Naruto - Overall Manga Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[~Yami~]

it is very hard to judge a series that you have followed since middle school
or Naruto is contributing as one of my first encounter with anime

I'll give 7/10 for Naruto
It is because it become very boring at the end
but it succeed in building hype like when Shipuuden series started, Kakashi's past arc, several characters' died (I still remember Jiraiya and Itachi though), interesting character (basically.. Itachi!), revelations of past, neat connection between current generation with past generation, and lastly... the romance (Naru-Hina is the best thing ever to happen)

Great memory for my childhood
Cheer for Kishimoto-sensei

[Casshern]

Up until the death of Sarutobi I'd give it an 8/10. Compared to how the whole thing ended, the first arc was kinda cute. The chuunin arc introduced some awesome new rivals and the Konoha siege was also a pretty good arc. Sarutobi vs Oro was a great fight. I remember we used to debate on the forum back then if Shukaku was a tailed beast or not.

From the time Sasuke left Konoha and until the end of the series I'd give it a 4/10. I didn't like how the abilities became ridiculous, starting with the sound 4 and culminating up to the VotE fight for part 1, and getting even worse in part 2. It was ok at first with just a couple of characters being monstrous like Oro and Gaara, but not when every character needed to be a freak to stay relevant. In part 2 it got even worse with ridiculously overpowered abilities like teleporting, immortality, unsealing stuff from the death god etc.

The first 2-3 arcs just gave me different expectations. They had some awesome abilities but they were still human and still fought "ninja-like". You couldn't really say that any of the akatsuki were "ninja-like", and that theme just carried on for the rest of the new powerful characters. Then there were too many characters that were outright stronger than the jinchuuriki, which kinda defeated the point of using the tailed beasts as weapons. Apart from 8 and 9 tails, the rest were pretty weak.

The motives and reasoning of some characters was just weird, and by some characters I mean every Uchiha, but especially Itachi, Sasuke, Madara and Obito. Explaining it off by saying the sharingan makes them crazy (or "sensitive" lol) was a pretty cheap cop-out imo. Their behaviour ruined the whole narrative.

The theme of 3 man teams - specifically male genius/male hothead/female healer - was done to death several times over. Also, lol at Neji being the only one of the original Konoha 12 to die, and I think Kishi had even said in an interview than none of them would die.

Overall my experience of Naruto after Sasuke left Konoha was waiting for a few cool fights while being bored to mildly annoyed with everything in between. I wish Kishi had stuck to his original ideas, that Sarutobi was the strongest hokage, that Sakura would be a genjutsu user etc.

Also, -3 points for everything to do with Obito. Jiraiya was pretty awesome though.

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Casshern

The theme of 3 man teams - specifically male genius/male hothead/female healer - was done to death several times over.

yea that got tiresome and sexist. i would have liked to see at least 1 prominent team with a male healer and a female hero (genius or hothead).

I wish Kishi had stuck to his original ideas, that Sarutobi was the strongest hokage

the sarutobi retcon was probably the worst of the series. his character went from amazing to nothing special. i always liked the theme that every generation was more powerful than the next. we saw hiruzen take on both previous hokages (and his protege) at once. it was all very impressive. then that theme was crumpled up and tossed in the trash.

that Sakura would be a genjutsu user

this is a complete WTF for me. How could Kishi miss such a golden opportunity to promote a main character? she could have become better at it than sasuke, thus making her relevant. i simply dont get why sakura's genjutsu talent was forgotten

[Magin]

I'd actually completely forgotten about Sakura being a potential genjutsu user. However, then Kishimoto would've had no idea what to do with Sasuke- after all, genjutsu is what the sharigan specializes in, and the Uchiha clan is the master of sharigan. And as I keep going on about, Kishimoto loves the Uchiha clan.

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Magin

However, then Kishimoto would've had no idea what to do with Sasuke- after all, genjutsu is what the sharigan specializes in, and the Uchiha clan is the master of sharigan

genjutsu isn't what the sharingan specializes in. just think about madara and obito. they hardly ever used it. kishi could have done exactly the same thing with sasuke as he is now. sasuke never specialized in genjutsu and only used short bursts of it. he is much more of a physical attacker than a mental fighter like itachi was. it would have made a nice symmetry if sakura could compete at itachi's level with genjutsu. it would have given sasuke a legitimate reason to appreciate and respect her

[Casshern]

Originally Posted by itachi-san314

this is a complete WTF for me. How could Kishi miss such a golden opportunity to promote a main character? she could have become better at it than sasuke, thus making her relevant. i simply dont get why sakura's genjutsu talent was forgotten

I think that genjutsu would have been extremely effective against anyone that didn't have a sharingan and wasn't a host, and Kishi just didn't want Sakura to be so prominent. I think that for the same reason he didn't give Tsukuyomi to Sasuke. It was a one-hit KO ability that would've trivialized a lot of Sasuke's fights.

Btw, just remembered Kabuto's bellysnake. Another -1 for what cannot be unseen.

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Casshern

I think that genjutsu would have been extremely effective against anyone that didn't have a sharingan and wasn't a host

not necessarily. you can break out of it with force and extra bodies/tricks so akatsuki level opponents wouldn't be held in it for very long aside from hot-heads like deidara and hidan (although deidara developed a counter-measure for it)

Kishi just didn't want Sakura to be so prominent.

i think he did want her to be prominent. she had significant panel-time and in the last arc she was in the team 7 reunion and in the final fight along side naruto, sasuke and kakashi. kishi just failed at developing her character well.

Btw, just remembered Kabuto's bellysnake. Another -1 for what cannot be unseen.

oh god. could have done without that as well. i liked those episodes a lot in the show, but i feel like they are tainted because of kabuto's grossness

[Magin]

Originally Posted by itachi-san314

genjutsu isn't what the sharingan specializes in. just think about madara and obito. they hardly ever used it.

Admittedly, Obito pretty much used his teleportation trick... but Madara did use his eyes to unleash the Infinite Tsukuyomi. However, if I think about it, the real reason why Sakura got left by the wayside was because Kishimoto turned this manga into Naruto vs. Sasuke, and everything they did to power up and beat the other. Outside of the fight vs. Kaguya, the last time Sakura was truly relevant was against Sasori. This was also before they had met up with Sasuke again. Once they met up with Sasuke, as I said before, the whole manga became Naruto vs. Sasuke. Though, the Pain arc and trianing involved with that was a nice break, and probably why I enjoyed it so much- taking the spotlight off what i still consider to be a poorly-done attempt at rivalry

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Magin

Madara did use his eyes to unleash the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

pretty sure he didn't

madara using genjutsu was probably about 1-5% of what he did in the story.

[Alena_92]

Originally Posted by itachi-san314

pretty sure he didn't

madara using genjutsu was probably about 1-5% of what he did in the story.

Madara was freaking awesome. He has EMS that enables him to use susanoo that makes him invulnerable thus he can fight non stop and can never be harm. so using genjutsu in the fight will look pretty lame for him considering that his rival Hashirama is more of taijutsu and ninjutsu fighter and a freaking awesome shinobi also. Plus he awakens the rinnegan which is God like power what else can you ask for. though he used genjutsu for Kurama before to have him cooperate and use him in summoning jutsu but other than that. I think Madara has this psycho personality to show off and brag his power thus makes use of big crazy ninjutsu.

Oh, i remember before that genjutsu ability is more suited for intelligent/genius type of people that's why Jiraiya once told NAruto he can never be genjutsu user. so i was thinking Madara is not a genius type..well we could consider the childhood history of Madara and Hashirama i dont know if i make sense here

[itachi-san314]

madara was a genius. arguably the biggest genius of the series.

also, i never said he didn't use genjutsu. i said he rarely used it and that he didn't use his eyes to make IT. IIRC IT was caused by the tree of life flower blooming and reflecting off the moon.

edit: it's also the third eye of the juubi jinchuuirki, which is obviously a pretty specific case

[Artimus_Prime]

Originally Posted by itachi-san314

this is a complete WTF for me. How could Kishi miss such a golden opportunity to promote a main character? she could have become better at it than sasuke, thus making her relevant. i simply dont get why sakura's genjutsu talent was forgotten

ill go look for myself at some point, but anyone knows or can reference this in the manga…that sakura had a talent for genjutsu…that will be helpful. from my recollection kakashi mentions that she has excellent chakra control (during the bridge/haku arc), much better than her teammates. this particular theme wasn't abandoned as that seal of hers is pretty top tier in terms of chakra control and according to kishi allowed her to catch up to naruto and sasuke (pre 6 path power of course)

Originally Posted by itachi-san314

also, i never said he didn't use genjutsu. i said he rarely used it and that he didn't use his eyes to make IT. IIRC IT was caused by the tree of life flower blooming and reflecting off the moon.

edit: it's also the third eye of the juubi jinchuuirki, which is obviously a pretty specific case

yeah he got raikage with a genjutsu during the 5 kage fight, i think

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Artimus_Prime

ill go look for myself at some point, but anyone knows or can reference this in the manga…that sakura had a talent for genjutsu…

Spoiler for in the start of shippuden:

i'm sure it's said in part 1 as well but i dont feel like finding it

yeah he got raikage with a genjutsu during the 5 kage fight, i think

sure. i keep saying he used genjutsu, but that's hardly his specialty. i'm confident that if you add up everything madara did in the manga, genjutsu would wind up somewhere around 5% of the techniques he used.

[LadyRelena]

-Hinata could have been Tsunade's apprentice
-Medical ninjutsu suits her kind demeanor
-She was already making medicine, so she had affinity for it
-She could've been Tsunade's kind surrogate daughter and learned more confidence
-Super strength + gentle fist = 1 touch 1 kill
-Kurenai could've taught Sakura genjutsu

I put Naruto as below average because there were some great ideas and awesome jutsus but the execution of said ideas and blatant WTF moments (like Pains mass resurrection) just ruined it and made the manga as a whole completely wasted potential.

[akumaten]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I'm giving it a 7/10 including an extra point for the nostalgia factor. Overall, Naruto really wasn't a very good shounen manga.

Part 1 was excellent and easily outshined a lot of other shounen manga. Although it peaked very early with the Zabuza arc (it absolutely blew me away the first time I watched it ten years ago, and it was most likely the arc that got me back into anime and manga), the rest of part 1 didn't let up all that much and was full of powerful moments. It had a great cast filled with endearing characters, a marvelous world begging to be explored further, amazing battles that relied quite a bit on strategy, and emotional moments. I remember it very fondly and I'd love to read/watch it again if I manage to find the time. I would have remembered Naruto as a great manga, near perfect in fact, if it had ended there. Unfortunately, there was still about 2/3 of the manga left.

Part 2 is almost the polar opposite of part 1. It represents everything that is bad in battle shounen. The previous cast we came to know and love during part 1 was forgotten (save for Shikamaru, none of the kids got the chance to truly shine and were in fact completely irrelevant), the big villain of part 1 got treated like garbage and tossed aside, power levels increased immensely until they reached a ridiculous level, and characters were written horribly. What I particularly disliked is that part 2 shat on part 1's philosophy. That talk about hard work being able to surpass genius and inherited talent, and the one about being able to change your fate? Complete bullshit. Naruto turned out to have inherited absurdly strong chakra from his mother, he was foretold to be Ninja Jesus by frogs, AND he also turned out to be the reincarnation of the son of God. That's not to say Naruto never needed to work to get where he is now, but man, he sure received a lot of nice gifts at birth. Thankfully, there were still characters like Guy and Lee in the manga, but the main character should have been the one to embody this message. I feel the story would have been a lot more meaningful if Naruto had truly been born a loser who eventually managed to rise up to very top of the world thanks to his perseverance. That's what really attracted me to the manga in the first place, and what made Naruto different from a lot of protagonists. Being special thanks to Kyuubi -which was more of a curse than a bane for Naruto initially- should have been more enough. I really don't get why Kishimoto felt the need to include all that.

When I think about it, the only arc I really liked in part 2 was the Pain arc, but then Kishimoto just had to end it in the worst way possible. That's the point I truly gave up on Naruto ever returning to its former greatness. Everything that followed was absolutely horrible. Sasuke's character became a caricature, I couldn't take him seriously after he went full DARKNESS. The war, which should have been the climax of the series, was handled in the worst way possible. It was the perfect opportunity to bring the old characters from part 1 back into the spotlight, but they were ignored once again. It dragged on for ages and ages, focusing on fights nobody gave a damn about. The reveal of Tobi's identity, which was hyped to be massive, turned out to be the most predictable twist of all time (people called it the moment Tobi got introduced, like 8 years before) and destroyed what was once an intriguing and charismatic villain and the best antagonist Kishimoto had created in part 2. I stopped caring after that and only kept reading to find out how it would end. I was actually rather satisfied with the actual ending save for the fact it was rushed and plenty of characters were forgotten, but I've gotten used to that.

I could expand on this even more but there's really no point. I already spent too much time writing this.

If I had to rate the parts individually: 9/10 for part 1, 4/10 for part 2. If I had to sum up the manga in two words: wasted potential.

This dude gets it. SO FUCKING HARD!!!

I did not want to hate this series, Kishimoto made me hate the timeskip.
The themes of hardwork was destroyed for destiny crap.
Team 7's relationship, sans Kakashi, was truly the most toxic thing I have ever witnessed in fiction.
The motivations of Obito was disgusting
and it was non-consequential.

Part I gets a 6/10, the "Rescue Sasuke" arc ruined it.
Part II gets a 1/10, for the obvious reasons

[Alena_92]

Originally Posted by LadyRelena

-Hinata could have been Tsunade's apprentice
-Medical ninjutsu suits her kind demeanor
-She was already making medicine, so she had affinity for it
-She could've been Tsunade's kind surrogate daughter and learned more confidence
-Super strength + gentle fist = 1 touch 1 kill
-Kurenai could've taught Sakura genjutsu

I put Naruto as below average because there were some great ideas and awesome jutsus but the execution of said ideas and blatant WTF moments (like Pains mass resurrection) just ruined it and made the manga as a whole completely wasted potential.

I agree with your conclusion..that should be ideal since Hinata has very good chakra control due to Hyuga jyuken technique..but i think kishi sticks with the thought that Sakura should be trained by one of the sanin.. given that Naruto were trained by Jiraiya and Sasuke is with Orochimaru..Sakura would be left out if she will be trained by non class S ninja

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by akumaten

Part I gets a 6/10, the "Rescue Sasuke" arc ruined it.

what don't you like about it in particular? i'm curious because that was probably my favorite arc in the story. it's at least tied for favorite with a couple others for me. the only thing i didn't like was sasuke's curse seal release design

[akumaten]

Originally Posted by itachi-san314

what don't you like about it in particular? i'm curious because that was probably my favorite arc in the story. it's at least tied for favorite with a couple others for me. the only thing i didn't like was sasuke's curse seal release design

I would say Sakura was ruined, but she already terrible. She was willing to become a traitor for a boy that didn't even like her and telling Naruto to "save her boyfriend".
After saying that he didn't want to see his comrades falling before him in the Sand war arc, that was ruined for Sasuke falling into vengeance
Naruto get ruined for trying to get Sasuke back instead on improving his own standing of trying to be a Hokage and relying on the Kyubi
It wasn't even a rescue. Sasuke wanted to leave to be with a literal snake in the grass, Orochmaru. The guy who almost killed him with that seal and got the 3rd Hokage killed.
The only thing I liked about it was Shikamaru proving that he is an effective Chunin and leader.

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by akumaten

I would say Sakura was ruined, but she already terrible.

yea, this certainly wasn't the first or defining moment of her awfulness. her character was always pretty awful

After saying that he didn't want to see his comrades falling before him in the Sand war arc, that was ruined for Sasuke falling into vengeance

i disagree here. sasuke's character developed from the scene you're talking about. after proving useless against itachi, seeing naruto's rasengan do more damage than his chidori and getting stomped by the sound 4, sasuke came to the pretty logical conclusion that he wasn't advancing fast enough in the leaf village to reach his goal of beating itachi

Naruto get ruined for trying to get Sasuke back instead on improving his own standing of trying to be a Hokage and relying on the Kyubi

that's sasuke's argument when they meet post timeskip. i can see it both ways since naruto's counter was that someone who can't save their best friend shouldn't be able to be hokage in the first place

It wasn't even a rescue. Sasuke wanted to leave to be with a literal snake in the grass, Orochmaru. The guy who almost killed him with that seal and got the 3rd Hokage killed.

it was a failed rescue which i actually love. i find it boring when the heroes always win and get their way. i always expected and wanted naruto to win in the end, but i would have actually liked to see him fail more along the way like he did in this arc. and again, it was sasuke's character arc that he gave up caring about the leaf. itachi basically broke his brain with tsukiyomi and turned him almost entirely evil

The only thing I liked about it was Shikamaru proving that he is an effective Chunin and leader.

i liked shikamaru's role a lot as well. it was very well written how each member had to make certain sacrifices. another thing i disliked though (especially in retrospect) was neji and chouji being brought back. their deaths would have been epic and memorable as opposed to their uselessness in part 2

[Levani]

i disliked though (especially in retrospect) was neji and chouji being brought back. their deaths would have been epic and memorable as opposed to their uselessness in part 2

I second this. If Kishi was planning to kill Neji all along, he should have done it in part 1, where it would have been far more emotional. Dying for Naruto's cause about Sasuke is bound to create some interesting tension between Konoha 11 and would create opportunities for character development. It sucks so much that they're side-lined in Shippuden when they were such major characters.