I don't know if it's sad that as someone who's watched anime, read manga and light novels and played visual novels for the better part of 10 years is only now finishing Naruto, but yeah, that's what happened. I really enjoyed it. Perhaps it's that I was a bit of social outcast when I was around Naruto's age, but I'm able to empathize with his character. That doesn't mean he's not annoying and over the top at times, but on the whole, he's a pretty good character. The con of the show, as I'm sure plenty of people have said before me is that Naruto contains a lot of filler arcs, most of which are boring. But I can largely forgive that because the main arcs, or at least what I perceive them since I haven't read the manga yet, are just really enjoyable. The Naruto-Sasuke dichotomy is mostly done well, except when Naruto's "I can save him/let me find him" complex really revs up. But their relationship increasingly souring based on Sasuke's jealousy, leading up to their ultimate conflict was just so well done. I decline to discuss Sakura as a character because frankly she falls into the damsel in distress category at times but also is able to stand up for herself. Her one-sided pining for Sasuke dampens her character. I wish the show had demonstrated more growth for her alongside Sasuke and Naruto. The other main characters (such as Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Shino, Lee etc.) are developed really well and they're never overshadowed, at least in my opinion, by Naruto.

As ever, I endeavor to write a spoiler-free review. And Naruto finding a series of mentors, first in Kakashi-sensei and then Jiraya, it was great to see him slowly mature from a free-spirited, rebellious kid into someone who can channel that into something for the greater good of the Hidden Leaf Village. It's a well-executed coming of age story, albeit filled with more drama and excitement than your average shounen series might have (separate from battle-shounens). It's a good gateway anime, indeed better than that of SAO, which is a whole other can of beans I won't get into at the moment. It's frequently a show where I honestly wanted to see the next episode (fillers aside for the most part). It's a show I would recommend to most people and an excellent show to start someone off if they're just beginning to watch anime. Which is why I rank it at a 75. I know people might rag on it for being a battle shounen, but honestly that has never bothered me if the story that accompanies it is good enough, something that I find series like SAO suffer from. I hope people are willing to give Nauto a go. I'm sure it might not appeal to everyone but I think most people will be able to enjoy it. Hope this helps!