Naruto is a Japanese manga and anime series which surrounds Naruto Uzumaki, a teenage ninja who is known for his loud behavior. Naruto is a  high achiever who is always looking for recognition, and his ultimate goal is to be a Hokage, a ninja which is seen by the village as being the strongest and most powerful. Naruto was first introduced in 1997 in the Akamaru Jump magazine. During this time, the plot was different than the Naruto which exists today. The story was far more modern, and in the earlier editions of the series, Naruto had the ability to transform himself into an attractive woman.

By 1999, the creator of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, had changed the story over into its current form. Naruto has become wildly popular both in and outside Japan, having sold well over 70 million copies just in Japan alone. The success of Naruto in Japan led to the adaptation of a television series in the United States, where the show has continued to do well. Viz Media has stated that Naruto is its flagship series, and there are a grand total of about 26 volumes available as of this writing. In the United States, the animated series is aired on the Cartoon Network. The show is also aired in Australia as well.

The setting of the series deals with a situation in which a demon fox with nine tails has attacked Konohagakure, a Japanese village. This demon fox is so powerful that it is capable of destroying mountains and creating tsunamis, and many people were killed by its onslaught. The leader of the village during the time, Fourth Hokage, gave his life in order to keep the demon locked inside a young child, whose name was Naruto. While the Fourth Hokage wanted the people of the village to respect Naruto, he became an outcast instead. Thus, Naruto grew up as an orphan with no friends or family.

To deal with the fact that he was an outcast, Naruto is a person who will do virtually anything to draw attention to himself, whether it is positive or negative. He eventually attended the Ninja Academy, and became famous due to this Shadow Clone Technique, which is a technique taken from a scroll that he was not supposed to have access to. He was duped into stealing the scroll in order to rescue his sensei Iruka Umino from Mizuku, a powerful ninja.It is during this time that Naruto realized that the demon fox was sealed inside of him, and he also learned that there were people who cared for him.

Naruto has become a popular and enduring series in the United States and Japan, and its popularity has only continued to grow since its introduction. Naruto is a "shonen" manga, meaning it was designed for young boys rather than teenage or adult males and females. This can be seen in the combination of a large amount of action which is combined with a plot which is somewhat comical.

---