Forever Young, Naruto

Knowing that your favorite anime series is going to end is much like graduating from high school. It gives you mixed feelings – relief and despair. Relief because, if the author’s nice, all the loose ends will be tied and you’ll finally get your resolution and despair because you’ll know that, next week, you’ll no longer be sitting in front of the TV waiting for your favorite Naruto to air.

Rumors of the End

Recently, a lot of Naruto fans have been predicting that Naruto would end soon. And of course, it has created quite a racket among the Naruto fans because, really, who wants that anime to end? Sure, we all want to see if Naruto really does become Hokage, we all want to find out if Sasuke and Sakura get married, and we all want to see if Kakashi ever does take off his mask. But then again, Naruto has been with us for such a long time now – since 1999 for the manga and since 2002 for the anime. And Naruto’s almost like a friend now – a little brother. And tuning in every week to see what happens to him has become such a familiar routine that it’s hard to imagine a month without that knuckleheaded ninja that we all love.

This rumor – that Naruto would end soon – is still circulating even now as you read. The main question is – is it true? Frankly, I doubt it. There are just too many unresolved issues in Naruto right now that it doesn’t seem easy that the anime would end soon. A good indication that the anime’s about to end is if the manga is nearing its end. And take it from an avid manga reader, Naruto’s just warming up. The first part of Naruto before the timeskip was like an introduction of characters compared to the depth of Shippuden right now. All those issues in Naruto – the kyuubi, the Uchiha clan, the Akatsuki – they’re all being explored in Shippuden right now. They’re being dissected, and each day, we learn something new and the plot only gets deeper and deeper.

Part 1 was barely stroking the surface. There was more to the Kyuubi than met the eye. It wasn’t just a rampaging monster – the Kyuubi had ties to the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Madara to be exact. It seems that the Uchiha clan has more secrets that have yet to be revealed. There seems to be more to the Uchiha Clan’s massacre than we were led to believe. Also, there’s the appearance of the Rinnegan, the strongest doujutsu ever in the Naruto universe, and it is further complicated by the fact that it is the Akatsuki Leader who owns this eye technique. There’s also the matter of Kabutomaru – the combination of Orochimaru and Kabuto. Then there’s the whole matter of the root ANBU.

So, When Will Naruto End?

If you want an honest answer, then I’d say that I have no idea. Only Kishimoto can tell. It’s his story and he could end it tomorrow by killing off the characters with a comet if he so desired and we wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. All we can do is speculate.

Really, there’s just too many things going on in Naruto right now that it doesn’t seem like it’s going to end any time soon – at least, not in the next few years. So, I suggest you start loving that blond-haired ninja right now because it looks like Naruto’s here to stay.