How to Watch Naruto in Order: The Complete Guide
The short version: watch the original Naruto series, but skip most of its filler once you reach the point the manga’s original material runs out. Then watch Naruto Shippuden in full, since its filler is spread throughout rather than concentrated. Don’t skip The Last: Naruto the Movie or Boruto: Naruto the Movie, both of which are canon and matter to the story. Then move into Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
That’s the recommended path for most people. If that’s all you needed, you’re set. For everyone else, here are the alternatives and the full detail.
Pick your path
The complete path means every episode, in order, filler included, for completionists who want the full experience exactly as it aired.
The recommended path means canon material plus the filler that’s genuinely worth watching, skipping the rest. This is the default recommendation here, and the one most people should actually use.
The fastest path means canon only, the minimum episode count needed to follow the full story.
The manga path is for readers who’d honestly rather read than watch. The single strongest argument for this route: the manga has zero filler, none at all, since filler by definition doesn’t exist outside the anime adaptation.
The core order
Naruto runs 220 episodes. Then Naruto Shippuden runs 500 episodes. Then Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, which ran 293 episodes before the anime adaptation went on hiatus in March 2023 to avoid catching up to and overtaking its source manga. Studio Pierrot has confirmed a second part is coming, adapting the Two Blue Vortex manga that continues the story, but no release date has been announced as of this writing.
The movies: where most guides get messy
Eleven films exist across the franchise. Two things matter for each one: where it fits chronologically, and whether it’s canon.
The critical distinction, and the thing worth remembering above everything else in this section, is that most of these films are not canon. They’re self-contained side stories that don’t affect the main plot at all. The Last: Naruto the Movie and Boruto: Naruto the Movie are the two exceptions, and they matter. The Last covers the Naruto and Hinata relationship in full, and Boruto: Naruto the Movie sets up the entire Boruto series that follows it.
So the honest, practical advice is straightforward: skip the other nine if you want to, no real cost to the plot either way, but don’t skip those two.
| # | Title | Year | Canon |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow | 2004 | No |
| 2 | Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel | 2005 | No |
| 3 | Naruto the Movie 3: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom | 2006 | No |
| 4 | Naruto Shippuden the Movie | 2007 | No |
| 5 | Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds | 2008 | No |
| 6 | Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Will of Fire | 2009 | No |
| 7 | Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower | 2010 | No |
| 8 | Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison | 2011 | No |
| 9 | Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie | 2012 | No |
| 10 | The Last: Naruto the Movie | 2014 | Yes |
| 11 | Boruto: Naruto the Movie | 2015 | Yes |
Slot the non-canon films in at their release-order point among the corresponding series, the first three during the original series, the next seven during Shippuden. Slot The Last in after the Fourth Great Ninja War arc concludes, and Boruto: Naruto the Movie right before starting the Boruto series itself, since it sets that story up directly.
There are also a handful of OVAs scattered across the franchise. Honestly, they’re skippable.
The filler question
This post’s job is the overall order, not the detailed episode-by-episode filler breakdown, though the curated list of the filler actually worth watching is covered separately. As a headline figure, a meaningful chunk of both series is anime-original filler rather than adapted from the manga, concentrated near the end for the original series and spread more evenly throughout Shippuden.
Why the split between the two series happens where it does
Briefly, why the original Naruto series accumulates so much filler specifically near its end rather than throughout, since that’s the detail that actually drives the recommended viewing path above. The anime adaptation caught up to the still-ongoing manga partway through the original series’ run, and the studio filled the resulting gap with original content until enough new manga chapters existed to adapt into Shippuden. That’s a production reality rather than a storytelling choice, and understanding it explains why skipping the late filler in the original series costs you nothing narratively, while Shippuden’s more evenly distributed filler makes a full watch there a more reasonable default.
Where to watch
Both the original series and Shippuden are currently available across multiple platforms, including Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video, with English dub available on most of them, though not necessarily every season on every service. That said, anime licensing does vary by country, sometimes significantly, so what’s available on a given platform where you are may not match what’s available elsewhere. Check your own region’s current catalogue directly before assuming a specific title is or isn’t there.
The bottom line
If you only take one thing from this whole page: the original series, trimmed of its late-run filler, into Shippuden in full, plus the two canon films at the right points, gets you the complete, coherent story with the least wasted time. Everything else here is for people who want more detail on exactly how to get there.
Common questions
What order should I watch Naruto in?
Original Naruto first, skipping most of its late filler, then Shippuden in full, then Boruto. Slot in The Last after the war arc and Boruto: Naruto the Movie immediately before starting the Boruto series.
How many episodes are there in total?
Naruto runs 220 episodes and Shippuden runs 500, so 720 for the core story. Boruto added 293 before the anime paused in March 2023 to avoid overtaking its manga.
Which Naruto movies are canon?
Only two of the eleven. The Last: Naruto the Movie covers the Naruto and Hinata relationship, and Boruto: Naruto the Movie sets up the sequel series. The other nine are self-contained side stories you can skip without any cost to the plot.
Can I skip all the filler?
In the original series, mostly yes, since its filler is concentrated near the end after the anime caught up to the manga. In Shippuden filler is spread throughout, and a few stretches adapt official light novels rather than being invented, so blanket skipping loses genuinely good material.
