NARUTO, VOL. 71
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
CARTOONIST: Masashi Kishimoto
TRANSLATION: Mari Morimoto
LETTERS: John Hunt
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8176-7; paperback (August 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
208pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.
Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995) and Naruto (1997). Naruto was serialized in the Japanese magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump, from 1999 to 2014. VIZ Media published an English-language edition of the manga as a series of paperback graphic novels from August 2003 to October 2015, under its “Shonen Jump” imprint.
Naruto tells the story of a young shinobi (ninja) named Uzumaki Naruto, in two parts, first his pre-teen years and then, his teen years. Naruto has an incorrigible knack for mischief, and he is the biggest troublemaker at the Ninja Academy in the shinobi Village of Konohagakure. He is an outcast because there is something special about him. When he was a baby, his parents (father Minato and mother Kushina) imprisoned a nine-tailed fox spirit (Kurama) inside his infant body. Now, 16-years-old and incorrigible as ever, Uzumaki Naruto is still serious about his quest to become the world’s greatest ninja and the Hokage (leader) of his village.
The Akatsuki villain, Uchiha Madara, was the true instigator of The Fourth Great Ninja War. Reviving the monstrous tailed-beast (biju), Ten Tails, was just the part of his plan.
Naruto, Vol. 71 (Chapters 680 to 690, entitled “I Love You Guys”) opens with Naruto and his former teammate/now teammate again, Uchiha Sasuke, facing the prospect of fighting the revived Kaguya, the creator of all chakra. That will be difficult as this mother of all can traverse time-space.
Her partner, the creature who has been plotting Kaguya's revival since time immemorial, Black Zetsu, has information to share. He explains who he is, what Ten Tails really is, and how Kaguya will reclaim all chakra. Also, he says that his opponents are the reincarnation of Kaguya's two sons, with Naruto being Ashura and Sasuke being Indra. Plus, the Sage of Six Paths returns, and Cell Seven reunites to save the world.
Some of you may know that the Naruto manga came to an end in Japan last November (2014). Here, in the states, we are just catching up to that finale via VIZ Media's graphic novel format publication of Naruto. Naruto Graphic Novel Volume 71 is the penultimate volume of the series (which I incorrectly thought was Vol. 70). Vol. 71 is big... big... big, but still the same size. It is not that the battles contained herein are any more epic than the battles in previous volumes. It is simply that Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto puts everything or almost everything in context. He explains basically who the “bad guys” were and are, and why they were and are.
SPOILER ALERT: I don't yet know what happens in the final graphic novel (Vol. 72), but the good guys win in Vol. 71. However, I think we are the losers because Naruto is gone too soon. Still, the 72 volumes that comprise this series are so packed with narrative that we have likely forgotten much of what has already happened by the time we get to the end. Naruto is worth reading again.
A+
10 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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