Naruto - the original manga to end in five weeks time

Ian Wolf

Ian Wolf

Mushi-shi
AUKN Staff
The original manga version of <em>Naruto</em> will end on 10th November 2014, according to the official <em>Weekly Shonen Jump </em>website.



Masashi Kishimoto's ninja manga, regarded as one of the "Big Three" <em>Shonen Jump </em>series alongside <em>One Piece </em>and <em>Bleach</em>, will come to the end of its serialisation in the 50th issue of the 2014 edition of the magazine. It was reported back in 2012 by Kishimoto that the series was reaching its climax, and that he had a year-and-a-half of the story to go.&nbsp;

The series began in 1999, with 70 printed volumes released so far, the 71st to come out in Japan on 4th November. The latest English volume, the 67th, comes out this week. There was been several anime incarnations of the series since 2002.

The manga follows the titular character, a boy training to be a ninja in the "Village Hidden in the Leaves" who dreams of become the ruler of the village, as well as the struggles and betrayals he has to endure.

Sources: Anime News Network & Crunchyroll.
 
Two big questions,

1) With Bleach looking like it'll end soon too, what will Shonen Jump look to fill the void with.

2) What will Kishimoto do next?

And you could add to that a third one I suppose...

3) A few years down the line, will they dare do a FMA Brotherhood on it and reboot the anime from the start cutting out all filler, but with new and improved visuals.
 
Anyone who has been following the manga has known that this was coming to be honest. But even so, it ending is going to feel weird. I've been following the series since Jetix first started airing in the anime in 2006, so waiting for new chapters/volumes has been a routine of mine for about eight years now. I'll always remember one summer holiday, where I spent the entire six weeks marathoning the first anime series - fillers included!

The series has definitely had its ups and its downs and to be honest, I actually stopped watching the anime a while ago due to the fillers and the poor quality of animation the anime has nowadays, but I've continued to read the manga.

Naruto has had its ups and its downs but it will always have a special place for me; it's the series that introduced me to the world of anime and it's one I'll have fond memories of. I remember meeting up with my school friends every Saturday to play the importing copy of Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 4 I bought for the GameCube and laughing at watching people running with their arms behind their backs xD.

It will be sad to see this series go, not because I feel that it's ending too early (it's the right time), but rather, it's like saying goodbye to an old friend who you made lots of memories with.
 
I think the biggest concern i have at the moment is, how can they finish it in 5-6 chapters. It feels like they are going to rush this final segment in that case, and i'm not entirely happy with that if it does turn out as such Even still, it'll be weird having no Naruto to read every week.

It's been quite a year for manga ending too. We've had Beelzebub, The World God Only Knows, Claymore ended just recently and History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi also finished up too. Thankfully Beelzebub has a spin-off manga running on the side, but so many of my go-tos have all finished up.
 
Lawrence said:
I'm more sad about that fact that One Piece and Bleach are still running, to be honest, Naruto ending was inevitable. Sure many of the criticisms levied against it are long standing but these past few years have done very little to dissuade them, more oft it only serves to prove them right. Letting it end at this point should come as a relief to all.

I suppose there isn't much the editorial department can do to perpetuate the series by this point - which is unfortunate for them, given that it is quite the money spinner but hopefully the decline of several major series will incite them to change their attitudes towards the content of the magazine. Dragging out a series for the sake of sales isn't necessarily a solution to a larger problem - a decline in magazine sales, especially since there is no guarantee that they can replace any of the big three (they tried with Toriko and it worked out pretty poorly). Focusing on quality content over quantity and brand recognition might not do much for the magazine but at least it would help consolidate a core following.
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I'm liking a lot of the longer content which runs monthly at the moment - ie. Seraph and Blue Exorcist. Feels like a better amount to consume in one go, in a way.

That said, I'm a shameless sucker for Nisekoi too. So yeah...
 
I haven't been reading One Piece, but Bleach is definitely in the gutter at this point. I've been reading the series out of curiosity, to see how it will end, but I think the last story arc I genuinely enjoyed was the Fullbring arc..and even that was ruined by having the Soul Reapers return at the end.

I personally think Kubo should have just moved the Isshin stuff to early on in the series and just ended the story with Aizen.
 
It's a shame re. Bleach, as although the story has gone to complete pot, I think the characterisation and character art is often actually a lot stronger than Naruto. Some of the designs are brilliant, and I think it's one of the best manga at handling fight scenes in an intelligent, suspenseful way in terms of the art - with One Piece and Naruto I often get lost in terms of the flow of what's actually happening between frames.
 
I admittedly couldn't get into One Piece as a direct result of Oda's art style. Kubo is admittedly probably my preferred artist of the three, although Kishimoto does have his moments too.
 
Joshawott said:
Anyone who has been following the manga has known that this was coming to be honest. But even so, it ending is going to feel weird. I've been following the series since Jetix first started airing in the anime in 2006, so waiting for new chapters/volumes has been a routine of mine for about eight years now. I'll always remember one summer holiday, where I spent the entire six weeks marathoning the first anime series - fillers included!

The series has definitely had its ups and its downs and to be honest, I actually stopped watching the anime a while ago due to the fillers and the poor quality of animation the anime has nowadays, but I've continued to read the manga.

Naruto has had its ups and its downs but it will always have a special place for me; it's the series that introduced me to the world of anime and it's one I'll have fond memories of. I remember meeting up with my school friends every Saturday to play the importing copy of Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 4 I bought for the GameCube and laughing at watching people running with their arms behind their backs xD.

It will be sad to see this series go, not because I feel that it's ending too early (it's the right time), but rather, it's like saying goodbye to an old friend who you made lots of memories with.
Click to expand...

I have similar memories with Dragon Ball Z back in the early 2000s, once I saw the last episode of Dragon Ball (given that it aired Z, then GT, then the original series in the UK, plus I'd already imported all the films) I felt sad that there was no new DB footage to watch/manga to read. Of course, many years later, they've release a new film with another in the pipework, but that's not the point!

Out of the three mentioned, I like Bleach (though as many have mentioned, the last arc hasn't been up to much apart from waiting to see people's long-teased powers), then One Piece, then Naruto in terms of favourites, not disliking any of them. Can't say much on art style as I'm more of an anime guy, with the exception of Bleach, but that's just because I love it that much more than the other two that I like to keep up (and obviously the anime has ended, so manga is the only way to continue the story!)

It'll be interesting to see how much longer the anime goes.
 
One thing I'll always say re. Naruto is that I know a lot of people idolise the original series, but for me it was Shippuden that really got me hooked - I much prefer the art style and think it feels refreshingly unique amidst a lot of the standard 'moe eye' style shows out there at the moment (if you know what I mean).

Also, I think the Akatsuki are some of the best villains in any anime - with the Naruto vs. Pain fight in particular being a real standout amidst the series as a whole.
 
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NormanicGrav said:
Just to clarify - is the final chapter 699 or 700? I've been hearing people say it's 700 while news reporters say 699..
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It will be 699.

Chapter 694 was serialised in the issue of Weekly Shonen Jump that came out today. The issue the series is ending in will be released on 10th November, meaning another 5 chapters, so 699.
 
I can’t believe it’s actually ending. I’m glad in a way because I really don’t want them to drag it out but I’ll be really sad to let the series go.

A lot of my friends had said Naruto has been dragging its heels for a while now and most of them have said Kubo is dragging Bleach through the dirt. I wonder how Jump will fill the gap that both Naruto and Bleach end.

Bleach used to be one of my favourite mangas to read along with Naruto but then Kubo Ex Machina ruined everything. I honestly felt he was making it up as he went along, whilst Kishimoto seemed to have a plan, or at least he did originally. Kubo’s art though really is something else.

Saying that I’ve been on a year hiatus from both Bleach and Naruto to let the issues build up. I just can’t wait week in week out. I got about as far as Sixth Paths Naruto and the battle between him and the fully combined tailed beast. I better start reading soon or I’m sure I’ll get hit with spoilers.
 
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