Welcome to This Week in Shonen Jump, our weekly check in on Viz’s various Shonen Jump series. Viz has recently changed their release format, but our format will mostly remain the same. We will still review the newest chapters of one title a week, now with even more options at our disposal. The big change for our readers is that, even without a Shonen Jump subscription, you can read these most recent chapters for free at Viz.com or using their app.
This week, Zach checks in with “Naruto: Sasuke’s Story” If you have thoughts on this or any other current Shonen Jump titles, please let us know in the comments!
Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust: The Manga – Chapter 1
Original Story by Masashi Kishimoto and Jun Esaka
Manga by Shingo Kimura
Translated by Mr. Underhill
Lettered by Snir Aharon
Reviewed by Zach Wilkerson
Since the end of the original “Naruto” manga in 2014, the series has kept going with a number of spin-offs. Kishimoto and a number of collaborators have explored the timeframe between “Naruto” and its sequel series, “Boruto: Naruto Next Generations,” in a series of character focused light novels. One of these novels, starring Sasuke, is now being adapted back into manga form. Interestingly, this adaptation arrives a month before its light novel release in the US.
The story kicks off with Naruto suffering from a mysterious illness, one that also once afflicted the Sage of Six Paths. Sasuke quickly sets out to the land of Redaku in hopes of finding a cure for his friend. The simple premise is made more interesting by its setting. While ninja are relatively rare in the world of “Naruto,” its focus on ninja villages makes the world feel saturated with them. Redaku, however, is a remote village, where shinobi arts are a rare sight. It gives Sasuke’s actions and interactions a bit more weight, as he uses his ninjutsu to stop a group of antique thieves, leading to the chapter’s second half.
Dipping into a familiar trope, Sasuke finds himself needing to infiltrate a prison in order to find more information on the history of the Sage of Six Paths. Kimura doesn’t provide elaboration on why Sasuke chooses to do this by posing as a prisoner, rather than just entering under his authority as an agent of the Hokage. Perhaps the delicate nature of the task requires additional secrecy? It’s a small issue, but the lack of explanation did pull me from the story for a moment.
Interestingly, Kimura’s artwork is much more similar to Kishimoto’s than the work of Mikio Ikemoto, Kishimoto’s artistic successor on “Boruto.” The more familiar style feels fitting in a story that seems to take place soon after the original series and starring a major character. It’s a nostalgic treat for long-term fans of the original. However, the other side of this coin is that it is just an imitation of Kishimoto’s work, without much of the flair of the original artist’s work.
It’s very fun to see one of these light novels adapted into a manga format. While it’s great to get new “Naruto” stories in any format, manga is where these characters feel most at home. With an intriguing premise, a fan-favorite character, and a classic style, this adaptation is sure to please “Naruto” fans and may even pique the interest of new readers as well.
Final Verdict: A much welcome return to an earlier time in the world of “Naruto.”
