a 9/10.

Plot:

Naruto strives at his goal of being Hokage by learning different jutsus. This anime is heavily focused about using teamwork to get things done, hence the teams and squads. He must overcome several obstacles in his way, like the Chunin Exams.

The Chunin Exams are a series of tests which places students against one another. This mostly consists of battling and challenges, like obtaining scrolls by defeating other teams. Naruto is able to beat this and he and some other Genins advance to the last part of the Chunin exams. However, the exams are interupted by Orochimaru, since he has a grand scheme. Going back to before the exams, Naruto meets Jiraiya. Naruto begged Jiraiya so much to train him. Jiraiya gives in and begins his training. Then Naruto is sent to the exams, which were interupted. The Sand Village help Orochimaru and they unleash Gaara's power. Gaara contains the One Tailed Beast or Shikaku inside of him. The Third Hokage goes through a heavy battle with Orochimaru. Orochimaru reveals that he has a new plan for immortality by using other people's bodies. He then proceeds to reanimate the First and Second Hokages and The Third Hokage is greatly damaged by this. In his last effort before death, he tries a special jutsu, which will kill Orochimaru, but also kill the Third Hokage. Unable to live long enough to finish the jutsu, he only destroys Orochimarus hands since then he cant do any jutsus. Then the Third Hokage dies.

Gaara fights with Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto. Shikaku slowly takes over his body and engulfs him. Shikaku fully comes out, so Naruto calls Jiraiyas acquaintance, a large toad named Gamabunta. They fight until Naruto wakes up Gaara, who makes Shikaku return into his body. Gaara then learns the meaning of love from Naruto.

Now Naruto trains with Jiraiya. He learns the technique called the Rasengan, which is a ball of chakra which spins in his hand. Tsunade and Jiraiya team together to defeat Orichumaru again. Orochimaru put a curse mark on Sasuke, which will eventually make Sasuke seek out to find him for power. Sasuke is mad at Naruto because earlier, Itachi found Naruto. He wants Naruto to join the Akatsuki, an evil organization which wants power. Sasuke rushes there but is unable to stop Itachi. Itachi then calls him weak and says that Sasuke is useless to him and that he only wants Naruto. Then, 4 ninjas from the Sound Village kidnap Sasuke. This results in Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Neji to retrieve Sasuke. All of them except Naruto stay back to fight members of the Sound 4 until there are none left. Until a subordinate for Orochimaru shows up. HIs name is Kimimaro. Naruto is unable to beat his amazing strength. Luckily, Rock Lee shows up and defends Naruto, but even he cannot defeat Kimimaro. Then Gaara shows up and kills Kimimaro. Naruto finds Sasuke and they both fight to release their anger on one another. They both also reveal their true forms - Sasuke's curse mark form and Naruto with 1 tail of Kurama released. In the end, Sasuke wins as Naruto blacks out due to exhaustion. Sasuke then leaves the Hidden Village of the Leaf. There are 4 more seasons of filler. At the end of Season 9, Naruto leaves with Jiraiya for 3 years to go and train his abilities so that he can fight off the Akatsuki.

This is a basic synopsis of the story and leaves out a lot of crucial parts but its the most basic, watered down version of the plot.
The plot explores the topics of friendship, bravery, revenge, and much more. Each arc feels different from each other and each character has a specific goal in mind every season, even though some characters share the same goal at times.
The plot is pretty good in my opinion, obviously not the best but still it is entertaining so I give it a 8/10

Conclusion: Naruto is a great anime and it tells the story of the perseverance of a boy trying to save his friends and his village. However, those themes are further explored in Naruto: Shippuden. Naruto serves as a excellent prologue and build up to help you know these characters when you go into Naruto Shippuden.

My final rating is a 82.