Naruto Manga Volume 1 - The Tests of the Ninja
May 8th 2008 23:35
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 1999 Shueisha Inc/2007 Viz Media LLC.
Story & Art by: Masashi Kishimoto.
Translation: Katy Bridges.
English Adaptation: Jo Duffy.
Touch up art & Lettering: Heidi Szykowny.
Cover Design, Graphics & Layout: Sean Lee.
Cost: AU $12.95 / US $7.95.
Originally when Masashi Kishimoto first created Naruto it was a one shot story for Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan, the story was primarily about Fox Spirits and from what I can gather Naruto was the primary character the difference is that rather than having a ninja focus it was more about sorcery and magic. Fox Spirits are a mainstay it seems of Japanese mythology, apparently the more tails a fox spirit has the more powerful an entity it is and if it has nine tails then it is truly an awesome and terrifying being. Twelve years ago a nine tailed fox spirit attacked the Hidden Village of Konoha, the main ninja community in the Land of Tree and Leaf. A great deal of carnage was caused by the Kyuubi (nine tails) with many shinobi dying in the struggle to protect their village. Eventually the leader of Konoha, the Fourth Hokage (Fire Shadow) appeared on the scene and employing a hitherto forbidden jutsu (technique) he managed to seal the Kyuubi in the body of a newly born baby boy. Unfortunately as a result of employing this sealing jutsu the Fourth Hokage died, sacrificing himself in order to save his village. In his dying moments he asked that the young baby boy into whom the Kyuubi had been sealed be viewed with respect; that did not become the case. Instead the villagers regarded this child with disdain and contempt, their feelings and judgment were prejudiced by the chaos and damage that the nine tails had inflicted in their life.
Uzumaki Naruto was that baby boy, the vessel that the Fourth Hokage chose in which to seal the Kyuubi, and he has grown up in the village of Konoha an orphan ostracized by the inhabitants of his community. Consequently as a child who is unloved and unwanted Naruto engages in all manner of pranks and practical jokes in other to get some attention from the villagers and his peers. This doesn’t precisely endear him to the populace at large and he is constantly in trouble with various people and authority figures. When the drama opens in this first volume of this highly popular series we see Naruto engage in some rather childish, lowbrow graffiti on the Hokage heads that overlooks the village like a ninja version of Mount Rushmore. This is a memorial to all those who have achieved the Hokage name and have forged the village into what it is, the last head carved into the cliff side is that of the Fourth who died as a result of the struggle against the Kyuubi. Naturally as he’s doing this to get attention his act of desecration is being done in full view of the villagers and they’re not happy to put it mildly.
Someone brings this matter to the attention of the Third Hokage, the current leader of the village, and he knows as soon as the messengers turn up on his doorstep that it’s something to do with Naruto. Our erstwhile protagonist has definitely caught the eye of the village leader albeit not through anything note worthy and commendable but via his mischief. Lord Hokage arrives on the scene to rebuke this troublesome child only to find that Iruka Sensei, Naruto’s teacher at the Ninja Academy is already there and ready to take action. For some reason Iruka is able to reach Naruto where others cannot, perhaps it’s all to do with the fact that he like Naruto is an orphan and in his younger days played at being the class fool, also he is a teacher at the academy and Naruto desires to graduate and become a fully fledged ninja in order to hopefully gain recognition.
Strangely Iruka does himself actually sense that there is something more to Naruto than just an inveterate prankster with no redeeming qualities. He manages to get through to his erring pupil by promising to treat him to some ramen at the Ichiraku noodle shop once he’s finished cleaning off the mess he made of the Hokage faces. This relatively simple gesture on the part of Iruka Sensei marks a turning point for Naruto, he manages to get his act together and clean up the mess he’s made in record time. Ramen is one of Naruto’s great pleasures, he enjoys a bowl of this culinary treat like nothing else and whenever he has the opportunity he frequents the Ichiraku noodle shop, becoming something of a fixture in the place.
Naruto like anyone has a great dream, a dream he seeks to see fulfilled and that is to become Hokage, he seeks to claim this illustrious position and become the pre eminent ninja in his village. He feels that if he does achieve the Hokage name then everyone in the village will have to acknowledge him and not look down on him, what he is completely unaware of is the fact that the Kyuubi is sealed within him and that it is for this reason that the villagers treat him with disdain and ostracism. There was a decree made by the leaders of the village in the wake of the Kyuubi’s attack on the village that no one would tell Naruto that the fox spirit had been bound into him by the actions of the Fourth Hokage. But even though no said anything the villagers didn’t exactly feel blessed by the presence of this child in their relatively peaceful community, in their mind his existence was a constant reminder of something terrible that had happened, something they would have rather not remembered. In some cases some members of the village believe that Naruto is the demon fox, that it is only a matter of time before his ‘true’ nature asserts itself and once again Konoha is beset by terror and calamity.
There are parallels here between Naruto and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter, both of them are marked by destiny and both of them have endured travails and tribulations by those who are ignorant and just down right mean. The difference is that where Harry Potter finds himself in conflict with the dread Lord Voldemort, He who shall not be named, Naruto is in a fight to gain recognition. Both Potter and Naruto are well respected by teachers at their respective academies but Hogwarts is a place known only to witches and wizards whilst Konohagure is a village whose purpose and existence is known to many throughout the world. Also it is a community within its own right, not a school where people only stay over certain periods of time, namely the academic year, and the only permanent residents are staff members. The other defining difference between the two characters is that Naruto has a certain joie de vivre, a lust for life and a steadily improving self confidence; in contrast Harry Potter is an earnest character but flounders and generally remains in the dark about things.
Reading Naruto Volume 1 – the Tests of the Ninja was a real pleasure and one that I’ve been looking forward to for some time now. Ever since I’d managed to pick up a copy of this manga series way back when after attending a job interview down in Sydney I have been hoping to get my hands on the volume where it all started, where Naruto began his journey. Finally I was able to get this volume and give it some attention, as I have said previously the creator Masashi Kishimoto has really done some tremendous work here. This is dynamic storytelling at its best and the artwork certainly lives up to the fast paced action that unfolds with each page.
Essentially The Tests of the Ninja is a coming of age story, of where the protagonist and his two comrades; the cool and skilful Uchiha Sasuke along with the beautiful and intelligent Haruno Sakura (a girl whom Naruto has a tremendous crush on), leave behind the trappings of child hood and take their first tentative steps into adult life and responsibility. Fortunately this tale is not something filled with angst and moping there is humour, tears and action as well as interesting characters and a wealth of potential storylines that will no doubt be further developed as the series unfolds. Like any traditional style manga this reads in the right to left format and every so often there is the other little side tracks that the creator has slipped into the story, things like how he came up with certain characters, and how he intended to introduce other characters and so on. Also keep an eye out for the billboard with the author’s picture and name on it in the Konoha village skyline, nice bit of self publicity. Looking at this manga it all comes together as a finely crafted work well worth getting your hands on and enjoying.
Story & Art by: Masashi Kishimoto.
Translation: Katy Bridges.
English Adaptation: Jo Duffy.
Touch up art & Lettering: Heidi Szykowny.
Cover Design, Graphics & Layout: Sean Lee.
Cost: AU $12.95 / US $7.95.
Originally when Masashi Kishimoto first created Naruto it was a one shot story for Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan, the story was primarily about Fox Spirits and from what I can gather Naruto was the primary character the difference is that rather than having a ninja focus it was more about sorcery and magic. Fox Spirits are a mainstay it seems of Japanese mythology, apparently the more tails a fox spirit has the more powerful an entity it is and if it has nine tails then it is truly an awesome and terrifying being. Twelve years ago a nine tailed fox spirit attacked the Hidden Village of Konoha, the main ninja community in the Land of Tree and Leaf. A great deal of carnage was caused by the Kyuubi (nine tails) with many shinobi dying in the struggle to protect their village. Eventually the leader of Konoha, the Fourth Hokage (Fire Shadow) appeared on the scene and employing a hitherto forbidden jutsu (technique) he managed to seal the Kyuubi in the body of a newly born baby boy. Unfortunately as a result of employing this sealing jutsu the Fourth Hokage died, sacrificing himself in order to save his village. In his dying moments he asked that the young baby boy into whom the Kyuubi had been sealed be viewed with respect; that did not become the case. Instead the villagers regarded this child with disdain and contempt, their feelings and judgment were prejudiced by the chaos and damage that the nine tails had inflicted in their life.
Strangely Iruka does himself actually sense that there is something more to Naruto than just an inveterate prankster with no redeeming qualities. He manages to get through to his erring pupil by promising to treat him to some ramen at the Ichiraku noodle shop once he’s finished cleaning off the mess he made of the Hokage faces. This relatively simple gesture on the part of Iruka Sensei marks a turning point for Naruto, he manages to get his act together and clean up the mess he’s made in record time. Ramen is one of Naruto’s great pleasures, he enjoys a bowl of this culinary treat like nothing else and whenever he has the opportunity he frequents the Ichiraku noodle shop, becoming something of a fixture in the place.
Naruto like anyone has a great dream, a dream he seeks to see fulfilled and that is to become Hokage, he seeks to claim this illustrious position and become the pre eminent ninja in his village. He feels that if he does achieve the Hokage name then everyone in the village will have to acknowledge him and not look down on him, what he is completely unaware of is the fact that the Kyuubi is sealed within him and that it is for this reason that the villagers treat him with disdain and ostracism. There was a decree made by the leaders of the village in the wake of the Kyuubi’s attack on the village that no one would tell Naruto that the fox spirit had been bound into him by the actions of the Fourth Hokage. But even though no said anything the villagers didn’t exactly feel blessed by the presence of this child in their relatively peaceful community, in their mind his existence was a constant reminder of something terrible that had happened, something they would have rather not remembered. In some cases some members of the village believe that Naruto is the demon fox, that it is only a matter of time before his ‘true’ nature asserts itself and once again Konoha is beset by terror and calamity.
There are parallels here between Naruto and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter, both of them are marked by destiny and both of them have endured travails and tribulations by those who are ignorant and just down right mean. The difference is that where Harry Potter finds himself in conflict with the dread Lord Voldemort, He who shall not be named, Naruto is in a fight to gain recognition. Both Potter and Naruto are well respected by teachers at their respective academies but Hogwarts is a place known only to witches and wizards whilst Konohagure is a village whose purpose and existence is known to many throughout the world. Also it is a community within its own right, not a school where people only stay over certain periods of time, namely the academic year, and the only permanent residents are staff members. The other defining difference between the two characters is that Naruto has a certain joie de vivre, a lust for life and a steadily improving self confidence; in contrast Harry Potter is an earnest character but flounders and generally remains in the dark about things.
Reading Naruto Volume 1 – the Tests of the Ninja was a real pleasure and one that I’ve been looking forward to for some time now. Ever since I’d managed to pick up a copy of this manga series way back when after attending a job interview down in Sydney I have been hoping to get my hands on the volume where it all started, where Naruto began his journey. Finally I was able to get this volume and give it some attention, as I have said previously the creator Masashi Kishimoto has really done some tremendous work here. This is dynamic storytelling at its best and the artwork certainly lives up to the fast paced action that unfolds with each page.
Essentially The Tests of the Ninja is a coming of age story, of where the protagonist and his two comrades; the cool and skilful Uchiha Sasuke along with the beautiful and intelligent Haruno Sakura (a girl whom Naruto has a tremendous crush on), leave behind the trappings of child hood and take their first tentative steps into adult life and responsibility. Fortunately this tale is not something filled with angst and moping there is humour, tears and action as well as interesting characters and a wealth of potential storylines that will no doubt be further developed as the series unfolds. Like any traditional style manga this reads in the right to left format and every so often there is the other little side tracks that the creator has slipped into the story, things like how he came up with certain characters, and how he intended to introduce other characters and so on. Also keep an eye out for the billboard with the author’s picture and name on it in the Konoha village skyline, nice bit of self publicity. Looking at this manga it all comes together as a finely crafted work well worth getting your hands on and enjoying.
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