Naruto, Vol. 22: Comrades

Naruto [ナルト] #22

by Masashi Kishimoto

The world’s most popular ninja comic!

Naruto is a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He’s got a wild sense of humor, but Naruto is completely serious about his mission to be the world’s greatest ninja!

When Naruto and Shikamaru take off to save Sasuke from becoming part of Orochimaru’s ultimate master plan, Neji is left to fend for himself against the sinister Kidomaru! But Sasuke is still trapped in the Darkness. Will Naruto find him in time?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Shonen, Adventure

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2004

About the author

Masashi Kishimoto (岸本斉史 Kishimoto Masashi) is a Japanese manga artist, well known for creating the manga series Naruto. His younger twin brother, Seishi Kishimoto, is also a manga artist and creator of the manga series O-Parts Hunter (666 Satan) and Blazer Drive. Two of his former assistants, Osamu Kajisa (Tattoo Hearts) and Yuuichi Itakura (Hand's), have also gone on to moderate success following their work on Naruto.

Kishimoto's first work as a manga artist was Karakuri (カラクリ?), which he submitted to Shueisha in 1995. This earned him the Weekly Shōnen Jump's monthly "Hop Step Award" in 1996, granted to promising new manga artists. This was followed in 1997 by a pilot version of Naruto (NARUTO－ナルト－), published in Akamaru Jump Summer. In 1998, Kishimoto premiered as a Weekly Shōnen Jump artist with a serialized version of Karakuri in Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it proved unpopular and was canceled soon after. In 1999, a serialized version of Naruto began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump and quickly became a hit.

Reviews

[Ola G · Rating 2 out of 5]

5/10 stars

I like Neji, and I like how he matured as a result of his experience with Naruto. In general, many of these young ninjas seem to improve thanks to Naruto. I just wish Naruto wised up in his turn!
But besides this, volumes which are basically one long battle are just boring for me. Kishimoto seems to spend more time devising new jutsus and weird monsters than thinking up convincing narrative, and I guess this may work for teenage boys, but, alas, I don't belong to this group ;)
Ah, well, on to the next volume. Hopefully it's going to be better.

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story getting interesting. Also, of course the fight was drawn well, and makes you wonder what will happen next. I don't what else to say really. Well I can add Neji to my favorite characters list. Same with the others. Good volume.

[T.R. Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neji deserved better.

Neji is king.

[mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

love neji 💙 sasuke isn’t worth all of this tho lol

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume continues the pursuit of Sasuke by the Shikamaru cell.


Choji defeated his adversary.
Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba and Neji are progressing after Sasuke and the remaining three Sound ninja tasked to guard him during his transformation.
They catch up. This time Neji will stay behind to handle another of the Sound while the pursuit continues.
Neji wins.
Since Sasuke's retrieval is taking longer than expected, Orochimaru transfers himself in another vessel with a forbidden jutsu that can only be performed once each several years.
Kabuto manipulates Kimilaro into helping with Sasuke's retrieval.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the fight scenes are pretty interesting, objectively, they didn't really spark my interest that much. Neji is better as a villain than as a hero.

The battle was pretty drawn out and I suppose it might have been better if it had been streamlined more. Maybe. A long chase scene is only as good as the purpose, and all these newbs are chasing after someone who chose to leave the clan. Sure, it's Sasuke, but under any normal or realistic circumstances, the priority should have gone under neutralizing him, not bringing him back.

The sequence doesn't really mar the manga that much, but it does have a bit of the feeling of filler.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually one of my favortie arcs in the series, simply because Naruto takes a backseat in it. I like Naruto but, as with most fictional works, I tend to gravitate toward the side characters. This is where several of the lesser developed characters shine. Neji's fight is great and it even manages to tie in his relationship with Naruto. I'd have to say Chouji's story was my favorite though. It would have been easy for Kishimoto to just make Chouji "That Fat Kid" who is useless and the brunt of all jokes. But here we really got to see that his size is something that is important to his life as a ninja. Chouji wouldn't be nearly as strong without his fat, and I think there's a nice message of body acceptance to be found there. I also love his relationship with Shikamaru. (Of course, I love anything involving Shikamaru.) Their friendship doesn't get much exploration, but it feels so real that it doesn't really matter.

[Radwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, Sasuke isn't worth it. I'm loving seeing their true essence in battle. First Choji, and now Neji! It's so different from the exam battles of course.

[Mit · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me the fight between Neji and Kidomaru is the best I have seen in this series. Both were strong and although I find it hard to believe that how Neji can stand up so strong even after taking so many blows to his body, the idea was really interesting. I am not giving this a 5 star only because of fight only. There is a dynamic shift in Neji's character. When he was defeated by Naruto, we did not see much of it but now we can see that he is changed. Changed completely.

"Naruto, sometimes your eyes are better than mine." That took me some time to understand but when I realized what he meant, it really moistened my eyes. Neji is genius indeed. Taking on against someone like Kidomaru all alone. Overall, a beautiful volume.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars *may change
neji is way too OP omg

[Andrada · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fight was amazing! Neji truly is a genius.

The ending of the battle where he looks at the sky and tells that Naruto also saved him from the darkness before passing out was so emotional 🥹.

Neji is one of my favourite characters and I love his development over the volumes since his battle with Hinata until now ❤️.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Choji's battle, it is now Neji's turn to shine as he takes on his toughest foe yet. A bloody battle ensues and presents a Neji that has learned a huge lesson from his battle with Naruto.

This volume also teases us at Orochimaru's inevitable decision regarding his health.

While it's essentially a very drawn-out battle that covers most of this volume, I am excited for the final battle to come!

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Flor C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo que sufro con el estado de Neji

[Virgi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neji vs. Spider guy! What a GREAT fight. These are getting more and more impressive as the action unfolds. A joy to read!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neji 💚💔

[Rin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same as last one for my opinions

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neji is a cool character. I just can’t wait to see all of them grow into themselves

[Sarah Shah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I wonder..why are we born? Do we carry some important mission within us…
..To discover that mission…is the ultimate liberty to God grant us humans..

What you can do is your current state.”

[Ben Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgot how cool the spider guy’s summon was. Keen to see the Kimimaro vs Lee fight cause it’s low-key the haziest part of OG Naruto for me.

[Kulwinder Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

"𝙁𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚."

Neji's fight with Kidomaru was an apt platform for showing his ingenious skills. There is no doubt that he has undergone a lot of positive changes since his encounter with Naruto during the Chunin Exams. For Neji, Kidomaru was indeed a tough opponent, and this fight has helped him grow even more.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Choji has defeated Jirobo but at what cost. The rest of the squad still chase after Sasuke but when they eventually catch up to the rest of the Sound Ninja Four their plan goes sideways. Neji realizes only he can take on Kidomaru because of his Gentle Fist technique. As Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba continue the pursuit, Neji and Kidomaru fight in an intense battle of smarts and wits with Neji just inching out the victory.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

noice

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the entire series.

Once upon a time, the spirit of an evil Nine Tailed Fox wreaked havoc on Konohagakure; the Village Hidden in the Leaves, killing hundreds of honorable ninja in the skirmish and leaving many children without homes or parents. The Fourth Hokage (leader of the village) unleashes a forbidden jutsu (magic spell/ninja ability) to seal the spirit of the evil fox into the body of a newborn baby named Naruto at the cost of his own life. He did this in the hopes that the boy could one day learn to master the power of the demonic spirit and use it to protect the village and become a great hero of the people.

Unknown to the citizens of the Leaf, the Nine Tailed Fox was being controlled by an even more powerful adversary, a legendary rogue ninja that plans to wage war against the entire world from the shadows. The identity of the mysterious ninja that attacked the Leaf Village using the Nine Tails died with the Fourth Hokage, and he used what remained of his life to gift Naruto with the power of one day being able to stop this evil ninja and a clan of outlawed S-rank criminals called the Akatsuki from committing mass genocide against the many hidden villages and clans of the world.

Because of the evil spirit sealed inside him, Naruto grew up hated by the other children of the village because they believe him and the Nine Tails to be one and the same. They believe he’s a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, waiting for the perfect moment to kill them all just like the Nine Tails killed their parents and families. Shunned, dehumanized and treated like dirt, Naruto vows to become the greatest hokage the world has ever seen so that he can receive the love and acknowledgement he never got as a child.

On top of the Nine Tails power and the will to never quit, Naruto also possesses the uncanny ability to turn everyone he meets into a potential comrade. He brings out the best in his peers and tries his hardest to make his enemies see the errors of their ways. He disobeys the rules and ignores cultural traditions to try and make changes to the world and break the eternal cycle of war and hatred through his own methods. His determination is infectious to friend and foe alike. He earns himself the respect he deserves by overcoming one impossible obstacle at a time.

Naruto encounters many fascinating and terrifying ninja over the course of his journey to become hokage. Among them are Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto’s best friend and rival who is driven by the vengeful lust to murder his elder brother after he wiped out their own clan in cold blood. Sasuke warms up to Naruto, but his hatred and trauma are dangerous forces that threaten to break his moral code as a ninja and destroy his reputation among his peers.

Kakashi Hatake is a notorious copycat ninja that survived one of the most brutal and devastating wars in history as well as the Nine Tails attack on the Leaf Village. He becomes Naruto and Sasuke’s mentor and teaches them a great number of valuable lessons about surviving in the dangerous world of rogue ninja, bloodthirsty assassins and clans ruled by corruption.

Jiraiya is a perverted yet wise sage who taught the Fourth Hokage everything he knew and he’s regarded as a god among shinobi that’s famous for his heroic actions in the second great ninja war. He takes an interest in Naruto and raises him as a father figure to carry on the legacy of the Fourth Hokage to prepare him for the many dangerous people that want to use his power for their own nefarious purposes.

The Akatsuki is one such group of wicked ninja. Among them are Sasuke’s brother Itachi who murdered his clan and possesses many dangerous techniques involving illusions, psychological torture and elemental manipulation. Sasori who controls poisonous puppets with magical threads, Orochimaru who mastered the forbidden arts of reanimation and quasi-immortality, Deidara who fights from afar using detonating clay and many other deadly foes.

The entire series chronicles Naruto and his fellow ninja comrades growing through countless trials and tragedies. There are hundreds of unique jutsus, clans, and techniques which lead to some very intense, creative and strategic battles between skilled ninja with diverse abilities that don’t always match up evenly. There are clan based abilities such as the Aburame clan’s ability to control insects, the Yamanaka clan’s ability to jump into other people’s minds and control their bodies and the Inuzuka clan’s ability to bond with wolves that learn to mimic their master’s battle skills. Then there’s ocular genetic abilities such as the sharingan which allows the user to create psychological illusions, copy their enemy’s abilities and manipulate elemental energy. The byakugan allows the user to read their enemies vital points and detect their spiritual energy from faraway. The rinnegan grants control over space and gravity and so on.

On top of having countless unique abilities, nearly every character has a tragic backstory that makes them sympathetic and relatable, even the nastiest of the villains have well-explored reasons for following the paths they do and becoming the way they are. One of my favorite aspects of the series is how well it explores the physical, emotional and psychological effects war can have on society and culture as well as the survivors and future generations that are forced to live in them. How it breeds racism and cultural disputes, how it inspires hatred in orphaned children and war veterans robbed of their homes toward foreign nations, as well as how this eventually leads to further death, war, poverty and destruction. Learning to forgive the ones you hate to prevent further conflict and damaging the world for future generations even further is a major theme throughout the story.

Being a massive 700 chapter series, it’s not too surprising that there’s some plot holes and consistency issues. A rule might be stated regarding the requirements and usage of a certain jutsu or ability only for that rule to be repeatedly broken 400 chapters later. Sometimes the characters and rules contradict themselves, sometimes the chronology of certain events and historical facts don’t match up perfectly, the lore and general backstory go through several retcons that change the philosophy and power scaling of the characters and the scope of world-building; the final arc especially drags on and breaks a lot of the logic and rules that the story spent the whole series setting up, etc...

Naruto’s far from perfect, but I remember it very fondly for being one of the first series that introduced me to things like manga and Japanese entertainment in general. It was one of those childhood classics like Dragon Ball, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin. The series grew up with me and I can’t help but feel grateful to it for introducing me to hundreds of other franchises that I’m still a huge fan of to this day and I continue to find many new ones on the regular. Naruto's journey from a clownish, disrespected outcast into a talented, well-loved and admired hero is a memorable one.

[Siona Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5 stars. I used to like Neji a lot, and I still think he's a cool character, but this volume wasn't as exciting as the previous one. I guess Choji is just a more relatable character for me. Also, the spiders were really creepy *shudder*

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just really anxious to get to the battle between Sasuke and Naruto.

[Apple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neji's fight was awesome.

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Naruto Band 022 von Masashi Kishimoto


Zum Inhalt:

Das Oto-Quartett macht unseren Freunden ganz schön zu schaffen. Doch den ersten Kampf konnte Choji für sich entscheiden. Jetzt muss Neji gegen den "Spinnen-Ninja" Kidomari antreten. Währenddessen verfolgen Naruto, Shikamaru und Kiba Sasukes Entführer...

Cover:
Auch dieses Cover passt wieder sehr gut zu der Reihe und zeigt die beiden Charaktere Neji und Naruto, wobei Naruto dem Betrachter den Rücken zugewandt hat. Beide scheinen kampfbereit und in argen Schwierigkeiten zu sein. Das passt wieder sehr schön zum Inhalt der Geschichte und macht neugierig auf mehr.

Eigener Eindruck:
Während Choji den ersten Kampf für die Gruppe entscheiden konnte, wartet bald die nächste Mammutaufgabe auf die Freunde. Denn der Spinnenninja Kidomari versucht die Konoha-Ninja in Kokons gefangen zu nehmen. Es gelingt aber Naruto den Gegner mit seinen Dopplerfähigkeiten auszutricksen. Während der junge Ninja Neji zurück bleibt, um gegen Kidomari zu kämpfen, machen sich die anderen auf den Weg, um sich weiter zu Sasuke vorzukämpfen… und während die Kämpfe in den Wäldern weiter gehen, macht sich der fiese Orochimaru auf den Weg, um sich einen neuen Körper zu holen.

Also ich muss ehrlich gestehen, dass ich fasziniert bin. Die Geschichte rund um Naruto bleibt weiterhin spannend und der Mangaka schafft es, dass man als Leser weiterhin am Ball bleibt aber irgendwie baut sich mittlerweile eine Konstante auf, bei der man einfach merkt, dass einfach nicht mehr kommt – also im Sinne von Spannung, Emotionen etc. Es bleibt alles immer gleich und so wird es doch auch wieder ein bisschen langweilig. Ehrlich gesagt bin ich den ganzen Kämpfen mittlerweile auch ein bisschen überdrüssig, auch wenn sich der Mangaka hier durch viele neue Ideen wirklich Mühe gibt. Aber irgendwie fehlt es auch hier an einem gewissen Etwas. Es ist absehbar, dass die Gegner weitreichende Fähigkeiten haben und man wundert sich auch nicht, dass die Körper der Gegner sogar mutieren können – ekelhaft, warum musste es eigentlich unbedingt eine Spinne sein? Aber irgendwie war es das dann auch. Man kommt einfach nicht darüber hinaus. Die Story ist zwar gut, aber eben nicht mehr überragend. Schade eigentlich, denn ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass der Spannungbogen doch irgendwann einmal in sich zusammen bricht. Es bleibt abzuwarten, wie es weiter geht.

Fazit:
4 von 5 Sterne

Daten:
ISBN: 9783551774224
Sprache: Deutsch
Ausgabe: Flexibler Einband
Umfang: 192 Seiten
Verlag: Carlsen
Erscheinungsdatum: 22.01.2007

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far and away one of the best volumes in the manga. This is similar to the earlier volumes where Sasuke and Naruto fight Haku. There is something unique about the panels and the art. Specifically, I'm thinking of the ending when Neji is simply talking to Kidomaru. A feather falls from a bird and falls into his hand. There is no color, just white and some lines, so simple and very beautiful to me. While I sometimes find it obnoxious that Naruto is the spring for change in everyone's life, I still think it's excellent storytelling. There are just small quirks I like to complain about.

Although, looking back at the anime, as well as the manga, I wish there was room for stronger female characters. They are there, but they don't get the spotlight the way they should. I'll admit, I totally got fired up for Ino versus Sakura. I'm rambling. Again, small things. I just think overall it would be better. I still love Naruto.

In the end this is hand's down one of my favorite fights to come out of the Naruto series as a whole. Neji versus Kidomaru. Neji, the genius of the Hyuga clan versus the six-armed member of the sound five. I love how we just accept the fact that the dude has six arms. He <> is a freaking spider. Kidomaru also has the most badass second state for the curse mark.

This whole "get Sasuke back" arc is great. I believe the chunin exams is still the highlight of the show for me. This is just as good as Zabuza and Haku if not better. Everyone is definitely coming into their own. Choji just proved in the previous volume that he has the most faith in his comrades and that set the standard, because now Neji's up and he's doing the same thing. Instead of fighting to become chunin they are now fighting for their comrades and for their friends. The difference is everywhere.

Now, I'm not sure if this will be true every time, but I think I can definitely claim without little room for second guessing that one of my absolute favorite jutsus is...

GENTLE FIST STYLE

8 TRIGRAMS 64 PALMS!!

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Neji and his Byakugan face off against the spider man Kidomaru! We've already seen Neji fight against Naruto and have a good handle on his abilities, so this fight certainly isn't the most innovative. Kishimoto pairs him against Kidomaru who can use webs to trap foes and fire off ranged attacks. Neji has a difficult time closing the gap, and instead of introducing new techniques for Neji we actually get more weaknesses! Yeah, the Byakugan isn't as perfect as it appeared to be. Sure, it lost against Naruto, but that required a lot of creative work around and surprise factor on Naruto's part. No, this is an actual weakness that can be exploited.

Compared to Neji's previous fight the choreography is definitely weaker here. Neji barely gets to do anything - which matches up to how the Byakugan is supposed to be decisive once even a few hits are scored - and since we already got Neji's backstory there isn't much more here. I can see how Kishimoto is trying to prove how Neji can go from a total jerk to a valuable team player, showing how Naruto helped Neji and is certainly able to help Sasuke as well. But it's not a complex fight, it doesn't explore any new ground, and it goes against most of what made Neji such a compelling character in the first place. It's like Kishimoto made the Byakugan too strong so the fights are always going to be precise, so Neji has to go 'all-or-nothing' on his attacks. And this volume was way too much 'nothing'.