Summary
- Naruto: Shippuden has roughly 40% filler episodes, making it frustrating for fans who want to avoid filler content.
- The lines between filler and not filler are blurred in Naruto: Shippuden, as some episodes mix filler content with canon content.
- While some filler episodes in Naruto: Shippuden are poorly regarded, there are standout episodes like the Kakashi: Shadow of the ANBU Black Ops mini-arc that are worth watching.
Naruto: Shippuden is roughly 40% filler, naturally leading potential fans to look for a list of every filler episode. Though Naruto's best filler episodes can develop the series' world and characters, the same can't be said for every episode. As great as some of the filler is, it's easy to see why many fans skip the filler content altogether. Unfortunately, that task might be easier said than done.
For most anime adapting a long-running manga series, the line between filler and not filler can be clear as day. Filler episodes are any episodes that aren't adapting a manga chapter.
All episodes of Naruto: Shippuden are streaming on Crunchyroll & Hulu.
The problem with Naruto Shippuden is that the lines between filler and not filler are blurred, as many episodes of the beloved series mix filler content into manga-canon content, making everything just that much more frustrating for those who want to avoid filler. Still, though some episodes mix filler content with canon content, Naruto: Shippuden still has its fair share of pure filler for fans to look out for.
Naruto: What Does 'Shippuden' Actually Mean?
Naruto: Shippuden is the animated version of the latter half of the famous manga series. This leaves fans asking, what exactly does 'Shippuden' mean?Every Filler Episode of Naruto: Shippuden
|
Episode # |
Episode or Arc Title |
|
28 |
Beasts! Alive Again! |
|
57 – 71 |
Twelve Guardian Ninja |
|
89 – 112 |
Three-Tails’ Appearance |
|
144 – 151 |
Six-Tails Unleashed |
|
170 – 171 |
Big Adventure! The Quest for the Fourth Hokage's Legacy |
|
176 - 196 |
Past Arc: The Locus of Konoha |
|
223 – 242 |
Paradise Life on a Boat |
|
257 – 260 |
Naruto & Sasuke flashback mini arc |
|
271 |
Road to Sakura |
|
279 – 281 |
Fourth Shinobi World War side stories |
|
284 – 295 |
Fourth Shinobi World War side stories |
|
303 – 320 |
Fourth Shinobi World War side stories |
|
347 – 361 |
Kakashi: Shadow of the ANBU Black Ops |
|
376 |
The Directive to Take the Nine Tails |
|
377 |
Naruto Vs. Mecha Naruto |
|
388 |
My First Friend |
|
389 |
The Adored Elder Sister |
|
390 |
Hanabi's Decision |
|
394 – 413 |
In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths |
|
416 |
The Formation of Team Minato |
|
417 |
You'll Be My Backup |
|
422 - 428 |
Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki side stories |
|
429 – 430 |
Killer B Rappūden |
|
431 |
To See That Smile, Just One More Time |
|
432 – 450 |
Jiraiya Shinobi Handbook: The Tale of Naruto the Hero |
|
464 - 468 |
Ashura and Indra Arc |
|
480 - 483 |
Childhood |
All in all, filler accounts for 206 episodes out of the Naruto: Shippuden's 500 episodes. Though not quite half, that still accounts for 41% of the entire series. Looking at the list completely, it's easy to see where the team behind the anime ran into speed bumps when adapting the manga with the series mostly avoiding filler until around the hundred-episode mark, where things get a bit more dire. Both Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden are infamous for their filler content, with the original series also having around 40% of its episodes be filler.
Which Naruto: Shippuden Filler Episodes Should Be Avoided At All Costs
Given the negative connotations surrounding the word filler, it's no surprise that much of Naruto: Shippuden's filler episodes are poorly regarded by the fandom. Particularly egregious examples of filler in Shippuden include the Paradise Life on a Boat arc, The Allied Mom Force, and Naruto Vs. Mecha Naruto. While the latter is regarded as goofy fun by some, Life on a Boat and Mom Force are pretty universally thought of as boring.
Many fans also cite Episode 185, Animal District as the worst of the worst in terms of Shippuden filler. The episode is about Naruto's rivalry with an ostrich named Condor. Though the premise has comedic potential, many fans found it to be mostly annoying without contributing anything to the wider themes of the series.
Are Any of Naruto: Shippuden's Filler Arcs Worth Watching?
While Shippuden is filled with some truly dreadful filler such as the Paradise Life on a Boat Arc and the infamous Naruto Vs. Mecha Naruto episode, not all of Shippuden's filler is bad. Though there are several standout episodes and moments, the easiest Shippuden filler to recommend is the Kakashi: Shadow of the ANBU Black Ops mini-arc. Kakashi is an important character, and this mini-arc contains many important pieces of information about his time in the Anbu. If fans only watch one piece of filler content from Naruto: Shippuden it should be Kakashi's Anbu arc.
All of Naruto's movies are technically filler except for The Last: Naruto the Movie, which works as a good epilogue to the series.
Though many fans bemoan the abundance of filler, and some of it is genuinely poor quality, it is still an important part of Naruto: Shippuden and its legacy. Modern Shonen anime adaptations such as Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen may have abandoned filler arcs altogether, but they can actually be effective if used well. Even at their worst, Naruto: Shippuden's filler episodes don't do any harm as they're easy to skip and rarely have any impact on the series' overarching plot. Fans of Naruto: Shippuden may want to skip most of the series' filler, but some of it truly does shine.
Naruto: Shippuden
Set two and a half years after the events of Masashi Kishimoto's original anime, Naruto Shippuden continues the titular hero's attempts to become the best ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village and bring his former friend Sasuke Uchiha back to the light. The 500-episode series features the return of allies such as Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki's mentor Jiraiya, as well as the villainous organization Akatsuki.
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Naruto: Shippuden
- Summary:
- Set two and a half years after the events of Masashi Kishimoto's original anime, Naruto Shippuden continues the titular hero's attempts to become the best ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village and bring his former friend Sasuke Uchiha back to the light. The 500-episode series features the return of allies such as Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki's mentor Jiraiya, as well as the villainous organization Akatsuki.
- Release Date:
- 2007-02-15
- Cast:
- Junko Takeuchi, Kazuhiko Inoue, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Shoutarou Morikubo, Hideo Ishikawa, Nana Mizuki, Houchuu Ootsuka
- Genres:
- Action, Adventure, Animation, Martial Arts
- Rating:
- TV-14
- Seasons:
- 22
- Story By:
- Masashi Kishimoto
- Writers:
- Junki Takegami, Satoru Nishizono, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Yasuaki Kurotsu, Masanao Akahoshi
- Network:
- Adult Swim
- Streaming Service(s):
- Crunchyroll
- Franchise(s):
- Naruto
- Directors:
- Hayato Date, Masaaki Kumagai, Yasuaki Kurotsu, Osamu Kobayashi, Chiaki Kon
