Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-2140588-20151010090250/@comment-1746153-20151010140611

I've been seeing Naruto-related images and the like since I started using the Internet actively (in mid 2000s), but I've only gotten into it in 2007. It was in Summer, in our countryside house. I was there with my brother and cousin; the latter brought a DVD with Shippuuden Episodes 1-20. I was hooked when I saw Deidara, or rather, when he said, "Art is a blast!" (that's how the subs went back then) for the first time. Thus, he became my favorite character.

Later, I caught up to the manga after finding out that I could read it online (anime/manga in general isn't big in my country). I started reading other series as well, and a few of them became my favorites (such as FMA). As for discovering the Wiki, I believe I just Googled for Naruto information.

Over the years, I've been more like an on-and-off fan - I never stopped reading Naruto but I've always had another fandom as my "main" one. I kept returning to Naruto communities since they were active and fun. My determination to read it every week lead to doing so anywhere I ended up, and as such it involved a lot of dealing with slow public Wi-fi in many different countries.

And then, in 2009, a strange thing happened. I saw Fuu Yamanaka for the first time and my brain inexplicably decided that I should like him. I did, and I still do. I even got as far as getting a bush clover tattoo; I also celebrated his birthday this year.

For the things I liked, I'd name world-building and a wide variety of memorable, distinct characters. Some parts of the story got me emotional as well. As for what I disliked... I don't have the time to extensively criticize it at the moment, but I can say that I really disliked the prophecy part, and there were underdevelopments here and there. If I were to talk about what I'd have changed, I'd be here all day.

So in general, I'd say the best parts of my Naruto journey were those fun moments with reading Naruto abroad, meeting fellow fans (I once studied in a university with a Kakashi cosplayer) and Fuu (for some reason).