Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto is one of the most iconic manga and anime series of all time. The story is globally celebrated for its incredible plot, emotional depth, and compelling characters. The manga began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999 and was adapted into an anime by Studio Pierrot in 2002. The anime concluded in 2017 after more than 700 episodes, including the original Naruto and its sequel, Naruto: Shippuden.
Nowadays, most modern anime follow a seasonal format, giving studios more time to maintain pacing and improve animation quality. Despite being a long-running series, Naruto is still regarded as one of the best in terms of fight choreography. However, one of the series’ most renowned animators recently spoke out with sharp criticism of the show.
Naruto Animator Criticizes Animation and Filler Content
Henry Thurlow is a well-known animator recognized for his work on classic series like Naruto, One Piece, Tokyo Ghoul, and Yona of the Dawn. Between 2014 and 2015, Thurlow served as a lead animator on several episodes of Naruto: Shippuden. He also contributed to The Last: Naruto the Movie and episode 204 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
Reflecting on the anime, Thurlow shared on his X account: “Watching Naruto again, I have one criticism: while the animation in the big battles reaches an UNBELIEVABLE peak, other moments almost never do. Naruto and Sasuke fighting these guys? Too ‘ordinary.’ I wish they had the mindset to ELEVATE EVERYTHING. Even this scene could have been insane!”
In another post, he criticized the number of filler episodes: “Looking back, the way they handled filler episodes was really brutal toward the end of Naruto Shippuden. Just when you think they’re about to return to the main plot, they show 5 minutes of story development before jumping into more filler episodes.”
The anime aired weekly alongside the manga, making it nearly impossible to keep a steady pace while staying true to the manga. To allow production time, the studio released many filler episodes. These fillers, though not based on the original manga, follow the main characters through new challenges and provide interesting side stories.
Another challenge the studio faced was a limited budget for a weekly series running new episodes for 15 years. This meant they couldn’t maintain consistent quality across all episodes, prioritizing standout episodes with intense fight scenes.
With Studio Pierrot’s new production philosophy, including remakes of Bleach, Kingdom, and confirmed returns for Black Clover, creating a large-scale Naruto version as Thurlow envisions is entirely possible today. However, it would also take many years to air.
Source: Comicbook