Naruto: what order to watch in — and which fillers to skip
Short answer: the order is simple — Naruto (2002), then Naruto Shippuden, then the film The Last, then Boruto if you still want more. The real problem lies elsewhere: across more than 720 episodes, around 40% are fillers — episodes invented by the studio that do not advance the story. This guide tells you which ones to skip, block by block.
The watch order
| # | Work | Years | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naruto | 2002-2007 | 220 episodes |
| 2 | Naruto Shippuden | 2007-2017 | 500 episodes |
| 3 | The Last: Naruto the Movie | 2014 | canon film |
| 4 | Boruto: Naruto the Movie | 2015 | canon film |
| 5 | Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (optional) | 2017-2023 | 293 episodes |
The Last sits chronologically between episodes 493 and 494 of Shippuden: watch it just before the very end of the series.
What is a filler?
When it aired, the anime moved faster than Masashi Kishimoto's manga. To avoid catching up with it, the studio inserted entire arcs invented for television: the fillers. They are not "bad" as such, but they are not part of the story — and some blocks run for more than twenty episodes.
Naruto (2002-2007): what to skip
Easy to remember: episodes 1 to 135 are the story, episodes 136 to 220 are almost entirely filler. The series tips into padding right after its great narrative turning point, and never climbs back out until Shippuden.
Verdict: watch episodes 1 to 135, then go straight to Shippuden. You lose nothing.
Shippuden: the filler blocks to skip
Shippuden alternates canon and padding. Here are the blocks to skip without regret:
| Episodes | Content |
|---|---|
| 57-71 | The Twelve Guardian Ninja arc |
| 91-112 | The Three-Tails arc (mostly filler) |
| 144-151 | The Utakata arc |
| 176-196 | The Konoha memories |
| 223-242 | The boat journey |
| 257-260, 271, 279-281 | Scattered fillers |
| 284-295 and 303-320 | Padding inserted into the war |
| 376-377, 388-390, 416, 422-423 | Scattered war fillers |
| 394-413 | The new chunin exam |
| 427-450 | The Infinite Tsukuyomi dreams |
| 464-469 | Late-war fillers |
Two exceptions fans genuinely like, worth keeping if you have the time: episodes 347-361 (Kakashi's past in the Anbu, anime-original but well crafted) and 480-483 (the characters' childhoods, right before the finale).
The 11 movies: only two matter
The Naruto films are side stories with no consequences — with two exceptions, at the end.
| Film | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow | 2004 | bonus |
| Legend of the Stone of Gelel | 2005 | bonus |
| Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom | 2006 | bonus |
| Naruto Shippuden: The Movie | 2007 | bonus |
| Bonds | 2008 | bonus |
| The Will of Fire | 2009 | bonus |
| The Lost Tower | 2010 | bonus |
| Blood Prison | 2011 | bonus |
| Road to Ninja | 2012 | the best of the bonuses, co-written by Kishimoto |
| The Last | 2014 | canon — between eps 493 and 494 |
| Boruto: Naruto the Movie | 2015 | canon — the bridge to Boruto |
What about Boruto?
The sequel, centred on Naruto's son, is entirely optional: 293 episodes (2017-2023), with its own share of fillers. If the character interests you, the 2015 film is enough to decide.
The manga's continuation, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, will get its anime: production was confirmed in May 2026 for the series' tenth anniversary, in a seasonal format announced as filler-free — but with no air date yet, 2027 being the most realistic bet.
The most common mistakes
- Watching everything in absolute order. Over 1,000 episodes with the fillers: guaranteed abandonment in the middle of a padding arc.
- Starting with Shippuden because "that's where it gets good". The first 135 episodes of Naruto set up everything that makes the rest land emotionally.
- Slotting in the movies as if they were canon. Except for The Last and Boruto, they are side adventures.
- Skipping The Last. It is the one essential film: it resolves a storyline awaited since the very first episode.
Know the saga? Prove it
Knowing the order of the episodes is one thing. Being able to put the events of the story in order is quite another — and much harder.
Junban has a Naruto theme entirely dedicated to that: you get a moment from the saga and simply say whether it happens before or after the previous one. Does Naruto learn the Rasengan before or after Sasuke's departure? No dates to memorise, no names to type: you just have to reason.
Solo or with up to 4 players, online or around one table — and the same principle then works across more than 50 themes, from movies to music, One Piece to Star Wars. That is what earns it first place in our comparison of timeline quiz games.
More sagas to sort out: Star Wars, what order to watch the movies and series and The Lord of the Rings, what order to watch in.