19 replies to this topic

[True]

Why is 'Naruto' so Popular
(it's an audio file just to let you know)

My mum told me she heard about it on the radio and so I decided to check it out. I actually found it rather funny and the dub voices just made it even better. However the 'anime expert' really did it for me with his reasoning, I mean referring to the end of the bug arc as one of the reasons for humor?? I thought the ending was rather corny..

My own believe for while Naruto is so popular: Naruto aired at just the right time for a new generation. Just as my generation found an appeal from DBZ and Pokemon and began to grow out of that stage, the new generation that reached their prime age have caught on with Naruto. If you replaced Naruto's spot with Bleach (which is put on adult swim) or One Piece (which had the 4kids fiasco) I could see those other two shonen's taking its spot as well. Also American comics have pretty much lost their appeal. Even though Marvel and D.C. comics have had great success with movies the comics themselves aren't what they used to be. I mean I know I haven't bought a comic book since I was 14 (they're all in a box in my parents attic) and much rather purchase manga now to put on my book shelf.

I thought it was interesting to share as I'd never would have believed a radio station that usually focuses on news would have a segment on Naruto. :Spoon:

[Illmatic]

I agree with your reasons. also him being the same age as the younger viewers helps them relate to him.

[FullmetalNinja25]

Some expert, he barely scratched the surface as of why Naruto is so popular.

[roninmedia]

Hard to cover and truly elaborate for the popularity of a series like Naruto in 3 minutes and 28 seconds.


Popular Culture more than many things spreads by word of mouth.

Initially a entertainment production must be discovered. Next, the entertainment must be sufficiently in quality to recommended. The production must have some sustainability in it for popularity to rise or remain popular unless the product is truly magical. Besides the entertainment quality, the length of Naruto certainly helped in the shelf life and its ability it to be successful.

Much of popularity is a rolling cycle. We have

1. Viewers
2. Viewers who recommend Naruto
3. Viewers who were immediately swayed by recommendations
4. Viewers who heard recommendations and did not immediately watch Naruto but were drawn in later by either a steady audience or a growing audience.

If Naruto was say short, 26 episodes, it would hardly have time to accumulate viewers classified as #4 who may eventually turn into #2 viewers which cycle into more of #3 and #4 viewers. When a airing of a show ends, it is difficult to continue momentum, because popularity feeds upon itself. "I watch it because other people are" or "I started watching it because other people watch it".

Edited by roninmedia, 27 January 2009 - 03:10 AM.

[FullmetalNinja25]

I will give the devil his due though he did say one key reason Naruto is so popular but it's something that can be applied to just about any anime. I may have misquoted him but here's basically what he said:

"In American animation you never get the sense the Characters are in danger of dying, and as a ninja Naruto is always fighting for his life."

[Nick Soapdish]

One correction. DC isn't exactly doing great with its movies. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were hits, especially the latter. But they can't even get most of the rest of their stuff out of the gates and what little has made it out recently, hasn't exactly overwhelmed. Excepting the two mentioned, of course.

[Sakura Blossoms]

One correction. DC isn't exactly doing great with its movies. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were hits, especially the latter. But they can't even get most of the rest of their stuff out of the gates and what little has made it out recently, hasn't exactly overwhelmed. Excepting the two mentioned, of course.

What about Iron Man, Spiderman, and X-men (though the last 2 X-men movies never came anywhere near to how awesome the first one was).

[Cloud]

What about Iron Man, Spiderman, and X-men (though the last 2 X-men movies never came anywhere near to how awesome the first one was).

Those are Marvel movies, Shauna. XD

[Radon]

Yeah, Ironman, Hulk, Xman, Spiderman, and Captain America are Marvel. Batman, Superman, Wonder woman and others are DC.

[Illjwamh]

I was pleased to hear the two hosts correct their pronunciation of Naruto's name after the guest said it.

This was neat. I like NPR, but Naruto was never something I expected to hear them talking about on there.

[Sakura Blossoms]

Those are Marvel movies, Shauna. XD

Um. Duh Cloud :rolleyes:

I was referring to comic book based movies as a whole. That the whole genre wasn't completely dead, and that there were still some good comic book based movies being made.

[Mik3]

Um. Duh Cloud :rolleyes:

I was referring to comic book based movies as a whole. That the whole genre wasn't completely dead, and that there were still some good comic book based movies being made.

but he only mentioned DC





And the reason why Anime became huge is that it exposed us to Japanese culture and it is very appealing. I mean how many people have become knowledgeable about the Japanese food, language, music and technology because of what they've seen through anime?

You have young kids and adults already determined to visit or even reside in Japan someday.

Edited by Mik3, 27 January 2009 - 10:16 AM.

[Nick Soapdish]

I only mentioned DC because I don't disagree with the initial statement that Marvel has done a good job at getting its properties to film and often making good films with them. Compare the recent track record of movies that have already hit the screen.

Marvel

• Spider-Man
• Spider-Man 2
• Spider-Man 3
• X-Men
• X-Men 2
• X-Men 3 United
• Daredevil
• Elektra
• Punisher
• Punisher: War Zone
• Hulk
• Incredible Hulk
• Iron Man
• Ghost Rider
• Fantastic 4
• Fantastic 4 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Did I miss any?

Not all of these are good. Some are pretty bad and some I never bothered to watch. But there are a lot of good movies there.

DC's list is shorter.

• Batman Begins
• The Dark Knight
• Superman Returns
• Catwoman

And even being selective, it still has one stinker and Superman Returns wasn't all that great even with Kevin Spacey as Lex.

[Broken Figurine]

That's unusual for something as serious as NPR to be talking about, and as far as describing the series to a grown woman who has probably never watched recent cartoons, I'd say he did a pretty good job.

What bothered me though was that he picked clips from the fillers and the worst Naruto movie thus far. I guess Viz paid him to advertise those particular products. Also, he also did not describe how the series becomes darker overtime, nor does he mention anything about Shippuden beyond the "two animated series." But he decent job considering he had only 3 1/2 minutes. Anymore would probably look ridiculous on NPR's part.

Also, I don't think the comparisons he used are very good, since most of them are based on American media and novels (having read quite a few Hardy Boys books, I don't see the comparison). He could have used Speed Racer, Astro Boy, ThunderCats, Sailor Moon, DragonBallZ, and Gundam Wing, all of which were from Japan that had huge success in America. Then again, I suppose it all came down to the fact that the woman would not have even known what those series were and how they became popular among young people.

Worst Naruto movie? Really? I thought the third was the best because of the innocence and 'originality' of the filler characters. Hikaru, the young prince, in comparison to characters like the princess in the first movie and Shion from the fourth (which would be my pick of the worst movie) is that there is nothing overly special and in-your-face about him. We're not forced to like him for his sob-story or awesome, totally unique powers. He's a brat prince and is good with arrows, nothing more. There was good interaction with him and Naruto as he is the type of boy I could see Naruto relating with. Hikaru in general is releatable as he bares the resemblance to that one spoiled kid we all know, that really is just a by-product of bad-parenting and getting too much of what he wants, but really has the potential if only having the proper role-model. The story-line is safe and innocent with its focus on friendship and the relationship between father and son, and while cheesy the zaniness of the circus and the fact we get to see Kakashi in a pirate cosplay makes up for random not-so-funny moments which are few. The characterization is also spot-on as I found no bastardization of any of our main characters, unlike in the fourth movie where Sakura and Naruto are just ruined. In my personal opinion it was the best movie so far, because I actually liked or at least withstood the filler characters which the other movies I can't boast about, and the storyline of the moon-kingdom was believable so it wins brownie points there.

Anyways; back on topic. I think Naruto is popular because of its vast range in appeal. The younger kids can like it as can the older ones without the same labelling of childish or old as the Pokemon series can. The guest was correct that both girls and boys can enjoy the series because in comparison to other animes it lacks the same stereotyping of shonen vs shojo. I know many girls liked the Dragon Ball series too, but it really was targeted towards boys with lots of action, powering up, and the focus of relationships of any kind was just not there. Okay, I could be wrong with that last part, please correct me. So Dragon Ball was the icon of the shonen genre, just like Sailor Moon was for the shojo. Unless you're in it for the naked transformations (again, correct me), most boys did not really like Sailor Moon. Action, yes... Though everything was romanticized and it was an all-around girl dominated type of thing. I dunno how else to explain it but Sailor Moon was the barbie of anime and Dragon Ball the action figures.

Although Naruto is a shonen genre it does not strictly follow that formula to a T. Young boys get their action and girls get their relationships and drama while we all get the themes of bonds and friendship, and a good blend of humour and seriousness. There are many characters to choose from, them being ninjas is a plus, and I think overall Naruto is broader and more realistic than most animes. The more marketable a show is to a broad audience, the more potential it has for popularity. It invites the hard-core fans, the newbies, and the non-anime fans in various ages.

There is a lot more to it but I think that's one of the main reasons why it's so popular. If both me a teenage female and my brother an elementary school, hyper child can fervantly like the same series than it should be rather successful.

Inuyasha did the same thing but did not reach the same success as Naruto, which shows there has to be more to it but I just can't describe exactly what was the 'it' factor. Even with the viewer word-of-mouth card, there is a difference between knowing about an anime series and being hooked to it.

[Mik3]

Marvel

• Spider-Man great
• Spider-Man 2 ok
• Spider-Man 3 terrible
• X-Men great
• X-Men 2 great
• X-Men 3 United sucked
• Daredevil sucked
• Elektra SUCKED
• Punisher more suck
• Punisher: War Zone havent seen it
• Hulk fail
• Incredible Hulk awesome
• Iron Man epic win
• Ghost Rider bad
• Fantastic 4 good
• Fantastic 4 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer awesome

Did I miss any?

Not all of these are good. Some are pretty bad and some I never bothered to watch. But there are a lot of good movies there.

DC's list is shorter.

• Batman Begins great
• The Dark Knight perfect
• Superman Returns mediocre
• Catwoman fail, but how? how can halle berry fail T_T

[psycho666]

Well, for one thing Marvel or DC comics are certainly not dead, if anyone here besides me reads the latest Spidermans, Fantastic Fours or Batmans they aren't as popular with the younger generation now since we have animations and movies and most of all the internet, but graphic novels have evolved dramatically since they started. They are much more modernly atmosphered of course and most of them are more psychological. Especially Batman has changed into a much darker, vigilante sort of hero than when he was first published. Not to mention the art is all brilliant and colored in detail on the computer, although most series keep switching from a good artist, to a crappy artist, to another artist, it gets rather tiresome.

Anyway, onto the topic at hand. I don't think the dubbed clips in between there did Naruto much justice, to be honest and the "experts" commentary was rather lacking in accuracy when explaining the demographic. Also, its kind of funny as such a series is supposed to appeal to the younger crowds such as 12-15, which it does, but if you look at it at least a large majority of fans are people from 16-25 that are really invested in Naruto. I was a tad disappointed that he didn't mention the part 2 development of the series, as I think it holds the key element to Naruto as of right now.

[BlackLightning]

DC and Marvel isn't dead, I agree but I think they are having a problem developing new series. most of the ones they do now are either remakes or a movie of the existing series, most of which have been going on since the past generations decades ago. Naruto gives something fresh and new to watch for both the older generation and new, thus able to catch much more viewer.

Naruto is practically also the "gateway" for American Audience to Japanese culture as the show gives the audience the depiction of "Ninja" that are famous in US (Jutsus that controls the elements). it gives the audience a new yet familiar feeling to the audience and allows them to understand the show better and easier.

[NutMan]

Don't blame Marvel for all the bad movies based on Marvel comics. Iron Man was the first movie that was actually done by Marvel. The rights to Spider man movies currently belong to Sony and I think X-Men is still Fox. Eventually the rights to those will go back to Marvel, but not anytime soon.

[shadow_Uzumaki]

Worst Naruto movie? Really? I thought the third was the best because of the innocence and 'originality' of the filler characters. Hikaru, the young prince, in comparison to characters like the princess in the first movie and Shion from the fourth (which would be my pick of the worst movie) is that there is nothing overly special and in-your-face about him. We're not forced to like him for his sob-story or awesome, totally unique powers. He's a brat prince and is good with arrows, nothing more. There was good interaction with him and Naruto as he is the type of boy I could see Naruto relating with. Hikaru in general is releatable as he bares the resemblance to that one spoiled kid we all know, that really is just a by-product of bad-parenting and getting too much of what he wants, but really has the potential if only having the proper role-model. The story-line is safe and innocent with its focus on friendship and the relationship between father and son, and while cheesy the zaniness of the circus and the fact we get to see Kakashi in a pirate cosplay makes up for random not-so-funny moments which are few. The characterization is also spot-on as I found no bastardization of any of our main characters, unlike in the fourth movie where Sakura and Naruto are just ruined. In my personal opinion it was the best movie so far, because I actually liked or at least withstood the filler characters which the other movies I can't boast about, and the storyline of the moon-kingdom was believable so it wins brownie points there.

Anyways; back on topic. I think Naruto is popular because of its vast range in appeal. The younger kids can like it as can the older ones without the same labelling of childish or old as the Pokemon series can. The guest was correct that both girls and boys can enjoy the series because in comparison to other animes it lacks the same stereotyping of shonen vs shojo. I know many girls liked the Dragon Ball series too, but it really was targeted towards boys with lots of action, powering up, and the focus of relationships of any kind was just not there. Okay, I could be wrong with that last part, please correct me. So Dragon Ball was the icon of the shonen genre, just like Sailor Moon was for the shojo. Unless you're in it for the naked transformations (again, correct me), most boys did not really like Sailor Moon. Action, yes... Though everything was romanticized and it was an all-around girl dominated type of thing. I dunno how else to explain it but Sailor Moon was the barbie of anime and Dragon Ball the action figures.

Although Naruto is a shonen genre it does not strictly follow that formula to a T. Young boys get their action and girls get their relationships and drama while we all get the themes of bonds and friendship, and a good blend of humour and seriousness. There are many characters to choose from, them being ninjas is a plus, and I think overall Naruto is broader and more realistic than most animes. The more marketable a show is to a broad audience, the more potential it has for popularity. It invites the hard-core fans, the newbies, and the non-anime fans in various ages.

There is a lot more to it but I think that's one of the main reasons why it's so popular. If both me a teenage female and my brother an elementary school, hyper child can fervantly like the same series than it should be rather successful.

Inuyasha did the same thing but did not reach the same success as Naruto, which shows there has to be more to it but I just can't describe exactly what was the 'it' factor. Even with the viewer word-of-mouth card, there is a difference between knowing about an anime series and being hooked to it.

In my opinion, it's probably because Inuyasha was in Adult Swim, while Naruto was earlier in Toonami, that may be the 'it' factor, the fact that Naruto was much more accessible than Inuyasha. Yes, I didn't forget the fact that kids today also watch Adult Swim, so my reason isn't infallible.