Naruto, Vol. 1 - Enter Naruto

Rating NR Formats DVD Genre anime Starring Takeshi Aono, Mayumi Asano, Akira Domatsu, Masashi Ebara, Daisuke Egawa Directed by Hayato Date, Jeff Nimoy Publisher VIZ Media External Links Official VIZ Media Website

Naruto is the name of our young protagonist in this episodic Japanese anime originally released in 2002. Like many Japanese animes, Naruto originated from a popular graphic novel series with the same title, published by Shonen Jump.

The story is set in an old village where young hopefuls train to be the ultimate ninja warrior, Hokage. Among them is a young man named Naruto Uzumaki who possesses an exceptional power to become the "One," but he also carries a secret that everyone knows except for himself.

Twelve years ago, the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself to save the village by capturing the Nine-tailed fox's spirit into an orphaned newborn, Naruto. Ironically, this shocking news only strengthens Naruto to want to become the ultimate Hokage as he fights for justice in rest of the episodes.

Although this DVD is edited for television, there's no doubt that envelopes were pushed in original Japanese version as the sexual innuendos were clearly played out even in this clean version. The overly exaggerated looks of characters are freely used as well. The animation stays true to the look of the graphic novel series

The promotion of the ancillary merchandising is included inside the DVD box that includes; toy figures, t-shirts, video games, headbands, wristbands, patches, cards, dog tag necklaces, light switch plates, door hangers, night light, key chains (wait, they forgot the freakin' kitchen sink), and other titles by manga conglomerate Shonen Jump. The DVD also gives you a mini-size poster of Naruto to boot which is not too shabby.

The proverbial "anime" look, combined with a mystical story about a Nine-tailed fox, and dubbed in 'somewhat could have been much more developed so they don't sound so contrived and unnatural' English dialogue, makes this watchable, but will probably remain as just one of thousands of titles being imported from the island of rising sun.