What do you think about Naruto?

I love how Kishimoto develops his character well. What do you think?

Honestly, I am not a Manga guy. Could never get into it. I guess there is probably good Manga out there, but what little I have read wasn't to my taste.

_________________

Honestly while I think the series is fine, if not particularly great as far as shonen goes, I always though Naruto as a character was extremely dull. For basically the entire first part he's not particularly good at anything, and his constant "become the Hokage" and "I had no friends" speeches became very repetitive and annoying. Once he became actually useful in the second part he was less annoying, and the series improved a bit. As a series Naruto always felt very generic and unremarkable to me, the main characters didn't become likeable until almost halfway through the series, and it never really got that energy that good shonen has. IMHO for best all around shonen the original Dragonball is still king.

I have to ask, Shonen?

_________________

Manga is marketed based on demographics, which, though not rigidly defined, have certain standards of style and content.

Shonen is essentially for teenage boys, and it is the category that most of the popular Manga and Anime here fall under. I haven't read any, but from what I understand, it's really obnoxious and most of the over-the-top stereotypes of Manga/Anime come from here.

Seinen on the other hand is written for adult men and some of it is really very good and devoid of most anime cliches. For instance, I have been reading "Lone Wolf and Cub" which is a Seinen Manga from the 70's and I've really liked it a lot. The art is very refined and quite stunning, and the writing is understated and thought provoking.

_________________

So, most Marvel (if it were anime) from the 60s through the early 80s would fall into that.

_________________

Well, I think there are certain cultural differences that are reflected in those categories that make it tough to make that connection. I would say most Marvel would be Seinen, because the protagonists are adult men and the titles deal with adult issues. Spider-Man might be considered shonen because the protagonist is a young man and he's coming of age. The reason the Runaways more recently feature young people is to appeal to the Shonen crowd.

_________________

I get a little into it but not nearly as much as I used to well before I grew up, got a real hair cut and a real job. I had a roomie for years and all we watched was Manga, to the point visitors would stop by and give us flack for watching something entirely in subtitles (I call those people lazy).

_________________
crazy 8s

Me, too!

My cousin is into Manga hardcore. He loves it. I prefer to stay away from it, mostly because I don't have an appreciation for the art styles and stories. I'll stick to American Classic, thanks.

Yea, its the art style that really gets me.

_________________