Naruto Anime Profiles, Vol. 1: Episodes 1-37 (Paperback)

~ Masashi Kishimoto (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Anime episodes #1-37 fully covered! Original illustration poster by Masashi Kishimoto reproduced in anime style. Kishimoto answers questions.Production art of the anime. Full of special color illustrations. Secrets you need to know when watching the Naruto anime!

About the Author

Author/artist Masashi Kishimoto was born in 1974 in rural Okayama Prefecture, Japan. After spending time in art college, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists with his manga Karakuri ("Mechanism"). Kishimoto decided to base his next story on traditional Japanese culture. His first version of Naruto, drawn in 1997, was a one-shot story about fox spirits; his final version, which debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, quickly became the most popular ninja manga in Japan.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (July 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421506572
• ISBN-13: 978-1421506579
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #98,725 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A DK Guide Book Naruto Style, May 29, 2007

By	GPeralta (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

With anime being a part of our culture for some time now, I'm surprised that a guide book for a series wasn't made sooner. In a nutshell, one could call this book an encyclopedia companion for the first 37 episodes of the Naruto anime.

Similar to daizenshuu (Japanese guide books to anime), this book covers a good number of facts about the series until episode 37. This includes character profiles (current age, zodiac sign, blood type, etc.), overviews of each anime episode, and even interviews with the American voice actors of several main characters. There are even character designs and sketches of certain areas in the Naruto Universe, drawn by creator Masashi Kishimoto himself, not to mention a page or two with some cheesy little puzzles or quizzes.

Although the book is meant to cover what happens in each episode, don't expect in depth summaries. The book relies a lot on vibrant drawings as well as screencaps from the corresponding episode with bits of character quotes and a sentence or three describing what happened in that episode. So in that sense, this book is really a companion to watching the episodes and not a replacement for them (which is really what the manga is for, since it came before the anime anyways). Regardless, it's still fun to flip through the pages just to look back at all the adventures the gang of ninjas have gone through so far.

That's what it is, essentially--a picture book with a couple of captions here and there. Don't get me wrong, though, there is plenty of information to keep a fan of the series preoccupied for some time. And since it's a guide book, it doesn't even have to be read in order, unless you seriously forgot what happened in the series so far. To make a comparison, this book is a lot like those DK titles that published guide books on everything from countries to Star Wars, except the price is a little more affordable, especially when keeping in mind how much information is actually covered in the book.

You should also keep in mind that the screencaps are as they are seen in the edited Naruto anime, changing all the kanji into romanized English, and removing some of the excessive blood loss by some people. For the most part, though, that's for the benefit of the reader, who's most likely not going to understand Japanese. It's not a problem, it's just something I noticed.

Although not covering every nook and cranny of each episode, this book is a great companion to the series and I can't wait for the next release to cover another chunk of the series.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Naruto"-to-toe knowledge, July 18, 2006

By	Tim Coogan "CN fan" (Millville, NJ) - See all my reviews

Okay I admit it.

The Naruto anime is awfully awesome ! There's loads of action and lots more in this impressive show. And this book has more than enough information on the TV series to go around.

Inside this book, there are charater introductions and profiles, episode listings and descriptions, interviews, concept art, and even a full-color pullout just for you. This book is even jam-packed with screenshots and colorful pictures from the show, too ! Every little description has quite the nitty-gritty on what's what within the anime series - inside the world of Naruto and outside in real life with the creator, voice overs, and show staff.

If you're a current, or uppencoming (like me) fan of all things Naruto, this book is a real must have. And look for new episodes on Cartoon Network on TV and the new Toonami Jetstream on cartoonnetwork.com.

(As I may borrow a phrase from Naruto himself...) "Believe it !"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for fans new to Naruto, January 19, 2007

By	M. Pitt "homicidal wirehead" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this book as a Christmas gift for my daughter, who is now a big fan of Naruto. Since I just started really watching the show with her, I flipped through the book myself to learn more about the program. I recommend it to new fans as it will give you a good background on the characters and a brief description of the episodes. Plus, the copy I purchased included a poster of a grown up Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto that my kid loves.