100% Blind NARUTO Review (Part 1): Prologue - The Land of Waves

this video is sponsored by raycon having grown up in ireland in the late 1990s and early 2000s shows like yu-gi-oh sailor moon and of course dragon ball were widely available and accessible and since then i've made it my mission to catch up on all the most iconic stories i missed growing up one piece jojo's bizarre adventure hunter hunter and attack on titan all brilliant stories in their own rights but before i ever heard of one piece and long before i ever turned on that first episode of attack on titan i heard whispers of a certain show a story that was making noise across the pond in the u.s one that cast a shadow so large it managed to stretch all the way from japan to my home where i grew up we never got naruto so let's see if i missed anything good [Applause] [Music] i gotta say right off the bat picking that first volume up off the shelf felt terrific while i knew very little about this story outside of the main character's name naruto and that it's for the most part about ninjas i was without question acutely aware of one inalienable fact that this was a beloved franchise a story people massively identified with and that it too has its detractors sounded very much like dragon ball to me so while picking that first volume from my shelf i was filled with a giddy enthusiasm i hadn't felt in years finally after all this time i was reading naruto and i liked these opening chapters but i didn't love them in fact i found them to be a little unfocused if that makes sense at all but don't worry this video has a happy ending so sit tight for me first impressions are important because you only get one chance to make them in that same vein the first paragraph of your novel or the first chapter of your manga in this case needs to perform a host of different tricks not only to hold your attention but to also introduce you to the main character and the wider world the story is set in and of course there are different ways to go about performing this narrative somersault one piece took an approach adequately representative of what would later be recognized as odis style a comprehensive and intensely powerful character-driven story built on the back of luffy's ambition hajime isa yama's attack on titan 2 i think had a near-perfect first impression on the audience it was trying to reach establishing its nail-biting premise the motivations of the main characters and giving us a taste of the wider world's politically driven infrastructure i knew i was in for an action-packed political drama the likes of which i would never forget so yeah first impressions are important they're what dictate whether or not many people will give a story their attention in the future particularly when it comes to manga they're released one chapter at a time after all it's not like a movie or a book where the rest is right there for you to digest and because of this fact many manga begin their stories with a much longer than average first chapter to establish what they want and given that naruto is still one of the most successful mangas to ever be released i was surprised by its introduction the pacing felt fast almost too fast i will say though that it did a decent job at establishing the heartbeat of naruto's journey with him effectively being the outcast of his community armed only with a burning desire to become the next hokage i enjoyed that aspect of it seeing naruto struggle with his lessons felt appropriate hearing about his dream felt intimate and the success he finds at the end felt adequately cathartic for a first chapter helped enormously by kishimoto's fantastic artistic abilities i mean that two-page spread of the one-time screw-up naruto performing a fantastic clone technique was given pride of place and rightfully so i can still picture that stunning shot right now as i speak there's plenty i've taken away from this first chapter that i liked and it was certainly enough to encourage more reading from me which i mean is sort of the only job it has right however along with these impressive aspects to the opening of the story so too did it come with some i don't want to say negatives but it did leave me scratching my head a little the character of iruka is given a lot of focus in this first chapter i can see what kishimoto might have been going for here with him acting as a useful individual close enough to share intimate moments with naruto but far enough away to vent candid frustrations for us as an audience to understand within this first chapter he existed as a vehicle to deliver information to us about naruto and yet when i finished it i didn't feel particularly close to naruto but instead iruka himself due to the amount of time we spent with him which might not be a bad thing but certainly wasn't what i was expecting nor was it i think what kishimoto was aiming for furthermore there's an enormous amount of exposition revealed in the first chapter alone i would argue far more than is even necessary to make that hook at the end of the first chapter work thankfully however as the first few chapters drift on by i started to feel the story catch its stride through the introduction of two crucial characters [Music] i immediately liked sasuke not only did i find him well conceived and conveyed through these introductory chapters but i also found him to be exactly what this story needed a rival character a rival character while having his own goals that often conflict with the main character exists primarily to highlight the significant differences between himself and the main character in this case naruto by being a prodigy top of his class and sought after by sakura sasuke represents everything that naruto isn't and what he yearns to be and in being such also facilitates terrific contrasts that highlight naruto's greatest attributes his unflinching desire to never give up and his roaring passion to achieve his goal to become the greatest hokage that ever lived while a character like sasuke is nowadays for lack of a better term cliche i am a firm believer that oftentimes creative choices become cliches for a reason because they work he comes across as dark serious and single-minded in his one existing goal to kill a specific individual that wronged his family in the past which is great as it not only gives him a want or desire different from the others but it's also perfectly emblematic of his no-nonsense personality and embellishes his already strong contrast with naruto's much more lighthearted persona helping us to better appreciate naruto's strengths while highlighting his weaknesses the latter of which developing into an aspect of the story that drives so much of who naruto is as a character in essence i see sasuke as the perfect foil for naruto in this story all of which can be observed after our introduction to another character in sakura this one was interesting and well yes in a fun way not always so going into this given the time this story was released i was relieved to see that sakura wasn't being used for fan service if you like that sort of thing more power to you but it's never been for me in the same way i don't like mindless action i similarly don't care much for mindless over-sexualized characters male or female my favorite aspect of her character is how effective she can be as a comic relief oftentimes she's shown with massively over-exaggerated expressions of anger and joy which i thought added some variety to the mix furthermore from a narrative mechanical front if we lift the hood on this metaphorical narrative car we can see that she's clearly and currently depicted as less of a character and more of a mechanism to bolsonaro and sasuke's respective roles and encounters which from a utilitarian perspective is not only fine but exactly what kishimoto was looking for she is a supporting character to naruto and sasuke and without her these two would have very little reason to interact with each other at all thus making her instrumental not only in making sasuke effective in his role but also by extension responsible for making the main character naruto shine she is for all intents and purposes the catalyst that makes all the magic happen between them in the beginning take for example naruto and sasuke's first ever interaction in the manga very early on there's an unrequited love triangle established between naruto sakura and sasuke naruto is interested in sakura sakura hates naruto but loves sasuke and sasuke loves vengeance but my point is that without sakura acting as a connective tissue so to speak between naruto and sasuke naruto would never have grown a jealousy for the attention sasuke is receiving from sakura and therefore this would never have happened and what a shame that would be i don't want to live in a world where this scene doesn't exist this was the first moment of the manga that made me burst out laughing and to be honest mangas don't do that often for me so she's a great tool for comedic hijinks too which i appreciate but to be clear her primary directive at least in these early chapters is to facilitate this narrative sleight of hand time and again throughout this arc and it works in both directions however this doesn't excuse one glaring flaw i've noticed and it's probably one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to character writing she exists to serve other characters and little else her existing goals are selfish certainly but the fact that i would have zero idea what sort of person she'd be like if i were to remove naruto and sasuke from the equation really serves to highlight my point at this stage of the story i mean there's a scene where these three kids get to introduce themselves to each other a terrific mechanism for us as an audience to get to know them better naruto's intro is quirky and fun with a fiery ambition clearly present sasukes is appropriately dark and serious but sakura's is literally her saying that she loves sasuke and hates naruto that's it funnily enough she's about to start talking about her other hobbies when kishimoto decides that that's a good time to cut to kakashi making note that she seems to care more about love than ninjutsu which brings me to my main contention with her as a character her very presence sort of devalues the entire social structure and reputation of the school naruto struggled to gain acceptance to at this point in the story she barely says anything other than wondering where sasuke is or how annoying naruto can be naruto does have a large interest in her and interest that at points in this arc drives him to make certain decisions but he's still able to have other interests and driving forces in his life outside of that his main motivation is to become the next hokage and that's awesome absolutely something i can get behind but if all he wanted to do was to chase sakura that would be much less interesting in short i respect what she offers the story in terms of quality but as a character i not only find her quite vapid but i also found that at times her inclusion tends to devalue what it is they are trying to achieve but perhaps it's still early days and i haven't given her a chance to fully express who she is as a character and what she really wants to be fair she is standing alongside two very well realized characters and speaking of contrasts when i picked up volume 2 the cover brought to my attention something rather interesting from an artistic point of view front and center on the cover we see sakura sasuke and naruto a fairly standard cover considering the contents of this volume concerned them specifically however in my hunter hunter review i eventually pointed out what made gone and kilauea were thoughtfully designed characters from an artistic point of view they acted as a great inversion of colors in the manga when compared to each other but kishimoto takes that to the next level with these three to complement naruto's upbeat and fiery personality he's given him bright vibrant orange and yellows everywhere for sasuke his dark and more stoic personality lends better to darker tones but what makes him particularly wonderful is only seen in the full color i mentioned that sasuke is a wonderful rival character because he effectively contrasts and complements naruto's personality amplifying his effect well if we look at a color wheel we can quite clearly see what the opposite or color complement to orange is it's blue sasuke dons a wonderfully dark blue getup communicating his darker sensibilities and highlighting what he represents to the main character naruto a contrast but my friends that's not where this ends i mentioned before that sakura is sort of the connective tissue that brings these two into contact in many ways she acts as the midpoint between the two of them naturally she's going to be colored red to represent her main driving motivation love and the word sakura directly translated means cherry blossom so pink is a natural inclusion here too but one look at the color wheel again and you'll notice that pink and red are exactly halfway between orange and blue in other words she is right in the middle between sasuke and naruto i love stuff like this well done kishimoto school's back and that means many hours of painful studying for many of you i may be long past school but all this narrative analysis requires a lot of reading and with my hectic schedule it sure is nice to do things on the go here's how my recons helped me and maybe you'll find they'll help you too when i'm out and walking my dogs or even laying in bed at night i'll often have academic books playing in my ears and my recons provide excellent comfort thanks to the gel tips that let you find the perfect match for your ear size the built-in mic is also great for letting me take voice notes whenever an idea comes to mind or i hear something that i absolutely have to remember crystal clear high quality stuff all this in a stunning improved rubber oil finish that's super smooth to the touch it looks and feels premium and the fact that it's all at half the price of other brands is pretty insane i've spoken about the battery life many times before but it really cannot be overstated just how good it is 8 hours of constant playtime or a general 32 hour battery life they last so unbelievably long guys the comfort of knowing that they'll be good to go when you need them is seriously invaluable so if you think these will make your studying life as easy as they've made mine click the link in the description box or go to buy raycon dot com slash not mark to get 15 off your raikon purchase with a 45 45-day money-back guarantee if you're not happy with them you've honestly got nothing to lose [Music] truth be told by the time i reached chapter 8 i was a little tired of the current format this first third of the arc while it did have elements i enjoyed like the schooling with kakashi and the various challenges he presents them with i still felt like the narrative of naruto and most importantly what people liked and loved about it wasn't translating clearly for me school is usually a surefire way to create instances of hijinks and conflict but truth be told there wasn't a lot of focus given to it the best part was the bent-a-box challenge seeing sasuke work his magic and show how much better he is than the rest was exactly the reassurance i needed to confidently press onward into the second third and fourth volumes and thank god i did i believe chapter 9 and 10 were where i went from being undecided about this story to sincerely enjoying the experience when reading and reviewing manga became my job i felt grateful of course but also concerned as now a hobby my one time retreat suddenly became my job and oftentimes in this line of work i found psyching myself up to read a particular volume of manga to be difficult and with the first few chapters of naruto passing one after the other i felt as though i might be facing another wall of manga i simply have to get through but nothing could be further from the truth with this [Music] chapter 9 is a glorious chapter that while exposition heavy also carries with it a palpable and natural rising tension i've often said in the past that pressure more so than conflict gives the audience a chance to see who the characters they're following really are and to this chapter's credit it delivers just the right amount of exposition to build up to two payoffs in both this chapter and the next something that's very important to me as a reviewer is that i connect with on some level what the author is trying to say and nowhere is this more crucial than with the main character having come to know and loved the likes of goku luffy the jojo's and numerous other wonderful characters over the span of my life i was deeply concerned particularly after the rocky start that i wouldn't connect with naruto but i think i see more of myself in this little character than any of the others while i love the simplicity and grit of goku and the kind but tenacious edge to luffy there's something about naruto that defines his character that i find infectious doubt he will work his hands to the bone walk the soles off his shoes and work until he collapses to make up for what he perceives to be defects or flaws in his own approach he recognizes that he's not the most intelligent or the most talented and we're shown as much thanks to the character of sasuke and so being faced with that reality he only knows how to put his shoulder down and push himself he has aspirations and he wants to prove to himself that he's more than what everyone thought he was and in chapter 9 i learned this about him having been almost killed freezing at the first sign of real danger he's forced to contend with the fact that sasuke was ready and he wasn't and that maybe just maybe those naysayers from his village were right and seeing that frustration bubble beneath the surface of his expression was amazing to sit and read through particularly because it readied us for what was to come one final thing i really enjoyed concerning naruto as a character in these chapters was how kishimoto decided to splice in the exposition to influence how we might feel about naruto as a character after stabbing his own hand in frustration and determination not to become a burden to slow people down kakashi notices how fast he's healing from the beginning the nine-tailed fox spirit trapped inside naruto has been a source of all his longing and suffering he's been made practically a pariah since that fateful day by everyone in his community and now kishimoto wants us to believe that the only thing that makes naruto special is his nine-tailed fox spirit if he does anything bad then that's to be expected he has the fox spirit after all and if he does anything good now then it too can be chalked down to that very spirit he's infused with but in this chapter when faced by the mounting pressures around him instead of freezing like he did last time he looks to his hand as a reminder plants his feet and stands up to someone that just took out his teacher an impressive elite level ninja i don't know what the prevailing narrative concerning naruto is online what people's feelings are towards him but what impresses me about his character isn't the ability he was able to bring out just in time to save the day but it's the bravery and determination he showed in the face of a situation we know he was scared to tackle it wasn't the action that preceded it it was the decision to take that action in the first place and all of this was helped enormously by the artwork it should go without saying at this point that these chapters are filled with wonderful action of numerous varieties within which i finally felt as though i was starting to understand kishimoto's rhythm as a layout artist and that rhythm being when he's at his best he catches you off guard he sets something up only for it to be observed by the elite ninjas and for them to reverse it on us again and again and again it's a wonderfully quirky style of paneling that infuses wonderfully with the very concept and theme of the story being told i've said this before but i love these types of visually interesting and conceptually simple training exercises or challenges for characters stuff like snake way moving a boulder climbing a tower or in this case climbing a tree climbing the tree using chakra is a really fun and visually interesting idea for the premise of a chapter but what i really liked about it was how as soon as kakashi mentioned this element to the chakras as something that if one can master then nothing is beyond them in terms of jutsu a panel is dedicated specifically to show us naruto's expression and it says everything i can tell that to him to have that question answered would mean a lot the exercise in action is a nice bolstering of what i mentioned earlier about sakura where sasuke exerted too much force and naruto too little sakura hit the sweet spot right in the middle and climbed the tree without the use of her arms in addition to this being a nice visual and narrative reminder of what she represents to the two characters in question it's honestly nice to see her exceed in her own unique way ahead of the other two for a change that is until one page later workakashi says that the pools of untapped chakra concealed within naruto and sasuke make sakuras look like nothing that's disappointing concerning sakura there is one scene i really enjoyed her participation in however with sakura having already completed the challenge climbing their respective trees became a head-to-head challenge with sasuke miles ahead of naruto through this obviously it's wonderful to see him slowly catch up again not necessarily because he's more talented or a prodigy like sasuke is but because he was willing to ask for help and take the advice of someone like sakura that was successful before him something sasuke never thought to do it's a small moment but it once again made use of the two supporting characters in a clever way to amplify the desired effect of the main character naruto in the beginning of this video i was lukewarm on this story i felt as though it was a little unfocused or unconventional which made it difficult to latch onto and fully enjoy for me however slowly chapter by chapter scene by scene as we advanced farther and farther into this story i grew a fondness for this world and its characters unlike stories i've covered before naruto was different for one reason right from the get-go with hunter hunter it was clear to me it was a dark dramatic character-driven story first and foremost the same can be said for one piece with its strong focus on world building perhaps more so than any other story i've read luffy's adventure hinges on its world feeling alive as well as its numerous colorful characters attack on titan on the other hand was driven by its premise early on and dragon ball by its comedy and action but when it came to naruto i was left undecided for quite some time i couldn't figure out what it was that made it so special to so many people it had some terrific action endearing comedy an interesting world and as i've outlined already some nicely realized characters in the likes of naruto sasuke kakashi and even sakura to some extent however at no point did i feel like it was balanced to favor any one area of those over the other that was until i reached the final encounter of this arc when it came to the closing moments of this arc within the final chaotic battle pitting the likes of sasuke and haku against each other and kakashi and sabuza too it felt as though i finally began to understand what it was that naruto was especially focused on and i have to say it feels rather unique to naruto something i've mentioned a number of times in this video has been that of who i think naruto is and one of the many reasons why this scene depicting naruto lost in anger strikes a chord with me is that it once again draws a distinction between who people think he is and who he actually is it feels ominous dark coupled that with kakashi making mention that he can't feel naruto's energy and you have for yourself something that more closely resembles a possession than a convenient chosen one-type power-up moment erupting forth from naruto not because he summoned it but because he specifically didn't losing control of who he is for a split second allowing that demonic spirit coiled within him to spring forth with savage and reckless intent and what stops him in his tracks [Music] the second that power vanishes is the moment naruto regains his sense of self strangely what i thought this scene shared some commonalities with was avatar the last airbender within the first few episodes aang's confronted with the horror that took place in his absence once he arrives back at his air temple faced with this shock and disarray he loses himself to the avatar state thankfully brought back before he could hurt anyone by the loving embrace of katara in naruto similar to avatar it's being made evident that the fox spirit inside naruto isn't him necessarily and instead what makes naruto who he is similar to aang was his ability to control himself before he hurt someone he cared about and this sentiment of constantly wanting to try to never give up and to control whatever you can makes itself known at numerous wonderful instances during the story none perhaps more powerful than through inari's flashbacks naruto not only feels an obligation to help people but particularly those that he sees himself in perhaps because he's a good person but also perhaps these lost toys more so because he empathizes with their situation specifically with haku and inari acting as two sides of that naruto coin in a sense inari thankfully had someone in naruto to instill a positive outlook on his situation leading to his eventual and fantastic save at the end but on the other hand we have someone like haku a character with an outlook so disastrously unfortunate and tragic that it's almost difficult to accept that he has so much in common with our main character naruto in the first place with his untimely and frankly harrowing end coming moments after this heart to heart and through this horribly sad end to a fantastic battle something inside my head clicked i mentioned towards the beginning of the story that i found the start somewhat rough around the edges unfocused and ill-defined however now having completed the first arc and having gotten a taste of what this story really is all about this story naruto feels perfect as a story penned by masashi kishimoto at the beginning of the very first volume i picked up kishimoto wrote a short paragraph thanking us for our support of his dream overjoyed he wrote that this was the happiest moment of his life unlike akira toriyama someone he admired and looked up to kishimoto's path to success wasn't as straightforward nothing seemed to come easy to him time and again he'd face rejection after rejection at every corner all in a desperate attempt to achieve his dream of one day breaking into the manga industry it's not difficult to see the parallels he's drawn between his personal experiences and the beginning of naruto's story the journey of a young unwanted orphan child tenaciously and earnestly pursuing his dreams despite his detractors and in no more fitting or poetical fashion together both kishimoto and naruto help each other to achieve their respective dreams speaking as a creative myself one of the biggest difficulties in my professional life has been my family's initial disapproval of my vocation but at no point could i ever see myself doing anything other than this i love my job exhausting and stressful as it may be at times i love this and i think that's why i tend to fall in love with characters that have a strong sense of self above all else characters like luffy someone that no matter what it takes will in an unflinching fashion march onward towards his goal it's inevitable he will be the pirate king or goku someone i found a lot of comfort in as a kid growing up to him nothing ever seemed insurmountable he was never scared and to this day the effect this moment has had on me can be felt naruto however isn't like either of these two he's me you us he's that kid that has a chip on his shoulder something to prove someone that doesn't know for certain if he will achieve his dreams but god damn it he's gonna push himself until he cannot push himself any further it is for that reason among so many others i can't help but root for naruto when he fights for his dreams and it's why i've developed a special fondness for kishimoto's story it's still no dragon ball hunter hunter jojo and certainly not a one piece but it doesn't have to be it's naruto it's musashi kishimoto pouring his heart out and it's created something that at least to me feels entirely different it's something that was unbelievably special to one person in the beginning and became special to millions around the world today and i think finally i understand that feeling and it's only the beginning i can't wait to see where this earnest endearing and emotional adventure will lead me but until then i've been told not mark i'll see you all next week and thank you so much for watching [Music] motivate your anger to make them more realized club in the mountain never coming down breaking to the contents never falling down [Music]

Channel: Totally Not Mark

Views: 498,886

Keywords:

Id: WgX9QQU9ckA

Length: 28min 16sec (1696 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 14 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/That-Bobviathan]

Oh shit! I guess this means over time he’ll do all of the big three.

[u/dutchzgoose]

still think that most of Naruto before shippuden is good.

[u/EdoTenseiSwagbito]

Lets goooooooo

He’ll definitely get it right, unlike Plague.

Edit: HE’S GETTING IT! YESSSSSSSSSSSS

[u/jabberwockxeno]

It's cool to see major anime youtubers who haven't seen or read naruto do so a lot lately

but man, I REALLY wish these channels would check out manga not published in Shonen jump or that's hyper popular. There's a ton of cool manga from other sources

and yes this is me being salty nobody is covering the gash bell manga. Billiam covered the anime but the anime's a bad adaption.

[u/PR0MAN1]

Ah Land of Waves, the best arc of the series. And it's all downhill from here.

I dont think Naruto is bad, it was just never THIS good.

[u/mariojacob14]

Oh shoot

[u/Heaven_dio]

I was on board with the One Piece reviews but when it came to the Jojo reviews it fell hard for me. Mark has high highs and low lows for me in terms of content, so I'm gonna look at this warily