Naruto is one of the most successful anime of all time. If you want to watch the whole series, it’s important to know how many episodes there are. How many episodes are in Naruto?
There are 220 episodes in the original Naruto anime series, which has been completed. The Naruto Shippuden series has 500 episodes in total.
Trying to watch every episode of Naruto in a single day will prove futile as there are hundreds of them, and each one is worth watching. However, once you know the total number of episodes, you can more or less estimate how many weekends you need to free up so that you can watch all of them.
Read on to learn more about Naruto and how many episodes this modern classic anime has in store for you.
How Many Episodes Are in Naruto?
To give you an idea of the number of episodes in Naruto, it would be ideal for dividing it into parts for better understanding:
Naruto (2002-2007)
Naruto was directly adapted from the manga written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto and published in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 up to 2014. The Naruto anime series has two parts. The first series, aptly named Naruto, follows the protagonist during his younger years.
You will witness how Naruto overcomes social stigma and his label as the “worst ninja in the entire village” to follow his dream of being the Hokage, the strongest ninja, and leader of the Hidden Leaf Village.
How Many Seasons Does Naruto Have?
There are 27 seasons in Naruto. Studio Pierrot, the Naruto anime producer, took the first 238 chapters of the manga and turned them into 244 episodes, divided into 27 seasons. Each season averages 9 episodes each and contains individual story arcs that follow Naruto and the other shinobi in the Hidden Leaf village.
Naruto Shippuden
The second part of the Naruto series, Naruto: Shippuden (Hurricane Chronicle), continues after a time skip of around two and a half years, with Naruto returning to the Hidden Leaf Village extensive training trip with the Sannin Jiraiya.
While most of the first part of the series shows Naruto’s school life and going on different missions for the village, Shippuden deals with more serious threats to the entire Ninja world.
How Many Episodes Does Naruto Shippuden Have?
Naruto Shippuden contained exactly 500 episodes divided into 21 seasons, and it starts at the 245th chapter of the manga. Unlike the first part, Shippuden’s seasons are quite long, season 20 being the longest with 66 episodes. Naruto Shippuden started airing in February 2007 and the series finale aired in October 2016, which temporarily closed the book on everybody’s favorite anime ninja.
Kakashi Gaiden
Keen-eyed readers would notice that there is a six-chapter gap between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. These chapters are available as a separate supplementary volume for Naruto and titled Kakashi Gaiden. This mini-series follows a young Kakashi, Naruto’s teacher, and explains how he got his Sharingan even though he is not an Uchiha clan member.
How Long Would It Take to Watch All of Naruto from Start to Finish?
As mentioned earlier, the first part of Naruto has 244 episodes, while Shippuden has 500. So, to say that Naruto is a long series is an understatement.
If you were to watch around 8-12 episodes a day, which would be the healthy way to go about it, you could maybe finish the entire series (both parts) in a little over a month. This method will allow you to live a somewhat normal life, although you must put your school or work on hold for all those 3 months, making it kind of a big commitment.
If you are okay with eating microwave dinners and can get away with 5-minute showers, a couple of toilet breaks every day, and eyestrain, then you might be able to squeeze in 15-16 episodes per day. You will still need around 60 days to finish watching the entire series based on that, though.
If you are only interested in watching the main storyline, which refers to the episodes based on the manga, you can skip watching the filler episodes. Naruto is notorious for having quite many filler episodes amounting to around 40% of the total number.
If that is the way you want to watch and you also love your eyes, you should watch around 6 episodes per day. This means that you can finish watching Naruto in around 90 days.
How Did Naruto Come About?
First premiered in Japan in October 2002, Naruto became an immediate hit among the young boys’ target demographic. It went on to become one of the most popular anime series of all time. Even after its conclusion in March 2017, Naruto still retained much of its popularity until today.
The original series managed to create several spin-offs, the latest being a sequel series of sorts, following the adventures of Naruto’s son, Boruto. Although the spin-off sequel has its own share of fans, most of them grandfathered in from the original series, it does not have the same appeal.
What is it about ninjas wearing brightly-colored costumes (which was quite ironic) that appealed to such a wide range of audiences? Honestly, it is better to experience watching the series than having someone else explain it to you.
Naruto’s Inspiration
When asked what inspired him to create Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto replied that there was none. He said he just started writing, and the concept of Naruto just came out of him. Originally, he wanted to base Naruto lightly on his own childhood, but a bit different. However, Kishimoto insists that Naruto’s qualities are entirely original.
Artistically, Kishimoto drew inspiration from other great Mangaka’s who came before him, like Akira Toriyama (Dragonball series), Koji Kiriyama (Ninku), and Masamune Shiro (Ghost in the Shell). You can see subtle details in the Naruto world that looked vaguely familiar if you know their work.
Why Are There so Many Naruto Fans?
One of the reasons why so many people love Naruto is that he is a totally relatable character. Although he does have immense power within him, it is that power that made other people in the village scorn him. This meant that he was effectively an outcast in his own village. However, even though the odds are against him, Naruto works hard to become the most powerful shinobi.
Of course, aside from character development, the kids who really liked the shows were fascinated by the costumes and the bright, flashy moves. You can tell that Kishimoto took a page out of Akira Toriyama’s designs for clothes.
They are very detailed and brightly colored, ironic if you think about it because ninjas should blend in with their surroundings, but I digress. Fans also take delight in all the flashy special moves that each character has. Although it does get a bit too extreme during the final seasons, one can’t help but smile when seeing huge and colorful explosions.
Naruto Refuses to Quit
Although the plot of Naruto follows the traditional hero’s journey, one of the reasons why people gravitate towards the main character is that he refuses to quit. Even though he lost his parents and was forced to take care of himself since he was a young boy and with most people in the village hating him, he still manages to put on a cheerful demeanor.
He does not blame anyone for his misfortune. He makes do with the hand dealt with him.
Again, how many episodes are in Naruto? There are 220 episodes in the original Naruto anime series, which has been completed. The Naruto Shippuden series has 500 episodes in total.
Naruto Controversies
The Naruto fanbase is vast and just like with any group that has grown a bit too big. Thus, there will always be conflicts within it. One of the biggest fan wars regarding Naruto came during the last chapter of the manga. It occurred when Naruto ended up marrying and having a family with Hinata Hyuga instead of Sakura Haruno.
Quite a lot of the fans were visibly disappointed that the titular character did not end up with Sakura. Sakura has been her friend, love interest, and teammate since they were ninjas-in-training. They were miffed because Naruto chose Hinata, who, according to them, creepily obsessed over him from afar.
Some were overjoyed by the revelation, not because they liked Hinata, but because they hated Sakura. According to this portion of the fanbase, Sakura still chose to go after Naruto’s rival, Sasuke, even though he has always shown her that he does not care for her.
Sometimes, it is more entertaining to watch the different sub-groups debate and claw at each other than watching the filler episodes of Naruto. In any case, you should enjoy watching Naruto. You should not get too engrossed in the supposedly private lives of the characters.
Naruto Spinoffs
The vast popularity of Naruto inspired the creation of various spinoff manga. Most of them are also written by Kishimoto himself. Here are some of them:
Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet King
This first spinoff is a limited-run manga published in August 2015. This story follows Naruto, which is now the 7th Hokage of the Hidden Leaf village. He accompanies Sarada, Sasuke’s and Sakura’s daughter, who aims to learn more about her parents.
Naruto: The Path Lit by the Full Moon
The second limited-run spinoff is written and illustrated by Kishimoto. It is another prelude to Boruto. But this time, the story focuses on Mitsuki, the progeny of Orochimaru and the future teammate of Boruto. It was just a one-shot issue meant to supplement the main manga series.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Finally, this is the main sequel of Naruto. It is an ongoing series helmed by Kishimoto’s former assistants, Mikio Ikemoto and Ukyo Kodachi. Kishimoto is no longer the main writer and illustrator. But he still serves as a consultant and canon guide for the series.
Boruto continues where Shippuden left off. This time, the focus is on the next generations of ninjas. Meaning, Naruto’s and Hinata’s son Boruto is the main character.
It is basically the same team that worked on Naruto. But there is something about Boruto that makes it different from the original series. It is not that Boruto is a bad anime. It is a good watch. But it feels like it is too far removed from the source material.
Therefore, it doesn’t feel like a sequel at all. Also, many Naruto fans aren’t thrilled at the prospect of seeing their beloved characters getting nerfed so that the new generation of characters could shine.
There are other more lighthearted Naruto spinoffs by Kenji Taira, the most popular being Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth. Tara made these spinoffs in a chibi (super-deformed) art style. This style shows the cast of Naruto in silly and hilarious situations. As mentioned in the title, Rock Lee, one of Naruto’s friends from the village, is the main character.
Conclusion – How Many Episodes of Naruto Are There?
There are 220 episodes in the original Naruto anime, which has been completed. The Naruto Shippuden anime series has 500 episodes in total.
If you think that you can binge-watch the entire Naruto series, then you are sorely mistaken. There are literally hundreds of episodes that you need to watch. And it will take you months to finish them all. However, knowing how many episodes are in Naruto will help you gauge the number of weekends you must free up to finish the series in a reasonable amount of time.
Never attempt to binge-watch Naruto in a single sitting. For one thing, there is not enough time in one day to finish a couple of seasons’ worth of episodes. And it will not be healthy to glue your eyes onto a screen for hours. Moreover, consuming all the episodes too fast will not let you enjoy one of the best anime series ever to grace the planet. Take your time and savor every moment.
