This will be a review of the series as a whole including Shonen Jump! This review was written way back roughly around 2017!
I had been watching since around 2011 or 2012 and have rewatched it a lot since! But that being said, these were my thoughts when the show had just finished and aired it's last episode! My opinions of it have most likely changed since then, but I really loved what I wrote for this awesome anime, so please enjoy younger me's thoughts!!
This show.... Naruto... has always been there. I've never known a time where I couldn't get on kissanime, or even as far back as animeultima, and watch the young shinobi of the Leaf Village fight and complete their missions, and train and go through all this character development at the same time. I grew up alongside Naruto and I remember how sad I was when I finished the first Naruto Season, or when the dubbed episodes of Shippuden ran out. I remember when I downloaded 40+ episodes to my computer and some to my USB hard drive so that when I went on my month long trip or when I went to the beach, I could binge as many episodes as I wanted to. I remember the hot springs episode and every fight Naruto and the other teams had to persevere through. I especially remember how hard the character deaths hit me in this show. Neji, Jiraiya, Granny Chiyo, even Naruto's mom and dad, just seeing everyone disappear, even knowing them for only a moment, it's like I could feel what Naruto had felt and what his parents felt for him. Naruto's relationship with Sasuke was the heaviest... I remember how upset and angry and confused I was when they found each other mid Shippuden and they fought, and no matter how hard Naruto tried to convince him, it would just never get through to Sasuke. I remember how hard Naruto was fighting himself and his panic attack when he was with Sakura and the team, when they were in the snow. Just seeing how Naruto reacted to all the events around him made me hurt and feel the same way he did. I feel like through all the relationships he's had and all the things he's done, I was there through all of it. At some point it didn't even seem like an anime anymore but something I could actually believe in.
All these emotions and relationships and all of his actions. All the sweat and tears and the things he's had to endure through, it's like I felt it and connected with it fully. Like those things had happened to me too. I've never felt this strongly about an anime in my life. Anime that have carried the viewer through HUNDREDS and hundreds of hours of content really stick with you. I think I knew that going into watching Naruto, I was going to get attached... I was going to watch this show and think that it will last me a long time, and that I wouldn't need to worry about it ending like all the other shows I saw. But i think I also knew that at one point I was finally going to finish. I was finally going to have to let go. Finishing this anime makes me feel like I've finally finished a chapter of my life, it feels like I've also lost something. It's left me with years of memories... It's sad to think about how I won't know what it feels like to watch a new Shippuden episode with the old gang anymore and find out how the Great Ninja War progresses... what new jutsu are out there for Naruto and the gang to discover, what bullshit Sasuke would pull next. It's insane but throughout this whole review I haven't even gotten to how all the other characters have impacted me as well, how amazing the animation was, how insanely perfect the plot was. But then again, I don't need to talk about it. Because at the end of the day no matter how much praise I give to this anime, it will never truly show you how blissful the experience was just being there for the journey.
Watch Naruto. Watch Naruto Shippuden. Watch the movies. You'll see what I mean. Naruto is one of my favorites. It's been a joyride being alongside the Leaf Village and it's people. And I'm so, so, so fucking happy to have been a part of this and to have the memories of the show that I have now. Please, if anyone's reading this, gift yourself the experience. Give Naruto a shot, you won't regret it.
RATING: 100
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