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The future of Naruto in the U.S.


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Primus



Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2779
Location: Toronto
PostPosted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:50 pm Reply with quote
Mushi-Man wrote:
One, Naruto is no were near being "niche". It's a big seller (at least in the U.S.).


Compared to DragonBall Z, or Pokemon it is simply not as mainstream, thus it is niche. And just because it is a big seller on the bookcharts doesn't mean it isn't niche, Rave Master did the same back in its heyday (now it just lingers...), so does Fruits Basket. Ask someone on the street if they know what Rave Master or Fruits Basket is, you'll likely get "Huh?". Same goes for Naruto. Ask people if they know of DragonBall, or Pokemon. You'll likely get a response.

Viz hyped up Naruto to be the next DBZ, and everyone else did. Instead what we got was another Digimon, and InuYasha. Titles that were on the brink of mainstream but just didn't get that extra shove.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4654
PostPosted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 3:50 pm Reply with quote
Primus wrote:
Compared to DragonBall Z, or Pokemon it is simply not as mainstream, thus it is niche. And just because it is a big seller on the bookcharts doesn't mean it isn't niche, Rave Master did the same back in its heyday (now it just lingers...), so does Fruits Basket. Ask someone on the street if they know what Rave Master or Fruits Basket is, you'll likely get "Huh?". Same goes for Naruto. Ask people if they know of DragonBall, or Pokemon. You'll likely get a response.

Just because it's "not as mainstream" as certain other past titles certainly doesn't make it "niche." And the numbers it's been putting up suggest that there are a whole ton of people out there who are big enough fans to buy it. Go into any sixth-grade classroom in the country and ask if anyone has ever heard of Naruto; I can just about guarantee that at least a few kids will know exactly what you're talking about.
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freezespell



Joined: 08 Jan 2007
Posts: 127
PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:21 am Reply with quote
@Emerje: After thinking about what you said about the first Naruto series, in the grand scheme of things, it does make some sense that they would make it come "full circle" and leave the name of the second series untranslated. Now maybe they can pop out a few of the original Japanese ED themes for the second series' English dub.

@eyeresist: What you said also has some credibility to it. If they're going to translate the dialog in the series, it would only make sense to translate the title as well. But what I'm thinking is that since Naruto is such a big hit here in the States, that the second series could be one of those rare exceptions to the rule.
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