One of the most popular manga/anime series in Japan and the US (and up there on the all-time list), I fell in love with the first 2-4 seasons (2002). There is a large supporting cast and a massive universe to get into, but everything comes back to 1 child ninja named Naruto Uzumaki, believe it! Although difficult for him to make friends at first, his glowing personality and flowing self-confidence is contagious. He wants nothing more than to become the Hokage/leader of his village, Leaf. But to do this, he must complete nearly impossible tasks. He soon learns from his teacher, Kakashi Hatake, that to reach his goal he is going to have to rely on his teammates Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Again, the first few episodes are terribly addictive, but when you reach episodes 100-200... they just get terrible. So many 'filler' episodes that have no meaning, poorly executed animation, and no continuation of the plot, makes this a very unsatisfying experience. Another set of 100 episodes or so has been released in the next series Naruto Shippuden. Hopefully, they can recapture some of the ol' magic. (2/9/2009)