Couldn’t stop reading this (and all the rest of the manga in the series) once I started. It’s wonderful, such a complete universe – though it’s weirdly anachronistic – electric lights, medical drips, etc, yet mixed in with ancient Oriental philosophy and natural science to give it a fantastic yet believable feel. I love the emphasis on loyalty, perseverance, caring for others, holding fast to your dreams. The characters are so well-drawn, you get to see their past histories and how they inform their present decisions. There are hardly any truly evil people in the story, except for perhaps the Akatsuki and Orochimaru, because their quest is for pure power at the expense of all else – others do what they do out of revenge, out of gratitude, out of friendship.

The ninja martial arts and the plot in general are truly ingenious as well. One cool thing is that all the “weird” stuff in the story – the ninjutsu, the concept of chakra, etc. – is portrayed as simply normal, and not the result of, say, some chemical experiment, so that it makes the Naruto world seem more believable – no one’s trying to justify how it works, everyone accepts that it just does. It’s also based on ancient Chinese and Japanese theories to some extent so maybe it gets some historical muscle from there. Plus, the concepts are sometimes illustrated in a half-scientific/medical-textbook-diagram, half-humorous-cartoon way that lets you understand things better at the same time as grounding its world in a more viable reality. I really love those illustrations.

Some people I’ve talked to prefer the anime to the manga. Well, they are mostly consistent with each other – the anime tends to have more gags, and there are a few minor details that get shuffled around in the anime. And it’s a lot easier to understand the fight scenes than in the manga. But I like the fact that you have to think and imagine a bit harder with the manga. Also, the anime is a little slow-going, lots of flashbacks and stuff. The manga is the same, but at least you can read those bits a bit faster. But both are well worth it!

Highly recommended, with a medical warning: you probably won’t be doing anything else for a few days from the time you start. You’ll be too busy trying to find out what comes next!