Naruto: Shippuuden

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Naruto Shippuden : Review |
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Naruto. The series that sold over 220 million manga copies, winning handful of awards along the way. An anime that ranked as one of the most watched series in Japan that got tarnished by a greedy studio and has received tons of internet backlash throughout the years.

Let me start off by saying Naruto is by no means a flawless anime. It's the exact opposite. The series had too many fillers. Sometimes the animation quality was below par and pacing can be painfully slow at times. But please bear with me here. I'm going to tell you why it has ... been the best experience an anime gave me in my entire life and dig into what made the series popular while also explaining its flaws.

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Story - 8
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The story of Naruto has been a mixed bag. While it's not bad, it's certainly no Berserk. But what it is, is beautiful (probably not the word that can be often used to describe a shounen anime), but it really is. It's unpredictable, it's thrilling, it plays with your emotions, it's funny, it's tragic, it's sometimes downright frustrating but it is, more than anything, wondrous and fun while being able to take itself seriously when it needs to. It starts off where the first part of Naruto ended and the very first scenes gives us a sneak peak of things to come. The series eases you back into the world of Naruto with a slow paced , almost SOL like first few episodes. And the story then on is presented in a collection of long well constructed story arcs with the bigger picture stories of Sasuke and the Akatsuki being told parallelly till a certain point. Down the line this is series deals with more mature themes and darker tones and manage to execute well on most of those themes if not all. The story is mainly hampered (not ruined) by fillers and pacing issues which I will discuss below.

Let's start with the filler. The amount of filler in this show is staggering. It counts as 219 total filler episodes which make up 44% of the series as a whole.
The issues that lies within the filler episodes is that they are not allowed to make any significant changes to the story or specifically its characters. This being a mainly character driven plot, this becomes a huge issue because any significant event in fillers could affect the characters so they can't move ahead the plot line at all. So mostly what we get is poorly written mini-arcs and episodes that don’t affect any of the characters or the world in any significant way. This is worsened by the below par writing for these filler episode as they are not written by the original author Masashi Kishimoto himself.
However, there are exceptions for this. Some of the filler episodes can be genuinely enjoyable but those are few and far between. The fact that filler can't move the plot along fuels the second big flaw. Which is,

Pacing Issues. Aside from what I've said above, even some of the non-filler episodes are very slow paced. This is mainly only an issue at the start of the series. If you're into characters chilling down and wasting a lot of time, this may sit well with you. But even then some of these episodes might be below par for your taste. Once the series kicks it into high gear around 70th episode, it mostly manages to keep that pace up.

Now that we got the flaws out of the way, let's talk positives.
The main strength of the series is its characters, who drive the plot (which we will discuss in detail later). After the first 70 episodes, things begin to get lot more interesting really fast. The world of shinobi gets expanded exponentially, and if you're a fan of deep lore in stories, this will fit right in your wheel house because it begins to explore the roots of the world and its history very deeply.
Another thing that this series does very well is explaining its core concepts to the viewer. The techniques that characters use and how the things in shinobi world works are explained in detail. Also, the concept of Chakra and what a versatile and detailed power system it is compared to other shounen series really stands out.

The amount of themes explored in the series are vast. It explores all the basic themes of a typical shounen and as it goes on it delves into themes such as the nature of humans, self sacrifice, discrimination, manipulation, roots of war and peace, difference of perceptions, the line between good and evil, and alienation. It manages to deal with all these themes without abandoning the shounen type feel or becoming pretentious.

Something that the author, Kishimoto, really excels at is setting up events. For example, during the early episodes of Naruto (the prequel to this show), he has already started setting up major events that happened in the last of episodes of Shippuden. In the beginning, we look over these little details and minor events and have no idea that they are going to have such an impact later in the series, and when it all comes together in the end, you feel so satisfied. Most of the times these events and twists will take you by surprise and maybe you'll have fun trying to figure out them before they happen as Kishimoto drops clues for you to pick up throughout the entire series. Same thing applies to the moments that tug at your heartstrings , they feel genuine because how the story builds up to those moments.

Being a battle shounen ,of course there are going to be battles, and this is one area that the series really shines.
As I see it , battles can be broken down into three different segments in this anime , The battle of wits , The battle of ideologies , The physical battle. All three come in union to make some memorable and truly great moments. Each characters ideologies and philosophies gets tested time and time again by their opponents and we can see even the main character himself doubt his ideologies towards the end. When we see someone gets broken inside as well as the outside it's devastating to watch. To put it blatantly, Naruto has the best combat scenes I've ever witnessed in an anime. I have to mention that this style of combat is heavily inspired by Hunter x Hunter. Kishimoto does a fantastic job putting emotions into its battle scenes which are backed up by gorgeous animations (at times, we'll get to that later) and a mesmerizing soundtrack, and with these combined it really sets up fantastic visual storytelling through combat. Kishimoto does an excellent job at setting up the events leading up to the fight to make it feel all the more personal and these battles often comes down to which character outwits the other rather than who can punch harder. This makes characters like Shikamaru Nara who have very little ability make a huge impact in the series.
Variety of the fighting styles is massive, ranging from intimate hand to hand style combats, tactical combats, long range jutsu battles, and most often a mix of all of these!

The last arc of the series has been very controversial as the constant change of antagonists has irritated some of the viewers. But in all honesty, all of the antagonists that presented had different motives that drove them to do what they do and distinctively different from each other which made them very enjoyable. That being said, the final part of the war arc was really disappointing as the final villain of the series is the worst character that the series had to offer as the villain had almost no personality and motives were shaky at best. Without spoiling anything all I can say is that decisions taken during the last war arc felt like it was done to unnecessarily prolong the final battle and messed it up with a poorly written villain and bad story decisions. But the final episodes after the War arc manages to reign it all in and give a proper farewell to the series it so richly deserves.

Throughout the series you will witness friends become foes, foes become friends, unlikely alliances formed and broken, that precious character you loved die, revenge plots, plot twists, characters growing up, politics, romance, and the world itself change. It can be flawed at times but it's a full package and Kishimoto always seemed to have the ending and everything planned out from the very beginning.

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Characters - 10
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Now this is the core of the franchise.
Each character in Naruto is very distinctive from each other. Each has a core motive that drives them, a unique personality, and a specialty in different skill sets. And hats-off to Kishimoto for his brilliant character design as he used a very bright color pallet and made each one very distinctive to make each of them stand out.
No matter which kind of characters you prefer, you're sure to find someone here that you can relate to. What the series really does well is making sure that you'll be attached to the characters emotionally. And you will cheer them on as they try to achieve their goals , watch their philosophies and ideologies gets tested , watch them break or prevail and break down crying at their deaths.
You will get to see how what's happening around the characters change them , mold them. Witnessing how tragedies that's happening around them having an effect on their psyche is one of the strongest points of Naruto Shippuden. It's fun seeing small character interactions from early episodes grow into full blown relationships.

Now let's move on to the "Villains"
This series checks all the boxes when it comes to antagonist character archetypes.
*Self-Righteous Villain with a God Complex* [checked] , *Money Hungry Villains* [checked] , *Religious Psychopaths* [checked] , *Villain who is after Revenge* [checked]. I think I've made my point there. But what makes this villains so enjoyable is that no one is a villain just for the sake for being a villain. The best kind of villains are the ones you can empathize with, the ones that you feel for and understand them and make you question your own morality, this is something that this series excels at. As same as the main characters, the villains too have core motivation driving them. They have their own beliefs, ideologies and they are willing to fight for what they think is right. You might find yourself cheering on the villains more than the "heroes." The morality here is blurred.

But coming back to the war arc, its main flaw is the final villain (which I will not spoil here). Compared with the other villainous characters from the series, the final character is very bland and their motivations are not entirely clear or most likely not relatable to any of the viewers. That being said, this character is only in the series for a very small amount of episodes and the others certainly do more than enough to make up for it.

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Art and Animation - 7.5
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Again we have a mixed bag here.
This show can look stunning when it wants to, and by stunning I meant big budget movie level of quality. But at times the quality can drop way below par.
I think I should specially mention Hiroyuki Yamashita’s work here. He mainly works on battle scenes and this man is a genius when it comes to it. Even though he only worked on a limited number of episodes, his episodes pushes the animation, choreography and stylishness to 11!
Despite this I can't give it a higher score because this show is wildly inconsistent with its animation.

And as for character designs, we already talked about how Kishimoto made his characters very distinctive and imaginative and how the bright color pallet fuels this.

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Sound - 10
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This is an another strong point of the series. Yasuharu Takanashi has made a masterpiece of a soundtrack for this series that manages to highlight the intensity, the tragedies, and the sorrow of each moment. The emotions that Kishimoto wants to portray make it through to us so well because of this soundtrack. It connects us with the world of Naruto Shippuden in a special way. I would recommend listening to tracks like Samidare (Early Summer Rain) to get a taste of what the soundtrack is like.

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Enjoyment and Overall Experience - 10
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Naruto Shippuden is more of an experience that needs to be had than just a mere show. It played with our emotions for over a decade and now it has been concluded. The enjoyment of Naruto Shippuden goes beyond just the series itself. This series has a very big community and fanbase that you could interact with. And its lore is so vast that you would never run out of things to discuss about it. Although it has its share of major flaws, this series is a journey that shouldn't be missed if you're fine with the hefty commitment. It's by no means a flawless anime , but it's an anime with highs that more than makes up for it's lows. It reaches for the stars but makes a few tumbles along the way , but the best moments of Naruto are some of the best moments in the medium itself.
And with this, I conclude my review for this series that defined a generation.

Sub or Dub ? : Sub is recommended

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| Recommendations for Similar Series |
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[Naruto] : Yes, the original series. It's essential to watch it before the Shippuden series because it contains a lot of character development and build-up for the Shippuden series.

[Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood ] : This series contains most of the things that made Shippuden great such as good character development, good soundtrack, and excellent world building. This series does it in about 70 episodes which is truly a magnificent achievement. If you like Naruto Shippuden, it's a given that you will like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood as well.

[Hunter X Hunter (2011)] : A series that greatly inspired Naruto. Both anime feel very similar in style. If the inconsistencies of Naruto bothered you, you'll find a much more consistent pacing and quality of writing here. Whether the highs of Hunter X Hunter matches up to the highs of Shippuden or FMA Brotherhood is up for debate, but you won't have to sit through any lows like you have to endure with Naruto or Naruto Shippuden.

[Proofreading - SomeRandomNerd]

After an endless wasteland of filler, Naruto returns! Joy! Happiness! Frowns turned upside down! I couldn't believe it when the fillers ended. I was ecstatic.

Now I'm ready with a pillow whenever I tune in every friday. Question mark? I'll tell you why I'm prone to falling asleep while watching Naruto:Shippuuden - it just isn't Naruto anymore. It just isn't the same series.

Story: Don't get me wrong, Naruto didn't just magically start stabbing me with disappointment because the story started to totally go downhill. In fact, the first episode's preview with Naruto's future encounter with Sasuke had me on the edge of my seat. I ... couldn't believe it: Naruto was back! No, the story continues and follows through adequately as a continuation of the original Naruto. The great elements of the original story are still here: the theme of an everlasting friendship, the importance of maintaining hope, the need to endure and persevere .. these themes are all still there! Naruto is still a great guy and he still strives to protect his friends and 'save' Sasuke while taking on Akatsuki at the same time. So what happened to Naruto? Well, story-wise, nothing. I still love the story. I love the world of Naruto, the ninjas, the techniques, the weapons, the themes, the plot. Although the story doesn't present the viewers with anything deep or complicated, I still like it. But the story isn't the problem. The story as it is and as it continues, gets a 7.5/10 from me.

Characters: It was great to see how much the characters changed from the original Naruto. Character development in this aspect, was great. Pretty much everbody had a new design and they all looked great. In terms of personality, well, they were the same loveable characters, unique in their own way. In terms of Naruto and Sakura, they really developed. Although he still acts like it, Naruto isn't the same happy loudmouth he used to be. He's been deeply scarred from Sasuke's betrayal, and despite all thats happened, he's still obsessed with saving him. Of course, Sasuke's betrayal affected Sakura too and she's really toughened up. She isn't the useless twist she used to be, and shes really grown to respect and care for Naruto. Character development is great, the characters are great, old and new. Sai for example, is an interesting add on, he brought the funnies and kept the comedic aspects of the show alive. The characters aren't the problem either: 8/10

Art / Animation: Here is where Shippuuden starts going downhill. In terms of the new characters and their new character designs, I love em. But Naruto just isn't animated as well as it used to be. There is a lot of repeated animation in Shippuuden. This ranges from terribly animated tree jumping scenes (it actually looks more like they're flying instead of jumping half the time, lazy much?) to staring faces and overused flashbacks. I can understand the need to repeat the frames from things like the tree jumping scenes that are filled with dialog, or the occasional flashback to remind us of what happened in the original Naruto or something a couple of episodes ago. But the extent of it is teetering on the cliff side. The quality is just going downhill. Kakashi's new Sharingan attack for example, was terribly done in my opinion. I could have done that effect in photoshop. To make it worst, they drew it out for minutes on end ... completely destroying the 'cool factor'. There are also several still scenes that consist of pure eye to eye combat with wind blowing in the background. Cool? I think not, not when pointless staring takes up about 15% of the episode's air time. Asides from this, the coloring and detail of the characters in terms of shading and such also seem to be lacking in contrast to the original Naruto. Looking at the two, they just aren't on the same level anymore. Maybe it's because I've gotten so used to the series, or because I've watched so many more series since the original Naruto, but the quality has definitely deteriorated. Of course, some of the big fights are still animated quite nicely: 7/10

Sound: Things just get worst from here. While I loved the new opening and closing songs, the episode bgm just isn't the same. The upbeat action music heard in the original Naruto has been replaced by lame 'lets make this fight seem really tense and epic' music that fails horribly. I want the old soundtracks back! Granted, the series is alot more serious now, but the background soundtracks really can't shake the excitement meter up to where it used to be: 6/10

Ok, so it's the same story, continued. The same characters, with some cool new additions are there. The animatiors are getting a bit lazy, and the soundtracks aren't making me chew my fingernails anymore. Does this really warrant a 6?

Pacing: This is what has killed Naruto. Not Akatasuki, Not Orochimaru, not Sasuke, not Sakura's poundings - the pacing has killed our beloved hero, Naruto. This is the sole reason that the plot development seems slow and nonexistent, this is why character development is hard to note unless you really love the series, this is why animation is being reused, repeated, or not done at all, this is why I can no longer enjoy Naruto like I used to. So much time is deliberately wasted on mundane scenes such as staring, or camera panning that there are often many awkward pauses that make you wonder, 'did my computer freeze?'. This should NOT be happening in an anime! The amount of still scenes and overused camera panning should not be in surplus and evident enough to deteriorate the quality of a show! There are so many episodes that had amazing potential to be jaw-droppers, but they weren't. Intense battles like episodes 41-43 are completely ruined due to horribly SLOW SLOW pacing!

Arguably, the animators want to avoid killing its viewers with a plauge of fillers, but is it really worth it to completely destroy such a potentially satisfying anime? In my opinion, they're ruining the series. We waited and endured just as our hero taught us to - only to be attacked by this monstrosity. The pacing effectively destroyed my love for this show. You may argue that fillers are worse and thats debatable. What isn't however, is that there is enough manga material for at least another 50 FAST paced Naruto episodes. Thats a year! Probably more when you consider that by the time 50 episodes are released, there could be enough material for another 20 or so potential episodes.

Overall: Same enjoyable story with great potential. But the pacing needs to change. That pillow I mentioned at the beginning of this long, terrible review? It wasn't for sleeping. It was to stop me from killing myself from bashing my head against the desk as I watched a potentially good series slaughtered before my eyes. 6/10

I am a big anime fan and I have to say that Naruto: Shippuuden is one of my absolute all time favourites. There are probably so many people that would disagree with me and tell me that Naruto and Naruto: Shippuuden are a waste of time and that the story is a bunch of fillers put together. I strongly disagree and will tell you all why with this review of mine.

First of all, the biggest difference between Naruto and Shippuuden is the darker tone, the maturity and the depth in Shippuuden. In Naruto, the whole series was about him wanting to become the Hokage, ... being clumsy and always working hard to become better than Sasuke.

I loved Naruto's dorkiness but in Shippuuden he becomes serious. The series as well. Now the friendship and loyalty takes over. The mysteries get their answers and new questions take form.

Akatsuki, the moon plan, Madara, war... the thrilling surprises, the horrifying reveals, the cliffhangers... these things are what makes Shippuuden one of the best animes I know. Kishimoto has built this massive foundation for us to walk on during the first half, and now he slowly digs into the core of the story. It keeps you on the tip of your toes. That's why the story itself gets a 10/10 from me. Story (10/10)

Of course the art is much better than Naruto. Shippuuden has much more attention for details, the characters' outfits are much better made, the colouring and effects are so much better animated. The landscapes are beautifully drawn. Fighting scenes and emotional scenes are something I've noticed myself are paid much more attention to. The characters movements flows better.The realistic feeling is all over Shippuuden. Great! Art (9/10)

To be honest, I prefer not to notice the sound at all. Sound in movies and series shouldn't be noticed. The music is there to strenghten the mood. And since I don't notice the sound and it makes me feel what I'm supposed to feel, I guess the sound is well picked. I really liked the piano pieces in Naruo. Grief and Sorrow is an extraordinary piece. But I especially enjoyed the Pain soundtrack with the choirs and dark pipe organs in Shippuuden. Sound (8/10)

In Naruto and Shippuuden, Kishimoto is very focused in telling all characters stories. All characters have their backgounds and special personality. They all feel like real people that you know and they all grow throughout the series. You follow their Changes and that's what is so great and important about a series that is this long. The character development. (10/10)

So, to justify and defend Shippuuden...
First of all, you have to understand the use of fillers. With an anime this long the writer can't keep up with the pace. For every episode they use about 2-3 chapters of the manga. When the anime has reached too far, they have to buy time for the writer to write more. Or, they could make it like many other animes... Make up another story and end for it or just pause it for a couple of years while Kishi draws the manga like crazy. But that wouldn't make anyone happy. Please, stop going on and on about the fillers. They are there for a very good reason.

Naruto goes from a clumsy kid who only wishes to become the Hokage, to a serious, hardworking, loyal friend who doesn't only want to save his friend, but also the whole ninja world from the neverending cycle of hate and despair. I enjoy the series extremely much and I hope that you do too. ^^

First off I just wanna say that I am super sad that this show has come to an end. Naruto was my childhood and with it's ending I feel like a part of me is now gone. This is the show that got me into anime and I'm grateful for that. This show is no where near perfect, but is anything really perfect ?

I'll start out with some of the cons of this show. As many other reviews have already stated, Naruto is loaded with filler episodes and this can't be any more true. At times the fillers can be ... funny and interesting, but most of the time you are just impatiently waiting for the show to get back to the real story line. There were tons of flashbacks and honestly they show the same scenes from the past multiple times. The story can be rushed, and at other times it feels like it's been the same battle for like 5 episodes. The artwork in the battle scenes can vary from good to not so great. But even with it's many faults, I still gave this show a 10/10. ( honestly if you hate fillers that much, just skip around)

I don't know where to start with all the great things that this anime has to offer. I'll start off with the characters. The character development was great for the main characters and even some of the sides characters. I think that the show did an excellent job in giving each character a unique personality and they really made sure that you knew all the characters and their backgrounds. The development of the characters was so great that I was constantly questioning who my favorite character really was. At the beginning I honestly thought that Naruto was annoying and ignorant, but the growth and development of Naruto really grew on me and he began to become one of my favorites. Okay next is the story line. The plot was pretty interesting, but very long. While it did seem like the story was at a standstill for a while in the show, the writers did a good job at subtly setting everything up. Little things that happened in random episodes sometimes came up later as being important. The plot was like a puzzle at times, where I would try to put the pieces together. I actually really enjoyed how they set it up like that. Like Naruto and his friends grew, the story grew as well. In this sense I mean the vibe and mood of the show. It starts off more as a fun action comedy, but as the story goes on, it gets more dark, emotional, and the maturity level of the anime just increases. I'm not kidding when I say that this show can actually teach you life lessons.

I highly recommend watching this whole anime. Even though it is loaded with fillers, by the time you get to the last few episodes, you'll start to feel emotional and sad that it's come to an end. While this isn't Your Lie in April or Clannad, this show still will definitely hit the feels. The end will have you feeling nostalgic, sad, happy, you'll honestly be feeling so many different emotions. This anime may be 500 episodes, but it is totally worth it and in the end you won't regret it.

Let me just clarify this now while we’re both still at the very first sentence of this review, and also, at the very first sentence of my very first review ever, but; Naruto Shippuden, and the entire Naruto series in and of itself, is my most favourite anime of all time. Yes, you may think differently, or even otherwise, but I’ll just simply state this now, it is my most favourite anime ever. If you’d care to know why, or you’re simply curious, read on.

Story: 10/10

I personally think that the story of Naruto/Shippuden is great; it may not be the best, and it may ... not be perfect, but then again, when is anything ever like that? Shippuden follows the life of the protagonist, Uzumaki Naruto, as he attempts to retrieve his former teammate, Uchiha Sasuke, who has left the village and everyone around him, in the pursuit of gaining power to get revenge on his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, for the massacre of their entire clan, including their own family.

In the beginning, back in the simple days of Naruto, it was all about the story of a boy whose dream was, and still is, to become hokage; the greatest ninja in the entire village. This young boy wanted to prove just that; that he was great. He wanted the village to respect him, to prove that he wasn’t just some ‘demon-fox child’, who was feared of, due to the terrifying nine-tailed fox that was sealed within him. And now, it’s without a doubt, safe to say, that this story has evolved from so much more than that.

Everything in the original Naruto series has ultimately lead up to Shippuden, as we, the audience, learn more and more about the characters and the story as a whole. We begin to delve deeper into the core, as more enemies emerge, and more stories and secrets are revealed. Questions that have went on unanswered are finally beginning to obtain an answer, as more questions take their place, and everything slowly, but surely, begins to get tied together. Shippuden, apart from its former series, takes on a much more serious, deep and mature tone, causing us, the audience, to really empathize and act, to either cry in joy or sadness, and I for one can honestly confess, that yes, here and there, this anime has made me cry, multiple times. This anime teaches you; a lot. Shippuden teaches you about the true value and significant importance of family, friends, and life itself. Sure, perhaps, a few other animes have been able to do so, and maybe even to a higher and greater extent, but nothing compares to Naruto. The long amount of episodes only causes the audience to grow with the characters and the story itself.

Art & Animation: 8/10

Simple. I’ve seen better. But, Shippuden has really stepped up from its former, in regards to visual aspects and animation, it’s improved greatly. There is much more detail in Shippuden than in it’s former, and the colours are either much more vibrant or the complete opposite, in order to properly convey the scene better. Fight scenes are played out more smoothly, with an adequate use of blood and cuts and scratches and such. Close-ups on the characters’ faces are also quite good, the emotion on their faces seem true, real.

Also, I agree with plenty others, that flashbacks are completely overused. I find myself saying, quite often, ‘We saw that scene literally an episode ago!’, and honestly, it’s not helping the story so much. I understand the need to replay flashbacks, even of episodes we’ve already seen, and most of the time, I can handle it, but it’s overused, and fails to portray the expected suspense of the current scene. Other than that, art & animation; quite well done.

Sound: 8/10

The openings. The endings. The OSTs. Most of which are particularly good! The improvement in the sound is evident, and the animation played out during the openings and endings are well put together, matching the song rather well. Emotion is thoroughly conveyed through the amazing voice actors in this anime, who, excluding the dub actors, perform screams and cries and laughs next to flawlessly. Great!

Character: 10/10

Character; also translated to the sum of ones’ personality and being as a whole. The characters in Shippuden are great, excellent even! Each and every one of them have a completely unique personality that differentiates one from the other, and seeing them all come together, as friends or as foes, it’s easy to admit that the character development is superb! There are so many characters, each lovable and excellent in their own unique way, with beautifully well-put together pasts that create the particular character we see now. We see how the ‘heroes’ have come about, and how each of them have managed to cope and move on with their lives, to become something else entirely, something better than they ever used to be. The ‘villains’, too, have a particular past event, or particular emotions that somewhat humanizes them and redeems them to a strange extent, and we realize that they’re not only ‘evil’ simply because they are. Everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do, and who they are as a whole and that’s what makes each character amazing in their own way. Sure, some may be bland or dull, weak or annoying, strong or insane, but if each character didn’t even have a single flaw, what would that make them? Human? Surely not. The characters in Shippuden are beautiful and lovable, which in turn, causes us as the audience to feel for them and empathize, and that’s, honestly, great.

Overall: 10/10

Shippuden is clearly one of the greatest animes of all time, and perhaps that’s an overstatement, or maybe even an understatement, depending on your own thoughts. But, if given enough thought, Shippuden wouldn’t have become so popular if it wasn’t great or amazing, even to a short extent. Some of you may have seen animes better, or worse, or even of equal value, but towards the end, Naruto/Shippuden is clearly one of its own. I, and anyone else probably, couldn’t agree better that the fillers in this anime are truly horrid and awfully annoying, but, you know what, overlook it. Don’t watch them. Simple. An animes’ worth isn’t valued by its amount of fillers or overused flashbacks or anything, its value comes down to how much a person, themselves, think it’s amazing. So if you haven’t seen Naruto/Shippuden or you dropped it for whatever the reason may be, I encourage you to watch it and give it a shot. 300+ episodes, along with the original 100+ episodes in Naruto, is crazy, sure, but they all add up to one hell of a story and I say, sit, watch, and enjoy the ride.

Oh, I hope that I’ll be the first to write the review when all the Naruto anime series end. Well, what should I start with… 15 years. For FIFTEEN years this anime brought me joy and unspeakable emotions. For FIFTEEN years it taught me right from wrong. For FIFTEEN years it … it’s been a guide of light for me. Jeez, I was raised on this anime, I became older with its characters, I just LOVE IT!!!

The Naruto series started when I was in a preschool age, and for 15 years it never stopped to surprise me. Though ... the journey was long (some might say too long) it was always exciting and brilliant. And I am really sorry if I get carried away by emotions, but true Naruto fans will understand – this is a tale, a unique and flawless tale, of nearly all of my life and now that I look back and see that little Naruto who used to be always alone, without parents, without friends, and I turn my look to who he became through these years – the Hero, who saved the world, Best Friend that was always there to help and to understand, and now – a husband… ah, I might cry. Seriously. Perfect ending. Naruto and Hinata deserve their piece of happiness. And though we did not see this in original manga series, I was really glad to be able to see that kind of and end in anime adaptation.

Now let’s get back to the show and analyze everything peace by peace.

I’ll start with the story. Indeed the plot, the fantastic world, all the jutsu techniques, all the creatures and characters, everything that we saw in Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden world is a creation of a mastermind – Kishimoto Masashi, and for that I bow to him to the ground. Just imagine how impossible it was to create such a wide universe with all of its own structure (villages, clans, fractions), its own history (all the clans and villages wars), its own beasts, beings and heroes etc; and how unimaginable was it to make this huge machine work. There is everything I love about the story and about how it is served to the viewer revealing its genius from all sides. It is groundbreaking in every way possible.

Now let us head to art style. Generally it is satisfying. Well, it is hard to make every episode look like Kimi no Na Wa (you can consider this a recommendation), especially when you have more than 700 episodes (Naruto + Shippuuden). But I can praise creators for really good special effects and the way they’ve made all ninjutsu types look like. And though I must admit that Naruto movies absolutely compensate lack of original shows’ drawing it does not make the original run look worse.

Unlike art styling – music really is the VERY strong side of the series. From top to bottom it is impeccable. Every opening, every ending, every song from the series is something breathtaking and mind blowing. I truly enjoy every track and I can sincerely call the Narutos’ OST one of the best of all time in anime industry. The openings like Hero’s Come Back (OP 1), Sign (OP 6), Toumei Datta Sekai (OP 7), Diver (OP 8), Shilhouette (OP 16) will fire you up and make your spirit riot; the endings like Shooting Star (ED 1), U can do it (ED 15), Dame Dame ga (ED 31), Spinning World (ED 32), Zetsu Zetsu (ED 40) will make you believe that you just witnessed a dream that you never want to end. I am not even mentioning stunning Hisou, Kikyou, Sengunbanba, Utsusemi tracks that appear at very exact lyrical moments and touch your soul in its deepest corners. The chorus tracks like Akatsuki and Pains’ theme songs make you feel goosebumps and your hair stand as you stare through the eyes of our heroes at fearless overwhelming enemy hordes. An incredible work by the composer – Yasuharu Takanashi.

The characters. Oh, there is so much to say. This is something galaxy lvl. Nearly 100 characters, each with their own temper, beliefs and credo, each of them is trying to make an impact at the world they live in. I will always remember characters like Madara, Itachi, Nagato, because their own vision of the world and the steel will they’ve shown to everyone is something worth of admiration and respect. All the heroes are versatile, unique and incomparable to each other. I am not mentioning the number of skills and techniques each character possesses and how multiform and complex they are. Worth mentioning are beasts like Tailed once. They are that destructive force everyone is trying to lay their hands on, but the author shows that they are something more than that – they have souls and feelings, and no one can see their good hearts under the scary masks.

The enjoyment that I personally got from this show is something outstanding. I enjoyed it to the core and absolutely adore it. Maybe that’s because I felt much the same as the main hero and ‘ve been a witness of many injustice things in this life, and the anime shows it very good. The human’s greed, the way we only think about our own sake, even the way kids treat someone who is not similar to them – it is a part of the masterpiece that Naruto is.

Colossal work by Date Hayato and everyone who worked to make this show to be this titanic and go on nonstop for 15 years. I personally bow to all of you and say: “Thank you for the best childhood memories, I will always carry them!” And again I want to congratulate Naruto and Hinata with wedding, and thus my beautiful dream is over, meaning that I grew up and it is time for me to let my childhood go.

Shippuuden was a step-up from the original series in some ways, but it's worse at other points, making it just so-so.

The story has become increasingly complex compared to the original series. You still have the whole deal with Naruto wanting to become Hokage, but that is very overshadowed by many new plots. You have Akatsuki who's after all the Jinchuuriki, there's Sasuke and his quest for revenge, Naruto's struggle against the Kyuubi, Team 7's quest to get back Sasuke and Danzo's plot to take over Konoha. Yeah, there's a lot going on, and I enjoy that a lot - a plot-rich story is always fun ... to watch

But - and this is a big but - there's severe pacing problems. And by severe I mean excessively dragged out nonsense which could've been done in half the time... at least. The first arc took 30 episodes. It could've been finished in much less time, but they absolutely have to drag it out with endless nonsense fights. The Sasuke and Sai arc was fairly okay, though, but still a little slow on the pacing.

"But if they quicken the pace it, we'll get more fillers. Oh noes!" Yeah, some people think that. However, I'd rather have them quicken the pace and have more filler than getting my viewing experience ruined by a sluggish pace. Fillers can be good, you know.

The animation in Shippuuden is better. The new character deigns are great, and I find that the coloring is less dull than it was in the original series. It's becoming more flawless too, but it still struggles with small flaws here and there. However, it's still Naruto, and its animation has always been simple in my eyes. There are no big details to brag about, but sometimes simple works; it's mainly a matter of getting used to (and most people watching Shippuuden should've already watched the original series, which means that you've most likely gotten used to it).

The soundtrack so far in Shippuuden is fairly decent. I still haven't heard any remarkable themes, but none of them has been outright bad either, so I'm fine with it, but I wish they threw in some good themes. They do, however, fit right into the current events, which is a small plus. There's not much to say about the OPs an EDs so far; they've been very average.

As of episode 58, there have been low amounts of character development, and for 58 episodes that’s not really good. The reunion of the new Team 7 and Sasuke is pretty much the only traces of any character development so far, aside maybe Sai's interactions with the rest of the group, which is always funny to watch, and it's interesting to see if he'll ever learn how to properly interact with the others. The introduction of him and his actions is pretty much all that keeps my character rating on 7, because we've hardly seen any of the other characters, and the small amounts we've seen of them is nothing special, really; it's like most of them have just faded away. I'm still hoping that some good character development and all that will come though, seeing how Naruto will probably have to struggle with the Kyuubi inside of him, and not to mention getting Sasuke back; I'm hoping that it will provide us with some neat character development.

So far, I'm very "meh" about Shippuuden, but if it rids itself of the pacing problems I'm going to enjoy this much more than I'm currently doing now.

EDIT: Well, it has improved as of late (Dec '08), so I am upping the character and enjoyment ratings to 8

To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =)

Naruto Shippuuden! The series that would never end finally ends! After ten years, five-hundred episodes and several movie tie-ins, this milked cow is finally laid down to rest, resulting in one of the worst shounen anime adaptations ever made. While I did enjoy myself with the series and certainly found myself even liking it for the first two-hundred episodes or so, the insane amount of filler, padding, and the abysmal final three or four arcs made me despise this show by the end, and all of the characters and narrative. The filler in this anime is such a goddamn problem that it destroys the entire ... anime, and at this point, if you did want to get into Naruto, I would recommend reading the manga, or skipping over the filler because, for the most part, the filler is absolutely abysmal and is rarely interesting or adds onto the overall world of the series. Since this review is going to spend a long time detailing all of my problems with the story, I will address the animation and music now. While I still prefer the original soundtrack of Naruto, Shippuuden is still great. The action pumps you up and there is a great variety in songs and moods to fit each moment and scene. The animation is a different story, however. The anime is very inconsistent, and that is to be expected with a show with over five-hundred episode; at its best, it could be movie quality, it’s worst, trashy nineties OVA.

Shippuuden is the direct continuation of the original series, set two years after the events that transpired in the original in which Naruto has trained to hone his skills and jutsu. Upon returning to the village, he fights off against the Akatsuki, a group of powerful, rogue ninja who wants to collect all of the tailed beasts to create the ten tails and rule the world, while trying to save his gay lover, I mean best friend, Sasuke. Now, I want to clarify first of all that I enjoyed the first season very much (excluding the fillers, that is). It was fun, the battles were original and creative, and the characters went through great development; it captured the hard life of a ninja perfectly and the cruel world in which they live in. Shippuuden was also pretty good for a little while in the beginning of the series, albeit not as interesting or engaging as the previous story arcs of the show.

One good thing about the sequel is that Shippuuden is a lot darker and more mature than the original series, now with the Akatsuki clan running amok and killing many of the tailed beasts. There is this constant sense of looming danger and tension in the series and the Akatsuki were easily the best thing about part two. All of them are interesting, had unique abilities, and for the most part, are allowed to shine in their own respective battles. Hell, there are even a few character deaths which took me by surprise, which added onto the steaks and tension of the show. The first one hundred episodes of content (minus the fillers) are pretty great although I did have some problems, most notably being Naruto and Sasuke themselves.

Naruto in part two is annoying, whiny and irritating, and his constant journey to save Sasuke feels boring and without much sense logically, since Saskue becomes a complete dick head, hell bent on destroying the entire village. Sasuke starts off wanting to kill his brother, and after the worst plot twist in the series where we learn his evil brother was, in fact, a good guy, which I’ve always hated, all he wants after that is to destroy the village and everyone in it, and his character fluctuates so much throughout part two that it becomes hard to keep track of. Both of their respective story arcs hit brick walls by the end of the Pain arc and hardly develop at all past that, just in their power levels. Speaking of the Pain arc, the conclusion to that very same story arc was so bad that I lost all hope in the series. After a great fight in which much of the main cast die, Naruto has a friendship speech with the villain in which after, he brings back all of the people in the village who died! This removed all of the tension from the series and was such a cheap way to bring back characters that I began to hate the series from that point onwards. Combine that with characters who did receive some screen time in part one, now being pushed to the sideline with no development, aside from Shikamaru, but even after his own arc, he is pushed to the side to make way for the yellow-haired twit. In addition, Naruto’s character is ruined after we learn he is the child of destiny and was destined to save the world since he was born. This meant all of his hard work was for nothing and is such a giant middle finger from the author, that after this point, I hated the series. From this point on, we know that Naruto can never die nor lose since he is destined to save the world. His fate is pre-determined from the start, which does remove some tension from the later arcs.

It also destroys Naruto's main theme at the same time. Naruto's driving force was that hard work and endurance would pay off in the end, and earn you respect from the people around you, even when the whole world is putting you down. In the early parts of the series there was a genuine sense of satisfaction in watching Naruto grow as a person and the catharsis pay off that entailed was great after all his hard work. Learning that he is a destined child, and was destined with all these great powers from the beginning ruins all of the hard work and endurance he had to go through to gain respect as a shinobi. Essentially, the author shot himself in the foot and omitted one of the driving forces of his story.

Now, let me elaborate a little more on the Itachi plot twist before I go ahead and why I didn't like this twist in the story. To me, Itachi was a great villain, someone who killed his entire village just to test his limits, leaving his younger brother alive to act out revenge on the part of his fallen clan. Like Saskue, we hated Itachi at the beginning, which we should of, since this makes a great villain. Itachi is strong, ruthless, and cunning. All of this, in my eyes, anyway, made him great as a villain, but Kishimoto, works in a twist that reveals he was a good guy all along and killed his clan to prevent a war from occurring. Essentially he had to carry a huge burden on his back from the village elders, which is admirable, but it also causes Saskue's character to go out of control from this point, and fluctuate so frequently. I always found this twist to be kind of "meh", for a lack of a better term. I never hated it per say, to the point where it broke the series or anything, it's just that I think Itachi was much better as a villain than a good guy. But hey, this mini-rant is just down to my own personal preference.

The worst character out of them all is Sakura. Now, I don't think she is useless in this series. Hell, she has a pretty okay fight against one of the Akatsuki members and wins, which is something I can appreciate, it's just that her character goes nowhere. She stays so stagnant and boring, whilst crying about Saskue. And holy hell does her love for Sasuke feel forced as hell. It makes no sense why she loves him to this extent, especially after the bastard almost killed her and threatened to destroy the entire village, killing everyone she loved and had known. Back in the original I could kind of excuse her crush on account that she was a young child, but now it's laughably pathetic and doesn't even make any sense. This applies for most of the female cast in the series since Kishimotot can't write good female characters. They're either completely useless or completely superficial. That's it.

And this brings us to ninja war arc and everything that came after. These final arcs were awful. All of the clever tactics and strategies the characters had are now gone, in favour of who could pull off the most landscape reducing jutsu, and Naruto and Sasuke become so powerful, to the point they rival gods, even going as far as having them both die and then re-birth as an act of destiny. What I always hated was that all of the characters that died before; characters that I liked and had well-completed arcs were brought back to life since the author was too lazy to create new ones. This ruined many of the original arcs these characters went through, and I found this, for the most part, to be completely boring since they just repeat what happened previously. Sure, there is some development and growth with the characters, but it's hardly substantial enough to raise the bar. All of the previous rules and ideas that Kishimoto establishes in the early part of the series are thrown out and it's painfully obvious that he didn't even care about his own series in the end since the justsus and abilities some of the characters can perform goes against the rules of the world that he established. A good example is when Kakashi gets two Sharingan which would require a large amount of chakra to use. We've been told time and time again that this character, while having a wide range of impressive jutsu, doesn't have much in the way of chakra and thus can't battle for too long but in the final arcs he performs so many Jutsu it is unbelievable and when he does require the double Sharingan it makes no sense how he can utilise its power, especially since he obtains it at the end of the war and thus his chakra would have been completely gone! Another example of crap writing is after Naruto is reborn, he somehow saves Gai from dying just by simply touching his chest! It makes no sense why he can suddenly do this and this element is never explained to us at all. Not only that, but a few moments later he restores Kakashi's eye in the same fashion, but fails to restore Gai's dead legs, for whatever reason. What an asshole!

These final arcs are so full of ass-pulls, random power-ups and last for so long that I can’t stand the idea of watching them again. The final fight between Naruto and Sasuke was pretty impressive and I’m glad it wasn't stuffed with filler but it’s not enough to save the whole series. The “final” villain Madara was the only thing I liked about the final arc but even then, he was replaced by the true final villain who was terrible, since the author had no idea how to end the series nor of how to get rid of such a powerful enemy. Kaguya was such a terrible final villain, only being relevant for about ten episodes or so. The biggest problem is that she came out of nowhere. There was no build-up like Madara. Madara felt justified to be the final villain because of the build-up and the pay off with him was pretty good, but Kaguya was boring, dull and had no narrative steaks or intrigue behind her character at all. She was truly the worst final villain I've ever seen.

I could go on and on about every little thing, but I’ve covered everything that pisses me off the most so I’ll leave it at that. I do enjoy Naruto, despite the obvious flaws, but if you want to get into the series, just read the manga.

First off, I would like to let you know that this is my first ever review and I'm glad it's going to be for Naruto.

Naruto was an anime which would leave first time viewers with a bad taste in their mouth, it was like this immature anime with not much of a story to it and it's main character was just this silly, clumsy immature kid who is determined to become the Hokage of his village some day. It made viewers go through a painful number of fillers to get to a serious part which made many fans disappointed at the end of the first ... series.

Naruto Shippuden. This was basically like a present for those true fans who sticked through the endless fillers to finally get serious about the show. It shows how deep and how matured the show was meant to be.

Story: 10 (Outstanding)
I know this may sound biased, and many would feel 10 is too much for a show like this but bear with me. The MC, Naruto Uzumaki who seemed like this not so tough, silly, immature kid and all he thought about was being the Hokage but the story actually revolves around him in so many other ways. It finally isn't just all him anymore, the different characters who took part in the first series become more important. The suspense of revealing the truth behind more truth is intense, it makes you want to keep going on. There was even a touch of love in the series and it was felt throughout the series. It's a story which will make you get into each of the characters but expecially Naruto as it doesn't miss out a single day of his life.

Art: 9 (Great)
I didn't want to give art 9 as well as I've recently sceen better art in several other animes but what made me stick to 9 was the fight scenes, the minute details of a single move, the background reacting to every other things and also the characters started to look more like how modern animes had their characters drawn with a clearn touch, and so my score.
I think sound enters this catagory and so, let me explain. Naruto Shippuden has wonderful soundtracks which fits in perfectly for each situations in the anime. You would get that feeling of getting deep into the series with the help of the soundtracks as well. And so I give art, with both great sound and great animation a 9.

Character: 10 (Outstanding)
I've mentioned before about Naruto just wanting to be Hokage someday but the character development of this single person was too good, his reasons become more clear as he grows. This anime is named Naruto as it follows him through everyday with every other main characters in different episodes. You get to see him grow up to be a very mature young man with huge responsibilities. But why this anime stands out is that, it doesn't completely miss out on the rest of the characters. Each characters have their out arc and it's explained well and the whole story with it's well times flashbacks makes it as though, the detailed bits and pieces are filling out a huge puzzle, the puzzled world of the Shinoby.

Enjoyment: 9 (Great)
I had to think twice here about whether to give 9 or 10 and be honest to myself. Though I love this anime so much, I actually skipped all of the fillers, just seeing the start and the end. But that's the only downside for this to miss out a 10. The reason why I did that because I couldn't wait any longer to get back into the series, the story as it was how much I enjoyed watching it.
It has his humorous moments which would make you laugh for quite sometime but there can be annoying parts where Naruto just stays silly like always but you still end up laughing at it. But as much as it has it's funny parts, it has it's intense parts, love, loyalty, despair and even hate.

Overall: 10 (Outstanding)
Overall, this is one anime which stands out for itself, though it has it's endless fillers to catch up with the manga, it's something you shouldn't miss out. It's one of those very matured, well developed, well characterized anime which keeps you on your feet while you grow up with the series.

On a side note, the majority of the people who hesitate to try this show from what I've seen was because of the huge number of not so fun fillers. I would recommend skipping out on fillers as they hardly include stories related to the main story.

TL;DR: Believe it! Took 10 years and 500 episodes but it finally ended. Guess that cow finally ran out of milk!
[Story: 5/10 , Characters: 6/10, Art: 6/10, Sound: 9/10, Enjoyment: 7/10]

Believe it! The series who was never meant to end has finally been laid to rest… or has it? It may have taken 10 years and 500 episodes (280 Cannon and 220 Fillers, believe it, I counted), thank you Studio Pierrot for finally stop milking this cow. Let's be real, all the real fans got so tired of your shenanigans they finished the manga long time ago. So why would you invest in this ... super long show?

Rage aside, what's Naruto: Shippuden really about? It's a story about an unwanted ninja shinobi boy who had the dream of becoming Hokage and believe it he will overcome all the adversaries (including fillers) to achieve it! (But if we are being honest, it's really about Naruto's journey of finding his angry dark lover, Sasuke, to bring back home and he will ignore all his other friends to achieve it)! Jokes or Fillers aside, the main plot has two major arcs, the Akatsiki tailed beast arc and the Fourth Great Shinobi World War arc. This is your traditional archetypical heroic journey style shounen anime filled with every trope known to mankind. So if you believe it, they will employ it! The overarching theme is Friendship & Love conquers hatred & evil. How boring yet sweet & addictive.

If you are wondering how can such a boring storyline keep the audience captivated for 500 episodes? The unique characters can be a possibility. This show has exactly 212 unique characters (villagers and background people excluded) and believe it do they stand out in one way or another! The major protagonists are Naruto and his Nakamas (which is friends for those weebs who don't know) Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. On the other hand, the list of antagonists just goes on and each successive one is more ridiculous with godlike powers & jutsus than the previous. Seriously, how Naruto overcomes them and befriends them will leave viewers breathless. Shoutout to Ittachi, for being one hell of a memorable antagonist the anime industry will never forget and should not forget, believe it!

If the story and characters don't do this show justice, (it desn't) it's definitely the animation and sound accompanying it. Narutoverse completely changed the landscape of fighting style with its unique farcical jutsus that were hand-drawn and animated adequately well. It's impressive that most of the characters were very distinct from one another given this show having 212 unique characters. Fillers aside, the Cannon episodes were actually drawn well and the standard was reasonably maintained throughout, believe it! Moreover, given that this show is 500 episodes, it actually features around 60 unique OP/ED songs. It's a definitely a first for a show that took a decade to finish. The OP/ED songs are well received among fans and non fans of this anime. Furthermore, the background OST is composed beautifully well and it accompanies the fight sequence rather too well. This show really knows how to create HYPE and hit you in the feels so hard it will make even Chuck Norris shed a tear.

Overall, I don't really see myself rewatching this show but I would recommend people to atleast give this show a shot. Why? Because I'm evil, no, because why not? If you are serious about it and only want to watch cannon episodes then definitely give it a shot. It's an interesting bingable show (over few weeks) and if you get tired, then just finish the manga. This show is nowhere near perfect and it has too many flaws that is just not worth ranting about it. If you ask fans of this show, they will say 10/10 but realistically looking at cannon episodes it's 7/10. Therefore, maybe you should really watch Naruto: Shippuden. Believe it!

P.S. Below is the outline for all the cannon episode.
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1-27, 29-56, 72-89, 113-126, 129-143, 152-169, 172-175, 179, 197-211, 214-222, 243-256, 261-270, 272-278, 282-283, 296-302, 321-346, 362-375, 378-387, 391-393, 414-415, 418, 420-421, 424-426, 458-459, 463, 469-479, 484-500
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I hope you found reading this short but supaishi review helpful.

It's truly the end. Naruto was always something that I considered bad due to the fillers, however once I got into it I was hooked.

Story:

Ah, the story. It's just filled with so much emotion and it was amazingly executed up until the Pain Arc, yes it went down, and we all know the War was dragged on for far too long but surely that doesn't ruin the moral of the story? Naruto always had one goal, and we always knew that he would meet stronger opponents, some that could challenge his goal, and Obito and Madara were those two. The later of the War ... Arc is amazingly written in my opinion, the Obito regret, Madara's reasoning and much more. Overall, the story remained the same and always had one goal, and didn't go off that path. Naruto wanted to become strong, he wanted to be acknowledged and lastly he wanted to the Hokage. All which he achieved.

Art:

Sadly, Naruto's Art hasn't impressed me much, however animation in canon episodes were spectacular, especially in the final battle. Not much can be said.

Sound:

Naruto's OST is the best I have heard in any anime. Sadness and Sorrow, My Name, Gehika, and many more. They hype you up, just like any OST is supposed to be doing in a Shounen. Naruto's OP''s were great too, I can listen to them all day anytime.

Character:

Naruto has lots of great characters. Although the bad thing is that in the war the spotlight is mainly on Naruto and Sasuke. This doesn't take anything from the other characters though. Characters such as Obito, Nagato, Itachi and Madara are so amazingly written. Never in an anime have I cheered for a villain. Nagato and Naruto's conversation really hits and it also makes you think about today's society. People kill and kill but they know this leads to more hatred and revenge, something that will eventually bring the world down, just like it did in Naruto. Naruto and the rest of Konoha are great characters, all are special and are all someone you can get invested into, of course there's the "muh sakura is useless", but it's still great to see all characters nevertheless. Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry is unrivaled in my opinion. I have yet to see a Shounen that has a better rivalry.

Enjoyment:

Wow, Enjoying Naruto is something very hard for some people, muh fillers, muh the anime show drags on for too long. Naruto can be enjoyed, if you take your mind off other people's. You have to go into it expecting something, if you go into it like many people you will be disappointed. We all know Naruto isn't the best shounen but still, when it gets good, it can be one of the best. I've really enjoyed Naruto as a character.

Overall:

I enjoyed Naruto Shippuden alot. The first few arc were dragging for too long, but I still managed. Once it got good, I really got hooked. Naruto as a whole is a story which has a really amazing world. People saying, "wow it's another Dragon Ball Z at the end" should know that in the first Chapter it was made loud and clear that one single demon Fox wiped out a whole Village. We all knew what Naruto's character was going to become. Naruto is something that will get alot of flack but in many years time, we'll look back and happy we experienced such a great show.

At the time of this writing, Naruto is all but over. In fact, it might as well have been over way back when the fillers started in the first season.

What started out as a great anime with a deep story and tons of charming characters has inexplicably turned its back on most of what was good about it, first and foremost the relationship between naruto, sasuke and sakura. And there are still filler arcs in Shippuuden, one of which has just begun.

We are now at episode 95 of the second season and sasuke is still basically nowhere to be seen. The first arc showed bits ... and pieces of him, and he was on screen for 5 minutes at the end of it. Since then, he's appeared sporadically in flashbacks and extremely short vignettes as a way to tease the audience into thinking he will return soon and naruto will get back on track...but then another arc starts without him. And another. To top it all off, another worthless filler arc has just begun!

I don't mean to say that sasuke makes the entire series. Akatsuki is an interesting group of characters, and the majority of those great characters from the first season are still present and basically unchanged. However, Sasuke is a huge part of naruto, and he's gone. Gaara is one of the coolest characters ever, and he's gone. And another filler arc has just begun.

The art has also taken a huge hit with this series. I don't know if they changed production companies or what, but everyone suddenly looks disproportioned and the animation looks choppy and cheap. Sakura has a tendency to look quite mannish when viewed in profile. There is an infamous part of the new ending where Hinata's hair seems to be falling off. The art seems to get even worse during fillers...i don't know if i've mentioned this yet, but a filler arc has just begun!

Naruto is also no longer funny.

Well, I could sit here and write all day about how much naruto has jumped the shark, but there is one thing that should be said: I still watch it. I'm not sure exactly why, but I never miss an episode. If I had to pay even a cent for it, I wouldn't; but I still watch.

Although I might stop watching until this filler arc is over. The problem with fillers is not that they are worthless (i'd rather have fillers than nothing) but that they are so often boring and cheaply done, and often stray too far from the roots of the show. There are ways to get fillers right (see Bleach: Turn Back the Pendulum), but Naruto's fillers fail. Miserably.

Another %*#@%&! filler, and still no sasuke. Can you believe it?

This Anime is one I have taken to heart more over then any other. Before I begin this review I want to leave a couple side notes. This review may not be entirely accurate on account of my own feelings towards the series. I will grade it the same way I did my Bleach review. If their is anyone unsatisfied with my review, then please massage me with ways of improving the presentation. With all that in mind I hope you bare with me and enjoy what I have to say.

I'll begin with my view on the story line. ... I had watched the original Naruto series to ensure I wasn't missing any information in shippuden. The series starts back up where it left off. Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya and become strong enough to save his friend. I figured I was going to find shippuden as bland and unsatisfying as I did the original series, but I couldn't have been further from the truth. The story is quite long, considering the show is on it's 320th episode, and similar to it's counterparts ( Bleach, DBZ and OP ) is riddled with fillers. What makes these fillers less of a nuisance is the fact that each one focuses towards Elaborating on the original story, instead of opening entirely new ones. Since the show is generally straight forward it often has many of those "Yeah, I get it" moments where you want to skip dialog that simply states what we already know. Small issues like this can become tiresome and seem to be the biggest issue. It seems that each episode is laid out in a manner that anyone can drop in and have some understanding as to whats happened, happening or going to happen. As for the story itself, well there's a reason this show is one of the most popular. The story isn't your basic young hero kills bad guy story like everything else these days. The young hero is confronted with an enemy that can't be defeated with a spirit bomb or a Bankai. Something beyond all other bad guys seeing as how this enemy exists in reality and is still the cause of a majority of strife in the world. He fights for the sake of his goal not just to become hokage, but to free the war ridden shinobi nations from the very claws of hatred itself. Which includes fighting with his own hatred and overcoming it for the sake of all those he holds dear and the one he seeks to save from their self inflicted fate.

I suppose I should move on to art now. The art style is very fluent in most scenes and other then some minor issues, mostly flawless. In truth the animations only issue would be the repetition. Some fights will replay Physics animations of trees or rocks being torn or pushed or pulled, then replay it in reverse representing the other side of the explosion or whatever is causing things to go flying. Though the biggest nuisance is the over abundance of flashbacks. Again, this acts on those "Yeah, I get it" points and can often kill an otherwise amazing moment in the story. The tree jumping phases can get annoying as well, but are usually used to provide Dialog or representation of travel from plot to plot. The world Shippuden takes place in is beautiful in all rights, with differant climates and cultures that seem to despise each other due to their unstable history of blood shed and chaos. The fight scenes that inevitably arise from this tension gives way to some of the most unbelievably well done animations you could ask for in a fight. Sometimes, I could find the show simply breathtaking, other times people would have to revive me do to my lack of breath ^_^

Next would be sound it seems. I'm a subbed anime kind of guy so that's what I'll be basing the rating on. The voices were excellent and suited each character like a glove. The soundtrack to the Shippuden series is amazing as well. I enjoyed it so much that I put them on my PSP and Phone. My personal favorite being Hyakkaryouran. This theme was exceptional at building up the pressure right before some of the most badass fights I've seen in all the anime I've watched. Though their are so many others that had the same effect, I found my self attached to that one song more then the rest.

Lastly would be the characters. Naruto being the main character starts out as a slightly less obnoxious version of who he was in the original series. The few years of training have calmed him very little, and though he is significantly stronger then he was as a child, He still isn't quite as strong as he needs to be. What made Naruto stand out for me was the fact that he wasn't very strong in the beginning and was quite frankly a horrible ninja, and yet was necessary. You see, though his life was just as hard if not harder then his rival Sasuke, He chooses to move past his pain and hatred to make his future and the future of his friends worth living and dying for. To obtain the secrets to peace, though he doesn't acknowledge that as his goal in the beginning, he soon accepts his destiny with open arms and intends to shoulder all the burden so his loved ones can live happily without the pain of hatred or regret. Then theirs his Rival Sasuke, who instead of attempting to better his life, chooses to hunt down those responsible for his pain and make them pay. His power is clearly greater then Naruto's in the beginning, but his goals are clouded in the very darkness and hatred that Naruto seeks to protect him from. I personally hate him, but that's just one of the connections I have to the series. With the two main characters out of the way I can involve Sakura, who's significantly less useless then she was in the original Naruto series. Kakashi, who's just as calm and collective as ever and still one of the funniest characters in the anime. Though with so many new characters such as Killer Bee and Omoi, he might not bear that title much longer.

Overall this anime is my favorite for many reasons. With a story and characters that I can easily connect with. Action and adventure with small traces of romance and drama thrown in. plenty of laughs and tears ( Both of Joy and Sorrow ). A story that lasts more then just one or two seasons and continues to impress. But most importantly the ability to keep me enthralled in even the most unimpressive episodes. I find that this show causes so many different anime's to go unnoticed and that makes me happy for some reason. Could be reassurance that I'm not the only one who holds the show in high esteem. Or maybe it's just my way of drawing some enjoyment out of all the haters getting riled up over their shows simply because this show's got them beat. With or without my personal opinion, I will always recommend this anime to action adventure fans... Unless they screw up the ending like they did bleach... Who know's, I might have to redo this review later.

Love gives birth to sacrifice.

It's one of the trinity of most popular animes, which includes Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. All far into the hundreds and hundreds of episodes. I finished the first Naruto series, and I'm close to catching up in Naruto: Shippuuden. So, Let's just jump right into my review, may turn out to be a long one.

Story: 6/10
I loved this story, at first. The reason it didn't get a 10/10 is the fact that it's not necessarily an original story, the concept of a ninja based anime is not at all an original concept anymore. Also, there's been reoccurring issues with the ... plot as of lately with the manga ending and the anime still in a filler arc. But basically, the story follows along Naruto's life as a shinobi, but to take it a step further, there's added a ton of drama between characters, love interests, and how it's done throughout the series makes it such a great anime. It's an anime that I couldn't stop watching for long periods. However. The one very LARGE issue I had with Naruto as an entire franchise, and I think that all the Naruto watchers agree with, is the darn FILLER. If Naruto had little to no filler, I'd be a very happy camper.

Art: 7/10
It's pretty good, the graphics of it have improved a lot between Naruto and Naruto: Shippuuden. They've changed for the better and I love it even more now.

Sound: 9/10
I loved most of the intros to Naruto, but not so much in Naruto: Shippuuden. I loved the background music that was in the fight scenes or just random scenes all together. It was great to finally see an anime that understood how to choose music for specific scenes.

Character: 10/10
This anime brought out some of the best examples of characters I've seen in awhile.
Naruto: Immature, hard headed, strong willed, cocky, I could go on. He is a great character, he went through so much crap when he was younger, that I sympathize with him. However, I still get tired of his immaturity. His parents were killed while trying to save him, and he was sealed with the nine tails beast. The people in the village didn't take the time to understand Naruto, and they didn't see how hard it must have been for Naruto to live with that thing, or live without any friends or family. He lived by himself! It makes me mad how ignorant people were back when Naruto was a child. Naruto had to save their village from being destroyed before they really acknowledged him.
Sasuke: I know a lot of characters also misjudge Sasuke as well for being too cruel. However, he is a very strong individual who has his mind in place, and is very determined to finish whatever he has started. He feels like a very misjudged character, but he's just a very hard person to read; you never really know if you picked up on the right notion or if you were completely off base.
Sakura: She's a very strong willed individual. She knows what she likes and she will not stop till she gets them. She's a very determined young lady and she is very powerful.
Kakashi: He was Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura's mentor and really liked to pick fun at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. He's a very mysterious character, but in this series we got a very lengthy but interest flashback to when Kakashi was younger and in his own team. It was very informative and very traumatic to see how sad and heartbroken his past was.
Pain: He is my favorite character out of everyone. And by Pain I mean, Nagato, and the 6 Pains. Hence the first quote on this review. It was a Pain quote said to Naruto, in the fight at the leaf village. Nagato was part of the Akatsuki. I love that group, I wish they would base a new anime on just them, and how they came about more in depth, because they explained, Nagato and Konan, and their story but they didn't really explain the rest of them, nearly as much. Anyway, Pain is just my favorite character, I can't express it in words, just his actions, his speaking, and his quotes, all just come together so perfectly.
There are so many more neat characters I could have mentioned but I feel like the review would go on forever.

Enjoyment: 7/10
My overall enjoyment of this anime was an 7. I loved the plot of the story, and the different battles, but the overall enjoyment was brought down by the whole filler aspect of the show. I realize it's a small portion of the anime, but for me I just want to stick with the main plot of the story and not drift aside. I know I can't change it, and I know that's not the only problem with the anime..

Overall: 7/10
My overall has been updated to a 7 out of 10 because of the characters in this story. They were all awesome, and well played out. The characters in this story really saved the over all rating, because if it was just based on the story and the plot I don't know if it would be that high. Now I'm not saying that the filler was the ONLY big problem in Naruto, not by a long shot. There's issues I have with some of the plot holes that seemed to have formed as of lately (seeing as though the manga finished and yet they're still showing filler that's unnecessary). I'm becoming more and more lost as the series goes on. And now it's just become a nuisance to have to keep up with it..

*I love criticism! Please feel free to write on my profile the pros and cons of my review, I know some of these sections were short, but that's because the characters were the only thing that I really liked about this anime. But anyway please feel free to write on my profile, I want feedback!

As 'good' as the normal naruto series.
Reminicent of Inuyasha - characters keep running around and nothing really (ever!) happens plot-wise(what plot? There is no plot!) for the next 300 manga chapters and 500 anime eps... Will Inyasha, ops I mean naruto, save kagome, ops I mean sasuke.... Seriously....

Most of the time is spent showing characters: running around (mostly jumping from tree to tree, it seems), standing tensely, with the wind blowing between them...Very productive and oh so tense. oh, almost forgot sakura's endless whining about poow nawuto and/or sasuke or someone/something else equally as unamusing. And naruto's whining about sasuke.

Had to watch ... most of it on FF (3 second skip) towards the end of the eps I had.

Another useful parallel quality-wise, would be DBZ...Except DBZ probably had more variety in the lack of plot :D. But about as much action, except characters there stood around powering up for half an ep. Which is ALSO present in naruto.

Save yourself, watch something else...

I cannot believe this poor excuse of a directing team gets a near 8 overall, and MANY 9's/10's for their work. Before I begin, I'd like to remind everyone that a "6" constitutes "Fair". Meaning, this anime is better than "Mediocre", better than "Decent".

(the mean of the subcategory values doesn't equal 6 because MAL lacks a "flow" category)

Naruto Shippuuden is probably the most famous anime to the general American populous. You might consider that one guy the whitest guy on the planet, yet he's probably watched some form of anime: Naruto. In fact, Naruto is so widespread that you could actually have friends that can ... relate to you about an anime for once. It is just that popular. However, that exact popularity could lead it to being "overrated", and that is exactly what I believe it to be.

The story, to be honest, is amazing. I like ninjas. I like people fighting. I like people dying. However, Naruto Shippuuden took a turn for the worst. One of the biggest changes in the show (from Part 1 to Part 2) was the feeling of "ninja battles" vs "demon battles". In the first part of Naruto, the highest-caliber battle was between the three Hokages and Orochimaru. Their jutsus were so badass, nobody of a lower level could contest with them. However, that level of power is absolutely LAUGHABLE in today's Naruto world. Sasuke's Susano'o will just eat the living crap out of the Hokages. Nagato will use some overpowered six-path rinnegan jutsu that he pulls out of his ass. Oh, but of course Naruto can defeat him. And that's yet another problem with the story. Naruto is apparently able to do everything, and WE ALL KNOW the Fourth Great Ninja War is going to end with Naruto reigning victorious over the antagonists. We already know that. So, with the lack of suspense, why do people still watch this anime? The only reason I can think of is its development of drama.

Indeed, this anime capitalizes on "Talk no Jutsu" (as coined by Sawyer7mage), where the characters are apparently in a national speech and debate competition over the gold medal or something. Seriously. There is so much talking in this anime that the fighting gets devalued to nothing. And when there is fighting? YOU HIT A WALL OF 20 FILLER EPISODES. IN A DAMN ROW. And that is what I mean by poor directing. A somewhat great storyline with promising battle scenes is RUINED, absolutely RUINED by the existence of filler episodes. Literally 90% of them are completely off-plot and not funny at all; "oh, they're just saving the 43rd Snow-land Daimyo/Princess/cat/dog/frog". It is ridiculous how good the producers are at pissing off the fanbase, including myself. Nothing is more irritating than waiting excitedly for the next episode, only to realize that it is a filler. And when you hit a filler, you know you'll be there for a while. Good luck man, it'll only take half a year to get back onto the main plot (or almost half a year; most filler runs are 20 episodes long). By the time they get back onto the main story, you already forgot half the story leading up to that moment, forcing you to rewatch some of the previous episodes.

Overall, Naruto is a great story and will captivate its audiences for certain; however, Shippuuden's great shift from Naruto Part 1's original premise seriously hurts its cause. The incredible amount of "overpowered" ninjas along with all the "demon" powers and the over-glorification of Eye Techniques leads to a story where only a handful of characters can even function. Couple that with the mass of fillers, and you get an anime series that is much worse than its potential implies.

227 episodes....A good point to make a review in my opinion.

Naruto had its ups and downs but for me the ups were better cause the fillers weren't all that bad.

Now we have Shippuuden and i am both happy yet disappointed. I'll do my best to keep things brief and simple.

This series has great potential. Naruto still has his goal for becoming Hokage and being a Jinchuuriki doesn't help at all. The akatsuki keep getting in the way trying to steal the Kyuubi. Naruto is of course much older but not that much stronger as i would personally have hoped. If you also are disappointed by ... this DON'T drop this anime! Many things will happen to make up for it including him getting considerably stronger.

Others may have dropped it based on the dubbed versions, well I'm here to tell you that they are rubbish and you should watch the original japanese version with the english subtitles. It sounds much more realistic and believe me if you are new to it, it doesn't take long to get use to it.

Fillers are also a reason people put this show on the drop list. Yes, most are annoying BUT some are actually rather interesting. Trust me on that. If you don't wish to watch any fillers or want to know which ones are good then by all means post a comment on my profile. Don't post a comment randomly, asking which episodes to avoid and such because i will ignore it. Give me a range of episodes and i will tell you which are fillers or not. You can find the list on wiki if you like.

The story is extraordinary. The anticipation and suspense of it all is worth it. As time goes on more members of the Akatsuki are brought forward and hidden details are revealed, like their special abilities and their "forbidden" past. You grow to love each member in your own way. You learn who is the true ring leader behind everything and why they did all this. There will be heartbreaking moments. I know because it happened to me once. I actually shed a tear before realizing that i was emotional :P The humor is still the same as before so expect much difference. It will make you smile but not fall off your chair laughing.

Some people may find the idea of Naruto trying to do anything to get Sasuke back a bit stupid or i should say what my friend said "gay". I understand that but think about it. Naruto never had any friends to begin with and he was able to make some as the story went on. Sasuke was his best friend and later became the FIRST person the acknowledge him. That is what makes Naruto give his all to bring him back. It's not just a simple reason like friendship, it is much more deeper.

This is a shounen series that very few surpass. Many will disagree but everyone has their own opinion. Maybe you don't like shounen and that's fine but that is no reason to not give this anime at least a try. It's one of the legendary three. (NS, B, OP) If you liked any of the other two then i see no reason not to like this one. If you still have any questions on it please feel free to post a comment and i will reply as soon as possible.

How you found this review even remotely helpful.

Feedback greatly appreciated XD

In the original Naruto, you have a simple plot with youthful, childish humor befitting for children, as it is an anime about children and typically for children. As you near the end, the fillers can become unbearable, and everyone is excited to just get it over with and fly off into a whole new world that is Naruto: Shippuden. Naruto Shippuden is the continued story of Narutos life journey about 3 years later. Although 3 years may not seem all that long, at a crucial age as Naruto is in the anime, and the life that he has to lead, it is in fact an ... extremely large factor in the noticeable differences between Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden. It seems that many Naruto fans begin watching with a mindset that still sits with the original Naruto and it's light-hearted ways, and are unprepared for the sudden strifes and seriousness of the new series. Yes, it is true. 3 years later, Narutos life is no longer fun and games. He is thrown into a world with struggle and complexities befitting for his new age and the era that has begun in Naruto Shippuden. There is little room for the fun and simplicities as Naruto grows and begins fighting for his village and for the lives of his comrads. The series no longer focuses on childish dreams of friendship and play, it's begun a whole new era of the young Konoha's lives where pain and strife become evident in the role of growing up and they are forced to fight for survival and their "ninja way", be it peace or revenge, etc.

This anime is by far one of my favorites. It goes from the fun-loving story of children and continues on with more complexities and seriousness that much resembles what happens when you truly grow up in the world and must face life's tests and troubles. This anime could have either continued on with everyone growing older but their character staying young (in turn keeping the childish nature of the original anime) or it could have had them mature with age and inevitably give Shippuden a more mature, serious flow. I believe that they made the right choice by making the anime mature with the characters. It makes it feel as though I am watching the true life of the characters- Aging, maturing, struggling, laughing, crying, and becoming who they are as a person- as an adult. In the beginning, Naruto always talked about who he wanted to grow up as and what he wanted to be- and I wanted to see him do it. With Shippuden I feel like that is exactly what I am getting. Naruto's finally growing up, he's finally realizing the life struggles around him and taking charge and making a difference instead of being the ignorant child that he once was. Let's face it- their is truly little fun in a ninja world once you start growing up. I like how this anime shows the horrors of their reality finally coming into play, even if that means adding complexities to a once simple anime.

Taking the laughter of a youthful story and turning it into the tears of a growing pain as the years continue. Watching the characters go from innocent, young villagers in (ninja) grade school, to young adults that risk life and limb everyday. This is what I've wanted from an anime. Most anime stories are just "this or that". Simple or complex. Funny or sad. Cute or dark. Etc. But Naruto is different. Naruto is the life of ninjas from simple beginnings to hard endings. Happy, youthful days to waking up with the heavy burdens of adulthood. I feel like I could watch his whole life play out if it were to be written out for me, I really do.

(I am a simple anime lover and as it is a cartoon, I don't take my opinions to extremes as some other might. I don't pick at animation or subtle issues, I look at the overall picture. So, that being said, please note that this factor will show in my review.)(Also, Shippuden might have been 2 in a half years later. Idk, I'm no expert. So, I put "about 3 years later." I know anime fans can be very picky about your "facts". :d)

Another Shippuden Review
by radiantfire

Context:
This review analyses Naruto: Shippuuden (simply referred to as Shippuuden from herein), an anime adaptation of Masashi Kishimoto's shounen manga Naruto. At the time of writing, I have watched 39 episodes of the series.

Story:
Two and a half years after Naruto has ended, Shippuuden picks up with fresh new characters and story arcs. Although the anime generally remains true to the manga, small fillers give the story an unnecessary drag. It's somewhat amazing how, in some instances, 1 chapter can equal 2 or more episodes. However, I do find some fillers a pleasant addition to the general plot of the series.

Animation:
The animation, in ... general, is good. Most of the time, you get decent to good animation. Other times, however, offer repetitive frames as well as poor cases of movement and facial expressions. In fact, some positions just looks so awkward. Nonetheless, I find it decent to watch.

Sound:
The BGM is decent but it is incomparable to the amazing work of Toshio Masuda (main composer of Naruto). Emotions and moods aren't expressed as clearly by the BGM. Sound effects are generally alright, so too is the voice acting.

Character:
Shippuuden, at least, captures the essence of the characters. I like how they're generally portrayed. Evil characters are evil, good characters are good. What more can you ask for?

Enjoyment:
As a sequel, Shippuuden doesn't match up to Naruto (that is, if you don't consider all those fillers). As a separate entity, however, it's a pretty decent anime. I'm pretty sure there'll be mix comments on how people have enjoyed the series. I, for one, find it okay to watch.

Naruto Shippuuden is the new Dragonball Z. Remember back in the day where it took like 6 episodes to finish something that should only take 5 minutes? Yeah... Naruto is turning into that.

One of the biggest problems about the show is not necessarily the flashbacks (hey think of it as a supplement to the manga), but instead, the recaps. Recycling footage may have worked in the late 80's/90's, but this is ridiculous. You can tell that they're really just trying to prevent the show from going past the manga which, based on past experiences, is a good idea. However, fillers are better if some ... effort is put into them (unlike the fillers from the original Naruto).

Other than this complaint, the sequel series has been a great improvement from the original series. The animation was superb and the music fits well into the scenes. The characters are well drawn, and it's great to see the battle scenes drawn well (I still cringe at the thought of what happened to some of the battle animations back in the original). The music, well, I'll admit that some of the ops have been really annoying, but I was instantly hooked with "Hero's Come Back". Furthermore, it's great to see some better insight of some of the characters (which means, yes, I do appreciate some of the flashbacks). However, my biggest complaint about the show's character development is the fear that the script writers will revert back to the cookie cutter characters that they made in the past show, which just made things dull. I understand that a lot of the characters have a sad past, but please, cut down on the melodrama sometimes eh? The show is going to turn into a drama at the projected rate that we saw in the last filler arc. Other than that though, it's finally nice to see some villains that I don't hate with a passion though (I'm sick of seeing Orochimaru's "I can't die" routine). Anyways, here's my breakdown:

Story: (10/10) Hey, the core story is very great, simple and yet it involve so many different characters.

Characters: (9/10) Gotta admit, the characters are well done. It is great to finally see a better development of the old characters, and also, it's great to see the new characters be unique in their own way (how do you not like Sai's lack of common sense?).
However, I'm sick of this "you have no idea how hard my life was" crap from some em...
specially the last filler character, it's a bad reminder of the cookie cutter side protagonists that they made from the original Naruto in the fillers. However, other than that,

Animation: (9/10) I think one of the strong points of this show was definitely the animation. Everything that was shown was very fluid which made the show very mesmerizing to watch. I gotta admit, one of the highlights that I found watching this show was watching everyone use their own specialty set of moves.

Music: (9/10) Ok, I liked the music, it is so great and has it always make me so emotional.

Final comments: Naruto Shippuuden is the ultimate anime out there for me. I will keep watching it week by week till the last episode (unless there are fillers involved)^_^!!