Naruto Manga

ok boys and girl(s?) - it's my turn to finally start a thread. And as tradition dictates, it's with my fave anime - naruto. But i decided to start one based on my current addiction - Manga.

to all the middle-aged white people in the audience, Manga (pronounced Mun-Ga) are the comic book versions of japanese cartoons, which incidentally are called anime (pronounced Ann-E-May) Naruto started out as a manga in early 90's, and following it's popularity, Pierot studios in japan started making Anime episodes. Each episode is based on 2-3 issues. Manga is not like anime, in the sense that it's one continuous story line, issue after issue. unlike thier counterparts in DC and marvel that mostly have one story per issue.

NARUTO is the story of an orphan in this universe where ninja villages, not armies, determine the power of thier countries. Ninjas in this universe have the ability to use spiritual energy to create techniques that may look like magic, by manipulating the energy and the elements around them. At the time Naruto was born a monster fox made of pure energy was attacking the village - and the chief ninja of his "leaf" village gave up his life to use a technique which ended up sealing the fox within a life form - Naruto. The story starts with Naruto's quest to prove his existance to the villagers and the world, and to show his strength by becoming the next chief ninja.

The plot is well written, and it's suitable for the whole family. There's a universe of characters with depth, thier own motives and roles to play.There's action, comedy and tragedy. But overall brilliant stuff.

The manga is still releasing new episodes per week. After the anime caught up with the manga, they've started releasing filler episodes to buy time.