CHARACTERS: Being the centre of attention of the series, Naruto stayed true to his characteristics and grew upon well & somewhat satisfyingly, at the cost of the charm but with the addition of maturity. Though the usage of the common "Nakama" trope felt bit too much at times & the lack of development of a tactical aspect of Naruto was a missed potential. And of course, there were a handful of good characters present in the series like Jiraiya, Kakashi, Gaara, Pain & all but the amount of characters staying insignificant throughout the series was disappointing to think. Hinata, Nejj, Lee, Choji & more, you name it. Then there was Sakura who had a significant growth in characteristics but still felt insignificant on the larger scale. And there was this forced dynamics between Sasuke & Naruto that was preferred to be grown awkwardly ahead of the natural parallel between Gaara & Naruto or the childhood bond between Shikamaru & Naruto. The problems in handling and utilising such a massive cast was evident throughout the series & to my eyes, this is arguably the worst segment of the series.
VILLAINS: Akatsuki surely have best set of villains, or rather antagonists. The underlying depth within was always present. From Itachi to Pain, to Sasori to Madara, there were different people with different problems that were all presented well altogether. Their motive made a lot of sense too. But actual question lies within the success rate of a well written conclusion to the group or the individuals. My answer? I was disappointed. Except for Pain & Itachi (and early Akatsuki villains), the major guys couldn't live upto the bigger expectations. And Kaguya? I prefer not to speak. So all in all, villains weren't bad at all but the utilisation could've been much better. In the end, they didn't impress me therefore.
ART & DESIGNS: This is a department where Naruto Shippuden was pretty good. The new designs of Naruto, Neji, Sasuke, Pain, Madara, Deidara, Temari, Ino, Obito & many more were simply fabulous. Even if you don't like those characters, you're still bound to like their beautifully handcrafted designs. But then there are Zetsu that looked awful no matter what. So it wasn't really all too flawless but regardless, hats off to Kishimoto (and Pierrot too) for pulling off such great designs throughout the series.
ACTION & POWER-SYSTEM: The power system was swift, simplistic & did its job well. Although in Part 1, the fights were a lot more tactical. In Shippuden, however, the fights became flashier & more about overpowering. Though, that's acceptable with the fabulous choreography & animation most of the major battles had. Narratively too, a lot of battles will remain memorable forever. But what isn't acceptable for me actually is the power ceiling that was brutally broken during the War Arc. At the end of the Shippuden, there's probably not a single person on planet earth who can rival Naruto or Sasuke. Not a fan of ridiculously OP power levelling but since this particular series ended, it won't leave you a room for complaining much.
WORLD-BUILDING: The world was explored a lot more in Shippuden compared to the Part 1. World expansion was swift & well but not satisfying given the amount of proper exploration there was. I was always curious to find the lives of others in the other hidden villages. But in the end, it held no significance down the road or in the plot given most of the events took place in Hidden Leaf Village anyway. The culture, however, could've been shown on a much better level. As if every village-men are all same, only thing that differs is the place where they live. Also, politics barely had any significance of a world-building consisting a governing body. Population never had any sort of reaction even after so many wars & conflicts other than during the end of Pain's Assault Arc. Therefore, at times, the hatred towards Jinchuriki felt a bit too unrealistic. But the lores were carried out well to a certain point. But overall, world building was very mediocre.
MUSIC: This is probably the one of the two departments in my opinion in which Naruto Shippuden is nearly flawless. From the background scores to the opening/ending themes, everything was just spot on. There were a lot of memorable OPs with few of them being legendary in fact.
VOICE ACTING: I've seen entirety of the series in English dub & honestly speaking, I loved it. Jiraiya, Kakashi, Tsunade, Sakura, Sasuke, Gaara, Naruto & many more... The cast was just ideal & their performances were even better. Flawless really.
ANIMATION: Inconsistent. But for a weekly anime it was totally acceptable. For a weekly anime to have that many amount of well animated fights is very rare, take One Piece for example.
PACE: Consistently well in the canon arcs adaptation (if not the arcs directly) & consistently terrible in most of the filler arcs. Overall, calling it poor would be perfect. Adaptation could've been much better with Naruto being a weekly manga with no hiatus whatsoever.
MOVIES & SPECIALS: The last three movies & the Boruto movie were good to great. I enjoyed them. Prior to them, not so much. And the specials? I liked nearly all of them!
OVERALL: The first half of Shippuden & second half of Shippuden feels completely different. Quality was what being escalated every now & then in the first half with personal investment level reaching sky. But seeking moments here & there to keep the boredom out became my habit in the second half. This is all about subjectivity but unless you've seen only a few anime; or you're young and into mainstream battle shonen; or you're intriguingly obsessed with Naruto, there's no solid reason to watch Naruto Shippuden after "Pain's Assault Arc." Skipping the fillers is must & even then, boredom from nearly half of Shippuden is guaranteed with the terribly written War Arc. A smooth experience is something you can't really expect. But if you're young, you're in for witnessing an unforgettable journey of an oppressed underdog who lost his parents after birth due to a reason that changed the whole world in an emotional story of bonds. "Watch-and-forget-during-the-lockdown" is probably most ideal way to describe the mediocre show personally.
