Naruto

lNaruto (NARUTO ? , romanized as NARUTO) is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who continuously searches for recognition and aspires to become a Hokage, the ninja in his village that is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is based on a one-shot comic by Kishimoto that was publish in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump.The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japans Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Currently, the manga is still being serialized with li tankobon volumes released so far. The manga was later adapted into an anime, which was produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite telly network Animax on October 3, 2002.The first series lasted 220 episodes, while Naruto Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, has been airing since Febru ary 15, 2007. In addition to the anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed six movies for the series and several original video animations (OVAs). Other types of merchandise include light novels, video games and trading cards developed by several companies. Viz Media has accredited the manga and anime for North American production.Viz has been publishing the series in their Shonen Jump magazine, and as well as the indidividual volumes. The anime series began airing in the unite States and Canada in 2005, and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The brings, as well as most OVAs from the series, have also been released by Viz, with the first film premiering in cinemas. The first DVD volume of Naruto Shippuden was released by Viz in North America on September 29, 2009, and it started broadcast on Disney XD in October of the same year.The manga has interchange over 100 million copies in Japan. Serialized in Vizs Shonen Jump magazine, Naruto has become one of the companys best-selling manga series. The English adaptation of the series has also appeared in the the States Today Booklist several times and volume 11 won the Quil Award in 2006. Reviewers from the series have praised the balance between fighting and comedy scenes, as well as the characters personalities, but have criticized it for using standard shonen plot elements.