Naruto and Pinocchio

Both graphic novels were pretty good in my opinion; however, it never occurred to me to think about all of the minor similarities and differences between them. First off, the narration for Naruto is non-existent. All story development is done through other dialogue and illustrations. And in Pinocchio there are no narrations save for two interludes of alternate storyline that advance the story a bit more by providing back-story. Thought and word balloons are also the same in each graphic novel. Pinocchio seemed to have no thought-bubbles, though, while Naruto had quite a few more instances where the characters would speak to themselves. Both graphic novels were lacking in captions as well. Emnata are far more prevalent in Naruto where characters will always exhibit an emanata during excitement or confusion. Expressions dominate the majority of Pinocchio instead of emanata. The lettering that each comic uses fits the feel of the story. Pinocchio's text is small and somewhat shaky, which better conveys the dark feel to the comic. Naruto has a very simple and plain text except for when characters have extreme outbursts of emotion. At that point, the text becomes bold and large and exaggerated. The sound effects in both comics are similar, simply being bolded and more exciting statements applied to extreme action.

In a more visual look at each comic, we see that the characters in Naruto are made with lots of soft lines and excessive detail, except when any character becomes exasperated or filled with lots of emotion, at which point they will over-exaggerate the size of their heads and facial features which are all made of simple shapes. In Pinocchio, the characters are made of hard lines and angles with dark shading and expressionless eyes and faces. In Pinocchio, the presence of an object is his ever-growing nose, which he uses to fight the vampires. In the beginning portion of Naruto, this object was the scroll of lessons that was stolen, and throughout the entire comic it was the hitai-ate or headband that signified that Naruto was a full-fledged ninja. Characters in both comics had no icons to signify them or to show their presence all through the stories. Scenery in Pinocchio was limited to whatever was right around the characters and it was filled with shadow and made of simple shapes. Naruto was highly detailed and filled with descriptive illustrations and lots of very fine, minute drawings. The depicted action in each was very similar, however. Both used busy panels and blurred movement lines, as well as descriptive facial expressions and lots of illustrations of carnage such as spewing blood or ripped clothing. All action depictions were external, though, since no characters had the time alone in the books to make internal conflict with themselves.

The borders and gutters in Naruto are always thin and thick, respectively. In Pinocchio it is the same, but due to the dark in the panels, the gutters stand out as whiter and more defined. The panels in Pinocchio are always perfect squares and arranged in geometric patterns. In Naruto, the panels are the same, though there are more open panels. Pinocchio only has a very few open panels, as well as only having a very few splashes. In Naruto, splashes that even span two pages are far more abundant. The presence of bleeds in both comics is very few to none, most characters are kept to the action inside one frame at a time. Naruto focuses on having more close-ups, head shots, and head-shoulder shots than Pinocchio does. The characters in Naruto have more detail and expression to show in each closeup as opposed to the mostly blank expressions and empty eyes of the Pinocchio characters. Full-figure shots are more prevalent in Pinocchio as opposed to Naruto, where full-figure shots only make dominant appearances in panels depicting fight scenes. Naruto also holds more long shots, which help to display the intense detail and multitude of characters. In Pinocchio, long shots are less present because there are fewer characters, thus no need to use a long shot to fit them all together. Being very rare, there are no reverses in either comic, though in the scenes in the forest with Naruto and his fellow characters, there are times that it can be misconstrued.

In Naruto, the characters all elicit the same methods of exaggeration with their faces and bodies, as well as the size and font of the text when speaking. Pinocchio's characters don't exaggerate anything much besides a few nonchalant facial features and very smart one-line quips. In Naruto there is empathizing that is done with Naruto from his master Iruka because they were both orphans. There is also empathy given to Naruto from the Lord Hokage. In Pinocchio, our main character is essentially always alone because no one can empathize with him, nor does any other character express a wish to do so. The mood set in Pinocchio is that of darkness and revenge. We also catch a sense of loneliness and despair. In Naruto, the mood is that of adventure and trial, as well as undertones of secrecy and wishfulness. The simplicity in Pinocchio is the idea of “Find vampires; kill vampires.” The complexity is that Pinocchio's father has become a vampire and now plots against his son. In Naruto, the simple ideas are that of becoming a ninja and fulfilling a worthwhile life. The complex is that Naruto is the embodiment of an evil-monster-spirit that once terrorized the village he lives in. The irony in Naruto is that he is fighting to become the same kind of ninja that once fought and embodied the fox-spirit that resides within him. The irony in Pinocchio is that he is fighting against monsters who are controlled by his father and can offer him a life since they, too, are not human. The realism in Pinocchio is that we all have battles we must fight alone and even if we are given help from others, it is still our battle and must be faced by only us. The realism in Naruto is that we all have demons inside of us that we must fight to control, and hopefully we can do so enough that one day we may rise far above the depths that the demon can threaten to pull us to. The order in Naruto is in the form of the ninja order of his village, the Shinobi. The disorder comes mostly from Naruto with the inclusion of his fellow Shinobi-in-training. They are not as skilled or structured as the rest of the Shinobi would wish, and thus, they are a form of chaos to the world around them. In Pinocchio, he is his own order, having a set doctrine of being a just savior of the town by slaying the vampires. But he is also a form of disorder for the vampires. They, too, have their own order that they adhere to, and by killing them, Pinocchio disrupts that. In Pinocchio there is a juxtaposition with the characters whom fight against the vampires. Considering that Pinocchio is made of wood and can kill the vampires with his nose, he is vastly different from Canpanella, the magical fairy. Different from both of the others is Cherry, the only human. He not only lacks any significant powers, but he is also drastically taller than the other two party members. In Naruto the three students, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, all have vast differences while being forced to work together. Naruto is wild and unpredictable, as well as being unserious and untethered to important things. Sasuke is dark and brooding, but always cool-headed and witty. He is never quick to act and seems to care about nothing. Sakura is bubbly and very girly, but also tormented by her love for Sasuke and her hate for Naruto. The relationships present in both are oddly similar. Naruto and Pinocchio both have no family and very few friends, if any. They are both outcasts from the societies that they have been thrown into, but are ultimately good people and unsung heros. The comics and their protagonists also share the same points of view. They follow a social outcast as they try to connect to society around them in even a small way, all while doing what they can to protect them and find who they are. Both are orphans with plots in life that they must deal with alone. Most importantly, they both believe that they must accomplish something great and important in order to have a complete life.