"Deep within the Forest of Death-the site of the second stage of the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams-Naruto, Sasuke -and Sakura are still reeling from Orochimaru's attack... and now they must battle this unrelenting monster's minions, the mysterious Sound Ninja. As the fight rages on, Sasuke struggles with the strange force growing inside of him-spreading like an infection from the curse-mark Orochimaru burned into his neck-that could leave him dead...or send him on a bloodthirsty quest for power. And time is running out for the student ninja to collect the scrolls they need to pass the test!"
Plot & Characterisation
Naruto is officially my first manga addiction. Really, now that I think about it, it’s my only manga addiction. There’s other series that are a pleasant surprise when a new volume is out, or I read the weekly releases on Love Manga and decide I’ll pick up them when I’m next in Forbidden Planet, but Naruto is probably the only series I anticipate. Yet all this is mildly confusing when you consider, by the magic of scanslations, that I’m about a week behind the Japanese in terms of storyline; so by rights all this English release stuff should be old hat and uninteresting. By the simple fact that it isn’t, that I remained excited and entertained throughout my ‘re-read’ (granted it’s been about three years since I’ve read these chapters) serves as a testament to Naruto’s skill in creating a completely accessible world full of endearing and interesting characters that both have a strong measure of depth without being intense or emotionally exhaustive, and thus entirely re-readable and even rewardingly so. Naruto seems, to me at least, charm/intelligence/fun personified in comic form and I love it to bits. But I promise I won't go all gushy fanboy on you. My Professional Review Hat is firmly on.
In many ways Masashi Kishimoto has mastered the formula Akira Toriyama developed with Dragonball in regards to battle sequences that extend across numerous chapters. Toriyama was pretty successful in this with the Dragonball manga (let’s not talk about the anime) but Kishimoto exceeds him with two simple but fundamental progressions: variety and imagination. Rather than just adding a new move into each fight and then relying on the ultimate special move BUT WITH MORE EXTREME POWER (Kamehameha, anyone?) Kishimoto allows for each of his characters, regardless of importance, to have their own special techniques and abilities that are often utilised creatively and demonstrated in a fight. In this volume we’re introduced to a large number of the supporting cast and their respective abilities (hindsight suggests this is done for the Third Test that’s coming up in the following volumes) while the main plot maintains its exciting pace and focus.
Sakura finally gets a chance to rest from her arse kicking moment in the previous volume, allowing fan favourites Choji, Shikamaru and (not-so-much fan favourite) Ino to show us their stuff with exciting and hilarious results. We also learn a number of interesting plot points regarding Sasuke’s curse that will foreshadow key events to come, and also that he just looks damn cool when it’s at full-effect. Gaara, a very successful demonstration of an emotionless psychopath, gets a proper introduction with the appropriate bloodshed. The enigmatic Kubuto shows up again to guide our three protagonists to success in regard to the Second Test, but also reveals a startling allegiance.
All and all we gain a lot of useful information this volume while still retaining its grip until the inevitable cliffhanger. The amount of brutal violence seemed a lot higher than usual, though it never felt unnecessary and elevated the tension appropriately.
Artwork
I was completely surprised to read the introduction to this volume from Kishimoto, where he explains that Naruto’s artwork is produced entirely on a computer using software that manipulates images and utilises motion capture for action sequences. I almost thought it could’ve been a joke, an April Fools or something similar, but after considering the strict weekly deadlines most mangakas have to cope with and modern technology, it could easily be true. I always just assumed that Kishimoto had a team of people aiding him with backgrounds and so on to help meet deadlines. It was certainly quite a shock to learn about this - almost to the point where it bothered me a little.
Naruto’s artwork has always been exceptionally designed and well realised, and obviously a computer can’t design anything from thin air and Kishimoto deserves praise for what he’s accomplished, but does this ultimately undermine his ability as a sequential artist? I don’t know to be honest. I would never criticise a Pixar film for being a fake cartoon or a cop-out because it was produced using computers, and I think this line of thinking needs to be applied to Naruto as well. But I can’t deny that now, when I see an action scene that would’ve made me wide-eyed with amazement to how well composed it was, I may feel a hint of cynicism towards it. I may ask myself ‘So yeah, could he have hand-drawn that, then?’ But the fact remains that the artwork is simply excellent. The level of character and originality in his designs have nothing to do with the technology he uses to produce it, and this is one of the key reasons to why I love Naruto. If anything the technology, ideally as it should in every sense, enhances an already accomplished piece of work providing incredible detail to each scene. I’d be fascinated to know more about how exactly Kishimoto & co use software to aid them. Hopefully it will be expanded upon in coming volumes . . .
Presentation
For $7.95 it’s difficult to nit-pit at what Viz has produced. The paper quality is decent; the printing showing no faults with nice solid blacks; and the cover uses original artwork (with additional Shonen Jump insignia). The translation does sometimes leave a little to be desired, especially when it comes to the Westernisation of the jutsu names (although I’m noticing that Viz are including the Japanese names recently) and some awkward phrasing, but it doesn’t massively detract from an ‘okay’ translation. The added features, or omake as it's tend to be called with Japanese stuff, such as additional notes from Kishimoto provide some fun insight into his progression as an artist as well as the production of Naruto. The results of the Japanese character popularity poll were amusing, especially as Kakashi got first place over Naruto. I’d like to see how the American one turns out, though I doubt we’ll get any extra Kishimoto artwork for it. Which leads me to my biggest beef with the production (which again slightly undermined by the low cost of the book): the lack of colour pages. It’s hard to rant about it to any extent but it certainly would’ve been nice to have them!
Conclusion
Volume seven of Naruto maintains the quality, excitement and plain fun you would expect from one of today’s big franchises of manga and anime. And as you might imagine from a volume sub-titled ‘Orochimaru’s Curse’ we learn a lot about the curse placed upon Sasuke, the motivations behind it and the possible future effects. We get a better look at the expanded supporting cast who will play a big role in volumes to come, and we also witness Gaara to full and disturbing effect. As I continue to retrace my steps with the English release of Naruto I come to understand how it became such a pet favourite of mine. It's just good. Highly recommended.
the latest volume has been released in japan last week's friday. don't know if the english version has been out too
Posted by: naruto manga spoiler | March 25, 2009 at 02:29 PM