Review of Naruto (Uncut): Series 1 Vol. 2 Box Set (3 Discs)

Introduction

With the Naruto invasion continuing apace, and nigh on 300 episodes of this series (still in production) to look forward to, I decided to look ahead and see what was in store. Like many anime series, Naruto is based on an ongoing manga series. (Note to clarify, manga with a little `m` means comic book/graphic novel. Not to be confused with Manga with a big `M`, which in this case refers to the DVD distribution company, which is releasing Naruto in the UK) Television schedules being what they are, the television production of Naruto long ago outstripped the manga storyline, and the producers were forced to create their own story to keep the series going. By all accounts, this material is of lesser quality than the earlier episodes, and can be best described as filler. Now Manga Entertainment are looking to release 4 volumes of 13 episodes a year, so… carry the one… add sixteen… you should look to be approaching Naruto releases with some degree of wariness around about the year 2009/10. The good news is that the manga series has caught up and even surpassed the television series, and come the New Year, the new series of Naruto in Japan will return to the print source. So there will only be around 100 episodes or so of filler to get through… Just imagine, one day they might release all of Coronation Street on DVD!

12 years previously, the Hidden Leaf village was plagued by the Nine-Tailed fox demon. The Fourth Hokage ninja sacrificed his life to defeat the menace, and sealed up the spirit in the body of a newborn child. That orphan grew up as Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous prankster with great ambition. Not only does he want to be a ninja, but he also wants to be the strongest ninja of them all and be granted the title Hokage. He has more than a little competition, the Hidden Leaf village is a community of ninja, and Naruto had great difficulty just passing his entrance exams to qualify as a lowly Genin. Even when he did manage to get his certification, he was assigned to undergo training by the demanding Kakashi, partnered with his rival Sasuke and Sakura, the girl on whom he has a crush. What makes things difficult is that few see him as Naruto, instead of the dreadful fox demon that was sealed inside him.

The first volume saw Naruto begin his training, and start developing his ninja skills. It wasn`t long before they were put to the test, as the three students and their tutor were assigned a mission to escort a bridge builder home to The Country Of The Waves. The mission grew complicated when it was revealed that a powerful rogue ninja named Zabuza had been hired to kill their charge. At the end of the previous volume, a final confrontation had been put in motion on the very bridge that was at the heart of the matter.

The final thirteen episodes of the first season are presented here across three discs, and see the conclusion of Naruto`s first mission, as well as the important Chunin exams.

Disc 1
14. The Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja Joins The Fight!
15. Zero Visibility: The Sharingan Shatters
16. The Broken Seal
17. White Past: Hidden Ambition
18. The Weapons Known As Shinobi

Disc 2
19. The Demon In The Snow
20. A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exams
21. Identify Yourself: Powerful New Rivals
22. Chunin Challenge: Rock Lee vs. Sasuke

Disc 3

23. Genin Takedown! All Nine Rookies Face Off!
24. Start Your Engines: The Chunin Exam Begins!
25. The Tenth Question: All Or Nothing!
26. Special Report: Live From The Forest Of Death!

Video

Naruto gets a 4:3 regular transfer that is clear and sharp throughout. There are some minor compression artefacts that are only really noticeable during freeze frame. As you would expect from such a long running animation, it`s best not to tire the animators out too early. Naruto is certainly less sophisticated than most anime released today, the character designs are simpler, and backgrounds not excessively defined. Yet in terms of quality, the animation is very effective, and certainly goes a step beyond older long running shows like Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon.

Audio

Manga Entertainment presents these episodes with their usual array of soundtrack options, DD 2.0, DD 5.1 and DTS English and Japanese, along with a translated English subtitle track. The surrounds do succeed in broadening the experience in terms of ambience and effects, but they are still upmixes of the original stereo, rather than newly created mixes for this disc. The theme tunes are excellent, and suit the story well, while the incidental music is a little more generic. I sampled the English dub and found it acceptable if unspectacular. It certainly isn`t the worst I have heard, but some of the actors don`t seem particularly suited to the characters.

One slight flaw is that the previews for episodes 20 and 27 lack Japanese dialogue. None of the episodes proper are affected though.

Features

I only received the check discs, so I have no idea of what is included with the packaging. However, all that you get on these discs are a set of trailers on Disc 2. New Manga acquisitions Noein and Tactics are trailed, as well as a couple of trailers for Naruto.

On the last volume, the opening and closing credits had been translated, combined with the English language cast, and added to a separate scroll at the end of each episode. In this volume it seems as if only the closing credits of one episode had been translated, and added regardless to the end each episode. The previews are still there though.

Conclusion

A Boxing Day release date would give me plenty of time to watch this set and write a review I thought. I could take it easy and watch just a couple of episodes each night, and spend the remainder of my free time profligately. Then I put the first disc in and wound up watching 6 episodes in a row. It isn`t for the usual reasons of excellence and addictiveness however; it`s rather that Naruto is one of those fighting anime that I usually detest. This first season has been alternating between combat episodes and narrative, and the end of volume 1 had left us at a cliffhanger as the final confrontation between Zabuza and Naruto`s team began. The trouble with the combat episodes is that one fight, which in real-time would take about half an hour is stretched out over several episodes. This is done with a recap at the beginning of each episode, plenty of flashbacks and the main characters stopping after every couple of blows to have a good old philosophical natter. So in this case, a fight that could have been over in a quarter of the time is actually stretched out to eight episodes across two volumes.

Naruto just about makes it tolerable. The character interactions are interesting at least, and not just the usual announcement of ninja techniques and posturing. Naruto learns an important lesson about what it means to be a ninja, and Zabuza is revealed to be more than just a stereotypical villain. There`s character development too, and plot revelations mixed up in all this. Sasuke when placed under pressure learns that he has a ninja ability unique to his bloodline, while Kakashi reveals that he doesn`t just rely on his Sharingan in combat. And as for Naruto, well you`ll just have to watch it to find out. The only problem is that this intensity of plot and story is diluted by all the flashbacks and recaps. It works adequately when you can only watch one episode a week, but because so little happens in each episode, I found that watching the whole fight play out was more satisfying, despite the fact that I was tempted to skip all the recaps. And what could have been told in 45 minutes had just taken over two hours of my time.

Then, with the end of the Country Of The Waves storyline, Naruto changes gear, and the lengthy recaps, flashbacks and ponderous dialogue is dispensed with for narrative rich episodes, heavy on the comedy, as well as being fast-paced and entertaining. The Chunin Exams begin and my interest level suddenly skyrockets. The remaining seven episodes on this volume are devoted to the first Chunin exam, but they are so much denser than the bridge combat arc that watching just one episode at a time can be satisfying. It`s like a helping of Christmas pudding after a diet of sprouts, all essential to the ideal Christmas meal, but I know which one I prefer. These episodes also demand that you pay more attention, as a whole wealth of other characters are introduced, and who no doubt will come to play greater part as the series progresses.

Naruto has been described as the Ninja Harry Potter, and to extend the comparison, these are the Goblet Of Fire episodes, with Naruto and his fellow ninja rookies entered for exams that are way beyond their age level. They are far too young for the Chunin tests, and all hope to get through on natural talent and good luck, where experience is lacking. That means that the other two rookie teams are reintroduced in these episodes, as well as other ninja students of greater experience who debut here. That leads to the practically obligatory Bruce Lee character, Rock Lee, whose bowl haircut and excessive eyebrows causes no end of consternation for Sakura. The final few episodes are devoted to part one of the Chunin exam, which turns out to be a written test. You wouldn`t think that students sitting a written paper would make for great entertainment, but you would be wrong, and these episodes turned out to be the best on the disc, with an unexpected twist that certainly gripped my attention. I assume that the final episode on the disc is actually the first of the second season. It`s set just prior to the second part of the exam, and is basically a recap episode, a collection of clips relating the story thus far, although in a fairly entertaining way. It also marks the debut of the new title sequences, which feature far more of the show`s characters than before.

Naruto certainly isn`t the best anime series ever. The thing about best anime is that it usually has very limited appeal. Naruto on the other hand has general appeal. It`s characters are broad, the stories are entertaining, with a nice blend of comedy, action and drama, and it certainly can`t be accused of being esoteric. I`ve enjoyed this first series, although the fights stretched over several episodes can be very trying. That`s a price you have to pay if you don`t want your animators to go on strike. A stretch of episodes that are twenty percent recap and thirty percent flashback allow effort to go into the animation dense story episodes, and these are definitely worth looking forward to. If the show does have a disappointing aspect, it`s the character of Sakura, the female member of Naruto`s team. Of the three ninjas, she is the more passive one, the observer, the commentator, the wet blanket. Her gimmick of a chalkboard version of her appearing to voice her inner thoughts is losing its lustre, and she really needs to land a few punches of her own, and not just on Naruto. She does admit it to herself prior to the first exam, but she really needs to do that `girl power` thing, and have a good ninj for herself.

Thirteen episodes of Naruto are very good value for money, especially in anime terms, and as opposed to the Jetix broadcasts, these are uncut. Weapons, blood, old men smoking pipes, and sexy no jutsu are all yours for the taking. Fun in a box, believe it!