From ancient warriors resurrected to defend the earth to a “loser” in high school trying to get a “popular girl,” anime has never failed to entertain me whenever I watch it. I don’t know if it’s the well-written stories or the prettily drawn eyes, but there’s something about those Japanese cartoons that captivates me and countless other people.

My interest in anime started when I was a little boy watching "Dragon Ball Z" in the afternoon on a segment of Cartoon Network called "Toonami." The combination of a driven storyline, likable heroes, and an excess of violence instantly clicked with my developing young mind.

"Dragon Ball Z" served as the springboard with which I propelled myself into the world of anime. As my interest grew, I discovered that anime is not the one-dimensional fantasy world that I thought it was.

Anime can be thought-provoking. In fact, many try to depict the life of average teenagers and focus on issues that real teenagers face.

So to all who have never watched any anime, I encourage you to try it. With the wide range of subjects, there will most likely be something that you will like.

I myself lean toward the fantasy anime with heroes, villains, magic, and other stuff like that. Currently, I, along with my fellow sophomore Andrew Weatherhead, am watching a popular ninja show called "Naruto."

Naruto is set in a fictional world that has five great nations, each with their own hidden ninja village. The story follows everyone’s favorite knucklehead ninja, Naruto, who lives in the hidden village of Konoha.

As a child, a demonic nine-tailed fox was sealed inside Naruto. When he reaches a high level of stress, the power of the nine-tailed fox is unleashed and Naruto is able to use it to his advantage in the form of chakra. Chakra is basically energy that the ninjas use to deploy all of their jutsu or techniques.

Because the nine-tailed fox devastated Konoha, Naruto is shunned as a child. As he grows up, he faces constant fear of being alone and finds friends who either feel sorry for him or feel the same as he does. The main plot deals with Naruto trying to recover Sasuke, a friend who was seduced by evil.

A high point of Naruto is definitely the epic fights. Come on, who doesn’t like to see a bunch of ninja using powerful jutsu trying to kill each other? Naruto’s signature move is the kage bushin no jutsu or, shadow clone jutsu, where he duplicates himself into many clones that help him fight. Other ninja use other jutsu strategically in battles in an effort to gain an advantage over their opponent.

All in all, watch anime, and if you can’t find a good one, I recommend Naruto for these reasons:

1. Epic battles
2. Emotionally wrenching scenes when Naruto feels alone
3. Kage bushin no jutsu!