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Naruto & Naruto: Shippuden Review/Pretty Much an Essay
I remember I was about 11 when we had a family friend over here. I was staying in the same room I currently spend (admittedly) most of my time in and that I still recognize as my former grandfather's room to a certain point... which is to say I've since grown accustomed to this room as not being his or my youngest older brother (Mark), and instead being mine.
Anyway, this family friend introduced me to Naruto. I can't quite remember how it went because it was over 10 years ago and I was still a little kid, but I do know I watched some of it with him. I probably knew he was watching it before this part, but I know that the part I remember watching the best was the part in the Chunin exams in which Naruto and his friends were in the Forest of Death.
Admittedly, this part is memorable for me for a multitude of reasons other than being the earliest memory I have of Naruto, such as it being the first time I found Naruto to be boring. Of course I did get past this point eventually and at around this point learned how much I loved anime - Naruto in particular.
But anyway, a lot of the lessons taught within it didn't really mean much to me at this point until I was in middle school. For me, middle school was pretty tough as I'd be made fun for being the "weird" guy. I find that interesting. I've always sort of been eccentric, but I've never had the energy to really care. I know better then to be a complete weirdo everywhere, but at the same time, I enjoy being me.
Back to the point - in middle school, like many others, I was depressed for the aforementioned reason, and - I'm willing to bet - because I was going through puberty. If I were honest, my "social pessimistic thoughts" haven't fully gone from then, though I have since learned you shouldn't blindly run into people thinking they're to be trusted with every single detail. A wise man is open hearted, but only a fool never has his heart closed.
So, it was in middle school that I started to really get into anime - almost to the point I'd sometimes mention it in passing at random. I am and always will be a nerd, but I sort of hope I won't be as nerdy as I was when I was 14. Seriously though, I was bigger into an anime that was popular in Japan at the time by the name of 'Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn' as opposed to Naruto, but that's not to say I didn't watch Naruto when I first really got into anime.
Eventually, Naruto (the character and the show) taught me that everyone has their story and reasons for doing what they did, and rarely is someone actually bad for the sake of being bad. It also taught me to look at life more positively and do what I can to enjoy it. To be honest, I probably enjoy life TOO much at times.
When I heard it was finally ending in 2014, I begun to feel nostalgic for it and frustrated that the anime was still having like thirty freaking million filler episodes before it ended, but as it stands right now, I'm fairly satisfied with what there is. Plus there's a full sequel series called Boruto going on, so I don't really have much room to seriously complain anyway.
Admittedly, as I write the bulk of this, I still have like 10 episodes to watch, but I think I already have a pretty solid idea as to how I'll feel when this ends; a bit sad, but excited to move onto the next generation and see it sprout from its early roots and eventually become yet another epic tale to span the generations.
Or at least the next handful of years.