Naruto - A Splendid Ninja (Vol 10)
January 10th 2008 00:24
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 1999 Shueisha Inc/2006 Viz Media LLC.
Story & Art by: Masashi Kishimoto.
Translation: Mari Morimoto.
English Adaptation: Jo Duffy & Frances E.Wall.
Touch up art & Lettering: Heidi Szykowny.
Additional Touch up: Josh Simpson.
Design: Sean Lee.
Cost: $US 7.95/$AU 18.95.
Twelve years ago a nine tailed fox spirit attacked the Hidden Leaf Village (Konohagakure) and was only defeated via the efforts of the village’s leader, the Fourth Hokage. The Hokage defeated the nine tailed fox by sealing its soul within the body of a baby boy just recently born into the village, that boy is Naruto Uzamaki, the main protagonist within this particular manga. My introduction to Naruto came through happenstance, first I came across the TV anime series which was a major hit in Japan for some considerable time then on attending a job interview to teach English in Japan I managed to come across the manga in a Sydney bookshop. It was whilst reading this particular volume in the bar in Central Station that I realised that Naruto fans can be found everywhere in all walks of life, the woman who was serving behind the bar happened to be a fan and we chatted for a while about the show before she had to serve another customer and I went back to my table to continue reading.
So what exactly is the entire hullabaloo about? Naruto is a Ninja manga that originally debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump nine years ago, the story is mainly about Naruto and his quest to become Hokage, the village leader, and his belief that this will give him the respect that he deserves. His life in the Hidden Leaf Village has not exactly been a bed of roses, because he was the vessel into which the destructive nine tailed fox the villagers effectively ostracised the young boy leading to him being something of an outsider. Still though he felt a bit put off by this kind of treatment Naruto did not let this get him down or deter him from his future goals. He became a ninja in training; joining the village ninja academy and eventually passing the final exams in order to become a genin, the lowest rank of ninja operating within the Hidden Leaf Village.
Now ninja are something of a commonplace in the world in which the Hidden Leaf Village and Naruto exist, in fact there are several similar such villages that exist in various lands and states each of them training ninja in various forms of jutsu that are often unique to that particular village or even to a particular family living in that village. The ninja from these villages often perform a variety of tasks ranging from the completely mundane (walking the dogs) to the highly dangerous (defend a bridge builder from a gangster and his cohorts). Sometimes these missions, such as walking the dogs, take place within the confines of the ninja’s home village whilst others will take them to other lands and settlements. Naturally the various countries and states also use the ninja for military purposes and there have in the past been ninja wars, whole villages have been destroyed and their inhabitants end up becoming outcasts and wanderers. Of course conflicts between various ninja villages and the various lands are not the only dangers to be faced, as the existence of the nine tailed fox spirit proves.
This particular volume opens up with the competition between Hidden Leaf ninja Rock Lee and Hidden Sand ninja Gaara. In this particular story arc Naruto, the manga’s title character takes a bit of a back seat as most of the drama focuses around this epic showdown. Both of these ninja have made it to the preliminary stage of the third and final part of the Chunin Exam. The entire purpose of the exam is to determine who amongst the numerous candidates who survived the first and second stages should go on to become chunin, the next rank up from genin. Chunin often lead squads of other ninja on missions and thus to become a chunin means more respect from one’s peers as well as being given a leadership role and getting offered a better, though often riskier, class of mission. The current crop of candidates for this particular exam have proven to be highly talented and thus after the second stage of the exam there are far more than candidates than was expected, a preliminary needs to be held in order to eliminate some of the candidates before the final stage can occur. Thus this confrontation between Rock Lee and Gaara is the second last combat in the preliminaries.
Despite the fight taking up a significant portion of the volumes drama it is not all fighting, we see a retrospective of Rock Lee and how like Naruto himself he is driven to achieve a very specific goal namely to prove that an individual like himself who has no abilities in genjutsu or ninjustu can become a splendid ninja. It is this aim that sustains him and motivates him to push himself above and beyond, breaking past the limits and seeking to enhance his abilities. His apparent lack of ability in the various other ninja arts while earning him the derision of his peers are in the end no real hindrance as he swiftly proves in this fight with Gaara. Guy Sensei, Lee’s trainer and mentor, has honed his pupil’s taijutsu abilities to an amazing level even going so far to teach him the Reverse Lotus, a forbidden move as it can have terrible consequences for its user. Technically the Reverse Lotus is something that Lee with his lack of genjutsu and ninjutsu would find hard to learn yet somehow he has managed to master it to a significant degree proving that he truly is a splendid ninja.
But this combat is not the only drama that is going on, Lord Orochimaru, the sinister leader of Otogakure (Hidden Sound Village) is making plans with his most trusted henchman and undercover operative Kabuto. Orochimaru is very interested in Naruto’s team mate and rival Sasuke Uchia, during the second stage of the Chunin exam the sinister S class villain placed a curse mark on Sasuke and seeks to corrupt him for reasons only know to himself. He feels though that Naruto is a thorn in his side to corrupt the young Uchia and thus tells his henchman Kabuto to kidnap the young man so that he can make him fully his. Naturally the idea of corrupting Sasuke is not the only iron Orochimaru has burning in the fire, he is also aiming to start a full blown war between the various villages with the intent of destroying Konohagakure and killing its leader the Third Hokage. His plan for war though is not quite ready to bear fruit and thus he must wait until the opportunity is right.
Whilst Orochimaru is having his little tete a tete with Kabuto the rest of the preliminary matches are resolved and the format for the third stage is discussed. Realising that he is a potential to make his way through to the final as well as earn the rank of chunin our erstwhile hero Naruto knows that he is going to have to train harder than he ever has before. Initially he hopes his sensei, Kakashi, will help in this endeavour but the Copy Book Ninja has other things on his mind, Orochimaru’s attempts on Sasuke being at the top of the list. Still he does what he can and assigns Naruto’s training over to master Ebisu, or as Naruto knows him; Super Perv. Super Perv and Naruto have crossed paths before yet the supercilious ninja does have something to impart to the Hidden Leaf villages number one hyperactive ninja, unfortunately his stint as Naruto’s trainer is at best short lived after a confrontation with a peeping tom outside the ladies bath house.
Masashi Kishimoto has produced a fantastic work with Naruto, as well as the various ninja aspects his story heavily draws upon Japanese folktales and mythology presenting it in an original and engaging way. Nine tailed fox spirits, Orochimaru and Jiriya as well as giant toads are all part of Japanese legends and myths. His primary protagonist is something of a treat as well, he never gives in, has almost limitless energy and always seems to be able to inspire and bolster those who he regards as his friends. There is a real exuberance that leaps off the page with the character which is not something you see every day. Coupled with the excellent supporting cast and its well spun tale Naruto Volume 10 is really engrossing, I have to admit that as I sat reading this manga in Central Station waiting for my bus to take me home after the job interview I was captivated. In fact if I wasn’t such a quick reader I probably would have missed my bus, that’s how into it I was. The other interesting features within the pages are the bits where characters explain how the various ninjitsu work along with the odd moments where the author/artist tells a bit about himself and his influences as an emerging manga artist.
All in all Naruto is a finely produced example of manga and definitely worth reading….BELIEVE IT!
Story & Art by: Masashi Kishimoto.
Translation: Mari Morimoto.
English Adaptation: Jo Duffy & Frances E.Wall.
Touch up art & Lettering: Heidi Szykowny.
Additional Touch up: Josh Simpson.
Design: Sean Lee.
Cost: $US 7.95/$AU 18.95.
Twelve years ago a nine tailed fox spirit attacked the Hidden Leaf Village (Konohagakure) and was only defeated via the efforts of the village’s leader, the Fourth Hokage. The Hokage defeated the nine tailed fox by sealing its soul within the body of a baby boy just recently born into the village, that boy is Naruto Uzamaki, the main protagonist within this particular manga. My introduction to Naruto came through happenstance, first I came across the TV anime series which was a major hit in Japan for some considerable time then on attending a job interview to teach English in Japan I managed to come across the manga in a Sydney bookshop. It was whilst reading this particular volume in the bar in Central Station that I realised that Naruto fans can be found everywhere in all walks of life, the woman who was serving behind the bar happened to be a fan and we chatted for a while about the show before she had to serve another customer and I went back to my table to continue reading.
This particular volume opens up with the competition between Hidden Leaf ninja Rock Lee and Hidden Sand ninja Gaara. In this particular story arc Naruto, the manga’s title character takes a bit of a back seat as most of the drama focuses around this epic showdown. Both of these ninja have made it to the preliminary stage of the third and final part of the Chunin Exam. The entire purpose of the exam is to determine who amongst the numerous candidates who survived the first and second stages should go on to become chunin, the next rank up from genin. Chunin often lead squads of other ninja on missions and thus to become a chunin means more respect from one’s peers as well as being given a leadership role and getting offered a better, though often riskier, class of mission. The current crop of candidates for this particular exam have proven to be highly talented and thus after the second stage of the exam there are far more than candidates than was expected, a preliminary needs to be held in order to eliminate some of the candidates before the final stage can occur. Thus this confrontation between Rock Lee and Gaara is the second last combat in the preliminaries.
Despite the fight taking up a significant portion of the volumes drama it is not all fighting, we see a retrospective of Rock Lee and how like Naruto himself he is driven to achieve a very specific goal namely to prove that an individual like himself who has no abilities in genjutsu or ninjustu can become a splendid ninja. It is this aim that sustains him and motivates him to push himself above and beyond, breaking past the limits and seeking to enhance his abilities. His apparent lack of ability in the various other ninja arts while earning him the derision of his peers are in the end no real hindrance as he swiftly proves in this fight with Gaara. Guy Sensei, Lee’s trainer and mentor, has honed his pupil’s taijutsu abilities to an amazing level even going so far to teach him the Reverse Lotus, a forbidden move as it can have terrible consequences for its user. Technically the Reverse Lotus is something that Lee with his lack of genjutsu and ninjutsu would find hard to learn yet somehow he has managed to master it to a significant degree proving that he truly is a splendid ninja.
But this combat is not the only drama that is going on, Lord Orochimaru, the sinister leader of Otogakure (Hidden Sound Village) is making plans with his most trusted henchman and undercover operative Kabuto. Orochimaru is very interested in Naruto’s team mate and rival Sasuke Uchia, during the second stage of the Chunin exam the sinister S class villain placed a curse mark on Sasuke and seeks to corrupt him for reasons only know to himself. He feels though that Naruto is a thorn in his side to corrupt the young Uchia and thus tells his henchman Kabuto to kidnap the young man so that he can make him fully his. Naturally the idea of corrupting Sasuke is not the only iron Orochimaru has burning in the fire, he is also aiming to start a full blown war between the various villages with the intent of destroying Konohagakure and killing its leader the Third Hokage. His plan for war though is not quite ready to bear fruit and thus he must wait until the opportunity is right.
Whilst Orochimaru is having his little tete a tete with Kabuto the rest of the preliminary matches are resolved and the format for the third stage is discussed. Realising that he is a potential to make his way through to the final as well as earn the rank of chunin our erstwhile hero Naruto knows that he is going to have to train harder than he ever has before. Initially he hopes his sensei, Kakashi, will help in this endeavour but the Copy Book Ninja has other things on his mind, Orochimaru’s attempts on Sasuke being at the top of the list. Still he does what he can and assigns Naruto’s training over to master Ebisu, or as Naruto knows him; Super Perv. Super Perv and Naruto have crossed paths before yet the supercilious ninja does have something to impart to the Hidden Leaf villages number one hyperactive ninja, unfortunately his stint as Naruto’s trainer is at best short lived after a confrontation with a peeping tom outside the ladies bath house.
Masashi Kishimoto has produced a fantastic work with Naruto, as well as the various ninja aspects his story heavily draws upon Japanese folktales and mythology presenting it in an original and engaging way. Nine tailed fox spirits, Orochimaru and Jiriya as well as giant toads are all part of Japanese legends and myths. His primary protagonist is something of a treat as well, he never gives in, has almost limitless energy and always seems to be able to inspire and bolster those who he regards as his friends. There is a real exuberance that leaps off the page with the character which is not something you see every day. Coupled with the excellent supporting cast and its well spun tale Naruto Volume 10 is really engrossing, I have to admit that as I sat reading this manga in Central Station waiting for my bus to take me home after the job interview I was captivated. In fact if I wasn’t such a quick reader I probably would have missed my bus, that’s how into it I was. The other interesting features within the pages are the bits where characters explain how the various ninjitsu work along with the odd moments where the author/artist tells a bit about himself and his influences as an emerging manga artist.
All in all Naruto is a finely produced example of manga and definitely worth reading….BELIEVE IT!
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