Naruto/ Naruto Shippuden

 Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto.

Naruto’s dream is to become Hokage, the leader of his village and to be acknowledged by the others. Throughout the series he grows a lot as a character, showing more strength and courage than people believed he possessed. His nindou (way of the ninja, motto) is: Never give up! Which makes him a gutsy ninja, as his teacher says. But Naruto is not the only complex character in the anime; there are many others who, influenced by Naruto, decide to follow or find their own path and “write” their own story. Even some “bad” guys prove to have something good in them and switch gradually from villains to good guys. All the characters have a story which is touching in its own way and their stories intertwine creating wonderful bonds between people : bonds of friendship, trust, rivalry and love. Because in the end, this is an anime/ a manga about bonds, about the courage of persevering against all odds and about hope. Hope for peace and harmony between people, hope for the future. It is also an anime/ a manga about pain and suffering and how people can heal each-other, find strength and rise above them. It is a story about life and what you can learn from it: learn from the past and live in the present with hope for the future, while finding strength within and never give up! That is what Naruto teaches us and I think these are wonderful lessons.

When asked about what was Naruto‍'​s main theme during the first part, Kishimoto answered that it is how people accept each other citing Naruto's development across the series. Kishimoto said that since he was unable to focus on romance during Part I, he was to emphasize it more in the second part, the one beginning with volume 28 in the manga, despite finding it difficult.

When originally creating the Naruto story, Kishimoto looked to other shōnen manga as influences for his work, although he attempted to make his characters as unique as possible. He based it off of Japanese culture. The separation of the characters into different teams was intended to give each group a specific flavor. Kishimoto wished for each member to be "extreme," having a high amount of aptitude in one given attribute yet be talentless in another." Kishimoto added that, as Naruto takes place in a "Japanese fantasy world," he has set certain rules, in a systematic way so that he could easily "convey the story." Kishimoto wanted to "draw on" the Chinese zodiac tradition, which had a long-standing presence in Japan; the zodiac hand signs originate from this. He has expressed concerns that the use of chakras and hand signs makes Naruto too Japanese, but still believes it to be an enjoyable read. When Kishimoto was creating the setting of the Naruto manga, he initially concentrated on the designs for village of Konohagakure, the primary setting of the series. Kishimoto asserts that his design for Konohagakure was created "pretty spontaneously without much thought", but admits that the scenery is based on his home in the Okayama prefecture in Japan. 

The soundtrack and the animation of Naruto draws you in and you find yourself falling in love with many characters, rooting for them and even hating other characters, analyzing situations and characters’ behavior. It is an anime/ manga that captivates and you find yourself unable to let it go (even with the annoying amount of fillers- though some of them are interesting). It is one of the best and most complex anime/ manga I’ve ever seen/ read.