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Ask the Commenters: When did You Drop Naruto?31

by 777 days ago

It is a question that I would like to ask everybody. Naruto is, probably one of the oldest series I loved before I actually fell in love with Anime as I do today. I was a big fan of it since the Anime adaptation of the series. I loved the story and it’s a typical Shounen manga (少年漫画) with action and fights, featuring attractive female protagonists with exaggerated or overemphasized features. And in a word, attractive.

Ask the Commenters: When did You Drop Naruto?

But as time passed, the series grew into a black hole which I felt I can never see the end of the story. When a story becomes too long, it usually become difficult to catch up with, and it is hard to understand the relationships among all these characters. Especially when the Anime started to drive away from the path of the original Manga. So I dropped this series at around 60 episodes (TV Anime). It was not a black stormy night that I made this decision, but something really nature.

Asking the commenters, have you watched this series before? If you have, are you still following it, either Anime or Manga? If you have already dropped it, when did you do?

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YoU is a blogger, web enthusiast, editor-in-chief and founder of TheAkiba. He is deeply in love with Japanese culture, internet technology, web design and development. If you are like him, take a look at how he runs the blog.

  • http://www.facebook.com/avg.whitefangz Constantine Michaelis Kuchiki

    Hmm……I recently dropped Naruto from my watching list about 6 months ago. After Itachi died… I have no intention to watch Naruto… >___<"

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      Your patience is highly appreciated :) I did go that far and btw, how old is Naruto when Itachi died?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MYHWXDGMMOZM2WCDB7QODLJQAY Sebastian

    I no longer watch the anime since about 1 year ago but I still read the manga regularly. At least Naruto is a lot better than Bleach. I kinda prefer One Piece though nowadays, although it’s even longer than Naruto and will most likely go over 1000 chapters. Still, I tend to prefer long and complex storyline because I hate anime that ends just when I start getting interested into the storyline.
    “Especially when the Anime started to drive away from the path of the original Manga”
    Why do you think it drives away from the path of the original manga? I don’t know about the anime anymore, but are you talking about the fillers (those fillers are the reason I dropped the anime)? Doesn’t the anime mostly follow the storyline in the manga?

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      Guess I put it wrong. I indeed mean the fillers since they make me feel like I am watching another series. But I did follow the movie of the series somehow.

  • http://www.acorntimes.tumblr.com Hotaru

    I never started Naruto. I wasn’t introduced to until late in my discovery of Anime. By that point, I had other interests.

  • Sho

    I dropped after the rescue sasuke arc, because after that there was so much filler episodes -_-

  • http://wanabrar.com Rei | Wan A.B

    I dropped it when the story drifted far away from the original story in the first season. Then the second season aired and i’ve been watching it ever since :)

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      Luckily that I made it the second season (very likely) but I do think the first part of the series (before Naruto grew up) is quite acceptable. And it grows, it turns out to be endless.

  • Ken_masanori

    i watch naruto until naruto shippuden but in the middle i quit and read the manga only… its kind of tiring waiting for something that you think.. will it still come?

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      Well, I occasionally read the Manga (twice a year :)) to catch up with the story, and also help me not to forget the plot.

  • Anonymous

    hmmmm…i`m still following the story…it`s prety nice:P

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      You are so brave, and full of stamina :)

  • guest

    The main problem with mainstream shounen anime based off of manga is that though the producers try to follow the storyline as closely as possible, it eventually becomes impossible, because several chapters can fit into one episode, so then the anime will catch up to the manga regardless.

    That’s where diverging stories, half-baked endings and filler episodes come in, stalling the anime until more story can be revealed.

    Shounen manga seem to me as just a dead-end cash cow. The writers find a story that can continue for as long as possible, but eventually, there is no way to have an ending that will top the previous arcs to please the current readers, and new readers are too intimidated by the large number of chapters to start it up.

    • Masterface7

      You, my friend should read one piece. It has had, and will continue to have a focused ending in sight. Each arc doesn’t really have to top the previous arc because they are all so radically different as the characters explore the world they encounter new obstacles that stand in their way. Holding the storiy’s content at a constant quality, the series will seem to just get better and better as we learn more about the surrounding world, more about the characters, the characters pasts and the history of the world they are in.It is that increasing investment in the series that fuels passion for it. As long as the author of a story is a good author who can craft interesting characters in an intriguing world, the story can continue to flow forward, holding the reader’s interest, until it finally reaches the end of the journey. And a good Author will have had that ending in mind while he was working his/her way to it.

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      Well, I am a big fans of One Piece too. Even though the fighting scene is as long as Naruto, the story itself is one of the best I have read.

  • http://pigoz.wordpress.com Anonymous

    dropped after watching the first episode

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      That’s…so quick :)

  • http://shockerz.wordpress.com/ shockerz

    I dropped Naruto around 20+ episodes into the series which quickly bored me till death. My friends recommended me so I check it out and as it turns out it’s not my cup of tea after all. Too many fillers and Man! they can really extent a fight scenes into several episodes.

    Ya, I totally agree to what guess have said.

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      The long waiting fighting scene, guess it could be a common “mistake” of Shounen Manga. I hate to forget where the last punch was in the previous episode.

  • kevinsturf

    I still keep up with the anime and manga. right now, the manga is getting pretty well considering there will be the 4th great ninja war. Should be interesting to see how it is played out now that I know the true intentions of the main antagonist. I still feel that seeing the end f this anime is quite hazy at the moment because you can’t really tell what’s going to happen after this great war etc.

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      I simply could not foresee the ending of the story and everything amazed me in the first place. I like the series and probably still (I watch the movies), but it’s great if it ended, or simply start another new chapter.

  • Franz24

    I dropped it way too early I think. Naruto was the first anime I’ve ever watched, and I loved it until the fillers came. (so no shippuuden). At first the fillers of the original Naruto were ok, but they became more and more boring, but when I watch anime I want too see everything, an not skip an episode. At episode 180 I just kinda gave up. I started watching anime like Death Note and other smaller series, and just forgot Naruto.
    Now a lot of my friends tell me I should start watching Shippuuden, but I’m really enjoying other anime series at the moment, so I don’t really feel the urge to start watching Naruto again. Maybe I’ll do it when I’ve finished watching everything else.
    By the way, the same happened to me while watching Bleach, I got stuck in the first filler arc, it just wasn’t interesting enough to keep watching.

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      At 180 episode is quite impressive. I kinda followed Bleach at around the number before dropping. It’s tired to follow anyway :)

  • CrimsonKnight

    i dropped the anime. it is a black hole of fillers and more.
    manga yeah i still read, pretty much because i don’t like to start read something and stop in middle. but if it was canceled i am sure that i won’t miss it.

    • http://theakiba.com YoU

      “it is a black hole of fillers and more”

      Agree :)

    • AshokKs

      Why dont you just skip the filler episodes and just keep watching it

  • Emailealaki

    I wont ever drop naruto…. If I drop naruto It mean I dropped Anime at all. It’s the only anime that can be as interesting as an amercian tv series.

  • Salnovaski

    i stopped watching after nagato left akatsuki and death of sasori hidan and kukuzu then diedara then itachi it was sad when sasori and itachi died. now naruto doesn’t inspire anyone when half of the akatsuki members are dead and some left akatsuki 

  • http://theakiba.com/ask-the-commenters-when-did-you-drop-naruto/ Haruka

    I dropped it around save sasuke arc because i simply couldn’t tolerate anymore annoyance from Sakura. And ‘it’s my ninja way’ from naruto.
    I only found Naruto good for its sense of humor.

  • Aku

    Dropped it maybe 20 into Shipp. All of the characters (with the exceptions of Shikamaru and Sakura) felt wrong in their older forms.
     
    I look back fondly, though: I’ve watched the first episode many times and I *still* cry at the ending song. Naruto when he was little still reminds me too much of myself when I was.

  • Regret

    I have watched all episodes since the very first episode and am still watching it today. I always liked long anime like bleach and naruto but for some reason I really hate one piece…