Title:
Naruto

Series Titles:
Naruto (1999)

Creator:
Masashi Kishimoto

Publisher: 
Viz Media

Length:
Naruto - 37+ volumes (13 available in English - ongoing)

Other Info: 
The Naruto manga series was released in the West a fair while before the anime, and is being serialised in the US edition of Shonen Jump magazine.  So far 13 volumes have been released in America, whilst 37 are available in Japan.  The US release, from Viz Media, is printed in the 'tankouban' size of most recent manga, and are printed from right to left.

At chapter 245 (volume 28), the story skips forward three years to focus on the now older characters facing even tougher challenges.  Most of the characters are redesigned to reflect the time difference, not only looking older but often having new costumes and skills.  Although the series is continuous in Japan, many fans refer to the first 238 chapters as 'pre time skip' Naruto or simply Part 1, and the chapters

after this 'time skip' Naruto or Part 2.  It is likely that these later chapters will be renamed Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles after the anime series when they eventually come to be released in the West.

Sandwiched between 'pre time skip' Naruto and 'time skip' Naruto (volumes 27 & 28) is an six chapter short story called Kakashi Gaiden.  This story goes into the past to tell the story of how Naruto's teacher Kakashi Hakate obtained the power of the Sharingan Eye.
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Availability:
All available volumes of the manga can be easily found in most comic and sci-fi shops, and bookshops should be able to order them in.  Viz Media, the company that publishes the manga in English, did have a problem regarding their international licensing a little while ago which prevented them from shipping directly to the UK.  Although most specialist retailers have found way round this it may be that some book shops have not explored these options and as such cannot order Viz titles.  The best way to find out is to try to order them, and the most efficient aid for book shop staff is the ISBN number - international cataloguing codes given to all new books on publishing.  The ISBN 10 codes for the first three volumes of Naruto are as follows:

Vol 1:  1-56931-900-6
Vol 2:  1-59116-178-9
Vol 3:  1-59116-187-8

Good places to pick it up without generally having to order it in include Travelling Man and Forbidden Planet, and online shops like Amazon and Anime On Line.
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