Ranked #682

Naruto

To be honest, Naruto is the most overhyped show in existence. Everyone goes on and on and on about how great it is; and my expectations for this show was equally high. However, I was really, really let down. Really. This wasn't the best show ever, as I had thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, the show is enjoyable, but it's definitely not among the best shows out there. I hope Shippuden will better than this... much better.

The concept of this show isn't that hard to follow. It's an alternate world in which ninjas live. The ninjas fight by using various skills, and they have this power flowing inside of them called chakra. Chakra is used to perform powerful attacks which (usually) belongs to either of the five traditional elements of earth, fire, water, air and lightning. Of course, since they are ninjas, they fight with weapons like shuriken and kunai as well as hand-to-hand combat. As expected of this kind of world, there's evil people, having different goals and reasons behind their evil.

The story follows Naruto, one of these ninjas, as he grow as a ninja, from being a stupid little prank-playing brat to becoming a fine ninja. Along the way, he interacts with and makes friends with many fellow ninja, fighting his way towards his dream of becoming Hokage (the leader of his village).

The story isn't nearly as good as the concept would indicate. Sure, a lot of the characters has some nice background stories, won't complain about that, but they manage to drag out everything so much. It really annoys me. Some fights take several episodes when they could've been done them just as good in one or two. There's also way too much fighting. The story goes like fight, fight, background story, fight, fight, even more fight, half an episode's worth of resting or journeying, fight, fight, and so on. I mean, it's cool to watch fights, but there are just way too many fights, and they drag most of them out to unnecessary lengths. The only really enjoyable fight was the one between Sasuke and Naruto right before the fillers began. Which brings up another thing...

Fillers! Agh, I normally don't mind fillers, but Naruto had some really, really stupid ones. Sure, there was the occasional diamond among the charcoal, but that doesn't excuse the high amount of bad fillers. I mean, just because they are fillers doesn't mean that they have to make them bad. Several shows have actually made decent and at the same time long fillers (especially Bleach, with its 40-episode long Bount arc), but Naruto failed horribly here.

Also, I feel that Naruto is very silly at times. Silly is usually good, but not when it's immature silly. And guess what+ Naruto is silly in an immature way. It's so dreadfully stupid at times that I had to close my eyes, take a deep breath and wait until it got serious again. Now, it did have some good comical moments, but those were far and wide between.

Another thing I feel like releasing my rage on is the animation. It barely manages to get the description “average” to me. At its best, it's slightly above average. However, a lot of time it's slipshod galore with the animation. I still have many very bad memories from having to watch lots of errors in the animation, and I'm not sure if I'll ever get rid of those memories. While the amount of errors decreased as the episodes passed by, at least every second episode before the 100s had one or more moments of slipshod animation. Wonder if they ever considered firing the animators.

As a side mention, they should do something about Rock Lee - even though I've slightly gotten used to his horrible looks, I still feel a burn in the back of my eye every time I see him.

The music is pretty good, though. A lot of great tunes (especially the sad ones are great), and the first few OPs and EDs were pretty awesome. It has some really bad music parts too, like the tribal voice-ish song, and sometimes they could've used better themes during the fights. As the series progressed, the quality of the OPs and EDs decrease too.

The characters are fairly okay, I guess. Some of them are really annoying, like Naruto, because he's so stupid. Agh, he annoys me to no end! Some other characters are annoying too, because of things like their looks (Gai and Lee), or because they are failed attempts at comical relief (at least in my eyes, you might find them funny), like the all too perverted Jiraiya.

That's the negative about them. However, they have some really nice background stories, some which are elaborated more upon than others. Many of the characters also get fair amounts of screen time, which for some people can seem too much, whilst others will be content with it, because their favorite character from the show gets an episode for him/herself.

I also like the fact that most of them have dreams or aspirations, and motives for what they are doing and how they are acting (usually it's tied together with their background stories). The growing relationships between them is also nice, their maturing, and how Naruto is slowly getting accepted by more and more people through hard work.

Basically, they've portrayed the characters very well, and not too over the top, but some of them act stupid and silly from time to time, which drags the character rating down.

I have some mixed feelings for the show, which kind of drags down on the enjoyability factor of it. Great concept, not as good story, both good and bad music, horrid animation at times, many characters with background stories, some of them great and some not-so-great; it's hard to completely make up my mind, but I believe the ratings I have given shows my feelings towards the different aspects of the show.

Of course, even though there was things I didn't like, I can easily see why this show is so popular as it is; it has humor that the kids may find funny, as well as lots of fights which appeal to the teenagers and adults. I personally didn't like it that much, though. I'm looking forward to Shippuden, because I’ve heard it was much better… I really hope so!

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

I began to browse through the reviews of Naruto, and realized something was horribly wrong. All the experienced anime watchers were giving it crappy reviews, and all the first-timers were giving it rave reviews, with reasons that every anime has to back them up. How could this be? Gee, I wonder. For some strange reason, Naruto has become the most popular and well-known anime series ever, and as such, it is usually the first anime seen by anime watchers alike. Why this is, I don't know. Maybe it appeals to a wide variety of young teenagers...

When I was 13 years old, I remember watching and loving this anime. I had never seen any other anime shows, and I thought the concept was original and amazing. When I found out that others animes literally had all that Naruto had plus a lot more, I was... bored with all the fillers. At the time the anime was great, but it really does get old.

Then again, the anime is not absolutely horrible. It has the essentials, with a somewhat unique story and art style. The characters are cliche, and enjoyment is there but short and sweet.

What I truly love about Naruto is the great soundtrack. It seems that all the OP and ED are just fabulous, and the music just fits within the series. I would have liked a bit of a change over the course of the show, but hey, it almost never happens.

All in all, it was a good show. Just good. So basically: Shame on those people who watch 10 episodes and immediately come here and write a review. Also shame on people who give this show all 1's because everyone else loves it. It's OK, but ive definitely seen better. read more

Ah, Naruto, I hear people talking all about it all the time, so I thought about watching this anime and seeing what the hype was all about. Sadly, I was disappointed with a painfully mediocre anime. I personally think that Naruto is overrated and is average, not bad, but also not good.

Story: About a kid trying to become a hokage, or super ninja deluxe. I didnt like it, and thought it was generic and not that creative of a plot. All I have to say on that subject.

Art: The art changes from below average, to pretty well done at times, so I gave it a 6, or decent. In some scenes, the animation becomes exceedingly boring, but some of the action scenes seem fluid and smooth.

Sound: I honestly don't remember much of the music during the show, but I remember the opening theme songs, which were catchy and enjoyable. So, since I can only judge the theme songs because of my bad memory and/or inattentiveness, I'll rate it a 7, because I enjoyed listening to those songs.

Character: Naruto and Sasuke are also generic and rather cliche. No need to mention Sakura, nobody likes her anyways. There are however, some actually somewhat interesting characters, like Shikamaru, or Gaara (I like Gaara's past, it is interesting). But most of the main characters are annoying and/or cliche.

Enjoyment: There were some parts where I was enjoying Naruto quite a bit, (That Zabuza arc) but it quickly went downhill from there, and I became bored. The action scenes soon lost their luster because the characters have only a few techniques which they use over and over again. Overall, an average, overrated anime read more

Let's see, we got a story about the most conspicuous ninja in the world trying to become the greatest ninja in his village. Basically, the story follows the same formula as Pokemon:

He wants to be the very best, that no one ever was. He doesn't want to catch anything other than bad ninja, and he's gotta catch 'em all. Attacks? Gotta learn 'em all. And then he wanders around training and learning new things and makes new friends and wants back his Pikachu. Uh, wait.

The art is below average. It's flat and not detailed.

Characters?

Naruto's a loser.

Sakura's a loser.

Sasuke's a loser.

If you watch this, you will be a loser.

And that's the unfabulous truth.

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The mighty roar of a Kyubei vibrated throughout the area as a crowd of ninja from Konoha try their hardest to bring it to its knees. All the fighting is for naught until one person steps up and sacrifices himself to seal the Kyubei away. That man was known as the Fourth Hokage. Years later, a young orphan named Naruto causes much vandalism and trouble, just to get the attention he craves each day. His life goal is to become the next Hokage.

Kishimoto Masashi has brought us a very long series of action, drama, and comedy about a young ninja in training known as Naruto. This particular series focuses on the trials and tribulations of the young shounen who has only one life goal in mind: To become the greatest Hokage in Konoha village. Along with Naruto, he has a few friends who he has earned respect from. One such colleague is more of a mentor than a friend, and that certain person is Umino Iruka-sensei. Someone who was similar to Naruto when he was growing up, so he is the first person to understand what Naruto goes through. The next few are Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, along with their sensei Hatake Kakashi.

Now, onto the review of this long, magnificent-until-the-filler-starts series.

The animation of the show gets better by season, especially the opening sequence. The only qualm I have about the animation is the fighting sequences. More action, less stalemates, please. A stalemate is good now and then for a dramatic effect, but for nearly every fight starts to become tedious and boring. But I can work with it. It’s crisp and clear, and the designs of the scenery are refreshing because the structures of the villages are unique to their elemental area. Although the best designed character in my humble opinion has to be Temari and Shikamaru. Sure it is a bit of bias, but that’s only because those two are my favorite characters. Seriously, though. I like the thought of including a character such as Rock Lee to pay semi-homage to Bruce Lee.

Although I don’t personally like the first opening song, it is a good theme for that season’s setting. The beat and rhythm of the song go well with the atmosphere, which is why it is a good pick by the Naruto crew. However I’ve listened to it too much and I don’t like it as much as when I had first heard it when I first started watching the show. I totally love the second opening song by my favorite J-Rock band Asian Kung-fu Generation. Again, it goes perfect with the atmosphere of the season and with the opening video animation. The third song is a good choice, however the singer is too high pitched to set the right mood of the song. It doesn’t mean I don’t like the song, though. I like it just fine. The singer is just too high pitched, is all. The rest of the songs are mostly J-Rock and their beats are very nice to follow. Fighting Dreamers, the fourth season opener is easy to sing along to, and that’s pretty nice. I won’t go into every single opener, so I’ll just move along to the actual soundtrack. The fighting music is good and gets you into the mood of the fight. Especially the fights Naruto participates in. That music theme is the most catchy that I have heard. But the most depressing fighting music is the theme that plays when the Hyuuga siblings duke it out in the Chuunin exams. It’s a touching match and the song really gets to you when you’re rooting for Hinata, or Neji, if you’re not fond of Hinata.

Ah, the story. It is a magnificent story to follow a young ninja warrior’s adventures to becoming Hokage and fulfilling various missions with his group. The most compelling story is the Missing Nin arc featuring Haku and Zabuza. Ah, shounen-ai; Just kidding. These two had a really strong bond with one another except Zabuza didn’t realize it until it was too late. This arc is also the arc where we first see a glimpse of Kyubei Naruto in his first form. Although there isn’t much to say about the main story because the filler takes up most of the series. 135-215, Eesh. That’s a lot of filler. I do have to say that the first few seasons are worth purchasing, though not to purchase the fillers.

Ah, the ever various and unique cast of Naruto. There is a character for everyone since the cast of Naruto is so vast; a character that eats a lot, to a lazy character who is a genius tactician. As I mentioned earlier, my favorite characters are Shikamaru and Temari, although Temari is from the Sand Village.

One could get a lot of value from this series; especially rewatch value as it is a very long series of 220 episodes. Well, less if you skip the filler, which is highly recommended you do if you rewatch the series, unless you find a filler arc you enjoy, then more power to you.

I enjoyed this series, although to be honest I haven’t completed the 220 as of now, I still have 15 to watch to complete this 220 episode anime. That’s all for now. read more

ok so I've seen like 200+ series and i have to say that this is one pathetic series. i watched up to shippuden 50. im telling you nothing interesting happens, and like 90% of the series is filler anyway.

the plot is seriously lacking and its a pathetic excuse for a slice of life/action-drama type of show. im writing this for people who legitimately haven't seen the show and i know im going to get flamed by a whole bunch of narutards but the series is just NOT worth the acclaim or watching at all.

the characters are even worse. you have your over-zealous,untalented guy who thinks he can do anything if he tries hard enough. . .and he just so happens to get increasingly stronger enemies to fight along the way. than you have your emo broody guy who all the fan girls swoon over while he talks about how much he resents his brother and must AVENGE HIS CLAN! get over it already and last you have your naturally talented good girl who has a crush on the bad boy, even though its obvious he hates her and that the other guy would kill to have her. look people this has been done MILLIONS! of times before so please if you haven't seen the series don't watch it. it will waste days of your life away for nothing. . .literally the series will take up 88 hours of your life! thats over 3 and a half DAYS! you could have been doing something WAY more productive. hell, it doesn't even have to be productive. you could probably have a better time watching paint dry! listen to me people, for gods sake i only watched as far as i did out of obligation to finish a series i started but it wasn't worth it! so PLEASE heed my words and never ever watch this series of overrated garbage!

by the way, this is for all the narutards. . .flame this review all you want but you know im telling the truth, so when you develop a taste for better anime come talk to me...

P.S- all you people who post recommendations for anime. . .if its naruto, YOU DON'T NEED TO REQUEST BLEACH , ONE PIECE , OR DEATH NOTE! people know already and the chances are if they have bad enough taste to watch or enjoy naruto THEY'VE PROBABLY SEEN THE OTHERS ANYWAY! (no offense to the shows mentioned in the last sentence, i like bleach... to an extent, and death note was pretty good too)...fuck one piece... XD

ROH ROH FIGHT THE POWAH! read more

First to say: I decided to write a review for one of my favorite animes even though there are more than enough reviews. My anime addiction is indebted to this series because this was the one that invited me to the otaku world...

Story (7/10)

Naruto's story revolved around a obnoxious kid named Naruto, if you don't like him, then it's not very likely that you'll love the series.

The plot is a bit shallow and a bit of a cliche; a stupid main character who wants to attempt the impossible and has a hidden power behind his sadness having stereotypical nakamas to protect. Simply to say it is the journey of Naruto to become the best; however, he has to face conflicts within himself, with others and with the world as well.

Don't expect psychology, deep philosophy, and thought provoking issues here because Naruto was made for the general audience and tackles drama within the character's personal lives as teenage ninjas, there are almost no societal issue here and war and politics are not a prominent figure. The story is about lives. The life of a ninja here is portrayed in a comedic and adventurous way in the eyes of mostly innocent youths who in time, will be able to learn about its darkness.

But what made Naruto so lovable? It is the universe it created. The villages, the clans and the people's lifestyle are so fun to learn about, they are so fun to be in. Plot twists are plentiful and the characters' interactions are very exciting.

But the heart of Naruto fandom is the ACTION; loved characters fighting with their well loved skills. Each of them has unique attributes coming from their bloodline or they developed personally. Most of the time, they think while they fight resulting into exciting clashes of logic and tactics. Their powers also have 'scientific explanations' from the make-up science in this show giving room for countless forums and fan speculations where their strengths and weaknesses are discussed; example is "who will win if..."

However, I was displeased with the development of the series; it started out really good but after episode 140 or so the anime was filled with useless fillers, totally useless and unenjoyable.They really ruined the show; It was a real disappointment to fans that the transition to Naruto Shippudden was a total disgrace.

Overall the story is very addictive and will keep you glued to the screen until the fillers came.


Art (7/10)

The character designs are very simple yet memorable, no character looked alike and each other and each has trademark outfits, which were not very detailed. Eyes, noses, mouths and hair are nothing special making Naruto characters one of the easiest to draw.I also loved the use of symbols, such as the Konoha leaf and Naruto's spiral, they leave a considerable amount of impression to viewers.

The houses, shops, fashion, and art in general in Naruto are both landlord era and modern anime style inspired.

Yet the animation was very inconsistent; there are times when faces are so ugly and the action scenes, which are excellent, are poorly drawn (especially at the fillers).

Sound (8/10)

What I can say about the music of Naruto is that it is appropriate. The music was heavily Japanese themed and gives you a "ninja" feel. Though not exceptional it is not disappointing; if the scene is sad, the music will make you even sadder, and when there is action, the music will pump up your adrenalin. The opening and ending themes are quite enjoyable and addictive, making them highly anticipated.

But the length of the series made the music overly used and lacking in variation.

Character(7/10)

This part is very debatable...It is also the part that made Naruto hated by many, the main characters and also some secondary characters) are cliches:

A boy who has a hidden power triggered if his nakama is in danger and wins over strong opponents by willpower

A rival who is smart with looks better than the main character, fan-girled too much and has some dark undertone.

A girl obsessed with the 'rival' who is liked by the unliked main character whom she constantly bullies

Mostly the characters are a bit shallow but they are worthy to be loved. Some of them are inspiring, some irritating, some cute, some has psychotic attributes and some are cool depending on a person's preference: a very good formula for a shonen anime. They are not mediocre and their role in the story is noteworthy as many of them develops significantly as the series progresses, whereas each has his or own internal or external conflict.

Naruto promotes many important values such as friendship, family, hardwork and maturity with its characters.I find it inspirational and heartwarming. I also loved its concept of having a "home"and to belong to and having a "dream" to work hard for. Overall the atmosphere is positive here.

HOWEVER, the fillers made room for too many cheap, sissy dramas and trying-hard-to-be-deep- characters who are very unnecessary. The plentiful unnecessary flashbacks also ruin some climatic parts and made the drama bland.

But Naruto isn't very shallow at all. One can see it's unforced efforts to bring symbolism; a character living in bloodshed was associated to the pureness of snow, the blooming of flower as a metaphor for growth, and the leaves of the village compared to the next generation or the progression of time.

Angst and sadness is plentiful here but they are viewed from the eyes of pre-teens and pre-teens are mostly shallow no matter how deep they think they are. But it doesn't mean that the drama is shallow, it was just portrayed naturally from the characters' point of view.

Naruto, though he is a typical shonen hero, has a different effect on people and has an amazing power to impact both the characters of the show and audiences alike. His development is superb: from a naughty, proud and idiotic outcast kid he strove hard to be recognized by following his way of a ninja to become an inspiration to everybody.

Enjoyment (9/10)

I loved it so much...I've been addicted to it for three years. Even though I watch new series, Naruto still remain in my top list. My experience in watching this is very different from other shonens, and conversing with fans alike will make you feel very welcomed in loving this series.I can extract endless fun information from the series and fansites. It is just that the fillers really ruined the mood...

Naruto is not exceptional in every aspect(except action and comedy perhaps) if you compare it to very artistically done animes but it may be the best in one thing: earning people with unconditonal fandom despite its weaknesses. Isn't it a very rare attribute?

"It's just popular but not really good." Then why is it popular in the first place? It is because the majority loved it and don't care about its flaws. Naruto is very age-friendly and gender friendly, and a very well composed shonen.

So heed my final words: exposure to this material may cause long term addiction

OVERALL: 7/10
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Story: Naruto is a fairly decent anime that made quite a bit of mistakes, such as turning over half of the show into fillers, and taking the show into "god" level Dragon Ball Z style of fighting. Naruto starts out as a extremly good Ninja anime during its first season where everything you see is unexpected and the story is rather fresh and interesting, the first season including Zabuza had a perfect pace and the fight scenes felt truly of what ninjas should be.

After the first season however we are left with a quickly declining anime, soon the fights becomes my "special move is better then yours" and it doesnt really feel like its a ninja show anymore with everyone pretty much using random attacks, which essentially turns this show into another beat em up. After a couple of seasons they start to follow in the footsteps of Dragon Ball Z.

Art: The characters are well drawn, and the moves are flashy and nicely animated fight sequences.

Sound: While many of the music and songs of the anime are amazing, this show became plagued with... DATTEBAYO! ('Believe it' in english)

Character: A large array of characters with each a rather decent background, however because they wanted each character to have such a rich and fulfilling history, we became flooded with flashbacks. Also only a few characters truly stand out in terms of growth and development such as Gaara, Neji, Shikamaru and a few others.

Enjoyment: I decided to rate the seasons individually and then average them, with Season 1 and 5 recieving highest marks. read more

Proof that I will watch just about anything, or rather that I once had nothing better to do than watch this crap while waiting for Squidbillies to come on (Unknown Hinson fangirl).

In either case, there are few anime out there that evoke a visceral reaction like Naruto. Sure there is Inuyasha and you can get your eyes clawed out by yaoi fangirls for calling them closet lesbians, but no other anime has started a craze of shut ins wearing orange sweatsuits and headbands to school like Naruto.

See, a uniform code is not just for keeping Crips and Bloods from wearing gang colors to school.

Naruto is about a Ninja named Eddie. No, he's named Naruto. He lives in a village where some great Ninja master gave his life to entrap an alien parasite into a carrier queen, I mean a Demon Fox into a baby's body. That baby is Naruto, a completely useless ninja who can summon the great power of the fox within. Think of him like a impish Goku, or maybe Ichigo--I don't know. Anime that go on forever all blend in for me.

What is this all about, well it's the typical drawn out storyboard of characters growing up and becoming ninja. Doing Ninja missions (which are filler episodes) while the story dances around the plot that Sasuke is some talented Ninja with a traitor dick of a brother, some girl called Sakura, some short quiet Rei-clone of a girl whose name escapes me but I keep running into on gelbooru, and a sensei who loves kancho--but in the English dub the delightful Japanese pasttime of poking someone's asshole in a nonsexual way with your index finger is clearly unacceptable and heavily edited.

Honestly there is no plot. Naruto is a loser, but he has a great power and a lot of the show is geared around how he takes a beating but when he unleashes that power, it is maximum. There's some effeminate snake ninja who plots to get revenge on the leaf village, molests Sasuke, gets pwnt only to return over and over again, there's Sakura being split whether to spread her legs for Sasuke or Naruto--but settling for some old woman instead.

This is your typical cliffhanger anime where you watch someone power up or prepare to unleash an ultimate technique for 20 minutes, then are forced to watch a filler episode before you see the obvious, with plot twists usually being mundane like "the ninja training exam has been hijacked, oh noes!" With that said, you'd think with over 200 episodes they could develop the characters, but strangely these kind of anime seem to be unable to do that--instead of relying on stock characters that don't really change over time (well, they can become more moody, evil, or slutty--but that isn't a dramatic and shattering change).

I just have to concede that I don't understand this. And I also have to concede that I don't like this. Good drama and fiction doesn't spread itself so thin, becoming hopelessly lost in itself.

Also, for the love of God, don't dress up as Naruto.

Just don't. read more

Having watched many different series of anime, I can understand why the "elitest" out there give this series a bad review; however, I can also say they're flat out wrong and biased. Naruto is a fantastic anime that doesn't get due credit where it's deserved.

First off, it's true that the fillers of this anime that take up about the last 1/3 of this Part 1 are flat out terrible. With the exception of the first two arcs (including the amazing Bikouchi retrieval arc) they're probably the worst anime I've ever seen and the fillers in Naruto Shippuden are just as bad. But I think as anime watchers, we should recognize fillers when we see them and simply ignore them.

The anime itself is well-done with some of the most memorable tunes you will ever hear. I currently have one of the everyday tunes as my cellphone jingle - it's that catchy. The plot is original and fun, which is why Naruto has taken off to such enormous heights. The characters are all amazing and it's common knowledge that Kakashi and Itachi are two of the most bad-ass characters of all time in any anime. Everyone can find a character to relate to. From the lovable Rock Lee and Hinata to the inpalpable Gaara and Sasuke, we all find something to cheer for or hold onto in this anime, making it addicting.

Those who give this anime a bad review refuse to acknowledge the points that make this one of the greatest and most popular anime of all time. It's their loss. Yu-Gi-Oh was the same way. You accept it or you don't, but if you don't like it, most people will disagree with you, which makes you wrong by consensus.

Try the first 15 episodes and give it an honest try. By the time the Kakashi/Zabuza fight rolls around, you might just get hooked. Don't say I didn't warn you. read more