THE END OF NARUTO!

Word got 'round a couple weeks ago

that one 

of my favorite ninjas

will be finishing

his adventures soon:

From IGN:

Naruto

 is one of the most popular manga of all time,

 and after 15 years of continuous publication, 

American publisher Viz Media has announced 

the series will come to an end this November.

The final installment of Naruto will make its appearance in the 

November 10 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. 

Masashi Kishimoto’s long-running manga first appeared in 

Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, 

so it makes sense that Naruto will come full circle 

and end its serialization in the same publication.

GAH!

I'm not sure I want to know what life is like without

Uzomaki Naruto

every week!

I read a bit of Naruto

in Japanese way back when,

but I didn't really get into the

ramen loving rascal 

until the American

Shonen Jump came out.

They were woefully behind the 

weekly output of Japan.

I never watched the anime

because it was ahead of the manga.

and I didn't want to spoil anything.

But I spent a lot of time cajoling 

Cartoon Network

into getting the show,

which they eventually did.

But eventually SJ decided to

play catch-up by releasing

something like

3 volumes a month

for 7 months.

WHICH WAS LIKE HAVING

ALL THE 

PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM

YOU COULD EAT!

American

Shonen Jump

then went to a

weekly 

all digital format,

which is probably one of the

TOP 17

things that has ever 

happened to me.

What I love about Naruto

is kinda the same thing I love about

One Piece.

It's about friends.

And never giving up on them.

There were plenty of times

I actually cried reading Naruto

because the story was so emotional.

And now it's coming to an end.

To be honest,

like most things that go on for a long time

Naruto has gotten a bit bloated, overwrought and confusing.

(yeeesh, i can't keep track of all those characters 

and the difference between sharingan, rinnegan, blah blah etc!)

But I still love it and 

I'm gonna miss it.

Arigatou gozaimasu, Kishimoto-san!

Naruto no ato de, dou suru ka?!

BONUS FACT:

I used to have a notebook where I would keep

cool poses or character designs

I tore from old comics and magazines.

Naruto had it's fair share

of stuff I ripped out: