Amazing Naruto Wallpapers. Naruto[a] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two parts - the first takes place in Naruto's pre-adolescent years and the second in his teenage years. The series is based on two one-off manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in Shueisha's monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997). Naruto was serialized in Shueisha's magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1999 to 2014, and published in tankōbon (book) form in 72 volumes. The manga was adapted into an anime television series produced by Pierrot and Aniplex, which aired 220 episodes in Japan from 2002 to 2007; an English dub of the series aired on Cartoon Network and YTV from 2005 to 2009. Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, premiered in Japan in 2007 and ended in 2017, after 500 episodes. The English dub aired on Disney XD from 2009 to 2011, airing the first 98 episodes, before moving to Adult Swim's Toonami programming block in January 2014, starting with the first episode. The English dub still airs weekly on Adult Swim to this day. Viz Media began streaming the anime series on its Neon Alley streaming service in December 2012 at 99 episodes and ended in March 2016 after 338 episodes. In addition to the anime series, Pierrot has developed eleven films and twelve original video animations (OVAs). Other Naruto-related merchandise includes light novels, video games, and trading cards developed by several companies. Viz Media licensed the manga and anime for North American production and serialized Naruto in their Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007. The films and most of the OVAs from the series were also released by Viz, with the first film having a theatrical release. The story of Naruto continues with Naruto's son, Boruto Uzumaki, in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Boruto wishes to create his own ninja way rather than follow his father's path. Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series in history with 250 million copies in circulation worldwide in 47 countries and regions, with 153 million copies in Japan alone and the remaining 97 million elsewhere. It has become one of Viz Media's best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on the USA Today and The New York Times bestseller lists several times, and the seventh volume won the 2006 Quill Award. Reviewers praised the manga's character development, strong stories, and well-executed fight scenes. some felt the fight scenes slowed down the story. Critics have noted that the manga, which has a coming-of-age theme, uses cultural references from Japanese mythology and Confucianism.