What Naruto Can I skip?
All Naruto Filler Episodes to Skip
Make your Nindo, your Ninja Way, one that steers away from these episodes.
July 20th, 2022 by J.R. Waugh
Sometimes the most popular anime must resort to unfortunate measures to keep from going on hiatus or running out of material, and Naruto is no exception, unfortunately. This, of course, results in massive amounts of filler, which is present throughout Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations where the anime will have small, inconsequential arcs to fill in time before new installments which continue the main narrative. This is particularly true for Naruto as the anime began airing far before the manga was completed. Here’s our guide to All Naruto Filler Episodes to Skip!
All Naruto Filler Episodes to Skip
We have gone ahead and separated the lists by each anime series. Be sure to consult our series watch order guide as well, in case you wish to watch the films and shows in their appropriate order. Some are individual one-shots, while others span dozens of episodes, so if you’ve got the series on auto-play and lose track, you might find yourself confused by bizarre, unrelated plots which might occasionally drag before you get back into the action. Use this guide to discern what episodes you wish to skip, and you’ll get just as much enjoyment out of the series as creator Masashi Kishimoto intended.
Naruto (Part I) Filler Episodes
The original Naruto manga was much shorter than Shippuden, but there’s a noticeable filler period near the end of its run to pad out the episodes and as a result, the overall count is heavily inflated. To the series’ credit, however, these latter filler episodes cover multiple arcs wherein the characters carry out missions, instead of getting locked into battles and otherwise having to abandon their original mission which has often been the case.
Naruto Shippuden (Part II) Filler Episodes
Naruto Shippuden had a larger spread of filler episodes entirely because of how large the series was. The viewers were treated to substantial amounts of content before the filler arcs started, and from there they were a persistent occurrence. While some understandably play into the series’ themes and mythos and can be interesting to watch, you can completely miss these episodes and not be any less prepared for the plot to continue in the main episodes.
- 57-70
- 91-111
- 144-151
- 170-171
- 176-196
- 223-242
- 257-260
- 271
- 279-281
- 284-295
- 303-320
- 347-361
- 376-377
- 388-390
- 394-413
- 416-417
- 422-423
- 427-450
- 464-468
- 480-483
Boruto: Naruto Next Generation Filler Episodes
This series is still ongoing but is unable to dodge the filler present in the previous two anime programs. Below are the episodes to watch out for:
This concludes our list of All Naruto Filler Episodes to Skip! Be sure to keep your eyes out for more entertainment pieces such as this, and much more on Attack of the Fanboy!
How To Watch The Naruto Franchise In Order
When it comes to popular anime series, few can hold a candle to «Naruto.» Based on Masashi Kishimoto’s manga series of the same name, «Naruto» centers on Naruto Uzumaki and his ninja brethren as they defend the Hidden Leaf Village. Similarly to «Dragon Ball Z» and «Sailor Moon,» the popularity of «Naruto» in the west has spread beyond niche circles, with the Kumogakure cloud and memorable «Naruto run» becoming easily recognizable pop culture staples beyond anime circles. Since the anime’s debut in 2002, «Naruto» has branched out into a full franchise, with multiple series, films, and the spin-off «Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.»
Considered one of the big three shonen anime series alongside «One Piece» and «Bleach,» it seems essential to watch «Naruto.» However, with such an established and utterly massive world of anime (there’s hundreds of episodes!), trying to figure out how to consume it all seems like an impossible task. Fortunately, we’ve done some heavy lifting for you, and have the ultimate guide to watching «Naruto.» Grab a bowl of ramen, and get ready to binge watch, because here’s how you can watch all of «Naruto» in order, and which filler episodes you can skip, if you want to, of course.
What’s a filler episode?
Adapting a manga to an anime poses all sorts of unique challenges, but one of the biggest deals is the required length of a TV series compared to a serial manga. To make these accommodations, most anime series contain what are called «filler episodes.» These episodes are exactly what they sound like, with filler being any content that cannot be found in the original source material. This includes new scenes, episodes, and sometimes entire story arcs.
While filler episodes may sound like a derogatory term, this isn’t necessarily the case. Filler just means the content wasn’t part of the original manga, and some filler episodes and arcs are just as entertaining as the original manga. However, there are plenty of people who don’t want to waste time with filler, so never fear, we’ve isolated all of the so-called filler episodes from each series in case that’s something you don’t feel like watching.
Where to watch Naruto
Given its popularity, «Naruto» can be watched in a number of ways. If you’re someone that prefers watching the English dub, all of «Naruto» is available on Hulu — this means all 220 episodes of the «Naruto» original anime series, all 500 episodes of «Naruto Shippuden» and every episode of «Boruto: Naruto Next Generations,» including the new episodes as they release. Keep in mind that not every episode of «Naruto Shippuden» has an English dub available, and the app will automatically shift to Japanese with English subtitles. (For what it’s worth, the English dub of the series is pretty fantastic.)
Hulu does offer the show in its original Japanese with English subtitles, as does the service Crunchyroll. However, if you’re looking for the «Naruto» movies, things get a little more complicated. Here’s where you can find the movies.
- «Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow» – Available on Netflix, Tubi, and Crunchyroll
- «Naruto The Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel» – Available on Netflix, Tubi, and Crunchyroll
- «Naruto The Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom» – Available on Netflix, Tubi, and Crunchyroll
- «Naruto Shippuden The Movie» – Available on Netflix
- «Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Bonds» – Available on Netflix
- «Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Will of Fire» – Available on Netflix, and Crunchyroll
- «Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Lost Tower» – Available on Netflix, and Crunchyroll
- «Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Blood Prison» – Available on Netflix, and Crunchyroll
- «Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Road to Ninja» – Available on Crunchyroll
- «The Last: Naruto the Movie» – Available on Crunchyroll
- «Boruto: Naruto the Movie» – Rent from Vudu
How to watch Naruto in order
The original 220 episode run of «Naruto» is pretty easy to follow, but includes three movies and a whopping 90 episodes of filler. Here’s your plan of attack.
- «Naruto» episodes 1-101
- Watch «Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow»
- «Naruto» episodes 102-160
- Watch «Naruto The Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel»
- «Naruto» episodes 161-196
- Watch «Naruto The Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom»
- «Naruto» episode 197-220
Mixed canon/filler episodes: 7, 9, 14-16, 18-21, 23-24, 27-30, 37-41, 43-47, 49, 52-60, 63, 66, 69-72, 74, 83, 98, 100, 112-114, 126-127, 130-131, 141-142, 220
Undeniable filler episodes: 26, 97, 101-106, 136-140, 143-219
How to watch Naruto Shippuden in order
«Naruto Shippuden» ran for a whopping 500 episodes, with 201 episodes serving as filler. With roughly 40% of the show existing as filler, it sounds like a lot, but this is actually considered to be a moderate amount of filler. Set two-and-a-half years after the Sasuke Uchiha defection, «Naruto Shippuden» picks up where «Naruto» left off. His powers are getting stronger, and now he will stop at nothing to ensure the safety of his village, his friends, and to defeat the evil organization known as the Akatsuki. Seven movies were made over the course of the series, and some of the filler (like the Three-Tails’ Appearance arc of episodes 89-112) are definitely worth watching. Here’s how to make sure you’re on the right track.
- «Naruto Shippuden» episodes 1-23
- Watch «Naruto Shippuden the Movie»
- «Naruto Shippuden» episodes 23-70
- Watch «Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds»
- «Naruto Shippuden» episodes 70 – 121
- Watch «Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Inheritors of the Will of Fire»
- «Naruto Shippuden» episodes 121-169
- Watch «Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower»
- «Naruto Shippuden» episodes 169-221
- Watch «Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison»
- «Naruto Shippuden» episodes 221-271
- Watch «Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Road to Ninja»
- «Naruto Shippuden» episodes 271 – 493
- Watch «The Last: Naruto the Movie»
- «Naruto Shippuden» episodes 493 – 500
Mixed canon/filler episodes: 1-19, 24-25, 45, 49-50, 54, 56, 71, 89-90, 112, 115, 127-128, 213, 254, 296, 324, 327-328, 330-331, 338, 346, 362, 385-386, 415, 419, 426, 451-458, 460-462, 469, 471-472, 478-479
Undeniable filler episodes: 57-70, 91-111, 144-151, 170-171, 176-196, 223-242, 257-260, 271, 279-281, 284-295, 303-320, 347-361, 376-377, 388-390, 394-413, 416-417, 422-423, 427-450, 464-468, 480-483
How to watch Boruto: Next Generations in order
The continuation of the «Naruto» story exists not with our titular hero, but with his similarly named son, Boruto. The series «Boruto: Next Generations» is still releasing new episodes, but here’s how you should arrange your viewing of the series and the film.
- «Boruto: Naruto Next Generations» Episodes 1-50
- Watch «Boruto: Naruto the Movie»
- «Boruto: Naruto Next Generations» Episode 51-Onward
- Mixed canon/filler episodes: 18, 93-95, 106-111, 127, 192
Undeniable filler episodes: 16-17, 40-41, 49-50, 67-69, 96-97, 112-114, 116-119, 138-140, 152-153, 156
How to Watch Naruto and Naruto Shippuden Without Any Fillers
Naruto is an excellent anime but notorious for its filler episodes. Here’s how to watch Naruto without wasting any more time than necessary.
Mar 29, 2021
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For all its flaws, Naruto is one of the greatest animes ever created when you look at the sheer emotional resonance of its best story arcs and how wide the epic saga sprawls.
But if you watch Naruto start-to-finish, you’ll tear out your hair.
That’s because Naruto is notorious for filler arcs—episodes that deviate from the main storyline and, in most cases, fail to offer any meaningful character growth or plot progression.
Naruto (Part 1) is 44% filler while Naruto Shippuden (Part 2) is 43% filler. In fact, Naruto has an insane stretch of filler starting from episode 136 all the way to episode 220, which is when Naruto Shippuden officially begins.
Naruto is definitely worth watching, but don’t waste your time with filler arcs. Here are two ways to watch the entirety of Naruto while skipping the unnecessary filler episodes.
Related: Naruto vs. Naruto Shippuden: Which Series Is Better?
Method 1: Ultimate Naruto Kai
«Naruto Kai is a fan project dedicated to removing filler, padding and any other executive-minded nonsense that made [Naruto] the mess that it is.»
There have been several attempts at a «Naruto Kai» before, but this one by Kloggmankey on Reddit is the absolute best one.
Ultimate Naruto Kai is a fan-made re-edit of all of the canonical Naruto episodes, presented as 72 episodes that each correspond to the amount of content covered by the 72 manga volumes.
Each of these Ultimate Naruto Kai episodes is about 60 to 90 minutes long. That means Ultimate Naruto Kai is essentially 72 full-length movies that each have a satisfying beginning, middle, and end—all meaningful story, no filler content.
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Each episode is a separate download hosted on Mega. This is truly the best way to watch Naruto.
Keep in mind that there are some minor inconsistencies across the 72 episodes: most of them come with hard-coded English subs but every once in a while you’ll need to load the external soft subs that come with the respective episode.
Note: Because Ultimate Naruto Kai is a fan-made re-edit that’s distributed without consent from the original producers, this is technically piracy.
If you want to take the moral high road, read on to Method 2 which is completely legal and legit.
Method 2: Naruto Filler List
Sites like Anime Filler List maintain full databases of every major anime out there (or close to it), tracking each episode of an anime series and marking whether it’s Canon, Mostly Canon, Mostly Filler, or Filler.
This is a really useful way to blast through filler-heavy anime series, not just Naruto but also ones like Bleach, One Piece, Rurouni Kenshin, and Dragon Ball Z. Anime Filler List even lets you filter each anime series to Canon-only episodes.
Now, what’s the best way to actually watch Naruto?
Hulu (Recommended)
If you want to be completely legit, I recommend grabbing a Hulu subscription which starts at $5.99/mo (with ads) or $11.99/mo (without ads)
Hulu has all 220 episodes of Naruto and 500 episodes of Naruto Shippuden, both subbed and dubbed versions.
If you think you can binge the whole series in a few weeks, you don’t have to pay anything—just grab a 30-day free trial and watch the whole thing before your trial period ends.
Free Trial Offer
Did you know you can try Hulu for FREE for 30 days? Cancel at any time if you’re unimpressed!
Funimation
I actually prefer Funimation over Hulu for watching anime because the interface feels better and the overall selection is larger.
Unfortunately, Funimation only has the original Naruto series and lacks the Naruto Shippuden series. This isn’t a big deal if you decide that you don’t want to watch the second half.
In that case, Funimation could be your best option. It only costs $5.99/mo for ad-free anime and every title in the library has both subbed and dubbed versions. You can even get a further 15% off if you pay annually instead of monthly.
Free Trial Offer
Did you know you can try Funimation for FREE for 14 days? If there’s an anime you’ve been wanting to watch, this is a great way to check it out.
Vudu
If you can’t pay anything at all, you can try watching on Vudu. The first 52 episodes of Naruto are available for free with advertisements, but only in dubbed format. That’s enough to get a feel for the show. The remaining episodes aren’t available—not even to purchase.
While Naruto Shippuden is available in 38 volumes that each contain between 12 to 14 episodes, each volume costs about $20 to purchase. That’s a bit steep even for the hardest of Naruto fans, so you probably don’t want to take that route unless you want a copy to keep forever.
Tubi
Another option if you can’t pay anything at all is to stream on Tubi, which only has Naruto (not Naruto Shippuden), only in subbed format (not dubbed), and advertisements.
If you have the patience to sit through several 30-second ads every episode, this might be good enough for you—but you’ll need to find another option once you reach Naruto Shippuden.
Related: Where to Legally Watch Anime Online for Free: The 13 Best Streaming Sites
Otherwise (Not Recommended)
If you’re crafty enough, you might even be able to find some morally-gray sites that stream commercial-free episodes of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden for free using nothing more than a clever Google search.
I won’t be linking to them—for reasons—and I personally wouldn’t use those sites due to malware risks, but just know that they are out there in case you really need them.
Read next: The 20 Best Songs in the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden OSTs
