Naruto Episode 1

Anime or Japanese animation is very much ingrained in the Japanese culture but has seen widespread popularity across the world and gaining great following amongst people in Western culture. You would have likely come across some form of anime (or perhaps anime inspired cartoons) although you may not have recognized them of being so. Think of Pokemon, Bakugan, Digimon and Dragonball. These particular animes are considered to be light hearted entertainment designed to appeal to young children (boys mainly).

As you delve just a little bit more into the world of anime, you’ll see series that have greater depth in the underlying theme. In this hub, I want to discuss one such anime called Naruto. I’ll give my personal impression of Naruto episode 1. Before you read any further, I want to point out that there may be some spoilers relating to this episode.

Firstly, I’ll give some background of the concept. Naruto started off as a Manga (sort of equivalent to a graphic novel) written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. Initial publication was in 1999 and was later adapted into anime and aired on Japanese tv networks in 2002. It was then dubbed with English voiceover and released in the US and Canada in 2005 followed by UK in 2006 and Australia in 2007. As you can probably guess, this series has proven to be quite successful in all these countries.

Naruto Episode 1 opens with a scene showing a massive menacing creature called the Nine-Tail Demon Fox attacking a village called Konohagakure (Village hidden in the Leaves) and you see several soldiers with ninja skills defending the village. The creature was eventually defeated in a one-on-one battle with the leader of the village (The Fourth Hokage) who unfortunately died as a result of the fight. He defeated the Demon Fox by sealing it in the body of a newborn child. This child turns out to be the main character throughout the series named Naruto Uzumaki.

After the prologue, the story fast forwards 12 years later, and introduces the audience to an adolescent boy Naruto Uzumaki. Initial impressions of Naruto may be that he is always mischievous and never taking life seriously as he runs around the village vandalizing public property and pulling pranks in class.

However, as you continue watching the episode, you realize where all his behavior is stemming from. After the Demon Fox incident, Naruto had to go through his childhood without any parents so he didn’t have anyone to care for him or show him any affection. On top of this, it was a fairly open secret amongst the adults of the village that he was the host to the Demon Fox entity. Because of this, most of them ostracized him. Naruto however did not know this truth and so he was confused and frustrated by the animosity he felt from other people.

It was this loneliness and the sense of rejection that Naruto had to deal with all his life that drove him to aim for the goal of becoming a Hokage (highest ranked ninja and leader of Konoha village). He believed that by achieving this status, he would be able to gain the recognition, respect and acceptance he had been searching. Episode 1 really depicted his struggles and his extreme determination against insurmountable odds well.

Another character introduced in the first episode was the Third Hokage. He had actually already stepped down from the leadership role of the village and was succeeded by the Fourth Hokage. However, as a result of the Fourth Hokage’s death from the Demon Fox attack, the Third Hokage had to return to the role. He was portrayed as the wise old leader type who understood Naturo’s predicament.

This is Naruto’s teacher at the ninja academy. He is able to connect with Naruto very well as he had gone through a very similar childhood. Iruka’s parents had died fighting against the Demon Fox so he had to grow up alone. This commonality helped strengthen the bond and trust between the two characters.

There is a scene on the first episode involving a group of students in a classroom (including Naruto) practicing a particular ninja technique for an examination. In this scene, the audience is introduced to other important characters that will reappear in later episodes.

The most notable characters are Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. In the practice demonstration, Sasuke executes the technique perfectly with minimal effort or concentration demonstrating his natural abilities. There is also a hint of arrogance in the way he carries himself. Sakura is a bit of a high achiever and although not apparent in the first episode, she had an infatuation for Sasuke. At a later point in the series plot, these two characters will team up with Naruto to form a ninja squad.

I definitely recommend that you give this series a shot so at least check out the first episode. You can easily find both Naruto Episode 1 English dub and sub versions.

What I’ve discussed here is only Naruto episode 1 part 1 of the first series. There are 220 episodes in total for the first series. After this series, there is the Shippuden series, which takes place a few years later with Naruto in his late teens. If you find yourself addicted to the series like I have, you can continue onto the second series. Again, both Naruto Shippuden Episode 1 Part 1 English dub and sub versions are available.