Foot- Graphic Novels

Text and Dialogue

Balloons- In Naruto, there was two different types of balloons. Round balloons seemed to be used for normal conversation. When the characters were shouting or excited about something there were no balloons, or they become jagged. In Pinocchio, all of the speech balloons are round.

Captions- In Naruto there was a couple of captions but not really anything substantial. In Pinocchio they were a little more prevalent, and they were in square boxes. They were used when Pinocchio was narrating what happened to his father.

Emanata- These were used more in Naruto. I think that this is to be expected with manga. In my experience, I have noticed that manga use a lot more of these than regular graphic novels. Naruto used a lot of lines to indicate force, anger, or action. Also there was a lot of clouds and smoke used when magic was being used. In Pinocchio, the same sorts of things were used. Swirling smoke was used for when vampires died.

Labels and signs- In Naruto, there were some signs throughout the town in Japanese letters. In Pinocchio, there was a sign above Geppetto’s shop. Signs and labels were not a big part of either of these stories.

Lettering- Much like the balloons, Naruto has different lettering for normal speech and excited speech. For normal speech, the lettering is consistent in size and boldness. When characters get excited, however, the sizing gets inconsistent and it becomes bold. In Pinocchio, all of the lettering in conversations is consistent. In both books, the lettering for sound effects is artistic and large. In Naruto, the lettering for these sound effects actually takes on the appearance of the sound being portrayed.

Sound Effects- Like most manga, Naruto has a ton of sound effects for everything that the characters are doing. This includes sounds like slurp, much, thunk, glug, and sizzle. There are also sounds that don’t really make sense such as SHF, FWP, HMF. In Pinocchio, not as many sound effects are used for random things. The sound effects in this book are used to emphasize the fighting, which is the main aspect of the story.

Visual Effects

Characters- In Naruto, the characters are very detailed and have very strong facial expressions. In Pinocchio, the characters are very shaded and dark. Their expressions are always full of fear, anger, and hate. Both of the books use the appearance of the characters to help set the mood of the story.

Objects- The objects in Naruto are very detailed. Readers are able to see a lot of the minute details of things like clothing and even toilet paper and milk cartons. In Pinocchio, objects aren’t detailed as much. As a matter of fact, there aren’t a lot of objects to be seen. The main focus is on the characters. The main object seen in this book is Pinocchio’s nose. I think this is because the main thing the reader is supposed to focus on in this book is the anger and hate in the characters.

Icons- The main icon in Naruto is the symbol on the headband. This represents what Naruto wants more than anything else—to become a ninja. In Pinocchio, the main symbol is his nose. I think it really represents the innocence that has been taken away from him through the vampire attack. He used to be this cute puppet whose nose would grow if he lied. He now has to take this and use it to fight to the death.

Scenery- Naruto focuses a lot on scenery. The scenery is very detailed. Many of the panels are extreme long shots of this scenery. The setting seems to be very important. This is opposite of Pinocchio. In Pinocchio, the scenery isn’t shown as much. A lot of times, the panel behind the characters is completely white or black. I think this is, again, to emphasize the characters.

Depicted Action- Both of these books have a lot of action in them. Naruto, for me, was sometimes hard to follow at times because of this. Many panels would be close-ups of punches or kicks. In Pinocchio, the action is much more violent. There are staked and burning vampires all throughout. This adds to the mood a lot.

Borders- The borders in both books are pretty uneventful. In Naruto, the borders are plain, black thin lines. In Pinocchio, they are thin and black, but they are not perfectly straight.

Gutters- Once again, these are fairly uneventful. In Naruto, they are all white. The horizontal ones are thick, while the vertical ones are thin. In Pinocchio, they are either black or white (contrasting with the images on the page).

Panels- In both books, panels are varied sizes of squares and rectangles.

Open Panels- The open panels are the images that I think look the coolest. They are used in both books. In Naruto, it seems that a lot of action happens in these open panels. In both books, things that are shocking or exciting appear like this. I think this is because this is where the reader’s attention focuses because it is different from the rest of the panels.

Splash- This seems to happen more frequently in Pinocchio. Much like the open panels, scenes that were overly shocking or exciting were the ones that were given this treatment. An example of this is when the Pinocchio is hung from a tree or when he stabs a vampire through the throat as he tells a lie. In Naruto, this does not happen as much. The most readers see this is in the chapter titles and when there is an exciting battle scene.

Angles and Frames

Bleed- In Naruto, there is a lot of bleeding from regular panels. There will be a panel with three distinct sides, with the fourth bleeding off the side of the page. In Pinocchio, the only time the reader sees any bleeding is when there is a full page splash.

Close-up- In both books, close-ups are used to show extreme emotion. They are also used to show action such as punches and kicks in Naruto and vampires being staked in Pinocchio.

Headshot- These seem to be used in both books when focusing on one character when they are speaking. They are also used to show emotion just like the close-up.

Head-shoulder shot- These seem to be used for the same reasons as the headshots.

Full-figure shot- In both books, full-figure shots are used when there is more than one character in the frame. Also these are used when there is some sort of action.

Long shot- In Naruto, long shots are used a lot to look at the scenery around the character. As there is not a lot of scenery in Pinocchio, the long shots deal a lot with the action of the plot.

Extreme long shots- These are used a lot more in Naruto. There are many times where there is an extreme long shot when two characters are talking. This shot is so long that the characters cannot be seen—just their speech bubbles are present among the trees or building tops.

Reverse- Both books use this technique a lot. It is used largely when there is an emotional scene where the characters are conversing. This reminds me of a movie scene where the camera is going quickly back and forth between the two characters.

Rhetorical techniques applied in texts, visuals, and design

Exaggeration- Both texts used a lot of exaggeration. In Naruto, like in most manga, emotion and sound were exaggerated by emantas and sound effects. In Pinocchio, the hatred and anger felt by Pinocchio were exaggerated by the extreme shading used in the graphics.

Empathy/identification- I think that the reader can identify with characters in both books. However, I can see this happening more in Naruto. In this book, readers can identify with Naruto’s feelings of isolation and his lack of friends. Everyone, at some point, has felt left out and unloved. In Pinocchio, I think the main thing readers would be able to identify with is the loss of a loved one and the feelings of sorrow that come with that.

Mood/tone- The mood/tone of the two books are completely different. Naruto, although it has some intense moments, is very playful and funny, while Pinocchio is very dark and menacing. This mood is portrayed wonderfully by the illustrations and shading.

Simplicity/complexity- I would say when comparing the two books, Naruto is definitely the more complex story. The mythological backstory and number of characters can get kind of confusing. This complexity is illustrated in the graphics as well. Characters, objects, and settings are drawn with a lot of detail. Pinocchio, in my opinion, is a much simpler story. While there is a small backstory, it is extremely simple and does not cause confusion. The illustrations are simple as well, using two main shades and focusing mainly on characters, with few objects and background images.

Irony/satire- In Naruto, the irony comes when the child that is hated by the townspeople and does bad in school is discovered to have great power. In Pinocchio, it is ironic that Pinocchio has to lie to do good and save those he loves.

Realism/icons/symbolism- I don’t really think that either of the story had a lot of realism. I guess you could say that some of the issues that the stories dealt with were realistic. I think that the nose in Pinocchio was symbolic, like I said before, because it represents the children’s story and shows his loss of innocence. I also think that in Naruto, the fox inside of him represents the things that he can’t change about himself.

Order/disorder- Both of the main characters have disorder in their family lives. Naruto has no family and doesn’t even have a lot of friends that he can rely on. I think that him trying to become a great ninja can be seen as him trying to create some order in his life. Pinocchio also has no family because the vampires “killed” his father. Once again, I think that the revenge that he seeks is his way for looking for this order in his life that he doesn’t have.

Juxtaposition- I believe that both books deal with the juxtaposition created between the relationships of good and evil. In Naruto, this can be seen within the main character himself. He has both good and evil inside of him. The nine-tailed fox is the evil part of him that no one likes, but he is also a very loveable young boy. In Pinocchio, the good verses evil is much more evident with him fighting vampires. I also think the ending of this book introduces a very interesting aspect—love for his father, but hate for what he has become.

Relationships- Naruto is hated by almost everyone in his village, which is one main cause of conflict. Only a few people such as Iruka and Konohamaru really seem to like him. I am interested to read the rest of the books to see how these relationships progress. Pinocchio’s strongest relationship is gone. With his father dead he is almost all alone except for the carpenter and the fairy. I think that this causes a lot of sorrow for Pinocchio.

Point of View- Naruto is told in a very childish sort of way. The personality of Naruto is the main reason for this. Sometimes it also seems like part of the story is coming from the 3^rd Hokage when background information is told. In Pinocchio, the hate and revenge can really be felt in the narration. Even when getting background information, the reader can hear the sorrow for what was lost.