Enter: Naruto as a production is mixed. The anime is great, and the story is great. The first four episodes include enough information to bring you up to speed quickly, and end with a cliffhanger. The music is fantastic! Unfortunately, the list of what's missing from this collection is not short.
First off, no Japanese language track. To casual fans, maybe not a big deal, but long-time anime watchers just expect to be able to hear the original Japanese and read subtitles. Not including a Japanese track is just calculated to piss off a large group of folks. The dubbing is not terrible, but Enter: Naruto would be a better production with some other language options. There are NO subtitles, and even though the box indicates Closed Captioned, I couldn't find any menu options to support this. The second thing missing from the DVD was any special features or links back to the anime. For fans of the manga, it would have been neat to see some art or character bios. Maybe as the collection releases more DVDs, we'll see more than promotions for other "Shonen Jump" material included under Extras.
The story of Enter: Naruto is filled with ninja action, but it really comes down to a boy trying to prove himself and fit in socially. The schoolyard tales from Naruto's Academy are a little different than what you see in your school. Shuriken flying, Shadow-Clone jutsu, transformation...all in a day's work for these students. Naruto is seen as the class clown, a bit of an outsider because he was born out of a tragedy that robbed him of his parents and destroyed the village. In the aftermath, older people shun Naruto and other kids think he's a joke. Naruto is determined to prove them all wrong.
The whole point of building a DVD collection to me is to have the definitive version of a classic movie or anime, something that holds up well over time and bears repeat viewings. In this case, Enter: Naruto fails the test, a weak start to a great series. If Viz plans to release the series in this format, they'll find that many anime fans will stay away. The dubbing may not be bad enough to turn more casual viewers away, but it isn't very good. What kept me engaged, and makes this a strong choice for a rental, is the fantastic story. Enter: Naruto gives you a taste of the great blend of action, humor, and drama generated by the hit manga. Let's hope that future releases come with more meat on the bone...
