Throughout Part 1, I kept waiting and waiting for Sakura to break the gender stereotype and do something. (I should point out that the very practice of segregating entertainment on the basis of gender,i.e, 'for boys', 'for girls', 'for grown men' and 'for grown women' is very ridiculous.) I was not even aware of the word feminism, yet I knew that something was inherently wrong with how the female characters were represented in shounen manga. As a logical person, the very premise of gender inequality has never made any sense to me. I used to hate being thought of as someone less capable just because I was born a girl. Gender Stereotyping.Įven as a kid I was very sensitive towards the issue of gender discrimination in fiction and real life. Of course, as I grew up a lot other things also influenced me but Naruto established the basic foundations of what I was to become as a person.įor all its virtues, I still cannot ignore probably the only vice it has. Courage, standing up for what you think is the right thing and giving every person a second chance, the value of family and friendship, hard work, respect for every individual, not judging others by their appearance, general helpfulness the list is endless. It had a strong influence on my value system. I read Naruto before I even read Harry Potter.

Naruto was a very integral part of my childhood and he helped me cope with bullying as a kid more than any real person ever did. #27)īefore I jump into the dirty list of everything that is wrong with Naruto, I want to make it clear that despite its flaws, Naruto is very close to my heart and I will always go back to reading it. In 1999, a serialized version of Naruto began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump and quickly became a hit. In 1998, Kishimoto premiered as a Weekly Shōnen Jump artist with a serialized version of Karakuri in Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it proved unpopular and was canceled soon after.

This was followed in 1997 by a pilot version of Naruto (NARUTO－ナルト－), published in Akamaru Jump Summer. This earned him the Weekly Shōnen Jump's monthly 'Hop Step Award' in 1996, granted to promising new manga artists.

Kishimoto's first work as a manga artist was Karakuri (カラクリ?), which he submitted to Shueisha in 1995. Two of his former assistants, Osamu Kajisa (Tattoo Hearts) and Yuuichi Itakura (Hand's), have also gone on to moderate success following their work on Naruto.

His younger twin brother, Seishi Kishimoto, is also a manga artist and creator of the manga series O-Parts Hunter (666 Satan) and Blazer Drive. Masashi Kishimoto (岸本斉史 Kishimoto Masashi) is a Japanese manga artist, well known for creating the manga series Naruto.

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