I remember watching Naruto a while back and remember dropping it for some reason, so I never really got to Shippuden. Of course, I’ll admit that I’m hypocritical for judging an anime that I never finished. With that being said, I don’t really get why Naruto fans exaggerate the series so much. In my eyes, it wasn’t necessarily bad, but it isn’t good either. There were many questionable writing decisions that didn’t sit right with me. In my opinion, Naruto is a good starter anime, but the more anime you watch, the more you realize how flawed Naruto actually was. That being said, what do you all think of Naruto?
Watch the pirate version with all the filler cut and better subtitles / editing
Is there a specific fanedit?
Yes. I think it’s called yellow flash or something. Sort by seeds on nyya and you’ll find it
Cheers, thank you
I think it was one of the more prominent animes broadcasted on North American TV, so it was formative and feels nostalgic for many of us who watched it at that time. Then transitioning post TV to internet and anime steaming sites, it became almost a rite of passage for fledgling anime fans. I recall that era of the “big 3” Bleach, Naruto, DBZ I believe. It was likely the first introduction of many westerners to Anime and Japanese culture in general. Thoughts of that show remind me of simpler times.
Shippuden is when the show really takes off though, with multiple memorable arcs, characters, and moments. Yes, most every character is flawed in some way, but I think a good protagonist usually has flaws which they grow and overcome, etc. Without watching Shippuden you never see the growth. If the show isn’t for you, that’s fair but I think it was kind of a perfect storm at that time period for many people and left a lasting impression.
Big 3 was Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece since they were all popular at the same time. Dragon Ball was before any of them and directly inspired at least the author of One Piece.
The first time we saw a super saiyan was the most iconic animation in history.
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The filler was awful but even skipping it, the plot was still not great. It seemed like it just got plot cancer at some point and never recovered. Too many uchihas at the center of everything. Lots of characters that got completely forgotten about. Super OP stuff just being pulled out of people’s butts on demand. I was anime only and hear the manga was better, but the only thing that pushed me to finish that show was sunk cost fallacy.
Really long shounen action series are always overrated, and I’ve seen a fair number. Good anime series with over a hundred episodes are very rare in any genre, though.
I used to say that if someone went through Naruto and removed all the shitty fillers and cut out some of the endless repetitions that made every fight take three to four episodes it’d be much better.
I enjoyed the manga more.Someone actually did (it’s called Naruto Kai), and I tried watching it, and it still somehow had bad pacing even with countless hours of runtime cut out. I peaced out after the bad guys told Sasuke to get in a sketchy barrel and he was like, “seems legit” so all the other kids who for some goddamn reason wanted him back had a bunch of extremely repetitive fights chasing him down.
It’s overrated, but it’s more than a good intro to anime for a child. Growing up, I really liked it. Looking back, it’s not groundbreaking as far as anime is concerned. Also, it was all downhill after the Pain Arc.
Recently there was also some critique of Bleach on here. I used to watch things like Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, etc when I was young. I do really think you need to be quite young and naive and excited by dumb action in order to enjoy this type of anime (as I was back when I watched those). They are also very long, so for an adult with not that much time you would be much better off watching a bunch of shorter anime than to commit to such big one. In my experience all those types of long running shounen have bad writing, massive plot holes, terrible romance, dragging out the plot, power creep, etc. Those shows are definitely overrated in my opinion.
Yeah! Believe it!
Heard an expression for storytelling in Portuguese once that kinda translates to “street fight” - when the story writer doesn’t know how to proceed so he throws whatever. Kinda like deus ex machina trope, but more chaotic. Shippuden, the further it went, the more it gave me that impression. And I’m not watching/reading Boruto, the movie from right after Shippuden was already bad enough.
In my opinion? Yes. But I feel the same about most mainstream anime. Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer, Jujitsu Kaisen, etc.
Yeah but I’d rather rewatch Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen than Naruto.
But what will you do with all that extra time you save?
On the one hand, I know it’s unfair to say “I’d rather rewatch these two much shorter shows”. On the other hand, I don’t think Naruto manages to tell nearly as good of a story even with its hideously bloated runtime.
I think I might take the time I’m saving by not rewatching any of them and spend it finally watching Armored Trooper Votoms, Mushi-shi, and Inuyasha. Honestly Naruto is so damn long that barely puts a dent in it.
Agreed that Naruto, even if you skip all filler, is excessively bloated. It stopped being about telling a story and instead about being a cash cow pretty early on. And, the further it goes, the more it just becomes a fractal of the same story and themes overlaid on whatever new character is introduced.
Never heard of Armored Trooper Votoms but Mushishi is great.
I think the original series is pretty damn amazing. Shippudden has its ups and downs. Even if you ignore the (bad) fillers, the ending is just trash. On the other hand, it has the best moments of the show and lots of great characters getting lots of screentime, so its hard to ignore.
(I don’t know shit about Boruto 😁)
Boruto is like 95% “anime canon” that isn’t technically filler but doesn’t move the actual story along at all
I wouldn’t say it’s overrated, but Naruto is written for kids that are the same age as Naruto. I grew up watching Naruto when I was the same age as Naruto, and for me it was the best show I had seen at that time. It’s a show that gives kids good life lessons and direction, while mixing in some sick battles and usually manages to keep the main cast on close to equal grounds in any fights they find themselves in.
I didn’t start watching Shippuden until this past year, and to me it starts pretty great. Naruto comes back as the same doofus you know and love, but with a hint more maturity now. What’s great for me is that it feels like you’re back where you left off when Sasuke first leaves. Plus, now the villains, the Akatsuki, mostly in the background for ages start showing up to cause trouble front and center.
I went from loving Naruto, to hating Naruto, and back to loving Naruto again while on my journey of growing. To me Naruto is great not because it’s some perfect show, but because it has characters with realistic flaws that you would expect from someone that age. It’s great to me because it serves as a great reminder for how to get back on the path you want to be on in life. The minor/background characters all feel so interesting, and really come together to make the show feel special, like the Leaf Village could be your hometown.
Every famous anime is more or less overrated tbh
Nah, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is actually that good.
Shippuden is actually what made me like Naruto. I didn’t really care much about it before and after that. I would say it’s a very good show, but I agree that a lot of people over exaggerate how great it is. That said, I would recommend you continue on at least to Shippuden, as it’s the best arc IMO.
I watched the first couple of episodes, but it didn’t grip me.
Might come back to it at some point, often I won’t like something at the time, and then later on I’ll get it.
