Naruto is undoubtedly one of the works from which the deepest and best-written characters emerge. Characters like Itachi, Obito, Nagato, Gaara, and so on... all through their stories make us experience strong emotions, convey their values, their mindset. Whether they are allies or enemies, every character has something to impart to us.
The beginning of Naruto Shippuden started off very strongly, quickly introducing us to some intense developments. While in Naruto, the primary antagonist was Orochimaru, Shippuden swiftly demonstrates that Orochimaru is far from the greatest threat in this universe with the attack on the Suna village by Sasori and Deidara!
The start of Shippuden is a pure delight, with Hidan and Kakuzu, Asuma Sarutobi's death, Sasuke Vs. Deidara, Jiraiya Vs. Pain with the magnificent death of Jiraiya, the Sasuke Vs. Itachi battle, Pain's attack on Konoha... it's one masterpiece after another, relentlessly engaging us with absolutely perfect music that immerses us fully in our adventure. The musicality of the Naruto series, in my opinion, is the best in all of anime. All of Yasuharu Takanashi's OSTs perfectly amplify our emotional experience, such as Hyouhaku, Pain's Theme Song, Shitsui (Despair), Itachi's (Senya), and the beautiful "Sadness and Sorrow." As for the openings and endings, they are equally incredible with the well-known tracks like Blue Bird, Hero's Come Back, Silhouette, Moshimo, Lovers, and more. These are all songs I still listen to on Spotify even long after finishing Naruto, which speaks to their lasting impact on me!
A common drawback when discussing Naruto, especially Naruto Shippuden, is the issue of filler episodes. Just as a reminder, fillers are episodes that have no connection to the original story and are included to allow the anime to maintain a regular broadcasting schedule while giving the manga time to advance. Specifically, in most cases, anime adaptations draw their source material from a manga or light novel. However, in one episode of an anime, on average, you find about 3-4 chapters (1 episode = 3-4 chapters). This means that the anime inevitably catches up with the manga. There are three possibilities for the anime:
1) Let's call the first possibility the "Full Metal Alchemist" method: The anime is broadcast normally until it catches up with the manga. After that, the story is more or less improvised to give the anime an ending. Full Metal Alchemist, which aired from 2003 to 2004, falls into this category. The anime caught up with the manga, and the ending was improvised, which eventually led to Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, broadcast after the manga's conclusion, giving us the real ending of the story!
2) The second method, let's call it the "One Piece" method: As I explained, on average, one anime episode is equivalent to 3-4 manga chapters. In the case of One Piece, they compress the broadcast, lengthen scenes, and slow down the overall pace of the work to the point that one episode covers only one chapter. One Piece takes this approach, ensuring that the anime keeps a constant distance from the manga and never catches up with it.
3) The third method is the famous "Naruto" method: they create filler episodes that don't disrupt the main storyline. When the anime gets close to the manga, they air a series of filler episodes while waiting for the manga to gain some distance from the anime before resuming its regular course. This way, the anime isn't improvised, its overall pace isn't slowed down, and its broadcast doesn't need to come to a complete stop.
I can understand that some people might be frustrated with this system. After all, out of the 500 episodes that make up Naruto Shippuden, 219 of them are fillers, which is 44% of the work! However, you can easily skip these episodes, and you'll have no trouble finding a list of all the episodes that can be avoided on the internet.
Naruto also excels in explaining its powers in a detailed and credible way. These are not just random powers; the work takes great care to provide a believable explanation for its power system, such as chakra manipulation, the elemental system Katon - Fuuton - Raiton - Doton - Suiton - Katon, and hereditary powers combining two elements, like Mokuton (Wood | Doton + Suiton). The unique attributes of Sharingan, Rinnegan, Byakugan, and others were appreciated for the credibility the work gave to its power system. Few works go to such lengths in explaining and detailing their power systems.
