For a long time, Naruto was a part of the "Big 3" in Shonen Jump. The series by Masashi Kishimoto became an instant hit, especially with the Western audience. Even after the series ended, the fan base continues to grow bigger. Kishimoto's incredible work made everyone fall in love with the tale of the boy who wanted to be acknowledged by everyone.
Like with every series, there are certain things that the fans loved and certain things that they hated. However, the overall quality of the series is really good. In this post, we will be discussing five things that fans loved about Naruto and five things they hated.
10 Loved: Fights
In the world of ninjas, fighting is very important. In order to survive, the ninjas have to be at the top of their game. Until the very end of the series, the ninja villages were continuously involved in a bitter tussle for power. There were a total of four Great Ninja Wars in which countless people were killed and several war heroes rose to fame. The fights in Naruto are an absolute joy to watch. They have been very well animated, which made them very enjoyable for the fans.
9 Hated: Fillers
The most hated thing about Naruto is the surreal amount of fillers. The first part of the series was fine as it had only a few fillers, but things changed in Naruto Shippuden. The number of fillers increased rapidly and they became unbearable.
In Naruto Shippuden more that almost half of the episodes are fillers. It made the show unbearable to watch especially considering that the fans had to wait for an entire week to watch the fillers. Not all the fillers were bad, but there were more bad ones than good ones.
8 Loved: Story
An outcast with a tailed beast sealed inside him striving to become the Hokage? What's not to love about the story! Kishimoto has done outstanding work on the story and for the most part, it is great to watch or read. All the things are intertwined with each other and you actually have to backtrack to check if you missed out on a tiny detail. It is only due to the consistency of Kishimoto that the series became as popular as it is now.
7 Hated: Plot Holes
As the story of the series began to drag on, there was a drop in the quality of the series and it was pretty significant. It was noticeable by the fans and they certainly made their opinions be known. There are several plot holes in the series and they often tend to pop up during debates. One such plothole is Kakashi receiving Obito's chakra as well as his eyes. This enabled Kakashi to use Susanoo. Being a mangaka is not easy considering the sheer amount of hard work one has to put into it. The pressure maybe got to Kishimoto and it caused a drop in the quality of the series.
6 Loved: Villains
Naruto has some incredible villains. Every fan has their own favorite due to the different types of antagonists in the series. Zabuza was an incredible villain and he was introduced very early on in the series. Every member of the Akatsuki had unique abilities and they banded together to capture all the tailed beasts. The Fourth Great Ninja war saw the resurrection of Madara Uchiha, who was hailed as one of the strongest shinobi in history. After the revival of the legendary Uchiha came the rebirth of Kaguya Otsutsuki, which raised the bar even further.
5 Hated: Forced Romance
Naruto and Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura, Ino and Sai, none of these relationships should have happened. Naruto had no feelings for Hinata whatsoever for most of the series. Kishimoto even sacrificed Neji for the sake of this relationship, which is just bizarre.
This was a really bad use of characters by Kishimoto. Sasuke didn't care about Sakura in any way while Sakura chased him like a mad parrot. At one point, Sasuke would have killed Sakura if Kakashi hadn't intervened. It just makes no sense to have them together.
4 Loved: Variety of Characters
Like One Piece, Naruto has an incredible number of characters. There are five big ninja villages and several small villages which are filled with talented ninjas. At one point or another the characters were involved in an arc. The different kinds of characters gave the fans the freedom of choosing their favorites from a wide range. Also, Kishimoto did a good job of remembering the characters in the series, unlike Akira Toriyama who forgets a lot of his characters.
3 Hated: Rushed Ending
The Fourth Great Ninja War was supposed to be the best arc in the series because it would be the last one. However, that didn't happen because it was rushed a lot which agitated the fans. This stopped Naruto from becoming one of the best series of all time. It was going good until the point Kaguya was revived and Madara was sacrificed. The fans believed that Madara was the final villain in the series considering all the new powers he got and his plan for peace. The most annoying thing is that Madara didn't even get to use his full powers in the end.
2 Loved: Concept of Chakra
The concept of chakra is a unique one similar to Ki from Dragon Ball or Haki from One Piece. All of them are unique concepts and make the series much more interesting. Every character possesses chakra and by utilizing chakra, a ninja can use several powerful techniques. The concept of chakra is fully explained in the series later on. It was passed down from Kaguya to her sons and then it continued to be passed down to the regular people.
1 Hated: Questionable Twists
Kishimoto has a bad habit of leaving many things unfinished and putting a plot twist to make things worse. One such example is how he handled Neji Hyuga. Neji was a very good character and he was used by Kishimoto to promote the romance between Naruto and Hinata. It is also unclear why Madara couldn't defend himself from Zetsu's attack or how Hashirama died when he was still alive. There are many other things that haven't been explained and it is really a shame that the fans will have to make do without ever knowing the real reasons.