Omohide.com

(slight spoilers for early episodes ahead)

It’s funny how people (and things in general) can change in such a relatively short period of time. A few years ago, I was a short 14 year old boy, just starting high school, and a huge fan of Naruto, the (now) immensely popular anime series. It was the first anime I ever watched. Back then, I was moved by the emotional scenes , I was intrigued by the plot. I know that what I’m going to say is really cheesy – but it really was such a simpler time back then. The highlight of my week was downloading the latest Naruto episode, subtitled, off of the subbers website Nowadays, the word “Naruto fan” makes you think of loud, obnoxious, and immature forum users. But back then, Naruto was just starting to become popular in Japan, and the mainstream Canada & US had never heard of it. Only a few episodes had been released, and for me, it was a fresh and interesting series. So that meant that the fandom here in Canada was not as large as it is now, but it wasn’t so small that it was obsolete. You were sure to find fellow Naruto fans in your school, and in fact, some of the first friends I made in school were found through a common love for Naruto. It was a bit of a shared experience – we would discuss new episodes in class, argue about the stupidest things. And it was fun. There’s absolutely nothing like it anymore.

Yes, excessive nostalgia is unhealthy. Yes, Naruto has now become a cash cow, and there’s only a faint remnant of whatever quality it may have had. And yet, whenever people start bashing it, I don’t want to join in. Because I remember myself a few years ago, watching my first real anime, how moved I was when I watched Sasuke apparently die, after saving the life of his rival, Naruto. I remember how I was affected by watching the death of Haku and Zabuza – indeed, I was moved by the deaths of the villains! That should tell you right away that Naruto was not always the DBZ-clone it appears to be becoming. Those early episodes were well-made, there was a sense of ambiguity in the morality. The episodes continue and it may have starting going downhill, but I didn’t notice because by then, I had become so familiar with the characters and setting. Of course, there came a point where I just couldn’t watch any more, and so I gradually lost interest, and moved onto anime like “Honey and Clover” and never looked back.

Nowadays “Naruto” has become little more than a word that anime fans use to belittle other anime. For example - “The plot and characters are even worse than Naruto” - clearly an insult of great proportions, right? I’ve heard it quite a lot. But should I be embarrassed to admit that finding Naruto actually changed my life in some way? After all, I made quite a bit of friends through our shared love of the series. I learned more about web development, graphics, and about computers generally because of Naruto-related activities (setting up website, downloading episodes, browsing forums, etc). I started watching more anime and indeed, many foreign films because of how much I loved Naruto. And I do think that all of this had a big part in determining what kind of person I was. After all, when you’re 14, you haven’t completely developed your character and personality. The fact that Naruto introduced me to this whole new world definitely opened my mind and made better than if I had never discovered it, and thus, never really gotten into anime altogether.

A fair portion of you readers are probably staring at this page and wondering if I’ve gone crazy. How could an shounen action series have such an effect on me? Well, it is probably similar to the reason that as a child, a person like Mr. Rogers can profoundly affect your development and views on the world. When you grow older, you may realize that Mr. Rogers message was very simple – but even as your friends may joke about those kids shows, in the back of your head, you still have a sense of respect for him. I suppose that’s what coming into play here. And I know that there are others like me out there, who have had a similar experience with this series. And there is the reason why I will never be able to bash Naruto, no matter what happens.