Every Single Naruto & Shippuden Story Arc, In Chronological Order
Naruto and its follow-up series, Naruto Shippuden, are easily among the greatest and most beloved shonen anime series of all time.
- Created by:
- Masashi Kishimoto
- First TV Show:
- Naruto
- Latest TV Show:
- Boruto
- First Episode Air Date:
- September 21, 1999
- Cast:
- Junko Takeuchi, Maile Flanagan, Noriaki Sugiyama, Yuri Lowenthal, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Dave Wittenberg
See Full Franchise Info
- Related Articles
- Details
Summary
Naruto was created by manga author Masashi Kishimoto in 1999. The shonen battle manga tells the life story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young boy whose body serves as a prison for the Nine-Tails, a powerful beast who once almost completely destroyed the village of Konohagakure. Consequently, Naruto is shunned by the people of the village, but he nonetheless aspires to win their respect and trust by becoming the Hokage, the leader of the city's ninjas. The series was a massive hit when it first debuted and was considered one of Weekly Shonen Jump's "Big Three," a title used to refer to the manga magazine's three most popular franchises of the era, which also included Eiichiro Oda's still on-going One Piece and Tite Kubo's Bleach. The series has since sold over 250 million copies worldwide and is now one of the top 10 best-selling manga ever created. An anime adaptation produced by studio Pierrot premiered in 2002 and was followed up with Naruto: Shippuden, which adapted the second half of Kishimoto's manga, in 2007. Kishimoto's original manga concluded its story in 2014, but the series received a sequel series, entitled Boruto: Naruto Next Generations in 2016. The sequel tells the story of Naruto's rebellious teenage son, Boruto, and is set more than a decade following the original story's finale. The sequel series was originally written by Ukyo Kodachi, who wrote the stories for several of the franchise's animated movies, but Kishimoto took over writing duties for the sequel after its 13th volume. The franchise has also expanded with several spinoffs, a series of tie-in novels, and a line of video games from publisher Bandai Namco. The English editions of Kishimoto's manga are distributed by publisher VIZ Media, while Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden anime are available for streaming from a variety of services, including Crunchyroll, Netflix and Hulu. The Boruto anime is still on-going and is available on Crunchyroll.
15 Most Underrated Anime Arcs Of All Time, Ranked
From Hunter x Hunter's video game world to Naruto's search for the Fifth Hokage, these anime arcs don't get as much credit as they deserve.
10 Worst Anime Filler Arcs, According To Reddit
Filler is a contentious subject in anime, with many fans vehemently declaring their hatred for filler such as Dragon Ball's Garlic Jr. Arc.
10 Dark Parallels Between Naruto & Hell's Paradise
Though Naruto and the new-gen anime Hell's Paradise are fundamentally different, the shinobi series parallel each other in dark ways.
10 Anime Couples With The Worst Chemistry
Some anime couples like Queen Serenity & Prince Endymion (Sailor Moon) and Haruhi & Tamaki (Ouran High School Host Club) have no romantic chemistry.
10 Worst-Written Female Characters From 2000s Anime
2000s anime characters like Louise Françoise (The Familiar Of Zero), Misa Amane (Death Note), and Kaede Fuyou (Shuffle!) deserved better writing.
Naruto Viewer Hilariously Roasts the Structural Integrity of the Anime's Bridges
An engineering major gives Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto a lesson in structural mechanics after seeing the anime’s bridges for the first time.
One of Naruto's Oldest Allies Has a Little-Known Connection to the Hokage's Past
Choza is one of Naruto's greatest allies during the Fourth Great Ninja War, but the Hokage and former Akimichi patriarch weren't always on good terms.
10 Smartest Anime Husbandos
Anime features many compelling husbandos; Shirogane from Kaguya-Sama: Love is War, Hyouka's Oreki, and Yuki from Fruits Basket are among the smartest.
Naruto: Would the Sasuke Retrieval Arc Have Been Successful if Shino Joined the Team?
The Sasuke Retrieval Arc in Naruto would have played out considerably differently in Shino had been present, and perhaps even succeeded.
10 Weirdest Details In Old Naruto Episodes
The original Naruto anime is over 20 years old now, so many fans may have forgotten these strange details and elements in classic Naruto episodes.
Boruto Ruined The Redemption Of An Underrated Ōtsutsuki Warrior
The Boruto era has botched the redemption of a powerful Ōtsutsuki member who promised Naruto they'd make amends and help protect Earth.
Boruto's Time-Jump Does Sumire a Massive Injustice
The Boruto series will go on hiatus and have a time jump, which won't bode well for Sumire's development, a character who's suffered in the plot.
Naruto's Savior Won't Be Boruto – It'll Be [Spoiler]
The Boruto series has teased the Hokage's son as the one who'll free Naruto and Hinata, but a door's open for another young hero to save the day.
10 Best Naruto Manga Panels
All of Naruto's triumphs, defeats, and heartaches are made more emotional with their accompanying art, and many panels are engraved in fans' minds.
Naruto: Kisame Was Paired with Itachi as a Fail-Safe
Kisame was tasked with killing Itachi should he betray the Akatsuki, but turned a blind eye to avoid another death on his hands.
30 Most Popular Naruto Characters (According to MyAnimeList)
Many fan-favorite Naruto characters - like Sasuke and Minato - rank among the most popular or iconic anime characters of all time.
Naruto: How Kisame Would Have Defeated Any Ninja Except Guy on Genbu Island
Kisame was the ultimate counter to nearly every ninjutsu user in Naruto and had exceptional taijutsu prowess, and could only be stopped by Might Guy.
10 Most Compassionate Anime Husbandos
The most compassionate anime husbandos, such as Gabimaru from Hell's Paradise and Tengen from Demon Slayer, dote on their partners with adoration.
10 Things The Dark Trio Does Better Than The Shonen Big Three
With superior animation and no filler episodes, the Dark Trio has surpassed its predecessors in many ways.
Naruto's Kakashi Is Shinobi Perfection in Cool Cosplay
The Hidden Leaf's Copy Cat Ninja is brought to life in a cool and laidback Naruto cosplay that showcases the character's iconic spiky silver hair.