Does the animation Naruto contain life lessons beyond entertainment?

There is no doubt that Naruto is one of the biggest anime that hit the US market today, but can Naruto be educational? From its origin from a more Eastern background, animation in general has come a long way since its first inception. Starting back in the old days with the original dragon ball series where it was first created all the way to Naruto today, there have definitely been a lot of changes that have been taken place in the animation world.

The population of kids attracted to Naruto is growing by the day and I believe there is a clear reason why it is the most popular anime or cartoon here in the US today besides its artistic values in comparison with numerous cartoons that are shown in our television screen on a day to day basis. Lets take a look our cartoon Batman for example. The plot or a single episode usually involves with a villain shown in the story and causes trouble with a certain amount of people through their special techniques. However, their evil deeds are eventually squashed toward the end of the episode as Batman saves the day. In the cartoon itself, there is nothing wrong with it. The good prevails over evil, and the single episode is ended with a happy ending. What the problem with these cartoons however is that they are very interpersonal and kids and teens cannot relate themselves to them. Kids nowadays are more intrigued with interactions then ever before. This is shown through the popularity of the internet and social sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Blogger. They have grown tremendously due to its fundamental pitch to allow kids to relate and connect with each another.

What has made Naruto so powerful is as an anime is that they have developed their characters so well that their ability to relate to kids is tremendous. Similar to a soap opera, we are able to see each and every single character develop in their own way. We see that the animation characters often time interact with the kids through numerous contests and promotions related to interact with the kids. This type of close and very personalized interaction, you can think of it similar to the strategy that McDonald uses to make kids feel like at home. It is no wonder that kids love McDonalds and the same way goes with Naruto.

The adult humor aside, Naruto is also very educational in my opinion. The focal point of the animation itself remains between the fight of good and evil. However it becomes educational throughout various episodes when we are provided the background of various characters. For example when we examine the life of just the main character Naruto; not only is he a below average kid, he is always the underdog in terms of his studies beside the fact that he is also unpopular with others. The crucial point that the animators have it a success is how Naruto reacts to these oppositions. He tries even harder! Similar in our society unlike the baby boomers who in majority have worked with the corporate world for many years and an overwhelmingly amount of them have pensions and benefits to assist them after retirement, the people from Generation X are faced with even greater challenges. Besides massive layoffs and work sent overseas, the problems just keep stacking up. Along with kids that grow up nowadays, the piles of stress have pushed them toward the edge in many ways. That is why we see kids running into the malls and shooting others all the time in our news today.

Not only does Naruto try hard in his daily training to overcome others that are smarter or have talents, the greatest success that animators have in developing Naruto Episode is depicting how normal he really is. It implies in many ways that hardships will always come in our way and hard work will always payoff in the end. This is something that is lacking in today is society where the richer gets richer and the poorer gets poorer. Doesnt matter if you are poor or rich, one must always work hard to achieve success. Obviously a little bit of luck would always help too. This is one of the only small lessons that Ive observed in the anime Naruto, if you havent watched Naruto yet, you should definitely eitherwatch Naruto by yourself or with others. Who knows, you might learn something from it as well!

What does the word Naruto mean?

As enthusiast of the animation Naruto, we've all heard about the word Naruto, but do you know what Naruto truly means? The word Naruto is actually from a type of Japanese fish cake. The specific fish cake that Naruto is with is often seen with pink surroundings and designs that is seen as a simple spiral form.

Believe it or not, it is often eaten alongside with soups and noodles. Yes, this will include the ramen that Naruto from the animation that he enjoys. If you examine the fishcake carefully, you would also notice that the head protector that Naruto wears looks very much the same as the food Naruto itself. So Kanoha is really revolving around the food Naruto and it's kinda interesting to see that these little facts actually ties in together to the centric part of the storyline somewhat.

Besides Naruto being a traditional Japanese dish as fish cakes, Naruto is also an actual city in Japan located in Tokushima a bit leaning towards the southern part of Japan. The city itself is quite small with a population of only 63,784 currently shown on their city's official website. The city of Naruto was founded in the March of 1947 so the city itself is still relatively new. One of the most interesting facts about the city is that it contains the first two of the 88 Shikoku Pilgrimage buddhist temples. Now what makes this fact stands out is the looks of the people from the temple and what they wear.

Yes, those traditional Buddhist clothings that pilgrims wear are closely resembled to the ones that the Hokage's in Naruto animation wear starting from how they dress all the way to their hats. So the next time t you watch Naruto episodes again, you'll know exactly where it's origin as well as where little things ties up together.

The Differences Between Countries In Naruto

One of the factors that contribute to the success of the anime, Naruto, is the vividness by which Kishimoto portrays the world wherein the characters live. He is able to bring to life a world that speaks of adventure and romance and everything else that makes a good fantasy. Yet Naruto's world is not confined to that. It combines the mysterious ninja world with bits and pieces of the modern world. Naruto's world is as three-dimensional as the world we live in. The universe of Naruto has its own history, its own culture, its own geography, its own economy, even its own politics.

The Naruto Universe has five main countries namely, the Land of Fire, the Land of Lightning, the Land of Water, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind. These countries are the most powerful and influential in the Naruto Universe.

Each of these five countries has its own hidden village. And these hidden villages are the ones that harbor the 'shinobi' or the ninjas. Each country is ruled by a feudal lord or land lord and each main village is ruled by a 'kage'. Kages are in equal standing with the feudal lords.

There are also five other minor countries which are mentioned in the anime and these are the Grass Country, Rain Country, Wave Country, Waterfall Country, and also the Sound Country.

The Land of Fire

The Land of Fire is the main setting of the anime since this is where most of the main characters live. It is said to be the strongest of the five nations. It has a strategic location, a strong economy, a large population, and a strong military (or shinobi) force. The Fire country is a peaceful and sunny place. It contains the Hidden Village of Leaf - or simply, Konohagakure. Konoha is ruled by a 'Hokage'.

The Land of Wind

The Land of wind is a desolate country with an arid climate. It contains mostly deserts and is often subject to sandstorms. However, despite this, the Land of Wind is a strong country and it contains Sunagakure, or the Hidden Village of Sand which is led by the Kazekage.

The Land of Water

The Land of Water, as its name implies, is a land filled with seas and oceans. It is generally an archipelago. It contains the Hidden Village of Mist or the Kirigakure which is ruled by the Mizukage. Its inhabitants specialized in water-based jutsu.

The countries mentioned below have yet to be shown in the Naruto episodes. They may have been shown in the fillers but have not yet been introduced in the manga so information about them are not necessarily canon.

The Land of Lightning

Little is known about the Land of Lightning except that it houses the Hidden Village of Cloud. Presumably, the occupants of this country specialize in lightning jutsu. Their village is ruled by a Raikage.

The Land of Earth

Like the land of lightning, little is known about the land of the earth since it has yet to be featured much in Naruto. However, it does contain the Hidden Village of Rock and is led by the Tsuchikage.

What Does The Word Jutsu In Naruto Mean?

Jutsu - one of the words that you will hear in each and every Naruto episode. You'll hear it just about as often as you hear Naruto say 'Dattebayo'. But what does it mean? Jutsu is a Japanese word that means 'skill' or 'ability'. In the Naruto Universe, it is used to describe the various techniques used by ninjas during battle.

Jutsus are often done by manipulating the 'chakra' of the ninja. The more stamina a ninja has, the more chakra he can use since chakra is simply stamina converted into energy. These jutsus are performed by doing hand-seals. There are 12 hand seals in all namely:

1. Bird 2. Boar 3. Dog 4. Dragon 5. Hare 6. Horse 7. Monkey 8. Ox 9. Ram 10. Rat 11. Serpent 12. Tiger

The jutsu that will be performed depends on the hand-seals that were used. For example, a fire jutsu typically ends with the seal of the tiger, as in the case of the Uchiha clan's Katon Goukakyuu no jutsu.

Jutsus are ranked according to their power and level of difficulty. But a jutsu's rank doesn't mean that it will be effective. It still depends on the user's skill and his usage of the jutsu. There are six ranks in all namely:

1. E rank - academy student-level jutsu 2. D rank - genin-level jutsu 3. C rank - chuunin level jutsu 4. B rank - jounin level jutsu 5. A rank - Kinjutsu 6. S rank - Secret Techniques

As you may have noticed, the first four ranks depend on the ninja's level. You see, ninjas start out as academy students. If they pass, they will become genins. If they pass the chuunin exam, they will become chuunins. Then Jounins and maybe, specialized jounins, ANBU, even kages.

The last two ranks are kinjutsu and secret techniques. Kinjutsu are otherwise known as 'forbidden jutsu'. These jutsu are forbidden because they are either 'dark or evil in nature' or they cause harm to the user. Examples of kinjutsu are Naruto's Kage Bunshin and the Juin Jutsu or the Cursed Seal technique used by Sasuke. Secret techniques are jutsu passed down from generation to generation of a ninja clan. Nobody outside of the clan can know how to perform the jutsu. Included in this rank are the kekkei genkais or the abilities or skill passed down through the genes like the Uchiha clan's Sharingan and the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.

Jutsus can be further classified into three categories depending on their type. These are:

1. Taijutsu - taijutsu refers to any technique that uses the ninja's stamina directly rather than converting the stamina into chakra. Simply put, taijutsu refers to all hand-to-hand combat techniques. Examples are Lee's Lotus and Sasuke's Shi Shi Rendan.

2. Ninjutsu - ninjutsu refers to any technique that uses chakra for various purposes, depending on the user. Elemental techniques are classified into this. Examples include Naruto's rasengan and Sasuke's chidori. Kawarimi no jutsu, a basic jutsu, is also classified into this.

3. Genjutsu - genjutsu refers to any technique that involves using the victim's chakra against himself to affect the person's nervous system. Genjutsus often rely on the ninja's intelligence. The more intelligent a person is, the more he can perform genjutsu and the more he can dispel it.

So there you have it, this should give you some ideas of what Jutsus mean in Naruto whenever a character uses it. It's actually not all made up and there are actually some depth to each Jutsus individually!