My sketch book

Here is what I do in my sketch book. Just my random sketches. My human anatomy practice. An sketch of a place near my house. A Thor of my version. Some dear sketches.

Bleach

Bleach is a Japanese manga and anime written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. For those who are new to bleach, it is a story set within the real world and the Soul society where the death gods or soul reaper, known as Shinigami in Japanese live. Like most of the Japanese mangas protagonist of the story is a 15/16 year old high school boy named Kurosaki Ichigo.(I wonder why do most of the writer like to make their protagonists a teenager) The regular work of a shinigami is to save the human world from evil souls, "hollow" and guide the human souls to afterlife. Ichigo is more than an ordinary boy who can see the soul from before but he is transformed into a shinigami when a shinigami named, Kuchiki Rukia gives him her soul reaper ability in order to save his family from a hollow. This changes the life of Kurosaki Ichigo forever.

Bleach is without a doubt a very good manga and anime. It has been ranked within top 5 often in surveys and polls. Its because the writer has done a very good job of story telling. Many people might say that the initial parts may be boring but they are wrong. But they are true to say that it gets better after 2 dozen parts. There are many interesting characters like

Ysutora "chad" Sado

Uryū Ishida

Orihime Inoue

Kisuke Urahara

Renji Abarai

Tōshirō Hitsugaya

and many others.

In addition to manga and anime there are 3 feature films base on the main story

Bleach : Memories of nobody

Bleach : The Diamond Dust Rebellion

Bleach : Fade to black

The fourth installment is planned for 2010 realease. Isn't that a good news for the fans.

So better start watchins it.

History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi Shijō Saikyō no Deshi Kenichi

Kenichi is another anime I've recently put my eyes on. It is so obvious and often realized that most of the Japanese anime and mangas have a kind of same story line. There is a protagonist who is initially weak and most of the people inlike him. But as the story continues the protagonist becomes stronger and starts to win people's heart. Kenichi is also follows less or more same kind of plot but believe me its a new wine in old bottle. Kenichi wont let you down.

The story starts with Shirahama Kenichi as an average student who has earned the nickname "Weak Legs" from always getting bullied in his junior high school. He is just a troubled 15/16 year old boy. Even on his entrance in High school he continuously mistreated by the bullies of martial art clubs. One day he accepts the challenge of a karate student of have a battle for the access of the karate club. Having accepted the challenge foolishly confused Shirahama meets a cute girl named Furinji Miu who helps him build the courage to begin training at a mysterious dojo where she lives. Ryozanpaku Dojo.From here the process of changing Kenichi into a courageous boy start. His 5 teachers :

Shio Sakaki : the Karate expert

Apachai Hopachai : the Muay Thai boxer

Shigure Kōsaka : the weapon expert

Kensei Ma : master of Chinese kenpo

Akisame Kōetsuji :the philosophical jujutsu master

and Hayato Furinji, Miu 's grandfather and the owner of Ryozanpaku Dojo.

Here Kenichi faces intense training from masters of many different martial arts styles as he attempts to become stronger. The more stronger he gets the more opponents he starts to attracts. His sensei Sakaki had already warned him about that. He also has an abominable friend Haruo Niijima whom Kenichi often refers as alien because of his appearence and slyness. He always like to poke Kenichi but also shows his friendship time to time. He was the founder of the "Shinpaku alliance" and also co-commands it with Kenichi.

The bottom line is watch if you like Naruto. You won't regret.

Naruto Manga V/S Anime

I started wathching the anime before I started the manga and still I hang on more to the anime. There is this popular tradition of making the mangas into the anime once the manga gains popularity. In that case naruto is a very outstanding manga and anime both. Mashashi Kishimoto is behind both of them and believe me, he has been very successful in that. Usually people think that one among the two is an spoiler but not in Naruto. Its like you may read the manga once and then you will watch the anime and then you may want to read the manga again and that may lead you to watch the anime again.

As the manga was the first one to be launched the anime is quiet behind the manga series but it is a sincere follower of the series. One thing you might notice if you have been analyzing both of them at the same time is that Mashashi Kishimoto has made quiet obvious modifications in his art and design styles in both manga and anime. He has evolved since he started the series.

Some of the differences that are there between the manga and the anime:

- The plot of the story. There are some add ins and some miss outs among both of them.

- Many battles in Naruto manga can be pretty lengthy. There are some differences in some of the battles which can't go unnoticed.

- Characters development in the manga and anime may feel a little unparrellel.

The top ten Naruto Characters

Naruto universe is full of fascinating and vibrant characters. Every character has its own value and stands uniquely in the mass. But somebody has gotta come above the other. Every star shines but one among all shines the brightest. This article tries to categorize the characters from Naruto anime series.

1 Uzumaki Naruto
It has to be Naruto in number one. We all know that the anime itself is based on is name but he lives up his name. A parent less boy trying to be the best one in a hostile ninja world. He has more hardships in his way than happiness and consolation. But his stronger than iron will and optimism makes him the leader of the chart.

2 Uchiha Sasuke
Sasuke is one thing Naruto is dying to change but like Naruto he also has a fierce determination but only to drive him toward the destruction. Swore to avenge the annihilation of his clan and brother Itachi. He only grows stronger and destroys everything in his way. (often considered to be very cool by the ladies)

3 Hatake Kakashi
Teacher to Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi is a very skillful ninja who owns a sharingan eye. He is very intelligent and can copy any jutsu. He has been claimed to copy over 1000 justus. Very less people know whats behind his mysterious mask and he is also a devoted reader of Jiraya's novels.

4 Jiraya
One among the three legendary Sannins Jiraya for most of his life travelled the world and wrote his experience in novels. Often referred by Naruto as pervert he was more interested more in females and Sake(Japanese wine). Carrying the predictions from the elder toad of Mount Gyobu he always believed that he would have a very talented student ninja who would change the ninja world forever. Too bad he died without knowing the chosen student and he also was killed by his own student. I don't know why but I have a feeling that Jiraya may someday come back.

5 Shikamaru Nara
In his ofttimes he gets as lazy as he can but has a very wonderful analyzing and intelligent capacity. He has exposed his excellence in strategy building from time to time. A very easy going character with very less enthusiasm. His sensei Asuma said that he has IQ level over 200. He has a bad taste for bossy women but seems to be fallen for Temari. Likes to take naps and watch clouds while doing nothing. "How troublesome"

6 Uchiha Itachi
Sasuke's big brother and the annihilator of the Uchiha clan. Very mysteriously finished his own clan and left the village to join the defamed Akatsuki. He has a very sad story as later revealed by Madara. He battles his own brother to end his life losing to him. It seems he lived his life just for his little brother Sasuke who hated his all his life.

7 Uchiha Madara
The surviving member of Uchiha clan after Sasuke. Madara was a founding member of the hidden village with the first Hokage for the title but lost. According to calculations he has lived long extraordinarily. He covers himself as Tobi and very few people know about his real identity.

8 Rock Lee
I couldn't wait to put this guy over here. I wanted to put this guy somewhere in third place but he has appeared very scarcely in the recent episode. He has no justus except taijutsu but his courage and valor are second to none. Proud beast to Konoha. His relation with his sensei Maito Gai is nice to watch and it is even nicer to watch him grow.

9 Gaara of the sand
Although he initially appeared as antagonist he was brainwashed by Naruto. He is almost the same age of Naruto but has already become the Kazekage (head) of the sand village. He was formerly a host for one tailed beast which was taken away by the Akatsuki. He showed a very sadistic demeanor and silent complex before losing the battle against Naruto.

10 Minato Namikaze
The last in my top ten list but not the least. Konoha's yellow flash. He is the fourth hokage and Naruto's father. He sacrificed his life to seal the nine tailed fox in Naruto and saving Konoha from destruction. He was Jiraya's student and Kakashi's teacher. His skills and abilities were so great and well known that enemies issued flee on sight order against him. Konoha's yellow flash.
P.S.
(The list above is not based on any poll or interview but my perspective please leave your own comment or list)

Why must you watch Spongebob Squarepants

SpongeBob SquarePants is a hyperenergetic and very optimistic sea sponge. He lives in Pineapple under the sea. He may look to you like an ordinary sponge with a face and limbs but thats not all. He also owns a pet snail called Gary who meows like cat. He is a cook at Krusty Krab.

Patrick the Star is Spongebob's best friend who a pink starfish who has dumb wits and lives under a rock. He does no work except watching TV and hanging out with Spongebob.

Squidward Tentacles is a squid who lives between Patrick and Spongebob in aMaoi. He is very arrongant and egologistical and hates his neoghbours for their child like behaviour. His hobbies are to play clairnet and make portraits. He works as a cashier at Krusty Krab.

Eugene Krabs is the owner of the fast food restaurant "Krusty Krabs". He formerly served for Bikini Bottom Navy Force but is very obssessed about money

Sandy Cheeks is a female squirrel from Texas who is in Bikini Bottom to do research for her chimpanzee bosses. She also is expert in karate and wears an astronaut like suit to survive in the water.

Sheldon Plankton is a tiny copepod who owns a fast food restaurant called "Chum Bucket" which is ranked lower than the Krusty Krabs. His continuously tries to steal Spongebob's recepie for delicious "Krabby patties" but always fails. He even wants Spongebob to work for him.

The whole events take place in a n under water town called Bikini bottom. There are other recurring character as well who are good.

Larry the lobster is a body builder lifeguard

Mrs Puffs is a boating school teacher

Pearl Krabs is the whale daughter of Mr. Krabs

Mermaid man and Barnacle boy are the old superheroes of Bikini Bottom

Patchy the pirate is a live action narrator fo the series.

And there are many other exciting characters which make Spongebob Squarepants a must watch TV show

Frank Miller's RONIN

I just wrote about Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" a couples of articles back and now its Ronin. I'm not selling Frank Miller but its just I wanted to write about. Frank Miller revolutionized the comic industry with his revolutionary stories and art. Miller is just a genre maker. Ronin helped Miller to get achieve his place as a talented story teller.
Miller twists his imagination as much as he can but without forgetting that it is a comics he is writing. Ronin is much of a twists and bends, sharp ones. Ronin's main inspiration was the original Japanese story "The lone wolf and the cub". But Miller gave it its own taste. The whole story of Ronin is based upon a unnamed masterless samurai trying to avenge his master's death by a shape-shifting demon called "Agat". By some magic they are delivered to a post 800 year futuristic dyspotic lawless New York city ravaged by the remaining of may be WW III. The wasteland of New York is resided by squatters, factions, and mutants. Miller surely knows how to develop the environment. Aquarius complex is in the heart of the city. An idealized company develop to save the world from the war. The people in Aquarius have developed Biocircuitry which is a new model of plastics-based electronics, capable of self-organization and self-repair under the direction of Virgo, the artificial intelligence at the heart of the Aquarius Complex . Ronin finds himself in the body of a limbless man called "Billy", the ward of Aquarius with telekinetic powers. Agat successes to kill a founding member of Aquarius and take his form. Casey McKenna a founding member of Aquarius, security chief of Aquarius and wife of the biocircuitry inventor Peter Mckenna, another protagonist of the story who in the end kills Agat. It's matter of time before people at Aquarius realize that Virgo has been trying to take the sole control over the aquarius. There are lots of up and down through the story. All that will keep you in the edge of your seat. The story is hell of a ride Miller and Lynn Varley's combination are great. If you haven't gone through it then this article here is not even one percent of the series. Read it for yourself.

Glen Keane

People will rarely know about the people who are behind a camera. And how about if there is no camera too? 2D animations do not use any kind of camera. But there are artists who draw. If you have heard about Glen Keane anywhere anytime that is who I'm going to talk about this time. If you have watched "The little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast", "Tarzan", "Pocahontas" he is the man responsible behind those successful animated movies. Glen from childhood was proned towards arts as his father was an animator of "The family circus". Glen's younger self is represented in his father's comic strip as the character of "Billy"). Glen Keane exposed a very talented skill from his debut work in "The Rescuers" under the legendary Ollie Johnston.
Glen Keane's skills to express the emotions of the charaters are unargueably top of the class. Any artist will be jeleous of his talents. In any of his movies or characters you have watched he will please you easily. The timing and and movements of the characters are so appealing. Very few artists are as gifted as him. He has made some of the most memoreable animations of all time. "The little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", "Pocahontas" timeless hits. He's a man you would love to see drawing.
Right now he is the executive producer and animation director the yet to come hybrid animated movie "The Rapunzel" slated for 2010 release. I'm sure he is once again ready to release his magic with the movie.

Are 2D animation going to extinct?

Recently I read a news that Disney has announced that it will release only one 2D nimated movie in two years. Now how fair is that? Disney started with the 2D animations. Or is the industry running out of animators?(I don't think so) So why is Disney and most of the major companies in the world are focusing more towards the 3D animation. Now I do not want anybody to think that 3D movies are not good. But abandoning the 2D culture is just not right.
It is true that, in comparision to traditionally animated movies by Disney, recent animated movies seem very juvenile with talking animal sidekicks and sense lacking storylines, much less sophisticated than the earlier movies in late '80s and early '90s like the "Little Mermaid," "Aladin," "Sleeping Beauty" and "Lion King." The quality has remarkably fallen; Disney must not be happy with films like the "Hercules" or "Emperor's New Groove"? The general appealing movies are not found now a days.
But while 2D animations have made plenty of mistakes in recent history the 3D animations have enjoyed their progress and marketability. You can see that most of thte 3D animations now a days have a very touching storyline. And rest of the drawbacks are covered with their crispy special affects. Acoording to a quote by a Pixar representative the success of all the Pixar films resulted from having a good story. He also added , for each movie produced by Pixar, each one had been "the worst movie of all time" before the editing process begins.
Many may be the reason for the fall of 2D animations on golden screen, one of them is the technlogical aspect. If you know a little 2D animations are totally hand drawn frames to frame and it takes like 24 frames for 1 second's screening. It can be a very hard job. But in 3D animations the computer generated models can be moved freely. A 3D movie may take a pretty long time but they are changeable easily. But in 2D animations the frames must be redrawn. The hand drawn frames may become quite unuseable in the future. A 3D movie has a pretty good advantage over other factors like environment, lights and colors and flexibility. That's where the 2D animatoion falls a little down.
The bottomline is that no animation is good without a good storyline. Still there is a world of difference between the 2D technology and 3D technology. With 3D animations at a fair number of advantage the 2D animation took pretty good damage with some of its bad movies.

The Dark Knight Returns

So much for Frank Miller. He's not afraid to ride the razor's edge and he'll make you feel alright and not alright at the same time. I started "The Dark Knight a couple of years ago but could not find the remaining three part. But the first book was already enough to blow me off. Now that I had it. I'd read it preciously. Like there was nothing else to read after this.
Frank Miller gave us our ultimate batman. I've went through "Hush" and some other stuffs but Miler is something else.
Now who wouldn't like to see 55 years old Batman trying to keep up with the super changed society and it's evil. Bruce Wayne has certainly grown older for his years but not for his courage and wits. Miller has materialize Batman in this one.
Gotham is infested and terrorized with an anti-government gang named "Mutants",mostly consisting the teenagers who want to run the city. Commissioner Gordon nearing his retirement and 70th birthday. Joker in Arkham is potting his probably biggest prank. The whole environment is brilliantly set in
noir style. And no body draws Miller's story better than Miller himself. The color temperature is very cold. Batman goes through nearly hell situations to clear his doubts and belief in himself. If that's not enough for you, you will also find the boy scout: Superman as the government's obedient puppet.
Miller's works are not limited to tights and kicks of the heroes but they are extended to as far as the politicians can see. He has mentioned about nuclear war. Writers at that time(1980s) were somewhat influenced by the nuclear topic. Moore
has also mentioned about the nuclear bomb in his graphic novel "The Watchmen". Miller cleverly mixes the cold war between nations in his ride. So lets see what
do we have for the treat
-a 55 years old Batman
-dead Dick Grayson
-new girl Robin
-government controlled Superman
-old one armed Green Arrow
-a nuclear bomb
-retiring commissioner James Gordon
-a classic Batman and Superman battle
-Joker killing a hundred people and himself
-a very satisfactory ending
-a Frank Miller masterpiece

A Lady sketch

Not much to show. But just had this pic I made yesterday in photoshop(with mouse). Glen Keane inspires me with female body sketches. There are mistakes more than you can count. I've just started doin' it and I teach myself. I'm not a pro. I'm trying to evolve as an artist.

P.S. Please don't try to identify the posing lady, it's only my imagination.

DC v/s Marvel

DC and Marvel are the world's two largest comic companies. They have have been entertaining the world readers and fans for decades. They sell their characters like they should. Most of the major superheroes come from these megahouses. The rivalry between them is legendary but the have accepted it as healthy competition from time to time.

But who is better? It all depends upon the writer artists and the fanbase, so one hase got to be ahead. DC has always stood as the senior figure as it was formerly established whereas Marvel on the other hand was established after the DC. Even though it was in for the business later it was able to grow its influence at a very short period of time. "DC" is the short form of "detective comics" which included the first appearence of Batman. But the first real opener for the DC was the boy scout : Superman in 1939's Action comics. The first comic under the brand of Marvel came in 1960 with the Fantactic four. For those who don't know it might be surprising to know that the first hero of Marvel was not Spiderman but among Namor The Sub-mariner and Golden Age Human Torch. Spiderman was unleashed by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
DC character are often localized to imaginary places and cities like Superman is from Metropolitan city and Batman is from Gotham. Both are unreal. But in Marvel they belong the heros to some real place and city. Most of the superheroes are from New York. Agree or not this has ben a factor which makes it more closer to the readers. (May the home city fans will start a cheerleading team.) It has been mentioned somewhere that DC is evolutionary. It takes the surrounding as its main source. Again it noticeably depends upon the writer but DC is that way. Whereas Marvel has been labeled as revolutionary. They are known for bringing groundbreaking tales from time to time. They are proned to experimental style.
List of DC characters
-Superman
-Batman
-Flash
-Wonder woman
-Green lantern
-Aquaman
-Martian Manhunter
-Green Arrow
-Plasticman
-Captain Marvel
-Robin
-Catwoman
-Lobo
-Swampthing
-Joker
-Hawkman
(Many not mentioned)
List if Marvel characters
-Spiderman
-Hulk
-Daredevil
-Captain America
-Punisher
-Fantastic four
-X-men
-Wolverine
-Ghost Rider
-Namor : The Submariner
-Ironman
-Thor
-Silversurfer
-Doctor Strange
-Electra
-Antman
(Many are missing)
I can say nothing but there is a tought competition between the two. The best benefit from this is to the readers and fans. Not to forget their are also crossovers from time to time where the superheroes from both the universe collide. JLA v/s Avengers is one of the best crossovers ever.

Who will save the superheroes from Hollywood?

I'd love to see a superhero in a theatre. Even the superheroes would love to see themselves in motion. Recently superheroes have been flooded into movies. They can move and have crispy especial effects. People who like superheroes but don't have any intentions of going through a comic store are certainly in for treat. After watching the movie you can go around and boost about the characters you saw in the movie. But you can not win a debate against a reader, so be careful.
I can hardly say if Jerry Seigel and Joe Sushter (creators of Superman) had thought that their literary son would be wowing people in theatres. But agree or don't comic book adaptations are heck of entertainment and are here to stay. Nearly all the major superheroes have been made into a movie or are being planned to. If we don't give'em their movie they might not like it. But only few films have been a success so far.
A comic book fan will always have complaints about the movie saying the movie makers. A non-comic book fan may also not satisfy with the movies. I myself didn't like the X-Men's costumes in the movies. So the movie makers must not try to disappoint the comicbook fans. If its bright do not make it dark. There always has been complaints about spiderman's web powers. In the movie Sam Raimi has shown that the web comes from inside his body through wrist but the readers say that superman uses cartidges for web. Now is Mr. Stan Lee okay with that?
Whatever the ruiners may do on the other side, there are good people too. Christopher Nolan has made enough justice to The Dark Knight and so did Heath Ledger. Watchmen was also ok. Spiderman was good.
Above all else its upto the movies on the lot to make up for their own. Some of the biggest champions are ready to take on the curtains.Green Lantern, Thor, Captain America, Wonder woman, Flash, Antman and other have been planned already. I think they will be able to exceed our expectations. The film companies are trying to get their dirty hands on as many titles as possible. It's how hollywood works. But like they say
"What Happens in comics Stays in comics"

Berserk, Berserk, Berserk

Berserk Berserk Berserk. Its not your normal kind of anime. Its totally different from one’s expectation. I must say again never judge a book by its cover. It’s the absolute thing you need if you crave for dark fantasy, gore and crazy stuffs. Even if you are not into that stuff Berserk will surely blow you off. Berserk may not be a very popular name in the world of anime but once you get a dose of Berserk you’ll seek more. There are many claims that the aime has not done the right justice to the manga, but it doesn’t matter until you watch the anime first like I did. (So, we’ll be discussing about anime series)

To start let me tell you that the story is set in the Medieval European era(probably in Britain). Now that makes it more interesting . We hardly find Japanese animes plotted in Europe and that too back in history. The writer, Kentaro Muira must be pretty daring. From the beginning of the anime we follow the protagonist “Gutts”(Gattsu in Japanese pronunciation) with his sword. His sword is something you’d be scared of. One phrase I always remember from the series is,”some one dies every time he swings his sword”. Gutts is not your normal wannabe friend kind of guy he’s more like seek and destroy guy. Gutts always has issues with his identity and fate. He may seem to be a character from Greek tragedies. An ominous guy right from his birth as he was born by dead mother. He is an ordinary kill and earn guy until he is found by the band of hawks and Griffith, the antagonist of the anime series. Griffith is a very ambitious man leading the Mercenaries group called "The band of Hawks" and possesses an evil thing called "Behelit". The rising gang of mercenaries include Gutts in their band after Gutts loses to Griffith. Griffith is another scary character destined to be devil king. Gutts’ and Griffith’s relation strengthens as the band of Hawks increase their popularity. In the series although you are going through a peaceful scene there always be a presence of hazard. Identity crisis continually haunts Gutts. The band of hawks is finally are hired in service of the king and Griffith is given the title of Lord. The story takes a new turn when Gutts leaves the band of hawks against Griffith ‘s will. Then starts the real story. I’ve mentioned too much for the hint. You’ll have to watch it for yourself. Satisfaction guaranteed.

But if you are more into manga anime will not suffice you. Anime is just a miniature of the manga and the 25 episode ends after Griffith takes over as the devil king where as the original manga goes way beyond that and is still on run(biannually).
There are also other characters who are preety significant.

Caska : The only female member of band of hawks who was rescued by Griffith from child abuse. Since then she has dedicated her life to Griffith.
Zodd: The god of fight whom Gutts and Griffith fight together. Zod was the first person who warned Gutts about Griffth. Zod throws his sword to Gutts when he is swordless in battlefield.
Judeau: A humble and down to earth member of the Hawks who was valued by Griffith.
And secretly in love with Caska.
Pippin: A very massive member of the hawks and ex- miner. Despite his appearance his nature was pretty calm and understanding.
Corkus: An ex-thief and irritating guy in the band of Hawks. Always having issues with Gutts who also finally dies in the eclipse.
The apostles who appear during the eclipse and annihilate the band of hawks.

The King of Rebounds:SLAM DUNK

When you put a good story, appealing characters, humor and good art together something like SLAM DUNK comes out. It one thing that made basketball popular in Japan. For those who have no idea about SLAM DUNK, its a finished Manga series and a 101 episode long anime about a boy named Hanamichi Sakuragi who liked to call himself "The king of Rebounds". His naiveness and determination drives him to realize his love for basketball.

I think Sakuragi Hanamichi is one of the strongest characters in the whole manga and anime universe. If observed well one will surely find lots of Hanamichi's qualities in Naruto. But SLAM DUNK is not plotted in a fantasy land but in the day to day life of an ordinary boy with more than ordinary determination. There is also a character which heavily influences Sasuke, Hanamichi's true nemesis Rukawa Kaeda. A very talented basketman with all of his will and power invested in improving himself. Visually cool and heavily popular with the ladies. How popular is he with the ladies? He has his own cheer leading team although he doesn't bothers about that. That makes Hanamichi mad. Sakuragi Hanamichi, a good for nothing guy is a problem child. Having been turned down by 50 girls he approaches to high school with hopes and his crazy friends. There he is motivated to join the basketball team by his 1st high school crush Haruko. With only Haruko's motivation and no talent at all joins the basketball team. Playing and fighting for Haruko he slowly improves his game. In contrary to everybody expectation he hangs on to the basketball he improves drastically. He gradually realizes his love for basketball.

There are other interesting characters too who help Hanamichi grow, Gorilla, Haruko's big brother and the captain of basketball team, Mitsui, a junior high ace, Ryoda, the point guard, and Kogure the substitute. The opening theme song is also great. “Kimiga suki dato sakebitai” by BAAD. (I use it as the ring tone in my cellphone). Two thumbs up. Its no good to just read this article to know about SLAM DUNK. Just get yourself the series, its in the Internet. But get the original copies to help the writer and the artist. It has inspired many of today's popular mangas and animes. Let me tell you that it was voted the best manga of all time in Japan.All hail the King of rebound.

SAYO

What's in Mashashi Kishimoto's mind?

Naruto is truely the offspring of a super-duper creative mind. A story set in Japanese fantasy land. Japanese storytellers have always fascinated the world with their extraordinary imaginations and concepts and Naruto is one excellent example of it.

There is one thing that often hits my mind. Has Hishashi Kishimoto (writer and artist of Naruto manga) already finished with the whole chapters of Naruto series right till the end or does he continues the story with random ideas and let the story flow in its own direction.

This topic can always be a hot one.

Before "Naruto Shipuden" started most of the episodes were bound to one arc. For instance "The hidden star village arc", Idate Morino's brother arc, and so many other filler arcs. It wouldn't matter to the whole story even if you will forget these parts (although the fillers also have emotional pattern of the series). But almost all the episodes in Shipuden series are well related and hold each other in chains. I wonder if there will be another series after Shipuden or will the story finish in Shipuden. Shipuden is way better than previous. The animation quality has also grown better. Naruto is evolving. Episodes are pretty unpredictable. But every predictions are equally exciting. Many think that Naruto will someday be $HOKAGE$. But may be Kishimoto has some other plans.

Sometimes I can’t help thinking that Naruto is the Japanese "Lord of the rings". (Hope to see Rock Lee soon)

P.S. the Naruto pic is my own art I made it in Photoshop using mouse.