Naruto

[direstraits]

I've been indulging in some manga reading on my iPad (did I mention that I really really love my iPad? No? Maybe in another thread then). So I have this app called Manga Rock Unity (I know this sounds incredibly nerdy - bear with me...), and it basically is a tool that collates manga series and makes it available for viewing for free.

So I accidentally downloaded a couple of issues of Naruto, a very popular Japanese manga series that's been running longer than the entirety of CSI, and before I knew it I'm at issue 540+ after about 3 weeks of casual reading. Each issue is very short (less than 20 pages), so this didn't actually mean I was reading 24/7.

What I realized is, having also been familiar with another long-running manga series Dragon Ball, there is a very simple formula to keep the audience hooked - neverending battles. They then to get bigger as the issues roll along, the characters get better, while at the same time the opponents get tougher. This escalates in a very insidious manner where you don't really realize this is happening, and suddenly the character who used to have problems standing upside down on a tree branch is now wielding energy shurikens the size of a redwood tree trunk.

Anyone else familiar with Naruto? Or perhaps a manga series that isn't so out and out bash & slash?

 

[direstraits]

Finished all the currently out issues. Apparently it's not even close to being finished. Very unhappy to be left hanging, but then realized I've been strung along for many a series, either books or comics or TV series.

Anyway, wanted to quickly revisit my earlier comment: my view that the longevity of a manga series being solely dependent on 'battles' is really quite short-sighted, given that there's such a wide variety of manga that's available. Not all of them are bash em ups, obviously.