Naruto. The ninja. The outcast. The hero. The next Hokage.

For 15 years, readers and fans of manga have followed the journey of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who dreams of becoming a Hokage, the strongest leader of the ninja villages. Ever since the day he was born the people of the Leaf Village shunned him due to the fact he was attached to the nine-tailed demon Kurama. But this never stopped Naruto from trying to accomplish his dream and from seeking the respect from the people of the Leaf Village. In his training days, he is joined with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno and taunt under Kakashi Hatake. From then on the story revolves around these three young ninjas battling the odds and the forces of evil. The manga was created by Masashi Kishimoto in 1999. Then in 2002 it was adapted into anime, like a majority of manga series.

Growing up, I didn't read a lot of manga. Even to this day I still don't read much. But I see it like any other book or comic. Manga sucks you into a world with great characters, amazing abilities, a vast history, and epic conflicts. When I did read manga it was always Naruto. I got myself the chance to read the final chapter, Chapter 700, and it felt like a fitting end to an amazing saga. I especially loved watching the anime growing up. I always tuned in when I could to the show when it aired on Toonami. I still consider it to be one of the greatest animes of all time. I even still watch the sequel series Naruto Shippuden. 

To me Naruto is definitely one of the greatest heroes of all time. The reason why is because he never gave up on his dream. Even when things were going wrong, even when he messed up, even when he got the crap kicked outta him, he never gave up. He always pushed himself to keep fighting for those he cares about and he always knew what the right thing was. When the people of the Leaf Village demonized him as a child he was definitely hurt by it but it gave him a reason to become a Hokage so he can earn everyone's respect. And by god when I saw that moment in Naruto Shippuden where the people cheered for Naruto, that was a moment where I was like, "YES! FINALLY!" It's just a powerful moment that you just feel good that he finally earn the village's respect. The manga also revealed his heroism, his fears, his inner torment, his passion, and like many characters from manga/anime his large appetite. 

It's sad when a series you love and follow has now come to an end but that's how you know what an impact it made on your life. Whether a series is from books, TV, movies, video games, comics, and even manga/anime, you chose to follow the journey because you wanted to be apart of that world (admit it you've done it too). We wanted to know these characters, we wanted to be these characters. We all wanted to team up with the heroes like some role-playing game and battle with the villains, or even join the villains to conquer the universe. While I wasn't exactly invested in the Naruto manga as much as the anime but I can understand and relate to those who are. 

You have given fans a wonderful 15 years of pure epicness. I conclude with saying thank you Masashi Kishimoto for this awesome series. Thank you to all the characters who fans like me have followed. 

Thank you. God bless. Farewell.

--edited by Zach Heher on 11/7/2014, 12:18 PM--

@Zach: There's an old expression that you never truly understand something until you see it through the eyes of someone who loves it. I think Masashi Kishimoto would be very proud of you, were he to read this! Manga is off my radar (though I own animated classics on blu-ray like Ninja Scroll, Akira, Ghost In the Shell, Battleship Yamato, Black Lagoon, Gunsmith Cats, etc.) so I'm glad you colored this in for me. I've oftentimes run across Naruto references in magazines and online and had no idea what they were talking about.

--edited by Carl E. Reed on 11/7/2014, 12:41 PM--