Fillers are episodes that do not relate to the main plot of the series. They are created to fill in the gaps of the overall timeline, as well as to allow true fans to learn more about the characters and their past, as well as to see the branches of the storyline. But the list of episodes of many series counts in the hundreds, and for a viewer who has only learned about the work, it will be logical to skip the filler episodes, getting acquainted only with the main plot.
About the animated series
The Naruto anime was released from 1999 to 2015. During this time, the show has gained millions of fans around the world. The plot is built on the adventures of a teenage boy named Naruto Uzumaki and his friends. Naruto is a fidgety boy whose main dream is to become the Hokage – the head of his settlement.
Twelve years before events began to unfold, a nine-tailed fox attacked the village and took the lives of most people. The head of the village, sacrificing his life, managed to imprison the monster in the body of a young boy. Naruto didn’t find out about his peculiarity right away. It took him a long time to understand why people, including children, were so hostile to him. He vowed that one day he would become Hokage and win the love of his people.
The entire narrative is divided into two large parts: “Naruto” and “Naruto: The Hurricane Chronicles.” There is also a third part, “Boruto”. It tells about the adventures of Naruto and Hinata’s son. Let’s take a look at which series are fillers in the two main parts.
Fillers in “Naruto.”
The first part of the cult anime consists of 220 episodes. However, among them, you can find dozens of fillers, which during the broadcast of the program forced viewers to wait for months for the continuation of the plot. Below is a list of the filler episodes:
- 26,
- 97,
- 101 -106,
- 136 -140,
- 143 – 219.
As we can see, after episode 100 most episodes are irrelevant to the manga’s plot. However, the last episode (220) is not a filler, so it’s worth watching to know the finale of the animated series.
Fillers in Naruto Shippuden
“Shippuden” has exactly 500 episodes. Of these, 204 episodes do not belong to the main plot. You can check out the numbers of the filler episodes.
- 57 – 70,
- 91 – 111,
- 127 – 128,
- 144 – 151,
- 170 – 171,
- 176 – 177,
- 182 – 196,
- 223 – 242,
- 257 – 260,
- 271,
- 279 – 281,
- 284 – 295,
- 303 – 320,
- 347 – 349,
- 351 – 359,
- 361,
- 376 – 377,
- 389 – 390,
- 394 – 413,
- 416 – 417,
- 422 – 423,
- 427 – 449,
- 460 – 461,
- 464 – 468,
- 480 – 483.
Why are there so many fillers in “Naruto”?
Many people mistakenly believe that the fillers in “Naruto” were created solely for commercial purposes. But they weren’t. In fact, as an adaptation of the manga of the same name, the anime was too quick to repeat the events of the comic book. In order to continue broadcasting “Naruto”, they had to add episodes to the tape that were not related to the plot of the manga.
The “Naruto” fillers represent additional story arcs. It is safe to say that by skipping them, the viewer will not miss important details of the main storyline and get to know all the key characters.
Usually, viewers of Naruto, watching this anime for the first time, only devote time to the main plot. However, having been imbued with one of the most legendary plots of Japanese animation, many of them start watching from the very beginning, not missing a single episode. True Naruto fans should definitely watch the whole series in order to fully immerse themselves in its atmosphere and get to know each of the characters most intimately.
