Naruto (manga)

title_name=Naruto

Manga and anime details

With weekly releases, the manga has grown to 279 chapters (only 70 of which have been released in the U.S.). The anime currently has 153 episodes. Although it debuted some time after the manga, the anime is quickly catching up since one anime episode usually covers two manga chapters. To prevent overlapping, the anime's producers tend to organize content from the manga chapters into long, uneventful sections followed by short bursts of energy-packed action. Sometimes filler is added to maintain the flow of the anime. In all, the anime generally remains true to the manga.

Related Topics:
Manga - Anime - Filler

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New episodes, animated by Studio Pierrot, air weekly on TV Tokyo in Japan during the Golden Time slot (Japan's equivalent of prime time in the US) each Wednesday night at 7:27PM.

Related Topics:
Studio Pierrot - TV Tokyo - Golden Time slot - Prime time - US - Wednesday

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The series has also spawned two movies, with a third one currently in production: ' and '. Following the release of the second movie on August 6th, 2005, Naruto the Movie 3 was announced to be set for release in Summer 2006.

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Naruto's popularity was due in part to translation groups using the Internet to distribute localized copies of the Naruto anime and manga (see scanlation and fansub for more information about these practices), making it famous even in countries where it was never formally released. Prior to the release of the English anime and manga, Naruto veterans would often criticize newer readers for inexperience with the various file sharing protocols often used to obtain manga scans, the most famous of which was IRC. Such criticism lead to the creation of the term "Narutard", a portmanteau on the words "Naruto," and "retarded," which has now entered mainstream internet pop culture.

Related Topics:
Translation - Internet - Localized - Scanlation - Fansub - IRC - Narutard - Portmanteau - Retarded

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Among some older fans (often detractors of the series), Naruto's length and popularity are often compared to those of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z, another popular action-oriented sh?nen series derived from manga. Though Kishimoto cites Dragon Ball Z as one of his inspirations, the two series differ in their execution, themes explored and overall premise.

Related Topics:
Akira Toriyama - Dragon Ball Z - Sh?nen

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However, with the recent release of the Naruto anime into the U.S., the series is quickly creating what anime fans would call "the next 10-year-old DBZ wave." Within months of the release American stores began stocking Naruto-related merchandise, anticipating very high demand for the new import.

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