As a kid, I was caught up in the first American ninja crazy during the mid 1980s (the first I recall at least) and despite the corny movies with ninjas fighting off evil overlords or space aliens, I really got into the history of ninjutsu and went on to study the martial arts—including ninjutsu and associated historical arts—in depth. Perhaps if it had not been for the pop culture aspect of the ninja I would not have become interested in the first place or perhaps through shotokan karate I would have later discovered ninjutsu anyways. It's hard to tell.

I say this to mean that Naruto may have his worth even yet, but even though I love animé in general Naruto is sadly so removed from any real ninja roots that they could have based the story around another theme altogether. Most of Naruto concerns—like Harry Potter—some form of magic which has long been a western association with ninja lore but a very incorrect one. The rest of the ninja pop culture references I think we may attribute to something a friend of mine in the entertainment industry once said "ninjas, pirates, and robots always sell . . . if you can get all three into a cartoon, even better". Ninjas have become a standard device that kids now recognize and you can throw some ninjas into any setting from a top secret lab to a high school and get your readership/viewship's attention.

As for real ninjas, they seem to be something that neither Hollywood nor journalists really want to touch. Probably because their real history is both less astounding and more complex to understand than the broad fictional atmosphere that has been created around then. Sadly, a great movie could probably be made about ninjas in modern times even that would blend in more actual history but it would take a really dedicated and innovative group of people to make it . . . given how bad most action-adventure films are these days, I don't see directors going out on a limb to do this anytime soon.

I am a BIG anime and manga fan, however shows/manga like Naruto are absolutely NOT my cup of tea. Over the past few years I have watched the insane (probably unhealthy, IMPO) growth of the popularity of the Naruto manga and series. I've never paralleled the format to harry potter, but thinking deeper, it makes a lot of sense. However IMO Potter has a deeper, smarter format, that seldom dissapoints and keeps fans wanting MORE, while Naruto (or Narunto as I like to call it), is pure dreck and follows in the great "jump the shark" tradition of shonen manga/anime that ran for too long. Naruto is more or less of a weak, bastardized, albeit extremely popular fusion of Japan's legendary ninja with the youth of the Potter series.

Or maybe none of you are a 9 to 12-year-old boy, at whom shonen anime are aimed at.

Yes, the shinobi traditions in real life have little to do with their cartoon counterparts. Believe it. But when has that ever happened in kid-lit? Real life witches (of either the Satanic or Wiccan type) have absolutely nothing to do with Harry Potter, nor do they turn kids into mice like Roald Dahl's version. And there are no 12-year-old criminal masterminds who are best friends with a Captain in the Fairy Defense Forces and a supergenius techno-hacker centaur, either (that's Artemis Fowl, in case you aren't blessed with having to know the reference).

Would you seriously rather have kids watching a show about what kunoichi really were? That would be a great flick for you and me. Let's sharpen up those neko-te, straighten those senbo in our hair and go for it. But IMHO, the kids should probably stay out of it.