Hello and Welcome to the First Installment In my Re-Read/Review of Naruto!
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For those who read my previous thread you should know what's up here, but for those who haven't here's the gist of it: In an attempt to recapture my love for this manga, I'm re-reading it from the ground up and I'm going to share the experience here in the form of chapter discussions for any of you interested in reading my thoughts and/or perhaps even joining me on this endeavor. I'm going to publish these reviews once I've finished reading/writing my thoughts for the entire arc—this week's arc being the Introduction Arc. Below you'll find the discussion material broken down into three categories for you convenience: Individual Chapter Discussions, Overall Arc Thoughts, and Arc High/Low Points — Clicking on the chapter title within the Individual Chapter Discussions section will open the corresponding chapter if you would like to follow along with the reading and/or participate in the discussion of individual chapters.
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DISCLAIMER
I'm attempting to read/share my thoughts on these chapters as if I were reading them with a fresh set of eyes. To put it in other words, I'm going to attempt to restrain from comparing and/or mentioning future arcs as I that isn't exactly the point of this little journey of mine. Likewise, if any of you would like to comment or participate in the discussion of the arc or any of it's chapters, I would appreciate it if you try to adopt a similar mindset (to a certain extent at least) so that these chapters can be appreciated as they are and are not potentially overshadowed by others or otherwise devolve into vs debates/character bashing.DISCLAIMER
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--Individual Chapter Discussions--
--Overall Arc Thoughts--
--Arc High / Low Points--
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--Individual Chapter Discussions--
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And so, our journey begins again. Reading this chapter again on its own, it still remains an excellent opening chapter overall but I do feel it shows its age, narratively speaking that is. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m going to do my best to distance myself from the knowledge I have of future plotlines when it comes to these chapters and try my best to experience the story with as fresh eyes as I can convince myself. However, being that this is the first real chapter of the manga and I have yet to continue to Chapter 2 as of writing this, I feel I have to make a small exception to that rule to express my opinion of this chapter and to point a few things out.
While again this chapter remains a very strong first chapter, while I was reading the chapter it just felt like ANOTHER pilot chapter. To elaborate on that, this chapter feels so disjointed from even the events immediately about to follow that the chapter almost has that essence of being a self-contained story much like a pilot chapter would be. Now I understand that obviously Kishimoto hadn’t planned much out at this point; as a matter of fact, it’s almost common knowledge at this point that Kishimoto had so little planned out (in regards to the story) in the first few chapters that his editor was the one who encouraged Kishimoto to create the character of Sasuke so that Naruto had a rival personality to conflict with. So again I certainly am not saying this chapter needed to start any major arc right off the bat or anything, but given the foundation that this chapter establishes (Hokage, Shinobi, some type of school system, etc.) I feel this chapter should have been refocused a little to either give us more context of this interesting new world, or had simply dialed in on a few things. Which brings me to…
The pacing. To be frank, I found the pacing of this chapter to be far too rushed. Again, we’re introduced to all this bizarre and interesting new world but we aren’t given the proper time to stop and smell the roses so to speak. I think the first dozen or so pages set a good pace, it slowly introduces us to the setting and this bratty main character who we (the reader) may or may not yet have found a reason to get attached to. We find something small to possibly get attached to in the form of this bond between Naruto and Iruka but as soon as that dynamic is teased we’re off to the races and the next thing we know Iruka is tanking hits for the little shithead. This is largely why I felt this resembled more of another pilot chapter, for in a stand-alone chapter such as a pilot obviously you only get one-shot so you need to cut some corners like that. But seeing as this had already made it past that stage, I think taking a little more time to build up Naruto and Iruka’s characters and their bond first would have been a lot more effective – even if that meant essentially splitting the first chapter into several chapters and beefing them up with more character moments and dipping our feet in a little into the world.
Anyway, sorry if it sounded like I just hate the first chapter but again since at the time of writing this I have yet to read the next chapters I don’t have much to reflect on except for the chapter itself.
While again this chapter remains a very strong first chapter, while I was reading the chapter it just felt like ANOTHER pilot chapter. To elaborate on that, this chapter feels so disjointed from even the events immediately about to follow that the chapter almost has that essence of being a self-contained story much like a pilot chapter would be. Now I understand that obviously Kishimoto hadn’t planned much out at this point; as a matter of fact, it’s almost common knowledge at this point that Kishimoto had so little planned out (in regards to the story) in the first few chapters that his editor was the one who encouraged Kishimoto to create the character of Sasuke so that Naruto had a rival personality to conflict with. So again I certainly am not saying this chapter needed to start any major arc right off the bat or anything, but given the foundation that this chapter establishes (Hokage, Shinobi, some type of school system, etc.) I feel this chapter should have been refocused a little to either give us more context of this interesting new world, or had simply dialed in on a few things. Which brings me to…
The pacing. To be frank, I found the pacing of this chapter to be far too rushed. Again, we’re introduced to all this bizarre and interesting new world but we aren’t given the proper time to stop and smell the roses so to speak. I think the first dozen or so pages set a good pace, it slowly introduces us to the setting and this bratty main character who we (the reader) may or may not yet have found a reason to get attached to. We find something small to possibly get attached to in the form of this bond between Naruto and Iruka but as soon as that dynamic is teased we’re off to the races and the next thing we know Iruka is tanking hits for the little shithead. This is largely why I felt this resembled more of another pilot chapter, for in a stand-alone chapter such as a pilot obviously you only get one-shot so you need to cut some corners like that. But seeing as this had already made it past that stage, I think taking a little more time to build up Naruto and Iruka’s characters and their bond first would have been a lot more effective – even if that meant essentially splitting the first chapter into several chapters and beefing them up with more character moments and dipping our feet in a little into the world.
Anyway, sorry if it sounded like I just hate the first chapter but again since at the time of writing this I have yet to read the next chapters I don’t have much to reflect on except for the chapter itself.
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This chapter I think solidifies what I was talking about in my review of Ch.1 – how that chapter felt more like a pilot and less of an opening chapter – because while this chapter does reference the previous chapter once or twice, this chapter doesn’t exactly feel like a continuation. In the first panel of the chapter, we get a proper introduction to the Hidden Leaf Village, a pseudo-reintroduction to Naruto, and later on the Hokage recaps to Iruka Naruto’s past and his social status in the Village. I’m not going to hold any of this against the chapter, I just find it a little bizarre.
Anyway, so essentially the only thing that happens in the chapter is we’re introduced to Konohamaru and his blossoming friendship/rivalry with Naruto. While on paper not a lot happens, this was an overall enjoyable character chapter. I criticized the pacing of Ch.1 and how I thought they should have slowed down instead of ramping up when Mizuki got involved, and so I’m glad that in this chapter the pacing is a lot better (granted that may be due to the fact that nothing really happens). Being that this chapter is half the length of Ch.1, there isn’t nearly as much panel time for Naruto and Konohamaru as Naruto and Iruka had in Ch.1 yet for some reason Naruto and Konohamaru’s bond/dynamic in this chapter felt more genuine than Naruto and Iruka’s last chapter. It’s a shame really that this rivalry feels so organic to their characters, as it would have been interesting to see where that dynamic would have gone had Kishimoto not been encouraged by his editor to create a certain someone…
It’s a fine, small chapter that’s incredibly lighthearted compared to the previous chapter and while it doesn’t really offer any kind of indicator/progression of the plot, it does continue to build and tease us to this world character by character.
Anyway, so essentially the only thing that happens in the chapter is we’re introduced to Konohamaru and his blossoming friendship/rivalry with Naruto. While on paper not a lot happens, this was an overall enjoyable character chapter. I criticized the pacing of Ch.1 and how I thought they should have slowed down instead of ramping up when Mizuki got involved, and so I’m glad that in this chapter the pacing is a lot better (granted that may be due to the fact that nothing really happens). Being that this chapter is half the length of Ch.1, there isn’t nearly as much panel time for Naruto and Konohamaru as Naruto and Iruka had in Ch.1 yet for some reason Naruto and Konohamaru’s bond/dynamic in this chapter felt more genuine than Naruto and Iruka’s last chapter. It’s a shame really that this rivalry feels so organic to their characters, as it would have been interesting to see where that dynamic would have gone had Kishimoto not been encouraged by his editor to create a certain someone…
It’s a fine, small chapter that’s incredibly lighthearted compared to the previous chapter and while it doesn’t really offer any kind of indicator/progression of the plot, it does continue to build and tease us to this world character by character.
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This chapter certainly made much more of a visually drastic shift from the previous couple chapters than I remembered—then again, when I think of Naruto this is more in line of what I’m thinking of so I suppose it makes sense that I wouldn’t recall this kind of shift. Suddenly Naruto’s classroom is filled with background characters that are given far more personality than any background characters in previous chapters. Character designs, specifically their outfits, are also drastically different from what we’ve seen previously; From the moment we see Naruto in his iconic Leaf Headband at the beginning of the chapter, it’s like we’ve now stepping into a whole new world than we were in previously—If you think I’m exaggerating, then I highly encourage you to look at some of the panels in this chapter with Naruto sitting by his classmates and compare them to either Ch.1 or Ch.2. Now this new design shift is where the manga really begins to embrace the Ninja/Fantasy setting and art style, so while it is a jarring shift it will remain consistent throughout the remainder of the manga. And to very briefly mention the future manga, considering the elements introduced later I’m glad they went with this style here rather than continuing with the designs of previous chapters.
We’re introduced to two of Naruto’s classmates: Sakura, whom Naruto has a crush on, and Sasuke whom Sakura has a crush on and Naruto despises. We’re also introduced to the concept of 3-man-teams and the concept of Shinobi ranks. This chapter is titled “Sasuke Uchiha”, and while the chapter does serve as a good set-up for his character and manages to give him a little more depth/mystery than your average side-character I think this chapter would have been more appropriately titled “Team 7” as the chapter is more focused on how Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke interact with each other rather than solely focused on any one of them. The introduction of these characters does also introduce an unintentional plot inconsistency though in the way that previously it was established that Naruto is pretty much hated by most (if not all) the adults in the village and as a result all of their kids (Naruto’s classmates included) act biasedly/negatively against Naruto. I didn’t really feel like that was the case from what was shown in this chapter though, Sakura treats him pretty poorly but no one else seems to mind him being around. It’s an incredibly minor inconsistency, it was just something I noticed and wanted to point out is all.
We’re introduced to two of Naruto’s classmates: Sakura, whom Naruto has a crush on, and Sasuke whom Sakura has a crush on and Naruto despises. We’re also introduced to the concept of 3-man-teams and the concept of Shinobi ranks. This chapter is titled “Sasuke Uchiha”, and while the chapter does serve as a good set-up for his character and manages to give him a little more depth/mystery than your average side-character I think this chapter would have been more appropriately titled “Team 7” as the chapter is more focused on how Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke interact with each other rather than solely focused on any one of them. The introduction of these characters does also introduce an unintentional plot inconsistency though in the way that previously it was established that Naruto is pretty much hated by most (if not all) the adults in the village and as a result all of their kids (Naruto’s classmates included) act biasedly/negatively against Naruto. I didn’t really feel like that was the case from what was shown in this chapter though, Sakura treats him pretty poorly but no one else seems to mind him being around. It’s an incredibly minor inconsistency, it was just something I noticed and wanted to point out is all.
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Now that the manga has finished working out and finalizing the style and tone it wants to continue with, this is the chapter where we begin to see some plot progression. Similar to Ch.2, on paper not much happens in this chapter as it continues the same slow pace with a focus on building up Team 7’s characters but what distinguishes this from previous chapters is that, rather than featuring a self-contained sub-plot that is resolved by the end, this is the first chapter in the manga to utilize a multi-chapter narrative.
I think this chapter also does a fantastic job at establishing a certain level of risk for these characters, and does so in a very intelligent manor. We’re introduced to Kakashi by him falling for Naruto’s juvenile prank, something that has Sasuke mentally question Kakashi as a Jounin—likewise, the reader gets the same impression initially. A little later on Kakashi informs them that just because they graduated doesn’t mean they are Genin yet and that only 1/3 of the graduates will actually be selected—this establishes that the characters are potentially at stake, but the reader’s intimidation of Kakashi himself at this point is likely being negated by the way he was introduced as well as how his personality is currently being portrayed. Finally, towards the end of the chapter Kakashi explains the bell exercise and how one of them is guaranteed to automatically fail as there are only two bells and three of them; Naruto still claims that obtaining a bell will be easy since Kakashi fell for his prank earlier, but almost immediately Kakashi shows exactly how big the skill/power gap is between the three of them and him.
This was an incredibly effective reveal on several factors as right from the start of the chapter the reader has been lead to believe that perhaps just maybe these characters could best Kakashi. But with one swift motion Kakashi demonstrated to the characters they were hopeless in this situation, and by extension demonstrated to the reader both the difference between a Genin and a Jounin level Shinobi as well as highlighted and heightened the risk for these characters. Kishimoto could have shown Kakashi’s skill level just as effectively the exact same way at the end of the chapter, but the minor inclusion of Naruto’s prank and how it was handled throughout the chapter made the reveal that much more impactful. Good stuff.
I think this chapter also does a fantastic job at establishing a certain level of risk for these characters, and does so in a very intelligent manor. We’re introduced to Kakashi by him falling for Naruto’s juvenile prank, something that has Sasuke mentally question Kakashi as a Jounin—likewise, the reader gets the same impression initially. A little later on Kakashi informs them that just because they graduated doesn’t mean they are Genin yet and that only 1/3 of the graduates will actually be selected—this establishes that the characters are potentially at stake, but the reader’s intimidation of Kakashi himself at this point is likely being negated by the way he was introduced as well as how his personality is currently being portrayed. Finally, towards the end of the chapter Kakashi explains the bell exercise and how one of them is guaranteed to automatically fail as there are only two bells and three of them; Naruto still claims that obtaining a bell will be easy since Kakashi fell for his prank earlier, but almost immediately Kakashi shows exactly how big the skill/power gap is between the three of them and him.
This was an incredibly effective reveal on several factors as right from the start of the chapter the reader has been lead to believe that perhaps just maybe these characters could best Kakashi. But with one swift motion Kakashi demonstrated to the characters they were hopeless in this situation, and by extension demonstrated to the reader both the difference between a Genin and a Jounin level Shinobi as well as highlighted and heightened the risk for these characters. Kishimoto could have shown Kakashi’s skill level just as effectively the exact same way at the end of the chapter, but the minor inclusion of Naruto’s prank and how it was handled throughout the chapter made the reveal that much more impactful. Good stuff.
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This chapter flies by quite quickly as nearly the entire chapter is one long fight scene, and right away Kishimoto demonstrates the brilliant way he animates his panels. There have been fights before in the manga, but this is the first time we’ve seen a fight drawn for an extended amount of time and one that features Taijutsu exclusively and it needs to be noted at just how movement is personified here along with how every punch and kick has some weight to them.
Besides how easy it is to read/understand the fight, there isn’t a whole lot to talk about since it is almost entirely just a fight scene. Kakashi once again brings his dry, and sometimes quirky, sense of comedic mockery to the chapter as Naruto attempts to duke it out with him, which we know from last chapter just isn’t going to happen. Naruto does actually manage to surprise Kakashi by flanking him with a shadow clone which if nothing else showed that, despite being a complete hothead/idiot, Naruto is capable of coming up with good strategies while in the middle of a fight. We also get introduced to arguably the most underrated technique of the manga, A 1000 Years of Pain.
Besides how easy it is to read/understand the fight, there isn’t a whole lot to talk about since it is almost entirely just a fight scene. Kakashi once again brings his dry, and sometimes quirky, sense of comedic mockery to the chapter as Naruto attempts to duke it out with him, which we know from last chapter just isn’t going to happen. Naruto does actually manage to surprise Kakashi by flanking him with a shadow clone which if nothing else showed that, despite being a complete hothead/idiot, Naruto is capable of coming up with good strategies while in the middle of a fight. We also get introduced to arguably the most underrated technique of the manga, A 1000 Years of Pain.
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A healthy blend of action and brilliant comedy à la Kakashi. Yeah, honestly that’s more or less all I have to say for this chapter—Kakashi steals the show as he just continues to f*ck with everyone, specifically Naruto and Sakura, in his own special and hilarious way here. Probably the only thing of importance in the chapter is the introduction of Genjutsu.
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This chapter is for the most part rather similar to Ch.5 as it features a 1v1 between Sasuke and Kakashi. The end result is the same with Kakashi trolling Sasuke, though the fight definitely shows even the skill difference between Sasuke and Naruto/Sakura at this point in just about every aspect. Sasuke had a trap already set up before their fight, showing that he’s strategic and is capable of executing his strategies. When he got close enough to Kakashi for Taijutsu, Sasuke was shown to be distinctly more capable than the others and even more so when he was able to flip around in the air throwing kicks and punches strategically to force Kakashi into a position where he could grab Kakashi's balls ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). But then he also completely surpassed Kakashi’s expectations when he used the Fireball Jutsu, which Kakashi claimed a Genin shouldn’t be able to have enough chakra to use.
Besides Sasuke and Kakashi’s fight, I think by this chapter that you can see some very clear cracks in how Kishimoto wrote Sakura’s character. These characters have just been introduced and somehow Sakura is already being portrayed as dead weight—I mean she said it herself when Kakashi led them to believe they passed, “Huh? All I did was pass out… was that enough?”. It would be one thing if Kakashi utterly demolished all three of them like he did to Sakura and we saw all three of them gradually improve from the bottom of the barrel upwards, but that just isn’t the case here. There is still plenty of time for her to improve, but this is a very rocky introduction to her character.
Besides Sasuke and Kakashi’s fight, I think by this chapter that you can see some very clear cracks in how Kishimoto wrote Sakura’s character. These characters have just been introduced and somehow Sakura is already being portrayed as dead weight—I mean she said it herself when Kakashi led them to believe they passed, “Huh? All I did was pass out… was that enough?”. It would be one thing if Kakashi utterly demolished all three of them like he did to Sakura and we saw all three of them gradually improve from the bottom of the barrel upwards, but that just isn’t the case here. There is still plenty of time for her to improve, but this is a very rocky introduction to her character.
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This chapter concludes the bell test, as well as the unofficial Introductory Arc, and serves as an excellent example of how to end a story arc. With all the action out of the way and resolved, this chapter instead spends its entire length focused on the characters – even going as far as being set almost entirely in one location. The chapter uses the previous chapters as the setup, lesson, and growth for this entire arc and by the end of the chapter has had Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura grow as a team. Not much else to it than that really.
--Overall Arc Thoughts--
With a length of only 8 Chapters the beginning of this "arc" is definitely eclipsed by the remaining majority of the chapters here, but once the arc gets into its groove it really knows how to keep the reader interested with a great blend of action, humor, and character interaction. For an arc so short and with a primary motive of introducing the reader to the setting and characters, the arc surprisingly manages to accomplish what any well-written story/character arc should do: develop the characters. At the start of the arc (or rather when we're introduced to Sasuke and Sakura) we see the initial dynamic between Team 7 and by the end of the arc we've already seen them learn and grow as a team. The arc would have been perfectly fine by simply introducing the reader to the world, but the fact that it manages to develop Team 7 almost immediately after introducing us to them is quite impressive.
I do find something bizarre however, and that can simply be summarized as Konohamaru. I mentioned in the Ch.2 discussion above that the rivalry between Naruto and Konohamaru felt more organic and earned, so it's a bit strange that his character was essentially thrown away after the one chapter he was introduced in this arc. Now Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry hasn't quite been introduced yet, but I feel it more appropriate to mention now rather than bring it up in another arc or two—it's practically common knowledge at this point that Kishimoto was encouraged by his editor to create a rivaling character for Naruto to butt-heads with, which is the sole reason why Sasuke was created in the first place. But I don't understand why Kishimoto felt the need to create an entirely new character when Konohamaru seemed like he could have fit the bill just fine. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy what Sasuke brought to the manga but to my memory his initial relationship with Naruto bordered on the edge of convenience - but that is a judgement I reserve until future arcs.
I do find something bizarre however, and that can simply be summarized as Konohamaru. I mentioned in the Ch.2 discussion above that the rivalry between Naruto and Konohamaru felt more organic and earned, so it's a bit strange that his character was essentially thrown away after the one chapter he was introduced in this arc. Now Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry hasn't quite been introduced yet, but I feel it more appropriate to mention now rather than bring it up in another arc or two—it's practically common knowledge at this point that Kishimoto was encouraged by his editor to create a rivaling character for Naruto to butt-heads with, which is the sole reason why Sasuke was created in the first place. But I don't understand why Kishimoto felt the need to create an entirely new character when Konohamaru seemed like he could have fit the bill just fine. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy what Sasuke brought to the manga but to my memory his initial relationship with Naruto bordered on the edge of convenience - but that is a judgement I reserve until future arcs.
--Arc High / Low Points--
High Points
* Sexy Jutsu/Harem Jutsu ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
* Kakashi using 1000 Years of Pain
* Sasuke vs Kakashi
Highest High — Kakashi (all inclusive)
Low Points
* The love triangle within Team 7
* Sasuke's not so subtle reminders that he must kill "a certain man"
Lowest Low — Sakura during the bell test
* Sexy Jutsu/Harem Jutsu ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
* Kakashi using 1000 Years of Pain
* Sasuke vs Kakashi
Highest High — Kakashi (all inclusive)
Low Points
* The love triangle within Team 7
* Sasuke's not so subtle reminders that he must kill "a certain man"
Lowest Low — Sakura during the bell test
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I'm excited to keep doing these, even if no one else ends up caring much about them. If you don't necessarily want to participate in the discussion of the arc/chapters, but perhaps have feedback on the format I used for this - or any other type of feedback - feel free to let me know here. I'm kind of liking the format here, as it seems to keep everything nice and clean without compromising on the quantity of the content. Going forward, as these arcs continue to get lengthier and lengthier (looking at you mother f*cking war arc) I may decide to change how I handle discussing individual chapters and possibly might just cut them altogether in favor of a single in-depth summary/discussion of the arc from start to finish. I'm not really sure yet, but as of right now I plan on continuing with discussing the individual chapters, as I did enjoy doing so with this arc. I did however discover with this arc that reading even just these 8 chapters and writing all of this together took longer than I expected, so while I previously thought I could pump these out every other day or so I may actually release these every week. I'll figure that out for sure by the time I publish the next arc, so until then let me know how this goes if anyone bothers with it at all lmao
