by Herbert Lui

Created on: January 31, 2009

I know it hasn't been long since I started reading manga, or watching anime (two different things, folks - manga is a "japanese comic", anime is a "japanese cartoon"). I think it was probably five years ago when a friend told me about a magazine called "Shonen Jump" (now sold in many bookstores), which had around 300 pages worth of manga and came out every month. Back then, I bought the first one just for the special edition Yu-Gi-Oh! card too. Ah, those were the days.

But I didn't see much benefit in manga. It was kind of entertaining, but didn't promote many values. I was young, so I didn't mind - but a couple of years later, I stopped buying Shonen Jump and decided to focus on more "important" things like Wired and PC World. And it probably wasn't another year until I started hopping on the Naruto bandwagon.

The first chapter of Naruto was in the second issue of Shonen Jump. I found it hilarious - a ninja in an orange jumpsuit, pranking his elders. The series does turn more serious, when we discover Naruto's true identity and his tragic past, but his determination is downright inspiring. I stopped buying Shonen Jump when Naruto was in the middle of a battle (with Haku), but I went to Chapters on occasion and found the graphic novels. Then I found out I could read translations over the Internet (saves me trips to Chapters and the library); so I read them, probably too many at a time. It was a great summer. I returned to school reinvigorated and with more drive than ever. It's something that I hope to continue to develop, and has stuck with me - and to this day, I still wake up every Saturday to read the latest issue of Naruto (I know it's usually up Fridays, but it's my thinned-version of Saturday morning cartoons).

Every Saturday I read Naruto, I find the latest edition of Bleach as well. Bleach is available on many sites that offer Naruto, so I wanted to see what the big deal was. And I wonder what would've happened if I hadn't watched Bleach. To be perfectly honest, I find Naruto to be more "inspiring" than Bleach, but the variety of characters that Bleach offers is great (and the fight scenes are a lot cooler). Bleach is about a young man (student, like myself) who becomes a "Death God/Soul Reaper" (or a Shinigami, in Japanese), and has to defend "Soul Society" (something like a bad version of Heaven, in a way) from monsters called "Hollows". Trust me buddies, if you ever want to see a great fight scene, the manga never does it justice - watch the anime.

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