Next to the likes of Dragon Ball Z and Attack on Titan, Naruto has made quite a significant impact in both the Eastern and Western anime scenes. Heralded as one of the better ninja-based long-running shonen to come out at the time, it is still widely regarded as a landmark in the shonen genre, and one of the few anime that acted as a perfect gateway into the medium for many fans today - partially including myself. Today, we're taking a look at Naruto as a whole, including its follow-up sequel, Shippuden (we'll leave Boruto for another time, because I don't have as kind words for that show). It's a show of many highs and some unfortunate, terrible lows, but what makes it so beloved - and so loathed - by the anime community in retrospect? The first Naruto episode debuted in 2002, focusing on a young boy named Naruto Uzumaki trying to find his place in an exciting world of ninjas and assassins. Ever since the passing of his parents, Naruto has been quite outspoken and confident in himself, often acting as the Hidden Leaf Villages usual troublemaker and lawbreaker. His antics have caught him a lot of attention, but mostly in a very negative light, as many of his peers look down on him for his bombastic theatrical outbursts. Little do they know that the loud-mouthed kid secretly harbours a dark, powerful beast slumbering inside of him - an ancient monster called the Nine Tails, capable of granting him unimaginable power. Naruto must find a way to be accepted by society, and become the leader of the Hidden Leaf (the Hokage), all the while dealing with the fact that this monster lurks just beneath his shell. On paper, this is a fantastic concept, and for the first few arcs of the show, it's explored and paced out decently. Naruto teams up with two other ninjas-in-training, his crush Sakura, and all-round mystery kid, Sasuke. Their personalities couldn't be any further apart, though, as Naruto - being the outspoken, more lively one - directly contrasts Sasuke's cold, mature demeanour and Sakura's brash behaviour. It wasn't until Shippuden did I feel like their friendships and close personal ties actually clicked, since the first Naruto series spends too much time having them bicker instead of bond. For the sake of its child-like nature, I understand why this needed to be done, but rewatching it now really irks me the wrong way because of how undercooked their companionship actually is. The redemption comes in Shippuden, but by then, you've either moved on from their circle (as the side characters get a ton of time in the spotlight) or just don't care anymore outside of a few great moments. Unfortunately, much of Naruto’s second half is filler – a word that you’ll come to know and loathe from hereon out. Arguably the highlight of Naruto’s entire staggering 220 episode run time happens early on during the Chuunin Exams arc, which acts as a great introduction to the wide cast of side characters. They’re pitted against each other to flesh out their abilities, but most of all, test their wits and smarts in the various tests thrown at them – often designed to test both their mental and physical prowess. It’s a truly impressive arc, home to some of the best fights in the first series (Rock Lee and Gaara, in particular, is a phenomenal battle). Being a long-running shonen anime of over 200 episodes, there was bound to be some down time and inconsequential side-stories tossed into the mix to pad out the length and give manga author Masashi Kishimoto enough room to create new canon content. Enter the biggest problem with Naruto: filler. It’s already become somewhat of a meme in the anime community, but Naruto’s filler is as bad as many make it out to be. I can at least give some credit to Bleach and One Piece for carefully placing their filler episodes (this being non-canon, anime original content) after big canon story arcs – Naruto missed that memo, though. Instead, what we have is poorly written filler annoyingly placed smack dead in the middle of its story arcs, not only taking you out of the plot entirely, but killing the pacing that the manga so desperately tries to maintain. This becomes especially evident in its final arc (it’s final arc!) where the animators – perhaps against their will because of the ongoing manga – were forced to make some truly awful filler that doesn’t even make sense for the show. Instead of lasting a few episodes, the filler continued for dozens (!) of episodes, to the point where the main story only resumed after an entire 5-6 month hiatus. I despise this, but luckily since the show is now complete, you can look up some guides online as to which episodes are canon only and remove the filler content. Thankfully, not all is doom and gloom. Remove the excess filler and Shippuden is mostly a pretty damn entertaining show, with some terrific highlights. The Pain arc, in particular, is spectacular for breaking certain shonen boundaries and proudly going against tropes at the time. For example (and this is a major spoiler, so be warned), when Pain arrives in the Hidden Leaf Village, many expected the good guys to drive off the villain, or at least buy enough time for Naruto to swoop in with his new powers and save the day. Kishimoto throws one of my favourite curveballs in all of anime here, as Pain proceeds to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village with a devastatingly powerful attack, leaving the good guys in complete and utter shock and terror. Naruto only arrives mere seconds after the collapse to find his home village in ruin. It’s arguably Shippuden’s best, most emotionally powerful moment as it meant that no one was safe, and bad can triumph over good sometimes. To wrap things up, I could go on about both the good, bad and awful things that Naruto does in its anime adaptation (to which I say, rather read the manga if you’re going in blind). However, the great things that keep Naruto afloat revolve around its incredibly cool depiction of ninjas, the lore and mythology, and infinitely more likable side characters than the main trio. There are also some fantastic arcs sprinkled throughout the show that make the slog through the mundane filler mostly worth it. The battle sequences do tend to shy away from the smart, calculated, and tactical combat of ninjas and into Dragon Ball territory as the show goes on (by that, I mean all attacks turn into landscape-levelling destruction and big explosions), but the charm still permeates throughout. Naruto might not be the best that shonen has to offer – I’ll gladly point you in the direction of Hunter x Hunter or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – but its impact on the medium cannot be understated. Believe it.

At first glance The Magic Order appears to read something like Harry Potter, but for mature audiences. There are some huge similarities between the two, like the secret world of magic that exists within the regular one, but is kept hidden from regular people who would not understand or be able to comprehend the fantastical; and the organization which oversees both the magic community as well as the two worlds co-existing peacefully alongside one another. Both The Magic Order and Harry Potter have good guys and bad guys, amazing spells and magical battles, supernatural monsters and horrific entities that defy logic, and wands that can cause wonders in the right hands or devastation in the wrong ones. But beyond the first impressions, The Magic Order really starts to impress. Yes, for sure, it is for a more mature target market than Harry Potter. Even towards the end of HP when things were becoming quite ominous, filled with the sense of doom and foreboding, The Magic Order hits the more sinister tones right from its very first pages, where a child is possessed through a spell in order to murder a wizard while he sleeps. And that is just the starting point of the tale which proceeds to spiral into a gripping account of magic, murder, monsters, mystery and mayhem. The Magic Order also sees the wizard community leading more active roles as guardians over the world, keeping supernatural occurrences hidden from the public eye, and averting catastrophes that the common man will never even become aware of. In this way, it also becomes similar to a cross between an Avengers meets Doctor Who story, but entwined into the rich magic and mythology subtext. The comic even touches on the idea of a secret history behind the one we know, explaining what really happened in such events as the world wars, or even back to the times before Egypt’s rise to power. By the first issue I found that I was already pretty engrossed in the story, and intrigued by the plot as it was outlined and as it began to take shape. The wizards, the spells, the magic, the characters, the ideas, all of it just came together so fluidly and perfectly that it became hard to put it down (at this point I was glad I was reading all the issues in one sitting rather than waiting for monthly releases). By the second issue I was revelling in the gruesome and morbid murders and magical attacks, as each seemed more inventive and impressive than the one before. And by the third issue I could tell that I was in for a huge plot twist, and yes, I guessed what it was incorrectly. That a 6 issue mini-series can engross a reader with so many completely different aspects and bring it all together at the end for an excellently planned and unpredictable ending that will not leave anyone disappointed, I am sure, is quite remarkable. I should probably not have been terribly surprised by the suspense and plot twists of the comic however, as writer Mark Millar is certainly fond of telling his stories this way, and has done so with some other really great stories in the past, like Kick-Ass, Wanted, and Huck. He’s also written some all time best sellers like The Ultimates for Marvel, and The Authority and Superman: Red Son for DC. Coincidently, I’m not the only one who is quite impressed with his writing and story ideas apparently, as his own “Millarworld” comic publishing company was bought out by NETFLIX recently, with the intension of turning many of his comics into series or movies, which is certainly something else to look forward to.

After the announcement of the new Disney+ shows coming to the roster that includes She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel, Disney and Marvel were quick to expand on the previously announced shows already coming to the service. READ MORE: D23 - Disney Has More Marvel-ous Shows in the Works First up we have some more details concerning the WandaVision series. While not realising what a terrible name that is, the producers added some details. According to /Film, the film will add Kat Dennings' Darcy from the first two Thor films as well as Randall Park's Agent Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man and the Wasp. They join Olsen and Bettany as the title characters, but also Teyonah Parris as the already announced adult Monica Rambeau. Also joining the show is Kathryn Hahn as the nosy next-door neighbor. Story details are light, but from the above, it seems likely that Wanda and Vision try and settle in the suburbs and have to deal with various hijinks. The show is described as half-MCU epic and half sitcom, and looks to be taking some inspiration from the amazing Tom King twelve-issue series from a few years ago, except replacing the android wife with the older storyline of Wanda and Vision trying to start a family of their own. Anyone who knows their Marvel history knows that this won't end well, but we know that Feige and company only use the comics as a starting point. The show that is more interesting to just about everyone is Falcon & The Winter Soldier. In what is rumoured to be a road trip film, Sam and Bucky are paired together facing off against Daniel Bruhl's Baron von Strucker. Joining them will be Sharon Carter played by Emily van Camp. It makes sense that she would have a stake in Steve Roger's legacy as his niece by marriage, maybe, and his ex-girlfriend. Time travel, huh? But added to the cast is Wyatt Russell as John Walker, the man in the comics who took a version of the Super Soldier serum and took up the mantle of Captain America for a bit before becoming the more militaristic, but still, the same shield slinging Avengers West Coast hero, the US Agent. Given this casting, it seems likely that the rumours of the US Government wanting someone else to take up the mantle of Cap may be true and that Sam and Bucky will be facing not only the purple masked Strucker, but a pretender to the shield in the form of the US Agent. This could be very exciting indeed. If this is the quality of announcements before the main panel, surely the future is looking bright for the MCU plus its extended universe. I just wouldn't bet on a resolution to the Disney/Sony fight over Spider-Man though.

While the big MCU panel happened on Saturday, that did not stop Disney and Marvel from announcing new Disney+ shows. You may be wondering about that "super-hero" fatigue that has been proposed in various think-pieces around the time a new film or show is about to release, based on what has been revealed so far, it doesn't look like Disney believes it exists. READ MORE: The Mandalorian Trailer Released - and Nothing Stands in His Way First up we have a bit of nepotism on show as Bruce Banner's cousin has convinced Marvel to give her a TV series. Jennifer Walters is one of the premier lawyers in the MCU often taking on superhero cases. She can also benchpress a truck as a blood transfusion from Bruce turned her into the mighty She-Hulk. Unlike old Hulk, she retained her intelligence but is not as powerful as the Hulk. I really hope that the writers are inspired by John Byrne's classic comic which was a more comedic take and featured fourth wall breaking long before Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza had even dreamt of Deadpool. The show is in the early stages of development so no release date was announced. Just announced at #D23Expo, SHE-HULK, an original series from Marvel Studios, only on Disney+ pic.twitter.com/EmfcKjqI6e— Disney+ (@disneyplus) August 23, 2019 The next show, one that is going to be interesting, is Moon Knight, a character that could be seen as a discount Batman, but is actually more interesting and complex than that. Marc Spector was a mercenary who discovered an ancient temple to an Egyptian moon god. Made this god's avatar, he swings around Manhattan in a bright, white suit taking down criminals. But all is not as it seems as Marc might have imagined the whole thing, as he may suffer from a mental illness - one that has different personas take over his body to help him along. This is what makes the character interesting and compelling, a man driven to act rashly by dressing in a white suit to fight crime by his own mental illness. Again, no release date was announced. Just announced at #D23Expo, MOON KNIGHT, an original series from Marvel Studios, only on Disney+ pic.twitter.com/1lxeMzjOA8— Disney+ (@disneyplus) August 23, 2019 Finally, we have the announcement of Ms. Marvel, a series featuring one of the first, if not the first Muslim American heroes in Marvel history. Ms. Marvel, at least in the comics, is an Inhuman who gains her powers when exposed to the Terrigen Mists. She has the ability to manipulate her size, mass, and shape like DC's Plastic Man. She takes her inspiration from Carol Danvers, hence her taking up Carol's old code name and using her old lightning strike logo on her costume. The book and character have proved to be fan favorites, one of the few Inhumans to survive after Ike Perlmutter ordered Marvel to elevate the Inhumans so as to replace the mutants whose film rights were then owned by Fox. With news the co-creator G. Willow Wilson was leaving DCs Wonder Woman to work on her bucket list project, fans have immediately jumped to the conclusion that this is that project. Sadly it is not as Wilson has said she is available to assist but is not signed on in any way. Disney and Marvel would be wise to get her to help though. Just announced at #D23Expo, MS. MARVEL, an original series from Marvel Studios, only on Disney+ pic.twitter.com/BlLARmsvFX— Disney+ (@disneyplus) August 23, 2019 What shows are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below!