Manga Review: “Naruto” Volume Seven

Article first published as Manga Review: Naruto Volume Seven by Masashi Kishimoto on Blogcritics.

Naruto Volume Seven is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto, and it was released in North America by Viz Media’s Shonen Jump imprint in 2005. The series is rated “T” for teens; from what I’ve read of the manga and from what I’ve seen of the anime series, I would agree with this rating.

Naruto Uzumaki is the main character of the series, and he is the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village. His dream is to become of the leader of the village one day, and he wants everyone to acknowledge him. Naruto has spent his entire life up to this point being shunned by the adults in the village due to the fact that he has a fox demon sealed inside of him.

Naruto is a member of Team 7, along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. They are competing in the Chunin Exam; at the end of the exam, the ninja who are deemed worthy enough are promoted from the Genin rank to the Chunin rank.

Volume Seven continues the second test of the Chunin Exam, which is survival test that requires the teams to acquire two scrolls and reach the tower before the end of the exam. The teams that can’t accomplish this task within the allotted time are eliminated from the Chunin Exam.

The early portion of the volume focuses on Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino trying to help Team 7 out of a predicament they’re in with a team from the ninja of the Sound Village. There’s also quite a bit of focus on Sasuke and Curse Mark he had received from Orochimaru in Volume Six. Team 7 also receives unexpected help from a ninja named Kabuto; however, is Kabuto’s help sincere, or does he have an ulterior motive?

It’s been an interesting experience for me to read the manga after seeing the corresponding anime episodes first. By reading the manga after seeing the anime, I was able to pick up on at least two instances of foreshadowing that appeared in Volume Seven. I couldn’t help but smile when I picked up on this foreshadowing, because I knew exactly what was being referenced.

This volume also lets us see a little more of the Sand Siblings (Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari) and their interactions with each other. While we saw a little bit of this interaction back when the Sand Siblings first arrived in the Leaf Village for the Chunin Exam, there’s a scene in Volume Seven that expands on the interactions and helps the reader to understand the character of Gaara a little bit better.

In the opening author’s note, Kishimoto mentions that this is the first Naruto volume to be created entirely digitally. I can definitely see a difference in the style of the art in this volume in comparison to the previous six volumes. Overall, the characters have a “smoother” look to them, and are starting to look a lot closer to their anime counterparts.

Even though I may already know what’s going to happen from seeing the anime series first, I’m still riveted by what I read in the manga; in fact, I have a hard time putting it down. If you’re read the previous six volumes of Naruto and enjoyed them, then you should also enjoy what you read in Volume Seven.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of Naruto Volume Seven that I checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “One Piece” Volume 11

Article first published as Manga Review: One Piece Volume 11 by Eiichiro Oda on Blogcritics.

One Piece Volume 11 is a manga by Eiichiro Oda, and it was published in North America by Viz Media’s Shonen Jump imprint in 2006. The series is rated “T” for teens; from the 11 volumes that I’ve read of the One Piece manga series, I would agree with this rating.

Monkey D. Luffy is the main character of One Piece, and he dreams of finding the fabled One Piece treasure on the Grand Line. Not only that, but Luffy also wants to become the king of the pirates. Unfortunately during his youth, Luffy ate some devil fruit, which turned his body into rubber and has made it so he is unable to swim. Even with that disadvantage, Luffy still pursues his dream. At this point in the series, Luffy has acquired some crew members: Zolo, Usopp, Nami, and Sanji.

Volume 11 picks right where Volume 10 ended during the battle at Arlong Park. In fact, about half of this volume focuses on the battle at Arlong Park and the aftermath of the battle. The actual battle is really intense, with quite a few panels focusing on action and sound effects and not much on dialogue.

There are a couple of panels in this section that really stood out to me. One is on the top of page 56; this is a close-up on Nami watching the fighting, with her hand up to her mouth and tears coming out of her eye. The other is on the top of page 58, which is a close-up on Luffy looking extremely angry. I thought that Oda did an incredible job of capturing the emotions of these characters in these particular panels.

Another story arc begins in Volume 11, which sees Luffy being branded as a dangerous pirate and having a 30 million berry bounty being placed on his head. For this story arc, Luffy and his crew visit Roguetown, which is where Gold Roger was executed.

While in Roguetown, Zolo meets a swordswoman who bears a striking resemblance to his deceased friend, Kuina. Luffy and the gang also have an encounter with two previous antagonists, and the volume ends in with them in the process of trying to flee from these adversaries, as well as from the group that the woman Zolo met is affiliated with. A couple of other characters that the reader has already met also make a brief appearance in this story arc as well.

The title pages for the chapters in this volume continue the story of Koby and Helmeppo serving in the navy. While this is an OK mini-story, I haven’t enjoyed it quite as much as I did the Buggy the Clown mini-story that had appeared on the title pages in earlier volumes of One Piece.

In this volume, Oda didn’t do any question and answer pages like he had in several of the previous volumes of One Piece. Instead, he includes a cut-away view of the Merry Go, as well as sketches of the various areas of the ship. Personally, I enjoyed these a lot more than I did the question and answer sections. The background information that’s provided for the ship in this volume helps to give me a better feel and understanding for how the Merry Go is designed.

I have to say that I enjoyed reading Volume 11. I was very satisfied with how the Arlong Park story arc resolved, and the Roguetown arc has definitely piqued my interest. I really hope that the Roguetown arc will continue to be an enjoyable read in Volume 12.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of One Piece Volume 11 that my son checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “The Prince of Tennis” Volume One

Article first published as Manga Review: The Prince of Tennis Volume One by Takeshi Konomi on Blogcritics.

The Prince of Tennis Volume One is a manga by Takeshi Konomi, and it was released in North America by Viz Media’s Shonen Jump imprint in 2004. The series is rated “A” for all ages; after reading this volume, I would say that I agree with this rating.

The main character of The Prince of Tennis is Ryoma Echizen, a 12-year-old tennis prodigy. He is the son of Nanjiro Eichen, a former professional tennis player. At the beginning of the volume, Ryoma enters a tennis competition in the 16 and under group rather than the 12 and under group. He has to prove himself against the older boys who are at the competition.

After this, the story moves ahead a few weeks later, where Seishun Gakuen Junior High is holds its school entrance ceremony. Ryoma is one of the new students entering the school, and he goes out to be part of the school’s tennis team. Traditionally, seventh graders like Ryoma only chase after balls and aren’t officially members of the team. However, after Ryoma gets into a competition with one of the other classmen, some of the older members of the team feel threatened by him. The ranking matches for the team start in the final chapter of the volume, but are not concluded.

My first real exposure to The Prince of Tennis came through watching the first episode of the anime series on YouTube; if I recall correctly, the episode I saw had the English dub audio. I just remember not being terribly impressed by what I saw, thinking that Ryoma came across as a rather cocky character and wondering why the audience was supposed to be rooting for him.

Reading the manga, however, I could tell that Ryoma didn’t come across nearly as cocky as when I saw the first episode of the anime. While he may be confident in the manga, he’s not overly cocky or conceited. This did help improve my initial perception of Ryoma as a character.

However, I have to say that while I found The Prince of Tennis to be a fast read because of the action going in in the tennis matches, I also found it to be a little on the boring side. This could be due to the fact that I’m not much of a tennis fan. While some of the character interactions are interesting, it just wasn’t quite enough to make up for the strong focus this series has on the game of tennis.

The Prince of Tennis isn’t necessarily a bad manga, but I think it would be best enjoyed by readers who also enjoy tennis or are able to enjoy reading manga series that focus on sports.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of The Prince of Tennis Volume One that I checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “Bleach” Volume Five

Article first published as Manga Review: Bleach Volume Five by Tite Kubo on Blogcritics.

Bleach Volume Five is a manga by Tite Kubo, and it was released in North America by Viz Media on its Shonen Jump imprint in 2005. The series is rated “T” for teens; from what I’ve read so far, I would agree with this rating.

15-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki has the ability to see ghosts. After meeting a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo’s home is attacked by a Hollow. Rukia decides to transfer some of her powers to Ichigo so he can protect his family; however, Ichigo unintentionally absorbs all of her powers. With his new powers, Ichigo destroys this Hollow and begins serving as a substitute Soul Reaper. Since Rukia has lost her powers, she has to pose as an exchange student at Ichigo’s school while she’s in an artificial body.

Ichigo meets a young man in his class named Uryu Ishida, who says he’s a Quincy and hates Soul Reapers. Uryu challenges Ichigo to a competition to determine who can take care of the most Hollows, and Uryu scatters bait to lure Hollows to the area. Ichigo learns that the Hollows will attack anyone with high spiritual energy. At this time, he is only aware that his younger sister Karin also has an ability to detect when ghosts are around. He doesn’t know yet that other people who are close to him also have this spiritual energy.

During the course of this volume, two of Ichigo’s classmates they have spiritual powers that they never realized that they had, and Rukia also learns some information about the Quincies. This volume also includes some character development for Chad, and the reader comes to better understand his character. There’s also a brief bit of character development for Orihime near the end of this volume as well.

Even though I was already familiar with this portion of the story through seeing the corresponding episodes of the Bleach anime series, I was still riveted by what I was reading and I didn’t want to put the book down. My favorite portion of Volume Five is definitely the section that focuses on Chad.

With Volume Five, Kubo has created a work that is not only emotionally engaging but is also visually stunning. The story and art complement each other perfectly, and as a reader, I found myself wanting to read more when I reached the end of this volume.

If you’ve read the previous volumes of the Bleach manga series, then I think you’ll enjoy reading Volume Five just as much, if not more than, the previous four volumes of the series.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of Bleach Volume Five that I checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “One Piece” Volume 10

Article first published as Manga Review: One Piece Volume 10 by Eiichiro Oda on Blogcritics.

One Piece Volume 10 is a manga by Eiichiro Oda, and it was published in North America by Viz Media’s Shonen Jump imprint in 2006. The series is rated “T” for teens; from the 10 volumes that I’ve read of the One Piece manga series, I would agree with this rating.

Monkey D. Luffy is the main character of One Piece. He’s a young man with a dream of finding the fabled One Piece treasure on the Grand Line; he also wants to become the king of the pirates. However, he ate some devil fruit when he was a boy, which turned his body into rubber. Since he now has a rubber body, he can no longer swim. Luffy has acquired several crew members, as well as a ship to travel on.

Volume 10 picks up exactly where Volume Nine left off. Luffy and the others are at Arlong Park. Luffy, Sanji, Zolo, and Usopp agree to fight “Saw-Tooth Arlong” and his gang in order to help Nami.

Everything that happens in Volume 10 has to do with the battle with Arlong. Even with devoting a whole volume to the battle, it’s not over by the time Volume 10 finishes. In the final scene, Luffy is fighting Arlong, and Luffy’s dialogue in the final panel is, “Hey! I just thought of something fun!” Uh-oh! Coming from Luffy, this dialogue almost feels ominous. It will be interesting to see what Luffy’s idea of “fun” is at the beginning of Volume 11.

Where Volume Nine focused more on drama and Nami’s backstory, Volume 10 is pretty much focused on action. All of the protagonists involved in the battle seem to be getting pushed to their limits, and Oda keeps upping the ante over the course of the battle. If you enjoy the battles and action in One Piece, then you will definitely enjoy Volume 10.

On the title pages for the chapters, Oda appears to have abandoned the Buggy the Clown side story and is now focusing on Koby, the young man Luffy met at the very beginning of hid pirate adventure. Koby is now a chore boy in the navy, and the title pages show what Koby and Helmeppo are doing; unfortunately for Helmeppo, he seems to be having a hard time.

Oda continues to answer questions in the question corner pages. However, I’m starting to suspect that most of the questions being featured at this point weren’t actually sent in by readers. I could be wrong about that, but they feel more like questions Oda came up with so he could give very particular humorous answers. At this point, the question corner pages have become a bit more “hit and miss” for me.

One Piece Volume 10 is a quick read, due in large part to all of the action panels that appear in this volume. If you’re a fan of One Piece, especially of the action and fighting aspects of the series, then you should get a lot of enjoyment out of reading One Piece Volume 10.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of One Piece Volume 10 that my son checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “Naruto” Volume Six

Article first published as Manga Review: Naruto Volume Six by Masashi Kishimoto on Blogcritics.

Naruto Volume Six is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto, and it was released in North America by Viz Media’s Shonen Jump imprint in 2005. The series is rated “T” for teens; from what I’ve read of the manga and from what I’ve seen of the anime series, I would agree with this rating.

Naruto Uzumaki is the main character of the series, and he is the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village. He dreams of becoming the leader of the village someday, and he wants everyone to acknowledge him. Naruto has been shunned by the adults of the village his entire life because he has a fox demon sealed inside of him.

Naruto has become a member of Team 7, along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. The three of them, along with other Genin-level ninja in the Leaf Village and from some of the other villages, have gathered in the Leaf Village for the Chunin Exam. At the end of the exam, those ninja who are deemed worthy enough are promoted from the Genin rank to the Chunin rank.

The entirety of Volume Six focuses on the second test of the Chunin Exam; this is a survival test, where teams have to get two scrolls and reach a tower before the end of the time limit. The teams that don’t accomplish this task are eliminated from the Chunin Exam.

Volume Six is a very important volume in the story of Naruto. It is in this volume that the character of Orochimaru is introduced, and an event takes place between Orochimaru and Sasuke sets events in motion that will propel the story going forward in later story arcs. I really don’t want to say more, because I already know where the story is headed from watching the anime, and I don’t want to inadvertently provide spoilers for readers who are just delving into the Naruto universe.

This volume also shows the history of Sakura and Ino’s friendship and the events that led to them becoming rivals. An event that takes place near the end of Volume Six also shows Sakura beginning to understand that she is capable of being more than the member of her squad who follows in the footsteps of her comrades. The reader also gets to see flashback sequence for Rock Lee and see some interactions between Rock Lee and his sensei, Might Guy; this helps the reader start to get a little more understanding of Lee as a character.

For me, it’s been interesting to read the story in the manga after seeing it in the anime series. Because of this, the story arc in the manga feels like it’s moving faster than it did in the anime. Fortunately, the Chunin Exam arc in the anime didn’t feel as stretched out as the Land of Waves arc did.

Art-wise, most of the character designs for the newer characters are starting to look smoother. The main exception to this is Shikamaru; he still looks a lot rougher in the manga in comparison to how he’s drawn in the anime. Hopefully Shikamaru’s design will start looking less rough in subsequent volumes.

Even though I may know this story from the anime already, I’m still riveted by what I read in the manga; in fact, I have a hard time putting it down.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of Naruto Volume Six that I checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “Naruto” Volume Five

Article first published as Manga Review: Naruto Volume Five by Masashi Kishimoto on Blogcritics.

Naruto Volume Five is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto, and it was released in North America by Viz Media’s Shonen Jump imprint in 2004. The series is rated “T” for teens; from what I’ve read of the manga and from what I’ve seen in the anime series, I would agree with this rating.

Naruto Uzumaki is the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja in his village, and it’s his dream to become the leader of his village one day. He also wants everyone to acknowledge him, because he’s been shunned by many of the adults in the village due to having a fox demon sealed inside of him.

Naruto has become a member of Team 7, along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. In Volume Five, Team 7, along with other three man teams from both the Leaf Village and from outside, are gathering for the Chunin Exams. Those ninja who are deemed worthy enough by the end of the exam are promoted from the Genin rank to the Chunin rank.

Volume Five introduces the reader to the other ninja who graduated from the same class at the ninja academy as Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke: Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka (and his dog, Akamaru), and Shino Aburame. In addition, the reader is also introduced to Might Guy, Kabuto, Ibiki Morino, and Anko Mitarashi.

A big portion of Volume Five is focused on the first part of the Chunin Exam, which is a written test. While it may sound like this could be boring on the surface, it was actually kind of an interesting read. This is primarily due to the fact that Ibiki, the proctor, has presented so many conditions that could cause a three-man squad to be disqualified from continuing the Chunin Exam. It was interesting to see how the various characters react to the conditions that have been placed in front of them.

The end of Volume Five sees the ninja who passed the first portion of the exam getting ready to take the next portion. In fact, the volume ends right as Anko tells the ninja to start the next part of the exam. This guarantees that the action should get going right away at the beginning of Volume Six.

I’m already familiar with what happens in this part of the story, since I have already watched the early episodes in the Naruto anime series. Unfortunately, being familiar with the anime already does have some disadvantages, especially in regard to character design. I had the most trouble accepting Shikamaru in the manga, because his design at this point in the series is so rough, that his face really doesn’t look much like it does in the anime. Hopefully as the Naruto manga continues, some of these rough-looking character designs for the characters that were introduced in this volume will be smoothed out.

Even though I already know where the story is headed next, I’m still looking forward to reading Volume Six of Naruto and seeing how the Chunin Exam arc was originally presented in the manga.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of Naruto Volume Five that I checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “Bleach” Volume Four

Article first published as Manga Review: Bleach Volume Four by Tite Kubo on Blogcritics.

Bleach Volume Four is a manga by Tite Kubo, and it was released in North America by Viz Media on its Shonen Jump imprint in 2004. The series is rated “T” for teens; from what I’ve read so far, I would agree with this rating.

15-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki is the main character of Bleach, and he has the ability to see ghosts. After witnessing a girl attacking a strange creature in his neighborhood, the girl makes an appearance in his room one night. The girl says she’s a Soul Reaper, and is surprised that Ichigo can see her. A creature called a Hollow appears and terrorizes Ichigo’s father and sisters.

The Soul Reaper, who introduces herself as Rukia Kuchiki, is injured while she tries to protect Ichigo. When things look their bleakest, Rukia says she will transfer some of her powers to Ichigo so he can protect his family. However, Ichigo unintentionally absorbs all of Rukia’s power, and he becomes a Soul Reaper. With this new power, Ichigo is able to destroy the creature. Because Rukia has lost her powers, she has to pose as an exchange student at Ichigo’s school while she’s in an artificial body.

The previous three volumes of Bleach introduced several of Ichigo’s classmates, including Orihime, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, Chad, and Keigo. The “mod soul” Kon is also introduced, and he is usually seen as a stuffed animal.

I saw some of the Bleach anime series before reading this volume, so I knew exactly what to expect. The first story in Volume Four focuses on Kon, and it’s rather light hearted and humorous. I saw this story in the anime, and I thought the original manga telling was just as amusing as the anime telling of this story.

The bulk of this volume focuses on Don Kanonji, the spiritualist who has an extremely popular television show. Ichigo can’t stand the show, although most of his friends and family seem to love it. On the show, Kanonji announces he is coming to Ichigo’s town, where there’s supposed to be a spirit in an abandoned hospital. Ichigo accompanies his family to the hospital for the broadcast, and he ends up getting in the middle of the action.

The end of the volume starts a new story arc, which includes introducing a new character named Uryu Ishida; in fact, he’s the character on the cover of Volume Four. Uryu hates Soul Reapers.

Kubo employs a more unique looking art style for the characters in Bleach, and he’s able to bring all of his visual elements together in a way that it tells a compelling story that a reader wants to continue following. The anime really captures Kubo’s art style and brings it to life. It also helps that Kubo has created compelling characters for the Bleach universe, and I find myself emotionally invested in them and in their stories.

I believe that Bleach has an interesting concept, and this concept is executed well in both the manga and in the anime. If you’ve seen the anime series before reading the manga, then you’ll recognize everything you see in the manga; at this point, the anime was following the manga rather closely. Even though I’m already familiar with this portion of Bleach through watching the anime series, I’m still wanting to read Volume Five to see what happens next.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of Bleach Volume Four that I checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “One Piece” Volume Nine

Article first published as Manga Review: One Piece Volume Nine by Eiichiro Oda on Blogcritics.

One Piece Volume Nine is a manga by Eiichiro Oda, and it was published by Viz Media’s Shonen Jump imprint in 2005. The series is rated “T” for teens; from the nine volumes that I’ve read of the One Piece manga series, I would have to agree with this rating.

One Piece follows a young man named Monkey D. Luffy, who has a dream of finding the fabled One Piece treasure on the Grand Line and become the king of the pirates. However, when he was a boy, he ate some of the devil fruit, which turned his body into rubber.

At this point in the series, Luffy has acquired several members for his crew, as well as a ship to travel in. At this point in the story, Nami the navigator has taken the ship and returned to her home in Cocoyashi Village. Luffy and the others have come in order to get Nami and the ship back.

Near the end of Volume Nine, there’s a flashback sequence that shows Nami’s life as a child and why she ended up joining “Saw-Tooth” Arlong and Arlong’s Pirates. Not only did this flashback provide character development for Nami, it was also a rather touching story. This portion of the Arlong Park arc has really helped to make Nami a very sympathetic character. I’m glad to see I was right that there was more to Nami’s story than there appeared on the surface back in Volume Eight.

Of the One Piece volumes that I’ve read so far, I would have to say that Volume Nine is the most serious volume at this point. Sure, there’s some of the humor readers have come to expect from One Piece in this volume, but overall, the tone of this volume is rather serious. I think this is due in large part to the serious events that take place in the flashback for Nami’s backstory. With the volume having such a strong focus on Nami’s backstory, it really is no wonder why the overall mood of the volume is more serious than normal. I have to admit that I almost cried when I saw what happened to Nami in her childhood.

I have to say that One Piece keeps getting better and better the further that I get into the series. I hope that One Piece continues to get better as I continue to read future volumes of the series. As of this writing, One Piece has already broken 60 volumes, so it may take me quite a while to find out the answer to this pondering.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of One Piece Volume Nine that my son checked out through the King County Library System.

Manga Review: “Naruto” Volume Four

Article first published as Manga Review: Naruto Volume Four by Masashi Kishimoto on Blogcritics.

Naruto Volume Four is a manga by Masashi Kishimoto, and it was released in North America by Viz Media’s Shonen Jump imprint in 2004. The series is rated “T” for teens; from what I’ve read in the manga and from what I’ve seen in the anime series, I would agree with this rating.

Naruto Uzumaki, the title character of the series, is an orphan who has decided that one day, he will become the Hokage (the leader) of his village. Unfortunately, Naruto isn’t the best of students at the ninja academy, is ostracized by many people in the village, and constantly pulls pranks in order to force people to pay attention to him.

Unknown to Naruto, the Fourth Hokage sealed a fox demon that was attacking the village inside of Naruto when he was a baby. The Hokage died shortly after, and he hoped the villagers would see Naruto as a hero; instead, the adults of the village shunned him. The Third Hokage returned to the position of leader of the village, and he decreed that the disclosure of Naruto’s secret is strictly forbidden under severe penalty. Naruto’s peers don’t know his secret, but many of them picked up their parents’ animosity toward Naruto and perpetuate it.

In the first three volumes of the series, Naruto is tricked by one of the academy instructors to steal a sacred scroll. He learns a cloning technique from the scroll, and it becomes Naruto’s signature jutsu in the series. When the traitorous instructor tries to take the scroll from Naruto, he is saved by his teacher, Iruka Umino.

Naruto manages to graduate from the academy, and is placed in Squad 7; in his squad is Sakura Haruno (a girl he has a crush on) and Sasuke Uchiha (a boy Naruto strongly dislikes, and Sakura has an obvious crush on him). They are assigned to a new teacher named Kakashi Hatake, and they begin doing missions together.

During Volume Two, Squad 7 is on a mission to serve as bodyguards to a bridge builder named Tazuna. However, they quickly learn that the bridge builder omitted some very important details about his situation, and that the mission is really a higher ranked mission than the Hokage had realized. The members of Squad 7 find themselves face to face with some of the most lethal Mist Ninjas.

At the beginning of Volume Four, Squad 7 is in the middle of a battle with Haku and Zabuza on a bridge. The first six chapters of this volume focus on this battle, as well as the aftermath of the battle. I know this portion of the story from seeing the anime series, but I really appreciate how much quicker this battle resolves in the manga than it does in the anime. Unfortunately, the anime really stretched out the battle on the bridge, sometimes accomplishing the stretching by spending almost half an episode showing what had happened in the battle in the previous episode. By being able to read the manga telling of this story, I’ve come to gain a better appreciation for The Land of Waves story arc.

The final three chapters of Volume Four begin the Chunin Exam arc of the story. The Chunin Exam is a test and competition of the junior ninja from Konoha, the Hidden Leaf Village (where Naruto lives), the Hidden Sand Village, as well as the other minor lands. Those ninja who are deemed worthy enough at the end are promoted from the Genin rank the Chunin rank.

During the final three chapters, several new characters are introduced. These characters include three siblings from the Hidden Sand Village (Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari) and three Genin level ninja from Konoha (Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten).

From this section, it was interesting to note how the tone of the confrontation between Squad 7 and the Sand Siblings is a bit different than in the anime. In some respects, I have to say Kankuro comes off a bit “meaner” in the manga telling of the confrontation than he does in the anime telling. In some respects, I think I tend to prefer the anime’s version of this scene over the manga portrayal.

As I read Naruto, I’m impressed by Kishimoto’s ability to convey his characters’ feelings through their facial expressions. In some respects, the character designs can feel a little “rough” at times, but I think this is probably due to the fact that I have more familiarity with the character designs from the Naruto anime series.

I personally enjoy the Naruto manga series, but it can be a little slow to get going. However, by the time you reach Volume Four, the story has gotten going, and the reader starts getting to know some of the main characters. Since I’m much further along in the anime series, I’m willing to say, without giving away any spoilers, is that if you keep reading through the manga, you will be rewarded with a series that goes much deeper. These early volumes are only “scratching the surface” and are working at building up the world and characters of the Naruto series.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of Naruto Volume Four that I checked out through the King County Library System.