Naruto is a popular Shounen anime franchise, which is based on a manga series first published in 1999. The anime first came out in 2002, and has been ongoing with spin-off series to this day.
The franchise is currently made up of the original series plus three movies, a part-two series with seven movies, and a sequel spin-off series with two movies.
Whilst the franchise was greatly admired by viewers, it was also quite difficult to watch given the large amount of fillers the anime had.
The fillers are dispersed across the series, making it hard to finish arcs or story episodes without disruption.
How to watch Naruto Shippuden without fillers
The series also has canon-filler episodes, which are episodes that are part-canon and part-filler. A portion of these episodes include parts that are relevant to the main story episodes, so most dedicated viewers wish to watch them.
It can be hard to tell whether a filler episode is part-canon, which makes it difficult to skip fillers when you see them.
Whether you watch the canon-filler episodes depends on your preference. If you wish to get the full Naruto storyline experience, it’s recommended that you watch these.
You can always skip to the important sections if you want to entirely skip the filler.
Naruto has a higher percentage of fillers than the average anime series, with over 40% of Naruto (part one) and Naruto Shippuden (part two) being filler episodes.
Nonetheless, the series is worth watching despite the amount of fillers. We’ll give you a guide for how you can watch Naruto without filler episodes.
Then, if you feel like it, you can watch the fillers in your own time as they can be quite entertaining. They just have no place amongst the story arcs.
Naruto Shippuden is part-two of the franchise. It’s a direct sequel to the original series, Naruto. We’ll first go through how you can watch Shippuden without fillers.
Then, we’ll go through the other series in case you also wish to watch them without fillers.
There will be a canon episodes section, a canon-filler episodes section, and a filler section.
Canon episodes:
20-23, 26-27, 29-44, 46-48, 51-53, 55, 72-88, 113-114, 116-126, 129-143, 152-169, 172-175, 197-212, 214-222, 243-256, 261-270, 272-278, 282-283, 296-302, 321-323, 325-326, 329, 332-337, 339-345, 363-375, 378-384, 387, 391-393, 414-415, 418, 420-421, 424-425, 459, 463, 470, 473-477, 484-500.
Canon-filler episodes:
1-19, 24-25, 45, 49-50, 54, 56, 89-90, 115, 127-128, 213, 324, 327-328, 330-331, 338, 346, 362, 385-386, 419, 426, 451-458, 460-462, 471-472, 478-479.
Filler episodes:
57-70, 91-112, 144-151, 170-171, 176-196, 223-242, 257-260, 271, 279-281, 284-295, 303-320, 327, 349-361, 376-377, 388-390, 394-413, 416-417, 419, 422-423, 427-455.
You can find out more about each episode by going on Anime Filler List.
You can also find details about the canon-filler episodes for both Naruto and Shippuden by going on MyAnimeList.
How to watch Naruto (Original series) without fillers
Naruto is the original series, and the prequel to Shippuden. This series is a lot shorter than Shippuden, so it’s easier to get through.
Canon episodes:
1-6, 8, 10-13, 17, 22, 25, 31-36, 42, 48, 50-51, 61-62, 64-65, 67-68, 73, 75-82, 84-96, 107-111, 115-125, 128-129, 132-135.
Canon-filler episodes:
7, 9, 14-16, 18-21, 23-24, 27-30, 37-41, 43-47, 49, 52-60, 63, 66, 69-72, 74, 83, 98-100, 112-114, 126-127, 130-131, 141-142, 220.
Filler episodes:
26, 97, 101-106, 137-140, 143-219.
You can find out more about each episode by going on Anime Filler List.
How to watch Boruto without fillers
Boruto is the latest series in the Naruto franchise, and is a sequel spin-off series following Naruto’s son. Since it’s a spin-off series, there is no requirement to watch the previous Naruto series.
However, it’s best to get a general idea of who the main characters from Naruto are, their relationships, and abilities.
Boruto does go over these aspects to some degree, but the series mainly focuses on its own main characters.
Boruto is still ongoing, and it is unknown as to when it will end.
Canon episodes:
1-15, 19-32, 35-39, 42-47, 52-59, 60, 62-66, 70-92, 98-103, 120-126, 128-137, 141-151, 155, 157-191, 193-226.
Canon-filler episodes:
18, 93-95, 106-111, 127, 192.
Filler episodes:
16-17, 40-41, 48-50, 67-69, 104-105, 112-119, 138-140, 152-154, 156.
You can find out more about each episode by going on Anime Filler List.
How to watch Naruto in order
Naruto’s chronological watching order can be hard to discern as the franchise consists of multiple series, and several movies. Here is the chronological watching order.
Naruto episodes 1-101 & 106
Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
Naruto episodes 102 & 107–160
Naruto The Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel
Naruto episodes 161–196
Naruto The Movie 3: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
Naruto episodes 197–220 (finish Naruto)
Naruto Shippuden episodes 1-53
Naruto Shippuden: The Movie
Naruto Shippuden episodes 54–71
Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Bonds
Naruto Shippuden episodes 72–120
Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Inheritors of the Will of Fire
Naruto Shippuden episodes 121–152 & 154
Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Lost Tower
Naruto Shippuden episodes 153 & 155–156
Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Blood Prison
Naruto Shippuden episodes 157–251
Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Road to Ninja
Naruto Shippuden episodes 252–493
Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Last
Naruto Shippuden episodes 494-500 (finish Shippuden)
Boruto: Naruto The Movie – The Day Naruto Became Hokage
Boruto: Naruto The Movie
Boruto (start Boruto TV series) – ongoing
Conclusion
To conclude, the Naruto series can be hard to watch due to its copious amount of filler episodes. You can watch them on Crunchyroll, which is considered by many to be the top anime app in terms of its library.
Shippuden, in particular, can be the most difficult to get through as the series is much longer than the original.
Shippuden is 500 episodes long, and the Naruto Shippuden canon episodes can make things feel even longer than they actually are.
Thus, many viewers look for a filler list guide to help them skip filler episodes. This allows them to finish the series much more easily.
